On the highest part of the mountain, at the steepest point of the steepest tower of M.A.V.O. Headquarters lies the dorm of the most heinous one, of the Supreme Oppressor, Quellor. Like all creatures in Grundo, he too slumbers at some point. Usually, deep within the night itself, well into the morning, Quellor curses the putrid sun as he awaits another night, another moment when the spirits would run high in the sky, when evil would be at its worst, and when the woods and wilderness become most dangerous. This is when Quellor is awake and among the living. But during the day, during the beams of light that keep all of Grundo safe, he slumbers.

It is truly difficult to fathom what a heartless man like Quellor could ever have nightmares about, considering that, by nature, he welcomes all of that which is of nightmare material itself, ghouls, the putrid dead, vengeful spirits, and creatures of pure malice, and yet, he stirs. There is a voice that he hears in his dreams, it calls to him. "My son", it calls. Quellor does not recognize it to be the voice of his father, although long passed, Quellor can distinctly recall the sound of his voice. It is familiar, yet not. Night after night as of recent, it beckons him. Louder and louder, it calls to him until he can no longer ignore the endless wails.

The irritant had gone on for nearly a week until Quellor decided to open his ears, and his mind, to listen. In his dreams, he is surrounded by darkness, no light, no nothing. He kneels, clamping onto his head for fear that it would implode from the horrid noise. He begs and begs for it to stop but it will not, not until he "listens". It is on this seventh night that Quellor has decided enough is enough, and that, if for any reason but to make the voice stop, he adheres, and he listens. Immediately, the voice stops. Quellor is back in his massive stone bedroom, with shredded canape draped over his king-sized bed. Quellor's bedroom is exactly as one would expect, cold, filled with spiders, lined with bookshelf upon bookshelf of Grundo history, of ritualistic and macabre books on curses, and all sorts of witchcraft. The room itself reeks of death, and Quellor relishes in it.

He finds himself, peculiarly enough, back in his room, alone. He is uncertain of whether he is awake, or if he is still dreaming. He goes to open his bedroom door, to head to the lavatory to check in on himself and to splash some cold water onto his face, but the door will not open, as if forbidden entry by some mysterious force. The voice, a gruff hiss, echoes through his ears once again. "Follow me", it says in a whisper, as if the devil itself had spoken directly into his skull. He looks out upon the balcony of his tower, giving him vantage point of all the lesser beings beneath him. Over the guard rail, he spots something quite odd.

Beyond the railing, a stairway has formed, not of solid stance, but almost like it was made of... magic. A beautiful starry stairway ascends for miles into the heavens. Anxious, he treads out onto the balcony, still adorned in his sleeping attire. Curious, he touches the stairway, finding that it is indeed solid. "Impossible" he says under his breath before reluctantly climbing over the balcony and beginning his ascent up the stairs. Quellor makes a great mistake, deciding to look down. Beneath him, all he can see is Grundo. If he were to make but a single wrong move, Quellor would plummet to his certain death. However, with great determination and curiosity, he marches on, ascending the great stairway far into the clouds and into the milky skyline above.

As Quellor walks higher and higher, he notices the air thinning and he finds himself short of breath. All around him is stars, comets hurtling through the air, and cosmic mysteries. The scenery only gets stranger and more surreal the closer he gets to the top, assuming at this point that there very well may not even be one. After what seems like miles of ascending, Quellor can see in the distance, a tall marble platform, and an ominous purple and blue glow unlike anything he'd ever seen before. As he approaches, he can hear a faint bellowing chant, deep and baritone, increasing in volume.

Finally, he makes it to the top, where rows upon rows of masked and hooded figures gather around a semi-formless black mass. Quellor looks around at the chanters. They neither notice nor care of Quellor's presence, but he does not feel welcomed at all. He approaches what appears to be a stage of marble, and a throne where the black mass is seated. Upon closer inspection, Quellor realizes that the form does indeed have a shape, a vaguely man-like one.

The mass whips and twirls around its center of origin, flirting with the air like a black fire. Two long, steer-like horns protrude from either side of its head. Two thin, gangly hands, like those of a corpse, rest upon the arms of the throne, decorated with rings, emeralds, amethysts, ones covered in skulls, its middle covered in a full armor knuckle ring. The black mass bares a cloak of indeterminable fabric, billowing like snakes at the end of the cape and hem. Finally, after what seems like an eternity of silence, as it sits back and examines the being summoned before it, it speaks, and the familiar gruff voice fills the air once more.

?: "Finally... the forgotten son approaches me."

Quellor: "I've come to tend with the ceaseless noise that has kept me so long from my slumber. Tell me, what is the meaning of this?"

?: "Arrogance... although... I would expect no less from my kin."

Quellor: "What are you talking about? My father has been dead for decades."

?: "And I, for centuries.

Quellor looks around him, noticing quite the mass of followers the imposing black figure has accumulated.

Quellor: "Who are you?"

?: "My birth name? It is unknown to me, or it is long forgotten. It matters not. They call me... Astranalogous."

Upon utterance of its name, the chanting goes completely silent simultaneously, as if by some unspoken command.

Quellor: "Astra... nalogous?"

Astranalogous: "It is no mere coincidence that we meet. For eons I have slept, but only recently, have I too arisen from my slumber. I was awakened... by the use of the crystals, by YOUR use of the crystals to be exact."

Quellor folds his arms, without fear, and with an unearned voice of authority, he commands the being towering before him.

Quellor: "So, you blame me for awakening you from your slumber, and then proceed to do the same to me? What is this outrage?! Who do you think you are, summoning the Supreme Oppressor before you?"

The black mass is angered. The white headlights of its eyes squint in disapproval at Quellor as it reaches its long dangly black hand outward, filling Quellor's skull with an ear-splitting ring, the howls of a thousand souls, deafeningly blaring into his ears, driving him to madness. The being rises from its chair, the long cape trailing on the floor like a train of fire as it approaches Quellor. The mass stands well over twenty feet in height. It reaches out its long finger, touching Quellor upon his forehead.

Astranalogous: "I will return you to your mortal coil, where you will be filled with instructions. You will find my earthly body, buried deep within Grundo. When you do, I will know. When you do... all will be understood.

With the cold touch of the skeletal hand of Astranalogous, Quellor falls through the marble platform beneath him, as he plummets towards the ground, he screams bloody horror. Just as he is about to meet the ground, he rises once more in his bed. The room is just as it was before, with the cold draft brushing across his tattered drapes from the window of the balcony. Quellor rises to shut the door, rubbing his arms up and down in the shiver of a cold sweat.

Immediately, he descends into the throne room of M.A.V.O. Headquarters and calls forth a meeting. Many of the sleeping monsters are quite confused and not at all enthused about being summoned so early into the night. With a great deal of patience, Quellor sits in his throne, tapping the damaged arms of his throne with one hand and leaning into the fist of another. He peers off to the side as monsters and villains flood into the room to see what the meeting is all about.

As soon as the silence fills the room and everyone has become seated, it takes nearly a minute before Quellor realizes that his chamber has been filled. Nervously, he excuses himself and begins. It is apparent to everyone in the chamber that Quellor is quite distracted by something, but they don't know what. He speaks to his audience, his voice almost cracking under the stress.

Quellor: "Unbeknownst to all of you, I have been having visions, most peculiar ones at that. With those visions also come voices. I hear them, in my sleep."

Immediately, everyone in the room raises a brow, almost as if they've already come to the conclusion that Quellor had finally snapped and it's time to send him to the cuckoo's nest.

Quellor: "A being, somehow familiar to me, but somehow not, speaks to me in the dead of sleep. I believe it has something to do with the crystals. I have been told to find a body, the body of Astranalogous, deep within Grundo. In the west, in the valley of The Hard To Find City, is an even harder to find castle. Astranalogous has provided me with a beacon, to search the sky for the red star. When it is directly above, the castle of Astranalogous will be directly below, buried in the dirt.

He then points to a trio of monsters in the crowd, a bumbling and bungling trio of blue, green and yellow monsters by the name of Sludge, Drudge, and Trudge.

Quellor: "You three, you will accompany me to the castle. You will bring shovels and we will find this castle."

He raises his fist, shaking it into the air before the yellow monster, Trudge, raises his hand as if he's in elementary school to make an inquiry of his master. Quellor waves him off, signaling his permission to speak.

Trudge: "Hey, can I bring my cousin along? His name is Grudge and he's the big red guy over there."

He points to a large, ugly, red-furred monster in the corner of the room who waves at the crowd shyly in his introduction. He smiles a reluctant smile.

Quellor: "Oh, why not? But only if he too brings a shovel! Let preparations be made! We must make leave early into the night so that the star may still be visible when we arrive. You are all dismissed."

Instead of immediately leaving the room, all the monsters converse and murmur among themselves as Quellor approaches the window of the throne chamber. He peers out into the night sky with a menacing stare as he contemplates the meaning behind Astranalogous' message. Drudge, Trudge, Sludge, and Grudge all approach Quellor as he stands before the window with his arms behind his back. They stare out into the sky themselves.

Sludge: "What do you think that star out there means?"

Drudge shrugs.

Drudge: "I don't know, but if there's a big castle out there owned by some powerful being that has the boss all worked up, it must be really important.

Grudge is just happy to be along.

Grudge: "I'm just happy to finally get to work with my cousin and his best buddies."

The trio just look at him.

Quellor: "Savor your excitement. There is much work to be done. Now, be gone!"

He shouts, waving his arm out at them, and the four monsters stumble around, bump into each other, and clumsily leave the throne room as Quellor massages his head in frustration. He wonders, what could the warlock have meant? What lies at Castle Astranalogous that could intrigue and entice Quellor so much. He doesn't know, but more than anything, he wishes to find out once and for all.