Part II: The Watcher’s Sanctuary
Ochaur, 29th of Newmun, 293rd Year of Orthien
Ravensburg
There would be no sleep for the Archons this night… And no sleep for Kalu Darim, either. The old Guardian scratched at one of his newly-acquired scars, and fell to musing on the events of the past week…
It began at the midpoint between the mark of Twivaur and Thrisaur, with an earth-rending explosion that flattened trees, shattered Telemackrosian crystal, and tore the fur right off the local Mammoths, leaving chaos in its path.
Then the beasts began to swarm down from the mountain peaks, where the explosion had originated. Many were now laid out in shrouds, awaiting one of Varenas’ Hierophants to release their souls to the Halls of Judgement. Many others would join them, if the Herbalists faces were anything to judge by. A lucky few, like Darim himself, had escaped with minor injuries… though he would certainly miss his foot.
And now the Archons sought to commune with the Elder, She who ruled All, and obtain wisdom, for the mist-shrouded peaks of Mt. Vrendos were her sacred grounds, and none may venture onto those venerated slopes without her blessing…
As Selendi slowly retreated before Carloc’s burning wrath, the Archons emerged from their chambers, and Kalu straightened to attention.
With a grim smile on his face, the lead Archon made a negating motion. “You need not bow to us, venerable warrior… Not anymore, at least”. Almost immediately, Kalu felt his entire body go numb, as though he had fallen into the Mal’fayt in the middle of winter. The last thing he saw before his mind went blank was that horrid grin…
When next he woke, Kalu felt… heavy. And tall… His thoughts moved like tectonic plates… So it took him a moment to realize that he now stood before the Chamber of Echoes, a massive crowd gathered before him… and the Archons on their platform at his feet… which felt a long way off for a being of 4’2"…
Desperately, he tried to move, but he was trapped, somehow… and he could hear the Archons speaking…
but their voices were muted, as though he listened through a thick wrapping of mammoth hair…
…"and so it was that the Elder, She who rules All, not only gave us her blessing to ascend to the highest peaks of sacred Mt. Vrendos, but has also blessed us with an incarnation of her Eternal glory, which now stands watch over us, and shall accompany us upon our blessed ascent…
Kalu would have looked if he could, but found that his head, like the rest of his body, refused to acknowledge his orders… An Eternal was only summoned, at most, once every ten generations or so…
“…and what of Lord Darim? Why have we not seen him these last three days?”… Kalu recognized the voice, one from the crowd, but he could not put voice to face… “We regret to state that Lord Kalu Darim’s courage failed him, the first night of his ‘disappearance’, and he threw himself from the Ravensgap…” Kalu could hear shouts of disbelief, and wished he could smile…“You lie, Archon Vuldarius! My grandsire would never commit such a cowardly act!”
Now he knew the voice: Kyrena Darim, his daughter’s daughter… He was proud of her. It took great courage to speak to an Archon, let alone speak against one… She would make a fine warrior someday…
Or would have…
The next instant, as though possessed, the crowd, in one motion, took the daggers given them at birth, and eviscerated her.
It was only when the crowd returned to where they had previously stood that they began to move as people would…
And the Archons acted as though nothing had happened… Raw fury surged through Kalu’s heart… and a cry of awe burst forth from the crowd, who now stood bathed in light…
“See now, our Eternal has awakened!” cried the Archon, “and it is Carloc who has blessed it with his power! See how the flames reach towards their eternal father, who lights our world with his scorching might! NOW we depart! Lead us on our sacred path, Eternal child of the Elder and Carloc.” And with horror, Kalu felt his legs begin to move…
Upon reaching the Peak*, Kalu, wading through shards of stone, was presented with a sight that once would have raised horror - An eldritch orb of emerald energy, with a core of bright blue, hovered between four obsidian pillars, each veined with the same energy…
The gasps of shock from the Archons as they crested the final rise only confirmed that this was not what was supposed to be here. It was with some amusement that Kalu heard them uttering prayers to all their ancestors… As if that would help them…
Then one of the more foolish Archons [or brave, it was difficult to tell], slowly sidled up… and touched it. All of Kalu’s instincts screamed at the woman… but his mouth, of course, refused to release these screams… And so he watched, helplessly, as she was dragged through the air into the orb.
The moment her flesh made contact, a thousand screams tore their way out of her throat, and then, with a sound like a bubble of mire water bursting, her body came apart at the seams and scattered across the plateau.
Though this began happening to the other Archons, Kalu’s vision was inexorably drawn to a new figure, one wore a cloak and hood the same colour of its former prison, outlined in the same green energy, one whose image shimmered and warped as though looked at over a blazing hearth on Midwinter’s Eve… one that was stepping down out of the orb, striding over the growing piles of viscera towards the pathway that lead down towards Ravensburg…
But something must have caught its eye…
Or would have.
In the light cast by a fallen torch, the face under the hood was cast into horrifying relief… Where the nose of a humanoid would usually be, there were only slits, burning with emerald fire . Where the mouth would be, there was only a stretch of skin, though the outline of bestial fangs** and crooked jaws could both still be seen… and where the eyes would be, there were only gaping holes, fissures opening up to expose a soul as black as pitch, and ancient as the Void beyond which even the Gods have no power.
And then his voice emerged in Kalu’s head, somehow bypassing all external sources…
How is it you live, stoneling? How is it that this world came to possess the ability to animate their effigies?
It didn’t wait for an answer… but beckoned towards a head… one that decay had already consumed most of the flesh from, but was still recognizable as belonging to Archon Tarikanos. It almost leaped into the creature’s hands, crumbling to dust as it did so. Apparently, the few cranial fragments that made it to the creatures hand satisfied it, however…
Not an effigy, then. One of their own, bound by their cowardice into lifeless rock… if I knew how to, I think I would pity you, Kalu Darim.
Who are you?
Me? No-one, really.
What do I call you, then?
…
If you must call me anything… I am the Watcher…
*Very little of note occurred during the climb, so I cut that part out…
**If anyone was wondering, these are the sorts of teeth I am thinking of…
]
]
]
