I remember exploring a region of mountains that was barren of trees or animal life. I owed this desolation to what seemed to be the high elevation of where we were. Though I could feel the presence of many souls, it was most obvious that there were only five of us in what was becoming some kind of "formal" expedition. But even at that, there might have been only two members who knew exactly where we were actually going, and I wasn't one of them. We were being led by Krista, and followed closely by the little blond girl with green eyes and an intense stare. And that was becoming a little unnerving because her continued study of me gave the sensation that she was trying to "burn" a hole in the back of my head. Our little entourage was complete with the presence of Dawnscout and Morieus who were flanking me in their usual positions at the farthest periphery of my vision.
As we moved along in preoccupied silence, the air seemed to be thick with mystery and invisible activity. Nothing but the brightness of a tropical day was seen. Nothing but a "busy" silence could be heard. Yet surrounding all of us, the atmosphere felt electric and palpable. That was about the time when I began to suspect this was eventually going to be an experience of extraordinarily intimate value and knowledge.
After emerging from a narrow pass between two very tall and steep rock walls, we discovered a flat area that I would say was a remote but cozy steppe that was well above sea level. The terrain seemed to direct us towards a tunnel or a type of recess in the mountain face across the way. As we approached, I could see beyond the narrow corridor of rocks, and we emerged to confront a steep embankment. There before us, was a porch-like landing and stone doorway in the mountain side. While Krista gave this bulky and imposing obstruction her full attention, my gaze turned to the right so I could marvel at the view of a vast ocean out in the hazy distance. I could see where the foot of the mountains bottomed out in various congestions of numerous shore lines, sprawling away in every direction until a wide horizon engulfed them all.
After enjoying the view for awhile, I decided to join Krista at the opening in the cliff face. Terra was with her now, and both were preoccupied with the structure making a barrier to any further progress. Within this hollow recess a massive doorway of rock arched above our heads and came to a sharp "peak." It seemed to me to be in an almost Gothic design, but the features were rough and inelegant looking. At face level, it had various carved symbols (reminiscent of Aztec) protruding out with different lengths, heights and sizes. They stuck out like uneven masonry bricks, though none seemed to be in similar size or shape to any other.
With Terra pointing here and there, Krista was pushing several stones in the particular order of her instructions which I could not hear. The movement of these stones behaved as a combination lock, but my senses were confused as to whether this was to keep people out or to keep them in. After about four or five stones were depressed the doorway opened by parting down the middle and the two halves retracted away from where we were standing though I couldn't tell how they had been hinged.
Once we entered into the opening, it didn't seem like we went very deep into a tunnel before it opened up into a large room capable of accommodating dozens of people at once. As we explored, the structure began to feel more like a pyramid and less like a hollowed out mountain, if only because of the "cathedral-like" inward sloping walls that narrowed above our heads. One of the more predominant features was a gigantic "open air" window that allowed both a hazy view to the sea beyond, and an illumination that gave the room a haunting, almost "murky" sort of glow. The room had a few long ledges built into its walls, carved of the same rock of the cavern. Here and there were a couple of other table like protrusions in the middle, and the whole room seemed to be like a storage or work area with the "feeling" that it had been abandoned, neglected, and forgotten about, ages before. For me, it seemed there was a permeating sense of sadness and remorse and I looked around for what was evidently an invisible cause for such a heavy mood.
Whatever the work area was about, it included a few miscellaneous spools of coiled metal. There was also a machine that looked like it made spherical objects with a pearlescent patina. I say this because there were many of these huge - eight to ten inch pearls - stacked neatly around its base. There was one other piece of equipment on the other side of the room that could have been a smelter. The spools were lined up and stacked, no more than a couple in height, and they were placed in various locations of the room as if for a purpose or to separate them. These spools were all about the same size - about waist high and a couple of feet around, and there probably were no more than a dozen overall in this room. Upon closer inspection, I began to realize that the metal "strands" that were wound around these spools were solid and not like hollow tubes. And then it surprised me, to discover that they were either of pure silver or pure gold. The silver strands were at least one inch thick while the golden strands were as much as two or three inches thick, but all were coiled smooth and cleanly around their spools. I could tell that some spools had more material wound around them then others, and this gave me the impression that they might have been either partially used, or partially accumulated materials.
After giving so much attention to the coiled spools and not finding any conclusive reasoning for them to be there, I turned to Terra, hoping that she could answer my perplexity. Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable. For in that moment, it was the first time that her penetrating gaze turned away from constantly studying me since we had met. She turned away as if in some kind of profound shame over something that obviously related to these spools of gold and silver. The other entities in my company seemed to share the same discomfort. It was a discomfort so profound, that I ended up snapping awake before an explanation for their existence became evident.
As we moved along in preoccupied silence, the air seemed to be thick with mystery and invisible activity. Nothing but the brightness of a tropical day was seen. Nothing but a "busy" silence could be heard. Yet surrounding all of us, the atmosphere felt electric and palpable. That was about the time when I began to suspect this was eventually going to be an experience of extraordinarily intimate value and knowledge.
After emerging from a narrow pass between two very tall and steep rock walls, we discovered a flat area that I would say was a remote but cozy steppe that was well above sea level. The terrain seemed to direct us towards a tunnel or a type of recess in the mountain face across the way. As we approached, I could see beyond the narrow corridor of rocks, and we emerged to confront a steep embankment. There before us, was a porch-like landing and stone doorway in the mountain side. While Krista gave this bulky and imposing obstruction her full attention, my gaze turned to the right so I could marvel at the view of a vast ocean out in the hazy distance. I could see where the foot of the mountains bottomed out in various congestions of numerous shore lines, sprawling away in every direction until a wide horizon engulfed them all.
After enjoying the view for awhile, I decided to join Krista at the opening in the cliff face. Terra was with her now, and both were preoccupied with the structure making a barrier to any further progress. Within this hollow recess a massive doorway of rock arched above our heads and came to a sharp "peak." It seemed to me to be in an almost Gothic design, but the features were rough and inelegant looking. At face level, it had various carved symbols (reminiscent of Aztec) protruding out with different lengths, heights and sizes. They stuck out like uneven masonry bricks, though none seemed to be in similar size or shape to any other.
With Terra pointing here and there, Krista was pushing several stones in the particular order of her instructions which I could not hear. The movement of these stones behaved as a combination lock, but my senses were confused as to whether this was to keep people out or to keep them in. After about four or five stones were depressed the doorway opened by parting down the middle and the two halves retracted away from where we were standing though I couldn't tell how they had been hinged.
Once we entered into the opening, it didn't seem like we went very deep into a tunnel before it opened up into a large room capable of accommodating dozens of people at once. As we explored, the structure began to feel more like a pyramid and less like a hollowed out mountain, if only because of the "cathedral-like" inward sloping walls that narrowed above our heads. One of the more predominant features was a gigantic "open air" window that allowed both a hazy view to the sea beyond, and an illumination that gave the room a haunting, almost "murky" sort of glow. The room had a few long ledges built into its walls, carved of the same rock of the cavern. Here and there were a couple of other table like protrusions in the middle, and the whole room seemed to be like a storage or work area with the "feeling" that it had been abandoned, neglected, and forgotten about, ages before. For me, it seemed there was a permeating sense of sadness and remorse and I looked around for what was evidently an invisible cause for such a heavy mood.
Whatever the work area was about, it included a few miscellaneous spools of coiled metal. There was also a machine that looked like it made spherical objects with a pearlescent patina. I say this because there were many of these huge - eight to ten inch pearls - stacked neatly around its base. There was one other piece of equipment on the other side of the room that could have been a smelter. The spools were lined up and stacked, no more than a couple in height, and they were placed in various locations of the room as if for a purpose or to separate them. These spools were all about the same size - about waist high and a couple of feet around, and there probably were no more than a dozen overall in this room. Upon closer inspection, I began to realize that the metal "strands" that were wound around these spools were solid and not like hollow tubes. And then it surprised me, to discover that they were either of pure silver or pure gold. The silver strands were at least one inch thick while the golden strands were as much as two or three inches thick, but all were coiled smooth and cleanly around their spools. I could tell that some spools had more material wound around them then others, and this gave me the impression that they might have been either partially used, or partially accumulated materials.
After giving so much attention to the coiled spools and not finding any conclusive reasoning for them to be there, I turned to Terra, hoping that she could answer my perplexity. Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable. For in that moment, it was the first time that her penetrating gaze turned away from constantly studying me since we had met. She turned away as if in some kind of profound shame over something that obviously related to these spools of gold and silver. The other entities in my company seemed to share the same discomfort. It was a discomfort so profound, that I ended up snapping awake before an explanation for their existence became evident.