VI·VIII·X Cosmogony - Part III
My astonishment is immense for what I find just a few centimeters from my face, but at the same time, it distracts me from my condition: I am at my limit, I have no strength left, my arm is in excruciating pain, and I am still in a confused state. I realize that this is not the place where I will find a solution to recover, but at the same time, I have no more energy or ideas to take any action.
The body lies beneath me, odorless, and seems to want to hide in the shadow of the hall. I am motionless, my curiosity toward this being is immense, but I realize it cannot be a priority right now... I try to stand up... I begin to gasp for air, my eyes see small points of white light descending from the dark in front of me... then a black curtain begins to fall from the ceiling... I understand I am losing consciousness but cannot do anything about it... I kneel, and then the void welcomes me...
I wake up, collapsed on the body of the unknown being. I have no idea how much time has passed; it is dark outside, and no light filters through the portal. I feel decidedly better, I don't feel any tiredness or shock, and, more importantly, I feel no pain. A fleeting thought crosses my mind that I might be dead, but it lasts the blink of an eye because I feel the strange materiality of the unknown body beneath my face. I pull myself up and sit... I feel completely fine, I detect no physical problems, and I feel rested. Something must have happened in the time I lost consciousness.
Now my mind is clear, and I am ready to face this difficult situation. I now feel able to use my arcane knowledge to better understand where I am and, most importantly, the company I am in. I concentrate effortlessly and use the words of Secret Sorcery to target the clasp of my cloak with the spell: after a few seconds, the brooch shines with a strong white light, illuminating the entire room. I remove the brooch and hold it high above my head... I realize that my arm has healed, in fact, I begin to doubt whether the fracture that tormented me before I lost consciousness ever even existed, and if everything I experienced was just a nightmare... the light reveals the magnificence of a room richly decorated along the walls with winding and elegant patterns repeated across all the walls, and in the center of the floor, an octagonal platform, over twenty meters wide and adorned with twisting columns at each corner. The platform's floor is covered with strange marks drawn directly on the stone: I concentrate to sense if these carvings have any magical nature... After a moment, I am dazzled by the magical aura they emit! This place is a sanctuary of arcane knowledge, hidden for who knows how long!
Everything is happening too rapidly, and I do not have the time to stop and think about what I’ve experienced, from the avalanche until now. However, I let myself be carried away by this stream of events. I feel that trying to stop and rationalize might negatively impact the entire experience: now I am standing and enjoying the extraordinary view of this powerful magical place... in the middle of the platform, the alien shape interrupts the aura that I feel wrapping me completely. I look closely, both my magical light and the one produced by the aura leave no part of that strange body hidden.
The color is that of leather, ancient, worn, and used leather. It seems to be a naked being, with no visible clothes or ornaments, but I cannot be sure as it’s difficult to discern its shape. If I were to compare it to something in nature, I might think of some kind of elongated insect, but even then, I would not be accurate, as I cannot identify its head or limbs: a sort of slim body covered in tentacles or soft-looking protuberances does not reveal how the being moved or with which sensory organs it perceived the surrounding reality. The more I strain to observe the creature, the more I realize I do not understand its physiology, but what I gather is far more important!
Amid the creature’s knotted and disordered tentacles, I notice there is a leather scroll. It had blended in with the motionless body I was observing, but some small faded silver glyphs allowed me to identify it. I pick up the cylindrical container and understand that the markings on it do not belong to any culture I have studied so far. I open it without hesitation and pull out a parchment scroll: it seems empty at first because the parchment is as white as milk, but as soon as I unroll it, a fiery-colored inscription appears, vibrating on the smooth and worn surface… and this is where my story begins, the story of how Phaosdoulu became Philodemos and helped the people of Appset to see beyond the veil of reality…
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