The world was changing once again. As had happened in years before, the world was going through strange and unnatural transformations. It began in the dark of night with tremors and unusual sounds. The stars and the moon fell away and all the world was black. Artorias was not taking any chances with his wolves and had ordered all the Hallowed wolves back within the safety of Hearthstone's walls, where he did something he hadn't done for an age—he closed the gates. As a family, the Hallows had weathered the storm through firelight and stone walls, and when the sun finally rose the next morning, all the sky was bathed in an ominous blood red. Rumors of a strange new terrain up in Boreas reached the Lord of Cinder, and he decided then and there to get the jump on whatever creepy shit this was about.

Gathering up his sword and armor, Artorias called forth a small group to go scout out this new land. He led the group swiftly up the Bifröst and into central Boreas, where sure enough, it seemed as if the land itself had been pulled open to insert a whole new land. Artorias' brows furrowed over guarded eyes. He had traversed these lands many times and was certain this had never been here before. Yet, as he led the group into the strange new territory, the stone spires that rose from the ground like skyscrapers towards that crimson sky looked weathered and worn, as if they'd stood here for centuries. Nothing about this place felt natural and Artorias' fur stood on end the deeper into the terrain he pressed.

"Keep your guard up. Call out anything you notice. And try not to wander too far," he instructed his wolves, sharp amber eyes scouring the land, taking in its every detail. The way the ground felt under his paws. The energy in the air. The smells that hung like perfumes. Any and all sounds he could pick up. Artorias was drinking in evert detail so he could be ready to respond to whatever came next.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

A strange night. Perhaps not as strange some other things Thorn had seen before but it was the sort of night to stand hairs on edge. The tremors had knocked several items from their shelves. The tools he’d made for creating his maps, the maps themselves on one wall hopped from their shelves. His first wooden dagger rattled where he had mounted it on his wall.

It was a long night.

The strange sight of a reddish light to start the day was different than the life-bringing orange hue of sunrise but something that was both literally and figuratively darker. Father clearly believed it a dangerous sign as well, closing the Hallows gates.

At Artorias' call for a scouting party to a new land that had risen up seemingly from nowhere Thorn had been quick to respond. A desire both to seek out any potential danger along with the need to see a new land straight after it was – discovered? Appeared? Popped up? It made no sense. Still, he wanted to be one of the first to see it.

Thorn stayed slightly behind and farther left from his father. How could someplace that just appeared look so old? How could land just appear overnight for that matter? What had come with the land? If land could come out of nowhere then had any creatures come with it? Was it crazy? The land he walked on said crazy didn’t mean impossible.

“These,” a pause deciding the best word for them, “rocky spikes, they appear aged in how they are worn and yet, normally new life can be seen or smelled on old trees or rocks. Whether it's moss, vines, or whatever…” Thorn shook his head, not wasting to think up every example. “So, it seems accurate that this had to just get here. However, that fact makes no sense. I think we should keep someone coming here frequently to watch for changes. Now that it’s here will it respond like lands we are used to, with new growth, will prey and other predators trust it? Will more strange things occur here?” He'd certainly be happy to offer to be one who kept track of this new place for a while but that could keep for a later discussion, after they had made sure it was even safe and see what other strange sights and surprises lay in wait here.


"Thorn Carpathius"

Grimshaw had been one of the first to volunteer to visit Boreas and it’s strange new land despite having gotten no sleep the night before due to the tremors and impossibly dark, moon-and-star-less sky. It certainly wasn’t the first time the land had been visited by strange happenings and he was willing to bet it wouldn’t be the last, either.

Following his brother and other Hallowed, Grimshaw didn’t know what to expect of this new territory, but he wasn’t at all surprised by what he saw. Large, stone spires tore through the ground and threatened to tear through the sky as well. Had the tremors brought these? Was this really just some weird natural event? But then why was the sky a weird, ominous red? They had to be connected, but Grimshaw wasn’t the most knowledgeable when it came to weather patterns and plausible natural disasters. Instead, he had come along because he was nosey for one, protective of his family for two, and just in case there would be danger for three.

Once released to explore, Grimshaw cautiously stepped away from the group and moved around the spires, looking up and down them as if some note or clue had been written on them. It was a chance at least, but when he found nothing worth noting, he moved onto inspecting the ground where the spires were sitting. None of it made sense to him, so he rose his head to glance around to the others wondering if they had found anything interesting yet.


"Speech!"

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Nelu poured over the documents he had but could not turn up any definitive idea as to what was happening. The tremors had been concerning, and at first seemed like an earthquake but they lasted for the majority of the night. Nelu did not know earthquakes to last so long. He did what observation he could looking out the castle windows, searching for any signs of eruption from the volcanic locations in Auster and Boreas but he saw no large plume of smoke, only an eerie red glow when dawn rose.

HIs father called together a search party to investigate what had happened overnight and Nelu was quick to volunteer. He gathered his armor and weaponry, tucking a few items into the pockets on his leather cuirass before joining the group.

As they neared the center of Boreas his eyes lingered on strange spires that jutted up from the land. They got closer only to find that spikes seemed weathered and old despite the fact that they seemed to have simply appeared overnight.

"This is very strange. I can only guess that the emergence of these spikes caused the tremors." He looked to his father. "Is it possible these were buried deep in the earth and something caused them to jut out like this?"

With his family at his side, Artorias strode cautiously across the arid terrain of the strange new territory. Grimshaw meandered off to go inspect some of the other nearby spires while Art led his sons over to one of the taller ones, gawking up at its massive size. It towered over the land, almost seeming as tall as the Fenrir Mountains. Gods, how could something like this have been hidden for so long? With a growing sense of unease, Artorias slowly approached the massive spire, studying its texture, the weathered effects on the stone, everything about it. He'd traveled all over Boreas and Auster, but never before had he seen anything like these before.

Thorn made some observations about the land, of the peculiar nature of the stone towers and of the lack of other life around. It was unnaturally quiet and eerie around them. He also suggested sending regular scouts to keep an eye on it for any changes over time. Artorias hummed pensively and nodded to his eldest son's suggestion, then listened as Nelu pointed out how the tremors might have caused the spires to appear. That did seem to be the logical conclusion. "Then what caused those tremors in the first place?" Artorias mused aloud, stepping closer to the massive spire. That was when he noticed the disturbing etchings carved into the stone's surface. Effigies of creatures screaming in terror and torment.

Artorias' expression darkened and his eyes narrowed as he leaned in closer to study the carvings in the stone. Some were wolves, some were other creatures. All etched with unnatural amount of detail in their expressions and forms. Artorias carefully lifted a paw to rest it against one of the screaming wolves, letting his claws delicately trace along the edges of the effigy. "What do you make of this, boys?" he asked his sons, beckoning them closer. His ears twitched as a breeze rolled by, cool for the unseasonably hot summer.

He could almost swear he heard the echoes of screams on that wind...

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"

Nelu paced around the nearest spire, taking in the architecture. It seemed entirely unique and he couldn't really relate it to anything else he'd seen in Boreas or Auster. There wasn't anything in the castle that seem to be built that way apart from both being structures of stone. "A good question. It's possible the spires themselves were the cause of the tremors but then what made them move from the earth in the first place. Could there have been a seismic event that triggered all this?"

Nelu wondered allowed as he leaned in to sniff at the spire before going to see what his father was looking at. It was carving of a screaming face. His brow furrowed. "It could be a warning, or perhaps an indication of purpose". Nelu eyed the base of the spire and then began to dig, carefully moving soil away from the nearest stone rib, trying to follow it down in hopes he'd find more clues.