Red sun over Prominence

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"