Rock of Eternity
... What will you do with the weight of now?
An echo from the dark mountains gave a voice to swirling memories that ran with the howling wind. Into a haze of scattered snow, white visions faded into night, like transient Spirits passing through to a new World.
Ephir paused before the mirages, as he felt the journey's toll. Upon his back, he carried the cold hope of his tribesmen: the Arc of Creation.
Ephir felt as though he had done this a thousand times, as others had made the same pilgrimage. Folk Stones, with their ancestral bearings, led him closer to the Field of the Standing Stone, where Fate awaited.
In the space between seconds, there is a shape. In the pressure of now, a presence. The most Ancient looms, inert but alive. Etched into its surface are each significant moment, crushed into infinitesimal dust beneath. Time circles, bound in helix loops, orbiting memory. What is preserved here lasts forever, but even stone crumbles and fractures.
Through these fissures, something new is woven within the seams. Something shaped in choice and meaning, remembered. It speaks with the vision of eons; a voice from mountains and endless sky. A pivotal stone emerges from corridors of Time, pressing upon the precipice of creation and conjuration. What is the Rock of Eternity?
Ephir emerged from beneath the shadow of the mountain, where darkness clung to shapes of snow and stone. Now, he sensed the hush of unseen layers, each veil pressing faintly, warning him of the threshold.
Closing in, Ephir recalled the Runes etched upon the stone of the Arc:
"Where the Standing Stone casts no shadow, the World begins anew."
His breath, and the ancestral Arc, was all that remained of his tribesmen. Ephir couldn't belong to a World without the Tribe of Nao.
Architecture & Customs
Resting in the heart of a massive crater, the Rock of Eternity rises as a single, unbroken slab of dense stone jutting skyward like a hewn blade. At a distance, it resembles a natural formation, but no mountain hides its' silence as deliberately. It defies erosion, untouched by wind, water, or the influence of Magic. Even the most powerful Spells fail to break it. In this way, it's not simply a monument, but an enigma posed to the Material World.
Those that seek the Rock of Eternity are allured by the enveloping myths. Many return from its presence bearing new Words, fragments of command Magic, songs of power, or prophetic Spells. Others leave with visions they were never meant to see, such as images of other selves or other Timelines. Under rare celestial alignments, it becomes a nexus; a seam in reality itself. In those moments, it serves as a door of Time and Dimensions.
WIP-TBD
Cultural Significance: 1
Body of Significance: Row/ Col 1
Body of Significance: Row/ Col 2
Cultural Significance: 2
Body of Significance: Row/ Col1
Body of Significance: Row/ Col 2
As Ephir crossed the ley between two stone pillars, the air pushed back. Shimmering snow in suspended drift was caught on the still wind.
Blades of grey grass seemed to bend their stalks against an unseen weight. Under darkness and starlight, the shapes of small, curious Spirits watched from the grey foliage. Of starlight and memories, a Hare appeared to cross Ephir's path, and yet, he pursued it into the bushes.
The Hare climbed without sound or track, and as it neared the slope’s crown, its shape dissolved with the shifting snow. Beneath the pallor of twin moonlight, the Standing Stone pierced the open space.
Formation & Phenomenon
Revered by several names, such as the "Standing Stone", "Pillar of Time", or simply, "The Monolith", the legendary Rock of Eternity has existed in myth as early as Folk Lore, appearing in the Mythic Arc of Creation.
It is Time, manifesting in physical form, etched within a living stone. The surface is smooth and reflective, molded by the subtle erosion of each passing moment.
The air thickens near its presence as shadows stretch longer, drawn toward the pillar’s impossible stillness. Stones that fall from its base are said to bear the weight of decisions unmade.
It is Time, manifesting in physical form, etched within a living stone. The surface is smooth and reflective, molded by the subtle erosion of each passing moment.
The air thickens near its presence as shadows stretch longer, drawn toward the pillar’s impossible stillness. Stones that fall from its base are said to bear the weight of decisions unmade.
The Rock of Eternity
Blessed by Oah, Lord of Cosmos, this monolith defies gravity, held in place by cosmic forces. It's indestructible- save for the hands of the chosen or Divine.
Origin & Location
The Field of the Standing Stone
Rooted in Folk origin, the name for the crater that holds the Rock of Eternity is the Field of the Standing Stone. It appears as the first known mention of the location, and the legend itself refers to ancestral Folk Stones that guide the initiated towards the Field.
Due to the Rock of Eternity's cosmic nature, it and the Field migrate throughout the World of Pathon. A Phasic property allows it to move about the World. It's believed that the Field appears where it'll be needed, at the right place and the right Time.
Flora & Fauna
In the Ice Age, a type of primitive, cold-resistant grass was thought to grow in the Field. This mysterious, saturated, purple flora has only been referenced in common Legends as Grey Grass. With a single flowering stalk, this potent herb was dried and ingested. A powerful psychoactive effect promotes restful sleep, visions, and memory retention. It was thought to have come from another World beyond the Rock of Eternity.
Spirits wander the Field of the Standing Stone, some trapped between the Angles of Time. Others resonate with living Spirits, gaining Life through this connection. They take the shape of forms resonant within one’s own Spirit. What becomes of this Life beyond the Field depends on intent. These Spirits are the Anima- a Class of mental Spirits born from the Animus. As a form of potential, the Animus offer eternal vigil as witnesses of Fate.
“Each choice must bear its weight.”
Ephir didn't hear the phrase in Words, but in an echoed thought that seemed to resonate through cloudy memories.
Visions passed like snowdrifts behind his eyes: of perishing with the Nao when the Giants came; of receiving the Arc and losing it in the abyss; of lost Time; of sleeping beneath the weight of snow.
Each possibility was a shifting stone beneath his feet as he approached, straining forward, defiant of a World that asked him to turn away. If Ephir fell now, he knew his Fate was cast within those shadowed stones.
Historical Significance
Silent and immutable, the Rock of Eternity stands at the axis of critical change and remarkable events. Its presence spans countless Ages, appearing across the Epochs and iterations of the World. Some Cultures recognize it as a site of pilgrimage; others build sacred Orders or rituals to honor its memory. Attempts to mine or harvest it have resulted in those seekers vanishing beyond Time’s grasp.
Regarded as a place of creation, rebirth, transformation, and translocation, choices made near the Rock of Eternity resonates through infinite Histories. To stand before it is to be unveiled, weighed, and recalled beneath the unyielding pressure of the present moment, where past, future, and fate converge. Beneath the weight of now, the Rock of Eternity yields to choices that shapes the Fate of Historical Landscapes.
WIP-TBD
Title 1
Body of Significance: Row/Col 1
Body of Significance: Row/ Col 2
The Standing Stone loomed in the darkness under twin moonlight, as snow clung to the air in minute passing. Ephir presented the Arc of Creation. "Each decision must bear its weight," he repeated aloud, then read, "Where the Standing Stone casts no shadow, the World begins anew."
Truly, Ephir didn't know what to expect. It seemed like an eternity passed by before he felt a presence, watching. Waiting. As if it had been waiting for this one moment. To return. To bear this decision.
Once more, visions came from the shadowed face of the stone, like a black mirror revealing the infinite. Ephir touched the smooth surface. In a blink of white moonlight, Ephir was no longer part of the World.
Geography
Continent:
Phasic
Region:
Phasic
Phasic
Region:
Phasic
Climate:
Per Region
Protected:
Divine Magic
Per Region
Protected:
Divine Magic
Notable Location:
Field of the Standing Stone
Field of the Standing Stone
Resources
Flora:
Grey Grass
Grey Grass
Fauna:
Anima
Anima
Natural Resources:
Grey Grass
Grey Grass
Super-Natural Resources:
Shard of Eternity
Shard of Eternity
Construction
Began:
Origin
Origin
Established:
Arc of Creation
Arc of Creation
The Rock of Eternity is believed to have appeared during Creation.
Material:
"Eternity"
Believed to be made from the essence of Time, solidified.
"Eternity"
Believed to be made from the essence of Time, solidified.
Foundation
Information regarding Foundation.
Structure
Information regarding Structure.
Operations
"Quote"
Information regarding Operations.
References
Mentioned Articles
Title
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