Of Cake and Diamonds

~ The Color of Freedom ~

~ The Final Door ~

Was it hours? Days? Wandering in the dark, following the labyrinthine pathways, solving ancient Dwarven puzzles...  now, at last, she arrives at a large door. Was this another section of endless corridors? Another dead end?

No, this one felt different. There is a sound outside of a soft chirruping, of creaking wood and gusting wind... 

~  The Glow / At Last, the Sky ~

~ Twisted Terrors ~

~ The Dead and the Restless ~

After an hour of wandering, Alyvia comes upon a a chasm filled with water, and a large metal pipe providing a makeshift bridge. Noticing another flicker out of the corner of her eye, she turns around to spook the little dwemer fairy-light, only to face an apparition! 

Her scream echoes throughout the cavern, though the ghost reaches her hands out in a gesture of non-aggression, easing her down. She was once an adventurer who died when the bridge collapsed, attempting to outrun some infernal menace on the other side. She asks about the girl’s purpose for her own trespassing upon the ruins, but uncertain about the specter’s own motives, Alyvia responds “I got lost; I’m trying to find the way out.”

The specter agrees to help chaperone her out through the entrance, but as she they traverse the collapsed bridge to the lower levels, she catches sight of a flickering light where the doorway to the next passageway lies. Wading across the water, Alyvia’s gasp of horror breaks the silence of the chasm again. The corpse of some sort of twisted creature lies akimbo on the bank, eyes obscured by flesh, lips receded showing rows of frightening needle-like teeth, and slits in its face providing large bat-like nostrils. The gnarled bones and wicked claws make her mouth feel dry.

Kneeling down, she studies the monster’s face; such disgusting and frightening creatures were only a rock wall away from her haven... did her wandering family members encounter these strange creatures? Were they what greeted them when they entered the ruins? Still, they look... almost like people...

~ The Ruins and the Watcher ~

Through the darkness she trudges, until she finds a small hole in the wall, where a creek rushes through. Determining that it is large enough for her to fit through, the girl sloshes on hands and knees until she clears the crevasse and enters a daunting, large cavern, host to a massive waterfall and bizarre ruins lined in orange metal. Mouth agape, Alyvia wanders through the dimly lit cavern. She produces a small jar, home to a tiny firefly, the last of her pet insects, and hooks it onto her belt before continuing further into the strange ruins. 

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees a bright little ball zip by. Turning quickly, she comes face to face with a tiny winged automaton; a ball of bright light with strange little wings made of metal, somehow defying gravity by flitting about like a moth.

Occasionally, it floats in front of her, before suddenly flashing, then disappearing into thin air. It is a strange phenomenon that seems somehow familiar...

~ Free For All ~

~Run For Your Life~

Change is terrifying...

But an unfulfilled life is even worse...

So run for your life...

~ Crafting: Aesthetics Versus Utility ~

After weaving her last snowberry garland, Alyvia finally steals her nerves and goes to the pale forge. She had been pouring over her grandmother’s books, and looking over her father’s blacksmith’s tools, and after much practice, she finally manages to craft her chosen knife.

Wearing an heirloom; some ancient travel gear, she stands in in the forge, debating her choice. None had returned before; not a single family member had come back since leaving through that tunnel. For all she knows, a monster sits at the end, waiting to snap up the last falmer resident of the snowy haven... 

~ From Beyond the Walls ~

~My Tiny World~

~Alyvia the Diamond~

Cut off from the changing world, in a pocket haven of snow and scarlet, rests the Diamond; Alyvia, one of the last unchanged Falmers in existence... 

She was told to never venture beyond the rocky walls, or to step into the dark of the tunnel that looms at the far end of the grounds. Her family have either have passed on, or broken that sacred taboo of leaving, never to return... leaving her alone in her tiny elysium. Restless and lonely, that bleak tunnel grows ever more tempting... 

- I’d Rather Read -