Memories (5)

Luca's statement once again shocked his audience, with the most surprised of the lot being the Dreamwalker. She began thinking, and as she thought she grew angrier, "That means that they knew of the Demon Emperor's first invasion as well. They foresaw such an event but left nothing for those that would follow in the centuries after their disappearance? Unforgivable..." The ire of any individuals near the pinnacle of power was rarely seen, but it could affect the environment in incredible ways. By being connected to the world, a Pseudo-Sage could even call forth powers that could easily match legendary forbidden spells such as Vulcan's Rage. Norani felt so furious that the silvery starlight liquid beneath them began to 'boil', while the platform itself rattled in place. Thankfully, due to the Eye of Selene being akin to a Divine-grade artifact, the effects stayed within the orb.

The Dragonborn continued apprehensively, "While the Ancient Elves were never discovered, we learned that they had built Atlas Pillar and Skyhaven Fortress specifically for this second, more devastating invasion. The fortress itself had an expansive underground city beneath it, untouched despite countless centuries due to the mountain's great stability via the ley line. Within a study in the lowest part of the underground city, which had been sealed off with technology that required Magic Engineers to unlock, numerous ancient, semi-faded notes and journals were discovered, but most details were fuzzy with age. By accident, one of the discoverers touched a small half-spherical marble about the size of a grown man's thumb. From it, a hologram of an Ancient Elf appeared. Lady Dreamwalker, can you begin projecting again so that I can show it? I did not see it directly, but I have a recording of the event with great clarity."

The Pseudo-Sage's rage was briefly quelled as she once again cast Mnemonic Projection on the boy, making the odd orb of memories appear above the table. As Luca had said, it was a memory of him watching the event via a recording. It started with someone nudging the marble, which sparkled before splitting in four, extending out on intricately-made internal gears to take the shape of a small circle. From the centre, a piece of the marble began to glow before it projected a smaller-than-life depiction of a member of the long-lost Ancient Elf race.

Giving off a Gandalf-esque impression, the Ancient Elf had a peachy skin tone with a ruddy complexion due to his advanced age. His long white beard ended at his navel while his head was bare. As an Ancient Elf, his ears were longer compared to their evolutionary offshoots by about a half, and he gave off a strange feeling of being more spiritual than corporeal. At first, he began speaking in his native, long-extinct tongue for a good five minutes before suddenly realizing something. Clearing his throat without any awkwardness, the Ancient Elf restarted his speech using the modern Common language, which had not existed before the Sages. It was rough but understandable, which made it easier to comprehend him. "October 21st, 0:1855 Chaos. I think that's correct based on the future calendar system, since Chaos Era years are added by going backwards... Whatever, not important." He waved his hand with a scoff before continuing, "As the architect of the future-named Atlas Pillar and Skyhaven Fortress, I am to leave this entry behind for the future generations for which they were built. I am Echadir, he who built this fortress with its defences and the grand pillar within Mount Ashbringer."

"By the time this is discovered, the time prophesized by our great High Priestess will have arrived, somewhere around 4:060-070 Divine if I'm not wrong. The High Priestess one day fell into a prophetic coma for three years, the end of which came as she sat up in a hurry, loudly shouting for someone to fetch the Emperor. She began relaying her vision to the Emperor, who took her words with great severity, as she had never been wrong, even after several millennia wore at her mind. She foresaw that this plane, Andor as we named it, would suffer a grand invasion from our mortal foe, the Demon God Krazius. Her plans were not for the first invasion, as we had originally thought, but for Krazius's return. Her vision revealed that not even our intervention could change the outcome of the first invasion, which those of that time would withstand themselves. The second invasion was also inevitable, but she learned that it would be far more devastating, causing the extinction of almost all life on land, soon followed by sea, and all pocket dimensions. Through her guidance, I and my cohorts began creating what can only be called our magnum opuses, the Atlas Pillar and Skyhaven Fortress."

The table was silent as all listened intently on the voice of Echadir, who continued speaking, "The High Priestess's vision revealed that Andor Plane would only have three keystones remaining of the original number. Should two be destroyed, it would cause the plane to begin collapsing without any hope of salvation. Her plan was to make a fourth keystone, a feat never before attempted in any plane, and use it to change the future. By doing so, Andor Plane would regain more stability, which in turn would be able to amass greater power in an attempt to create a last-ditch evac shelter. Atlas Pillar's main array was also programmed to redirect most, but preferably all, teleportation arrays on the continent to its twin counterpart at what would be the shelter, Skyhaven Fortress."

Echadir sighed deeply with emotion, thick with both great reverence and pride, "Without the High Priestess, none of it would be possible. We are foreign in this plane, so most of our actions are witnessed by Andor's world will more than all others. If she had not used her great spiritual power to converse with the world will, the Pillar and Fortress would never have been created. Instead, it aided us in such a way that the Atlas Pillar ended up exceeding even our most grand ideas. Even in our home plane, it would be glorified as a masterpiece without any rival. Skyhaven also grew more than expected, but it was not as incredible as the Pillar. Whether by accident or not, Atlas Pillar ended up becoming the only indestructible keystone of the plane. Only the plane's destruction could bring it down."