The Celestial Forge

By: Schin Ka'tharos

CHAPTER 16

(Part 1)

To court luck. This is the path of all Forgers.

~

The Unending Waste comes by its moniker through a few main factors. First, celestial rain does not fall within the wastes. Initially, it had fallen there in the Great Celestial Rain and for a few decades that followed. However, over time it ceased and had remained devoid of the heavenly manna for thousands of years. In all of Ga’el only Jaspen shares this unique characteristic of lack of celestial rain.

In addition, the land itself is harsh, cruel and extremely vast in size. The terrain is not a monolith in its composition. There are pockets of healthy vegetation and oasis, such as the ravine area the siblings and I had met in. However, the majority of the land is brutal, extremely inhospitable and unproductive to humans, and varies from desert to swamp to barren plains.

With its brutality comes the sheer overwhelming scope of the land. In order to traverse the wastes you must dedicate months upon months of travel time even on a Skiff. Stone Crown City is one of the only major cities or towns to directly border the Unending Wastes. If you were to charter a common Skiff from the Seekers Guild in Stone Crown City and head south towards the Sunken Sea it would require over half a year to reach your destination..

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Coupled with the land , the creatures and beasts that call the Wastes home are by and large dangerous and formidable in power. In the ancient pre-celestial rain era only a small portion of the population was powerful enough to dare enter the Unending Wastes. In that era the wastes and its beasts served as cautionary tales about the dangers of the world.

Among the most infamous of the nightmarish beasts in the wastes was the Abyssal Worms.

Abyssal Worms are among the metamorphic beasts which are less common creatures on Ga’el that evolve and change form significantly as they consume essence. Since the advent of celestial rain more metamorphic beasts have arisen but Abyssal Worms were within their ranks in even the pre-rain era. This is due to their unique trait of being able to distill essence from any flesh they consume at exponentially greater levels than other predators.. As they feed they gradually gain essence and power beyond mere sustenance until triggering a constitutional physical change to their form.

Thus they also vary greatly in power depending on their stage of growth. At their peak they become Behemoth Abyssal Worms, or just Behemoth Worms, and dominate the wastes as one of its apex predators. Even grandfather took care to avoid one of the ancient behemoth worms that wandered the wastes. I remember once adding another few weeks of travel in a trip to the Tower as he diverted our normal route in order to avoid the ancient behemoth.

“Ultimately, I would be able to handle it, Schin , don't worry. But it would be a hassle and too costly, and it is best to avoid needless confrontation, my boy. You should be mindful of the ramifications of your decisions..”

The worms that Ciara, Adeon and I faced were very young in their growth and equivalent in power to around a 1st or 2nd Apprentice Forger. The young hatchling worm Ciara had killed was around 3 feet in length and as broad as my forearm at its head. It was the color of dried blood with bulging black veins pulsing over its thick ribbon-like body. A handful of small tendrils flailed out both sides of its body that connected with a thin membrane the worm had spread out like wings to glide on.

As Adeon continued to navigate the stone pillar forest the screams became embodied with writhing worms dropping from the trees, their mucus-covered bodies glistening in the light of The Celestial Forge. One glided straight for me. The worm's head split open revealing rows of small teeth lining the entire mouth and two large fangs protruded from its throat which housed its toxin.

The only reason I survived what came next was due to my knowledge of abyssal worms. Fortunately, I knew my enemy.

Next Chapter...

Chapter 16: To Court Luck (Part 2)