The Celestial Forge
By: Schin Ka'Tharos
CHAPTER 23
(Part 1)
Words can sustain that which remains or form what is not, and guide without opposition.
~
The basement had proven to be rich in resources beyond the five workstations and their artifacts. About a week after reaching 2nd Apprentice, while working at the second station and attempting to ascertain the use of the cloth material, I stumbled upon a hidden sideroom.
I had cycled through various techniques to probe and test the materials with my essence to no avail. In exasperation I found myself staring lost into the blank walls of the workshop. Eventually my attention fell upon a slight oddity in the dark gray stone walls. When I had gone over to inspect, my Voidseye began to resonate with a veiled inscription on the wall and upon willing it, a section of stone receded like a door and swung inward revealing what seemed like a small kitchen or pantry.
It was a fairly narrow room with shelving on one side and a counter on the other. The same bright purple stone from the workshop lined the ceiling and illuminated the room. What immediately caught my attention was a waterfall streaming down the far wall of the room. Clear spring water flowed down inexplicably through and opening in the ceiling and floor. I could not comprehend where the water flowed. However, the existence of a clean and accessible source of water quelled some of my growing supply concerns. The counter looked like it was made of the same dark wood as the large table in the center of the workshop. The countertop was well used with knife scars worn into the wood from food preparation. . Like the workshop the room was half heartedly cleared out and abandoned but among a handful of other things that remained, I had found the black jade teapot and a supply of my grandfather's favorite tea, contained within a sigstone.
Ciara accepted the teapot and held it quietly for a moment without speaking. She breathed in the smell of the spices. Then her eyes came alight with white flame and a haze of flame rose around her hands and the teapot.
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“Like I had mentioned before,” She said, “My eternal flame is the Flame of Webs. It's a rare but not unheard of singular flame. You may have-”
“What do you mean by singular?” I asked.
She remained silent for a moment. Then the flames left her eyes and hands and she motioned for the cups. She spoke as she poured.
“You remind me of a lady I met once from Krevat,” she said. “She was very sharp and knowledgeable but saw everything through a completely different perspective. Different from most of Gael. Her views and understanding of how things worked made it seem like we lived in different worlds, like two artists using vastly different colors and styles to paint the same scene.”
She glanced around at the walls and gestured to the tower. "Is this some sort of religious monastery? Are you an Onak zealot?”
I took a cup and allowed the aroma to fill my lungs. I could tell the last part of what she said was in jest and I chuckled, "No, I'm no zealot. But I would agree that my understanding of things may diverge from what you may see as normal. Please, explain the commonly accepted views of the eternal flames."
“Hmm, I guess the widely accepted view originates from Sepaldra and their writings and teachings on the flames. There are two main categories of eternal flames, Singular and Perpetual. A Singular eternal flame, once harnessed, disappears. The same manifestation of an eternal flame may appear again elsewhere but its existence in that specific place is gone. Like a Forger finding a single torch and carrying it with them.” She said, “A perpetual eternal flame is a flame that allows you to harness it but it still remains. Like a Forger walking up to a torch with their own stick and lighting their own stick on fire, leaving the torch in its original place.”
“And what do you mean by an eternal flame manifestation?” I said.
“It is the terminology used to refer to the specific type of eternal flame that emerges. An eternal flame emerges through a natural phenomenon where an aspect of heaven is embodied on earth. Take for instance one of the major and most widely known perpetual eternal flames in Ildara, the Flowing Flame. The Flowing Flame manifested at the base of the Vesh Falls. It manifests under the largest known waterfall in Ildara which is also at the heart of an incredibly vast interconnecting river and lake system. Thus the Flowing Flame embodies the aspect of water.”
Dear reader, I must inform you, this is a rudimentary and faulty understanding regarding the eternal flames. One of my goals in writing this to you is not only to tell my story but to clarify the truth of things in Ga’el. All will be revealed in due time, through the story the truth is nested in, but you must keep in mind that her explanation is flawed.
I poured a second cup of tea before asking my next question, “and why does a specific manifestation matter or how does an aspect change things?”
Next Chapter...
Chapter 23 (Part 2)