Aloris circled around the tower and inspected it.
The tower was a marvelous feat of engineering by every standard, and Aloris was astonished by the details it had and the insane amount of effort that it must have had in its construction.
Every inch of the tower had murals and small intrinsic details that would astonish and amaze any artisan, craftsman or builder, and the most amazing part was there were no indications of bolts or layers of building blocks. The tower looked to be grown from the bottom to the top.
Its presence was felt all across the lands, being able to be seen from all corners of this island.The tower reached a height of 8800 feet. It could even be seen some few miles off the coast of the islands.
The tower had two cylindrical shapes coiled around it, starting from the bottom to the top. They coiled around the tower like a snake to a branch and ended with a spiral crown. The base of the tower had a pyramid like shape, with a massive door as an entrance. It looked like more a gate to a king than an entrance.
A double gate made of unknown stone prevented anyone from entering.
“Amazing..” Aloris thought to himself
He had tried several times to enter the tower but to no avail.
He did notice that the letters on the tower and the murals brimmed with power and color, of which he could not understand.
He was no artisan or a mage, so he regretted not studying more, maybe the answer lies in the words inscribed on the tower.
He gave up after a time and went about to his usual business, watching the tigers hunt.
After the first century, he realised that he had some kind of presence or domain.
It was a faint feeling in the beginning, almost non existent but after a year or two the feeling grew, and as time passed on, he could feel his domain expand from the tower and outwords.
Animals, insects, trees and all manner of creatures and living things could be felt in this domain and as it grew the more he could feel around himself.
It was a strange feeling, almost akin to touch, either way this sudden change had excited Aloris back then, so he welcomed it. For the first time in a century, he could finally "feel" something once again.
Now it was 534 years since the event. The domain now encompassed all the isles in this region and came to a complete stop a few miles out of the shores of the furthest isle.
He enjoyed this newfound ability and for a time it made him forget his pain and agony.
He also discovered that with the growing domain that he had another ability, that he could see the creatures and the surrounding areas inside the domain.
This ability presented opportunities to Aloris who had spent the first century in the sky.
With both of these abilities he scoured the surrounding areas and amused himself with the strange creatures he found, and gave appropriate names according to their behaviour and appearance, at least that was what he thought he did. Some unfortunate monkey race was given the nickname of "Silly Monkey With Stupid Eyes", and a strange looking flying fish was given the nickname "Flying Idiot Fish".
And then the famous one, "Ass Wiper", for its unnatural ability to wipe its ass after a massive dump. These names were given mostly a by distinct personality of his, named Laroth.
Aloris in his lonely time created two distinct personalities aside from himself, Eruvian and Laroth, the names taken from his surname. This happened slowly and steadily over the years of solitude. It began with a simple conversation with himself that later evolved into personalities that he gave names to.
Eruvian was a very rational, logical individual with very little emotional say.
Laroth was hopeful and compassionate but ignorant.
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Even though Eruvian and Laroth could argue about things back and forth, the one who had the final say was him, Aloris.
Aloris knew in his heart that both of them were his creations, but he ignored it. For Aloris, who spent many decades in solitude, it was better than having nothing.
But not all was enjoyable.
When he first used this ability, he discovered the remains of his compatriots as black charred statues with disfigured faces around the tower.
Thousands of statues surrounded the Tower, and had the same posture and expressions as of the time of their death, like an image was taken at that exact moment.
He also found his friend there, the young elf that was his subordinate.
Even though his face was a bit disfigured he could still recognise him.
The only statue he could not find was of himself.
He made the conclusion that day, that everyone died and that he was the unlucky one.
He saw that the area around the tower was scorched black for two miles or so and the jungles did not creep in this area and that no animal dared enter this area.
Each day he must confront his demons, the memories of his compatriots and of his family. The place is a big reminder of his inability to change his current situation.
It was hard in the beginning, but with time, it became easier.
He wanted to give them a proper burial according to the old rituals but with no way of doing it, he was forced to be satisfied with a prayer.
From the heavens it looked like a black spot and was easily recognisable, and thus he could navigate through the islands fast and easy.
But after four centuries of exploring the isles he grew tired and bored. Today would be no different than any other day but as fate would have it, something was approaching the isles.
As he was watching a tiger approach an unsuspecting prey, he could feel something enter his domain.
After what felt like eternity someone had finally entered his domain.
Aloris woke up, even though he never slept, and felt energized.
-”Someone has entered! Who do you think they are, Eruvian? He spoke to himself.
Laroth answered back to Aloris.
-”They are the elves of course, they have come back for us!”
Aloris felt a bit hopeful to those words, but he wanted an answer from Eruvian, who was a bit more logical than Laroth.
-”Maybe, the possibility is small though” Eruvian answered back
-" Why? " He asked back
- "They would have sent someone in the first century, the elves... we as a people rarely make mistakes, and if we do, we rectify it quite quickly.
-”Can we see them yet?” Laroth asked
-”Yes I think it's time, I wonder how they look like” Eruvian answered back.
They peered into the distance and saw hundreds of canoes traveling slowly. Some canoes were bunched up with planks on top , with tons of passengers on board.
They seemed to be in a hurry, and some of them looked sick.
The most interesting part of it all was the passengers, as Aloris could not recognize their race.
“Frogs? Why do some look like frogs while others have a more toad-like appearance?”
After watching them rowing their canoes for a while he came to the conclusion that the composition of the migrating horde was of two races that almost looked the same. Both of these races walked with their legs like humans and elves.
One looked like Frogs and the other look like Toads, the only visual difference was that the Toads had a more stout body type while the frogs had a slimmer body type.
Aloris noticed that they paddled the canoes with their legs and some even jumped down at the water and pushed the canoes as they swam.
They rotated this duty between themselves.
“Interesting” Eruvian whispered to himself
While seeing frogs that paddled the canoes with their legs was a bit odd, these canoes looked like they were going to break down any minute.
How anyone could traverse the seas with a canoe was beyond Aloris understanding.
-”They seem in a hurry and their so-called boats are nothing more than wrecks, maybe something has forced them to leave their lands? Laroth asked with a hint of curiosity
-”That is a good observation Laroth, the follow up question would be from where?” Eruvian responded
If the maps had not rotted away to time, then maybe they would know.
When the domain encompassed the ships he arrived in, he went there straight away and looked for survivors in case there were some, but all he found was nothing more than shipwrecks and rusty equipment.
The papers that contained the maps had rotten away with the years and could no longer be used.
“They made landfall” Aloris thought
The frogs made landfall and they seemed to be delighted to find land, like they have been in the seas for a long time.
It was a strange but nonetheless a comforting sight for Aloris to see them so happy but at the same time he was a bit disappointed.
He had hoped that it would be elves or humans.
The wait continues..