Excerpt from Alexan’s Seventh Journal, Tour of the Small and the Strange.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the free cities of the Gnomes and the Goblins is the number of spells and enchantments that use all six elements in a single creation. I’ve had opportunities to participate in these enchantments and it’s quite something.

Every Element confers a feeling unique to itself that bolsters the user. Wind makes you feel light, earth makes you feel solid, fire makes you excited and so on.

Channeling all six elements and casting a proper omni-spell is uniquely intoxicating.

The Sealing

“Sentinel of Linumbra’s Embrace, awaken.”

And so it did. Less a creature and more of a ghost, it floated above a pedestal made of countless different branches twisted together. At the top of the pedestal it could see an empty pocket clearly waiting to be filled.

With no active knowledge and barely any understanding, the Sentinel merely observed. Just created, it would take time for understanding to come. What knowledge it could use now was only a bare minimum, only strange and passive fragments of knowing providing any insight at all.

It would come in time, the sentinel knew that much.

Multiple figures surrounded it, each of them utterly unique from the others. The first and closest was a gnarled figure of carved stone and shaped metal, all held together with wood and root. His face, what could be seen of it through the roots that formed his hair and beard, was severe and calculating. “Anot’er success,” the Galm spoke, his strong voice resonating from deep within the barrel of his chest. “Wit’ dis, five of da six are complete.” As he spoke, the leaves and flowers growing from his beard of roots rustled as they moved.

The next figure, far taller than the rest, stepped forward. Wearing draping robes from head to foot, barely any of the figure was visible but for her hands and the it’s bestial, but feminine, face. The back of her hands and around her face were shaggy with fur, although that dark brown fur gave way to softer and thinner fur in a softer countershade around her mouth and eyes.

“And here. We place it. The fragment.” She leaned down to place a snarling, seething bundle of rippling shadow into the pocket of the pedestal. She placed it with gentle care, yet pulling back revealed lacerated and bleeding palms. Merely holding the thing had inflicted great harm.

A tiny figure climbed down from the shoulder of the Giant, so small it could have sat within the larger creature’s hand. The tiny Gnome woman made good speed as she clambered down until she finally stood on the flat top of the pedestal before the shadow. She looked up at the sentinel, her eyes glimmering with all the colours of the rainbow. “Sentinel of Linumbra’s Embrace, witness the sealing of this fragment and the beginning of your duty.”

Tiny as she was, she began a work greater than herself. Pulling power from the figures around the pedestal, the weaving of a prison for the angry shadow began. The Giant stepped away from the circle. With no ability to channel the aether, her task was done.

From the first figure came power rich with heat and flame. With the strands came excitement and thrill. Under that flowed pride and purpose. The figure was reptilian with scarlet scales, His long snout was pulled back slightly to reveal vicious looking teeth. Smoke leaked from the sides of his mouth as he worked. His wings remained folded and his hands were held together, but his muscles could be seen rippling until the scales covering his body. What clothing the Drakoren wore was spare, a loincloth, a chitin shoulder guard, and leather chest straps. Purple, slitted eyes watched the work closely.

The second figure was the burly creature of wood, a Galm made of tree, stone and metal who had awoken the sentinel. From it came power both solid and heavy. The dense feeling of stone and dirt surrounded the shadow and the thing shouted in anger, and fear. The heavy gold embroidered vest and pants worn by the creature of earth rippled slightly as the aether stirred the air.

The next figure was familiar, an Erlkin, although he'd never met this person before. He was pretty young too, with barely any patches of fur in the process of turning darker, and pure white hair. Even his twisted forward facing horns were mostly ivory.

That thought was jarring, dissonant. For a moment the dream wavered. The world shifted and the Sentinel looked on, forgetting the strange dissociation.

A creature of both ivory and shadow, where the others were feeding power into the seal, this young Erlkin was pulling from the snarling mass of shadow. He seemed the newest of the group, his flesh soft and unblemished. With baggy trousers and an open vest, he seemed dressed for comfort but worked every bit as hard as the rest of them. Every bit of shadow he pulled out he fed into the pedestal.

Deep and powerful, water aspected aether streamed from the most unusual of those present, a large ball of jelly pushed blue aether into the enchantment. Floating within the mass was a bell of iridescent light, countless streamers dangling from underneath. But the tendrils of the Pelagiajell moved with purpose, gathering and adding her strength to the work.

Where the creature of water was a great mass, the next seemed its opposite. A creature thin of body. She wore only baggy pants and a loose wrap covering the swell of her chest. That chest and her belly were covered in soft scales. Similar but far heavier scales could also be seen on her calves down to four toed feet with heavy looking talons. From her lower back sprouted a tail of large, well maintained feathers, feathers to match the widespread wings sprouting from her arms. The eyes of the Siren were a striking blue that stared intensely as she sang her power.

The last figure seemed the most refined of the group. He stood tall and thin, wearing flowing robes from head to toe. He seemed chiseled and shaped, his form impossibly graceful, with impeccable poise. Long ears poked out from purpose made slots in the hood of his robe, the very tips bearing the furred tufts that signified the true roots of this light aspected Lume. More striking than his form was the halo of light at his back, split into four ‘wings’ the shards of light spoke of him being in the prime of his lifespan and power. That light streamed to the pedestal, adding to the work.

That intricate creation was taking form within the tiny hands of the Gnome. She worked with intense concentration, her expression severe with the responsibility of the burden she carried. The power sent from the others didn’t flow through her, but straight to the shadow. She plucked at the powers with strings of control to wind the thing deep within the elemental enchantment.

The sentinel felt its first pangs of emotion as it looked upon the Gnome, as it saw the tears streaming from her eyes as she worked. Tears of grief that hinted at a painful story of which the sentinel would never know.

The shadow raged and thrashed as strands of multicoloured light multiplied and surrounded it, drawing it down into the pedestal. The sentinel imagined it could hear words, but nothing so clear that it could understand. It merely watched as that which was being imprisoned slowly disappeared from sight.

As the enchantment was completed, the tiny Gnome woman extended threads up to the sentinel, slowly bonding it to the cage of the prisoner within. But only to the cage. It could feel the steps taken to ensure it would not be vulnerable to the being within. It was to be the watcher and the protector. Anything further was to risk the compromise of the work.

Finally the last strand was laid into place and the rainbow lattice solidified into a faceted gem that drank the light. It appeared not as a shadow, but as a blot of darkness upon the world.

The great hand of the Giant reached down to the Gnome, her work now finished. “This is. The fifth. But you still. Grieve the same.” The Giant spoke to her tiny charge, her dialect halting and careful.

“Sentinel of Linumbra’s Embrace.”

It turned to face the speaker, the Lume. The Lume spoke while gazing upon the sentinel with golden eyes that were both serious and cold.

“Your duties have been placed into the very frame of your existence, and they shall become known to you as you grow into the tasks ahead,” The Lume stopped for a moment as he observed the sentinel. “Be it one hundred years, five hundred or a thousand, your duty is to guard the charge within until peace is found. In that time, many will be born with the potential to release the seal.”

For a brief moment, the face of the Lume shifted, his eyes turning sad as he reflected on his own words. But it did not last.

“Until the time has come, you will have to send them away. To interact with the fury of the sealed one can only lead to their death. After the one within has found peace, then it will be to you to find one capable of releasing your charge, all the souls in this hollow home. And the one who will decide your own fate. In this task, you have our blessing.”

Unnamed Tal

“Seems ** **** stabil****.”

Tal woke up slowly, wakefulness coming painfully through the fog of his pain and fatigue.

“So it was ****** to have *** him live.”

Someone was speaking.

“From **** * can see *** ****** seems to be yes. ***** say will be the ****** of the wardens. The **** proof will ** *** ** handles *** seal.”

The voices were close, but not so close he could hear them clearly. Careful not to move, Tal cracked an eye open.

And saw the pedestal. The pedestal he’d seen in his dream. No, not his dream, a memory of the sentinel within him? In his dream he’d felt the anger radiating from the sealed one within. Now it felt still. Not quite dead like any normal piece of furniture, but if he was looking at someone deep asleep.

[Are you… still there?] Tal asked, his head still feeling as if it was clogged with thick cloth.

[... Yes…] The reply was weak, clearly more distant than when they’d spoken before. [I shall try to remain as long as I can. You must know...]

“We **** **** to treat him ******. Take him ** *** guest ******** and **** * guard.”

“Yes Great Elder!”

[Sleep… Tal, there is more… to see.]

Tal found himself dragged under.

The Sealing

The Sentinel had followed the Siren. Not because it preferred her over the others, but her chosen place in the sky allowed the Sentinel the best view.

It’s home, Linumbra’s embrace, was surrounded.

Walls of twisted wood had been raised, great barriers created to fend off the horde seeking entry to the massive hollow home. The Sentinel understood what was happening. How could it not? Its very existence was a part of the process.

The Siren held her wings out, buoyed by the wind and the heat rising from the great tree below. Wind that also supported a thin wood and metal umbrella decorated with complex patterns and inscriptions. The others had spread themselves evenly around the walls and now worked together to finish the barrier that would be raised to protect the seal from the monsters outside.

The seething tide of enemy wailed and screamed as they beat at the walls, attempting and often succeeding in scaling the wood only to find the swords, spears and spells of those manning the barricades. The unmoving bodies littering the ground behind the walls were beyond count.

The sentinel went to the gate, the strongest and thickest part of the wall where the heaviest mass of bodies raged at the thin line holding them back. The small Gnome worked hard as she concentrated on a stone pillar inlaid with crystal and precious metals. Before her the Giant led the defence, smashing bodies away with a wide broadaxe. She used it as a shovel to throw the attackers away like mounds of dirt and twigs.

The creatures that attacked were not natural. Puppets of flesh and bone held together by iridescent roots of light. They screamed and groaned and gnashed their teeth while reaching for the defenders. When they were able to grab hold, they would pull under those manning the walls, only to devour them whole. The recently devoured soon stood to join the mass, their eyes glowing the same sickening light.

Aside from the eight, only Erlkin and Gnomes protected the walls. They fought with weapons and with magic, slowly buckling under the tide. The tide of creatures pushed, seeking, hunting for its Master. That which the Sentinel had been created to watch, the hungering horde wanted.

A pillar of blue light burst into the sky. The Pelagiajell had completed her portion of the barrier first. The mass of her body swatted aside the hungering with tendrils of liquid and scythed them down with jets of water. The soldiers fighting alongside her backed up as the pillar of light extended along the walls. The hungering screamed and shouted as they were pushed back and the Jell went with them, smiting the creatures by the dozens.

A red pillar was next. Laughing while in the throes of combat the Drakoren cut down his enemies with lashing tail, razor claws and gouts of flame before also disappearing on the other side of the barrier.

The Galm was the next, smashing the hungering with heavy hammer, supported by bipedal creatures of barely conscious rock that clubbed everything in their way to paste.

The Siren had taken her place in the sky, but she too had her own worries. Rotted winged creatures made their way to the peak of the barrier but were all too easily cut down by blades of wind and small spears of lightning. Her worry was not in defending herself, but in maintaining her position around the keystone and protecting it from harm. As the pillars rose to meet her, so too was she removed from sight.

Next was the champion of light. The Lume had stood alone, great shafts of light from his halo cutting down any of the creatures unlucky enough to scale the walls.

Last was the Erlkin. His talents clearly unsuited to fighting such numbers, he had enjoyed the greatest amount of support of the Erlkin and Gnomish defenders. He and his allies fought hard to the last moment as the pillar flashed and expanded. He spared one look for one of the elder warriors, giving a single nod, and receiving one in turn. Then he too was out of sight as the warriors retreated from the wall.

The pillars all joined as one, creating the dome that would surround Linumbra’s embrace for the following centuries. As the barrier reached completion, the sentinel was pushed fully inside. The surrounding wall of roots had disappeared inside that light, perhaps having been created as the foundation for the great barrier.

At what had been the gate at the forefront of the battle, the warriors rested and gathered. The apparent leader of the Erlkin pulled his helmet forward over his forward swept horns. He turned to face his people, expression grim but triumphant.

“The war is over for us, but the battle is not finished. Sweep our home for any stragglers. When that is done, our new lives can begin.”

The Sentinel drew back to the chamber. So the Erlkin would clean up what remained above, the chamber would need to be guarded in the case that anything was missed. The Sentinel of Linumbra’s Embrace knew its duty.

[If only I could bring that duty to an end.]

Tal found himself jarred out of the dream as the other spoke to him. Released from the memory of something far older than himself, Tal fell deep into slumber.

End Chapter