~Ward of the Watchers~
One day in my travels, I came upon a strange building. T'was a cylinder, shining like a new silver coin in the sun. From it emerged two cloaked figures who seemed to float rather than walk upon the ground. I saw not their features, only glowing red eyes.
The two figures spoke to me, and whilst t'was no language I had ever heard, yet did I understand them. They bade me join them in their ship. T'was no seaport in sight, but they guided me into the silver cylinder.
I entered the cylinder and found myself in a chamber easily as large as this hall. *gesturing* T'was impossible, I knew, yet I saw it. There were shelves covered with flickering colored orbs along all the walls, and I saw several doors leading out, though I had seen no other openings on the outside of the cylinder. I was sore afraid that I might have hit my head, or been enchanted some way, but I was thirsting for new knowledge, and understood that here was a magic I had never envisioned. I allowed them to seal the door behind me whilst I examined the colored orbs, seeing strange characters writ among them.
They spoke unto me yet again, telling me that they were called Watchers. They spoke things to me that were unbelievable, yet something within me told me to heed them. They spoke of being born before the birth of time itself, and of seeing the creation of the universe. They spoke of travelling among the stars, and of crossing the boundaroes of time. I watched as they moved levers among the orbs, and some glowed brighter, and others dimmed, and I heard the sound of bells and of whistles.
After a long time, they spoke unto me again, saying that we had arrived. I understood not, for we had never left the cylinder, but when they opened the door, we stepped out into a place I had never seen. We were in a busy city. The air held the sharp salt tang of the sea, and there was the calling of sea birds. I saw multitudes of people of many races, though mostly of the Elven races, milling through streets lined with temples, merchants stalls, and taverns. In the distance I could see the towers of a great castle.
We walked through the streets, and the sea of people parted for my companions, who seemed well known there. They took me to the castle gates, where many were applying for audiences. We waited not, but were admitted forthwith, and didst enter into the Great Hall of a glittering palace. The floor was tiled in a mosaic of a great dragon, the walls of polished white marble. Everywhere were silk hangings and golden figures. I was dazzled by the opulence.
We were taken to an audience chamber by a Dwarvish footman. The chamber had a raised dais with a golden throne, and no other furnishings. The one of my companions who I believed to be male seemed unusually at ease, and even joked with the servants as we passed. I was overwhelmed, but determined to learn all I could. Soon, a king entered the chamber. The King asked my name and lineage, which I told unto him, though I confess my tongue felt as wool in my mouth so unused was I to any company, least of all that of such a royal personage since I left my father's court.
I remember little of the conversation, so dazzled was I, but I remember most clearly when the wise and kindly kind did of a sudden leave his throne and transform into the largest gold dragon I had ever imagined, much less seen. He gave unto me a pendant, which he said would summon his aid if ever I had need. I have it still, though I rarely wear it now.
We departed the castle after a bit longer, having taken refreshment with the dragon in his Great Hall. We went then to a nearby temple, where there were chapels dedicated to truly hundreds of deities of the many races, all within one massive structure. They took me through the aisles of this place, and I saw statues to gods I had never heard of. Finally, as evening drew nigh, we retired to a local tavern for the night.
The following morning, I awoke convinced that the experience had been a dream brought on by some sort of bad food. Then I was fully awake, and knew it was not so. I was in the common room of a large city tavern, and the servers were already filling trenchers with bread and meat for breakfast. We breakfasted, then my cloaked companions guided me back to the waiting silver cylinder. We entered the impossibly large chamber within, and they sealed the door once again.
I had thought it impossible that a chamber should be so many times larger than the structure which held it, and had determined to learn that magic, but I was far unprepared for what followed. They offered to give me a tour of the ship. I had seen a seaport in the city, and thought sure we would travel there, but instead they opened a door in the far wall of the chamber, and led me into a long corridor, which extended out of sight in each direction. The cylinder had seemed hardly large enough to hold three people, but here was a corridor within it so long I could see no ends. Every ten feet or so along its length was a door on each side of the corridor as well. Truly this was a great magic, which I yearned to learn. I was permitted to explore this corridor, and most doors I tried were unlocked. All were oddly shaped, the corners not quite square, but in a manner I could not quite see except through the corner of my eye. Each chamber I found was in itself too large to be held withing the silver cylinder I had first seen, yet I knew I had not gone out from the structure.
I found libraries filled with many odd books in more sizes and languages than I had ever imagined. I found rooms with great walls which seemed at first to be tapestries, then revealed themselves to be more magic, paintings which moved with the very colors and lines of a view through a window, save that they were scenes I had never conceived. I found a menagerie with thousands (truly, I exaggerate not!) of creatures from lands too far to ever dream of visiting, yet all gathered in one place. T'was almost more than my mind could absorb.
Wast some hours before they led me to one door in particular, which led not to a chamber, but to another impossibly long corridor. They showed me to one which they said was my bedchamber, and I entered. The cloaked one who I believed to be female spoke a word, and the room filled with soft light as of a springtime morn. Another word, and the temperature within went from the cold of midwinter to the warmth of midsummer's eve. T'was more powerful magic, and I knew these people must be greatly blessed by the Mother. I passed a night in that chamber, though I felt distanced from the Mother there, where I saw not the stars and heard not the creatures of the night. I was unsure of the hour when the female Watcher came to fetch me to the chamber where I had first entered.
For many days and nights I travelled with these people who called themselves Watchers, for that is all I can call the magic they worked. We mounted no horse nor boarded ship, yet each day we stepped from that silver cylinder into a new and fantastic landscape. In those days that we moved from place to place, I met many strange folk. I was blessed by opportunities to speak with dragons and centaurs, pixies and vampiles. I seemed to absorb much more learning that I ever had before, and t'was a great wonderment how many spells and potions I saw. In a very short time, I found myself able to speak fluently many languages I knew not before I met these folk. I could explain it not, save as a great and humbling blessing of the Mother.
I remained with these folk for nearly a year, though t'was difficult to be sure, for they made good their claim to cross the bounds of time, and we visited times as well as places. Thus did I discover the unusually powerful wands we sometimes see in the Castle of late. I have even weilded such a wand, but the destruction they bring makes Nature cry out, and so I use them not any longer. T'was among these folk as well that I received the gift of Healing, having formerly depended on my training with herbs and salves to heal. I discovered one morn that I had the gift of mental speech, as well. I still discover new powers from time to time, and the wonderment never diminishes.
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