HOME | DD

Description
After a harrowing run through a strange, icy temple, Tenebrae finds herself in a hallway lit with blue-flame torches. She pauses there, panting heavily, sides heaving, as she tries to catch her breath. After a moment, she pads towards the large, ice-encrusted door at the end of the hallway. She searches it, but there are no handles, nothing to indicate how to open it from this side except a string of strange carvings – intricate symbols carved into the stone.

“Nagruk,” she whispers to the talisman on her ankle, “can you help me read this?”

The Spirit’s voice hums in her mind, and then

My body glows with endless light,
Banishing cold and darkest night,
I eat the trees and fear the rain,
Come too close and you will be slain.
What am I?

He translates the riddle for her easily, and she hums in appreciation, silently thanking her guide as she mulls over the riddle. She considers it for a long moment, sharing a look with Achak, watching her from the lantern, and it serves as a good moment to finally even out her breathing from the mad dash through the temple. In that moment, playing over the words of the riddle, Tenebrae’s mind flashes back to the forest, the fire; Aga saving her from it. It had certainly eaten the trees, hadn’t it?

She takes a deep breath and looks over the door. “Fire,” she says, as clearly as possible, bracing herself.

The door simply swings open, inviting her to step through. Tenebrae breathes out a sigh of relief, chuckling nervously and looking at the small spirit in the lantern. “Two for two,” she jokes, padding into the large room on the other side of the door and looking around curiously. The domed roof is huge, and the floors are slick and reflective, like a frozen pond in the deepest part of winter. Her eyes stray to the many doors carved into the wall, but are drawn back by the insistent, fearful tapping on the lantern glass as the lonely little spirit stares ahead.

There before her stands Borga, last seen asleep in the temple above. How did he get here so fast? A sudden rush of fear fills her, but she does not lower her tail submissively, or duck her head to hide from him just yet. Instead, she stands tall, holds tight to the lantern, and watches the ice spirit circle her.

She shivers as his breath washes over her, just as cold as the ice around her. “Aren’t you a clever little thing,” he muses, and she barely allows herself to breathe. “A strong mind is important, tokota, just as important as having a strong body,” he tells her, and she watches him in vague confusion. He seems almost…Proud? How strange, she thinks, and refuses to flinch away as he approaches. “Take this, and be proud of your strengths,” he commands, setting a treasure box before her, watching closely as she stows it away with the rest of her things.

He nods, then, and looks towards the doors. “Now go, take that spirit to Meelanik and hope that it sates his hunger. Remember your strong mind,” he growls the warning, stepping close enough that she can almost feel the cold burn of his fur, “and make the smart decision. Fire is not the only thing that can kill you, clever thing.”

Tenebrae breathes out and says nothing, carefully creeping around the ice spirit as he watches her. She glances briefly at the stone tunnel, knowing that it must lead to Aippaq’s shrine, to the final choice she knows she will have to make, and she’s tempted – so, so tempted to have this journey done, but.

She looks down at the lonely spirit staring back at her through the glass and allows herself to be drawn towards the water, stepping into it.

Description
After a harrowing run through a strange, icy temple, Tenebrae finds herself in a hallway lit with blue-flame torches. She pauses there, panting heavily, sides heaving, as she tries to catch her breath. After a moment, she pads towards the large, ice-encrusted door at the end of the hallway. She searches it, but there are no handles, nothing to indicate how to open it from this side except a string of strange carvings – intricate symbols carved into the stone.

“Nagruk,” she whispers to the talisman on her ankle, “can you help me read this?”

The Spirit’s voice hums in her mind, and then

My body glows with endless light,
Banishing cold and darkest night,
I eat the trees and fear the rain,
Come too close and you will be slain.
What am I?

He translates the riddle for her easily, and she hums in appreciation, silently thanking her guide as she mulls over the riddle. She considers it for a long moment, sharing a look with Achak, watching her from the lantern, and it serves as a good moment to finally even out her breathing from the mad dash through the temple. In that moment, playing over the words of the riddle, Tenebrae’s mind flashes back to the forest, the fire; Aga saving her from it. It had certainly eaten the trees, hadn’t it?

She takes a deep breath and looks over the door. “Fire,” she says, as clearly as possible, bracing herself.

The door simply swings open, inviting her to step through. Tenebrae breathes out a sigh of relief, chuckling nervously and looking at the small spirit in the lantern. “Two for two,” she jokes, padding into the large room on the other side of the door and looking around curiously. The domed roof is huge, and the floors are slick and reflective, like a frozen pond in the deepest part of winter. Her eyes stray to the many doors carved into the wall, but are drawn back by the insistent, fearful tapping on the lantern glass as the lonely little spirit stares ahead.

There before her stands Borga, last seen asleep in the temple above. How did he get here so fast? A sudden rush of fear fills her, but she does not lower her tail submissively, or duck her head to hide from him just yet. Instead, she stands tall, holds tight to the lantern, and watches the ice spirit circle her.

She shivers as his breath washes over her, just as cold as the ice around her. “Aren’t you a clever little thing,” he muses, and she barely allows herself to breathe. “A strong mind is important, tokota, just as important as having a strong body,” he tells her, and she watches him in vague confusion. He seems almost…Proud? How strange, she thinks, and refuses to flinch away as he approaches. “Take this, and be proud of your strengths,” he commands, setting a treasure box before her, watching closely as she stows it away with the rest of her things.

He nods, then, and looks towards the doors. “Now go, take that spirit to Meelanik and hope that it sates his hunger. Remember your strong mind,” he growls the warning, stepping close enough that she can almost feel the cold burn of his fur, “and make the smart decision. Fire is not the only thing that can kill you, clever thing.”

Tenebrae breathes out and says nothing, carefully creeping around the ice spirit as he watches her. She glances briefly at the stone tunnel, knowing that it must lead to Aippaq’s shrine, to the final choice she knows she will have to make, and she’s tempted – so, so tempted to have this journey done, but.

She looks down at the lonely spirit staring back at her through the glass and allows herself to be drawn towards the water, stepping into it.