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Inside and Outside
Jun. 12th, 2005 06:41 pmBlackness pressed frighteningly against the lamplight as he walked through the vast caverns around him. Though many had spoken of the wonders of this vast darkness beneath the surface of the world, none had been able to convey the sheer weight of the world above, or the feeling of walking through an open space that has so enormous and yet so close. Around every corner was a new conder. After so long in pressing darkness, his eyes would burn on the rare, magical vista with light.
Some were rooms full of vague purple phosphorescence, hues of blue and green peaking through the rocks whose properties he could not begin to fathom. The light was dim, and his experiences with such rooms were that the aspects of the rock, whether magical or mundane, seemed to attract frightening creatures of shapes the likes of which those on the surface could never have imagine. One such room, he recalled, the glow had actually come from the animals, their many eyes on stalks that turned to look at any movement. He feared for his life that day, but the entities had not attacked, and he had left quickly before they changed their minds. Even now, he sometimes wondered if that had been many creatures or but a single, but he would never know. Another time, the glow had come from soft moss, and so curious was he that he tried to gather some with the end of his walking staff, only to have the bit of the staff that touched these plants dissolve away as if it had never been. After that, he didn't attempt to prod anything he encountered.
Sometimes, dazzling light followed water down, reflecting on quartz and crystal down miles of the underground river, before finding an open room, the water pouring down as a water fall, the light, so far from it's origin, dazzling as it found every reflective surface in the cavern, a multitude of facets normally invisible in the lightless depths. That room had been one of the only safe places he had encountered in all his time in these normally lightless depths, for the creatures of this realm found such brightness to be unbearable, and so avoided that room and it's dangers. He had spent many days studying it before deciding it was safe, for his many ventures throughout these realms had shown that things were rarely as they seemed, but ultimately he could find no threat at all, and he spent many days safe in that astounding locale, studying in detail the surrounding areas.
There had been one time, a while ago now, when he had come across a room illuminated by the red of fire, but not flames as he knew them, for they required no wood. Instead, molten fire flowed through channels etched deeply into the cavern floors, and flowed through runnels on the walls. In flickering shades of deep red, the room appeared to be melting. So enthralled was he at first that he hardly realized the potential danger of such a room, for only slowly as he walked through did he realize how very hot the room was, and that he could see no exit from it other than the one he had used. The molten fire moved slowly, being very viscous, but it was still only luck that kept him alive that day, for the fire sought to block his only clear exit. He had been happy to leave that room behind, for all it's wonder, and feared what would happen if another such fireway crossed his path.
Many years he had travelled under the ground, and he hoped to one day return to show others of the wonders he meticulously copied down in his diary. Until then, though, he would continue to wander, always trying to delve deeper, hoping to find more places where no man had ever trod before.
Some were rooms full of vague purple phosphorescence, hues of blue and green peaking through the rocks whose properties he could not begin to fathom. The light was dim, and his experiences with such rooms were that the aspects of the rock, whether magical or mundane, seemed to attract frightening creatures of shapes the likes of which those on the surface could never have imagine. One such room, he recalled, the glow had actually come from the animals, their many eyes on stalks that turned to look at any movement. He feared for his life that day, but the entities had not attacked, and he had left quickly before they changed their minds. Even now, he sometimes wondered if that had been many creatures or but a single, but he would never know. Another time, the glow had come from soft moss, and so curious was he that he tried to gather some with the end of his walking staff, only to have the bit of the staff that touched these plants dissolve away as if it had never been. After that, he didn't attempt to prod anything he encountered.
Sometimes, dazzling light followed water down, reflecting on quartz and crystal down miles of the underground river, before finding an open room, the water pouring down as a water fall, the light, so far from it's origin, dazzling as it found every reflective surface in the cavern, a multitude of facets normally invisible in the lightless depths. That room had been one of the only safe places he had encountered in all his time in these normally lightless depths, for the creatures of this realm found such brightness to be unbearable, and so avoided that room and it's dangers. He had spent many days studying it before deciding it was safe, for his many ventures throughout these realms had shown that things were rarely as they seemed, but ultimately he could find no threat at all, and he spent many days safe in that astounding locale, studying in detail the surrounding areas.
There had been one time, a while ago now, when he had come across a room illuminated by the red of fire, but not flames as he knew them, for they required no wood. Instead, molten fire flowed through channels etched deeply into the cavern floors, and flowed through runnels on the walls. In flickering shades of deep red, the room appeared to be melting. So enthralled was he at first that he hardly realized the potential danger of such a room, for only slowly as he walked through did he realize how very hot the room was, and that he could see no exit from it other than the one he had used. The molten fire moved slowly, being very viscous, but it was still only luck that kept him alive that day, for the fire sought to block his only clear exit. He had been happy to leave that room behind, for all it's wonder, and feared what would happen if another such fireway crossed his path.
Many years he had travelled under the ground, and he hoped to one day return to show others of the wonders he meticulously copied down in his diary. Until then, though, he would continue to wander, always trying to delve deeper, hoping to find more places where no man had ever trod before.
