The Guardians

And then in crimson came the sign
As branches danced with winds entwined
Twelve silent figures in the dawn
Temer did know that hope was gone

- Reshe, Armageddon

No one knows for certain who made the Guardians of Huatari, red-robed statues that appear seemingly at random, but most believe it was the mysterious civilization that modern peoples call the Voiceless.
Only scattered tribes live in the region known as Huatari, but there are crumbled clues that this was not always so. Bits of tumbled walls and foundations, unidentifiable metal implements, and eroded reliefs in cliff sides all point to a once great civilization. No evidence is more compelling than the Guardians, but no one can direct pilgrims to the elusive figures, for they have rarely been seen in the same place twice and no one knows where--or even if--they exist outside of these sightings. It must be said that calling them a landmark is a bit of a stretch, though it is also true that the statues have never been spotted outside Huatari.
What is generally known among the local tribes is that at least some of the time when the Guardians appear it means imminent danger. In such moments they seem to come as a warning, presaging disastrous events large and small. They come in multiples of three. The most ever reported in one place was nine. It is theorized that the number correlates to the size of the danger. (See Sidebar) Reports range from nine arranged along the beach just before a deadly tsunami to three surrounding a toddler who had wandered away from camp and toward a nearby pack of predators.
However, many times they have materialized and disappeared without any obvious calamity to accompany them. Locals take this as a very ill omen, indeed, for they dread the repercussions of perils that they presume have occurred unseen.

---

The Time Guards sculpture is by Manfred Kielnhofer

Armageddon

A popular epic penned by the bard Reshe spins a tale of the final appearance of the Guardians. In it, there are twelve in one place and they speak for the first time in living memory just before the end of the world comes in fire and wind. Professional prophets scoff at the idea that the song is anything other than a tragic fantasy from the mind of a frivolous entertainer.