Guided by the Storykeeper
...As you enter the darkened chamber your skin changes colour, from pale purple to a darker navy hue, adapting to keep you warm as the temperature drops. You wrap your arms around yourself, the light robes you arrived in doing nothing to keep you warm, but at least your boots are sturdy and have some thickness to them.
You can't see much more than a few feet in front of you, but already in the gloom you can make out curious shapes and objects. Surely the answer has to be here somewhere. It must...
The old Vellikkian who led you down here smiles as they tap on a nearby Light Stone, casting out a rich orange glow and finally allowing you to see your surroundings.
"Welcome To The Story Vault"
the old Vellikkian says, swinging one arm out wide in a welcoming gesture. "Take your time, look around. It has been a long journey for you to reach us, and I have no doubt it will be but the first of many. So take the time while you have it."
They let out a happy sigh as they begin to lead you past wall paintings, carvings, with stacks of slates and parchments and papers piled high in front of them. Some walls are covered in shelves that have boxes and containers carefully labelled, while others seem to have just been dumped. Perhaps they were dumped there
"I have been here since my Path Choosing, and even now as a Storykeeper here it takes my breath away."
"I know you came here for a reason," they say, a spark lighting up their wrinkled face, and making their silver hair sparkle. "But it seems a shame for you to come so far and not see some of the marvels we have here? Perhaps you could humour me and allow me to show you some of my favourite areas? I promise they are not far out of our way and I think you'll be glad to see them."
At your acquiesence their grin grows wider and you feel certain you made the right decision. That is, until they speak the words, "First stop on our tour;
"The Vellich World View"
This is nothing you haven't seen before. You were taught as a child how to draw it and the idea of looking at another depiction of you doesn't sound like an aforementioned marvel.
But you follow as the Storykeeper leads you along a winding corridor and find yourself standing in a large cave with a mosaic floor and hundreds of tiny lights embedded in the rough ceiling like stars.
The mosaic is beautiful.
Thousands of deep blue tiles make up the background, with the circle of the known world, the lines through the middle of it and the diamond representing the mountains and the ocean all represented in golds, silvers, whites and yellows. The inlays of the ocean are in shades of light blue and the mountain in light green, with the creatures and plants picked out in multicoloured detail.
"Stories"
the old Vellikkian says, "are at the heart of Vellich culture, as you well know." You are following them down yet another corridor, this one narrower than the last, but with some truly lovely paintings depicting different folk stories you are familiar with.
"Which is why this is one of my favourite areas in the Vault."
The Storykeeper draws back a curtain, and reveals a large oval-shaped room whose walls reach up far higher than you can see. The walls of the room are lined with deepset bookshelves which are filled with books and papers and parchments. The bookshelves tower as high as the walls, and you can see several long ladders, both wooden and rope in nature, at various points.
In the middle of the room, and providing both the light and the heat, is a fire pit in the old style, with large flat well-worn stones around the outside of it.
"We keep it lit at all times," the Storykeeper answers before you get a chance to ask the question. "Would you like to sit and read for a moment? Or perhaps I could tell you one? It's been a while since I've had the opportunity... But I know that you are here for a reason, and humouring me isn't part of it."
The Vellikkian smiles and gestures with the tilt of their head towards another curtain at the back of the room. "Come, you should have plenty of time to return later. Only a few more stops, I promise."
"Nature"
they continued, "is one of the defining features of our World View. Sometimes people ignore the details. The trees and algae, the water creatures and the land animals, they are all essential to our known world."
The corridor opens up into a large hall, which resembles the feasting hall you know from your home village, but on a far greater scale than you have ever seen. And rather than lots of long tables there is a single enormous circular table with something painted onto it. As you get closer, you realise what you're looking at.
"This is Vellikka," your guide confirms, lovingly running a hand over the table and you notice that it is partially carved, giving the mountain ranges an extra dimension.
They point out the Story Vault, the village you have travelled from, and then point at a settlement marked just south of the central mountain range. "This is, of course, The Vell, the first ever town. And this," they run a finger a long the southern coastline, "is the Laykan Bay, where The Sweet Vale Winds occur every year."
"The Spirits"
"Which is why you are here," the Storykeeper says, as though remembering themself. "I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me. We don't get a lot of visitors, and sometimes I lose myself."
"This way," they say, as they lead you through yet another tunnel which tilts upwards. "This is the way to our Place of Spirits. I don't know that it holds the answers that you're looking for, but I do not think your journey has been a waste."
It looks as though you are coming to a deadend, until the wall splits in two. Your body flushes a lime green as you step into the warmer environment, a large open space with glass windows at least 30 ft high, overlooking a river. In front of the windows is a long metal bench.
"For the last several days," the old Storykeeper explains, "this image has appeared on the window. At first we thought it was a mark of some kind, but this is no reflection."
Beautiful formatting. I love the way this article is written. It very much makes me curious to learn so much more.
Thank you so much! <3