DOOR & TETHERS ( NIGHTFELL ).

[redsoil]

█ The room in the Shadowlands opens into a ruined, decaying temple in the middle of an eternal desert; pooling dunes and muddied waters form a dark oasis in the center of the fallen sand-and-limestone walls. It is an ancient place amidst red sands, suggestive of a long-forgotten or long-abandoned place. There is a deep sense of loneliness and isolation to it, the carvings upon the walls faded with time -- however, curious eyes will find numerous depictions of Egyptian hieroglyphs featuring iconic tales of the Ennead's history. There are only two rooms actively used in the fallen place; other rooms and former glorious halls are in disrepair, stone ceilings and arches collapsed in upon themselves, impossible to traverse. The entrance room features the muddied oasis, a pool in the center full of impure water and barely-alive water plants and lily flowers, thick brambles and heaps of sand threatening to overtake the only source of life in the cold, dark room. The flicker of torchlight at the far end of the room illuminates a low set of stairs, leading into the second of the two rooms. The second is a personal chamber, within found two windows that look to the east and west, fitted with decaying, tattered linen drapes. A central platform is littered with empty drinking cups, smoldering incense holders and scattered weapons of varying shapes and uses. Scythes, polearms, bows and arrows, blades and gauntlets all drip with what appears to be fresh blood, unpolished and uncleaned -- remnants of a long, storied history of violence. At an alcove in the far wall sits a set of canopic jars, candles and tidy silks decorating an altar to something dead. Below it, upon a low seat of gold and pristine hieroglyphs depicting some degree of rulership rests an elongated, dark mask in the shape of a foreign, unknown animal. The soft keen of a blue-eyed falcon signifies its arrival in the eastern window, but blink and it will be found in the western. The dawn breaks outside in moments, and sets within seconds, chaotic and erratic and without order. The atmosphere is stifling, the heat is both unbearable and so absent that the world freezes in an instant. In the distance -- bitter winds carry the sounds of women's wailing.

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