The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

The library in Kruxol was mostly bereft of books, after the town was demolished by the draugr hordes. Paint was peeling off the building's white walls. However, Crucis saw that a few new NPCs had appeared, sitting on tattered couches across the left wall of the building. He guessed that there were probably travelling NPCs, who typically settle down a short time in small towns and then move on. They were used to give small towns a sense of life, instead of programming unique NPCs for each town. They were typically quite knowledgeable about the surrounding areas, and often gave quests nearby or shared local mythology or information.

Crucis walked up to one of these NPCs, an old man named [Sage Duom], who was wearing a thick black shirt and matching pants in a way that looked like a religious garb. The man's hair was jet-black with traces of grey around the edges, and his features were sharp but calm.

"Hello," said Duom, "Don't be put off by the fancy 'sage' title, I am mostly an expert in the mythology and legends of this nation. I have learned a lot from visiting Kruxol, it has a long and storied history. I came across several interesting sights while I was on my way here, would you like to know about them? Or perhaps you would like to ask a question about the mythology, traditions and language of this nation, the Kingdom of Invichokra?"

Crucis noticed that this man's pronunciation of 'Kruxol' was very different from the way that he and most other players pronounced it, so he asked the man to explain the pronunciation of Kruxol.

"Ah, yes," said Duom, "Many travellers aren't familiar with the local language, and it can be quite different from the languages that they speak. Although this town's name is written as 'Kruxol' in your language, that is a limited transliteration that doesn't fully capture the original word, because our language uses sounds that might not have a direct equivalent in other languages. I can explain the pronunciation of this town's name, if you are interested in knowing more."

"Sure," replied Crucis, who was curious about this. He reflected that it might also be useful knowledge for the [Spy] sub-class, which he had decided to join once he had trained his light sword abilities.

"The letter designated as 'x' in 'Kruxol' is actually a representation of a compound letter in our language which is pronounced more like 'hy-s,' as in 'Kru-hy-sol.' I have been told that the 'h' sound is more like a Spanish 'gi' or Russian 'x' than an English 'h,' it is a deeper sound from the throat rather than a normal letter. When pronouncing the 'hy,' your tongue should be placed just above the back of your upper teeth, and should rise across the top of your mouth as you say it. The 's' sound is a soft 's,' where your tongue should return between your teeth. It sounds a bit like 'kruj' in some European languages, if you are familiar with this."

Crucis attempted to pronounce this a couple of times, and Duom told him that his pronunciation was close to the mark.

"Our pronunciation of the 'k' is also slightly more like an 'h,' it sounds like a soft hissed 'kh' that has faded into a 'h' sound as in 'hunt.' Your tongue should be in the middle of the mouth and lowered slightly towards the tip, and then move to press clearly against the top of the lower teeth and brush the lower lip, as you exhale in a slightly hissing sound from the throat that flows below the tongue. It sounds a lot like the 'h' sound."

Crucis tried to approximate this with the 'h' sound that begins the Russian name хрущёв, Anglicised as 'Khrushchev,' but adding a slight 'kh' sound that he sometimes used to explain when Westerners asked who 'hrooshchyoff' is. While Nikita Khrushchev had been an old leader, the Cold War was still a subject of banter in the West, owing in part to their continual attempts to reignite it.

Duom said that this was a good first attempt, and most people would understand his meaning, but he should be more precise. Crucis tried a few more times, paying more attention to the tongue position, until Duom told him that it was satisfactory.

"Finally, the 'ol' at the end is quite flat, and sounds a bit like 'all' or 'call,' or a slightly abridged version of the Russian 'ол'. You seem to be fine with that already.

"The nation of 'Invichokra' is not pronounced with a 'krah' sound, that is actually a hissed sound that sounds similar to 'khrruh' or 'khrr.' Your tongue begins low and along the bottom of your mouth, rising towards the tip, behind your bottom teeth. This then stays behind the teeth, but you exhale from the throat and below the teeth, while the tongue tip should collide with the the lower teeth at the middle of their height, and the lower tongue should roll 'r' against the bottom of the teeth. This is a fairly rare, and slightly archaic character, not used often in modern words, but it is maintained in the nation's name out of a sense of pride in our traditions and history. The 'I' at the start of the name sounds like an 'ei' sound, it it is almost silent. It occurs with your tongue pointing upwards near the lower teeth, then moving down - as if giving way - to begin the 'n' sound that actually starts the word. Hence, 'Nvi' is more akin to the start of the word. The 'o' is more akin to a flat 'o,' like in 'box,' but slightly longer. The 'ch' is like in 'vichy,' not 'chore.'"

Crucis was surprised by the harshness of the sudden 'kr' sound, but found the rest of the word easier to pronounce, and found it easier to think of it as '(ei)nvichokhrr.' Thanking the NPC for his explanation, Crucis asked about what the NPC had seen on his way to Kruxol, taking care with the pronunciation.

"Nearby, the towns of Sanra and Kaxil can be found," explained Duom, "and the nearest city is Satuor to the North of Sanra."

Crucis paid attention to the pronunciation of these locations, and made out that 'Sanra' sounded like 'Saa-hnn-rah,' and Kaxil was similar to Kruxol but sounded more like a cross of 'hassle' and 'Cahill.' 'Satuor' sounded more like 'Saa-h-thh-or,' with a long, low 'th' sound. From this, he concluded that 'Duom' was probably pronounced with a slightly long, low 'dh' sound emerging into an 'om' as in 'CD-ROM.' He asked if this pronunciation was about right, and Duom nodded in the affirmative.

"On my way from Sanra," Duom continued, "I explored some of the area North of Kruxol, and found a large waterfall which seemed to attract magical sprites. I am not sure why they all assemble there, perhaps there are magical materials nearby. A gang of thieves has a hideout further to the North, if you go off-path on the journey to Satuor. I saw a few rare birds far East of Kruxol, on the long path towards the city of Invichotuor. There are many powerful creatures there, be careful!

"There is seemingly a Temple to the South of Kruxol, but the guards are a vicious lot and only allow Mages in. The woods below that are strange: there is a cottage where new players go to learn valuable skills, but a long way to the West is an almost identical cottage which is deserted, and is clearly built to look the same as the other one. I didn't enter, but this second cottage seemed to be abandoned, and I'm not sure who decided to build it. It is a bit unsettling.

"The ruins of the town of Neikr are to the West, slightly South. There are still a few broken statues and remnants of the town, and I have heard myths that there may be an underground area where desperate residents tried to escape in the town's last days. The town was relegated to stage 0 by the legendary Undead Dragon, and now it is reduced to ruins. Currently, there does not seem to be any way to enter this underground segment, but perhaps you can find signs of it. Finally, the Fountain of Gold is found on a hill to the West of Sanra, it is an ancient construction that is occasionally relaid with gold mined from the hills near Sanra. Around it are several strange runes, which represent an ancient language, and these runes seem to summon several strange undead creatures nearby. It is not clear what their mystery is."

Crucis took careful note of these locations. Since Duom specified that the town of Neikr or Nkr, pronounced with the same 'i/ei' and 'khrr' sounds as Invichokra, had an underground area that could not yet be accessed, Crucis guessed that this would probably be relevant to a future world event where this underground area may become accessible. It might hence be worth familiarising himself with the site of Neikr, so that he might have some idea of possible ways that the underground area could open in the future. The Fountain of Gold might also be important to world events, but Duom had spoken of runes whose mystery was unknown, and hence it was possible that he could gain some rewards by investigating it already.

He decided that Cael should try to explore the Fountain of Gold and the magical waterfall, since these locations with mysterious magic and runes seemed most likely to be useful for a Mage. However, reaching these locations might be difficult at present, since wandering in the wild was unsafe and likely to end painfully. More practically for now, Crucis' interest was piqued by the counterfeit cottage in the woods to the South. He decided that he could try to pay this a visit, once he had the time. He mused half-seriously that perhaps he should let his training partners die again so that he could explore while waiting.

He thanked Duom, and turned towards the large, mostly empty bookshelves of the library. Seeking among the few books left, Crucis found that they were mostly about local subjects and the surroundings of Kruxol. While the books about surrounding flora and fauna, or the architecture of Kruxol, sounded interesting, Crucis tried to focus on finding books related to the places of interest that he had gleaned from Duom's description. He found three, with the following titles: 'The Fountain of Gold,' 'Tragedy of Neikr,' and 'The Wrath of the Undead Dragon.' He got the sense that this Undead Dragon would probably reappear in some world events later, and wondered if it was related to Níðhöggr. It had clearly been used during the testing period, when Neikr was probably used to test the effect of downgrading a town to level 0, but the creature was frequently mentioned and was clearly meant to mean something to players. It would probably be an important part of a future world event plotline, and Crucis decided to try and figure out if he could use the books on this dragon to find possible ways to trigger a world event.

However, he did not have the time for that now, and so he decided to focus on the text named 'The Fountain of Gold.' Looking through it, his eye was drawn to a strangely-drawn image of a rune, which seemed to look like the Russian letter ж, but had two lines - the ones going diagonally up on the left and right - extended out and curved until they looked like wings, and with two dots along both sides of each line. He could feel that, in this world, a faint power seemed to radiate from this symbol, and when he held the book open to the page with this symbol the world around it seemed darker, emptier and less coloured. This seemed like something that might help the [Necromancer] sub-class, but he still figured that Cael could find some use for such things. He decided that investigating the Fountain should be a priority, as soon as possible.

Leafing through the book hurriedly, since he would soon have to return to the [Kruxol Sword Training] building, he found that the Fountain was said to be a tribute to an ancient culture's God of creation and life, named Phanes. This deity was no longer worshipped, yet a few monuments to ancient religions still persisted. The Fountain was decorated with runes that were said to have magical properties which could heal a human being or even give them supernatural powers. However, after a few years, the Fountain was overrun with the undead, and offerings to the deity ceased. These undead were more powerful than most, and it is speculated that this is either due to the power of the runes or due to the assistance of the Undead Dragon who ravaged nearby towns. Over time, the undead became slightly more sparse, but it is still a dangerous area and ordinary citizens do not go there now.

The name 'Fountain of Gold' is based on the construction's original name, which could be more accurately rendered as 'Water-fount of Dawn's Brightest Gold.' Based on the niceties of the ancient language, this name suggests that the fountain was at one time a resplendent monument which would glow brightly in sunlight and light up the hillside at dawn. However, by now the gold had dulled and much of it had been chipped away by the undead, but some was still preserved by the undead who seemed to still treat the location as a mystical source of power. Over the winter period, the Fountain would be visited by demilich, powerful skeletal Mages of level 200 and higher, before these used magic to fly back to their home in the Northern mountains. The ordinary lich would appear in the area throughout the year, along with other undead. The power of the runes is also rumoured to lead to a few types of undead who rarely appear elsewhere, such as the [Ash Fiend], a humanoid being that perpetually burns in a magical fire that does not seem to burn out easily near the runes. These creatures stay within a certain radius of the Fountain, and will generally not attack humans unless people intrude near the Fountain.

Crucis knew that going to the Fountain would be dangerous, due to the quantity of undead nearby. If he approached the fountain, then he would probably not survive at the moment. Once winter came, a mass of demilich would emerge, and it was autumn now. This meant that approaching this area safely would be difficult in the immediate future, especially for the slower Cael. He would have to look for ways to journey there and investigate the runes, but at present it did not seem feasible.

Soon, he received a notification in his system messages, saying:

[Please report to Hiroto for the next phase of your sword training.]

He got up and quickly left for the [Kruxol Sword Training] building.