The City That Burned, The Fleet That Unburns

[PtahWithin 1320]

Shapes writhed, and the world died.

 

Ptah Remneal began again, building the universe part by part. A castle there, a cavern here, and canyons. The grey-haired scholar liked canyons. They were like the maws of the earth, chomping at the sky greedily. Nodding, Ptah painted the sky a vivid yellow, adorning the peak of his reality with a great silver chandilier to take the place of the sun.

 

The scholar, confined to his mind as his body lay in a coma, had been experimenting with a variant of illusionism, a perception magic that allowed one to alter what oneself hears, sees and feels. It was the only way he could cope with being in such an inert state. But it was more than a way to pass the time: Ptah was on the verge of something powerful.

 

Ptah spoke the ambiguous language of dreams, and the world fluttered apart again. He imagined himself sitting cross-legged in formless darkness which was not black, but the kind of darkness one sees when you press a finger on one's own closed eyes. In static silence, he concentrated.

 

Ptah had reasoned that perhaps the magic could be pushed to a different use. The idea was to use the structure of the magic to force his mind to give him an idea, based on a set of inputs. Ptah chose those inputs to be all his memories of his life, and see what revelation would emerge from that. He did not hope for some grand philosophical inspiration, but wanted to see what the limits of the magic were.

 

So he did so, recalling every image he had ever seen. His childhood in Aegis, his service, his wandering, his leadership and up until his coma. Brimming with the colors and forms of uncountable spaces and times, he breathed it out into the nonblack darkness as a colored mist. Bringing his hands up to circle the cloud, he focused into it...

 

The first thing he perceived was the smell of salty air. An ocean formed before him, his feet felt masonry. Ptah was on a long wall that wrapped around a coast. The night sky churned overhead, the stars whispering their lights meekly. A lighthouse connected to the wall nearby, but it was not the only light.

 

Across the water to the left was a grand city, glorious... and burning. The fire reared towards the night sky, obscuring the stars in the dark spit of ash and smoke. It was horrifying, and Ptah could not explain why. He stood there, transfixed for what must have been hours. Ptah narrowed his eyes, looking to see what remained of the city as the smoke began to clear.

 

The city was untouched. Its houses stood resolute as the fire licked uselessly at it, its banners raised high.

 

Banners...

 

Ptah turned to the great ocean in front of him, away from the city. A fleet of ships, made out of ash, was heading towards him from the distance. Red lines appeared on their hulls, and its grey crew had their eyes turn to embers.

 

Then, the fleet erupted into orange flame. The fire consumed the ashes, leaving behind wooden hulls, rope, sails, and crew of flesh and blood. The fleet, unburning, continued towards the shore, towards Ptah. Even at such a distance, Ptah looked at the color and make of the sails, and he gasped, sauntering a foot upon the rampants to peer closer, to be certain that he was not wrong.

 

His King was coming.

 

[Evilbanana5757 154]

((...mysterious...))

[Samson Option 9652]

((PtahWithin for Nation Leader 2014))

[Pinsir99 526]

((OH I KNOW WHATS HAPPENING. *SQUEEEEEE*))

[Hazia 29]

(( [4.0 intensification intensifies] ))

[Hanrahan 2983]

Charles thought Ptah was lost to the realm of James Brown.

[_pok_ 1768]

Hail Ozymandias, King of Kings.

 

[Birdwhisperer 1174]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.