A Door To Seal Away All Light Lore note · part 5 of 8

I saw the Ancients as a monolith. A web of lights, like stars in the night sky, connected through wisdom and Flame... but they're far more split than I believed.

The "young" Ancients alongside me explained that this Night Sanctum is the creation of their elders, the "empyrian". It predates the Shroud and used to contain a wealth of human knowledge offered as sacrifice, or for trade. Neither Flame nor sunlight can reach, making it perfect for one of our emergency Cinder Vessels. We've rigged the traps to activate after the vessel is filled. Hopefully, that should protect it even as the Shroud fills the valley.

When I trace the constellations on the door, I sense a desperate longing — a pull towards the firmament. I cannot read my fellow traveler's expressions, but their silence betrays them. They feel it, too. A shame I won't see another Night Sanctum so soon. The Ancients speak of an even more hidden haven... deep within the Blackmire, a stretch of land I thought forsaken.

The more I learn, the less I seem to understand...

— Queen Jezmina of Orindell, 509 D.A.