A voice called from the darkness, its echo weaving through the air like a haunting melody, accompanied by a thousand whispers from five unseen mouths. A soft, cold breeze slithered through the hall. The chamber, encased in solid concrete, was adorned with a peculiar pool brimming with black water. Steps from the pool extended like reaching fingers, leading to a carpet-like floor adorned with meticulously placed black and white pebbles. Gazing upwards, are eighteen pillars encircling the small hall, each bearing a unique statue of the enigmatic goddess Diniir.
In the midst of this eerie setting, five mysterious beings sat, shrouded in long, flowing black garments that concealed their forms and faces from any prying eyes, even the most piercing light.
These enigmatic beings were known as the Trinity, whispered to have witnessed the first war and the presence of the goddess Diniir during her days on Alantus. They embodied the essence of life and death, five separate individuals fused into one existence, sharing a single eye, mind, and life—the firstborn of chaos.
Lumark a young Norg with pale blue skin, silver eyes and hair of wheat watched them from a corner of the hall, conflicted to approach them over the long hours he had watched them hoping they would move.
In the current age, the Trinity served as oracles to the goddess Diniir, bearing unparalleled wisdom, vision, and an uncanny ability to manipulate chaos. Legends painted them as seers with the power to perceive through the eyes of every living creature on Alantus—the Norgs, Oreahs, and even the outlanders known as Deblantas. Their perception, however, was a subject of fear and reverence, as some believed them to be sanctified forces while others dreaded their eerie presence. The truth, as always, remained veiled in uncertainty.
Amidst the cold winds, a solitary blue flame flickered on the palm of one of the statues, casting eerie shadows across the hall. Stranger still, the water in the pool defied gravity, floating weightlessly in the air. Suddenly, as if pulled by an invisible force, the Trinity levitated in unison, their movements seamless and otherworldly. Lumark, his heart pounding in his chest, could only stare in paralyzed awe. The room fell into an eerie silence; even the winds seemed to hold their breath.
As the Trinity slowly turned their faceless forms towards Lumark, an overwhelming sense of terror seized him. In an instant, as fast as an eye could blink, he was sitting in the hall, on the carpet floor looking up at the Trinity. Then, the flickering flame extinguished, plunging the hall into darkness. Lumark's instinctive response was to shut his eyes, hoping to escape the nightmarish scene unfolding before him when he opens them.
Yet, no sooner had he closed his eyes than an unsettling siren pierced the air, cutting through the silence like a wailing banshee. The sound was unbearable, a cacophony of torment. Lumark writhed in pain, his hands frantically covering his ears, trying to block out the haunting sound. Just as suddenly as it began, the siren ceased, leaving Lumark disoriented and gasping for breath.
With trepidation, he opened his eyes, only to find himself no longer on the cold, concrete floor. Instead, he floated in the midst of everything; the statues, the waters, and the Trinity themselves. Their eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, a spectral gaze that penetrated his very soul. Lumark felt trapped, unable to move a muscle, as though he were held in a nightmarish embrace.
"You..." what! Did they just speak? "It is you," the collective voices of the Trinity pronounced, their words dripping with an unsettling menace.
"Lumark." Lumark shivered in pure terror as the very unpleasant voice of the Trinity that sounded like the devil's choir echoed his name throughout the hall.
"You are our doom, and yet, the future remains uncertain. Alantus shall fall because of you."
Confusion and fear battled within Lumark's mind, while a strange sensation washed over him. In that moment, he sensed another presence, unseen yet palpable. A faceless Norg materialized behind the Trinity, its presence emitting an aura of eerie calmness. It whispered these words, "the unity," before vanishing into nothingness. Simultaneously, the Trinity raised their right hands, emitting a low, agonized scream that pierced the air.
Overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment, Lumark's world collapsed, and he plunged into the cold, dark waters of the pool. Panic gripped him as he struggled to swim, his desperate cries echoing through the depths. Just as he felt his strength waning, Thorne's voice pierced through the depths of his unconsciousness.
"I can't swim..." Lumark yelled at the top of his voice, his words echoing in the chamber.
"What do you mean you can't swim?" Thorne's concerned voice replied.
Opening his eyes, Lumark found himself back in the corner of the hall, watching the Trinity meditate in eerie stillness.
An overwhelming sense of foreboding settled upon Lumark. Something profound and sinister had transpired in that trance. Something that could alter the course of his life forever.