Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 13:25:01 GMT -8
In the southern mountains, something was very much amiss. There was a thrum in the ground; small swarms of temblors spread unrest among such lifeforms that lived there; many betook themselves elsewhere, sensing danger. At night, strange lights girt the sky in bands of rose-gold and violet.
As the days progressed, the shudder in the ground became more pervasive. Travelers near that area began to report strange geysers of sand, and soil liquefaction that was capable of swallowing a horse and rider whole. There was a stink of sulfur on the air, and nearby groundwater began to turn foul. The closer one approached to the mountain, the more noxious the environment became.
Within a few weeks, it was noted that there were phreatic events occuring in one place deep within the mountain range. A brave explorer ventured as close as she dared, and reported that, at night, the rocks glowed a dull red. All of this could only add up to one phenomenon, and people nearby began to say its name at last.
VOLCANO.
Conditions continued to deteriorate. The quake and sandblow activity made it impossible for all but the most intrepid of adventurers. Soon, even such heroes would be forced to put distance between themselves and the impending geological activity.
It came to a head at last. A sage and his apprentice were as close as they dared to approach, their faces muffled beneath layers of cloth in an attempt to screen out the foulness of the ash-laden air. As they were recording their data and observations, both were thrown from their feet by a violent temblor. As they rose, they noted that the glow of hot stone was even more intense. As they watched, the stones rent themselves, admitting a nearly white-hot prominence that ground into the sky, higher and higher. It appeared to be a superheated pinnacle. its superheated stone somehow holding shape despite its furious heat. Higher and higher it rose, until it towered over all the mountains in that local range. The sage could only stare in horrified awe at what should have been an impossibility.
Although the eruptive column of such an event should have been catastrophic, it seemed that some force was pushing the tephra away from populated areas. Settled regions local to this part of the south might receive a dusting of ash, but there would be no pyroclastic surges or undue loss of life. And this could only point to one thing.
This mountain was being 'driven' by something sentient. Someone powerful enough to control the might of a volcano, and ethical enough to attempt to do it without harming others any more than necessary.
