Remnants

You are a Wanderer. You are in the middle of a desert, and find yourself in front of a **Primordial Skeleton**. Even from a distance, you sense it's larger than anything you've ever seen. [[Continue towards skeleton|Primordial Skeleton]] or [[Take another look around|Your surroundings]]

Its size is so huge you have no idea how to describe it. You wonder if mountains are even that big, or if they'd look like dwarves compared to it. What did the Primordials look like ? Why were they so big ? Did they need oxygen, and if so, how concentrated would it need to be for something so huge to even exist ? And what about gravity ? There's so many questions science hasn't answered about this. So many questions that could be, in fact, explained by something else. But magic doesn't exist, as far as science is concerned. Seems like you're approaching the skull. [[Continue towards skull|Skull]] or [[Move around, trying to find some shadow in the rest of the bones|Towards the chest]]

Besides sand, rocks, more sand, and more rocks, there isn't much to be seen. Unless you acknowledge that huge **Primordial Skeleton**, obviously. But if we're here, it's that you chose not to acknowledge it, right ? The sun is scorching, you better get some shade. Maybe in that skeleton. [[Go over to the skeleton|Primordial Skeleton]] OR [[Fuck around and open your bag|Your bag]]

Okay, sure. You stand in the heat and open your bag. It has some canned food, some water, and a heating device. Along with those are various pieces of junk that you've picked up from wreckages and such. Maybe not all of it is junk, but as far as you've looked, you haven't really found anything that was worth a "woaah". There's also a map. Unfortunately, it's the map of a town, and depicts nothing of the desert you're currently in. You can also find a small metal piece carved into a leaf. You're holding on to it for no reason in particular. Totally not [[lore related|Backstory time, huh ?]] or anything. You also have a [[teleporting device|Teleportation]]. You may use it to teleport to various points in your surrounding space... if only it was linked to any [[TP points]] nearby. The closest one is way too far away for you to teleport there. You don't think there would be any of these in some old skeleton, either. You think that's pretty much it, unless you forgot something under all that stuff. [[Close the bag and resume your walking|Primordial Skeleton]] or [[Rummage around a bit more]]

This skull is enormous, and you think if you walk left a little bit, you might just find a good enough shade to escape the heat. And when you think good enough, you actually think larger than about 5 large houses, counting a big garden for each of them. And then add a bit more. You get the idea. Several meters above you tower two empty eye sockets. If you could somehow climb the skull, it would surely be fun to explore. You'd need some rope and a harpoon, though. It seems like something flickers in them... [[Go left towards the shade]], [[get even closer|Oooh, scary up close]] or [[Go right, where it's still toasty.]]

You decide to change your path a little and see if there's any shade behind that skull, towards what could've been the Primordial's chest at one point. You end up entering the chest between two ribs, and hiding in the large shade they provide. Ah, a sweet respite from the direct heat of the sun. Now you only have to deal with the general heat of the place. Isn't that *cool* ? You realize there doesn't seem to be any kind of shoulders on that skeleton. Didn't the **Primordials** need that ? There's a flapping sound coming from the base of the skull. From where you stand, it seems to have a huge hole in it, as if someone carved an entrance. [[Check the entrance out|Continue investigating flapping]] [[Walk towards the "tail" end of the skeleton]].

You made this leaf yourself a few years ago. You had found some nice metal for doing stuff like that, and your village's blacksmith let you borrow some of his tools to make it. He helped you out on the "not accidentally destroying all of your progress" part, to be honest. You take great care of it to keep it shiny. Its edges are a bit sharper than a regular leave's, but that just makes it useful as a last resort if you're out of knives. You're never out of knives though. Your cape, belt, and boots are full of them. Okay, mostly the cape and belt. You're not trying to cut your feet with 10 knives stuffed in your boots. [[Knives ?]] [[Go back|Your bag]]

Unfortunately, you're not linked to anything around here. The next town over is too many nights away for you to be able to directly teleport there, and you prefer waling anyway. The last town you visited is even further away. [[Go back|Your bag]]

These are pretty straightforward. They're usually small plates that you link your teleporting device to, and when you're done, you can teleport there anytime you want - if you're in the range for them, that is. [[Go back|Your bag]]

Under your stuff and the bits of junk, there's a [[notebook]]. It's pretty big, with a cover made of leather. It could make a good blunt weapon if it wasn't precious.

Yeah, knives. You have about 10 of them. One in each boot, 4 at your belt, and the remaining six scattered about in that cape you keep wearing whether it's hot or cold. That said, it does a pretty good job at both protecting your head from the sun rays and ventilating when it's hot, so it's still nice to have in this heat. [[Go back|Backstory time, huh ?]]

Finally, something cool to stand in. Or at least, cooler than the rest of everything around here. You sit down and rest for a while. It's funny how little sound there is in this place, besides the wind. You pull your [[notebook]] out of your bag, and mark this spot in the map you've made, so many pages earlier. You'll probably come back here later, when you won't have anything in your bag besides that notebook, food, and water. You still have a delivery to make to the next town over after all. After what you think is a few hours, you pack and go. It was a nice rest. (End.) [[Play again ?|Boneyard]]

You get closer to the skull itself, so close that you could touch just by reaching out a little bit. Is it hot ? Maybe you could [[touch it]]. If you look up, you can't see the end of it from where you stand, it's too high. Unfortunately though, it's not in the right angle to shield you from the sun, even this close. Maybe you should walk around to find something else ? [[Walk left.|Go left towards the shade]] [[Walk right.|Go right, where it's still toasty.]]

Everything's hot and everything's blinding because of the sunlight, but a refreshing breeze tries to be a little bit helpful. It's kind of it, although the sound it makes when going through the skeleton does make it kind of creepy. You can see ribs from where you stand, and... it seems like you're hearing something flapping in the wind. [[Check that sound out]] [[That's creepy. I should go back.|Skull]]

Your notebook is kind of a diary, maybe. You write in it every day, either thoughts, story ideas, or even sketching what you see. Maybe you could add a small sketch of that **Primordial Skeleton** after you've escaped the heat ? It's especially useful to keep track of time when you're out of town. When you're alone on a road, looking at the clouds and the stars, it's easy to forget what day it is for all the City-dwellers. But you'd rather have this kind of freedom. Wandering around isn't a gift given to everybody, unfortunately.

HOT HOT HOT GET YOUR HAND OFF. [[Go back|Oooh, scary up close]]

You approach the rib-like structure. At first glance there isn't really anything interesting, but the flapping is getting clearer. The first rib does offer a nice shadow, though. You can see all of the ribs from here, up until they seem to sink in the sand. You wonder if this thing had shoulders. You can't seem to find any in that skeleton. But by all accounts, **Primordials** weren't really something normal. Now that you think about it, the flapping seems to be coming from the inside of the skull. [[Continue investigating flapping]].

There IS something. It's an old, dark cloth covering up an entrance. From further away it would look like it wasn't even there. It's waving gently with the breeze. A gust of winds engulfs itself in the entrance, almost pushing you forward and flapping the cloth against the bone. Your clothes go "woosh". [[Enter.]]

There's no tail per se. In fact, the ribs just slowly sink in the sand. It almost looks like some kind of avenue like this - and it's just as big. It would look nice if you could hang some lights from the top of the ribs, actually. And decorate all in-between. A golden glow seen from hours away in the desert, inviting to a respite from traveling, somewhere safe from everything that lurks in the Wilderness. But you are a Wanderer. While you could help people settle here, you wouldn't stay. You'd look at the lanterns and see the smiles on people's faces, you'd deliver things to them and embark letters and things to deliver somewhere else, and you'd walk away without glancing back. No, it's actually very nice as an abandoned skeleton. There's some peace to it. [[Keep daydreaming for a bit]].

You daydream about this while you keep walking, and when you're at the end of the avenue-like bone arrangement, you feel like you're standing in a doorstep. Behind, the old, dead, and powerful. The things that no human eye may ever see again, nor has ever seen. In front, the immensity of a desert, the warmth of the sun and the sound of your feet. You realize that, settlement or not, you'll walk away without glancing back. This is too old for you to keep track of in your [[notebook]]. Too dangerous. What may the corpse of an entity older than everything hold ? A shiver. You take a step out of the bones, and without a glance, you leave. (End.) [[Play again ?|Boneyard]]

From the eye sockets, a dim sunlight is washing over the ruins of a small settlement, made of bone, cloth, and sand. Whoever lived here must have carved into one of the bones - maybe a rib. You don't remember finding a dent in any of the ones you've seen though. The wind is blowing gently again. You can hear it whisper - you don't listen to the whisper. It is not your place to understand what it has to say. You look up. There are stairs leading to the eye sockets, and they aren't destroyed unlike the houses. There's a flickering light upstairs. It reminds you of something, but... what ? [[Investigate]]. [[Leave at once]].

You climb the stairs. You know you shouldn't. There are some things humans are not meant to see. But you're a Wanderer. You will always end up running into things humans are supposed to fear and avoid. It's the first time you willingly do it though. The light is some kind of sphere. It's an inviting blue, and it doesn't speak. It is reassuring, in a way. You can focus on that and avoid the wind's whispers. You want to touch it. It's something in it - it's calling you, it wants you to recall something, that was lost so long ago, humanity itself has forgotten. It... It's... [[Keep staring]] [[Leave at once]]

You shouldn't have entered here. This place should have remained out of sight, out of mind, forever. You're never coming back here. You only stop the time to mark this place in your [[notebook]] as something you should avoid. You keep walking until the wind calms down. (End.) [[Play again ?|Boneyard]]

Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. [[Touch it.]]

You can feel everything the desert has ever felt. Every feet that walked over it. Every memory made in it. You are you. You are another Wanderer. You are a group of lost settlers. **You are the Desert.** (End.) [[Play again ?|Boneyard]]