The Luminous Expedition
Part I
It is an ancient tale I tell, Of beings wrought of luminous light, Who crossed the Crystal Sea's bright swell, Beneath skies shimmering azure-white.
Their vessel gleamed like morning dew,
Through waters clear as diamond stone,
Where depths revealed each brilliant hue - A world of glass, translucent-grown.
The shores they left were strange and fair, With mushrooms tall as temple spires, Each cap a prism catching air,
Each stem aglow with inner fires.
They sang in harmonies unknown,
These travelers of radiant form,
Their voices like the wind has blown
Through crystal caves before a storm.
"We seek," they sang, "the Farshore's strand, Where Aevun Dorathir flows free - The Rejuvenating waters grand,
Beyond the bounds of this bright sea."
Part II
And on they sailed through twilit days
Where sun and stars shone both at once, Through archipelagoes of haze - Where islands rose like opal dunce-caps dense. The water sang beneath their keel, A music mortals cannot hear, And in its depths strange creatures wheel - Great serpents made of light and fear.
One being stood upon the prow,
Called Seluaen of the Lightened Mount,
Who bore upon her luminous brow, The marks of quests in realms unknown.
"I see it," whispered she at last,
"The shimmer where the waters part -
Where present touches distant past,
And Farshore's beacon calls our heart."
But as she spoke, the sea grew dark,
The crystal depths turned opaque-grey,
And from below rose things of stark
And terrible beauty - forces strange
That guard the paths between the worlds, The Other's children, wild and free, With skin like void-silk tightly drawn, And eyes that held eternity.
Part III
"Turn back!" the creatures sang in tones
That shattered thought and bent the light, "The Aevun Dorathir's sacred zones, Are not for travelers of the bright!" But Seluaen raised her hands and drew, And all her company grew bright, Each being called their secret name And blazed against the darkening sight.
"We come not as thieves," she cried clear, "But supplicants of Xalun Mar -
The Wondrous Water Workshop dear,
Where healing flows from every jar.
Our people fade, our lights grow dim,
Without the Rejuvenating flow - We sail not on a passing whim, But desperate need drives us below!"
The creatures paused, their song grew still, The darkness writhed and seemed to think, Then slowly, by some ancient will, They parted at the threshold's brink.
"Pass then," they sang, "but know the cost - The Aevun Dorathir demands
That something precious shall be lost
Before you touch it with your hands."
Part IV
Through gates of living shadow-light,
Past columns carved from frozen song,
They sailed into that realm of night
Where Farshore's wonders stretched along. The beaches there were not of sand But scales of light that creatures shed, The forests strange on either hand
Grew downward from the sky o'erhead.
And there, within a grotto deep,
Where starlight pooled in crystal bowls,
They found the waters - vast and steep - The Aevun Dorathir. It flowed with colors never named, Each drop contained a lifetime's cure, By ancient mysteries untamed, Unchanging, infinite, and pure.
They filled their vessels, carved from thought, Each one a prayer, each one a song, But as they gathered what they sought, Seluaen felt something going wrong.
Her light began to fade and dim,
Her form grew faint, translucent-clear - The price, she knew, fell most on him Who leads, who dares, who draws too near.
Part V
"Go!" she commanded, growing pale,
"Return to Xalun Mar in haste!
The Workshop needs this precious grail - Let not my sacrifice be waste!" But her companions would not flee, Instead they formed a circle bright, And each gave up a portion free, Of their own luminescent light.
Together dimmed, they bore her weight,
And turned their vessel toward the shore, Past creatures Other, strange, and great, Past islands never seen before.
The journey back seemed twice as long,
The crystal sea now thick as glass,
But still they sailed, and still their song
Rose up to help the time to pass.
"We carry hope in liquid form,
We carry light within the dark,
Though we ourselves are dimmed and worn, We bear the Rejuvenating spark!"
Part VI
At last they saw their homeland's gleam,
The mushroom forests tall and bright,
Their destination - not a dream - The Workshop swimming into sight. Xalun Mar stood upon the mere, That wondrous place of healing art, Where waters clear as atmosphere, Could mend a broken, fading heart.
They poured the Aevun Dorathir
Into the Workshop's sacred wells,
And watched as, precious-clear, it began to stir, With other waters, mixing spells.
Then Seluaen and her company Drank deep of their own remedy - The light returned, each being free, Restored to luminescent glee.
Part VII
Now travelers tell this ancient tale,
When beings gather in the night, How those of light can cross and sail, The Crystal Sea's beauteous might.
How sacrifice and courage blend
To bring back hope from distant shores,
How journeys have no final end - Only new beginnings, and new doors.
And still the Farshore calls to those
Who dare to seek what lies beyond,
Where Aevun Dorathir still flows, And Other-creatures guard their pond. The Workshop glimmers, bright and fair, With waters gathered from afar - A testament to those who dare,
The voyage long to Xalun Mar...
