Trial by Frost

Site

Landmark Permanent

Axiom

Icebound Hollow

Common

In the caves and crevices, it wails and calls to us.

I park my spider and descend onto the ledge with some difficulty. For a brief moment, I feel a rush of vertigo, probably because of the wind blowing across the cliff. This never used to happen to me, even when I was in the cockpit of an airship. The porter puts down her gear and secures it to the ground with straps. Then she joins me at the entrance to the hollow. I tell Rossum to stay put, and he complies, though I can sense he's clearly anxious. I raise a lantern and start to illuminate the interior of the cave. The walls immediately gleam brightly. Gypsum, ice and pyrite. But there's a light coming from the depths of the tunnels. Suddenly, I see a butterfly fluttering near my face, and I dart to one side. I let out a sigh and look at the porter, but she doesn't seem to want to tease me for being startled.

As we walk down a damp slope, the walls light up with an ethereal glow. Even though I've never visited the Kadigir, this is what I imagine the Magisterium to look like, with points of light dotting the walls. Bioluminescence... Is it lichen? Or another lifeform? We enter increasingly spacious caverns, and some of them are so bright that I don't even need to keep my lantern on. I approach a column that rises up among a stand of stalagmites. As I place a hand on its surface, I realize that it extends up to the ceiling and spreads out into branches, as if it were the trunk of a tree. I stare at the lights all over the walls and ceiling. It's like a swarm of fireflies or will-o'-the-wisps... I feel like I'm in a garden or orchard, but one made from mineral materials only. The porter touches my arm and points to the water covering the floor of the cave. She's right, it's visibly rising...