- Many moons ago now, the Veil, a temporal rift to bridge two worlds, had unfurled like a fern for the first time in decades. It's reopening allowed magic and beasts the freedom to pour over an unsuspecting mortal realm; although hardly for the first time. Things having long been forgotten, places and individuals, became real and readily accessible once again! So, in kind, the mortals began to pour back and into that new world, at least new to so many of them. The world of Irithyll.
---
Those who had been alive to see it remember the entire event shaking the land to it's core. Excitement mingled with doubt as beings traversed into and out of its doors, followed one way or another by long, flowing wolves, Ethereal's, who were native to this strange yet parallel universe. Most who tested the Veil were driven by their intrigue, and would spend weeks beyond the Ethereal corridor learning, growing, and befriending the creatures therein. But there were those who protested and feared for the safety of its travelers, some daring rescues while others fretting from the side-lines. No one knew how or why the Veil had opened. And no one knew when it might close again -- if ever. That was a part of the thrill and the fear. It was a curious time of exploration, where anything seemed possible...
But the Veil would close, unexpectedly, not only shutting it doors to the other side but removing all traces of it ever being there. This would present an entirely new problem, where the divide between realms would return and leave displaced beings on either side of its gate. Fortunately, those beings would serve as reminders of 'the other side', Dire wolves met with other Dire wolves in the crystal forests of Irithyll or Ethereal's meeting Jackalopes in the Meadows of Kells, and that would give hope to those trapped beyond their homes. Hope that one day they would get to see their realms again...
And hope was, and will always be, a powerful tool.
---
Present day...
The Summer Solstice. A revival of the land which had frozen over for months... A reawakening. The air is charged with an energy that cannot be placed as a new sun rises to greet the day. Beyond the consciousness of most mortals, a shift waits to take place. The ether is ripe with excitement and those more in tune with Ethereal magic might recognize its pulse...
Suddenly, a strong wind blows and like a vacuum sucking the Summer from the land, it drains the warmth of Kells. Those who rest long into the afternoon will miss the moment when the world feels as cold as it did in the dead of winter... but then, somewhere within the decay of the Redwoods, a bright light flashes. It is soundless at a distance and unlike anything anyone has ever heard from up-close.
It is quick. It is painless. But just like that... The swirling, shifting shapes of a world beyond words stirs.
The Veil has reopened... and the cycle continues.
