The Mirror Lakes

Scattered across the region are pools of perfectly still water.

The surfaces never ripple.

Rain cannot disturb them.

Wind cannot move them.

The lakes function like mirrors, but they do not always reflect the present.

Those who look into them sometimes glimpse other places.

Other times.

Other possibilities.

One explorer claimed to have seen a great city floating among the clouds. Another reportedly saw the world covered in ice beneath a black sky.

A few disappear after looking too long.

Their bodies are never found.

Beneath the Veil runs an even older world.

Cracks in the earth reveal forgotten chambers lined with metallic walls unlike any material known to modern kingdoms. Strange symbols glow beneath layers of roots and stone. Towers buried upside down emerge from hillsides. Massive circular doors stand embedded in cliffs without hinges or visible mechanisms.

These ruins are collectively known as Ark Fragments.

Many scholars believe they are pieces of the legendary Ark itself.

When the mysterious voice began calling through the forest, several of these structures suddenly awakened. Dormant lights activated. Ancient machines started moving. Signals traveled through hidden networks beneath the Veil.

For the first time in centuries, the ruins appeared to be communicating with one another.

As if waiting for someone.

The deepest region is called the Hush.

Few enter it.

Fewer return.

The Hush occupies the very heart of the Hollow Veil, where even the glowing plants refuse to grow. The air remains utterly still. Voices fade before reaching a listener's ears. Fire burns dimly. Magical energy becomes unstable.

Travelers report hearing distant footsteps matching their own pace.

Always behind them.

Never visible.

According to legend, the Hush surrounds a sealed chamber beneath the forest floor.

A chamber containing the Core of the Ark.

Whatever sleeps there is believed to be older than kingdoms, older than written language, perhaps older than humanity itself.

And now, after centuries of silence, something beneath the Hollow Veil has begun to speak again.

"Can you hear me?"

The forest is listening.

And soon, the Hollow Veil may answer.

The Echo Beasts are the living mysteries of the Hollow Veil.

No scholar agrees on what they truly are.

Some believe they are animals transformed by the Veil's strange energies. Others insist they are fragments of ancient memories given flesh. The oldest legends claim they are guardians created by the Ark itself, programmed long ago and forgotten by their creators.

Whatever their origin, the Echo Beasts are neither entirely biological nor entirely magical.

They are something in between.

At first glance, an Echo Beast resembles a familiar forest creature.

A deer.

A wolf.

A fox.

A hawk.

Yet every Echo Beast possesses features that immediately reveal its otherworldly nature.

Their bodies appear woven from layers of translucent light. Muscles, bones, and organs are visible as shifting constellations beneath shimmering skin. Veins glow with silver-blue energy that pulses in rhythm with the ancient forests of the Veil.

In darkness they illuminate their surroundings.

In bright daylight they appear partially transparent, like living stained glass.

Their eyes are especially unsettling.

Most possess eyes that resemble galaxies trapped behind crystal lenses. Tiny stars swirl within them. Observers often report seeing reflections that shouldn't be possible: forgotten childhood homes, lost loved ones, distant cities, or events that have not happened yet.

No two witnesses report the same vision.