All In for Anthuor (2)
A way forward
Read Part 1:
Any Quatrian artifacts that survived the Quatrian Crisis are indistinguishable from “natural” objects in our modern culture. As an example, the few scholars of Ancient Quatria believe they may have been able to communicate over very long distances via the fungal “mycelial network,” the existence of which only recently became known to modern science:
Similar “natural” technologies were used for tasks like navigation, construction, scientific discovery, etc. For this reason, and because most Quatrians lived in places which are now covered by ice, water, or sand, very little physical evidence remains of Quatrian culture, and what does remain is so alien in context to modern humanity that it is manifestly “invisible.”
Other activities that we currently use “technique” to complete, the Ancient Quatrians accomplished simply by working with what we consider “spirits.” Although these individuals were as normal in Ancient Quatria as plumbers or pizza chefs are in our world, we would consider those who were particularly adept at doing so “Magicians.”(1)
The Magicians had been keeping track of weather patterns for tens of thousands of years, because not doing so is stupid. It’s unknown which Magician first realized that global temperatures were rising, but soon it became clear that increases in planetary extremes began having an impact on Quatrian daily life. The herds of megafauna were getting sick; winters and summers were colder and hotter, respectively. When the Quatrians lost their very first coastal village to flooding, they knew that something Needed to Happen. (2)
It is recorded that one of the Magicians, known variously as Pilgrim’s Handshake, Blue Seagull Moon Waves, or Mavani Vhxis, pretty good friends with Anthuor and The Maiden, first learned of the Hypogeum from Anthuor itself.(3) It wouldn’t be correct to say she received a “revelation” in a “vision,” as the Liminal world and the mundane world existed simultaneously to the Quatrians. We simply know that Anthuor dropped by Mavani’s place one evening and told her that Anthuor’s People could withstand the coming changes. They just needed to learn how to enter the Hypogeum.
And so, Mavani taught the People of Anthuor the Method for entering the Hypogeum. One by one, they descended into the Hypogeum and through the other side, which is called BUORTH.
There were those, however, who didn’t believe in Anthuor, and ignored Anthuor’s Message to the People. They became enamored of stodginess, and had indelible ties to “Thingness.” They either refused to believe in the changes, or concluded that they’d be fine if they only worked hard enough and strived to become more Innovative. When approached by the People of Anthuor, these Quatrians turned their faces, and laughed. “Go on then,” they said. “We’ll be fine, and whatever you leave behind, we’ll get to keep.” And so they stayed.
AND YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT….
(To be continued)
NOTES
(1) Echoes of Quatrian Magic Ritual can be found in many indigenous cultures around the world. See, for example, the costumes featured in the series “Wilder Mann” by photographer Charles Freger:
(2) Did the Quatrians cause this massive change in climate, the way we’ve altered our atmosphere? It’s quite unlikely; Quatrian economy wasn’t carbon based. Ironically, however, many of the fossil fuels which contributed in such a large part to the poisoning of our own atmosphere began their dubiously significant existence as the very flora and fauna who shared the planet with the Quatrians. And so it goes….
(3) Mavani features in the myths of several Quatrian remnants. Her most familiar companions are two enormous guinea hens and a large canine resembling a Tibetan Mastiff.
Proceed to Part 3:
