Serpent's Hill I

§0 SERPENT'S§0 §0 HILL§0 §0 §0translated from the original for the Mt. Athos Cultural Library, by /u/asakuun_v2

(Translator's Note)§0 §0While digging in the land around Mt. Athos, I discove-§0 §0red an old stone chest encased in tree roots. I brought the chest back with me; the lock crumbled in my hand. Within the chest was a lone book, its cover rather worn;

it sat upon dust and flakes of leather, perhaps wrappings of some sort when it was first buried.§0 §0 §0The pages within the tome were faded, but legible, and I recognized the language as a dead tongue from centuries before. I had studied it once, hoping to

understand the complexities of their civilization, and had never expected to see the runes again when I was done. §0 §0 §0I painstakingly translated what follows into the language we use today; there appear to have been nine 'chapters' of sorts.

i.§0 §0In the south of Hara, I§0 §0came upon a hill in a dark§0 §0 wood§0 §0bereft of tree or living§0 §0 creature.§0 §0 §0Rather, there were trees§0 §0 destroyed,§0 §0and bones ground to dust;§0 §0for the hill was cloaked§0 §0in the coils of a great§0 §0 Serpent,

his scales aglow beneath the§0 §0 moon.§0 §0 §0Smooth onyx were his eyes,§0 §0 with§0 §0round white pupils like a§0 §0 blind man's --§0 §0human eyes inverted --§0 §0and in these pale circles was§0 §0 inscribed

the sign of Death, relic of§0 §0 ancient magics lost.§0 §0 §0Lost, too, would I have been;§0 §0dead, in the endless void --§0 §0were not my eyes bearers§0 §0of the same Sign.§0 §0 §0Thus I looked upon the§0 §0 Basilisk,§0 §0and matches his gaze,§0 §0and lived.

iii.§0 §0{note: ii was missing}§0 §0 §0So cloaked in the§0 §0Serpent's scales and bones§0 §0was the Wanderer,§0 §0Akhi'aleph's chosen;§0 §0power dwelt within his veins.§0 §0 §0By his breath§0 §0did the dead scream their§0 §0 horror.§0 §0By his footsteps,

did the stones crack and§0 §0 crumble.§0 §0By his bladeswings§0 §0did the trees sway in§0 §0 reverence.§0 §0 §0And the daylight hours,§0 §0ever fearing his illumination,§0 §0did pass more quickly --§0 §0so the days shortened.

That ancient Hill, once lush,§0 §0grew barren and cold in the §0 §0 shade;§0 §0and each night§0 §0it pierced the sky ever deeper,§0 §0that the Wanderer,§0 §0Akhi'aleph's chosen,§0 §0could by day§0 §0live hidden in its shadow.

iv.§0 §0The snows that fell§0 §0on Serpent's Mountain§0 §0ceased to melt§0 §0in the cold darkness.§0 §0 §0And the Wanderer,§0 §0Akhi'aleph's chosen,§0 §0hungered for the heat§0 §0of fresh bodies,§0 §0and descended the mountain§0 §0to seek them out.

v.§0 §0Out from the mountain§0 §0did a great storm churn,§0 §0driving the nearby villages§0 §0 away,§0 §0that the Wanderer,§0 §0Akhi'aleph's cursed cruelty,§0 §0might go far from there.§0 §0 §0Thus did the Wanderer roam§0 §0the world, hunting for§0 §0the flesh which might§0 §0sate his hunger.

Ahead of him§0 §0the winds whispered§0 §0in urgency --§0 §0"Akhi'aleph's chosen§0 §0roams the world§0 §0once more."

vi.§0 §0The fearful mortals§0 §0assembled in great numbers§0 §0in a cave outside their§0 §0 homelands,§0 §0aiming to hide.§0 §0 §0The scent of their fear§0 §0lured the Wanderer there --§0 §0and the cave walls§0 §0ran red,§0 §0and the hills§0 §0rang with echoes of screams.

(Translator's Endnotes)§0 §0 §0The last three 'chapters' here seem to have been written in a different language than the one I know. I will try to translate them in another book, once I can figure out what script it is.