I walked for some time before the land ended before me - marking the end of my journey, or at least so I thought. My foot clatters against a small stone bowl, spilling must of the water into the thirsty stone, and I lift it gently in both hands to dip into the ocean, refilling it and leaving it back where I had found it, the damp imprint of my hands left on the edges even as I straightened again. It looked like the end of the world - a wide swath of water from within which fire belched forth, running redly to steam itself black in the sea. The smells are equal parts sulfur and salt, purity and fire all in one. After long moments of breathing in the mingling scent, I notice a glowing light at my feet drawing me upward, and turn toward it. There is nothing but a breath of salt and sunlight beneath my feet, and yet I continue to walk upwards into the sky.
Nothing could have prepared me for what lies between red and sulfur, and gold and sun. A village - stone and greenery stretching out with total disregard for gravity.
Life blooming in midair.
The denizens are quiet, polite, disinterested. Soft greetings and goodbyes as I pass through, and my Lindens are as good here as any other place, but everything is oddly transparent and bloodless - as if only partial lives are being lived all around me. I feel vivid and explosive next to the mildness which surrounds me.
At the center of town, another of the streaming paths of light falls into the center of town - ignored by the inhabitants. Weeping figures are on either side of it, and they don't move as I approach - nor do those standing still and looking upward as if toward some wonderful or terrible thing. Beneath my feet, the stairs of light chimed gently with each step I take upwards, and seem to continue unendingly into the sky.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Location: Sanctum
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
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