#achetamor

[justafrogwhobuildsworlds]

Keeper - The Guiding Light

An old lighthouse keeper who wanders the endless dark, guiding those who are lost.

Keeper is a wizard who most have met, but who no-one knows.

There are many stories of those who have seen him, just for a moment, turning a corner or walking through a door, and felt compelled to follow him, never able to catch up.

Almost all such tales end the same way: the keeper vanishes round a corner, never to be seen again, and the one who followed him later realises how glad they are to have done so, often ending up at just the right place at just the right time.

Many have followed his light out of a veiled space mere moments before it's collapse. There was someone who followed the Keeper directly to the office fridge, where they caught the lunch thief red-handed.

All stories depict him as a hooded figure, his coat soaked in rain water. A bushy grey beard partially covers his mournful expression, his tired eyes full of light.

He carries a twisted staff that resembles a lighthouse, a glowing orb shines a spinning light atop.

He seems to appear anywhere, cloaked in shadow, always moving just out of sight. Then he is gone. As quick as the flash of a lighthouse.

Legend tells of a great storm, in which an offshore lighthouse ran out of oil for it's lamp. In a desperate attempt to maintain the light, the lighthouse keeper resorted to magic. The volatile practice took it's toll on the man, but also the lighthouse itself, which collapsed shortly before a shipment of oil crashed below it. Many lives were lost in that storm with no light to guide them.

There is scepticism around the legend's authenticity. Some folk don't believe the keeper exists at all, often citing the lack of video footage.

The legend suggests that it is that keeper who still roams the shadows today.

[justafrogwhobuildsworlds]

Veiled spaces

-I have 2 active worldbuilding projects, Verdun, which is high fantasy, and Achetamor, which is urban fantasy. The following is part of Achetamor.

Constructed be the great wizards of past, veiled spaces are areas between touching points, a street between attached houses, a room between the wall and the wardrobe.

To access these spaces without becoming a wizard, you must locate it's entranceway, called an "archgate". Every archgate is different, you'll know it when you see it. It can be inside or outside, but typically appears as a bricked off arch or doorway.

The true sign of an archgate is the gatekeeper, every archgate has a gatekeeper. It could be a painting, a statue, a person, or anything else with a face. The most common is a face carved into the keystone of the archway. The gatekeeper cannot leave their archgate.

Speak to the gatekeeper, and if you believe with enough confidence that they are a gatekeeper, they will speak back, and may open the archgate and allow you entry.

Maintaining a veiled space is a constant effort, a wizard dedicates their life to preventing it's collapse, and is often the authority who tends to any issues it's residents may have, as well as greeting new residents where applicable.

It is a task passed down through generations. Very long generations considering wizards' lifespans.

Trap streets, named after the cartographic feature that often secretly discloses their location, are hubs for the aware to talk, hang out, trade, and often seek shelter, where they need not worry about accidentally revealing magic to the unaware. This is especially vital for those who have been visibly affected by magic.

In the event that a veiled space is unmaintained, or one of it's boundaries is broken through, there are two ways it can collapse: A Crumple, in which the boundaries moving inwards push the contents further inwards, crushing them into a single point, or: An Expulsion, where the boundaries moving inwards push the contents outward, pulling apart the touching spaces on the outside to make room for the new space between.

Both are devastating.