SkekTember, day 2- "Hoarded treasures"
In a dim, dust-mottled corner of the Castle’s Treasury, beneath folds of velvet shadow and high, crumbling vaults, sat skekShod the Treasurer.
Half-lost between a drooping velvet tablecloth and the weight of his own silence, he hunched over his gleaming hoard—his little kingdom of color and cold.
Before him: a spilled constellation of treasure.
Crystals, like raindrops frozen mid-laughter.
Baubles, all whispers and glints.
Delicate filigree loops and forgotten ornaments from lost eras.
Each caught the candlelight like it was a secret it wanted to tell.
With gnarled, fumbling fingers, skekShod sorted them, counted them—not by worth, but by shimmer, by shape, by feel.
He did not speak.
He never did, not really.
His pleasure was in the quiet clinks, the silky slide of gem on gem, the intimate hush of wealth being admired.
Then—ah.
A pendant. Skeksis-made. Old. Twisted gold cradling a large, translucent stone that flickered red, then purple, then something unnamed.
The kind of ornament worn long ago, perhaps during a banquet, or a celebration.
He lifted it gently, reverently, like it might sing if held just so.
His eyes, small and glassy, lit up.
He smiled. Wide. Childlike. Crooked.
To the others—cackling in the grander halls—this would’ve been a portrait of vulgar greed: the Treasurer hunched in shadow, all claws and hunger and hoarded glitter.
But no.
For skekShod, this was something else.
This was joy.
This was beauty.
This was life.
Each gem a star in his small sky. Each ornament a lullaby he could touch.
Here, in this forgotten corner of stone and silence, the world made sense.
He turned the pendant in his hands again.
And again.
The gem caught the light, and for a moment, it was brighter than the suns of Thra.
And skekShod smiled ever wider.
*DISCLAIMER*
This art challenge is not official or sponsored by the JHC. SkekTember is a small, fun thing created by a fan, for fans.
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I do not consent to ANY platform to use my artwork, posts, writing or reels to train generative AI tools.
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Artwork may be reblogged but not used or redistributed elsewhere without written consent.
Artwork © @skekla
All publically recognizeable canon The Dark Crystal characters, designs, settings and situations TM & © Jim Henson / Brian Froud/Universal studios/ The Jim Henson Company
(No commercial use or copyright infringement are intended)
