Their existence is a paradox - they are both products and disturbances of time itself. They don't *live* so much as *recur*. Each Lathing is a snapshot, a reverberation of a specific moment, endlessly repeating but subtly altered by the flow of time.
Cycle 117.8.28
“The threads… they unravel with alarming speed. I perceive patterns of decay, not of natural attrition, but of *intentional* dismantling. Someone, something, is actively disrupting the flow of the Loom of Ages. I detect a signature… cold, precise, and utterly devoid of compassion. It resonates with the silence before a storm – a silence pregnant with destruction.”
This Lathing, designated ‘74.3’, primarily manifests as a swirling vortex of silver dust. It’s believed to have originated from the collapse of the Chronarium of Veridia, a repository of temporal knowledge that vanished without a trace.
Cycle 4.1.6
“I remember the heat… the unbearable, consuming heat. The ground pulsed with a dark energy, and I witnessed a city consumed by a single, perfect rose. Not a rose of flesh, but one of solidified shadow, radiating an aura of absolute stillness. It siphoned time, leaving everything around it frozen in a perpetual state of blossoming. The scent... it clings to the void.”
‘21.9’ is a more volatile manifestation, often appearing as a cluster of obsidian shards that periodically emit bursts of distorted light. It’s theorized to be linked to the ‘Black Bloom,’ a legendary weapon said to have the power to erase entire eras from existence.
Direct interaction with a Lathing is fraught with danger. Their temporal nature makes them unpredictable. Prolonged exposure can lead to temporal displacement, memory fragmentation, and, in extreme cases, complete erasure from the timeline. Attempts to ‘capture’ a Lathing have invariably resulted in catastrophic consequences.
However, subtle resonance can be achieved through the use of specialized chronal conduits – devices designed to amplify and interpret the faint echoes of a Lathing’s presence. These conduits are incredibly delicate and require a trained ‘Harmonist’ to operate.
The primary goal of Harmonists isn’t to control the Lathing, but to *listen*. To decipher the fragments of experience contained within their temporal loops.
The following audio segment was recorded using a chronal conduit linked to Lathing fragment 74.3. It represents a brief, unstable moment of its ‘lament’. Listen closely – you may hear echoes of Veridia.