The first sensation is not sight, but a pressure. A subtle, insistent hum that vibrates not in your ears, but within the architecture of your being. Oblongata isn't a place you *find*; it’s a state of resonance. A convergence of temporal echoes, solidified into a tangible, if unsettling, presence. It began, according to fragmented recordings recovered from the Archive of Anomalous Phenomena, with the construction of the Cathedral of Silent Reflections, a structure designed not to glorify a deity, but to *receive* the forgotten resonances of past realities.
The Cathedral's architects, the Silent Order, believed that time wasn't linear, but rather a vast, swirling ocean of potential. They sought to build a conduit, a focal point to draw these echoes into the present. They succeeded, perhaps too well. The Cathedral became a nexus, a point where the boundaries between dimensions thinned, allowing fragments of lost civilizations, forgotten emotions, and impossible geometries to bleed through.
Those who dwell within Oblongata are known as the Collectors. They aren't human in the conventional sense. They are… aggregations. Fragments of consciousness bound together by the residual energy of the Cathedral. Some resemble figures from history – a Roman centurion, a Victorian gentleman, a medieval monk – but their features are blurred, indistinct, perpetually shifting. Their movements are jerky, unnatural, as if controlled by unseen hands. They don’t speak, not in any comprehensible language. Instead, they communicate through a torrent of fragmented images, emotions, and sensations.
The Archive suggests that the Collectors were initially intended as guardians, tasked with containing the chaotic influx of temporal echoes. But over centuries, they evolved, becoming increasingly intertwined with the very fabric of Oblongata. They are no longer simply absorbing the echoes; they *are* the echoes, a vast, shimmering tapestry of lost time.
The level of interaction depends on the sensitivity of the observer. Certain individuals, particularly those with a predisposition to synesthesia or a strong emotional connection to the past, experience Oblongata with greater intensity. The controls below allow you to modulate the 'frequency' of resonance, influencing the complexity and clarity of the experience.
Ultimately, Oblongata is a reminder of the fundamental ephemerality of existence. Every moment is a transient ripple in the ocean of time, and every echo is destined to fade. The Collectors, the Cathedral, even you – all are ultimately subject to the relentless passage of time. The question isn't whether Oblongata will endure, but rather, what will remain after the resonance has ceased?