The first echoes of Tar-Bind arrived with the shifting dunes. Legend speaks of a city built not of stone, but of solidified sound – a place where the very air hummed with forgotten melodies. The nomadic tribes, known as the Sandstriders, claimed to be descendants of the city's architects, forever bound to protect its secrets. Their rituals involved intricate patterns woven into the sand, patterns that, when performed correctly, could momentarily reveal glimpses of the city’s shimmering facade. These glimpses, however, were fleeting, like half-remembered dreams, and often drove those who witnessed them to a state of profound disorientation.
The Sandstriders spoke of a ‘Harmonic Core’, a point of convergence where the city’s sonic architecture maintained its integrity. They believed that any disruption to this Core – a discordant note, a forgotten prayer – would cause Tar-Bind to unravel, dissolving back into the chaotic silence from whence it came. Their prophecies were notoriously cryptic, filled with references to ‘chronal currents’ and ‘resonant decay’.
Centuries later, scholars from the Citadel of Veridia began to record strange occurrences in the region. Temporal distortions – brief jumps in time, echoes of events that hadn’t yet transpired – were becoming increasingly frequent. These ‘chronal anomalies’, as they were dubbed, seemed to be concentrated around the area where Tar-Bind was rumored to exist. Some theorized that the city itself was a nexus point, a tear in the fabric of time, while others believed it was a byproduct of the Sandstriders’ attempts to manipulate temporal energies.
The Citadel’s mages developed a device known as the ‘Resonance Stabilizer’, a complex apparatus designed to dampen these temporal fluctuations. However, the Stabilizer proved to be largely ineffective, and its operation seemed to exacerbate the anomalies, creating a feedback loop of distorted time. The lead researcher, Master Elara, vanished during an experiment, leaving behind only a shattered Resonance Stabilizer and a single, unsettling note – a perfect, sustained tone that seemed to vibrate with the weight of ages.
A joint expedition, comprised of Veridian mages and Sandstrider guides, was launched to locate the source of the chronal anomalies. The team, led by the renowned cartographer, Silas Thorne, disappeared without a trace. All that remained was a single, meticulously drawn map – a representation of Tar-Bind, overlaid with a complex network of temporal pathways. The map showed the city not as it was, but as it *could* be, a shimmering tapestry of potential realities.
Silas Thorne’s final journal entry contained a chilling revelation: “The city doesn’t just *exist* in time. It *is* time. We’ve stumbled upon a place where the past, present, and future converge, and we are slowly becoming unmoored from our own linear existence.”
“Time is not a river, but an ocean. And Tar-Bind is a whirlpool.” - Master Elara’s last recorded transmission.
The fate of the expedition and the location of Tar-Bind remain unknown. Some believe the city is still there, hidden beneath the shifting sands, a siren’s call to those who seek to unravel the mysteries of time. Others believe it was simply erased from reality, a cautionary tale whispered on the winds.
Chronicles compiled by the Archivist's Guild of Veridia.