Tragulina is not a place, not in the way you understand. It's a resonance, a fracture in the fabric of temporal perception. It exists primarily within the hearts of those sensitive enough to perceive the lingering echoes of the Great Silence – the period before the First Bloom.
The First Bloom, you see, wasn't an event; it was a shattering. The Old Kings, beings of pure chronal energy, attempted to impose a rigid, predictable order upon time itself. They sought to sculpt existence into perfect, immutable forms. Their efforts, predictably, resulted in a catastrophic paradox, an unraveling of reality that created the Stillness. The Silence wasn't empty; it was pregnant with potential, with the possibility of a new beginning.
It is said that within the Stillness, fragments of the Old Kings' consciousness persist, not as memories, but as raw, untamed temporal currents. These currents, if touched, can induce visions – glimpses of what was, what is, and what might be, but always tinged with the melancholy of lost potential.
For centuries, the 'Cartographers of the Shifting Sands' – a nomadic order of scholars and mystics – dedicated their lives to mapping the pathways into Tragulina. They weren't charting physical locations, but rather the intricate patterns of temporal distortion. Their instruments were not compasses or sextants, but meticulously crafted resonators attuned to the specific frequencies of temporal flux.
Their most prized possession was the ‘Chronarium Stone’, a pulsating obsidian shard said to be a solidified fragment of the Old Kings' chronal energy. It wasn't used for navigation, but as a focal point, a means of amplifying one’s sensitivity to the temporal currents.
The Cartographers adhered to a strict code of conduct, summarized in the ‘Ten Principles of the Shifting Sands’:
Legend speaks of a being known as the Chronal Weaver – a solitary entity who resides within the heart of Tragulina. The Weaver is not sentient in the conventional sense; it is a living embodiment of time itself, constantly manipulating the threads of temporal reality. It is believed to be the architect of the Shifting Sands, responsible for the unpredictable nature of Tragulina’s pathways.
Those who claim to have encountered the Weaver describe it as a cascade of iridescent light, a symphony of shifting colors and impossible geometries. It communicates not through words, but through sensations – echoes of moments, fleeting glimpses of futures, and the profound understanding that all time is interconnected.
The Weaver’s influence extends beyond Tragulina, subtly affecting the flow of time in other regions of existence. Some theorize that it is responsible for the occasional 'chronal anomalies’ – localized distortions in the temporal stream that manifest as unexplained phenomena, lost objects, and forgotten memories.