Augurer Tenguyama of the Tower
Chapter 1: The Origin
Creator or Father? Hedge wizard or Angel? His very essence is contradiction. Inside that world’s egg, I heard him laugh maniacally. Behind the plum tinted glasses, you could feel madness flicker in blood orange. The Hedge Wizard Dotta whispered excitedly through the shell into my thoughts, “The carnival is about to begin! It will be magnificent! But where will you stand? The light? The shadow? Both? Neither? You must make the choice and I will make mine.”
And just like that, he raised his hands to the sky and vanished from the apex of Eagle’s peak. For months, inside that egg, the whispers engraved themselves into my very existence . I do not know how, but I understood like it was always meant to be. Somehow it felt like my story was written specifically for me. How absurd. How…convenient. Time moved and I grew in body and in mind nestled in the chilling ice and relentless snow.
One listless night, I finally emerged, born into the never-ending winter. It would be wrong to say I came into the Runiverse as an innocent babe. Rather, the time inside the egg was where I grew. The thoughts and prayers from the very land and its residents were my nourishment. My young adult body was shaped by what others perceived me to be. What was my choice? I could hear that whisper still and felt a tinge of resentment.
My name was already imprinted: Augerer Tenguyama of the Tower. I was a tengu born in the peak of the mountains, to foretell the fate of the Secret Tower. It was not a definitive view of the future, but rather a vague sense of possible events that plagued my mind’s eye. I lingered for years in the mountains. My gaze drifted between the Tower and the Quantum Shadow. Each time my eyes flashed red, I would see a jumble of memories. To whom do these belong? Was it anger or death or pain? The color red defined me. My skin was a deep red, full of meaning. Love? Life? Passion? Danger? War? It was difficult to define myself. I was a beacon of concepts.
Sometimes a strange block would plague me and no matter what I did, it would stop me from seeing further. It was a forgotten rune that was forced onto me.
When I recovered and was able to move forward again, it always felt like time was stolen from me. It was a curious thing. And then, two lines reverberated into my soul each time.
‘It was not the Wizards who forgot the Runes.’
‘It was the Shadows who forgot the Runes.’
Chapter 2: The Tengu
Tengu are interconnected. How they came to be, varied as much as those who believe in them. They are born from belief, whether that be inside a world’s egg or under the Stone Star and Dawn Moon. Augerer Tenguyama could feel the very essence of each of the 83 Tengu in the Runiverse. That did not mean he could understand them, but he knew of their general existence and location of operation. In time, he sought them, to warn them or stop them. It was often times difficult to find his fellow Tengu. The others slipped into different instances of time and space. They were there and then suddenly they were not. Time did not flow linearly. Making contact proved frustrating, but the handful he could reach, affected his resolve.
Tengu Brothers:
They were brothers, Wizard #1976 and Wizard #4957. Their struggle with the Shadow Cult in the battle of Mount Kirama had reached his ears. The Tengu connection grew strong from the bards spreading the song of the brothers’ triumph, but so did the belief in shadows. Augurer Tenguyama’s choice flickered briefly. He sought the hero brothers to seek counsel and learn about their encounter with darkness. They were opposing sides of a coin, one in the mystical arts and the other in alchemy. They had profound knowledge in their respective arts and Augurer Tenguyama spent some time listening to their stories and research. In particular, he was enamored by the sacred flame that Alechemist Tenguyama used in his experiments. He could feel his soul longing for the flame, beckoning softly, intently. The whispers were deafening. “You must make the choice.”
Alchemist Tenguyama bellowed, “Are you alright?” The voice faintly reached, and Augurer Tenguyama replied, “Yes. Yes. Of course. Let us continue our conversation.” Augurer Tenguyama deeply felt the lingering taste of the other side of the flame. These brothers stood with the light, as did I. He repeated the phrase several times but the whispers intruded at the end each time. “Yes. We stand with the light. For now…”
The Baron of Blue Wizard Bastion - I came, I saw, I conquered:
Directly west from Eagle’s Peak was the Blue Wizard Bastion. Augurer Tenguyama kept an ever vigilant eye on this particular city. Not only was it a key thoroughfare, it practically belonged to an eccentric Tengu, Wizard #8840. Unlike other Tengu, Chronomancer Takao did not settle in the mountains or forests. He took exclusive residence in a wizard capital close to the Secret Tower. He was a hoarder, purchasing whatever land was available. He would scour the surrounding areas for resources to create more mana. He held tightly to that mana, in preparation for the uncertain future. War was coming. He would not be blindsided. He made alliances, notably with Sorcerer Kazem of the Palms, who stands south of the Secret Tower in a village of the vast Golden Plains. Not much is known about the mysterious Sorcerer Kazem, but he seems to trust Chronomancer Takao.
Surprisingly, Augurer Tenguyama and Chronomancer Takao did not see their differences as a hindrance. Their peculiarities filled in the lacking worldview they each held themselves. They could see so much more together. It was Chronomancer Takao that gifted Augurer Tenguyama a precious purple crystal ball that aided in focusing the visions. In return, Augerer Tenguyama would help foretell land prices and possible threats to Blue Wizard Bastion. It was a friendship forged through donuts. Yes! Donuts! Who would have thought that Tengus favored the sweet treat? Blue Wizard Bastion had one of the best donut storefronts, in part due to Chronomancer Takao’s obsession. There were so many flavors and styles, but an exclusive Tengu donut still escaped Chronomancer Takao’s grasp. You could almost hear his annoyance.
The Fractured Tengu:
There were two Wizard #9730 and Wizard #8796. Were they exactly the same? Was one a copy of the other? Were they from different instances? It seemed one was once human and is now a Tengu chimera. The other has no history, a shadow, if you will. Unfortunately, Augurer Tenguyama could not perceive them. It was an unexplained phenomena. Did they exist at the same time or could only one be present in this reality? The only truth was that one was tainted by the strangers from the corrupted lands. He became drunk on an unknown drug and proceeded to create the plague-spreading ember frog. Lost inside himself, the rot consumed him as it did the lands around him. The other Alchemist Konoha peered on, either in the deep subconsciousness or from an entirely different plane altogether. It is unknown what he thought, or if he thought at all.
The Remaining Tengu:
Excerpts to be added as remaining Tengu arise and make contact with Augurer Tenguyama.
Chapter 3: Don’t Go Chasing Shadows
The goat in black fled across the desert and the Augurer followed. He goes by many names. He is Legion. He is Beelzebub. He is Elf J. Trul. He is the Evil One. One of the Prime Evil. In the Runiverse, there were 23 known versions. It was mind consuming to materialize the Evil One. It took everything Augurer Tenguyama could muster to keep the image and idea of the Evil One in his memories. The Evil One was definitively real, but you would forget because he did not want you to remember. He would be your kin, your companion, your mentor or any number of other things that you needed. He knew you, but you did not know him. In the Secret Tower, he faded into the shadows and into secrets even other arch wizards could not fathom. Augurer Tenguyama inadvertently witnessed the Evil One shift and change at an auction in the Two Crows Bazaar. Since that moment, he could feel the darkness just a little stronger and felt a madness to pursue. He chased and chased, but it’s hard to chase something that did not have a fixed form, physically or mentally. He could not shake the deja vu. How many times have I done this before? Nevertheless, he followed.
Chapter 4: Bearsnakes on a Plain
Motherflogging Bearsnakes on a Plain! Imagine the lot of them roaming the Buffkin Plains! They identified as shapeshifters but wore the heads of polar or grizzly bears. The snakes were out of sight. Maybe they were hidden under the bear head like Medusa or were they acting tails like a manticore? There were many Mr. Bearsnake. However, there was only one true Bearsnake. The others were just imitating. Augurer Tenguyama received credible information to locaate Bearsnake, as he was an orginal founder of the current world. Bearsnake was the common denominator to the Wizard Dotta and the Evil One. One of the (un)holy trinity. Find the Bearsnake, save the Runiverse. Augurer Tenguyama needed to scratch that itch in his brain. He knew what the underbelly of the Runiverse was, but he could no longer remember. He sought Bearsnake in order to find the prompt that would allow the story to continue. Eat the plum and escape the simulation or drink the Kobold Kool-Aid and remain unaware of the truth. As persuasive as the whispers from Dotta were, the Evil One’s deception was equally haunting. The choice was not as simple as Augurer Tenguyama had hoped.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Entered by: 0xCa4C…c182
No further Lore has been recorded...
