Discovery of the Tower staircase and Spirits
Discovery, Exploration
2/5
The first southerners arrive at the Towe of Origins, find the staircase, and sight a Spirit.
Sova, Kal, and a handful of their crew left The Nonesuch and travelled over the ice to find the same band of northerners who had saved their lives twelve years previously. Upon finding them, they were welcomed and spent a few days getting to know them. Finally, Sova pitched her idea of travelling to the base of the mountain to get as close to the Tower as possible. They left the crew at the camp, and Sova, Kal, and their guide took off to the north using sleds pulled by beardogs. It was a long journey to the base of the mountain that held the tower. They only had one local guide, as even the northerners had no reason to come this far into the frozen mountains. But here, at the base of the mountain, they found a staircase.
Nothing could have prepared me for what we found. Stone steps, clearly carved by a sapient hand, wound up the side of the mountain. In places they dripped with icicles or seemed otherwise precarious, but they were without a doubt a deliberate staircase and at least somewhat maintained. By all accounts, no one comes up here. Who created the stairs? The same people who built the tower? The Spirits?
Then, Kal touched my hand. I nearly didn't feel it through my mitten, but he squeezed and whispered, "Look."
I looked up, and I saw.... I'm not sure. It was like a ghost, high above our heads, slowly making its way up the stairs. It shimmered in green light, and it reminded me of the stories Gram used to tell about people becoming part of the aurora after the died. It was like a piece of the sky's light had come down in human form, and was no scaling the mountain to get back up there.
Kal took out his telescope to get a closer look, and then handed it to me. Through the telescope, I saw a clear humanoid shape of shimmering light. As I looked, it suddenly turned its head and fixed its gaze right at me. In shock, I dropped the telescope. When I looked back, it had vanished.
I don't know what else to make of this, but... I think we saw a Spirit.