Ruins of time
During the construction of the fort at Omberstad, upon the ruins of the village known as Shakumir, the surviving goblins of the Tokari clan lived in captivity. They were no match for Kustos' soldiers of course and insurrections, while common, were easily controlled. It was the burning of The Belfry only a year after the fort had finally been completed, that proved the most significant.
The Beflry itself had been constructed not long after the Fall of Tokaru upon on the foundations of the Tokari's largest windwheel that had stood on the headland overlooking the village. The windwheel had been Shakumir's pride. It had pumped waters up onto the terraced gardens that the clan tended upon the cliff-sides of the village, and its spinning sails a colourful sight that greeted the weary traveller upon their return home.
Lord Protector Ackron Der Kustos had ordered the windwheel torn down immediately after the invasion, and the College of Tempus had quickly built their bell tower upon it. For nearly 40 moontides the belfry tolled. It was the tolling that forced the Tokari from their cribs in The Icepen and Ladders. It was the tolling that controlled their shifts as they carved the masonry from the basalt cliffs to built the walls of the Fort. It was the tolling that meted out their rations, sent them to sleep, and controlled when and with who they could meet.
The Timekeepers ignored the tides, they ignored the winds, they ignored the cycles of the coral and the bird and the egg. Maybe they were blind, or stupid, or both. They hid themselves in their new tower, and brought this incessant reminder of their ignorance with their hard mallets upon that clamouring metal bell.
When the fire started, it was between bells, when the timekeepers retreated to their dark chambers. It quickly took hold, and it could be seen from across the Blackpool lighting up the southern bluff. The Timekeepers were burned alive, and their precious bell was melted into slag.
No-one caught the perpetrators, but the punishment was severe for all Tokari in the Icepen. Eventually, a new Belfry was built, but not upon the ruins of the old one. The Tokari refused to work upon it further, no matter what punishment was threatened or given out. In the end the Lord Protector Kustos was forced to concede a new location, further down the terraces and closer to the port.
Now, two generations since, the old ruin on the headland is overgrown and the stone walls crumbled to the ground. Most who live within the town avoid it, and rumours abound that it remains haunted by the ghosts of the dead Timekeepers, and many evil spirits under the control of the Spiritseers. The Tokari help to spread these rumours to keep the curious away.
Within the ruins still lies the rusted and warped slag of the bell and it is here, that leaders of the Tokari in Omberstad meet in secret. They gather around the old bell as a symbol of their struggle as they plan their ongoing resistance against their oppressor.
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