Version History

Expos stood in a room of complete darkness. A single spotlight illuminated a table. On the table sat a short mushroom stuffy. Expos stared at it, hands folded, face expressionless. Expos gasped and quickly began walking out of the room and down the hall. Expos walked into the entry hall of the Darp Tower. A tall thin person with light hair and light features was sitting on a half log stool that had been expertly crafted by some ancient occupant of the tower.

Expos: "Ah at last! My successor, I have waited many Cycles for you."

Zeshin raised their head to see a short, stout person with dark hair and dark features standing in the hall.

Zeshin: "Hello, I am Zeshin. I do not know how I got here. I do not consider my mind to be the most reliable when it comes to reality but this is a first. Which is saying a lot considering the life I have led."

Expos: "Quite the life it was, truly. I am your largest fan. I had been hoping you would be selected, and it seems the tower has decided at last. Come along now, you are The Most Worthy."

Zeshin: "Evidently you have me at a disadvantage. May I ask your name, largest fan?"

Expos: "Folks call me Expos, and I suppose that is my name in the sense you mean."

They walked together down a hall that curved so slightly it almost had the appearance of being straight, except that looking down its length, one could see it inevitably curved, hiding the end from view.

Zeshin: "How big exactly is this tower?"

Expos: "I am not sure it has a true size. It is as infinite as the universe."

Zeshin: "The universe is finite. We know the Spherve has a diameter; we just have not been able to calculate it."

Expos: "Dear, dear Zeshin, the universe is so much larger than just the place you call home."

The curved walls of the hallway bore strange markings that seemed to shift when observed directly. Zeshin fingers traced along the stone surface as they walked, feeling subtle vibrations that pulsed in rhythm with their own heartbeat. The air itself felt different here, thicker with ambient magic, as if the tower drew power from sources beyond the Zeshin's familiar boundaries.

Expos noticed Zeshin's fascination with the walls and paused their stride. The shorter figure's dark eyes held depths that suggested knowledge accumulated over countless Cycles, yet something flickered there, perhaps uncertainty, or the event of transition.

Expos: "The tower remembers everyone who has walked these halls. It knew you would come, even when I began to doubt my vigil would ever end."

Zeshin withdrew their hand from the wall, flexing fingers that still tingled with residual energy. The vibrations had felt almost like a greeting, as if the stone itself possessed awareness beyond mere magical resonance. They turned to study Expos more carefully, noting how the shorter figure seemed to belong here in a way that transcended simple familiarity.

Zeshin: "How long has your vigil lasted? You speak of doubt, yet you remain."

Expos: "Time moves strangely within these walls. I have seen Lum dim and brighten through countless Cycles, watched civilizations rise and crumble through the tower's highest windows. Yet each Wake I woke knowing this would be the Wake you arrived, until I began to wonder if knowing and hoping had become the same thing."

They continued walking, the hallway gradually widening until it opened into a circular chamber whose ceiling vanished into shadow above. Ancient pedestals lined the curved walls, each bearing objects that defied easy categorization—crystallized sounds that chimed without being touched, books whose pages turned themselves while writing their own words, mirrors that reflected not the viewer's appearance but their deepest intentions.

Zeshin moved toward one of the pedestals, drawn by a small sphere that seemed to contain swirling galaxies of light, each point a distant civilization beyond the Spherve's boundaries. The sphere pulsed gently, and for a moment Zeshin glimpsed vast networks of connected worlds, layer upon layer of reality extending through dimensions of solid matter they had never imagined.

Expos: "The tower serves as more than shelter, Zeshin. It is a lens through which one may observe the true scope of existence. What you see there are but fragments—echoes of the infinite depths that stretch beyond our familiar surface."