The Ruined Sanctum

The arrival on the sanctum was accompanied by a flash of light, the sizzling and humming typical of the teleportal's runic circles, the blue inscriptions on the floor glowed with a blueish-white light and the borders of the sigil undulated with the slightest hint of an arcane wall, a defense mechanism for controlling the comings and goings of those who used it.

As my eyes adjusted to the light of the sun, i could finally inspect my surroundings, the teleportal location was inscribed inside a very tall and slim, elven stone gazebo, it's white-gray stone foundations as well as the dents along the construction betrayed its age for all to see, but it seemed not brittle at all, as though it was made to conserve that appearance.

Beyond it lay an open area, the ground paved with cobblestone and decorated with round stone tables and benches, partially under the shadows of majestic dark olive trees that dwarfed the tall cypresses around the grounds, a soft breeze was blowing, taking leaves and fern along with it. And facing the gazebo, lay the way downhill, with steps of stone, guarded, by a strange being.

The creature, upon perceiving the newcomers and noticing that it had caught their attention did a courtesie, it looked as though a set of armor had become alive, the layers of plate that composed its body tinted plain blue with some slight lilac coloring, the many floating pieces were held together by dancing tendrils of light that swirled inside it, as if a ghost body was inhabiting the metal plates, and at the center of its chest piece, nested a white orb with carvings and runes, the light seemed to flow from it and into it, it must be its core... A golem? And as if that was not strange enough, the creature had two pairs of feline like legs, made in the same fashion of the upper body, with metallic claws, a kind of enchanted mechanical centaur.

-"Greetings newcomers" it said in a reverberating voice "I'm an arcane-servitor, a servant of the sanctum, whatever assistance you require you may simply ask one of the many servants posted around the grounds, if you have any luggage, you may leave it to me, i will take them to your lodging shortly."
And after that, it stood still, as if waiting for an order, we left our bags with the automaton and exchanged glances, we both had excitement in our eyes, sparkling with curiosity
- "shall we explore?" She pondered.
I smiled as we turned to the ancient stone steps and began our descent, how long has it been since i've felt like this?...years?...

Kalliah was walking slowly behind me, as if taking in the view, my head was flying left and right, trying to take in all the new information.
-"This place is amazing." I blurted, the breeze blowing all around as if caressing my skin, the scent of grass, blooming flowers and...butter?.

We both turned to the small building nearby and exchanged glances.
-"That must be some sort of kitchen" she said, pointing to the small, tower like stone building, it was round and had some narrow windows, it was about 10 meters tall, with a domed roof, the fragrance was definitely coming that way, the building had no doors, just large draperies pinned to the sides of the passage, silhouettes were visible from outside, roaming the place as if in a hurry

We came in to a round room, divided by a set of wooden screens, the kitchen was definitely beyond it, the room had two sets of wooden tables and chairs, two people were sitting at the Second table, having breakfast and talking.

to the left, near the stairs, there was a long table with all sorts of foods and delicacies, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, freshly baked bread, cheese, butter, fruits, and it all smelled delicious. We walked to the table, looking around to see if anyone would take notice or reprehend us, no one seemed to care, so we ate right then and there and when we were filled, left the building.

Still following the path down the stairs, we found a clearing, surrounded by some stone archways and pillars, with ivy and flowers growing between them, as well a small wooden gazebo,it had couches inside, as well as lots of pillows, a table and on its roof, hanged a set of small golden orbs, they appeared to be light sources for when night falls. Also inside the gazebo were two elves, they were garbed in fine clothing and were drinking tea and chatting, We thought it best to not interrupt them and continued on.

The more we followed the path, the stronger was the scent of flowers, there probably was a garden somewhere nearby. On the opposite way to the gazebo, on the road to the left there was a beautiful fountain, it had three separate levels with little streams of water pouring from them, at the top of it, a great waxing moon carved of marble was nestled, on the pont at the bottom, you could see small fishes and coins of all shapes and sizes. Beside the fountain was a stone bench where we sat, we were both marveled by the place, such beauty and mystery, one could only wander how it came to be.

-"do you remember the rumors about this place?" Kalliah said, "the ruins and gardens of a mysterious noble, Jonah always told us it was a trap for the careless", she grinned " that they beguiled you with the beauty of the place and the festivities, only to imprison you in an endless dream that never ends while the world goes on around you, and all the people you know forget you, as you disappear forever in the illusion of the sanctuary", she gestured as if to make it even more dramatic.

-"Jonah is an exaggerated meathead" i blurted, "he only liked scaring us when we where kids, he knew that sooner or later one of us would come to this place, so he took the opportunity to try and scare us", i said confidently ,"besides he knew he wold never come himself since he never cared for arcane arts and was far from the scholar type himself".

-"dont be so mean" Kalliah chuckled, "hes was just pulling a prank on us, besides, he did not invent these things himself, he only repeated the gossip around the district, its kind of a local legend, and very few of the people we met have actually come to this place".

The sanctum was akin to a social nexus, a place where you could meet new people, employers, masters, business partners, employees, it was built in a set of ancient elven ruins the were rebuilt and reinvigorated, though purposefully retained their weathered aesthetic, it was all to create this specific ambiance to beguile the people and give off the sensation of something completely unique.

The owner of this place, a mage nobleman called Zoal, created it as a space to socialize, as he himself felt lonely, and as the popularity of the sanctum grew, he got even more rich trough trade partners and also the sheer amount of nobility that enjoyed hanging around the place, you could say the man had almost a court of his own.

As we sat chatting, the sun continued to rise, more people started appearing, some seemed to go to the previous building to eat, others were doing morning strolls, some put blankets under the shade of the trees and laid there in groups, one specific party of four had occupied the wooden gazebo now, they seemed very energetic, laughing, talking out loud, playing a card game and smoking what appeared to be a hookah that was on the table, three of them were women, two were human, the other one was a high elf, as for the man he seemed to be an elf too, but with a very dark purple complexion, and extremely long ears decorated with silver jewelry, could he be one of the so called nightborne?.

-"have you thought what will you write in your report?", she asked.

-"Not really", i replied, "its only the first day so i believe we just have to do it for formalities sake, you know how Mrs. Lavigne can be when we dont keep up to our responsibilities.

-"At this point I'm afraid to even go to the formal events, what if i end up getting drunk?" she said, "Last time she caught us with arbor wine, she put me to tidy up the library, and every time i tried to leave that damn dusty dungeon she would appear out of nowhere to see if i was working!, i was starting to believe the old lady had a scrying device, a crystal ball or something."

"Honestly thats on you for getting caught" i blurted, "i told you both to only do that kind of stuff away from the manor but you didnt listen. And in any case if she somehow hears some dreadful news of you partaking in devious acts such as 'alcohol consumption' in a social event, you will remind her that you are, as of now, a young adult, capable of drinking responsibly, and also, that you must take part of such activities as is merely a question of social etiquette."

She stared blankly at me, "honestly Theo, how long have you been crafting this answer for?"

We both started laughing, i still couldnt believe we were in this place, feeling the sun, the breeze, the running water. "I wish we could stay like this forever..."