The Candles

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The Candles is a small, secluded region deep within the Burned Canyons. Due to the strange geographical nature of the location and the immense difficulty of climbing through the canyons, though it can be reached arduously on foot, flight is the only reliable means of accessing this place.
==Appearance==
The Candles are a cluster of one hundred and three tall, narrow columns of earth, the same deep, burnt sienna hue of the surrounding Canyons. Each one varies between 10-15 meters at the base and roughly 100-110 meters tall, spaced roughly equidistant about 20-30 meters between each one, organized roughly in a circle. The sides of the candles, while rock, are much harder and more dense than any of the more brittle sandstone of the surrounding canyons, and very difficult to break. Its shear nature makes climbing up along the sides basically impossible, so the only way to access the top of them is by flight.
Occasionally, a small flame will emerge upon the top of some of the candles, which, while not visible from the ground, emanates a faint glow in the endless gray dusk. The smoke from them is thick, and appears to take on ephemeral, humanoid forms with appendages stretching up into the clouds.
Carved upon the base of each pillar on one side is a series of runes in an unrecognizable language.
==Phenomena==
While the burned canyons are already a cold, desolate place, the air undoubtedly has a bit of a bite to it standing at the base of the canyons, particularly so when the bonfires light up.
While the amount of bonfires that light up change every hour or so, they will occasionally all come to light at once, and the smoke flowing up takes on hideous, eldritch forms, appearing like great sinewy beasts ascending into the clouds, turning the sky from a dull gray to almost impermeable black.
==Field Notes==
The smoke that billows off the tops of these pillars is strange and fascinating - at first I thought it was simply a trick of my eyes and distance, but upon further investigation and reaffirming of my own clarity of vision, I am certain that the smoke is supernatural in nature, and those flames possibly some nameless evil force. Of further curiosity are the runic symbols at the base of each of the candles - I took notes of all the unique characters I could find, and made no progress in any sort of translation, but judging by the consistency and repetition of some of the figures and words, I feel that these might be names of some sort. I shudder to think of the implication of that conclusion. What strange and eldritch purpose could these have served in eons past? That thought will have to wait; for now, I must focus my efforts on retracing my path out of this winding, earthen maze...
— I. Kallinar
This place feels wrong. I tried to destroy the pillars, but succeeded only in drawing blood from my knuckles. Rock of a dying world should not be that hard. I catalogued what minute gravel and dust samples I could pull from the pillars; perhaps the Doctor or Iae will be able to make more out of it than my fists could. The manikin presence in this place was much higher than I expected, and the fights nearly more taxing than I was prepared for over such a battery.
— Zadimortis
Category: Locations
Category: Luminous Society