The Gaze that Precedes the Fall

Beyond the borders of Adrasteia,

in a place where reality is not entirely solid,

and time does not move in one direction,

something stirred.

They were not Factions.

Not gods.

Not world-makers.

But they were Guardians of Transition.

Entities that do not create,

do not destroy,

but only appear when a world begins to change shape.

And they had read the symbol:

ADR—

Two of the entities stood across the third layer of World Six's reality.

Soundless, formless.

Known only by their vibrations of meaning.

One resonated as Eil-The: reader of possibilities.

One pulsed as Vorann: predator of uncertain directions.

Vorann spoke first—not with a voice, but with the wound of reality:

"Three letters are not enough. But too close."

"If the symbol is given voice by more than half the citizens…

a new form will lock itself in."

Eil-The replied: