His Eyes Never Change (Gold like Cor Lapis, Blue as Noctilucous Jade)

Where the Golden Cliffs Greet the Sea

Long, long ago, many hundreds of years before the rise of the Guili Assembly, there was a small settlement nestled where the golden cliffs greet the sea. The people of the small village lived simple lives. They braved the steep cliffs, reaping a rich bounty from the ocean. The small coves that were sheltered from the worst of the surge brought them a quiet prosperity, as they filled their stores with beautiful shells and feasted on the fish that sought refuge there.

Most days of the year, the people of the cliffs lived a quiet, content existence. There was only one thing they feared above all else.

Their village was prone to destruction by the great waves that storms brought, crashing heavily upon the cliffs and slowly eroding its integrity. Countless lives had been lost to the wrath of the sea, but the people were loath to leave their ancestral homes.

"And so, the villagers attempted to make a deal with a god who ruled over the sea."

Morax watched as stagehands clad in dark clothes ran across the stage, pulling with them tapestries painted to depict those grand cliffs and ocean waves. The layers of individually painted cloth sheets created a unique sense of depth, with great walls of granite facing the blue claws of the ocean.

The narrator sat at her place by the right hand side of the stage. She was the 'conductor' of this play, he realized. Rather than an individual memorizing lines of the script, the actors focused solely on acting out what the narrator read aloud for all to hear. It was a mixture of improvisation and stage directions that had been decided in advance. Truly, a unique experience.

Beside him, Haolan watched wide eyed as the stage was swarmed by the colorful forms of the villagers. They bowed before the painted waves, pleading desperately for a moment of respite.

"The people of the village pleaded with the gods. Please spare us! They called into the howling wind and rains, hoping against hope for a response. Finally, as the clouds parted and the waves ceased their relentless attacks, they received their reply."

From somewhere above the stage, a paper figure was dropped down to swing above the heads of those villagers. It was a simple silhouette, not unlike the one painted on those tapestries outside. The silver paint used for the mask shimmered with every small movement of the paper.

"A grand voice echoed down from the heavens, its owner amused by the struggle of these tiny mortals who lived on the border of his domain. Very well, he said, you who are so desperate to live that you would lay down your lives just to speak with me, I shall grant you what you seek."

The figures on the stage looked up to the ceiling, their arms outstretched as if reaching towards the invisible figure of their savior.

"You shall know peace, without storms or tsunamis. Never again will you have to fear my beautiful ocean. But my kindness comes with a price. A year of peace in exchange for a human bride!"

The gasps from the audience echoed the distraught faces of the villagers on stage. They wept silently where they knelt on the stage. Then, from the darkness of the audience, a figure in vibrant crimson leapt onto the extended section of the stage.

The woman dressed in crimson silk danced gracefully and light footed, red reflecting on the smooth wood, the golden bells at her ankles ringing clearly out into the crowd. She was like a delicate flower moving in the breeze, the cloth spinning in mesmerizing patterns as she made her way down the extended stage towards the weeping figures of the villagers.

All eyes were drawn towards the vivid figure as she stopped in her tracks, bowing deeply towards the back of the stage.

Morax watched as the tapestries were folded away into the curtains at the edges of the stage, revealing a large wooden structure that looked very much like a giant clam. It was an open shell, but thin sheets of shimmering white cloth blocked the figure sitting within. All that could be seen was the figure's shadow, cast on the cloth barrier by the light within.