Windawill: The Seeing Mirror of Evenfarther

Transit

Set on the Rushblow cliffs overlooking the Sea of Crystal, the small town of Evenfarther is reachable only two ways. The first is to make your way to the Loplishy Prefecture, either by train, beetle-bus, or long-barge. Once in Loplishy, look for a small ramshackle storefront by the name of Tad’s Transit. Do not be put off by its awkward appearance, Tad is a professional and reliable pilot. You can then purchase a hot-air balloon ticket to Evenfather for only two canters. This is the safer method, if longer, and has the added benefit of being easy to access.

The second rarer and faster method is via sea-capsule from Roattown. There are only two sea-capsules remaining in operation, and they are largely being kept as curiosities. In spite of their age and quaint design, they are perfectly safe as vehicles; what gives most people pause is what happens after landfall.

The Rushblow cliffs are some seven hundred meters high, and there is no easy access to the sea. Arriving by sea-capsule means either undertaking a difficult and often dangerous cliff-scaling expedition, or making landfall two miles away from the town and hiking the rest of the way. Both methods, while regularly undertaken by sport enthusiasts of all kinds, are not particularly suitable for casual tourists.

The Place

Few people have heard of Evenfarther, a tiny town seated on the Rushblow cliffs. It is a humble town, full of people who go about their tender lives without presumption or expectation. They are a sturdy and loving folk, always welcoming to visitors and quick to befriend anyone in need.

The town itself has very little when it comes to sightseeing opportunities beyond the spectacular view of the Sea of Crystal. Attempts have been made to turn Evenfarther into a hang-gliding spot, but so far no efforts have proven successful.

If you wish to pass the time, kite-flying and long-fishing are the two main interests. Flying a kite off the Rushblow cliffs is an art form in Evenfarther, with kites of all sizes, shapes, designs, and functions used regularly. Long-fishing is simply the act of fishing with a line long enough to reach from the top of the cliffs to the sea, and takes a lot of skill and experience to master.

But this is all preamble to the main attraction of Evenfarther; the Seeing Mirror.

There are many legends and folk stories about the Seeing Mirror. It is said this was the mirror in which the Sanguine Mother first saw the Lirin alphabet and brought language to Windawill. Supposedly it was a fragment of the Seeing Mirror that stayed the Conquesting Harlequin in their rampage across the seven continents. In legend, Runalong Reiy used the Seeing Mirror to find the Thread of Small Mercies, and the reflection of the Nine Queens of Winterkesh in the mirror was accepted by the Smoke Angel of Hok as payment. Some scholars even consider the mirror one of the Seven Lost Tools of Antham, the artifacts used to build the world as we know it today.

How many legends are true, and how many exaggerations, or even outright fabrications, no one can say for sure. There is no question, however, that the Seeing Mirror is an artifact of immense magical influence. Looking into the Seeing Mirror is not a task to be undertaken lightly, regardless of its current tourist-trap ornamentation.

A re-creation of the Seeing Mirror is hung in the town hall of Evenfarther, and for most tourists, this is all you will need to see. The display room is ornamented in simple elegance, with silver trim on the walls and a small collection of marble statuary dedicated to the Seeing Mirror legend. There are several plush settees and lounges for people to rest on, and a small buffet table full of fruits and breads to refresh yourself.

Multiple paintings are hung on the northern wall, each depicting a portion of the mirror’s legend. Opposite this display, an oil painting of the mirror itself in its demesne dominates the entire wall. I must say, while the artist has taken a few liberties regarding the local light and size of the cavern, they have masterfully portrayed the sense of the room, and the awe that looking upon the mirror elicits.

The copy itself dominates the eastern wall, recreated in exacting detail. A nearby plaque affirms that, no matter how difficult it may be to believe, the sculptor has added no exaggerations, nor extra embellishments to the mirror’s ornamentation. The stone used in the mirror’s frame is even sourced from the same local mountain range, to keep the same naturally high iron content.

Describing the mirror itself is simple enough: it is a stone oval resting on statues of a distinctly vulpine nature. Along each side climb ivy-like vines and wide gallic rose flowers. On the left side, the ivy entwines a fecund nude female wielding a spear, and on the right crouches a naked man of lithe form and face with a shovel in his hand. Atop the oval lies a crown of sparkflower and pink muhly grass, topped with a trio of birds: a red kite, a mute swan, and a eurasian cuckoo.¹

The glass itself is a massive polished slab of clinohumite. Since such a thin and wide piece of clinohumite is an obvious rarity, the re-creation is made with a synthetic gemstone composite that matches the original’s color and refractive properties. Of course, being a re-creation, the copy does not have any of the magical properties of the original, and is instead for tourists who wish to see the mirror, without looking into it.

Seeing the real Seeing Mirror is still possible, but far more difficult than observing the re-creation. There are a great number of papers and back-ground checks that must be undertaken, as well as a limited-lottery system that ensures no fewer than ten people a year are subjected to the mirror’s magic. This also ensures the mirror is not abused for the amusement of the curious, but is used only by those most devoted to its powers.

The Seeing Mirror has so far avoided being a centerpiece or holy artifact of any well-known religions. It has somehow managed to avoid large-scale organization beyond the small group of Colored Mazari who have adopted the role of caretakers of this miraculous wonder.

I was fortunate enough that I was allowed to see the mirror upon my tenth application. I met the blue Mazarius, Lonni, who ushered me through the long halls and carved tunnels to the holy cavern of the Seeing Mirror.

My first thought upon entering the cavern was that it was much smaller than I thought it would be, though this may have been an illusion caused by the size of the mirror. Even though it was the exact same size as its copy, my mind felt dwarfed by the artifacts majesty. I could have been my anticipation clouding my judgment, or the openness of the cavern making the real mirror seem larger than the copy sitting in its smaller lounge.

The cave was still and silent, not even the sound of dripping water or distant echoes to match my beating heart. To be honest, I cannot say much of how the cave looked, or how accurate I found the copy to the original, as I was overcome by the opportunity I had before me.

I can only tell you what I saw when I looked.

I saw a place that reminded me of home. Not a place I called home once, but the very idea of home — a place where everything is not only familiar, but personal. A place where the bends in the road are the curves in your veins, where you feel the bricks in the walls like the pores in your skin, where every tree and stone are somehow yours.

I saw a world of fabulous magics and myths, of monsters and miracles. I saw wisdom in the shape of a young child and the delight that only came with age. I saw impossible things and things so commonplace as to be miracles in themselves. I saw peepholes into the infinite, clues to the uncertain, and unimaginable unending beauty.

No, I can’t even call it beauty, for the attraction was nothing so tactile as mere aesthetics. It was amazement, awe, enrapturing complexity, a siren’s call of curiosity, promising that which was frightening could be understood. It was the purest essence of the sublime.

Reading back over what I wrote, I at once feel foolish and frustrated. I know this sounds like someone trying to explain an acid trip, and indeed much of the peace and harmony that I felt was similar to the best calming drugs I have ever taken. Nevertheless, I can’t think of any better words to describe what I saw.

Mazarius Lonni described it like this to me: “The Mirror is at once a mirror in the traditional sense, and a magical window to other places and times. Not that the places you see actually ’exist,’ any more than your reflection exists. This world of ours has become quite adept at hiding itself from us — or perhaps we have become very skilled at looking away at just the right time. For whatever reason, we tend to forget quite important things, and our mind can only remember them through half-told stories or errant dreams. When one looks in the Seeing Mirror, they see places that are even farther away than our imaginations. It reminds us which parts of us are real and which are dreams.”

In the end, I don’t know if I can recommend looking into the Seeing Mirror for everyone. Surely, not everyone will gain something from the experience. I am sure there are some people who will even find it commonplace. I’ve even regretted looking into it, some days. Not so much because the experience was harrowing or discomforting, but because it felt so profound at the time that I was certain my entire worldview would change overnight.

Nowadays, I sometimes find myself pausing and feeling a disquiet when I realize how little I have changed. Am I failing my revelation in some manner? Am I betraying my potential? The world’s potential? Did I touch greatness, only to fall again?

The feeling always passes, and it does not come often. Nevertheless, I urge you to consider carefully before planning a trip to Windawill to see the Seeing Mirror of Evenfarther. The copy is still a marvel to behold, and anyone interested in the mirror’s history could do far worse than making the journey. That said, looking in the mirror itself is not an act to be undertaken lightly.