A morality tale—1960 style.
Legend had it, that manythousands of years ago,right after the Great Horror,the whole continent of thewest had slowly sunk beneaththe West Water, and that onceevery century it arose duringa full moon. Still, Captain Hinrikclung to the hope that thelegend would not be borne outby truth. Perhaps the westcontinent still existed; perhaps,dare he hope, with civilization.The crew of theSemilunis thought him quitemad. After all, hadn't the eastand south continents been completelyannihilated from thegreat sky fires; and wasn't itsaid that they had sufferedbut a fraction of what thewest continent had endured?
The Semilunis anchored atthe mouth of a great river.The months of fear and doubtwere at end. Here, at last, wasthe west continent. A smallparty of scouts was sentashore with many cautions tobe alert for luminescent areaswhich meant certain death forthose who remained too longin its vicinity. Armed withbow and arrow, the partymade its way slowly up thegreat river. Nowhere was tobe seen the color green, onlydull browns and greys. And nosign of life, save for an occasionalpatch of lichen on arock.
After several days of rowing,the food and water supplywas almost half depleted andstill no evidence of either pastor present habitation. It wastime to turn back, to travel allthe weary months across theWest Water, the journey allin vain. What a small rewardfor such an arduous trip ...just proof of the existence ofa barren land mass, ugly anduseless.
On the second day of thereturn to the Semilunis, thescouting party decided to stopand investigate a huge openingin the rocky mountainside.How suspiciously regularand even it looked, particularlyin comparison to the restof the countryside which wasjagged and chaotic.
They entered the cave apprehensively,torches aflareand weapons in hand. But allwas darkness and quiet. Still,the regularity of the cavewalls led them on. Some creature,man or otherwise, musthave planned and built this... but to what end? Now thecave divided into three forks.The torches gave only a hintof the immensity of the chambersthat lay at the end ofeach. They selected the centerchamber, approaching cautiously,breath caught in aweand excitement. The torchesreflected on a dull black surfacewhich was divided intomany, many little squares.The sameness of them stretchedfor uncountable yards in alldirections. What were theseungodly looking edifices? Theblack surface was cold andsmooth to the touch and quiteregular except for a strangelittle hole at the bottom ofeach square and a curious rowof pictures along the top.
They would copy thesestrange pictures. Perhaps backhome there would be a scholarwho would understand themeaning behind these last remainsof the people of thewest continent. The leadertook out his slate and painstakinglycopied:
Safeguard your valuables at
ALLEGHANY MOUNTAIN VAULTS
Box #4544356782
THE END