Pillar of the Divine
The Pillar of the Divine is a tall column of polished white stone, located in the land of Belbac in the northeastern Threshold. Once, it stood in a clearing surrounded by a wall of Cypress trees, but these were removed during the deforestation of the country to leave the pillar alone in the midst of an empty, broken plain.
The Pillar is ancient, its true nature or purpose forgotten to mortals and gods alike, as if it has somehow been wiped from the memory of Creation. Few, however, take time to consider this mystery when they look upon it, for to each person who visits the Pillar provides certainty through the effect which gives it its name.
When one looks upon the Pillar, one sees it carved with the image of one’s god.
Strangely it is not the image of one’s god as one perceives them, but rather an impression drawn from some unknown source, and common to all who venerate that divinity highest in their prayers. The images seen are varied, but grand and rich in detail. Those who hold the Most High foremost amongst their gods see the arms of Sol Invictus strangling a great serpent of shadow while the ranks of gods and mortals are crushed, heads bowed, beneath them. Those who adhere to the Immaculate Faith see the Five Elemental Dragons, each wearing a mask of a human face, entwining in a neverending circle as they ascend the Pillar with the fangs of each gripped tight to the tail of the next. Other gods can be equally strange: far-ranging rangers of the Seventh Legion have reported they see the god of their Legion Tien Yu wearing the god of Deheleshen Tu Yu as if he were armour, while the worshippers of Ahlat speak of seeing a great-tusked Walrus, bellowing within a library aflame. The descriptions of those devoted to their local City or Field God can vary widely, but often these minor deities are described as standing grand and tall, with the figures kneeling at their feet sharing impossible resemblance to the Incarnae.
These visions are not mere tricks of the eye, for one can reach out to touch the carvings, feel them, take rubbings with lead and paper, ascend the Pillar using them as footholds, trace the weathered lines where grime accumulated in a crevice and was then washed down by rainwater. For an observer, there is no reason to doubt what they see is real, and no proof that there is anything else to be seen.
