houseofstrange | Nightlands: Waystones

One of the great curiosities that exists not only in the Nightlands, but in the Daylands beyond it's borders, is the waystones.

The average waystone varies between three feet to nine feet tall, their base varying from two feet wide on the shorter ones to four feet wide on the tallest.

They are scattered at random, often found on hills, ledges, cliffs, and frequently at crossroads. Waystones even exist on the ocean floor, as reported by Seafolk.

For anyone with stone-sense, the waystones feel like Living Stone.

Waystones are old - older than Nightfall, and even the Four Great Races say the waystones have always been there.

There has been reports of waystones in the Daylands, both from Farlanders crossing the ocean, and adventurers who have crossed the Sunset Mountains into the Sunrise Lands. Even the ancient damage caused by Nightfall seems to have not affected the waystones, as they show no signs of damage. There is not way to check if they also register as Living Stone, as anyone with Stone Sense will either die if they leave the Nightlands, or will lose access to the Stone Sense while in the Daylands.

The waystones resist all damage and any tools used on them will end up broken. This is true even of Dayland waystones.

One odd curiosity that may or may not be connected is the marker stones along the Wall of Night. The Wall of Night is the underground wall of glossy black stone that marks the eastern border of the Nightlands. Dwarves know not to try and do anything to the Wall and even treat it with a measure of superstitious caution. What potentially links it to the waystones is that it seems to have embedded in it every one hundred yards what appears to be a nine-foot tapered pillar of grey rock that looks identical to the waystones. Ancient records still preserved by the Dwarves and the Eleniquendár say that the locations these embedded pillars match up with the markers laid down just before Nightfall, marking the eastern border in preparation for the Protection Ritual.

There has been no confirmation as to weather a similar line exists under the western Dayline, though the reason is more that Seafolk capable of diving down to the seabed refuse to venture within miles of the border, out of caution not to be accidentally driven across the line by an errant current.

The mysterious Crystal Wall on Endánórë differs from the waystones in that reports of those who have managed to reach it and come back say the wall is a line of crystal, not the dull grey stone of waystones. There are however waystones down on the coastal ends of the Endánórë Mountains.

Within the Nightlands strong enough scryers who also have stone-sense can tap into the Living Stone and look at the land sourounding any given waystone, but they have to be familiar with that waystone to be able to find it out of the thousands across the Nightlands. They cannot reach any Dayland waystone though.

People of the southern continent view the waystones with high suspicion, as they have worked out they can be used for spying, and typically those powerful enough to do such scrying tend to be Quendár.

Quendár think the waystones have been placed by the Arcane, Dwarves by the Living Stone, other races have other interpretations, including them belonging to the Kessír god of Travel and Roads.