December 2023 Challenge: Solstice Well
Well, well well! It's been days since the challenge posted and it's just Redrobes' work thread sitting there, intimidating us by how much progress he's made, but fear not, I shall be adding my own scrawlings here soon. Doodlings. Why do both these words get a red underline? They don't exist? Well, now they do.
Today I give you this abysmal sketch, to encourage you to join in. Look how bad it is! As it should be at the doodlings stage.
In this fantasy land of Whiterock Tundra, a mysterious Solstice Well exists. Nobody knows who built it, but modern druids of southern villages claim it is the ancient druids of old, whose traditions they are continuing. Which is a bunch of lies, or, you could call it wishful thinking, if you're generous. The truth is, nobody knows what that artifact is or who built it, or how it works.
Situated in the northern part of the Tundra, the Well is a circular structure with a very deep hole in the middle. It probably is a well, I mean, there has to be water down there, it's so deep. Nobody ever brings a bucket and rope to verify that, though. They just assume. They say you're not supposed to put anything down there. The druids, that is, they act like the well is their thing. They make pilgrimage there every summer and winter solstice. If they could, they'd probably set up a whole entire village up there to keep strangers out. But the well is in the middle of empty, icy desert. The sea is difficult to fish here, and the nearest forest is far away. The worst thing is, of course, that the well is on the bear migration trail. Polar bears make the journeys to the well much more dangerous.
Every solstice, a mysterious light appears to be emanating from the well. In winter, it's a cold, white pillar of light shooting up into the sky for several minutes up to several hours in the days leading up to, during and after the solstice. In summer, a mysterious orange glow appears around the well for several days, and on the day of the solstice, mysterious lights can be seen in the sky. These lights are not seen in the absence of sunlight, and their colour depends on weather conditions.
That's it for today on this map. Stay tuned for more about the druids and their rituals, and, what is that thing in the sky there? Well, I did mention, and now have to deliver flying saucers, so there will be a story about them too, coming up.
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