Farshadow

The Farshadow Record

(Expanded Settlement Copy)

Place: Farshadow

Mark: The Lake at the Crossing

Time: After the Long Pursuit, during the Years of Holding

On the Choosing of the Place

We came to the lake where the paths meet.

East to West.

North to South.

Here the ground holds water.

Here the air opens.

Here the shadow did not press close.

We did not name this place safe.

We named it Farshadow.

On the Dark That Remains

The dark did not end here.

Beastlings still move beyond the rise and the treeline.

They test the edges.

They learn paths.

We keep watch.

We bar doors at night.

We do not wander far without reason.

Farshadow is not beyond danger.

It is beyond pursuit.

On the One Who Holds

Something stands here.

We do not speak to it.

It does not answer.

It does not cross the lake.

Where it moves, the beastlings do not gather.

Where it stands, the shadow breaks and thins.

We have seen the marks left behind.

We have found what remains after.

We call the one who holds Oslog.

On Honor Given

We did not name Oslog lord.

We did not build him walls.

We set aside food where he passed.

We left worked stone where he rested.

We spoke his name aloud so it would be carried.

This was not payment.

It was recognition.

On Living Under His Keeping

Because Oslog stands, the dark stays scattered.

Because the dark stays scattered, the paths remain open.

Because the paths remain open, the town holds.

We still teach the children to run.

We still teach them the sound of night.

Protection does not end caution.

It makes it possible.

On His Passing

Oslog did not remain forever.

When he no longer walked the water’s edge,

we knew the measure of what he had done.

By then the fields were set.

The walls were raised.

The watches were learned.

Only then did we speak his name with weight.

On Honor After

After Farshadow held without him,

we honored Oslog more carefully.

We marked the places he had stood.

We told what he kept from crossing.

We taught that safety was made, not given.

No song was written for him at first.

Songs change too easily.

This record was kept instead.

On Remembering Correctly

Oslog did not make Farshadow safe.

He made it possible.

If this record is copied,

do not say he ended the dark.

Say only this:

Here, the dark was held long enough

for people to learn how to stand.