Sarnath

Overview

Sarnath was the jewel of the land of Mnar, a city of ivory, marble, and onyx domes beside the still Lake Ira, rich from trade and arrogance, built after its founders had destroyed the grey stone city of Ib across the water and taken its idol of Bokrug as trophy. For a thousand years Sarnath prospered and told itself the thuum-ha who built Ib were extinct, that the idol was art, that pride was the same as safety.

On the thousandth feast of the destruction of Ib, green fire rolled from the lake, the idol moved, and Bokrug led what remained of Ib's people home. Sarnath left only ruins and a lesson the archive files under hubris, not legend, because dream-archaeologists keep finding stones that match no waking quarry.

Description

Sarnath at its height displayed terraces, gardens, and temples to minor gods of commerce and light; the idol of Bokrug stood in a temple of crystal, mocked by priests who had forgotten the shape of Ib's inhabitants. Markets sold spice and gold; poets composed of the thuum-ha as monsters safely dead. Across Ira, Ib lay empty, or seemed to.

Now only shattered domes remain, half-submerged when the lake chooses to rise, greenish mist hanging where music played. Stones bear claw marks inconsistent with any catalogued beast. Pilgrims who sleep on the ruins dream of processions entering the water without ripples.

Historical Record

The founders of Sarnath came from the south, destroyed Ib at dawn, drowned its idol, and built on contempt. Ib's people were not human; their god was real. The chronicle of Mnar records the return: lights on the lake, the idol walking, Sarnath silent by morning except for the sound of something vast retreating beneath the surface.

Later dream-travellers report Bokrug still worshipped in depths below Ira, and Ib rebuilt in coral and stone where no diver should go. Waking scholars dismiss Mnar as fable; the archive holds three independent dream maps of the lake that agree within a hundred yards.

Archive Notes

Do not mock indigenous gods in any jurisdiction, dream or waking. Do not remove idols from lake regions without expecting equivalence. Personnel researching Sarnath must read the Ib file first. If green mist rises from still water, leave the shore before the mist reaches you. Sarnath is a warning cast in marble.