Szarnone
The Temples of Babel
prefix szar suffix none
el'nzzrizdrch salaz el-rydranus
number
38,301
empty
choleric
alignment
☷
height
6 ft
length
19 ft
weight
0 lbs
size variance
0%
I.Q.
999,999
core temp.
0°F
stability
100%
longevity
18,900 years
blind
mute
ziliacene
quality
pure
physical appearance
The szarnone /zɑɹˈnʌn/ is a floating, coiled stranger .. .. .. white at the nose and black by the end of its tail. Its body .. impervious to all outside influence from the physical world. It appears completely made of flesh, reflecting light slightly, as though ... sweaty and skin-like in texture, but leaves behind only the brief sensation of moisture when touched, with no residue upon the hand, and with no solidity to the touch. Its body is fully undamaged by even the blast of an atomic bomb.
A small shape of holographic light floats directly above the szarnone's nose. For some szarnone, this shape takes the form of a pyramid, while in others, this shape is a sphere or flat square, with the complex shapes like the great stellated dodecahedron𖼍 seen less often (but not improbably infrequently) among their ranks. This light casts a glow bright enough to read by.𖼎
𖼍 "And above all, we must be .. .. ... ... ... .. .. .. . ... ... .. .. grateful. Were I able, were you'd willing, we'd stand, the city white behind us, and know not even a thousand prayers could distance them from us. You see on me the marks I bare before you; placed by their hand, a miracle. And those of you among us, you've met it now, as well. We were chosen; but moreso, so was I." †The Rhavristaxzxzxisharna
𖼎 "He placed a book in the place cast most heavily by its glow. And then, he prayed; for many days and one more night he stayed there, palms upon the cement. Praying to be shown the way, and praying to be uninterrupted. He sat up only when he could barely breathe, so parched of thirst was he. The book lay open still before him. He gazed upon it, watched as the blank became embedded with sigils, crests, and constellations." Nebud, Dzazzr. Coins-and-Cups; the zh'Harna liSchraixx defeat, 677
The szarnone makes no sound, save for a thin, high-pitched tone that is almost inaudible, but persists for .. . following the encounter.ㆣ
ㆣ "Above all, its chorus sang louder." †unknown
the szarnine subtype: the szarnine substrain appears in .. ... .. ... .. . .. ... . . . . .. half of worldwide infestations, and overtakes the szarnone globally within 1,000 years. Though the szarnine is as persistent as its parent strain in its ability to weather environmental detriment, any intended attack𖼕 from a sensitive via use of an implement causes it to collapse and die. Upon contact with the ground, its flesh loses the appearance of solidity and fades into transient particles. It leaves no corpse behind.
𖼕 "I tried to hit it with the pipe, and still it stood there. I couldn't help it. I loved it too much." †Swoxie, Strule (attributed)
environment and generation
The first szarnone appears in ... . .. where the surrounding buildings stretch equally high, each devoid of all but the barest of adornments (posing mostly as designation).ಟ
ಟ "There are so few of us left by that point. It's beautiful, don't you want to fall asleep on Roman statues every night? (They didn't touch those things, you know. They looked at them as kings.)" Radziat, Thy-Zhyy. Greyzown, 88.88b (second distribution as recalled)
The second szarnone appears deep in the city,𖼇 ... .. ... ... ... .. .. ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... a necessary loss of life in the months following its appearance.ꓨ
ꓨ "Black ground, black skies, and a white horizon." †Harkko, Nir
𖼇 "A bomb we hadn't quite seen before hit down-town. Downtime it all from that point on, we always cried to think back, a history ob-scene enough to unsettle enough ashes from our memories to make our tears more like charcoal-smudges down our cheeks.
In that hour, every surface was opaque enough that eve' brightest sunlight brought only the touch of light into it." Uwn-Mrine, Samuel. "it won't be the last", continual 37
The third szarnone .. .. looking out over the suburbs.អ
អ "All of this commotion left them quiet. The families still there were the holders-out, looking ever to the places farther from the filth within the center of it all. The lights further inward didn't seem to work any more, but here ... . .. . ... . . ... ... ..
A brief stretch of green; artificial, like a carpet, surrounded a house with a streetlight above it. This pole had only a brief flicker, so the pink of the house-walls and light of the roof sustained their colors on their own; newborn in its primness against what seemed to be dust-covers across the yards of things stretched further out.
It would send her well-wishes if either of them could see." Unknown-unknown. Petunias, 37
All subsequent szarnone appear randomly in the topmost interior places in equally tall towers (with their ranges shrinking or increasing as worldwide building heights fluctuate), their haloes similarly differing in no fully predictable sequence, but with certain commonalities and ... .. developing.
behaviour and effects
The szarnone's demeanor is ... . .. . a swollen thing that ... .. to be a deity. It does not move or react to the world in any way.ㆲ
ㆲ "The sky's always darkest around one, someone used to tell me." †Ume, Hunann
interactions with sensitives
Encounters between sensitives and szarnone .. .. messianic ... .
The szarnone cannot be physically destroyed unless the space within which it dwells becomes exposed to the elements in ... . a significant way.ವ When this space is ... . ... ... ... ... ...𖼀 destroyed,𖼁 the szarnone's physical form flickers away.𖼃
𖼀 "The bombings were generous. The bombings were generous!" †Say, Michon
𖼁 "We didn't turn our heads to even look; we could have believed it didn't make a sound." †Orsel, Pallo
𖼃 "A bad holograph." †unknown
ವ "And that was what did it. The missile whistled through the air. Punctured through the clouds. And didn't make a sound as it hit that tall tall tower. The bricks fell down like pieces of foam. The beast said nothing, then faded away." †Silhon, Drouvelle
aging and death
... ... .. ... ... at the end of its life, it flickers from view.
䷭
"I knew enough about that one to stay away. Around it, the fields seemed flattened; crop circle ringing rosy round that obelisk. But, all the same; I knew how it must have felt back then to have lived the way it all had been. I didn't stop until my legs gave out beneath me."