Description: An instructional handbook for the care and keeping of watch dragons, issued in the late Tøl Mintzk artisan period. Its green cloth cover bears gilt botanical filigree and a central medallion: a diminutive dragon curled inside a pocket-watch frame. Though mass-produced for urban keepers, surviving copies are remarkably scarce—most perished through improper storage (iron dust, shadow contamination, or dragon-induced warping).

Provenance: “Recovered from the desk stores of the Orivar Sub-Wing, Archivum Ir Iliyt; catalog fragment 𝋁𝋆𝋄𝋁–D.”

Transcription (Front Cover Text):
Keeping Watch
Instructions for the
care & keeping of watch dragons

Marginalia (transcribed):

– A: “Surprisingly, the ancient ink retains its capacity for lumin re-infusion—in this case, a yellow glow, which—in its original pocketworld—would have been re-infused periodically with yellow moonglow which would have leaked into the Varabaru by design through one of three Varabaruvian moons which operate in orbital resonance with one another—more specifically, through the Varabaru’s nearest moon called Leith, which emitted a pure yellow moonglow.”

– B: “Note the medallion engraving—older style shows a hatchling with vestigial winghooks. Scholars disagree whether this represents an authentic period styling or what at the time would have been seen as a romantic vintage embellishment.”

– C: “Corners worn from use and carriage; manual likely belonged to a watch dragon owner or lamp-warden.”

Curator’s Note: Though intended as a practical guidebook, Keeping Watch remains one of the few surviving artifacts linking the domestication of dragons to Varabaruvian life. This archivist considers its persistence nothing short of a quiet miracle.

The Ir Iliyt Archivum is reader-powered.

It’s no secret that holo-banks fail and memory stores erode. Even more unsettling are the recent cases we’ve all heard of in which holo-banks have been intentionally corrupted and manipulated. The Archivum at Ir Iliyt continues restoring all surviving folios in physical form—clothbound, inked, and resilient, but we can only continue this arduous work with your help.

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CHAPTER 1: KAEMON

Once upon a sanguine summer, reports of strange attacks spread quickly throughout the Kingdom of Dauda. A colony of kaemon moved in from the stagnant marshes of the outer wastelands and harrowed the kingdom.

Queen Tyntella was young and headstrong, and often went against the wisdom of her advisors. She developed a reputation for defying convention and doing things her own way, which was amusing during times of peace, but proved devastating once the shadow of death fell over Dauda. The people cried out, but the crown offered no help.

"For what coalition of mortals can stand against death itself?” Queen Tyntella argued. “Apart from our sincere petitions to Fyrios, there is nothing to be done of it. If indeed we do nothing, let us do it with joy in our hearts."

The castle Brumeveil rested strategically on an island at the center of the Great River Cloaking, and drawbridges connected the castle to each bank. The castle was well fortified and stocked with enough supplies to withstand even the longest siege.

The Queen gathered to her island three hundred and thirty three of her dearest family, closest friends, and esteemed nobility; along with the most prestigious chefs, decorators, artists, musicians, and storytellers renowned throughout the kingdom. With her favored few safely across the river, she ordered the bridges raised, for it was well known that kaemon—who made their abode in the stagnant filth of the marshlands—were unable to approach, let alone cross the clear purity of fresh running water. Taking every precaution, the Queen ordered her guards to let no person, living or undead, across the river.

Messages arrived by Raven from across the river with regularity. One message in particular bore an inflammatory drawing on it, which mocked Dauda’s Coat of Arms. The Griffin of Dauda had been replaced with the image of Morgrulth—the chthonic dragon ridden by Njal, the Moonless King of Shadows. Even more insulting, Tyntella’s own family crest had been replaced with Njal’s infamous mark—the syzurag. The implication was clear; it was Njal, not Tyntella, who now ruled in Dauda.

Soon, every messenger raven that flew across the river delivered an altered rendering of Dauda’s coat of arms. The drawings infuriated Tyntella to the point that she ordered her archers to shoot the ravens down before they could fly across the river, a decree which effectively cut off all communication between the island castle and the rest of the kingdom.

After enduring such mockery, the queen no longer felt any guilt for the fate of her people as she herself took refuge. While her people suffered and died at the hands of the kaemon, Queen Tyntella and her favored few reveled and danced each night beneath the glow of the Varabaruvian moons. They danced for weeks as sanguine summer swelled into edematous autumn.

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The Ir Iliyt Archivum does not endure by scribes alone—it endures thanks to generous travelers like yourself, who see the value in keeping our lanterns glowing. Without funding of our preservation efforts, these stories are bound to fade, and the voices of queens, kings, heroes and villains will be lost to the dark shadow of time. If you believe these stories deserve to endure, consider making a small donation to the Archivum. Even the price of a cup of coffee goes a long way in supporting our work.

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Welcome Traveler,

Tales From the Archrym is what I’m calling my serialized fiction—original fantasy stories set within the surreal worlds of The Archrym.

In this episode Rualve—High Archivist of the Grand Archivum in Ir Iliyt—introduces our tale for season one, "The Last Dance of Queen Tyntella."

When terror spreads through the kingdom, young Queen Tyntella does not raise an army... she raises a glass.

Rather than face the encroaching shadows, the young queen retreats to her island keep with her inner circle.

Behind lifted bridges and fortified walls, they choose revelry over responsibility.

But walls alone cannot keep out the darkness growing within.

Lush, lyrical, and hauntingly symbolic, The Last Dance of Queen Tyntella is a gothic fairytale of dark beauty, mad decadence, and the ruin that waits for those who dance too long in the glow of their own illusions.

Subscribe for artwork, lore folios, notes from the archivists, and more.

Subscribe now

The Ir Iliyt Archivum does not endure by scribes alone—it endures thanks to generous travelers like yourself, who see the value in keeping our lanterns glowing. Without funding of our preservation efforts, these stories are bound to fade, and the voices of queens, kings, heroes and villains will be lost to the dark shadow of time. If you believe these stories deserve to endure, consider making a small donation to the Archivum. Even the price of a cup of coffee goes a long way in supporting our work.

Click below to preserve these voices for future travelers and SAVE THE ARCHIVUM.

SAVE THE ARCHIVUM

Description: This folio records a set of contested symbols associated with the Fallen Arch-Fysi of Shadow, sometimes called “The Moonless King”, Njal. The most recognizable of the marks is the Triple Talata (𝋆𝋆𝋆) — a repetition of the numeral six in Archrymic notation. Some hold it as Njal’s number, though whether this is ancient truth or later superstition remains uncertain. Interestingly, parallel associations between adversarial deities and this particular number (or at least its equivelents) are seen throughout various other languages, cultures, and religious mythologies.

Common variants include stylized claw-marks in place of the talata numerals, and a series of hand signs known as the three-shot and the holster. To most, these gestures are mere play — finger-guns fired thrice in jest, or mimed holstering — but certain scholars suggest they carry hidden allegiance, the finger-gun itself resembling the shape of a single talata.

Most elaborate of all is the Syzurag: an eight-pointed star with the triple talata inscribed at its center. Traditions diverge on its meaning. Some argue the eight points mark Njal as the eighth Arch-Fysi. Others see the concave geometry as a deliberate inversion of the octagon traditionally used to honor the Fysi and their wendings — an act of opposition, even corruption.

Provenance: “Copied from the fragments of the Moonless Ledger, shelf C–19, folio 88.”

Marginalia (transcribed):
– A: “Due to the ambiguity of the hand-gestures, it is plausible they originated as popular play, only later reinterpreted as cultic.”
– B: “The Syzurag’s concave star form strongly implies inversion; whether this is doctrinal or accidental remains debated.”

The Ir Iliyt Archivum is reader-powered.

With funding cuts driving us toward cost-efficient holographic folios, the risk of permanent data loss grows. History has proven that physical folios endure when holo-banks fail. If you believe these relics are worth preserving, please consider supporting The Archivum.

Click below to pledge your support to The Ir Iliyt Archivum and SAVE THE FOLIOS.

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Description: This illuminated arms is believed to represent the royal arms of Dauda before the fall. The griffin rampant suggests guardianship, majesty, and peril—though whether this is an authentic sigil or a later romantic facsimile remains uncertain.

Provenance: “Facsimile attributed to the Brumeveil Ledger, shelf B–7, leaf 112.”

Transcription: Banner reads “Duty Before All Things”.

Marginalia (transcribed):

– A: “Note the griffin’s head—styled more leonine (a post-Dauda convention) than avian (common in authentic Daudian relics). This suggests the artifact is a later historian’s re-creation.”

– B: “Coloration conjectural; no surviving evidence of tinctures remains.”

The Ir Iliyt Archivum is reader-powered.

With funding cuts driving us toward cost-efficient holographic folios, the risk of permanent data loss grows. History has proven that physical folios endure when holo-banks fail. If you believe these relics are worth preserving, please consider supporting The Archivum.

Click below to pledge your support to The Ir Iliyt Archivum and SAVE THE FOLIOS.

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And sometimes, you don’t notice a door until its already pulled you through.

Welcome to The Archrym—a vast and mythic universe; a wellspring of innumerable pocketworlds.

In the Archrym, the hidden doors between worlds are referred to as “ghost gates”, and if something feels slightly off right now, it’s because your eyes are currently tracing the threshhold.

On the other side, an endless sea of colored light stretches out across the sky, energizing the elements from which everything in The Archrym is made up—from the grungy and dreamlike surrealist cyber-sprawl of The Archrym, to the bioluminescent forests and salt-stained airship ports of The Varabaru, to the phantoms living deep within the red haze surrounding the dark and whimsical Hazelands.

Some worlds glow with multiple moons. Some drown in haze. Some swallow their own histories whole. Each has its own rules, its own magic, its own culture, and its own lies. Some are aware of their connection to The Archrym, and some are not.

Here, you’ll find stories from wondrous places. Tales of a young queen who dances too long in the face of danger, a captain sailing to a phantom realm bent on trading his present for the future that was stolen from him, a reporter coming face to face with the wyvern-mounted revenant who’s been terrorizing her small town.

Aside from serialized narratives that wind in and out of The Archrym’s myriad pocketworlds, I also plan to bring you fragments of lore, glimpses of canon, and beyond-the-page author commentary.

The tone is generally whimsical and lyrical, but if you linger, you’ll start to feel the shadows creeping along the edges. These are WhimDark tales, liable to catch in your chest and follow you into quiet hours.

If that’s the sort of adventure you fancy, then this is your invitation to take your first step through the ghost gate. Just know that once you’re through, there’s no going back.

And don’t expect me to light the way for you.

—P. S. Patton

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