#Lore24 – Entry #159 – Wild West Month #7 – Places Forbidden by the Devil Wardens
As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra
The Kerra-Kerra tribes have places we consider sacred. The Tribes Who are Not Kerra-Kerra have places they consider sacred. Perhaps even the People from the Cities Beyond the Great Walls have sacred places. However, there are places which we do not go, places our people rarely speak of. Places which hold great evil spirits, places which are still possessed by the power once controlled by the Devil-Wardens.
The Valley of Mists that Never Fade is one such place. No matter what the sky, water, and wind spirits may decide in the lands surrounding this valley, the mists always remain. From the distant mountains looking down upon this valley, you can see the mists swirl and writhe as if some great beast lies hidden below them. We do not go there. Those of the Bitter Frontier who are not of the Kerra-Kerra do not go there, for none who do ever returns. It is a place of great evil and suffering, for it was once of the Devil-Wardens and their foul sorcery. Those who dare to venture close tell of strange sounds, like those made by the Howling Steel Chariots, of metal and steam, but coming from deep within the very earth. Many have there been of the People from the Cities Beyond the Great Walls who have sought treasures from the valley, and none of them have returned either.
It is said by our ancestors that this place is still haunted by the spirits of the Devil Wardens, that they seek new souls to imprison and use their foul magics upon. It is said that should the Mists that Never Fade ever clear, a great calamity will befall our people and all peoples of the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons; even those beyond the Great Walls will not be safe from the spirits of the Devil Wardens should they be released from this place.
Yet, it must come to pass, for that which is sought by the Golden Star Serpent may indeed lie within the Valley of Mists that Never Fade, and it is fated that the Golden Serpent will break the world. The Kerra-Kerra and other tribes of the Bitter Frontier must remain resolute and prepare for this.
There are other places that are forbidden, still held by the angry, vengeful spirits of the Devil-Wardens, but we shall not speak of these now.