[Suzerain of Sheol]

It is his first time to stand in the open air of this new era. The first remarkable truth to assault his senses is how little of nature remains in this place -- everywhere to be seen, shaped stone dominates the land and much of it is old, some as near as old as he.

Next, his sight wanders to the impermeable Heavens, the orbit of the stars at once familiar and slightly deranged. They seem somehow less personal now, than in centuries past. The moon is shrouded, leaving little in the way of light, and scarcely a soul disturbs the deepening night.