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Utopia of the Sphinx

"The Sphinx developed a level of science so complex we are unable to grasp its basic laws."
— A helianthe craftsman in the Old District

The vanished master-civilization whose ruins form one of the oldest layers beneath Cadwallon. Allies of the dragon Maloth, enemies of the Ophidians, the Sphinx were technomancers who breathed life into machines using the power of Light. They guarded Desire's prison, lost their city to the Serpents, and finally vanished into the Labyrinth pursuing their enemies — leaving their wondrous, dangerous devices sleeping in the dark.

Who They Were

The Utopia of the Sphinx was a society of extraordinary technological and magical sophistication during the Golden Age. Their defining art: animating advanced technological items with conscience, using the powers of Light. Taught by Maloth (the Dragon of Light), they built constructs, devices, and weapons of a science "so complex we are unable to grasp its basic laws."

Their alliance with Maloth was reciprocal: Maloth taught them to wield Light and animate their machines; in return they dug the dragons' lairs and forged their armors. When the Sphinx left to pursue the Ophidians, they entrusted the future of their creations to the Cynwäll (via the helianthes and the Noesis).

Their War and Disappearance

  • A small walled Sphinx city stood on the exact site of Cadwallon, allied to the elves whose territory was then whole
  • During the Golden Age, a dreadful war with the Ophidians (the Serpent people) razed the city to the ground
  • Traces of that war scar the outskirts — notably the Fangs of Vile-Tis, a glazed plain where a Sphinx war-machine exploded to take its Ophidian attackers with it
  • When the Ophidians later followed Vortiris into the Labyrinth (255), the Sphinx pursued them in and vanished — never to return

What They Left Behind

The Sphinx legacy litters the Cadwallon underground and even the surface:

  • The Automaton — the gigantic articulated statue, "the ultimate visible remnant still working." Elhan's Cynwäll spirit later merged into the construct above it.
  • The faces on Fort Griffin — Sphinx stonework on the outskirts
  • Aalshem (masks) — ornate masks with complex functions, some hiding traps or locks; the Tomb of the Masks beneath Drakaër is full of them
  • Self-assembling armor — torques that unfold into full-body protection (one helianthe craftsman owns a working example, missing two of its jewels)
  • Light-animated constructs — sparklings, guardians, and devices still active in the deep ruins
  • The Gears Room in the Tomb of the Masks — a chamber bound to the reflections of Cadwallon; the departure point of the Sphinx exile

The Heirs: Cynwäll and Helianthes

The Cynwäll consider themselves the Sphinx's heirs, but possess only "a fraction of the knowledge." The helianthes — Cynwäll specialists — maintain Sphinx vestiges and study their secrets. The Order of the Chimera in the Walled Library and the brotherhood at the Infinite Wisdom (outskirts) both guard Sphinx portals and knowledge. The Sphinx art requires one "to unlearn": their power lived in the Noesis — the disciplined emptying of mind the Cynwäll still practice.

Cosmological Role

The prison-guardians

The Sphinx were not incidental to Cadwallon — they guarded Desire's prison on Conscience's and Maloth's side, against Vortiris and the Ophidians who came to free him. The fortress the Ophidians razed was the prison's guard-post. The Sphinx are, in the deep cosmology, the original wardens — and their disappearance into the Labyrinth left the post empty until the Dogs of War unknowingly inherited it. (see Cosmology, The Game of the Gods)

Relations

The Gears Room

Deep in the Tomb of the Masks beneath Drakaër, the Gears Room — locked by a frieze of complex Sphinx masks — protects a chamber bound to the reflections of Cadwallon and full of magical-research documents. It was the Sphinx's departure point into exile. A scholar named Baliak has sworn to open it. Whoever helps him may follow the Sphinx's road — to wherever they went.

The two missing jewels

A helianthe craftsman in the Old District has working Sphinx self-assembling armor — but it's missing two jewels, and incomplete it's only a curiosity. The complete set would be priceless and dangerous. The jewels are somewhere in the deep vestiges. He'll fund the expedition; he will not let the armor out of his sight.

See Also