A great king is perturbed when, whilst excavating the site for his masterwork, the monument which will secure his place in eternity, the workmen discover ancient statues and old foundations hinting that some unknown empire may have tried to do so before him. And even worse, it seems like that empire might have been mightier than his. Someone needs to look into what’s going on here… -- Deathshead419
It was almost the perfect place to put his monument to himself as guardian and protector of his kingdom. The artist had made a model of what would be the eventual statue, and King Magnificent had ordered a massive block of granite to carve it from. All it needed was the perfect place at the gateway to his realm.
Which was currently being cleared of rubble and loose, unstable soils.
Evidently, the workforce had found a big stone that would be in the way. It was large and rounded, and also some very fine granite. Magnificent idly wondered if it might be used for smaller statues to his glory in or around the rest of his glorious kingdom. Down in the pit, the workmen excavating gasped and shouted. Almost in unison. One scrambled out of the pit and went running in terror, screaming the name of an ancient horror.
King Magnificent stepped down from his palanquin and made his cautious way to the pit, alone save for his for his bodyguards, his cloak-bearer, and seneschal. There to peer down and see what had disturbed them so much.
It was the visage of a giant. Four times the size of his own, planned granite face. Scowling and severe and authoritative. Made to last longer than his reign, and made to intimidate his subjects.
It was still working, as it was working on Magnificent. Though he was a king and undisputed overlord of all he surveyed, he felt an existential fear from staring into the long-buried stone eye of the forgotten king.
Because no matter how mighty he was, now. There would come a later century in which he, too, would be a forgotten nightmare.
[Photo by Ian Noble on Unsplash]
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