From the cellars and the attics, from the pages of the bestiaries, the forgotten fauna was reawakening.
Note
Theodora was invaded many times: by condors, snakes, spiders, flies, termites, rats. Each time the city fought and exterminated the invaders, until it was left alone and clean. But from the cellars and the library, from the pages of the old bestiaries, the creatures of fable crept out: sphinxes, griffins, chimeras, dragons, harpies. In Theodora’s clean order there was room for them.
In the scene the city is an exact grid of white houses. The creatures are only specks, as if of ink, wandering over the roofs; rings of light sweep them away. In the clean silence that follows, pale shapes of folded paper unfold from the library door, rise, and settle over the city.
Touch the roofs to send out a ring of light. Touch the library to release another paper creature; touch a creature to make it fold shut and go back into its book.
Quotations are brief excerpts for the purpose of commentary. The full text is available in published editions. The Cities of Ottavia, Valdrada & the soundtrack are inspired by "Monument Valley" from ustwo games.