Heavenfall

Ch'chit lowered himself down through the crack in the ceiling into the dusky tomb. The smells of memory sticks lingered in the air as he began walking towards the final resting place of those interned here...

This whole camp was strange. She'd known strangeness was coming, but she never quite understood what it would be, since she'd never experienced a journey like this before.

As usual, Umeno had been on daytime patrol, to make sure nothing approached the camp. It was also to see who left the camp, and she noticed the rat man from the meeting a few days back move off and disappear into a crack. She had noticed it before, but she'd had no idea it was big enough to fit a person down it. Moving over, she slipped down to discover it was the inside of a building, one that reminded her of the rat's architecture from before.

It was too dark to see far at first, so she called out, weapon ready. "Hello? Rat man? Are you alright?"

He didn’t turn back, nor did he seem surprised someone had been following him.

He stopped and said, “Am fine. Why follow to graves-place?”

Umeno gave a grunt. "Grave, eh? All I knew is I saw you wander off on your own. This whole area isn't safe, even here I imagine. Better to have two sets of eyes than one, yeah?"

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, and soon she could make out the outline of Ch'chit.

“Not wrong. Much pain-is-present here.” He walked up to one of the graves.

“Was City here... Before Heavenfall.”

As he passes by the memory stick by each tomb, he can catch of distinct smell of of individual Nezumi. Their lives are almost certainly what's recorded on each stick. A few areas are off of the main hallway, and both occupants can see light and color within the rooms.

Ch'chit smells the memories of his fellow Brave-Warriors-Who-Remember and works his way down towards the light.

"A city... I see." Umeno was quiet, and somewhat respectful. She didn't really fully understand or trust the nezumi yet, but this one seemed all right at least. She also was cool in the creature's seeming reverse. "Did you used to be here? Or are the memories just from those sticks?"

This place was clearly for the burial of important Nezumi. He could smell the tales of many great deeds on each stick - a scout who outsmarted the Rakshasa of the southern humans to steal something, a warrior who escaped the clutches of tomorrow many times, a Rememberer who built the library in the capital, now destroyed.

The hallway off the side leads them both to a round chamber with a stone casket in the center, the memory stick displayed before it. From the ceiling shines the light of the sun, though it was likely duller than intended, the weather damaging the reflective glass that brought it below. The walls were covered in murals related to the Nezumi here entombed. From what you can gather, this chamber holds the left behind body of one of Those-Whose-Power-Shines-Brighter-Than-a-Thousand-Torches-and-Whose-Name-Stands-As-a-Great-Wall-Against-Tomorrow.

“Was pup in Great City before Heavenfall.” He replied to Umeno.

“Was beautiful city... Many great places.” He said as he approached the grave of the Trancendent.

Umeno gave a soft grunt, but didn't say anything else in reply. The rat was in a bit of a religious moment, which made sense in a graveyard of sorts, so for now, she gave him some peace, just following. One never knew when something dangerous might pop out.

He walked up to the grave and took a smell of the memory stick.

He gathers that this is the tomb of a Rememberer who was one of the main forces behind freeing the Nezumi from their enslavement to the Ogres and laying the groundwork for Nezumi culture as he knows it today.

“This tomb of ancient Rememberer. Help free my people from... Ogre. Help build our Empire. Great Name.”

Umeno's face furrowed in thought. "Rememberer... are those those among your kind that tend to and make the sticks? Like... I dunno... scholars?"

He nodded, “Yes. Rememberers record past event and Great Names so all may learn from what come before.”

"Er... may I ask how? I realize you might not know since you aren't one... I think... but anything would help. Back in the ra- nezumi village, I just couldn't comprehend how it all worked, what it all meant." She paused. "...I guess this just seems like a good time and place to understand a bit more, if you can."

He pulled a stick from his back and walked closer to the woman.

“Marks. Tell story like hairless-one scribbles. Use teeth in wood make marks.”

He took a whiff of the air, “Rememberers also attach smell. Very specific. Go with story. Help us Remember what that Brave-Warrior-Who-Remember do and say in moment of story. Give us... strong memory of event. Body remember story like it is us in story.”

"The teeth marks are easy enough to understand..." Umeno noted, pausing. "...but I'm not sure I'm built to understand the scent part. Nostalgic smells we can do, but living a memory of someone else's past? Seems like magic work t' me."