In each of the days that followed, everyone on the Boundless Sea saw the Black Sun shine—the false sunlight spread forth, covering the entire world. Behind World's Creation, the last lighthouse upon this sea carried its radiance to every corner of the shelters, and it continued for many days and nights.
People speculated endlessly about the source of that "radiance." Some guessed it was a sign that the world was collapsing further; some guessed that World's Creation was undergoing some sort of change. The last optimists believed it was sunlight about to descend upon the mortal world once more, while the last pessimists believed all things had reached the time to embrace death—but for even more "people"... they paid no attention to that sunlight.
Having lost all self-awareness, the entities that wandered blindly through the mist and night staggered through the city districts, gnawing and tearing at the food as they "perceived" it. Deep growls seemed to fill the entire world, while layer upon layer of murmurs and whispers rose from deep beneath the city-states;
Enormous shadows, swelling and shrinking without pattern, appeared upon the sea and gathered toward the city-states' coastlines. They were fleets of unknown true form, returning from every corner of history. Forgotten and invisible sailors and pirates boarded the city-states under cover of night, only to melt back into the darkness amid howling winds. No one knew where they went, yet every dock and every intersection seemed to echo with low, indistinct sea shanties and work chants;
The city's buildings were awakening in the night. After the last lucid person left them, they forgot their original forms in the mist. Roofs opened layered, uneven eyes; chimneys curled and grew in the darkness; windows sprouted sharp fangs; and every door sang aloud through the night, producing the