The Ruined City

The Ruined City — page 1 — For Jen who keeps me grounded in this dimension

The Ruined City — page 2 — A warning Do not voyage far Dear reader whoever you are wherever you are whenever you are it is my intention to fi ll the pages that follow with two tales so curious and singular that they will encourage you to believe in magic and monsters lost cities and vanished worlds and realities so fantastical they cannot be imagined in your wildest dreams One tale happened thousands of years ago and is still happening now The other happened now and is still happening thousands of years ago Both will happen thou sands of years from now Time is not what you think it is These events I will describe occur in the world you surround yourself with every day and the worlds you visit in your most incredible fantasies They involve people so like you and creatures so different that you will shiver just to think of them But beware for it is also a tale of beings that were ancient before your world was born A tale of monsters who are dead and yet dream who are so powerful that humans are insignificant insignificant and who are so frighteningly alien that simply to think 1

The Ruined City — page 3 — of them can push a mind to the edges of sanity As the great master of the macabre H P Lovecraft once said We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity and it was not meant that we should voyage far Is all that follows true I cannot help you there You must decide But one thing is certain it all began long ago in a place called Sanxingdui 2 john wilson

The Ruined City — page 4 — sanxingdui The Emperor’s Tea Kun Zhuang emperor of Sanxingdui the City of Masks and all the surrounding lands that can be reached on a galloping horse in fi ve days lord of all creatures from the largest elephant in the royal menagerie to the tiniest mite in the straw bed of the poorest peasant and keeper of the Golden Mask sniffed A young servant boy dressed in a gold-trimmed green uniform with a twisting imperial dragon on the front scuttled forward from his position behind the emperor and offered him a silk handkerchief Kun wiped his nose on the richly embroidered sleeve of his dressing gown and waved his arm dismissively Thank you Chen he said but I would prefer if you brought Jingshen and me some tea The boy bowed and turned away but he skidded to a halt when he realized the emperor was still talking And make certain that foul-smelling dog is nowhere near the royal tea urn Last time you served tea it smelled as if you had drawn the water straight from the drinking trough in the imperial kennels 3

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