📂 PLAIN TEXT TITLE FOR POST 8: Post 8: The Prophet & The Anvil - Two Wars, One Ground (1885 / 2025) 📂 POST 8: THE PROPHET & THE ANVIL (Dual Perspective)

The Prophet & The Anvil

DUAL-TIMELINE INTERCEPT // FILE REFERENCE: AB-WARD-001

// SHU ANALYST REPORT // TARGET: ABSALOM WARD (ALPHA)

[IMG]

NAME: Absalom Ward

CURRENT STATUS: CEO, TerraFirma Energy (Cover) / Grand Emissary, Lithic Society (True)

BIOMETRICS: Matches 1888 records. Remarkable cellular stability. Suspect geothermal manipulation.

Ward is not just an ideologue; he is a direct link to the original 1880s cult. He believes the "Quiet Meadow" is a prison, and the Sentinels are captive gods. He seeks to weaponize modern fracking technology to trigger a controlled "Deep Song" and awaken the caldera.

WARNING: Ward's influence is extensive. He has infiltrated multiple government agencies and corporate energy sectors. He cannot be underestimated.

// 1885: THE ANVIL'S FIRST STRIKE //

The "Zone of Death" was just a shack and a barbed-wire fence in 1885. But underneath, a cavern had been blasted from the granite—the beginnings of what Durant called "The Anvil." The air down there was cold, dry, and tasted of raw earth and something faintly metallic.

"This is where the quiet is forged, Kelsey," Powell said, his voice echoing in the vast space. He pointed to a massive, circular depression in the rock floor, still scarred with chisel marks. "A giant table. Later, it will hold the main Resonance Table. And these..." He gestured to crude tunnels branching off into the darkness, "...these will be the conduits to the stakes."

Even then, I felt it. The hum. Not from the machines, but from the rock itself. It was a faint, almost imperceptible thrum—the heartbeat of the Meadow, shielded here, deep beneath the Idaho desert. This was the one place the Sentinels' Deep Song couldn't fully penetrate. It was home. And it felt like a grave.

[PROJECT ANVIL: REAL-TIME THREAT ASSESSMENT]

Lithic Society cells detected converging on the Zone of Death perimeter. Their intent is to disable the main Resonance Table and initiate "The Great Thaw" manually.

PRIORITY: Foreman Kelsey (2025) has initiated Protocol: Final Stand. All units are to prepare for defensive operations. This is not a drill.