Where the Tombstones Bloom
Crashsite
An astronaut survives a catastrophic crash landing on an unfamiliar planet. Awakening amidst the wreckage of his ship, he is confronted with the loss of his crew and the overwhelming silence of an alien world.
Parting Stones
Before continuing his journey, he honors his fallen companions. Following a sacred tradition of his people, he gathers small stones from the edge of a nearby pond, carves each with the symbol of a lost crewmate, and places them into a worn leather satchel to carry with him.
Spring Wedding
During his long journey across the fields, exhausted and alone, the astronaut stops beside an anthill to rest. As he sits quietly, his attention is drawn to a nearby rock.
Two ants stand together at its center while others gather around them, each carrying flower heads and laying them carefully at their feet. To the astronaut, the scene resembles a wedding—a tiny celebration taking place in the middle of this vast alien world.
Glaciers
The astronaut finds his way into a vast ice cave, hoping to make it his temporary shelter. But the deeper he ventures, the colder it becomes. The walls are covered in shimmering ice, forming enormous frozen slopes that glow in the dim light.
As he explores, he makes a sound that echoes through the cavern.
Glimpses
While fleeing a mysterious predator awakened by the sounds from the cave, the astronaut somehow escapes and finds the only one way out. Emerging on the other side, he is met with breathtaking glimpse of the planet—a vast landscape of endless fields stretching toward distant mountains.
Believing the mountain peaks may be high enough to restore communication with his transmitter, he sets off toward them. But beyond the first line of trees, his path is suddenly blocked by a colossal abyss cutting through the landscape. With no way forward, he follows its edge, searching for a way across.
Dandelion Forest
His search leads him into a beautiful forest of towering dandelions, where enormous seeds drift through the air, carried by the wind toward the distant mountains.
Thousand Bridges
The edge of the abyss is lined with countless broken bridges, each a relic of a forgotten past. Desperately testing one after another, he finally steps onto a bridge that collapses beneath him. As he falls, fate intervenes—he lands atop one of the giant dandelion seeds, which carries him safely across the abyss and onward toward his destination.
Mountain King
Deep beneath a mountain lake, the astronaut unknowingly awakens an ancient leviathan. Rising from the depths, the colossal creature ensnares him with its immense tentacles and lifts him high above the water. It begins speaking in countless forgotten tongues, searching through ancient languages until it discovers one they both understand.
The leviathan reveals the mountain’s greatest secret: whoever reaches its summit—something no one has ever achieved—will become the ruler of this world, with all living things bound to their will. Many have sought the peak, yet every one has failed, for their hearts were driven by the desire for power. The mountain grants passage only to those whose intentions are truly pure.
Echoes
At last, the astronaut reaches the summit, only to find a barren tree and an empty stone well. Believing this is the highest point, he activates his transmitter and waits. Three days pass in silence. No signal. No reply. Hope begins to fade.
With nothing left to try, he climbs the lifeless tree.
That moment the tree bursts into bloom. The clouds part, revealing a sky filled with stars, and their light awakens something deep within him. He feels the heartbeat of the entire planet—the flow of its rivers, the whisper of its forests, the pulse of life waiting to return. Water surges from the empty well and rain begins to fall. The mountain erupts in green, its frozen peaks melting into rushing streams. The branches of the great tree continue to grow, lifting him even higher, above where the clouds were before.
From this true summit, his transmitter finally comes alive. Signals arrive from across the planet’s solar system. Many of his people survived the disaster, scattered in distant escape modules. Yet, instead of leaving, he chooses to remain. And bring this planet back to life.
Sprouts
Only a handful of survivors respond to his signal—far fewer than he had hoped. Yet, beneath the static, he detects something more: faint signals scattered across the solar system. Weak, distant, but unmistakably alive. Enough to reignite a sense of hope.
Slowly, some of the survivors begin to return. Together, they establish a new home on the planet, rebuilding their lives among its forests, mountains, and rivers.
For each of his fallen crewmates, he plants a tree upon the mountain, burying their engraved parting stone beneath its roots. As the years pass, the trees grow tall, embracing the stones that once carried their memory. What began as a farewell becomes a living memorial—a forest that stands as a reminder that even after great loss, life can take root once more.
But their journey is not over.
Hundreds of signals still remain unanswered—faint echoes reaching them from across the solar system. At least a hundred more survivors are still out there, waiting to be found.
Their next mission is clear: return to space, follow the remaining signals, and bring home those who are still lost.
Moods and Textures
Hero Unmasked
The hero, protecting us all, solving crime, swinging around