Without waiting for Rattan to recover from the crushing weight of this revelation, he continued. "To doom us even further, these mages altered our very biology, making it impossible for our race to procreate the normal way. That's where 'Mother' comes in."
Vellok gestured towards the fleshy organ embedded into the ground like a tumor grown from the planet itself. Tubes snaked from it into the walls. Arcane sigils glowed faintly around it, and with each slow, wet heartbeat, it breathed out magic.
It took a while before Rattan found his voice. His mind reeled, heart pounding under the weight of all he'd heard. He stood still, his thoughts trying to outrun the implications.
Finally, in a voice both cautious and heavy with realization, he said:
