Guardians

The Guardians are the colloquial name for a group of four megalithic structures located across the Miato region. Wrought by the ancient, advanced civilizations that once ruled the Miato region through unknown techniques that are most likely impossible to reproduce, the Guardians are not so much 'buildings' as vast, semi-living biomechanical constructs serving multiple functions of observation and regulation in an ancient system rooted throughout the entire region and stabilizing it.

Resembling living creatures from the outside and shaped into flowing organic curves within, the Guardians appear to be largely constructed of some kind of a living stone resembling marble in texture - albeit warm to the touch, and streaked with luminous veins of energy which appears to flow within the material. Their internal structure is fairly complex and labyrinthine, and it is quite possible that it subtly changes over many years, the complexifying of the internal structure akin to the formation of new neural connections as others fade. There are a few fixed paths, however, presumably intended for the few occasions where a human would need to access the heart of the system. These paths often need to be accessed in particular ways, and involve a myriad of puzzles involving the redirection of the energy flow. In addition to these puzzles, there are wild Pokémon living within the Guardians in a symbiotic relationship, serving a variety of purposes within the system.

Each of the Guardians is associated with a direction and a season (affecting both their placement and the area which they monitor), and should a reactivation of the system be required, it must be done in a particular order. To perform a reactivation, the Guardian's Heart Chamber must be accessed and the Glyph in its centered must be accessed using the correct interface stone. The Glyphs are not without their security system, however, and are protected by modified terrain and a Protector Pokémon, awakened at times of need.

The Northern Guardian

Located in the north seas of Miato, north of the Northern Tundra - and eternally surrounded by obscuring mists, ice floes and glaciers - the Northern Guardian is wrought in the shape of a giant turtle. Associated with the winter season and the classical element of water, the Northern Guardian's energy-flow is an icy blue which masks it among the glaciers - and the warmth that it emits in freezing cold surrounding it may be the origin of the mists themselves.

The Northern Guardian's heart-chamber resembles a resplendent icy cavern, the glow of the energy within the walls and the assorted interface structures casting marvelous refraction patterns. The Glyph's protector is a Winterora with boosted stats and a permanent Rainbow Mist that cannot be dispelled, making it impossible for the trainer to match the protector's boosts or use confusion or attraction to their benefit.