DM: DGM
Date: 15 May 2022
Roster:
Twee –
Nalkris –
Wheeze –
Aldwin –
Balthier –
Lysing –
For internal references, please refer to Journey to the Bottom | Sleeper Island EU
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Hey ‘Shida-hon!
It was real nice getting to-
Oh, I can’t keep this up without the Scribe to write everything down. Damn sand keeps getting on the scroll…. Let’s just get to the details. I’ll trust your lacky with the automaton suit can pass this along without issue.
I gathered a crew on short notice. They would more than suffice for the mission at hand and did not disappoint. The One Called Twee, Nalkris of the Raven Queen, Wheeze and his companions, Aldwin the Heroic, The Exceptional Balthier, and Lysing the Airheaded Giant.
The group headed through the portal, stating our business as visiting a resort to the border checkpoint. I trust you can back up this claim with immigration. Our passage to the civilian transport was unencumbered and we approached the agency without trouble. Only my PIM was scanned in trying to enter the sand skimmer. I trust this is also something you can assist with behind the scenes if it poses an issue.
The transport service performed admirably and tended to us. We suspected no ill-intent. I believe we were a sight for those visiting your in-progress fort in the area, but we kept to ourselves for the most part. The Flies proved no trouble on this trip, though the presence in the minds of your people was not lost on anyone. I’ve heard tale of their danger before myself. Balthier had a few words with the captain on traversing the desert more reliably, but I still think this is something that will take work to adequately do ourselves. Something of Fey lines and the Dunewalkers. Such things are difficult for me to understand.
The next morning, we took our tablets and entered the fortress. The first floor seemed to have orcs scouting it. They were discussing something at the time; when we met them, they attacked instantly. Perhaps they were plunderers looking for riches. It is hard to say, but they met a quick end. There were papers in the area, some sort of entrance hall and office. We were not able to decipher much in the area; study on the Khenra language in our people remains an ongoing task, though it seemed much of it was an ancient dialect. There was a heavy locked door, but between Balthier and I, there was little chance not to pass through.
We descended the stairs to come upon a symbol, which turned out to be a sort of trap. I believe it to have been some sort of racial checkpoint based on the text we found on the wall nearby, but it seemed to disappear after Nalkris set it off; its unclear if our PIMs may have dispelled it. We found more records in a room on the left as we continued in, including a book that exploded with a psychic energy that incapacitated Wheeze for a few hours. Additionally, there was a floor trap, and a statue that seemed to stare at us menacingly. We covered the statue’s gaze but meeting its eyes is ill advised for those with weak minds.
From there we continued through another ancient lock and came upon a treasure room, but we were quick to detect something wrong about the area. We found more text here in a small room to the left, and the treasure seemed to leave some residue on us as it glowed with illusory magic. It seemed to eat away at our forms over time, but we were quick to remove the grease. We had no way to be sure. There was also a watchful eye on our presence here, an invisible sensor that was quickly dispatched. I thought I heard something skittering in this room, but we were unable to find anything beyond the floating sensor that would have made the noise. There were plenty of spider webs that could have accounted for the sound, but care is to be had in this room.
We continued further to a mass grave as we began to find the fallen corpses, long decayed, of the Khenra that served here and what seemed like a barricade of sorts. As we searched the rooms, we came upon a group of undead near some bedframes. There was some initial as to the nature of their presence, but as we struggled through trying to communicate with the undead, we understood they were ghasts bound by their sense of duty to stay here and they communicated the danger of the creatures below. They seemed confused… Time passes so slowly for some that a century and a decade might seem the same. The leader, Tarik, spoke of how they fell to the creature below. We left them tributes and promised to resolve the issue so that they could rest. They aided us admirably in the ways they could, I believe they granted a handful a blessing of some sort as we descended further. We trust that your people will be able to properly care for them given their condition; they present no threat, and the context their memory may provide could be invaluable in understanding the tragedy that befell this area.
It was here as we descended past the barricades that we began to detect radiation. There were glass shards across the floor… I assume that the crystals mentioned were in a sort of flask that was destroyed here. As we continued through, we came upon a large cluster of crystals. Wheeze had a skeleton he had created earlier grab a shard and place it in the chest we received. It was here as we explored further into what seemed like a mining operation that Nalkris received most of his radiation burns, turning a corner that proved too dangerous. We resolved to count of blessings that we were alive in such an area, and decided to descend the final time to find the teleportation circle.
We found tents first, then the sickly green glow of more crystals. As we began to enter the final area, crystals seemed to be adorning every wall and as we investigated the first tent, the creatures beset upon us. Two green hulking creatures, seemingly empowered by the accursed magicks of the glow, and their purple master upon the throne, their flesh bulging like wet corpses. They proved dangerous foes, slinging us around. It was only by luck that Nalkris was the only one to fall in such an encounter. Not only did they wield great strength, their leader, the purple one, commanded powerful magics. They all fell with time. We sent Wheeze deeper to scout ahead, and following him Lysing went to find the teleportation circle, learning the code. We gathered proof of our conquest, and returned to the surface.
Your lacky here was helpful in removing our damage, and we are grateful for the cost incurred in providing such a service. Our people do not have such magics, and we have made a rule to avoid our own radioactive zones. Perhaps this is something we should be more comfortable in collaborating on.
All of my comrades proved admirable, and our mission seemed to be successful on all accounts. I understand there are outstanding requests for assistant that others have delayed in the wake of other present threats. These missions may need to be reviewed soon.
I know that you enjoy treats. I’ve heard of some older gossip within Mirage, perhaps some that you could use. Come visit if you wanna dish a bit, k Shida-hon?
-Twee