Zendara takes a look at the dust sadly, then takes the top drawer out and sits and runs her fingers through it, just in case there is anything at all left...
She doesn't find anything in the top drawer, but she calls Xindyra over to help.
Hey Xindyra, come over here. Go through one of the other drawers and see if you find anything in the dust. I know it's a long shot, but who knows. Edwin, you should try one too.
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???
"Say, i could have sworn i saw a light flicker just now, down the charred corridor, but it's not there anymore. Weird....."
Hey Xindyra, come over here. Go through one of the other drawers and see if you find anything in the dust.
"Sure.", and she starts searching.
"Hey? Sort of disappointing, just a sack. Zendara, Edwin, can one of you check this for any traces of magic? If anything, we could use it some other time, i reckon."
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Edwin looked at the sack that Xindyra pointed out and scanned it for magic auras.
After exmaining it he said, "It's an extradimensional sack — bigger on the inside than on the outside!" He reached inside and announced, "There's something in it, a notebook!" He opened the book and scanned the pages.
The Nautilus has been sailing through through the void at full power for six months. The cost of this dash in energy cells is staggering, yet I deem the expense well spent. Once there was a star system here with a primary planet called Oberon, now there's nothing but this peculiar nebula quite unlike any we have seen before. What calamity befell this system? We must know incase our systems are threatened.
23rd Octavian 10598 BR
Today we have finally entered the outskirts of the nebula, the journey took longer than calculated. Some subtle force acted to slow our entry dow and we have now expended most of our power cells and are unable to return without manufacturing more. Fortunately the nebula is particularly rich in resources. We had expected the gas to be tenuous but it is almost at atmospherics pressures and beyond all expectation it appears to be breathable rather than being composed of more elemental matter.
29rd Naril 10598 BR
The last few weeks have been a wonder, we have encountered huge floating rocks, some dozens of miles long. The big ones appear to their own gravity of sorts although the vector of acceleration always points towards the centre of the nebula. At first we found rocks scoured by some past event but as we travelled deeper the pressure and temperature rose and we found strange alien vegetation clinging to the rock. The captain has taken to calling the larger ones islands and I feel the name fits.
31rd Naril 10598 BR
Remarkable, we found what can only be desired as the shattered remains of a city on a particularly large island. The inhabitants must have been a good deal shorter than us and their technology was strange. Oddly we have yet to find any intelligent life but we have found plenty of smaller creatures. Clearly there was a civilisation here but something traumatic happened, the nature of which we can only speculate. The sensor readings are inscrutable as always with occasional flashes of 7th or even 9th order power. What could possible generate such power?
4th Searvan 10598 BR
We have visited dozens of islands now, some of these were tens of hundreds of miles long with numerous ruined settlements. A good number of the islands have elemental connections allowing rivers to pour fourth, in addition to ones large enough to have their own climates. At the bottom of all the biggest islands we found traces in their rotten cores of something the ardents called The Darkness. There's a theological aspect to this I don't follow, but our away teams suggest it has interesting properties.
5th Searvan 10598 BR
Interesting properties, ha! Downright unnerving more like. The Darkness is a very apt name, one of the very first things we discovered was its attracted to sentient beings. It's unlike anything I've ever seen, a state of matter, a condensate on a scale that shouldn't be possible. As I study it in the caverns beneath ruins of what was once a great city, I am convinced this is perhaps the most dangerous thing I have ever seen. It absorbs organic material almost instantaneously, gaining volume. The away team had an accident yesterday, one of their number got too close and was swallowed hole. It abruptly doubled in size and several more got swallowed causing it increase in size again exponentially. It deflated after a few hours, leaving bodies that had essentially been turned to sand.
6th Searvan 10598 BR
By careful experimentation we have discovered that skymetal, which is not of this world, is largely unaffected. Other metals and stone where slowly eroded... There appears to be something inside.
8th Searvan 10598 BR
We had a terrible accident yesterday and I want nothing more to do with this accursed darkness. My best lab technician Arquan had devised a kind of sky metal net which was used to expose the thing in the centre. It was a crystal of sorts rather like an oversized amethyst with a color that wasn't a color. Its radiance seems to be lethal and everyone in exposed has died horribly, except for those who where behind a lead lined container.
12th Searvan 10598 BR
I can't believe this insanity. The ardents of one of those awful sects have dripping poison in the Captain's ear, whispering that this is a prize. A weapon! It's already killed a dozen Githyanki, can they not see how dangerous this thing is?! This isn't just some munition, how would you even employ such a weapon, the trigger is too awful to contemplate?! The warrior sect are insistent, I have been instructed to fashion a lead lined canister into which the crystal is to be placed and brought aboard The Nautilus! Are they mad?! We have ten thousand civilians on board! I protested and was removed from duty, at least constructs will be used to perform the operation for the radiation of the crystal's darklight is lethal out to an alarming distance.
Edwin didn't understand what a "nebula" was, but the journal seemed to be referring to the ship's arrival at the world. He gathered that the ship and crew had travelled a great distance to get here. He translated the interesting passages for his team-mates.
When he finished he said, "I wish we could find some intact records with his team's observations about the 'Darkness'. It certainly sounds extremely dangerous."
Yukarii shifted where she stood to get a slightly different angle and found herself blanching at what she saw. There were splotches of a pale phosphorescence and when she moved just right... Yukarii blanches as she realized what she silhouetted on the phosphorescence, a tentacle...and it was coming slowly closer even as she watched, right towards the building where the others were!
Yukarii's normally pale skin went even paler and she turned to Marek and and said in a squeaky voice full of quiet fear, "It is coming this way Marek-kun!" Yukarii went to him and grabbed a hold of him, "We need to leave this place now."
Marek nods, "By the saints Yukarii, I hoped my eyes were playing tricks! I want out of this accursed place, but what of the others? There should be time right? The tendril seems very slow."
Yukarii nodded in agreement and said, "It does seem that way but it might get faster. Come on, lets go tell Munroe-sensei." Yukarii took Marek's hand, finding comfort in his touch, and headed over to the Professor.
Once they reached the Professor Yukarii spoke to him as calmly and with as much urgency, as possible and said, "Monroe-Sensei, we need to go, quickly. That darkness is coming for us. Marek-kun and I could see a tendril of it and it is coming our way. It seems to be fairly slow for now but I do not think we should be here when it arrives."
It certainly sounds extremely dangerous."
"Hmm. It sounds almost as a living field of matter, for lack of a better description."
I think we should stay far, far away from it. I mean... it wiped out everything. That's not just danger... approaching it is a death-wish, not just for us, but everyone. I mean, if the power could be harnessed for good rather than destruction, then maybe it would be worth it, but I'm betting those notes don't have anything like that.
Edwin looked around for any sign of intact research records, hoping to find some more notes on the 'Darkness'.
Dr Munroe listens to Yukarii and blanches, "That sounds more than a little ominous, I agree we must leave. But we can't abandon those inside, for now let's set a watch on this tendril. If it starts to speed up we'll reassess."
He directs the party to a point where they'd be able to judge the tendril's position.
Mariam followed and swore softly, "Xavier it's definitely moved since I last saw it! Look at that building a block away, there's a thin branch? Tendril? By the saints it's coming for us, albeit slowly! Imagine if this had happened while we were sleeping"
Yukarii nodded in agreement with Monroe and said, "I agree, but I can let them know to hurry up and return." Yukarii stepped back and focused her mind on sending a message to her companions inside. When she was finished she spoke in a whisper that reached those inside the building, "We must leave now, the darkness is coming for us."
With that Yukarii turned her mind inside, and began the ritual to pull Yukaari forth from her mind. When she finished she looked at Yukaari with concern and said, "I need you to move that ay a short distance, and watch for that to move," she pointed at the tendril.
Yukaari blanched, if a spirit could become even paler, going from purple to a violet color, and nodded in understanding. The lust spirit shifted to the side, drifting through Marek as she went, and took up station watching the tendril's approach.
Uh, did you guys hear that? Darkness coming for us? Time to go.
She returns to the ropes and starts descending.
Nothing stops the group from descending the rope and exiting the Inari School of Engineering. Of course this takes time during which the tendrils of darkness creep ever closer. By the time everyone was outside the tendrils were less than fifty yards away and gaining.
Looking shaken, Dr Munroe announced "We've outstayed our welcome. Time to go!"
With that he set off towards the shaft that lead upwards at a fair pace.
By the time the group had reached the outskirts near what once must have been parkland Mariam called a halt, saying "Look I think we've out ranged it. Or at least I can't see the tendril anymore."
Dr Munroe scratched his chin as he took stock, "The tendril seems pretty slow but we've no idea what kind of range it has. Part of me would like to find out but we heard it can flare up in size and last time it engulfed everything. I'm of a mind to pull out and cut our losses. We've learned a lot but staying here feels incredibly dangerous. Thoughts everyone?"
He looked around to see what the party had to say.
Airing what was likely a common sentiment, Marek spoke up, "Dr Munroe sir, I think we should go back to the Dawn treader and leave this tomb before it becomes our last resting place."
Yukarii recalled Yukaari to her mind before they fled since the spirit couldn't keep up as well. Once they stopped on the outskirts Yukarii was pressed tight against Marek while they discussed what they would do next. Much of what they had learned was disturbing and she suspected it was very important. Ideally they should find a way to banish this darkness but she had a sneaking suspicion that was beyond them.
After a moment or two of thought while anxiously watching the sky for that tendril to show up Yukarii finally said, "I think we should find a way to send this thing away for good. We should not let it stay here with that darkness onboard." She gave a slight sigh then and added, "I do not think we can do this so we should leave and seal it behind us."
What? And lose all of this knowledge and opportunity for research?
After her initial reaction though, she says
I mean... you have a point, but there's got to be a way to make it safe, or protect the world... or something, right? I don't see how sealing it behind us will work... anyone who comes here will just unseal it again. And we give up any chance of understanding the forces at play here and perhaps being able to neutralize, or even reverse them in order to do good. It's a big choice that we shouldn't make lightly.
... if we can't figure out how to make it safe or gain knowledge from it, we should see if there is a way to sink it or disable its ability to sustain itself, or even destroy it if there is any way, so that no one else can ever use it for evil again. Maybe we can't do that, but I don't think we have researched it well enough to know for sure, and it would be much safer than just sealing it.
Dr Munroe paced as he listened to the discussion before stopping momentarily. Sounding a little unsteady he said, "Honestly I'm not sure if we could scuttle The Nautilus, perhaps instruct the ship's automatics to descend into the core? Would that actually destroy this ship? And Zendara is right the technology here is incredible... We're up very high here and The Nautilus is on a weird course, we only found it by luck. I want to make the most of this but we can't ignore the danger lurking within."
"But lets take a step back and think of the big picture, we were told they found they found the darkness in the shattered cores of more than one island. It feels like there's a larger problem here! I mean how widespread is this stuff? Also I can't help but wonder is this stuff related to the sundering somehow?"
Mariam nodded and added "Could be I can't help and feeling there's a religious aspect to what we've seen. It's essentially elemental evil by all accounts right? If this stuff is some vestage of the sundering my gut feeling is we're not going to find the answers for dealing with it here. The Githyanki messed with it and it killed everything aboard! No I think we should consult a theologian and our history books, if only we had access to pre-sundering records..."
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Uh oh, those tendrils look like they are searching for something.
I wonder if we could build some sort of detector...
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Edwin said, "If I understand Dr Ar'vaakn's personal log, the 'Darkness' didn't originate on this ship, but was something that they found in the core of some of the islands. In that case, destroying the Nautilus won't get rid of the threat, but may destroy the technology that we need to fight it!
"The strange metal that this ship is built from is certainly very strong. I'm not even sure that it would be destroyed by sending it into the core."
He listened as the others debated what to do. Finally he gave his opinion, "We need to find out more information. It's a shame that we couldn't find traces of Dr Ar'vaakn's detailed observations. I think we should explore the ship further. We nay need to seal off the town, in case the tendrils are searching for a way out.
"If we're to build a detector, we're more likely to find the means on board the Nautilus than elsewhere."
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Uh oh, those tendrils look like they are searching for something.
"Yes, i see them too. No desire to get an up close study of those, i say."
"You know, worst case comes to pass, and we bail the ship, we could find its course again. That said, too much time between visits and it might be in vain, though."
Yukarii spotted the tendrils searching for something and she felt sure it was searching for them. They may not be headed their way, yet, but she suspected they were what it wanted. She clung a bit tighter to Marek and said, "Whatever you do not name it, do not give it a title. Such things have power."
Yukarii looked towards where she thought their ship was and said, "We need to leave here now and get back to the ship, we can discuss this more away from here. I also think that we need more knowledge. Going to the dig we were headed to before is our best chance at finding more."[/v] She looked back at the tentacles and said, [b]"I am going with or without you." With that she pulled on Marek's hand and looked for the route back to the ship, hoping she would not need to brave the tendrils of darkness to get there.
Dr Munroe Yukarii and Marek start to go and he starts following saying, "Er... Yes I agree with getting back to the Dawntreader, I don't think any of us sleep well down here. Lets do that and decide what we want to do in the morning."
Although she doesn't want to leave the Nautilus permanently without learning a little more, Zendara agrees with the return to the ship for now, knowing that it will calm her nerves and hopefully also let the black tendrils of something potentially evil calm down and forget them as well.
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The expedition retreated to the edge of the cavern and glanced up the seemingly endless shaft. There was an oversized ladder stretching up beyond the range of light spells or dark vision. It had taken some time to descend and going back up was going to take even longer and by the time you finally made your way back to the engineering room you where plastered with sweat and your arms and legs where burning from the effort.
It was tempting to close the hatch and collapse but nobody wanted to sleep here so you pushed on back up the winding tunnels and felt your way through the section of utter darkness to stumble into the relative darkness of a natural night dimly lit by stars. As familiar constellations wheeled above and you trudged towards the moored Dawntreader some of the party openly wept having resigned themselves to a
gruesome and lonely death below.
Sailors quickly ushered the party aboard and a tired looking Braenar came to welcome you saying urgently, "Thank the saints you're OK! We where starting to get really worried. Look there's been some developments while you where away, we got message from the University via the quill of automatic writing. The Kez declared war two days ago and there's been several major engagements already, they warned us the Kez are blockading Essex Island and targeting civilian Merchant League vessels everywhere. We saw a Kez fast scout ship a mile off yesterday evening. They saw us and turned tail, I'll bet my beard they went to fetch trouble..."
That's bizarre. We went way out of our way to find this artifact and they just happen by? Aargh. ... I guess we run then, and hope they don't blow the world up until we can come back and settle things in a better way?
Edwin was taken aback by the news of war. First tales of madness on the Nautilus, and now madness in the wider world! He asked Braenar, "How long do you think we have before they could be back with reinforcements?"
"That's bizarre. We went way out of our way to find this artifact and they just happen by?"
With a sour look Braenar motioned one of the sailors muttering, "Bring it up here so they can see."
"How long do you think we have before they could be back with reinforcements?"
Turning to Edwin, Braenar shrugged, "Hard to say, I don't know where The Kez forces are stationed. Still we're a good week or so from anywhere at our top speed, that cutter's faster though. Of course if they have a quill of automatic writing then they already know."
A short while later the sailor returns carrying a small brass box. He opens the lid and shows the contents to you, saying "We found this by accident a couple of days ago in the hold during regular maintenance. It was attached to the ship's power distribution system, hidden behind a bracket behind a panel in the floor that's usually got heavy pallets on top. We think it's some kind of tracking device."
Inside the box is a large quartz crystal with copper wires running around it and a bunch of strange components.
After looking at it, Xindyra recalls reading a chapter of a manual about such items.
"You are correct. Ugh....this will complicate matters. It is an Aldwich Resonator. Its coils can transmit a signal with a reach of about 150 miles, beyond visible horizon."
The revelation that there was now a war on saddened Yukarii but she was not entirely surprised by it. The tensions were high when they left and the events at the port when they left in such a hurry made it clear that something was about to happen. She just hoped their actions weren't the excuse that started this fighting.
That there had been a beacon planted on their ship was a serious problem, especially given what they had found, and she didn't like the idea of letting the Kez forces, or anyone for that matter, getting their hands on the ship. If they could figure out the technology they could conquer everything and she trusted no one with that kind of power. "I do not think we can let the Kez have this ship, if they go in they might learn how to use it, or to use some of the technology. It would make them unstoppable. It would be even worse if they could find a way to control the darkness inside and use it on an island."
Yukarii looked to her companions and asked, "Since we cannot easily moe it is there a way we can lock the door behind us? it stood against intrusion until us, maybe it can stand longer?"
There have been at least three big expeditions to survey The Nautilus. The first one was a Kez backed expedition that reported most of what is known. Their time aboard was initially peaceful but after a few days they started having nightmares and encountered weird undead and retreated having lost half their number.
The second expedition from The Melodium University on Anchorage never made it, a huge storm scattered their flotilla and they found the islets now known as the Shoals and charted them instead.
The third expedition was a hundred and fifteen years ago arranged by the grandfather of the current Kez. They set off with great fanfare and slunk back six months later. What they discovered was never reported.
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Well, we know about three expeditions that have surveyed the Nautilus. The only two that actually made it were both Kez, and although that first one learned a lot, we don't know much about the second. Neither of them were very successful though, the first returning after reporting nightmares and undead, and the second which came back never reporting anything. That was 115 years ago though, so although they might have some knowledge from that trip, it is unlikely they know much more than we do. Our expedition seems to have learned more than they have thus far.
I agree it is a risk, but we can find our way back here, and if they come after us with more than one ship, we have little chance. I like Yukarii's idea of locking the door behind us... Xindyra, you discovered the 4 digit access code for the hatch when we came. Is it possible to relock it, or even better, change the code to something else, with more digits? That might make it hard enough for them to have to enter elsewhere and come away again with little success.
Yukarii considered what Zendara recalled about the Kez's former explorations of the ship and felt herself relieved. If they had not gotten the technology and seemed to fear it that much then maybe they would leave well enough alone. They had obviously not tried to use it or the technology nor the darkness and she felt more confident that they wouldn't.
"If they have explored it that much before and not used what they found then I think they will not now either," she said, "I like changing the lock but that could make them curious about why. If they get curious they might stay despite danger and go further. We might be best to just leave for now and come back later."
I don't think they came in at this entrance. There was evidence when we came that someone had disturbed other entrances... that could be why we had better luck, so I would prefer to secure it if we can.
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You see Xindyra's eyes shimmer bright at the suggestion of sabotaging the access code.
"A nice suggestion. However, i know too little of the ship's systems to do so. Perhaps if we found some sort of technical manual, but i give it little chance. Of course, wrecking it could jam it, but we'd be locked out as well."
Dr Munroe pointed out, "If The Kez did find the darkness it likely terrified them, which could explain the lack of details from their second expedition. If so they've had over a century to misuse this information and as far as we know they haven't. Also being realistic we can't stick around, we only have a month and a half's food left which is moot if they came in force. Still if we can secure the entrance we should."
He sighed, "To be honest I think they're mostly interested in where I am. They've tried to recruit me to join their digs on more than one occasion and then there was that excitement with the Xunlai preparations. They don't know where the Xunlai archipelago is. The ancients where said to have technology, weaponry and magic that was far in advance of our own. You can bet they want exclusive access to that."
Well... it's a risk either way, but since they are likely after Doctor Munroe, perhaps we should re-engage the tracking device, lead them away from here, and then turn it back off before we turn for the archipelago.
Then we can try coming back and doing something here later, if we can.
Edwin considered the situation, "It seems we have to make a decision. Given that the previous Kez expeditions have been unsuccessful, they may be hesitant to try again. We could make for the Xunlai archipelago and try to find out more there, and hope that they don't uncover the secrets on the Nautilus in the meantime. I assume we will be able to find the ship again?"