With everything loaded aboard the Wink and the mooring lines removed, Zendara gave the lift crystal some juice and the small craft rose upwards. As they turned about Zendara could really fell the difference in performance due to the heavy load, now wasn't the time for fancy flying.
Avoiding some smaller bounders the Wink kept on rising until they were well above the worst of it and then it was easy to spot the Dawntreader. it (or perhaps the nameless islet head) had drifted half a mile or so to the east, but it was a simple matter to angle the wink accounting for the prevailing wind and fly towards the bigger ship.
Soon they where floating above and inching down, the cross winds where fickle so this needed to be done carefully but Zendara was more than up to the task - flying felt so good! With a slight jolt they landed on the Dawntreader and Braenar and several of the crew where quickly ratcheting it down.
As the hatch opened he greeted you with with a cheery, "Hullo! Ohh you've been busy... Just as well you didn't take much longer, there's a storm coming and I think weathering it on that rock would have been utterly miserable. Wouldn't want to fly the Wink in a proper bit of weather..."
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Dr Munroe, followed by Professor Dexter and Professor Upham arrived shortly after. Noting the hold full with crates and pottery, Dr Munroe asked, "Find anything interesting? Oh look at those pots what on Oberon have you got here..." He bent down to take a closer look at the nearest one and there were lots oh hmmms and haaas for the next few moments.
While Dr Munroe was engrossed with the pottery, Professor Upham tottered around and caught sight on the statue, "Oh my! Could that be?" Very carefully he knelt down examined it before rising arthritically and asking excitedly, "By all the saints, this appears to be an intact blood gate! I've read about these but never thought to see one, the art for their creation was lost with the sundering. Supposedly these toothsome statues gather power from a pint or so of blood powering spells that can fold space, opening a portal to another place. As far as we know, these are the only way to instantly travel between islands."
Turning to you he asked, "Was this on the wreck? If so I wonder where it came from?"
"Indeed it was on the wreck, professor.
As was an extra-planar moth. This statue hungrily opened its mouth when i got near it with my finger."
"That's quite unsettling..." replied Upham dryly before adding, "Accounts from antiquity suggest these statues are usually paired to allow for two way transportation. In theory that means somebody could open a portal from the other side, although there's no guarantee the pair if any survived the sundering. Apparently a pint of blood is sufficient to open the way for an hour, but I'm no hurry to see if that's true!"
Not sure where exactly it came from, but we did find some records and other things. Perhaps there will be clues?
Hearing about how important the item is, Zendara is really, really glad that they brought it back with them rather than leaving it there... although she still thinks it is ultra creepy, and so is whatever society that made up such technology.
Yukarii shudered at the idea of using a gate made by blood and the professor's interest with it made her a bit uneasy. At least he didn't seem to want to try and use it. She said, "I guess I am glad w e did not throw it over board then." Her tone was very serious as she added, "I believe it can move on it's own so we should be very cautious."
Dr Munroe looked up from the pottery and glanced at the statue noticing it for the first time. Sounding concerned he exclaimed "Oh my that's quite the find, although as far as security goes I'm not sure what I think about having something like that aboard... Professor does it need a blood sacrifice on both ends for portal to open?"
Upham scratched his ear and replied uncertainly, "I don't believe so no. I think the general assumption was the destination would be guarded. Still the chances of it being used after all these years seem vanishingly small, it's probably more of a theoretical security concern."
Professor Dexter snorted, "I agree with your risk assessment to us but Graeme you never where one for the big picture, no offence. In the hands of the military a pair of these portals would be hugely important! All it would take is one vessel to sneak behind enemy lines to summon an army. Can you imagine the havok the Kez could have wreaked if they'd been able to land a field army on Essex Island back in the last war? Or the next! We need to consider what we do with this very carefully. It would be a huge boon for the Merchant League if we handed it over, assuming the pair still exists..."
Alarmed Dr Munroe demanded, "Mariam you're not seriously suggesting we use this thing and retrieve its pair are you?!"
Folding her arms Mariam met his stare and replied evenly, "Somebody will do that if this find comes to light. What I'm saying is we need to think about what we do next. I know what you're worrying about Xavier, there's also no saying we have to use human blood, we have livestock... Anyway one option is to throw it overboard, although you'll never know where the portal went to if that happens..."
Looking around the room she asked, "Opinions?"
Yukarii considered what she should say, if anything, about the vision she had gotten. It wasn't until Yukaari gave her a metaphysical push by sticking her hand through her chest that Yukarii sighed and said, "While I have not touched this thing to read it, and please do not ask me to, I did get a reading from the pilot's controls. I felt a sense of urgency, experienced the last few moments of its flight, and they felt it vital to get the statue back to someone." Yukarii took a deep breath and then added reluctantly, "I think that the other end of the gate is intact in that person's home land and that was why the pilot was trying to keep the Kez from taking possession of it."
Yukarii looked nervous and then decided to finish what she was thinking and said, "It might be a good idea to keep it for now, secure it. If worse comes to worse it might serve as a way we can get to safety in an emergency if we can learn where the other end comes out." Yukarii looked nervously back in the general direction of that nightmare ship they had explored with the great darkness inside, something possibly connected to their destination, and said, "If it came to something like that darkness getting me or giving up blood to get out I will choose the blood."
Zendara fears getting distracted from the dig site yet again, and shares her opinion with the group.
I mean, I think we should probably retrieve it, but I'm not sure that is the thing at the top of our priority list right now. Shouldn't we move on with our actual mission, and save the dangerous retrieval for once we are at least settled? Our best defense right now is to keep our discovery hidden. Plus, how much do we know about the items? More investigation is important.
Plus, it is super creepy and probably evil she adds, but only to herself.
Edwin listened to the discussion about a possible portal. His loss of control in the wreck's cargo hold had unnerved him. "There's something very unsettling about these artifacts: something that causes mental confusion and madness! We should be very careful about proceeding with limited knowledge. Undue haste could lead to disaster."
"I agree with Zendara's comment on the matter. Keep it locked away until we have proper time for anything else."
Dr Munroe listened to each speaker in turn before facing Professor Dexter and telling her, "I agree with them Miriam. This isn't something we should rush into, let's keep under lock and key for now. We can research its background and make an informed decision whether we or the military should use it or if it should be tossed overboard. Being honest I'm leaning towards the latter..."
Miriam bristled before relenting, "I see. Very well we'll turn our backs on something that could be decisive in the war against the Kez. Lets hope Xun Lai is all you hope it is Xavier!"
Looking disturbed, Dr Munroe asked, "What do you mean Miriam? We're not soldiers..."
Hotly she retorted, "You think that will matter to the Kez? You think they'll give us a chance when they find us? More fool you!"
With that she stalked off.
Seeing that Doctor Munroe is torn, Zendara says
Well, if we *are* going to go after that thing, then you need to get the people we just rescued to safety and let any of the researchers off the ship that wants to go first. I'm willing to come along if you are drafting us into some conflict, but at least give people a choice. Some of the people that we just helped have Kez origins. It isn't like being Kez makes you inherently evil.
We don't want to end up like the Gith vs Spider war after all... using something evil to stop the fighting could end up just like them. You do what you need to in order to maintain a good relationship, but let's get these people to safety first, at least.
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Dr Munroe smiled at Zendara, "I have no interest in wars Zendara, this is a strictly civilian expedition. Besides there's nowhere obvious to take them, the last report we had from the pen of automatic writing suggested the war was really heating up so us being thousands of miles away makes this place right here the safest freaky location statue or no. As for our expedition the Xun Lai archipelago has no military value, is an archeology site after all. Its true that the Kez covert pre-sundering artefacts, but not enough to send ships after us on the off chance like Miriam thinks."
With the wreckage explored and the archaeological finds catalogued (and the statue under lock and key in the secure hold) the Dawntreadder turned once more towards the estimated location of the Xun Lai islands and made its best speed.
The next couple of weeks were quiet as the ships company fell into a comfortable routine. Excitement started to rise as Braenar announced the airship was only a few days away from the coordinates. The atmosphere in this low lying area of Oberon was hot and dusty, visibility was poor. Dr Munroe explained that the archipelago was surrounded by a giant dust storm the eye of which was clear. This lead to all sorts of questions and he decided to run a seminar on what to expect.
The entire airship's company were gathered in the canteen which was a large space that served as an unofficial town hall. A raised platform served as a stage for Dr Munroe with everyone crowded below.
Dr Munrow cleared his throat before addressing the crowd, "Most of you I'm sure are keen to know what to expect from the Xun Lai archipelago. As I'm sure most of you know, before the sundering Oberon was a globe and the small country of Xun Lai in the east had an empire so vast the sun never set on it. There where many dynasties but the last and most famous was the Quindan dynasty. They ruled for the three hundred and eighty years until the sundering occurred. We know their art and technology was far in advance of our own. They where longsighted too, the fall of civilisation was foreseen and a commission was established to archive their knowledge for future generations. We have a copy, actually several, the only problem is we haven't the faintest clue how read it... Professor Upham, perhaps you could explain?"
"Er. Yes of course doctor..." Upham replied as he was helped up onto the stage. He shuffled over to where Dr Munore was standing and produced what looked like a small rock crystal, he held it up to the light which it diffracted into a rainbow pattern.
"Pretty isn't it? Just a bit of quartz or so you might think. Well this actually contains a complete copy of the Xun Lai archive, every bit of knowledge the ancients thought it worth to preserve. It's not magic, its technology, stored in a way we don't understand. There's hundreds of these, probably thousands in fact. All perfectly preserving a wealth of knowledge, all useless without the means to read them. We had hoped the Nautilus might have had a reader but no the Gith have entirely different and inscrutable machines."
His eyes twinkled as he told you, "What we're really hoping to find, what everyone is hoping to find is one of the ancient's reading contraptions so that we may unlock the archive. Previous digs in other islands have found fragments of devices that might have been readers but nobody could ever be sure what a reader looked like. We assume they were so ubiquitous the ancients forgot to describe them."
Dr Munroe took centre stage saying, "Thank you professor. We know a few other things, the island home of the Xun Lai was devastated by terrible earthquakes, floods and storms of unnatural power as Oberon was shattered. We don't really expect to find an intact settlement, in fact every so called intact pre-sundering settlement is post sundering, even Driden city of The Missing. The ancients however delved deeply, we hope to find a fragment of one of their cities and with luck surely something underground survived."
"The sundering was a long time ago, and nature abhors a vacuum so it's entirely possible some of the islands are inhabited by their descendants. It's impossible to guess what kind of reception we might get, or what level of civilisation we might find. We do know that only one ship has ever visited the area and returned to tell the tale. They claimed strange ruins, made of shattered builder's stone and reported strange animals with pouches or many legs that had no fear of mankind."
"We know the archipelago is in the eye of an almighty storm system, so the next few days are going to get increasingly bumpy. Don't worry we're not going to do anything rash, our intention is to fly up as high as we dare, were the air is thin and the storm winds are weakened. It's hot now but it will be cold up there, and with The Cartographer's blessing we will have an excellent view!"
Grinning at you all he said, "Anyway that's enough of me rambling on, I can see several of you are chomping at the bit, let's open the floor for questions! So whose going first?"
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Like an eager student, Edwin put up his hand, "What sorts of creatures are we likely to meet? Anything dangerous?
"What do we know about the local inhabitants, if any?"
Dr Munroe thought for a moment before replying, "We know nothing about any current inhabitants but if you go back far enough the Xun Lai are Yukarii's ancestors. They had a great many servitor creatures, elementals and constructs - those can be dangerous and quite likely insane if still bound. Also it is known the trauma of the sundering created a great many undead, it is possible we may encounter some although it has been a long time and most should have faded by now."
Professor Upham added, "If I may, there is a particular worry, some of the materials the ancients used to power their devices are inherently toxic and mutagenic. Consider the marshes of Timbre Island, and the many strange and deformed creatures that lurk there. Visitors who linger sicken inexplicably, it is possible we may encounter areas like that..."
Timbre Island is a mid-sized island with extensive pre-sundering ruins constructed of builder's stone. Nothing above ground is left of the pre-sundering buildings but the toxic chemicals used within have left an indelible mark. The marshes are full of strange mutated creatures, phosphorescent frogs with multiple heads and strange appendages, mutant humanoids with dozens of vestigial arms riding atop sinuous snake like tails and unspeakable horrors which are little more than mounds of blubbery flesh with eyes and teeth.
Would the protective suits from the ship help with that, if we run into it? Is it the same danger as from the ship's crystals?
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"That would be very convenient. No way of knowing yet, i suppose."
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The professor admitted, "Well I don't really know. Maybe! If you try it out do let me know how you get on."
Professor Dexter and Dr Munroe had been on strained terms since her earlier outburst and when she made her way towards the front with a determined look on her face, Dr Munroe sighed inwardly and tried to her her off at the pass by saying, "Yes Miriam it is possible the Kez might be a danger here, they could have arrived here first but we have no evidence of that whatsoever."
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She gave him a look and replied pointedly, "Actually Xavier, my concern is somewhat different although I agree the Kez are unlikely to be here. It's the Consortium I'm worried about, or have you forgotten what happened in the run up to the our departure? And what they stole? We know how ruthless and singleminded they are in obtaining pre-sundering artefacts. If you were them, imagine for a moment how enticing an expedition such as our would be."
Dr Munroe sighed, "I refuse to jump at shadows, unless there's specific information Miriam there's nothing we can do but be cautious."
"That's all I'm asking for." replied Miriam before she turned away and slowly walked out.
Zendara makes sure they take one of the bulky suits with them, in case they run into the type of thing that Professor Upham was talking about.
The meeting breaks up shortly after in a mood of cautious excitement. It had been a journey of several months to get this far and the archeologists where anxious to get stared.
Weather conditions worsened considerably over the next week as The Dawntreader flew towards what looked like the mother of all storm systems, a great towering cyclone easily a hundred miles across. As promised the ship rose higher and higher into the upper reaches of the atmosphere where stars sparkled in the daytime and ice formed on the deck which required diligent work to clear. The thin air made exertion hard and several members of the crew developed persistent headaches which worried Dr Munroe recognising altitude sickness.
The craft descended as far as they dared but this was exchanging altitude sickness for motion sickness and not a little bit of danger due to the roughness of the weather. In the end the decision was made to rise slowly in the hopes of avoiding the worst of both worlds. After soaring above the churning storm, headaches returned but were milder and all concerned agreed this was better than motion sickness.
The following morning greeted you with an awesome sight, the you were flying above the great eye of the storm and could look below. Angry black wall clouds surrounded a region of calm perhaps a hundred miles across within which dozens of small islands floated. Most where tiny but three seemed large enough to be interesting. Below these was the perpetual low lying clouds that obscured the hot and crushingly dense interior.
The largest island fragment clearly had a forest and what looked like a volcano, with a gentle puffs of steam rising from the crater. There were several spots among the forest suggestive of overgrown buildings.
The next largest island didn't have any obvious trees but in the telescope it seemed to have several lakes surround by marshland and strange outcroppings of broken greyish material.
The third island of interest was mountainous with streams, sparse woodland and what appeared to be a few flying creatures that looked vaguely like crabs.
A beaming Dr Munroe joined the excited crowd that was forming by the rails on the deck, "Finally! We're here, but where to start? Perhaps that volcanic island?"
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Zendara grins, happy to finally begin the main part of their expedition.
Sounds good to me!
Xindyra peers over the side of the ship.
"Hmmm, yes, well maybe we should be prepared to bail. That volcano, i'm fairly positive that is an elemental nexus. Very unpredictable, prone to cause earthquakes. Lots of sulphur and gasses near the source itself even."
"There might even be more islands down below. But finding them, that's anybody's guess."
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Edwin had read a detailed descriptions about a similar island chain. He agreed with Xindyra, "The area around the volcano could be quite dangerous. We have to be very careful.
"It's quite possible that there's more islands hidden by the clouds. Perhaps there's safer places that near that volcano."
Looks safe to me. Can't we at least stop there before going somewhere else?
After speaking to Dr Munroe, Braenar wanders over carrying one of the ship's spyglasses and examines the volcanic island for a while.
Snapping it shut, he says "Aye Dr I can see what ye mean. There's two likely sights on that island, one by a small river and another on a hill. The one by the river is closest to the border so would be easiest for us to get to. You'll have to hike to visit the one by the hill, that island is big enough to give lift crystals problems."
He then offers the spyglass if anyone wants to take a look.
Dr Munroe replied to Braenar, "All right then take us down to the site by the river or as close as you can get to it."
Braenar nodded and walked over to the helm and then The Dawnchaser started a long graceful decent of over ten thousand feet and it traveled twenty miles or more into the centre of the eye of the storm. As you descended the air grew warm, even tropical which was a great contrast from the frigid heights and all around was the dripping of melting icicles.
The volcanic island perhaps thirty miles by ten loomed before you, its single perfect volcanic peak had a crater lake and a snow line. Between that and the tree-line below was naked rock, scree and volcanic ash. The forest was lush with a sort of extremely tall pine with red bark you'd never seen before and the lowlands looked lush albeit with red tinged grasses and purple leaved shrubs which lent an otherworldly air.
The Dawntreader circled along the edge of the island with its streams cascading over the edge into infinity below in search of flat ground upon which to moor. You could all see the grid like ruins now, as the airship soared overhead, strange rectangular outlines of shattered grey builders' stone sticking out of the ground. There was no suitable landing site nearby so you flew a short way downstream where the ground levelled out. As you came into land in an area of red grasses strange armoured looking quadrupeds the size of a large dog scurried into the undergrowth.
"What are those?!" Asked Dr Munroe in surprise.
"I have no idea, but I want one to take back for the zoo!" replied Professor Dexter. Turning to you she said, "Perhaps we'd better check the area is safe before we head along the river to check out the ruins."
As she spoke crew members scrambled over the side with hammers and great big spikes to drive into the ground and secure the ship.
The area you've landed in is relatively flat with short red grasses. There are purple leaved scrubby bushes all around set about 30 foot back. The river gurgles by about 50' to the east and the ruins are about 1/2 mile inland along the river. Ahead in the distance the volcanic cone broods silently. Strange birds fly lazily above with unfamiliar raucous calls.
As they approached the island, Edwin cast a spell to heighten his senses.
His excitement grew as the Dawntreader approached the ruins. "Some of the birds look like albatrosses, but with two heads!"