The following was discovered in a dingy diary lost in a cave, and translated from the original goblin to be readable in the common tongue. Spelling and grammar also underwent heavy corrections.
Dear Diary,
Nasty crimes have been committed against Goblimeron! We were in a cave after finding a super cool throne, and we were having our annual tournament of finding out who’s best to be our warlord, advisor and court mage. Some non-goblins showed up and were somehow good at all the things, so they got the titles and were officially made goblins. That’s all fine, but things take a turn!
Some guy dressed like a bee then did some quality stealing - which is legal of course. What he stole, though, was my crown, then me off my throne, then my throne, then my kingship. My guards were lazy and he had a lot of bee-people helping him! But these aren’t even the nasty crimes yet, this was all technically legal.
As I was plotting to re-steal everything, this “King Temorse” said that the goblin promised land and Queen Meg were across the lake, and we should make rafts filled with lots of holes to cross it. Now I know that adding holes doesn’t make boats faster - I’ve tried, it makes them sink! But the other goblins listened and went off to do that. A lot of my subjects are dumb and weak and don’t know how to swim, so I needed to save them heroically, but I needed my crown first. The “new king” and his people needed to know which way to go through the tunnels, so I made a deal to show them the way and let them keep my throne (which was uncomfy anyway, there was a face on it and the nose kept poking me) but give me my crown and kingship back. What a steal - the best kind of deal!
When I caught up with my subjects, it was too late - they had already started crossing the lake and some good and half-decent goblins drowned. There was no promised land on the other side either, just more empty cave. Then we realized that our new warlord, advisor, and court mage had abandoned us too to go off with *former* “king” “Temorse”.
Today was dumb and bad, but we did learn some things: that Queen Meg is not under this hill, not to trust people dressed like bees, and how to throw a good coop. This is a tiny little minor setback and we’ll still win and be cool and awesome and steal things.
Goblimeron forever!!!!!
-King Gobbergobber of Goblimeron
P.S. I hope you get this letter even though I left it in a cave and not on a road like normal.
P.P.S. I have eaten a lot of crabs down here, they’re yummy but I want to eat something else. I hear some of my agents on the surface have found lots of chickens while throwing a coop.
I have once again been asked to write for the View! Yay!
This time, it is to get people excited for The Gilded Lion and Silver Branch Summer Festival! So, why should you trek all the way to the Rhiassan-Chimeronian border? Well, not only is it a lovely time to enjoy yummy food, refreshing drinks, and good company, there are always many fun activities and strange occurrences. From Dinosaur jousting to puppy dog catching (at least that’s what happened last year), who knows what may occur!
Why else should you join us for this summer festival? Well, from what I know, one of my best friends, Friend Rowan, will have her rarities shop with many treasures to spend your hard earned gold on (Friend Grevin told me to say that). I also have the honor of serving drinks for my lovely friends of the Realms! Yup! Cinnamon’s Tea Trove will be hitting the road with special drinks and tasty treats! So if you haven’t been to Mirador, fear not! A pair of friendly fauns will be available to serve you lovely, handcrafted libations.
As for anything else? I am not too sure. Probably someone will annoy Friend Aeston. Probably me. (Hee hee)
Hello, wonderful people of the realms, this is what you missed at the wedding of Tirvanel and Margret:
I arrived late to the wedding because I got tied up at the healing center, so I missed the forming of the first spirit games. But what I could tell was happening was that there were two groups: the Bears and Wolves. They had people go hide in the woods, and the other team's goal was to find these people. Unfortunately, we thought that we had actually lost these people because of how well they hid, so the game came to a close. While we were taking some down time after the first spirit games, more spirits came and visited us: the Otter, Serpent, Salmon, and Boar spirits. People started giving gifts to the spirits, notably a paper frog and a bunch of rocks that were given to the otter spirit. I took this opportunity to have a conversation with the Serpent spirit and made a promise to go to their shrine after the wedding. After a little bit, all of the spirits got back together and introduced us to the new challenge. The challenge was to cross a river. However, we were then hit with a surprise that we needed to cross it back and still could not repeat any methods.
Right as this was happening, Rand, one of the kitchen staff at the temple, started running away. Crane and I followed because we wanted to make sure they were ok. They started talking about the veiled figures. It wasn't until after we returned with Rand after promising them that we would keep them safe that we realized they were Nemesis Wraiths, some time was spent talking to the Wraiths. After the reappearance of the Nemesis Wraiths, a rune ritual was conducted to give the sentinels more power. The ritual allowed Kovaks to speak to the sentinel. I don't know the end results of them getting more power.
At some point after the rune ritual, we realized that Tirvanel was kidnapped by his all-fae wedding party. We started sending people one by one to go rescue him. We ended up getting Tirvanel back in time for the wedding, and it was an amazing wedding. It was such a sweet Auroran ceremony. The provided food was delicious, including burgers, soba noodles, brownies, and cream puffs. The cream puffs especially prompted a very interesting conversation. Every person in attendance got to hold a candle during the ceremony, and each one of the wedding party stood as one of the aspects of Aurora. You could just tell how much they love each other as they said their vows.
Before court started, Kurn the Demon in Tulkhan sword escaped, and a little bit of time before court started had to be spent trying to fix that. Speaking of court, some really important stuff happened including Margaret getting the staff of hope from Laika. This is the staff that Laika carried with him during this time in Nymphus Yarrow and spent many years praying over. Margaret was told when receiving this staff that she was expected to hand it down some day as he handed it down to her. Also during court, Raindrop was inducted as a new magus of the realms. They notably have always included others in their spell work and their ability to storytell with magic is spectacular.
After the sun set it was time for the Voraniss court and the Ritual of Renewal. During court, it was announced that Grevin had finished the process of joining Voraniss and was given the title of kin-hearted. With the sun set and the ritual done, we all say goodbye and head our separate ways till we see each other again.
The cheese thievery continues, and magistrates of cheese commerce have begun to suspect a conspiracy among the cheese merchants, who continue to claim that the rats have mobilized and increased their ferocity in targeted attacks on cheese stores.
Qua Taereth Nunna
Shadows lengthen before their time, the verdant forest provides too much shade, flames flicker dimly outside holy spaces, bats swarm the air in greater numbers and for longer hours. Some herders claim The McKrye must soon be returning, to once again drive out the darkness. Some hunters insist The McKrye is already here, and has brought the darkness upon them.
The Realms
A popular potion shop has been left empty. Frequent customers have begun camping out doors waiting for the master alchemist to return. Through the large glass window, the alchemist's pet can be seen ripping up book after book, many are worried about the implications.
Rhiassa/Chimeron
The border area between Rhiassa and Chimeron that is the usual site of the Summer Festival is bustling with preparations for the yearly celebration. The workers can be overheard talking about various things that concern them. Nervous whispers include mentions of The Phantom Empire, The Forbidden City, The Fortress of Doors, and something they're apparently calling "malcheeseance".
Neden
"Portals have been observed opening and closing around the Neden castle...which is not news. What is news is they don't appear to be Sir Naj's, Lord Syruss's or Priest Z's color portals indicating another caster at work.
Also, differnt versions of Sir Nymbous have been spotted throughout Neden doing various tasks. Most helpful has been crossing gaurd Nymbous. Most annoying has been the Llama version of Nymbous who keeps trying to bite Meatball."
Around the Realms
Villagers and merchants cleaning up or returning to their now-safe homes, after the adventurers of the Realms have moved on from a local quest, report sporadic sightings of strange creatures. These beasts seem to be amalgamations of humanoids and animals – usually farm stock. They appear out of nowhere, then run around in a killing frenzy, seeming to search for something until they are either cut down by town militia, or escape into the wilds.
Clayburgh Chimeron
Things are bustling for the small port town of Clayburgh as it has been chosen as the site for an Auroran solstice festival and Tournaments of the Branch. The Wildcard Guild has been working on setting up an office in the town to offer work to visiting adventurers. Among the town's Ranterran population, there is excitement for the festival and anticipation of the adventurers’ help in a particular matter.
Southeastern Chimeron & Unclaimed Lands
There are rumors of a dangerous creature lurking in the forests in and around southeastern Chimeron. Ranterran scouts sent from Castle Requiem have been asking around about any sightings of an undead-looking dragon, but the creature seems to be evading them.
Rathkeale
With the nation finally returning to a state of relative normality following last years invasion, there have been reports of hostile spirits in the area. Attempts to dispel the spirits have been unfruitful though.
Rathkeale
Large numbers of Bullywogs have also been reported moving through the region. The Emperor does not seem to be worried though, when asked for a comment he stated, "Who the hell are you?"
For the first log transcriptions of this series, please refer to this article, a Word from the West from Professor Mia. [OOC informative note from editor Kieran: The first article has some questions from Mia, such as why are all the gems in the logs yellow. Fellow adventurers have since determined that these are Topazes, used by this society for Intent. These recordings IC are all spoken in Draconic, but we understand the intent of the words].
Phina: This is Phina. Log date... does it even really matter anymore? I couldn't save the Black city, the best I could do was activate the stasis shield to keep the Gemification from spreading. I know it won't be enough, the shield was not designed to defend against such intense magical forces, much less keep those… things inside the city.
For now though, I have to keep going. Those gemstone fanatics are still after me. I can't let them reach the surface. They've... embedded pieces of Project Prism into themselves, intentionally accelerating the Gemification process and allowing it to spread far beyond our initial containment measures. I managed to trap one in a stasis food preserver in an outpost deeper in the caverns. Oh Palamos… this is not what Quig would have wanted. [RECORDING PAUSED]
[RECORDING RESUMED]
If you're listening to this, I can only hope it is as a friend. The Stasis Shield will not hold forever, but I have to lock down the Labyrinth so the cult doesn't escape. However, I've installed a bypass in the cloaking system so it can still be unlocked from the outside. By default the entrance is hidden by a lattice of obscure gems, but I've rewired the old observation pylons to act as a keycode. They’re dormant, so hopefully all you'll have to do is prime them with a little bit of magic to get them online. Prime all three, and the bypass sequence should trigger, revealing and unlocking the door. If everything went according to plan, all other major entrances to the Labyrinth have been closed for safety, so this is likely your only chance. Good luck.
Log 2
PALAMOS:
Begin log. I’ve been trying to fix these consoles for four hours, but I can’t find my way around this mess. It looks like someone haphazardly rewired half these systems. I need to keep a record of this nonsense. Let’s see… maybe if I tighten the…. And now when I power it on…. UHGHHHHH! Still nothing!
QUIG:
Morning Palamos. I see you are taking your new assignment to the watchtower “well.” What’s… all this about?
PALAMOS:
Good Morning Quig. How is our tireless captain today? Here to offer your sagacious counsel?
QUIG:
Tireless and Sagacious? Why Palamos, you know my lineage grants me resistance against fire, but I’m afraid it offers no protection from your charms.
PALAMOS:
I- Uh? (clears throat) The, um… viewing prisms all along the watchtower exterior stopped working last night, just as I spotted a specimen of the local fauna that was actually interesting. I’ve been attempting to fix them for… a few hours, but without the proper equipment they seem resigned to staying dead.
QUIG:
Mind if I take a look? I’m pretty handy when it comes to this fancy Gem Tech stuff.
PALAMOS:
*scoffs* Be my guest! But it’s a delicate piece of technology, I highly doubt someone without the proper training would be able to…
*rummaging noises*
*THUNK*
*whirring noises*
QUIG:
Heyyyy! There we go! I think I got it!
PALAMOS:
I have been recalibrating delicate adamantium lattices… for 4 hours…and you just.. Hit it?
QUIG:
You’d be surprised at the number of problems you can solve with a little… percussive maintenance.
PALAMOS:
Is that why the Stasis Food Preserver has a dent in it? Anyway, what about the rest of this system? It looks like somebody welded a bunch of sapphires to it and tied it all together with adamantine?
QUIG:
The topaz lensing systems on these machines burned out weeks ago. It takes too long to get replacements from the Black City, and I figured I just needed to preserve the image, so I took some half infused sapphire, bent a bit of spare adamantium wire around it, then placed them backward in the slots.
PALAMOS:
But… I just ran a diagnostic! The lensing system was the only part that was functioning within the normal parameters!!? And the picture was perfect, before it cut out. I mean… this is incredible, I had no idea a sapphire could be used to preserve light information. When did you discover this?
QUIG:
I didn’t really discover anything, I just… tried something. And when that didn’t work, I tried something else until eventually I either got it to work, or I completely killed it.
PALAMOS:
(quietly) Heh, I guess Daedalus was right. (Normal) How many other scalebrained “repairs” have you made around the Watchtower? I’d better take a look. To make sure you’re not about to blow us all up, of course.
QUIG:
*Overly Dramatic Sigh* I suppose if it would set your mind at ease, Inkbreather. Come on, I’ll show you all of my revolutionary tricks to revive machinery from the brink of death.
PALAMOS:
Revolutionary, eh? Well then I might just have to list you as a co-author on my next paper: “Percussive Maintenance, and its Effects on Gemstone Transmission Structures.”
QUIG:
*Pfft.* Whatever you say. Maybe I’ll write my own paper. Run you outta the job. Don’t worry, sunshine, I’ll leave a place for you in my horde.
Log 3
QUIG:
Amethyst experiment #4. First test using topaz with the new gemstone.
PALAMOS:
Thank you, Quig. Amethyst has exhibited disruptive properties when paired with the other gemstones. Today we shall be applying various strength Topaz crystals to see if its ordering properties can reveal the emergent characteristics of the Amethyst.
PHINA:
Actually, Palamos, I have a hunch I know how Amethyst works. I already got a golem from the mining group. If we embed an amethyst in the awakened golem, then try to connect with a topaz-
PALAMOS:
You requisitioned a mining golem without consulting me? Phina, I am the chief scientist of this lab. You can’t just do whatever you want. We have procedures for a reason! Besides, the lab is already set up for the singleton tests with the other basic gemstones. We can experiment with golems in two months when the rest of the amethysts finish infusing.
PHINA:
But that’s sooooooo loooooong! We already know what Amethyst does! It hides things! That’s why all our sensors just report purple static when we run it alongside other gemstones. That’s why we need to test it on more complex gem-tech! Too see how it affects them! To see what the limits are!
PALAMOS:
That kind of recklessness will not be tolerated in this lab. It’s exactly that sort of behavior that got your father killed!
PHINA:
At least he did something before he died! This is the first new gemstone the lab has found in over thirty years of your “inspiring” leadership. At this rate it will be another thirty years before we even know what it does.
PALAMOS: You’re one to talk! I have revolutionized our society. My gemstone fabricator produces quality gemstones in months instead of years. How has your research into Quartz been going?
QUIG:
Hatchlings, hatchlings, please! You both have sharp claws and shiny scales. Let’s take a little breather and get back to the experiments? OK?
*Some shuffling*
QUIG:
(quietly) Don’t let her get under your scales, Darling.
PALAMOS:
(quietly) I know, she just-
QUIG:
(quietly) She reminds you of Daedalus. That’s not a bad thing. But you can’t control her anymore than Sigwyn could control him.
PALAMOS:
(quietly) You’re right. You’re right. Sigh. What would I do without you, Day Star?
QUIG:
(quietly) affirmative noise (normal volume) Phina? Where is the mining golem?
PHINA:
The southern loading bay. I had the techs set it up in a sapphire stasis field.
QUIG: Good. Let’s pack up and head down there, then. But we’re not running any tests until Palamos is satisfied it’s safe. Is that acceptable?
PHINA:
YESSS!!! Thank you, Quig! Let’s go!
Log 4
PALAMOS:
Sorry, it’s on now. So what do you think?
DAEDALUS:
It is very impressive. The quality and precision are just what I have come to expect from my star pupil. You’ve just about perfected Sigwyn’s gemstone infusion technique. How quickly are you producing now?
PALAMOS:
A single artifice like this one can generate a Grade A gemstone in just under a year! I’m sure there’s still room for improvement though. If you would take another look at my work, I’d love to show you-
DAEDALUS:
That is not necessary, Palamos. I am certain at this point your knowledge of gem infusion far outstrips my own.
PALAMOS:
Don’t be ridiculous, Elder. You invented this technology. Your knowledge of gem-tech is the greatest of all draconians! I still have so much to learn from you.
DAEDALUS:
Harumph. Perhaps. How go your other projects?
PALAMOS:
Uh… Yes… My other projects.
DAEDALUS:
Your last three presentations have been minor performance adjustments to the infusion rig. There’s no new insights, no breakthroughs. You’re not telling me you spent the last decade endlessly iterating on century old technology are you?
PALAMOS:
I- Of course not! I was just thinking about how… infusing gemstones, or rather, when integrating infused gemstones with an adamantine framework… I mean, gemstones have their own resonance, right? And …uh… the adamantine lattice influences the expression. So maybe.. um... if we crafted components with… matching resonance we could ...um… communicate with a piece of gem tech… remotely?
DAEDALUS:
AH-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha. I’m impressed! That almost made some kind of sense!
*Pause*
DAEDALUS:
Palamos, your work on gemstone infusion has been revolutionary, but you seem almost frightened of other projects. You’re flying in circles. What troubles you?
PALAMOS:
I’m sorry, Daedalus, there’s just… so much to learn. You and Sigwyn discovered so much. And you’re still doing it! On these other projects I always feel like I’m a wingbeat behind. I guess I’m just more comfortable working on what I already know?
DAEDALUS:
Exploration and discovery are a key part of the scientific process, my young pupil. I think you have spent too much time in this lab.
PALAMOS:
No, Elder, please! I’ll work on any project you want! I’ll work on all of them! My place is by your side!
(gently) I look forward to your next presentation. Just, while you are “going wild,” maybe stay away from the rubies. I’ve lost more scales than I’d care to count to those gemstones.
Log 5
UNKNOWN SPEAKER: I know you’re out there, Phina. I know you’re listening. I know you too, have felt the touch of our new mother. There’s no point in fighting it. I was afraid of it once too. Afraid of the unknown. I wasted years stymied by my own fears and inhibitions. But now I have stepped into a new world. Step into it with me.
Can you see it? Crystal: beautiful, eternal, perfect. What better bodies could we hope for? You rely on crude flesh? See how it rots. See how it dies. Though crystal we transcend. We transcend this dark and wretched pit. We transcend life and loss and all the woes we endure in this world.
Can you hear it? Rhythms within rhythms. Patterns within patterns. The first dragon. Our mother. She calls us home. I thought that she had taken everything from me. But it is a gift. I hear his voice. I know he will never leave me now.
Can you feel it? The element, the breath. Embrace her gift, like I have. Embrace your heritage, your father’s dream. Embrace what no dragon has in 300 years! This is your true form! Your true purpose! You can’t run from your destiny, Phina. Sooner or later, we will find you.
[OOC brief synopsis on gems below: From the collective knowledge of adventurers, not meant to be taken as the comprehensive aspects of the gems]
If you haven’t been to a Chim Questing, I’ll let you in on a secret. There hasn’t been a bad one since I’ve started playing. If you have, you know I speak the truth. But on top of the greatness in which they will supply us with a great weekend of questing, Saturday marks the birth of both Sean “Eamon” Finn and myself. So even if you hate questing and just think tournaments or feast are your cup of tea. Change your mind and come spend a slightly damp weekend questing. I will consider it my gift from you.
I can give no insight into what will be happening to us. My fighter brain doesn't pay attention well to the reasoning behind everything but for all those like minded souls, we can hit things and they will die. For you folks who enjoy understanding why we are doing what we are doing, Chimeron will put your mind to the test, hit you with some curveballs, and then give you a nice break so that us dumb dumbs can catch up on what is going on. In the great words of Nataliya “Shader” Kostenko, Killian is a dirty three path now so I’m supposed to know the plot. So you might have to teach me what’s going on but explain it to me like I’m turning 6 on Saturday not 36.
