Maelshyve Expedition Field Notes (short story)/Field Notes - Part Five
You carefully open your plum velvet notebook, revealing the smooth pages of parchment within.
The page, written in Common, reads as follows:
Today is Feastday, day 19 of the month Imaerasta in the year 5120.
The crew is getting the hang of things. People are slipping on their gloves, hats, and bringing other accouterments suitable for a day of hard work.
Zenlynn mentions that the crystal's strength has been fortified. When questioned by Archious on how the flows responded to the changes in the structure of the wards, she said that they became stronger, but time would tell the tale. We do not linger very long in the museum itself, the Curator tells us to be mindful of danger, and we step back through to Rhoska-Tor.
We all know what to do by now. People eye their surroundings warily, and gather tools. Aureliano volunteers to sweep the area, and declares it clear as Zenlynn performs a swift survey. She eagerly points out dig sites that seem promising to the Northeast, East, and to the Northwest.
Naamit looses a ghastly screech that Zenlynn compares to a banshee's wail. I ask about that, and Naamit explains that it means people find it unsettling. We all come to be grateful, and ask her to do it again and again, because it helps the work move along faster. We begin digging to the Northeast and metal immediately strikes stone as the crew begins to dig. Huske comments on our progress, seeming pleased and impressed. Zenlynn sorts through the sand, eyes sharp. Raelee begins gesturing at the boulder, making it vibrate. This draws curious commentary and approval at the ingenuity - I'd also noted that Faerrin was attempting to innovate different ways to get the job done, but I am not familiar with either method they are using (I'd meant to ask him, but got distracted).
Alisette announces that she sees shadows about. I do not doubt her, this place is a bit.. off. I can't tell if anyone else sees what she does in this press. Hopefully it was just a shadow in the sun, and nothing terrible. Just then, a spider with lavender marking, about the size of my hand, sort of hops down from the boulder onto Clunk's face. It chitters at him, then runs off. This is, naturally unsettling, but we press on, as we can't find it. Someone suggest it is a baby of some sort. We haven't seen any purple creatures trying to rip our heads off - these may be benign. Ciermont suggests that the reptiles are nocturnal, so we may not have to deal with them as much.
There is a bit of question of where people should be standing to not get crushed by falling rock, when a group of baby spiders burst out of the ground and crawl over Tabubu's foot. They scurry away very quickly, causing several of us a bit of concern. I rather think that --
(bright red smears all over the page)
On reflection, I should have mentioned my concerns about our digging uncovering spiders, rather than writing about it.
Once again, our stout defenders put down a large dune spider that came after first me, then Rohese. Between being dead, alive, and seeing the way that spider rubbed its front legs together as if it were contemplating eating me, it's taken me a moment to get my wits together. Pardon if I am missing a few details.
Braving on, Huske examines the stone and says we're doing well. Naamit comments that the winds are picking up and hopes we are not in for a sandstorm. As we are working, it seems that for a moment we can hear things more clearly above us in our dome, but then the noise levels return to normal. Soon after, we break through the last of the boulder, but nothing is within. There is disappointment, but we move on doggedly.
To the east of the portal, work begins anew. Not too long into it, a dark spider with sickly yellow marks on its back splats on Khobra's face, before running away. Zenlynn promptly screams in her face a second after that, clearly having had enough of spiders to last her the day. The sentiment is shared by many.
We keep going, and Raelee says that she can sense something as she uses her magic, as if something is in the center of the stone. This is exciting all over again! Rohese says that it had better not have a spider-filled center, to much agreement all around.
After a good deal more of digging, the crystal near us pulses and glows. The ground gives a rough shake, sending most of us tumbling. There is so much going on, that it is hard to know what is significant, or causing all of this. Perhaps at this point, we just hope someone will pry open the jaws of whatever is trying to eat us. A little green lizard climbs all over Rohese before leaping away. Cryheart jokes that it's not a spider. Almost immediately a larger lizard rushes in, but is slain. Green flashes light the skies above.
As everyone turns back to the dig, the last of the calcified rocks tumble away, and we find a splintered yew bowstave with scorch marks all over it. Naamit volunteers to coax the tale from the valuable piece, and I note that she lifts her hand to her eyes, staring off into the distance. She reports that she is looking out over a battlefield among a line of archers. She can see a group of ponies racing off to meet a mass of undead. Her voice raises again, and her hand pulls up by her cheek. Next, she is running after the ponies while nocking an arrow, taking aim at a creature with her bow - the vision ends with a snap! Cryheart says something that makes Tabubu nod and Clunk mention 'Silver Valley', but I can't quite hear, because Naamit is singing again.
Naamit kicks her feet. Her vision comes into focus, and she is standing on a boulder, firing arrows into the horde of undead. She cannot keep up with the press and is surrounded, claws yanking at her legs. Her eyes slip closed on the last verse. Slipping through time, as has been said before. On the boulder, she clasps her hands to her ears. Clawed fingers grab her ankles and drag her down as the vision ends. Guarrin murmurs, "Banshees, again."
There is a brief discussion on the nature of banshees, undead, liches, and the like. There are a lot of questions, and not many firm answers to be had, save that there were a lot of undead in this vicinity at one point. Archious informs us that his interest lies in the valence caught nearby (something that had slipped my mind entirely), and that he didn't much care about the rest. It's a viewpoint to be respected, really - we are all here for different things, and no singular aspect is equally important to us all. That makes it even more amazing that we have been of a peaceable accord for so long. Observing the crew has been secondarily as interesting as what we have been working toward.
I'm getting distracted again. Clunk is saying something to Aureliano about the Shadowguard, but Zenlynn interjects and says that the Shadowguard was well before all of this. Ciermont says that many were willing to give their lives to see all of this end, but Nazaar makes the point that if 'She' turned the dead into members of her armies, there is no wonder there were so many - people switched sides if they chose to or not. Zenlynn informs us that the banshees came last, these items were from the final battles.
To the northwest, there is another grouping of rocks. Not to be deterred, we attempt to crack them apart. Naamit begins to.. sing again, and we thank her for it. It makes the work go faster. It is not entirely certain what is the direct cause of the fluctuations in the barrier, but it has become apparent that the songs shared by our bards are extremely useful. The hope is shared that we can make an outpost here. There is still much to study and learn.
I have to wonder what those yellow streaks across the sky are. They effect the barrier in some way -- Alright, that wasteworm did not want to die, and it brought a spider with it...
Not too long after, we see a little violet lizard. I honestly think that the little ones might not be violent. The ones that we have been fighting have different colored scales. Is it an effect of the magic here? We have spiders crawling all over us from time to time. A black and red one just crawled on Nazarr's face. And... then we are attacked. It is handled quickly... are we disturbing nests?
We dig up a golden vaalorn spearhead in between smashing bugs. It is a bit pitted in places, but it so wonderful! Congratulations go around. Naamit gathers the piece into her hands to sing to it. Her hand goes to her mouth in an immediate silent shout before she states that she sees a battle scene; Undead hordes scream as they are rushing toward her She stares a head and raises a spear to shout, "For Honor, Pride, and Glory!". Her arms begin to swing, and she speaks of seeing herself stabbing and swinging in fluid motions, surrounded by undead. She glances down at her arm, and pauses. She says there is a bloody wound there during her next verse, yet she stabs a bearded mercenary through the throat and yanks the spear free to fight on.
Naamit's arm raises high as she finishes her song to the spearhead in her hand. She says that she is standing atop a pile of undead with her spear high, yelling, "Remember Shadowguard!" The vision fades fully after that, and the spearhead sings no more.
If I were not in such a hurry to dedicate the words of the artifacts themselves to page so I do not forget, I would be trying to remember what the bards were saying. It has all been so well sung. Hopefully these words are not lost to time.
Perhaps we have seen the story of a survivor with this piece? For a moment, everyone talks over the nuances of the song - the presence of undead, mercenaries, the lack of banshees, and such. Of course, during the talking, the dome flickered, and we were assaulted once more. It's a pretty brutal attack, and a couple of us go down in the melee. Clunk was reportedly been dragged off, but we do find him. Just when we thought it was over, we heard people calling for reinforcements, and had to dive to help a splinter group.
We decide to fortify the crystals right then and there, the Spiritual casters going to our cardinal points, and the Elementalists spacing in between. We'll probably start with that next time. We gather our tools and gather at the portal. Huske says he is going to update his clan elders. Some of us have very disjointed notes to put together. Several of us have ichor to wash out of our clothing and off our armor. We watch Rohese raise the dead, with Zenlynn urging us to hurry, stating that she does not have a good feeling. It is clearly on a few minds to worry about demons, but the thought spoken aloud is shushed quickly and anxiously.
On the museum side of the portal, folks are attempting to make light of how it ended this last time. If that was indicative of what is to come. Well. We still are going to keep going. We'll be fine. Isienaka says that everyone's ideas are holding better than anticipated to protect us, and Zenlynn says that we are a powerful force.
Indeed.
You gently close your plum velvet notebook, taking care not to bend any of the pages.
Actual artifact short description
a splintered scorched yew bowstave
a pitted golden vaalorn spearhead