April 16, 291
This begins my accounts of the planned expedition into the mist anomaly that formed on April 5th, 291. On the eighth of April I was approached by Simon Hart, a longtime friend and colleague, about a bizarre experience he had encountered while navigating six Acarthians through to the eastern Mists a few weeks prior. Supposedly he had discovered an area once previously veiled by thick mists had now softened to the touch. Upon touching the mists his mind was filled with images of long marbled halls, lit only by a soft blue beam of light stretching infinitely before him. A more adventurous mind would have remained, but Simon pressed forward with his pre-planned journey to the east. On his return two weeks later, Simon once again encountered the softened mists and found himself able to press through for a short amount of time. However, his arrival this time was met with a sprawling pine with colossal stone gates descending into the earth. As quickly as the mists had let him press through they shifted him out, and he continued his journey home. From there he spent the next three days tracking me down to tell me of the incredible shard he had discovered. Simon has propositioned myself and six others, their names listed below, to investigate these lands. He has asked of my family’s coffers to help finance the trip, though guarantees a return on our investment tenfold.
Simon Hart – Mistwalker – Financier
Arthur Solana – Mistwalker - Financier
Liam Phillips – Earth Formalist – 4 Gold Daily Stipend
Melissa Moore – Celestial Formalist – 4 Gold Daily Stipend
Miles Hill – Cultural Archaeologist – 2 Gold Daily Stipend
Alisha Lott – Arcane Archaeologist – 2 Gold Daily Stipend
Naomi Stone – Dwarf Mason – 1 Gold Daily Stipend
Emely Aguirre – Alchemist and Botanist – 1 Gold Daily Stipend
April 19, 291
The necessary materials have been gathered: approximately seven days of supplies for eight people. The two mages seem confident that the celestial tides are universal across the shards, and while I’m inclined to believe them the worry still tugs incessantly at the edges of my mind. Simon and I ventured into the mists to guarantee that its location remains constant, while the mists themselves shift around the entrance I have locked it down to [Redacted] Degrees, [Redacted] Degrees. The mists themselves have softened to near the comfortable and recognizable passageways I’ve experienced before. Simon seems confident that we can begin our expedition tomorrow.
April 21, 291
I write to you from the sprawling forest of The Voridium, the forgotten shard. Our expedition was delayed by a day as the mists rejected us back out, though it seems now that we can remain. While we have not begun extensive exploration into the deeper ruins that exist here (and more on this later), there are several immediately noticeable exoticisms of this shard. The first is the curvature of the mists, in my previous experiences the boundary of a shard extend almost perfectly in a straight line before you, like the walls to a great city. However, the mists of Voridium curve acutely inwards and one wonders if this land is marginally smaller than the shards we hail from. Emely immediately began her work, and noted that the plant life that inhabited the surface of the shard was incredibly alike to that of the other shards, though slight alterations have been noted. Her journal should be examined for further information. Miles, Alisha and Naomi vanished off almost as quickly as we had arrived and discovered a monumental structure descending into the earth, leaving the remaining four of us to spend the next three hours setting up camp. Naomi returned bright faced and in awe, her notebook already part way filled. She insists that the masonry here is almost perfectly precursored to current dwarven architecture, and that dwarves must lie beneath the earth. Miles and Alisha seemed… less enthused about the discovery of the structure, and confided in me that the entranceway has been unused for nearly three centuries. Liam and Melissa seem content, their magic energies restoring to them once again at dusk, though they say the lack of civilization could be worrisome if worst comes to worst. I lay now in my bed, the day already exhausted. Goodnight.
April 22, 291
The night brought terrors. While no one was harmed, the sounds of creatures lurking through the forests sent chills down my spine and I laid awake until late into the night. The morning brought little relief, discovering that almost four days of our rations has been pilfered from the camp and small three toed footprints extended away into the dense foliage around us. Simon made the quick decision of moving our camp to the entrance of the ruins, and we hastily followed his commands. The ruins themselves are fascinating. Thick marbled structures extending deep into the earth and a massive silver gate loom in the overgrown forest around it. Above the great doors, almost completely faded lay the words Nempirus Voridia. Miles, Alisha and Naomi spent a few hours determining the mechanism for opening the entrance. The first two insisted that any mechanism would have fallen apart by now, though Naomi insists that any dwarf worth its salt would never build such a flimsy device. An hour or so after their discussion, the door was wedged open using endows on the eight of us. The entrance hall was completely devastated, the walls a crumbling mess and the statues left as plundered rubble. By the time we had cleared the room the sun had already dipped back below the horizon.
April 23, 291
Once again our camp was raided in the night though this time we managed to catch sight of them before they made off with more of our supplies. Small rat-like creatures that stand at human height. They speak in what appears to be a broken, dated form of common and have some form of social hierarchy. The moment we emerged from our tents they quickly retreated into the darkened woods. Once the sun rose we could find little to no traces of them, their tracks completely covered. The day was spent rummaging through the ruins, though for a large part it seems to have been visited by others before us. A small forest has begun growing in an isolated part of the ruin, almost in defiance to the massive structure that have been built here. We did manage to clear a door hidden behind a pile of rubble, though its contents were… alarming to say the least. A massive stone figure, its eyes a dim glowing blue and silver engravings around its waist lay in wait for us. It quickly brought to life the four other stone men that surrounded it, and they began their slow march towards us. We quickly sealed up our way in, and retreated to the edge of the mists to see if the group would follow. However, after four hours waiting the blue eyes remained staring at us from the darkness of the entrance. Simon suggested we leave the shard and return the following day with a more sizable force to deal with the constructs.
April 27, 291
We attempted to return to the shard in the late afternoon with fifteen well-armed members of the Mage’s Guild. However, when we attempted to pass through the fog we could only briefly materialize back into the shard just long enough to see our tent site almost completely pilfered by the rat men. Over the next several days the mists began to harden and seal, until neither Simon or I could find even a trace of the Voridium. Perhaps one day the shard will reopen, and these texts can help others discover more than we could.
Yours,
Arthur Solana.
This begins my accounts of the planned expedition into the mist anomaly that formed on April 5th, 291. On the eighth of April I was approached by Simon Hart, a longtime friend and colleague, about a bizarre experience he had encountered while navigating six Acarthians through to the eastern Mists a few weeks prior. Supposedly he had discovered an area once previously veiled by thick mists had now softened to the touch. Upon touching the mists his mind was filled with images of long marbled halls, lit only by a soft blue beam of light stretching infinitely before him. A more adventurous mind would have remained, but Simon pressed forward with his pre-planned journey to the east. On his return two weeks later, Simon once again encountered the softened mists and found himself able to press through for a short amount of time. However, his arrival this time was met with a sprawling pine with colossal stone gates descending into the earth. As quickly as the mists had let him press through they shifted him out, and he continued his journey home. From there he spent the next three days tracking me down to tell me of the incredible shard he had discovered. Simon has propositioned myself and six others, their names listed below, to investigate these lands. He has asked of my family’s coffers to help finance the trip, though guarantees a return on our investment tenfold.
Simon Hart – Mistwalker – Financier
Arthur Solana – Mistwalker - Financier
Liam Phillips – Earth Formalist – 4 Gold Daily Stipend
Melissa Moore – Celestial Formalist – 4 Gold Daily Stipend
Miles Hill – Cultural Archaeologist – 2 Gold Daily Stipend
Alisha Lott – Arcane Archaeologist – 2 Gold Daily Stipend
Naomi Stone – Dwarf Mason – 1 Gold Daily Stipend
Emely Aguirre – Alchemist and Botanist – 1 Gold Daily Stipend
April 19, 291
The necessary materials have been gathered: approximately seven days of supplies for eight people. The two mages seem confident that the celestial tides are universal across the shards, and while I’m inclined to believe them the worry still tugs incessantly at the edges of my mind. Simon and I ventured into the mists to guarantee that its location remains constant, while the mists themselves shift around the entrance I have locked it down to [Redacted] Degrees, [Redacted] Degrees. The mists themselves have softened to near the comfortable and recognizable passageways I’ve experienced before. Simon seems confident that we can begin our expedition tomorrow.
April 21, 291
I write to you from the sprawling forest of The Voridium, the forgotten shard. Our expedition was delayed by a day as the mists rejected us back out, though it seems now that we can remain. While we have not begun extensive exploration into the deeper ruins that exist here (and more on this later), there are several immediately noticeable exoticisms of this shard. The first is the curvature of the mists, in my previous experiences the boundary of a shard extend almost perfectly in a straight line before you, like the walls to a great city. However, the mists of Voridium curve acutely inwards and one wonders if this land is marginally smaller than the shards we hail from. Emely immediately began her work, and noted that the plant life that inhabited the surface of the shard was incredibly alike to that of the other shards, though slight alterations have been noted. Her journal should be examined for further information. Miles, Alisha and Naomi vanished off almost as quickly as we had arrived and discovered a monumental structure descending into the earth, leaving the remaining four of us to spend the next three hours setting up camp. Naomi returned bright faced and in awe, her notebook already part way filled. She insists that the masonry here is almost perfectly precursored to current dwarven architecture, and that dwarves must lie beneath the earth. Miles and Alisha seemed… less enthused about the discovery of the structure, and confided in me that the entranceway has been unused for nearly three centuries. Liam and Melissa seem content, their magic energies restoring to them once again at dusk, though they say the lack of civilization could be worrisome if worst comes to worst. I lay now in my bed, the day already exhausted. Goodnight.
April 22, 291
The night brought terrors. While no one was harmed, the sounds of creatures lurking through the forests sent chills down my spine and I laid awake until late into the night. The morning brought little relief, discovering that almost four days of our rations has been pilfered from the camp and small three toed footprints extended away into the dense foliage around us. Simon made the quick decision of moving our camp to the entrance of the ruins, and we hastily followed his commands. The ruins themselves are fascinating. Thick marbled structures extending deep into the earth and a massive silver gate loom in the overgrown forest around it. Above the great doors, almost completely faded lay the words Nempirus Voridia. Miles, Alisha and Naomi spent a few hours determining the mechanism for opening the entrance. The first two insisted that any mechanism would have fallen apart by now, though Naomi insists that any dwarf worth its salt would never build such a flimsy device. An hour or so after their discussion, the door was wedged open using endows on the eight of us. The entrance hall was completely devastated, the walls a crumbling mess and the statues left as plundered rubble. By the time we had cleared the room the sun had already dipped back below the horizon.
April 23, 291
Once again our camp was raided in the night though this time we managed to catch sight of them before they made off with more of our supplies. Small rat-like creatures that stand at human height. They speak in what appears to be a broken, dated form of common and have some form of social hierarchy. The moment we emerged from our tents they quickly retreated into the darkened woods. Once the sun rose we could find little to no traces of them, their tracks completely covered. The day was spent rummaging through the ruins, though for a large part it seems to have been visited by others before us. A small forest has begun growing in an isolated part of the ruin, almost in defiance to the massive structure that have been built here. We did manage to clear a door hidden behind a pile of rubble, though its contents were… alarming to say the least. A massive stone figure, its eyes a dim glowing blue and silver engravings around its waist lay in wait for us. It quickly brought to life the four other stone men that surrounded it, and they began their slow march towards us. We quickly sealed up our way in, and retreated to the edge of the mists to see if the group would follow. However, after four hours waiting the blue eyes remained staring at us from the darkness of the entrance. Simon suggested we leave the shard and return the following day with a more sizable force to deal with the constructs.
April 27, 291
We attempted to return to the shard in the late afternoon with fifteen well-armed members of the Mage’s Guild. However, when we attempted to pass through the fog we could only briefly materialize back into the shard just long enough to see our tent site almost completely pilfered by the rat men. Over the next several days the mists began to harden and seal, until neither Simon or I could find even a trace of the Voridium. Perhaps one day the shard will reopen, and these texts can help others discover more than we could.
Yours,
Arthur Solana.