Originally Published: 25 October 2022
23 September 1461
I rose early, had a quick breakfast, and left the hostel to return to the Balloon Festival, which is still ongoing as usual. Surprisingly, people here seem unfazed by the recent events; and while I've heard talk, many seem to see it as nothing.
One rumor I did catch, though, was that deep in the Endwood stands a cabin known for "strange activity." After talking to a few people, I determined that the cabin was directly West of the former Airfield, very close to where the explosion aboard the Airship. I communicated my intent to Jon Boff, who offered me body guards for protection. However, I told him to have them on standby while I carried out my original plan.
So I went into the Endwood, casting a script string from my talisman to blend in with my surroundings for concealment.
There was no clear path, though. There were plenty of groves made by networks of tree roots, but they were unreliable in terms of navigability. So I realized that there was no other choice than to cut through the vegetation. Machete-slashing was not an option for concealment reasons, but I used my talisman to cast a"Makeway" spell, custom-made by one of colleagues, to push the vegetation out of my way.
My objective, needless to say, was to find the cabin. I first heard the troubling rumor about the cabin from Kyara Lon, second-in-line to Morlin. According to Lon, two campers visiting the abandoned cabin were found dead some distance away, with blame being placed, apparently, on ghosts of the original occupants of the cabin, who were part of some mysterious cult.
In my career of investigation and research, I have yet to come across any evidence of actual ghosts. I therefore hold to the commonly-held belief in modern society that they simply do not exist. However, there is one thing I do suspect: wysps. Existing as some of the oldest living species of the planet, one of the earliest forms of life, wysps exist in the form of a variety of species. Most wysp species native to Remikra are harmless. The deadly ones, in contrast, are from Canticula, more specifically in the Chokian Mountains. A few of the deadly ones have been brought in various forms or another to the shores of Remikra. And while there are no recent sightings of the dangerous ones, one can never be too cautious. So I activated my talisman to produce a static aura around myself. It may compromise concealment slightly, so I have ensured that the field is as colorless as possible.
And so in this way, I searched and searched all throughout the Endwood, at least in my vicinity. Hours passed and there still was no sign of the cabin, despite double-checking waypoints and calculated deviations on my comm tab.
It was just before dusk when I found it. I spotted the framed structure in the distance. A closer look revealed its walls and roof, all badly damaged from years of abandonment. This had to be the cabin. I approached carefully, ensuring that my comm tab was ready to call for help should I need it. And so I entered.
Inside, there were no wysps. However, I spotted markings on the wall and floors that looked like they were made by neon green sponges. I immediately donned a breathing mask when I saw this, because I knew right away that these were vyre spores. Native and spotted only in this county, vyre spores, little known, are extremely poisonous. So now I had a pretty clear theory on the campers' deaths if the rumor held true. And the neon green glow they gave off was a reaction to my static field; otherwise, they were invisible.
And then I looked up. The big gaping hole in the roof above me I noticed was very recent, with the charred edges looking fresh and, yes, still smoldering.
And the hole I noticed was the result of something that tore through the ceiling and the floor above all the way through the roof. Luckily, the staircase was still intact, so I ascended and searched the second floor, or what remained of it, for any evidence after a combed the first.
It was up here when I spotted it. Something caught my eye that made me look down through the hole through the first floor, and through a hole in that bottom floor to the now-exposed forest floor below. It was a talisman, which was giving off sparks on its own, a sign of instability.
I descended the staircase and put on my special handling gloves and took out my Viridin Box, all of which are used to handle unstable talismans like these. I was down to the first floor dining room and reaching through the hole with my glove to grab the talisman when I looked back up and dodged the Stun Spell just in time.
I primed my talisman ready for confrontation and looked in the Southwest direction, the direction from which the discharge came. There was nothing. However, I did not imagine it, for the discharge sent splinters flying in the cabin.
Then from the West, three more discharges. I brought up my Shield Spell and parried these. I shot a few discharges of my own. There was a brief exchange, and then nothing.
After a few moments of silence, I took a risk and crept back to where the unstable talisman was. I grabbed it with my handling glove, very carefully may I mention, and placed it in the Viridin Box. And then I exited the cabin and started back toward the Balloon Festival.
Every few yards, I turned around with my talisman primed, ready to fight. This was triggered by the notion that I always felt like something was coming up on me from the left or right. But luckily, no other confrontations ensued. It was well after nightfall by the time I made it back to the Balloon Festival.
When I was safely back in the hostel room, I called upon Jon Boff to station his offered body guards nearby, just for extra precaution.
You can never be too careful.