Notes and Crap (entry forty)

Empress Novia, where in Shizune's great name do I even begin to explain the events I have seen... guess start from the beginning of the whole ordeal. Viscount GrimRoze's wife, Stephanie was taken by the Chrono Cult into the Bulwarks, so we decided to question the Oria's Light and defector Chrono Cultists. Many of them worse for wear, having crystal corruption laid all across their bodies. The Chrono Cult found Glysaris encased in crystal, partially trapped at first, but further encased her away in the crystals, the goal to siphon off her power, and ascend, taking on the powers of an archdevil without any of the negative properties. Their leaders vary with different time-based capabilities, ranging from speeding and slowing down time on others and themselves, and even stopping time such as I.
 
Unusually, the shoddy time crystals were something else entirely, these crystals were created using Time Stop from the encased Archdevil, its arcane energies seeping into the surrounding crystalline walls the power of a frozen point in time trapped inside unlike the arcane crystals. When I attempted my Time Stop spell, imagine my shock I was able to stay inside frozen time for an entire 30 seconds instead of 12. I can only imagine what it would do for my other Chronomancy spells... so I took the rest of the unrefined time crystals from the Chrono Cultists, gave one to Sute, one to Novia, and three for myself.
 
Travel to the Bulwarks caves were pretty normal, Radegast and Varis are natural explorers to scale the mountains, we quickly found the proper cave entrance, we were looking for a tunnel that should be going up at an angle, main provisional tunnels, lined with an hourglass into the frame of the cave wall. Beats having to go down several different tunnels that would have either been traps or had us horrifically lost! During our descent however... things got... weird. As we traversed the cave, we entered strange lands of varying degrees for brief periods. I thought they were illusions at first... only to reveal a rather disturbing truth that they were indeed real.
 
The first strange land we came across, we weren't in the crystalline cave anymore, instead we were on scaffolding a good.... hundred or so feet in the air (150 ft tall statue), kitsune stone masons were working on this giant statue of sorts, at the time I had no idea. Our group was traversing the caves with invisibility spells to get past patrols of basic cultists and spellcasters, so being still invisible, I casted a mage hand upon one of the workers, thinking it was simply an illusion. Nope, I was greeted by the worker turning around, speaking in the Hakumei common, in a very different dialect. Seeing this was very real... I decided to lower the invisibility spell after talking with the others... I swear I was too used to kitsune not saying slurs about oni, but I know the words all too well... soon as I dropped the invisibility, I ran into... I think Umbra, or perhaps an ancestor kitsune of her's, perhaps... I don't know, it was only a second or two before we teleported back to our spot in the cave. Novia, you won't believe this, but when I uncovered the stone in the walls, I found the face of the statue, covered with ancient arrows, ballista marks and much more embedded inside. You may want to dig up this wonder of the ancient past later perhaps? I'll mark it on the map once these cultists are dead.
 
The second place we teleported to seemed to perhaps be in the future is my assumption... a place unlike anything I have ever seen before. Believe every word if you somehow can..., as I can barely believe it myself. We teleported to the top of a stone and glassy square structure, but the city was full of such structures, many shapes and sizes, far stretching greater in tallness than any castle. The place was called Kobayashi Tower... like Kosuke of all people. I got to admit, didn't know Kosuke had it in him! That's the fox I know!! Though as we walked the streets, rectangular, loud machines like the Volcanorians or Storm Riders, carriages perhaps moving down and forth the roads, and more people than I could ever dream of seeing in one spot ever. I lived in Meishu, yet I felt overwhelmed by such a presence. The people, all sorts of races from across the world, wearing unusually...bland outfits for those of business, and... even more unusual fashion for the common folk, lots of shirts with unusual images printed upon them like a printing press, or artist drawing or embroidering across it like a canvas. The people... they spoke of Hakumeian common like we speak now, less a dialect, and more like us unusually. The people though... we were out of place, like an exotic trader from a foreign land in the middle of a hamlet. We were directed to some place called the "Hero's Square" before we were teleported back, further inside the crystalline cave, past more patrols of cultists. Though I have to note, the roads were perfectly symmetrical in grids, doors opened like how a wizard tower's would as we walked up to them, and many flashing, animated depictions of various art or people on glass window boxes in windows.
 
[Eligius does his best to draw various depictions of what he saw, ranging from cars, various advertisements on billboards, tv's or giant screens, the people he met, the outfits they wore, and so much more]
 
The third place in time seemed to be the distant future, the same place as before, but more ruined. I do not know how far in the future we were in, but it seemed we walked in the middle of what was the aftermath of a devastating conflict. No signs of life to be found anywhere, all the stone and metal buildings destroyed, crushed glass. It was dark, but not because it was night, it was because there was no sun, let alone a sky. I wasn't able to process what could have went on in the far future... but it was a dark omen of our potential future, that I will not live to prevent, the peace I aim to achieve in this world will only be a fleeting moment before complete annihilation. The creatures we found were abominations unlike anything I have ever seen, unholy amalgamations of natural creatures perhaps a dinosaur, and shadowy, twisting forms with unusual blue glows. Before we were able to engage the demon in combat, we were whisked away back to the present time. I fear this... revelation of our future... perhaps it could be something I could prevent. As of now, I do not know the source of it, but perhaps I could in due time, and aim to prevent such a calamity. Dark times are on the horizon Novia, maybe not in our lifetime, perhaps long after we are gone, but what I saw cannot be ignored... or our efforts here will be for all for nothing.
 
[Eligius attempts in drawing out the creature he saw in the far future, using a mix of magical illusory marks on the paper, and quill, taking several attempts, but none could fully match what he saw.]
 
The fourth place in time was between the future of "New Hakumei", and the far, ruined future, perhaps years, months, decades past, or maybe mere minutes than our first? I do not know, but the mechanical carts and people all still walking about. We walked to the "Hero's Square", wondering what the people of Kobayashi Tower were talking about here. At the center of the square, despite seeing the efforts back in Hakumei with people rallying to my name... it never occurred to me the efforts would stretch so far as to immortalize my visage in a statue. "Dedicated to the brave heroes who allowed us to reclaim these lands" was the inscription. It was... humbling to say the least, but a statue with my own date of death... a harrowing thought. As I write this, I plan to have that memory erased from my mind, and I even was going to stone shape the date off the statue in the future, but as soon as I casted the spell, loud alarm spells went off in the city, the sun darkens and giant portals started appearing out from behind us in the city street. Before we could even react to help... we were once again whisked back to the present time, inside a store room of the Chrono Cult hideout.
 
The Chrono Cult itself, and the people that we came across, these people live and breathe the corrupting energies of the Graveyard, their skin scaled over with crystals like my skin, or Gothmog when he got injured, but to a more corrupted and total extent. Before the fourth place in time, perhaps we ran into the leaders of the cult, two identical twins dressed in robes, dictating others to get the ritual ready, only having a short window to enact the siphoning of power. An event of stars aligning once every 100 years was what was stated, that unbeknownst to them, we planned to sabotage. Though I wonder about the 3 cultists that caught us, only armed with clubs. We tied them up and left food behind, their bodies were extremely malnourished and riddled with crystals, we showed mercy like we did with the Storm Riders, yet I suggested dominating their minds... I forget that even the lower ranks of these cults are just people, that even a small shred of kindness can make a difference, I must never forget the lesson that Joryth taught me, the lesson of the 4 fishermen, that some of those in evil's clutches can be brought back to reason and good. I can't be too certain about the twins however, I have a feeling they're using both Stephanie and Glysaris to ascend to great power for nothing but themselves.
 
In the downtime of hiding in the ritual component storage room, I used the second scrying scroll I had to once more scry, this time for Stephanie. She was placed in the same room as Glysaris, very scared of the situation, but I reassured her that we were close, there to rescue her. I also spoke to the Archduchess herself, she did not seem at all pleased to say the least in talking with me, seemed as if I should kiss the ground she walks upon. I spoke to Glysaris of what the intentions of the ritual were, the twins planned to infuse themselves and ascend to Godhood, Glysaris however spoke that the runes were wrong, and that she held secrets of actual ascension. I know not to trust those kinds of words from a devil in that regard anymore... but she is needed alive. They plan on siphoning the crystals first, as they are greatest source of magic, which could kill Stephanie, then Glysaris if the ritual comes to full effect. I then informed her of the severing of the contract of Varis' mother, Glysaris seemed all too aware of the Ramaio line. However... I flew too close to the sun, I openly threatened the archdevil, that if she not abide by the freeing of my friend Varis' mother, I would drag her crystal encased body to Avernus to finish her off. It seemed... at first to cause a bit of pause, only for her power to come through my Scrying spell, choking me out until I stopped concentration. I may have to prostrate myself in order to save my own soul... I pray I live to see the next day.