Diary of Evpevoim (Ewp-voym)

May the fall of Evpevoim be a reminder, that no matter what we think of, the Ground below will remain dangerous as it ever was.

-Last words of Overseer Krabkiat

Overview and creation

Diary of Evpevoim is a collection of personal experiences of Overseer Krabkiat, who was stationed at Evpevoim during its construction. This leather-bound diary with bamboo paper is what appears to be a mix of personal diary records along with professional reports. It implies that the Overseer's career affected the style with which he recorded his opinions.
Being the first settlement on The Ground below in many centuries, the Evpevoim had support and attention of everyone. It became natural that everything that happened was to be carefully recorded.
While the Evpevoim defenses were ready to deter occasional wandering monster which got too close, the city's main line of defense was meant to be the Flow and Corruption detering Devoid crystals. Which would result in huge pain if not outright deaths of any monsters wandering too close.
Monsters, unfortunately, managed to breach the city defense and cause major slaughter and undoing of all the work. And because of the excessive damage caused to the Evpevoim, the official records were destroyed along with all the buildings. This personal diary is then an only recording of the events that transpired during the city's building and its untimely destruction.

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Retrieval

When the Raiders arrived with another delivery of Devoid crystals, they had to fight through any remaining monsters who were trying to cause as much damage as possible.
The diary was found in the clutches of the corpse of Krabkiat, who was found in the ruins of one of the buildings. As soon as the Diary was removed, his corpse reanimated and attacked the Raiders in an attempt to destroy the diary.

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Content

After the diary was safely salvaged from the ruins of Evpevoim, it was delivered to Council of Planners who promptly spread the story of humans greatest attempt to all Atocites The copied 4 pages of the Krabkiat diary are available to everyone.

5.3.984
It took a bit longer to find a good enough site to begin the work. We did start when the long night ended, but getting a well defendable and good enough location was a different matter.
But thanks to the days invested into finding a good spot we now got clean water.
13.3.984
Raiders were busy as soon as we started settling, it appears monsters did not like our presence in the slightest.
They managed to clear up a decent perimeter for us to be safe in. The question is how long it will last.
16.3.984
Constructions are going according to the plan and the supplies are still plentiful. But the amount of monsters at our perimeter seems to be increasing. The Raiders are able to handle them well so far. Soon we will finish the first quarter of the protective circle.
19.3.984
One of the Flowsmitter stumbled and fell down while carrying Devoid crystal. It shattered and few bits pierced into his bloodstream. Resulting in accidentally absorbing the pieces of crystal.
He said he feels fine, but I put extra eyes on him as this is the first recorded time the Devoid crystals got inside one's body.
20.3.984
The first quarter of the circle is done.
The contaminated Flowsmitter lost all personality overnight. He acts and behaves like a mindless worker. Does anything we ask him without second thoughts. While his abilities and knowledge seem to be intact, few others grieved the loss of his personality. I will report this via the next supply group.
21.3.984
And now even his knowledge is gone. That poor guy seems to be just a hollow shell now.
His friends are considering putting an end to his misery, which makes it easier for me, as I would have to propose the same thing based on lack of any usage we have for him now. We agreed to do it tomorrow.
22.3.984
We did not need to lift a finger. These Devoid crystals are more dangerous than we thought. The poor guy probably forgot how to breathe during the night. Other Flowsmiths found him dead in his bed in the morning. No signs of violence.
The supply group should arrive next week. Doubt they will bring a replacement. But I will order one anyway.

Page 1

26.3.984
I hate the brutes. They reek of arrogance and arrived one day late. One thing I must admit, these guys know how to process meat! And the guy they left us as a replacement for the dead Flowsmith sure made a difference. Still would prefer not to be in their presence for too long.
That said our supplies are overstocked. And the brute left here is also good at cooking the monsters the Raiders hunt at the perimeter.
Oh, and the findings of the Devoid crystal inside one's blood were sent to the Council of planners. Via written form as I doubt these guys would understand a word I said.
28.3.984
Time to celebrate! We fended off our first big attack!
The Devoid barrier is not even complete and it already causes quite a damage to the monsters.
It is just a bit of pity that we can't have any ability users here. The last one that got too close as part of the supply group collapsed from the unexpected shock. Luckily he was okay after a while, just felt exhausted.
30.3.984
While I do not like the brute, I did not wish him anything bad. What the hell was the thing he cooked for lunch? And how many took a bite before he collapsed?
But seeing him go from healthy man to dried up husk as he puked and shat his insides out was a fate worse than death. And to hell with fact, it actually led to his death...
We put him right next to the guy he was meant to replace.

31.3.984
Construction work stopped for today. We had few more graves to dig. The stew our brute cooked yesterday killed 3 more men, one of them was a Raider, so we are one man short on defending. It will be two weeks until the next support group, And we are only halfway through the second quarter of the circle.

32.3.984
I take back what I said about the brutes. Read the schedule, the next support is from the Lyciret. These people are creepy no matter what time of day you see them.
They make excellent traps, which will surely come in handy against the increasing number of monsters at the perimeter.
Also, did I write that the perimeter appears to be getting smaller? I didn't! Probably because I thought it was just an illusion until now.
So yeah. The monsters are getting closer.

Page 2

39.3.984
We did what we could. The long night starts tomorrow.
The perimeter is dangerously close to the city. But monsters appear to have given up for now.
40.3.984
Today the construction slowed down considerably. And it was not because of the night!
It was already the third time we had to declare an emergency due to attacking monsters.
Wasn't it proven that the Flow, Corruption, and even the monsters don't come near the Devoid crystals? But it seems to just make them mad.
However, we are close to finishing half of the protection circle.
42.3.984
So sleepy. The night is not helping. And because of visibility, the work slowed to a crawl.
Raiders also appear to be getting tired of the surprise attacks.
I think they will kill me if I declare another emergency during sleep hours.
This brings me to a question many asked already. Do the monsters somehow know when we are most vulnerable?
No wonder we did not settle on the ground below for centuries.
44.3.984
The second segment was completed. But because of the night, we did not even consider starting with the third one.
46.3.984
Halfway through the night. Yay!
I wish the optimism was on spot, we are getting exhausted. Work on the third segment did not move an inch in the last few days, everyone was busy either sleeping or defending.
How are the Raiders able to fight in the dark without getting injured?
48.3.984
I jinxed it. Today the leader of the Raiders got impaled by a Flow Rider. His torso liquified and he was dead on spot.
Yes, the Flow wind did scatter on the Devoid barrier, but still... The chance to regain the perimeter was not worth the risk.
The exhaustion got us to do mistakes.

50.3.984
The creeps were not happy to hear the third segment will be delayed, and that we need help with the defending.
But hey, they let us keep one of their engineers! Heard these guys make reusable traps. So that defense is taken care of.
At least for now we have everything again to continue working.

Page 3

1.4.984
The engineer got to work as soon as he got to order.
However, with the leader of Raiders being a corpse, and the rest of Raiders oblivious to deeper strategy, the Traps are not as efficient as they should be.
5.4.984
The creepy engineer sure got the respect of the Raiders fast. He even replaced the leader in terms of defense strategy.
I now see how these guys survive. They are masters of what they do.
I just hope he took my warning about the odd birds seriously.
10.4.984
The third segment is progressing nicely, but the increased number of monsters is worrying everyone.
Few times we all had a feeling like the sun got dark, and when we looked, we saw a dense flock of birds. Hoping it will be nothing too serious. Decided to put some people to guard the engineer, just to be sure.
11.4.984
It was serious. The monsters also appear to be... I don't know... organized?! The onslaught by ground caused all Raiders to engage in combat.
That's when the rain began.
Before we managed to take shelter the birds literally fell from the sky.
The barrier was somewhat effective, as the birds were dead on impact. But heck they hurt. I just hope no one got hurt too bad. As I write this, the birds are still falling.
12.4.984
We found the engineer under the biggest pile of birds. The moment he was identified our morale plummet. I wish it would have been possible to get supplies more often.
All his traps were sprung during the night when Raiders were getting some well-deserved rest.
We won't probably even finish the third segment before the next wave.
We all fear the next wave will be the last. We tried using the emergency beacon, but the Devoid canceled it.
One brave soul decided to try it on the edge of the perimeter. Only screaming was heard later.
16.4.984
The last 4 days of peace were spent cleaning the birds. We added a bit ton of mud to create improvised barricades. But as I write this, we are under the biggest attack we faced yet. Nearly everything we saw during the last month is here, coming for a piece of us. And we are dying quickly.
May the fall of Evpevoim be a reminder, that no matter what we think of, the Ground below will remain as dangerous as it ever was.

Page 4

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