Part III: Flowers & Flame

1. The Polluted Grove
2. Beneath Orvis
3. The Siege of Orvis
4. Swampland Cartography
5. Companions in the Bog
6. The Breathing Temple
7. The Crescent Fort
8. The Dragonking's Children & The Witch's Tower
9. The Flower Sea
10. The Ancient Tree
11. Arisa & The Dancing Hills
12. The Ice Spire
13. The Duel
14. Nasharahla and Zorimose's Lair (I)
15. Shose
16. Nasharahla and Zorimose's Lair (II)
17. Foggy Hills
18. Obelisk Cantum & the Unicorn Horn
19. The Isles Under Curse

The Polluted Grove

14 of Lugaus, 1219
Expeditionists: Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Ronku
The ancient Vessian city named Orvis has been claimed for the Redshift Expeditionary Commission and with it made safe from the shifted creature which laired within, efforts to place an Obelisk within the relative security and structure of the buildings had sped up significantly. After an initial survey, the Commission was poised to deploy a new Obelisk immediately, but the polluted river was still a problem. It would be exceedingly difficult to live in the city and dangerous to cross the river that cut through the eastern landscape while this persisted.
Certain that there must be some diabolical source of the pollution that could be dispelled, Brigadier DeMirrah sent a team of ace Expeditionists to investigate upriver, where Mont'larin and Naia had found evidence of thickening pollution but failed to find the source during the earlier survey of Orvis. In the meantime, Decus and a small escort would travel to Orvis and prepare the Obelisk for the party's successful return.
Mont'larin led the party across the open wilderness of the Redshift Zone to the location where he and Naia and left off before the previous Redshift; several miles upriver of Orvis, the noxious sludge that flowed thick in the slow-moving water grew worse and ever less dispersed as the party moved north.
When the party traveled a little further, they spotted something rising out of the river muck - a sort of grove of twisted trees and roots, all brittle bark and thorns. Some large creature paced between the trees which formed a barrier between the surface of this grove and the water's edge, but it was difficult to make out just what it was. North of the wooden structure, the river was clean - pollution poured out from somewhere in this mass of branches.
Naia used her magic to grant the party the ability to walk on water for a time. With this, they could avoid the muck and the current and quickly hurried toward the middle of the river. However, they were attacked by shifted creatures that seemed to be the very water they stood on come to life, dripping and leaking toxic sludge and bearing far more glistening orange eyeballs than a normal living thing. The party mounted a defense; with the magic keeping their feet steady on the water's surface, it was impossible for the attackers to drag them underneath, and after a ceaseless flurry of claws and teeth, the party's warriors cut down all three of the creatures, sending them back to the depths where they dissolved and floated away.
Throughout this, the creature atop the twisted grove made no indication that it cared for the party, so they took a moment to recover their breath, and then made an assault all at once. Magic rained out from each member of the party, taking the monstrous creature, an amalgam of roots, weeds, mud, and sludge far larger than the initial trio that had attacked the party, by surprise. It leapt at them in a fury, but Ambergrene struck it with a bolt of divine lightning that nearly disintegrated it altogether. With assistance from the rest of the party, the beast was readily destroyed, and the grove was clear.
In the middle of the grove was a hole leading into a subaquatic layer of the structure, bound together by watertight roots that allowed an empty space to exist. And below this, buried halfway into the roots at the base, was a black object the length of a human forearm which glowed with a soft pink light.
The party discerned that this thing was probably the source of much of this affliction, and Ronku volunteered to retrieve it before trying to burn the entire grove down. Naia suggested he not touch the thing bare-handed, so he took a blanket and descended on a rope, covering it without touching it directly as best as he could. Nonetheless it assaulted him with necrotic force, but only a jolt as he ripped it from its socket.
With the object removed, it turned out that fire was unnecessary - the grove shuddered and began to give way to the force of the water. The party made a quick retreat as the structure crumpled and began to split apart. They waited a while after reaching the shore to ensure that they were successful: over time, the natural flow of the river began to clear away the muck and sludge, and the broken structure continued downriver in the steady current.
The party returned to Orvis, where they found Decus finishing the activation of the new Obelisk as well as the added communication device to allow contact with the other three. They showed him the object they had collected - a black shard of something broken, likely a rod or haft of some sort. Nobody could determine what it was, but the Commission agreed to store it safely away so it would not result in violent shifting again later.
With the river through Orvis slowly becoming clean once again, the Commission would make their move to the city official - soon the dais in the center of the ruins would become a major launching point for Commission efforts and continued travel to the tower so far away.

Beneath Orvis

01 of Tadhus, 1219
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ksenia, Limbani, Nimbus
Once the river at Orvis was cleared of pollution, the Commission was able to begin efforts to make the city their next primary base of operations. These efforts were underway, with a new Obelisk built by Decus and a large fraction of the organization at Fort Merakkus preparing to make the journey east.
Included in this effort was the ongoing task of exploring and cataloguing the remnants of the city of Orvis to ensure that the immediate surroundings of the Obelisk's protective aura were safe for the Commission's members. One scout, Expeditionist Bev, reported that she had discovered an unsettling chill emenating from a hidden passageway in a basement of one of the old structures.
Decus requested that a team investigate, so Alvisstavver, Ksenia, Limbani, and Nimbus followed their halfling colleague to the site in question. They discovered a stone-hewn basement as she directed, and on the far wall a passageway that coughed a cool wind from somewhere further below.
The team descended, immediately discovering something out of the ordinary. The tunnel let out upon a wide complex of rooms cut into the stone beneath the city. At the opposite wall sat a tall statue of a horned man, seated in a meditative pose. At his foot a twisted skeleton that resembled a humanoid was strewn across the floor; it had been horribly shifted at some point to include multiples of several of its limbs. Ksenia was able to determine that the statue was acting as a magical lock, but could not discern its riddle.
South was a room of overturned, rusted metal bedframes tangled with even more twisted skeletons, each one completely different, but all of them corrupted beyond survivability. North was a long drop down to a lower level, so Nimbus and Alvisstavver went down immediately.
Much more ornately built than the first floor, the lower floor was home to a still-living creature amidst the shifted humanoid remains: a horned and spined creature with pallid green skin sat in the center of a room marked by arcane letters. Crystals of ice grew throughout the room, and the creature's spines grew impossibly long and pierced the walls and floor, crucifying it in place. The thing greeted the party, and Ksenia and Limbani joined soon after to see what it was.
It introduced itself as Salmas: a devil summoned from the Stygian plane of Hell, brought to the plane of mortals by cultists of the Sleeping King long ago. The party entertained the devil for a time, amicable as it was; it spoke of being trapped here due to the Redshift pinning its spines in place over the long eras since it had began and causing the summoning focus which kept it here to last indefinitely.
Salmas pleaded a deal: assist its escape by way of destroying the summoning focus, a chunk of blue ice kept buried within the overgrown crystals, and it would provide the party with advice on how to access the late cultists' hidden treasures. It was quite cavalier about their deaths long ago; disappointed it had lost their souls to oblivion rather than being able to capture them, it explained.
Prior to freeing the creature, agreeing that it would do no good to keep a devil beneath Orvis, Alvisstavver informed it of the existence and goals of the Crafts Corner Club. Additionally, Nimbus offered several scraps of information, detailing his history with the genasi Terra and her father. Both offered this intelligence as a show of good faith to the devil in the interest that it might assist them later.
Nimbus melted the ice while Ksenia took the devil's advice on how to invoke the spell for the statue upstairs. Once it was done, the devil vanished to its original home, and the party made their way to seek out the promised treasure. Filling the horned statue's hands with treasure and reciting an infernal incantation caused it to melt into the walls, revealing a vault full of Vessian coins, treasure, and a second hidden passageway containing a secret cache of magical items. The party gathered their loot and returned optimistic to the main base at the Obelisk to prepare for the arrival of Brigadier DeMirrah and the rest of the R.E.C.

The Siege of Orvis

15 of Tadhus, 1219
Expeditionists: Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia
The week after the first caravan of R.E.C. members and supplies arrived at Orvis, and work was underway to repair the bridge over the east half of the river, the effort was cut short when the east side of the city itself suddenly appeared revitalized and full of life at the moment the Redshift waned.
The Commission quickly realized that this was something they had seen before: the festival at Midoro, over a year ago, had been the same. Brigadier DeMirrah called together a small party to enter the area of the effect - which ceased just before the Obelisk's field of effect, causing pedestrians from the resuscitated city to simply disappear at the threshold - and investigate what was happening this time.
The city was bustling, but Expeditionist Naia was the first to notice the panicked and hurried aura that sat upon the citizens. It was not long before the party discovered a city crier announcing a call to arms for all local warriors in order to defend the city from a sudden incursion of orcish pirates from the southern seas.
As well as this, Naia spotted a group of people she had seen before, somehow: the towering electric dragonborn, Gakari, who Naia had met at Midoro's festival, was here alongside her cohorts, Holtzmann, Kieran, and Nikta. Naia attempted to greet the party, but they apparently did not recognize her. Having heard of the events at the previous village, Mont'larin attempted to discern from the party whether they had indeed visited the festival from their point of view. The smirking black tabaxi of the group affirmed that it had been only a month ago.
The Expeditionists decided to investigate the crier's request and seek out the city watch responsible for recruiting mercenaries. They traveled to the east gate of the city, incidentally followed by Gakari's group, where they expected to find the leader in question. On the way, they spotted an ornate carriage deposit a glimmering and pristine moon elf wearing a five-pronged crown in front of a manor. Within the carriage, Naia also caught a glimpse of two more elves: Queen Ars'ela and her daughter, Princess Cirres, the last known rulers of Vessoth at the time of its demise by the Redshift.
The male elf departed before the party could do anything further, so they continued on to the city watch's recruitment site. There they both confirmed that the elf they saw was indeed the current King Erditus, and he was meeting with Lord Kadmos of Orvis to speak on the defense against the orc horde at their doorstep. The watch captain also explained the situation to the party, who passed themselves off as foreigners to make up for their out-of-place (or out-of-time) accents. An army of orcs had taken over the small hamlet of Thesbridge a few miles east of Orvis, which was the major road and supply line to the city from the easterly majority of Vessoth.
Also preparing to join the fight was another Vessian adventurer the Commission had met before: Faris, the half-elven woman who had agreed to join the Commission when they met her at Midoro, before she disappeared with the rest of the vision. Just as the rest, she did not remember Naia or any of the others, but she made quick friends with Ambergrene even amidst the flurry of battle preparations.
Arineis and Mont'larin volunteered to hurry back to the Obelisk to gather supplies and report in to the Brigadier as to what they had found. They also sought out any source of local maps or data about Vessoth, and discovered a catographer they requested the Commission interact with to gain knowledge of the ancient kingdom prior to its demise.
While the two were gone, the party wondered aloud to Faris who had won the festival at Midoro, as a test: she replied that Kieran, the tabaxi who had given Expeditionist Alvisstavver a rough contest for the festival crown, had come out on top this year.
When preparations were complete, Faris and the party as well as Gakari's group - Nikta offered their nickname "Bellwinds" - set off to Thesbridge, thinking to get ahead of the Orvis city guard and cut off the head of the beast before it could move, as well as agreeing to try to save the villagers held hostage there.
Faris led the way. Ambergrene granted the party divine stealth, and they stole away into the orchards north of Thesbridge by sunset. The Bellwinds party split off to the south so they could attack from a different angle.
Hidden on the orchard's edge, Naia transformed into a tiny spider and crept up the first building she could see as a means of scouting. She was surprised to discover some hundred villagers held hostage in their own barn, guarded by a trio of orcish pirates around the front door. Ambergrene and Faris used magic to trick the orcs into approaching the treeline, where they were dispatched by Mont'larin and Arineis quicky. But not quickly enough, in the final case - before they could strike the final blow, the orc shouted out, alerting the rest of his companions to the appearance of invaders.
The party evacuated the barn as quickly as possible and interceded between the innocent villagers and the orcs who had noticed the scuffle. What followed was an all-out battle between both parties of heroes and the orc pirates who had taken Thesbridge as their temporary base - a retelling, the party decided, of events that had occurred in Vessoth a thousand years ago, but played out in such a way that their own assistance proved overwhelmingly successful.
The end of the battle saw the orcs routed, the villagers safe, and the heroes unscathed. They made to return to Orvis to report their success, but they weren't meant to see what happened next: the world around them vanished in a flash of light, completely unnoticed by the denizens of the previous epoch. The Expeditionists were left alone in the swampland in the night, making their way back to the Commission base to finally report their findings.

Swampland Cartography

29 of Tadhus, 1219
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Nimbus
The Redshift Expeditionary Commission was able to make eastward headway thanks to the discovery of the ancient bridge at Thesbridge, found to still be intact after a thousand years, sturdy enough to cross on foot. Nimbus provided himself and Alvisstavver with magical steeds to travel at speed and explore what they could, but upon crossing the threshold, they discovered that the lands east of the city ruins were much more difficult to navigate than the miles west of the river. Sucking mud and hidden bogs hampered the party's movement, slowing the pace of their expedition.
Even so, they intended to make use of what time they had and venture as far east as possible, hoping to make way to the Vessian city of Kholis, which Alvisstavver had discovered in reading a contemporary map during the short time that Orvis had been revitalized. This city sat on a bay, so there was a hope to find signs of the ocean, eventually. However, the party was surprised to find signs of precisely that far earlier than they expected - many days' worth of travel if the discovered map was judged accurate.
Around the site they discovered the shore, where the swamp fell away as a cliff and the stream they had been following twisted and meandered through the open air meters above the water's surface like a twisted rope, they also discovered a stout stone building upon the cliff's edge. Time had taken a toll on the structure, allowing the walls and ceilings to fall apart, making for easy entry.
Not wanting to take undue risk, the pair sent in their familiars to scout the site, and they discovered the place was full of creatures that lived throughout the swamp, however the creatures were almost dead as a whole. Rather than wildlife thriving in a sheltered space, their corpses littered the space and only a few living creatures sat among them in the damp stone ruins. Badath and Keen discovered a basement level as well, and found a very similar sight, with the addition of green sludge covering the walls and floors among the corpses.
The duo decided to retreat. They saw only beasts living within the structure, but knew not the cause of their collective deaths, and did not want to stretch too far with such a small party. They elected to continue eastward along the coast.
They found that the ancient Vessian map did not align with the modern terrain in a significant way. The coastline stretched further west than originally expected.
Their expedition came to a sudden end, however, when Alvisstavver stumbled into the territory of some massive beast which lurked in the mud. It attacked in a rage upon sensing prey, but Alvisstavver and Nimbus were able to evade and distract it, just barely, and get away with their lives.
Fortunately, they found little else for the remainder of their quest, and were able to report back on the lay of the land when they returned to Orvis.

Companions in the Bog

12 of Uthus, 1219
Expeditionists: Ambergrene, Maizie, Mont'larin, Naia
Having broken out of Orvis into the eastern swamp, the R.E.C. was troubled by slow travels and treacherous terrain. However, Expeditionist Maizie had learned of something promising: some scouts had spotted signs of a swamp creature familiar to the tamer from her work in the Empire. She quickly recruited several aces to join her on a mission to seek out and possibly befriend the creatures, six-legged swamp lizards which ordinarily grew quite small, but in the effect of the Redshift Zone had apparently become the size of horses.
The party set out with Maizie in tow, as well as a hefty barrel of fruit to entice the beasts. East of Orvis and south of Thesbridge, the party discovered an entire nest of the oversized lizards thriving in the Redshift bog. With the party's combined magical powers, they were able to talk to the beasts directly, and found them quite friendly; in this land without their usual predators or any humanoids, the creatures lived a comfortable if not totally idlyllic life.
It took a little effort and some coaxing from Ambergrene's whistling flute, but this and a barrel of apples later, the party convinced the lizards to send one of their own to accompany them to a spot beneath the bridge at Thesbridge where they promised a much safer and more convenient, cooperative life. Maizie assured the party that if they could win them over, she could tame them as mounts, and with their tall, spindly legs and amphibious girth, they would be a great boon in navigating the hazards of the swamp.

The Breathing Temple

23 of Uthus, 1219
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
With Maizie working to provide traveling beasts to the Commission, the scouts out and about east of Thesbridge still struggled to move quickly. The party decided to head north while they had the chance between Redshifts, hoping to find anything of value or import. They wandered the flat, chilly lands for a few days, keeping Alvisstavver at his work plucking away at his detailed maps of the area. Twisted lands and wildlife were all which greeted them for quite some time, but just as the party was readying themselves to turn back to Orvis, they stumbled upon a building still standing, though barely.
It was a temple, a place clearly used for worship once long ago. It had long fallen to ruin, and all icons and idols were missing, their status unknown. When the party approached the inner reaches of the small building, they were struck by a quaking, echoing snore. They called out in confusion and in doing so woke up the temple itself, apparently a sentient and aware person all its own in the Redshift Zone. It spoke to them for a time, but claimed its memory was hazy, though it did remember being a holy place. The party discovered it had been home to a goodly pantheon of gods worshiped in the prime of Vessoth, mostly those still known today.
Unfortunately, suffering whatever amnesia it was suffering, the temple knew little else besides its purpose, though it welcomed the party to return to sit and speak with it any time. The party agreed that they could request Decus to come survey the area and consider it for another Obelisk, since it was much further north than Orvis and closer to their goal.

The Crescent Fort

05 of Eidus, 1219
Expeditionists: Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
After returning to Orvis from their encounter with the temple which breathed its own life, the party deliberated their next move - Decus was preparing to venture north with the tools to create a new Obelisk at their suggestion and Brigadier DeMirrah's approval, but the lands surrounding the east-Orvis swamp were still a mystery. Additionally, on their explorations, they had noticed a strange spire sticking out of the ocean visible from the eastern shoreline.
The party pondered the viability of getting a boat into the sea, but there was no opportunity to do so from where they stood and with their current resources. Expeditionist Nami got word of the discussion, and suggested that they would certainly be able to put together some sort of seaworthy vessel if they had a viable dock. Nimbus suggested checking the fort he and Alvisstavver had discovered earlier, which sat directly on the coastline. The party set off with the intention and tools to survey.
What they discovered was not very much different from the original scouting expedition; the corpses of oversized toads and other reptilian swampdwellers were scattered amidst and inside the building. The party crept over the rubble of walls and ceilings which had collapsed to investigate the area. They were taken by surprise when one of the toad corpses began to writhe until a tiny creature flung itself from within the flesh toward Ambergrene. He reacted quickly and crushed the thing with his hammer, but now the party had some indication of what had brought death to this place.
The stairs leading to a lower level of the building found the party in a very similar environment - the stench of decay was heavy here, and on top of this, green slime oozed across the bricks of the floors, walls, and even ceilings around the corpses in some places. It was not much longer before the party discovered a crimson, toad-like monster crawling across the ceiling which attempted to ambush them. It assaulted them physically and magically, and seemed to shrug off many of the party's magical attacks when they defended themselves, but eventually they brought it low. The party supposed the creature was responsible for spreading the parasitic creatures through the corpses of the local wildlife, and took care to exhaust every remaining corner of the small fortress before they relaxed. Fortunately, they encountered not a single other living creature within.
Having cleansed the fort, the party took the notes Nami requested and decided that since they hadn't heard the First Wave yet, there was still time to explore. They decided to make good of the time they had left, and ventured out north for the time before the next Redshift began and as long as their rations would hold out. The party circled the unexplored swamplands, and on the return trip nearly stumbled over a humming stone buried in the mud. Mont'larin dug it up to find that the stone had some writing on it: a series of numbers which the party recognized as possibly being globe coordinates.
When the party finally returned to Orvis, they showed the object to Decus, who was able to corroborate their suggestion of the stone showing coordinates. Using his own maps of the area which the Commission had built over time, they pinpointed the stone's direction to somewhere north of Orvis, through the swamp into areas they had not yet uncovered. The party decided they would make their next journey to see what awaited them there.

The Dragonking's Children & The Witch's Tower

17 of Eidus, 1219
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
Expeditionists Mont'larin, Naia, and Nimbus set first out to scout ahead to the location they read on the enchanted stone they discovered. They made quick pace beyond the Breathing Temple, which had already been prepared with a new Obelisk by Decus during the latest break in the Redshift, and ranged so far north that the muddy swamplands gave way to rolling plains once more, crowned to the east by a mountain range which stretched north and south.
It was here that the party of Expeditionists encountered someone else in the Redshift Zone: a gigantic humanoid could be seen from afar, and indeed he had seen them too. He made haste toward the party, shaking the ground with every step he took. On the shoulder of the giant who sported a roiling beard of flame sat a pale-skinned woman who shared the giant's red horns and scales, and swung a tail of her own. The woman cried her demands at the party, that they should capitulate before Dragon Princess Nasharahla and Dragon Prince Zorimose - and, in a short conversation, it was revealed that by order of their father, the two would demand the R.E.C. leave the Redshift Zone forever.
The Expeditionists managed to speak with the draconic duo for a short time and argued their piece against being made to leave, trying to force them to see reason, but the aggressors would not bend, and swore that there was no room for parley beyond this: to relay their message to the rest of their organization and subsequently begone. Knowing this was impossible but not wanting to get into a fight with two dangerous new foes, the Expeditionists wisely made their excuses and retreated while the Princess and Prince were openly giving them the chance.
The group made haste back to the Obelisk Castus located at the Breathing Temple to regroup and report in. They relayed what they had learned from the draconic heirs to Brigadier DeMirrah, and concluded that the R.E.C. may be dealing with a true dragon in its future. The team worried about the potential for an oncoming battle, but the Brigadier insisted that there was no chance the R.E.C. would leave the Redshift Zone, and if it was truly impossible to be diplomatic with this supposed "dragonking", they would just have to deal with the problems as they were encountered, just as was done with the "Prince" Morioh.
Since there was time yet before the First Wave, and the goal of wherever this locator-stone led the party had yet to be found, the team decided to return to their expedition, careful to steer clear of the area where the giant and woman had prowled earlier. Bringing Alvisstavver and Ambergrene along as reinforcements, the party successfully avoided another encounter with the draconics and made their way across swamp and plains until they came upon a dense forest, where the early winter leaffall laid thick on the floor. Following Decus' guidance based on the R.E.C.'s own maps compared with the guidance stone, the party eventually discovered a clearing in the woods which was home to what appeared to have once been a shining white tower, but now sat shifted and twisted on the ground, broken in half by some unnatural properties afflicted upon its stone.
The tower had been taken by aggressive wildlife which launched itself at the party, but after clearing the way, they discovered that within the base of the tower lived a magical entity calling itself the Proxy, which manifested as little more than an emotive illusory hand. It could, however, still speak to the party, by way of crystal points embedded in the tower's walls, and guided them through heavy doors up through the floors of the upper tower, now fallen sideways. The Proxy spoke at meandering length about her time in the Redshift, that it had been the companion of a "guardian" who lived in this tower prior to the phenomenon's start and was an old ally to Vessoth.
It tried to lead them to the guardian's old chamber at the top of the tower, but upon opening the door there, realized that it had forgotten the shifted guardian still lived within. Her halfling body had been twisted and mangled by a thousand years of shifting, and had become more stretched skin clinging to spines of crystal than flesh and blood. The old guardian, who had long since lost her mind, wildly attacked the party in a long fight, only ended when they were able to utterly shatter her corpse to pebbles.
During the fight, by some fortune, the Proxy found herself reconnecting the memories she required to recall her past before the Redshift, and came to realize what she had forgotten over the long years of solitude. She frantically explained that she and the guardian were one and the same, having magically transferred her conscious mind into the safety of the Proxy's focal points before the Redshift took her. She was named Arisa Loamfield, the Witch-Guardian of Vessoth's Flower Sea, a place she claimed to be holy, and nearby.
The party took a chance to enjoy their reprieve and discussed the circumstances of their quest with the friendly witch, revealing to her much of what they knew of the Redshift and what they had seen thanks to its effects. She gave them what sparse additional information she could provide, noting that at the time of her demise, she had been able to watch the Redshift approach from the Star Tower at Ves for the very first time, but had been unable to do anything to stop it and never knew what could have caused it. However, she did provide one piece of hopeful news: based on the things the Redshift did, and the way creatures and objects shift, Arisa was certain that the effect could also be halted by mortal hands. Expeditionist Naia raised the offer to bring an Obelisk to the site of the tower in this place; if its guardian was going to be present for a long time, they could continue to share information. Arisa agreed readily, stating that she felt a strong trust for the R.E.C. and its representatives already. The party agreed to head back to their home base to reconvene and decide their next course of action.
However, just before they departed, the Guardian made one request of them: her title as Guardian still held true, and in the depths of the Flower Sea which she originally watched over sat a key which itself guarded an artifact locked away by Vessian sages long ago. Being just a fragment of her former self, Arisa requested that the party go retrieve this key, so that it could be properly secreted away and not risk falling into the wrong hands at any point. With this in mind, she gave the party a book she claimed to be enchanted to act as an entryway to the Flower Sea's hidden spaces, and requested they come back with the item in hand.

The Flower Sea

04 of Halfweek, 1219
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
Returned to the relative safety of the Obelisk Castus in the remains of the old speaking temple, the Expeditionists planned their next move after reporting their progress and warnings to Brigadier DeMirrah. It was eventually decided that the Commission would follow the witch Arisa's guidance and collect this object from the Flower Sea location as she requested. After waiting out the next Redshift and spending the time working on the slow repairs to the temple to fortify and heal, the team set back north.
Nearby the Guardian's fallen tower was the border of the Flower Sea, a place that had been hallowed long ago and featured a miles-wide expanse of pink and yellow flowers that grew as tall as a dwarf and carelessly bounced back from being spread or trod upon.
The party carried with them the book that the Guardian had given them earlier, which was supposed to act as their guide and entrance to the location where this object was kept. Upon opening the book, the reader gained a sense of where to go and what to do innately in their mind, so using this the party was able to proceed.
Until they spotted black smoke rising over a hill, and split their way through the flowers to find Faris, Gakari, and Nikta, heroes from Vessoth a millennium ago, investigating a burning wagon. The adventurers out of time explained that they had reason to believe Cirres, the Vessian Princess, had been kidnapped from her now-slain entourage of guards, despite attempts by the Crown to obfuscate her true location. They were looking for evidence of where the villains had gone, and the Commission readily agreed to assist.
Eventually a path was found, leading the party to a place in the Flower Sea where there had once been a building nestled into one of the many hillsides. From their vantage inside the flower-cover, the party could see orcs of a similar type to those who had come to Vessoth from the sea some months ago, guarding the entrance. The adventurers from the past explained to those from the modern day that the invaders had been routed, but some small groups still harried the countryside, and that was likely what was on display here. But this discovery kept with it hope that the Princess was alive and well and being held for ransom within.
With the help of nine heroes, the attack on the orc ruffian bastion went smoothly. The two teams cut their way through the ranks of a dozen villains each, eventually finding their leader, who sat beside a makeshift cage holding the moon elf princess, muddy and dress torn but otherwise quite well. The orc leader stood to fight, but Naia stepped in to try convincing her otherwise, an attempt to avoid unnecessary death. This fell on deaf ears; some hatred that boiled and that the modern adventurers did not fully understand motivated these villains, and their grudge was intense.
They fought, and the Expeditionists killed the orc leader and freed Princess Cirres. Faris, the heroic and ineffable bard, ushered them all back out the way they came, believing the path to be clear and safety for them and their charge in sight. She was last to exit the ruin, and in the party's rush, they did not notice the surviving bandit who crept behind them until their blade burst through Faris' heart.
It was desperate revenge; the assassin fell under blows from all the rest before they could move or escape, but Faris collapsed nonetheless. Nikta begged the others for help, and Naia, Mont'larin, and Ambergrene all sprung to help, using their magic to knit her wounds and give back her breath. She woke bewildered and adrenalized, exclaiming with relief that she'd never visited death's door and come back before, and thanking the party for saving her.
Once they had gotten everyone to safety, and Princess Cirres was securely guarded by Gakari's massive draconic frame, they began the long walk back to the town she had come from. The party followed Gakari and Nikta for a time, unsurprised when they began to fade and the vision of the past left the present behind. Except for Faris, who unexpectedly acknowledged the event, and panicked when her companions began to vanish one by one. There was nothing to be done in the moment but let it run its course and try to comfort her with words - the Expeditionists had seen this before, but she hadn't. Eventually, finally, she disappeared with the rest.
It was at this moment that the Redshift began, and, as usual, its start was marked with the First Wave. Then, for the first time, a second gust of force battered the party identical to the usual First Wave. Bewildered and unfamiliar with what just occurred, the party turned to make haste back to the safety of their Obelisk. But, not wanting to leave their original quest unattended, Mont'larin and Alvisstavver volunteered to ride to the site of the hidden relic in the Flower Sea and obtain it while the rest of the party made their way safely home.
They set off at speed on Mont'larin's steed, coming upon a point in the Flower Sea where Alvisstavver's reading of the book gave him the knowledge and access to be tossed into a realm that was not their own. The two were separated and tossed into a maze built of some endless white stone in a seemingly-endless magical expanse. Both adventurers made their way through several obstacles presented to them by the ever-shifting structure, but Alvisstavver was able to break his way through by sheer luck or stubborn will and allow the enchantment to collapse around them, revealing the object of their search: a sapphire scepter buried safely away in the demiplane. Together again, they grabbed it, and were flung back to their reality still with time to spare to return to their companions.
Back at the Obelisk Castus, while the Commission was panicked over the change in the Redshift's behavior, they were no worse for wear and reports continued to come in from squads returning to base. Having recovered one of the items the Guardian Arisa claimed was a key to the vault on the lake island, work continued on the rest - eventually news of scouts from south of Orvis appeared to report that they had found a second of the three locations the Guardian cited.

The Ancient Tree

09 of Ionhus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
Before returning to the Guardian Arisa and the area where the Dragon Princelings roamed, the party decided to follow the lead found by Commission scouts for the second of the Guardian's keys - one kept inside a great tree somewhere south of the city Orvis.
Though the strange double-First Wave had precipitated the Redshift a few days prior, the effects of the Redshift itself did not appear to be different than usual, and it subsided all the same as it always had after several days of waiting around in the safe umbrella of the Obelisks. And despite the appearance of the sudden blizzard across the Redshift Zone, the Expeditionists were able to make good time to the site of the great tree that had been reported.
On arriving, they found a massive trunk that could easily fit a small house within its belly, evidently dead for years but acting as a bastion for new life out of the swamplands that surrounded Orvis. At the center, extending deep into the earth, was a staircase.
Down the stairs which seemed to go on forever, the party encountered several strange challenges, as they were tossed back and forth between chambers that seemed to have no natural entrances or exits, spending hours between each progressing down a seemingly unending staircase into the depths of the earth.
At one point, Mont'larin and Naia had a drawn-out argument over which of them would stay behind in a trap-room to allow the rest of the party to proceed alive, but eventually the clever druid realized she could outsmart the trap with her shapeshifting abilities. In the end, the whole party was able to clear the dungeon's tricks and finally arrived at their goal: a place quite similar to the protective maze in the Flower Sea, a pedestal holding a sapphire dagger. Once again, Alvisstavver took hold of it, and the Expeditionists were catapulted back to their reality just moments before the start of the next Redshift, with enough time to retreat to Orvis and resupply.

Arisa & The Dancing Hills

24 of Ionhus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
After resupplying at Orvis, the team hurried back to the fallen tower of Arisa Loamfield to report their success. They accompanied Decus with supplies to build the latest new Obelisk, allowing them to make the Witch-Guardian's lair an official part of the R.E.C.
Upon arriving and delivering the Obelisk, the Commission spent some downtime with Arisa to report their success in gathering two of the three key items and asked her about the third before they went looking for it. She explained that the three keys were meant to secure a vault holding a dangerous magical artifact that had been imprisoned centuries before her tenure as Witch-Guardian began. While she didn't know the true details of this object, her role was to help keep it locked away, so keeping the vault keys safe was a measure in favor of this. She agreed to let the R.E.C. keep the keys so long as they would remain safe in their hands.
A week later, after waiting out the Redshift, the party set off west to seek out the Dancing Hills, the site of the last key. They eventually discovered a temple carved out of one of the rocky hillsides in the area; populated by statues that evoked a sense of magic, the party could not find a way inside until they discovered a series of weighted tiles that would open a trapdoor.
Eventually making it to the bottom of this temple, the party was beset by a great stone minotaur in the lowest chamber which charged wildly at its targets. It was only after the statue had been annihilated that Alvisstavver came to realize the room was another riddle; and without the statue's horns, the doorway to the key could not be broken open.
The party tried digging through the wall where the doorway sat but found that there was nothing on the other side - it was a demiplanar entrance, like the others. The party was forced to retreat to Arisa's tower and report that they had failed to collect the key. However, her reaction was more optimistic: with the doorway destroyed, it would be almost impossible for someone to ever reach the key, so it may now be more secure than ever. In the end, she thanked them.
Shortly after this, having waited for the party to return in case something went wrong, Decus revealed that he and the Witch-Guardian had been working on a way to integrate her tower's systems to the Obelisk now safely protecting her home. A shower of sparks flew when Decus finally linked the final connection and a few moments later an ethereal, full-bodied halfling woman appeared from within the Obelisk. Arisa Loamfield had been resuscitated and found that she could now traverse the Obelisk network, jumping from place to place as she wished.

The Ice Spire

27 of Broccus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
Near Fort Harpum upon the coast, a spire stood atop the horizon. Not wanting to risk some sort of danger, the party decided to investigate it while preparations were made to start furnishing Arisa's lair and Obelisk as a new forward base.
The party met Nami at Fort Harpum, who had been building a dock and small boat over the past several weeks. Expeditionist Rodyle manned the new ship as its captain, and eagerly awaited his first expedition with the "big shots", so when the Redshift waned, they set out to sea.
It was a few hours on the wintery waves that seemed to keep getting colder as the party approached the spire before they spotted something that had separated itself from the great blue-white tower and come hurtling toward them. A creature like a wyvern all made of ice and crystal beset them, grappling with their boat as if to ward them off. They dispatched it and kept moving forward.
When they made landing at the base of the spire, they found themselves at the floor of a hundreds-feet tall edifice of ice that had spread its chill into the sea. The party was able to break in from the side they landed, finding the spire hollow inside, crisscrossed by layers upon layers of narrow sheets of ice. Deep below, a pink glow lit the darkening space.
Carefully, the party made to approach this thing to see what it was. They descended with rope and keeping careful watch above and around for more monstrous guardians - but it was only when they came close to the black object encased in ice that additional icy beasts lurched to life and tried to attack.
In their efforts to evade death, the icy prison holding the pink-glowing object was broken, and as though a dam had been shattered, the entire spire began to shake and crack. Not wishing to be caught in the middle of the sea, the party quickly evacuated, leaving the black object behind as it fell with the monsters below them into the depths.
They barely made it back upon Rodyle's boat before the whole spire imploded on itself, crushed by the ocean now that its structure was untenable. The bergs of ice quickly submerged as the sea settled. Using waterbreathing magic, some of the party dove underwater to see if they could find anything else now that the spire was gone, but only discovered the shattered ice below them before they were forced to retreat from the cold.
Considering that at least the main problem had been solved, the party retreated back to Fort Harpum, where they found bad news: contact with Arisa through the Obelisk network had been lost, and nobody was at her tower to find out what had happened.

The Duel

30 of Caddus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Angela, Arineis, Jabberlax, Kuromizawa, Lufael, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus, Sharp
The R.E.C. team made haste to Arisa's fallen tower, meeting Expeditionist Mortier's party halfway for reinforcements in case something was waiting for them. When they arrived at the site, they first noticed that the Obelisk had been disassembled somehow - and the culprit revealed themselves in an ambush.
The Dragon Princess Nasharahla and Dragon Prince Zorimose, along with a dozen of their fiery minions, appeared out of the forest surrounding the R.E.C.
However, their dialog was less than violent. The giant made a proposal: meet them at an ancient arena some fifty miles to the north and do battle. They did not wish to cause chaos in this location, and this would serve to force whoever lost the fight to retreat from the Redshift Zone.
Given little other choice, the party agreed, and the dragon princelings set off before the First Wave began. Arisa, in her limited form as a disembodied specter, appeared from within the tower where she had been hiding to thank them for saving her. She helped them rebuild the Obelisk and reconnect it to the R.E.C.'s full network, where they promptly informed Brigadier DeMirrah of the challenge they had been given.
It was decided to meet these dragons in battle as planned, but the Brigadier would bring reinforcements at speed to try to assist.
Upon the next waning of the Redshift, the party set out to find this arena, but not before Arisa told them that they should look out for a small castle that should be seated nearby and strategically advantageous. The party took her advice and eventually found both buildings within a few miles of each other. They split to investigate.
One team entered the castle and slew a strange shifted beast within, claiming it for themselves and setting up defenses in the little time they had before the dragon princelings promised their arrival. The other team investigated the arena, but found it totally empty. Deciding to use this in their favor, they left an obvious calling card and trail back to their companions and returned to the group at the castle on the hill.
All that was left was to wait, and despite being a few hours late the dragons did make their arrival. They took the apparent bait, and found the Expeditionists at the castle on the hill, upon which they laid siege. The giant Zorimose caused a storm of fire to appear above them, while Nasharahla flitted through and under pits of bubbling magma she created across the battlefield. All the while a swarm of salamanders and a pair of cursed giants marched up the hillside to match blades with the Expeditionists.
But, their preparations paid off. With the dragon princelings making an uphill siege and the Expeditionists fortified inside the walls of their castle, the battle turned in the party's favor and Prince Zorimose was forced to call off his attack. He snatched his sister up, who commanded her minions to fight to the death - on pain of death - and made a retreat. The remaining salamanders, burning in the heat of battle, converged on the castle, but one by one were taken down until their morale or lives broke and they fled or perished.
When just one salamander remained, cornered by the few of the Expedition team who still stood and were not in dire need of healing, he surrendered. The R.E.C. accepted the surrender of the salamander named Magnius, and told him they would keep custody of him as a prisoner, for now. The wizards of the party were able to make contact with Brigadier DeMirrah and provide her the information that the fight was over, despite the reinforcements having been too far away to make it in time to help. In the end, every Expeditionist returned home safe.

Nasharahla and Zorimose's Lair (I)

23 of Lyus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
Over the next few weeks, the Commission took in the captured salamander named Magnius and interrogated him about his knowledge of the dragon Princelings. Believing his life was forfeit in the hands of his masters, and knowing no escape from the Redshift Zone on his own, Magnius cooperated. He provided the Commission with information on the Dragonking and the names of his seven children: Deimaer, Arturus, Vashda, Morioh, Nasharahla, Zorimose, and Ieth. He explained that the Dragonking thought himself a ruler of the Redshift Zone and took advantage of its hostile properties to claim and collect Vessoth's ancient treasures without contest.
However, he was not able to provide useful information on the whereabouts of the main lair or the other Princelings' forward outposts due to lacking the information, besides the location of Nasharahla and Zorimose's own forward outpost.
With Alvisstavver and Mr Sharp's help, the salamander was sent on his way back to the Holy Cradian Empire to what form of refuge could be found for him; his allegiance to the Dragonking was broken and he would surely never return. He also seemed to believe that the eldest Dragon Prince might be capable of scrying him, so it was deemed necessary to get him out of Commission territory as soon as possible.
Using the information he provided, the Expeditionists set out to find the forward outpost used by Nasharahla and Zorimose while they scoured Vessoth for treasure. Following Magnius' directions, they found a small fort spewing lava into a moat whose drawbridge remained raised, and before which writhed another salamander - possibly one of the salamanders who fled the duel.
The Expeditionists remained at their stakeout, a mile or so from this fort, for as long as they dared until the First Wave occurred. In all that time, the salamander remained put as well, and nothing else seemed to occur at the fort before they retreated.
Back at Orvis, Decus had struck on some inspiration thanks to Magnius' worries of being scried. While long-term scrying would be impossibly difficult, using the tools provided by the Obelisk network which already allowed communication over long distances granted Decus the ability to make a scrying "bug", a tiny, almost handheld obelisk that could not produce safety from the Redshift, but could connect to the communication network all the same.
He tasked the Expeditionists with delivering this to a safe and hidden location near the fort - if they could spy on the fort from safely afar, they could tell who comes and goes and where they might be going.
This task turned out to be a very easy one. When the Expeditionists arrived at the fort, the salamander remained before the raised drawbridge - they saw from afar that it had not moved, though seemed to have turned blue. By scaling the cliffs above the fort, they were able to place the device in a well-hidden crevice, and activate it where it would remain for a few weeks before needing to be retrieved. Until then, Decus and other Expeditionists could spy on the fort all day and night.

Shose

08 of Ahearnus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
With the bug in place, the only thing left to do was wait for something to occur, and fortify. The Commission spent several days building up additional fortifications around their most forward outpost at Arisa's tower, preparing for the inevitable attack by Nasharahla and Zorimose who knew well where it was.
Meanwhile, in the few wanes in the Redshift, the Expeditionists were still tasked with moving forward: as long as the dragons weren't harrrying them, progress must be made toward the center of the Redshift.
While in the mountains, Alvisstavver had noticed a strange glittering phenomenon to the north. It was decided that be the next place to investigate.
When the party arrived, they found a city - ruined. And above it stood a mile of some strange glint in the sky. By traveling around the city walls, approaching closer to the mountains that formed the valley this ruin sat between, they discovered that the city had been bisected almost perfectly by a seamless, flawless, hundreds-foot-high wall of glass. It cut north and south, up and down, and nearly five feet thick. Hammers and magic could not even scratch it, while it glittered in the sun all the same.
The party decided to enter the city to see what they could find, but stopped midway through their task when the sights and sounds of bustling life materialized around them. For a day, the city Shose had come back to life. On the main road, the party interrupted an argument between the adventurers: Holtzmann, Kieran, and Gakari. They were arguing with Holtzmann over stopping in Shose to help the Princess of Vessoth, who had fallen dangerously ill after her rescue in the Flower Sea some weeks ago. Holtzmann wished to hurry to Alsaines, and accused the Expeditionists of being aligned with some Marcato, but the party denied it and won over the trust of the black tabaxi by claiming friendship with Faris, who had also died at the Flower Sea.
Eventually, Kieran needled Holtzmann enough to convince him to join the team on their quest, and they set off to the mountains to harvest the rare white solacium flower, whose roots could be used to suppress Princess Cirres' symptoms. Up cliffs and across roaring streams, the party made their way to a peak following water to a spring, where the rare blooms supposedly thrived. To get to them, they had to slip past a nest of mating wyverns, but attracted their attention and were forced to fend them off - Kieran and Holtzmann knocking one to the river, while the Expeditionists slashed and stabbed the other.
And behind the nest indeed sat a bed of the needed plant, which they gathered in bulk. Hurrying back to Shose by the time night fell, the party watched Holtzmann deliver the material to King Erditus in person, before the landscape of the past began to disappear. Except for Kieran, who shouted out in surprise like he never had before. Standing amidst the ruins of Shose with the Expeditionists in the modern day, he was the last to vanish, and realized it.
In the moments they had left, they tried to explain the truth to him, and he only laughed in reply. He said he understood, and speaking to the Aces of the Redshift Expedtionary Commission, implored them one thing: to reach Ves. After he disappeared, the First Wave shook the earth, followed immediately by a second.

Nasharahla and Zorimose's Lair (II)

20 of Ahearnus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
There had been no signs of life at the Dragon Princelings' fortress in nearly a month. By spying on it through the "bug" day and night, it was determined that nobody had entered or left the building, or even moved around within it, in all this time. It was time to repeat the strategy used against Prince Morioh: using the information the salamander Magnius provided, raid the other Princelings' forward outpost and destroy the teleportation circle they used to access their turf in the Redshift Zone.
The R.E.C. quickly made their way to their destination in the waning of the Redshift, approaching from where they could retrieve the soon-expired bug. After grappling into the fortress from the northern cliffs, they found it empty - desolate. But it was not long before one of the Expeditionists tripped a magical trap, blasted with magical force.
Finding the danger of the well-guarded fortress, the expedition continued to seek out the primary goal, in addition to clearing out any traps possible. In the center of the fort was a great iron door behind which lay both a gigantic throne and the teleport circle of interest. But this chamber was guarded by some additional wards in the doorway.
In the fortress' basement was a bedroom obviously belonging to the draconic Princess, where piles of gold melted slag sat forgotten around her opulent bed. Flanking the room were two monuments generating supernatural amounts of lava which flowed up and out through the fortress' brass pipes, out into the moat outdoors. Expeditionist Alvisstavver deactivated one, but left the other for research.
Upstairs, Expeditionist Naia brought ruin to the stone floor which held the dragons' teleport circle, making it unusable. And in a secret compartment within the giant throne, a corrosive spike was found and collected to be brought back for examination.
With the main job done and confirmation that no sentries within the fortress remained, the Expeditionists decided to make their retreat to report the results.

Foggy Hills

07 of Ewus, 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
With the teleportation circle held by Nasharahla and Zorimose destroyed, the Commission breathed relief. If their encounters so far were any indication, any more of the Dragonking's kin were far away from them. They could take a step forward, closer to their ultimate goal, and spread their investigation even deeper into the Redshift Zone.
The Expeditionists in Mont'larin's team decided to take the paladin's suggestion and investigate north of the Shose ruins, to see if they could discover any useful information from up in the mountains or even a way beyond the great glass wall. In the meantime, Decus took a small team to Nasharahla's lair to clean it up.
On the long hike up the northern hills, a goblin stumbled upon the party's campsite. Ambergrene quickly woke Arineis, who could speak properly to the goblin, and they shortly discovered that she was ten days lost and very far off course from her home with the Giants Clan of goblins on the western edge of the Redshift Zone. The goblin, Trip, agreed to accompany the party till they returned to Fort Arisa where she could hopefully be escorted back home - and she stuck like glue to the goliath the whole way.
The northern exploration proved both fruitful and foreboding; the mountain range that cradled Shose evidently stretched both north and south, barring passage to the eastern Redshift Zone area for hundreds of miles. It would be risky for a small group to cross - and harder or impossible to build a supply line over it without some passway.
With valuable information in hand and recorded in detail by Expeditionist Alvisstavver, the party began their descent before the Redshift began. On their way, they noticed an unnatural sphere of fog down in the hills. They took to investigate, with Trip tagging along, and found the remains of some Vessian civilization. While there, walking nearly blind and tethered to each other for safety, they were beset by shifted beasts and even the fog itself seemed eager to drain their life.
They hurried along the ruined pathways while keeping close until they found a courtyard where a stone bird spewed fog into the sky. Magically mending the missing beak closed it, and seemed to seal the supernatural fog within the statue - over the next few hours, the air cleared and it was possible to see the sun and sky again. Nearby, Naia found a piece of grafitti carved by the dying hand of whoever might have lived in this place long ago. It spoke of the Redshift and of the heirloom hidden nearby, buried within one of the shifted buildings.
The mood was light as the party returned home. They spoke of how they might use the discovered ruin as a potential new fort, the treasure they had found, the progress made through the Zone as the First Wave struck them and then the so-familiar Redshift cloud bore down over them over the next few days, creeping soon over the Vessian mountain range.
But when they returned through the forests to Arisa's Tower, they found Expeditionist Mortier tending to a scarred and exhausted Decus, with Brigadier DeMirrah keeping watch. The wizard was alive, fortunately, and hardly worse for wear. He informed the party that they had - perhaps luckily - missed one of the traps lain in Nasharahla's and Zorimose's lair, and Decus had taken the full brunt of it when he triggered the precise conditions. It was certain, then, that whoever laid these traps had expected the Commission to enter, and though they were foiled, the now-useless lair would have to be off-limits for the R.E.C. lest they risk being scried upon. Decus even suggested that the same be true of Keep Ignis, the old lair of Morioh that had been in use for months.

Obelisk Cantum & the Unicorn Horn

27 of Ewus, 1220
Expeditionists: Arineis, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
While the Expeditionists at the front line had been dealing with Dragon Princes Nasharahla and Zorimose for the past several weeks, Captain Vantherxexiath's subteam of the R.E.C. had continued exploration eastward from the northwestern corner of ancient Vessoth. With the formation of a new fort around Obelisk Cantum, Mont'larin's team decided to venture northwest to this site to make a connection.
Navigation through the forest which gave way to a northern bog was speedy and, for the most part, uncharacteristically clear. Few signs of shifting and fewer indications that any of the Dragonking's kin had ever been in these parts were a cheerful sign - till a lone wyvern stalked the party from the sky for a day before being on its way. Nonetheless it was with ease that the team made their way to Obelisk Cantum and reunited with Expeditionists Shashret and Faliel, who were on the forward line while waiting for supplies from Obelisk Van. The team swapped stories with the duo and elected to remain at the newest Obelisk for the duration of the incoming Redshift and keep watch for any hostile wildlife.
When the Redshift waned, the party decided to make good on their current position while other Expeditionists ran supplies and set camp upon the recently-secured front line by exploring and securing the area directly surrounding Obelisk Cantum.
Traveling west, the party discovered a lake guarded by steep hills where the lands were calm and life abundant. Perhaps thanks to its great distance from the center of the Redshift Zone, things were almost as peaceful as mundane wilderness here. In this place, on the lake's shore, a unicorn sat imprisoned by its own horn, shifted into a thorny prison. Yet the divine beast was alive.
It spoke with the Expeditionists and asked them why and how they had come. It explained that in its time, after the Redshift began, it had continued to protect the site it was sworn to as it had done in the kingdom's prime. It had lost the long fight against the Redshift's effects much like the dryad Grandmother had done; albeit more severe. It had been imprisoned for a century, by its testimony.
For a while they lingered on the lakeside and shared understanding of the Redshift with the creature. The unicorn believed the Redshift to originate as an effect designed to protect Vessoth, to repel intruders, in its extreme way. It also believed the opposite might be possible: where the Obelisks created by the R.E.C. acted as a shield, perhaps there was some way to make a similar device to be used as a sword.
It was with this philosophy in mind that Mont'larin attempted to save the unicorn. If shifting is born out of a desire to repel or destroy intruders, then it may be possible to un-shift them with the appropriate force of will.
But it did not work. The unicorn's twisted horn creaked and cracked, but did not break, and the unicorn remained imprisoned.
The beast made its request: the theory they had concocted may indeed be plausible. But they currently were not able to achieve it. With no other opportunity for freedom in sight, the unicorn requested a mercy, to cleave its horn from body and take it back to the R.E.C. to be studied, while relieving the creature of its life in this realm.
Mont'larin eventually obliged and the short meeting ended in this way. A grave was made but the horn and its offshoots were kept - a perversion of the divine healing powers that normally imbue such an object. The party made way back to Cantum under the hope that the short-lived and unfortunate alliance with the unicorn would bear fruit in their search to overcome the Redshift storm.

The Isles Under Curse

01 of Malachus 1220
Expeditionists: Alvisstavver, Ambergrene, Mont'larin, Naia, Nimbus
The shifted unicorn's horn was returned to Orvis for study and experiment, under custodian of Decus and Arisa. While the two worked to see what power they could create out of this artifact, the Ace Expeditionists prepared to travel out from Obelisk Harpum and explore a chain of small islands discovered in the bay north of the Prism Sea.
On the sailboat manned by Expeditionist Rodyle, the team made time quick and safe to the first island, closest to the northern coastline: where they shortly discovered strange solid-ice shards that had impacted the beach. Wildlife worried around the unusual stuff, allowing Expeditionist Quillix to use her magic to glean information about the event from them. Wild boars who lived upon the island knew little, but were able to convey that the ice apparently impacted the previous night with a great rumble.
Further exploration, by circumnavigating the island, found that the southern waters roiled with a violence evoking a hurricane, despite clear skies all around. The source of both of these things unclear led the team to move on to the next isle.
The second was smaller, but steep and rocky unlike the first wooded land. A short hike found the party near the highest point, where they discovered an ominous portal, grotesque visceral vines, more chunks of ice impacts, and a trio of apelike fiends. Taking the advantage on initiative, Expeditionist Lodevein struck hard and fast and the rest of the team was able to blast the lot into sticky ichor.
Investigation of the portal found that it led somewhere extraplanar. Dark clouds over dark sand deep in a gravelly pit were all watched by the apparent source of the vines covered in eyeballs, a single gigantic sphere where they all connected. The huge eye was aware enough to watch Expeditionist Gro:ntassle closely, as he was the first willing to investigate, and was eager to find some use for it. But the team agreed to cut the portal at its source and managed to destabilize it so that it collapsed. The rogue was able to collect some "fruits" from the thing before it was sealed off from the material plane.
Investigating the ice found them to be much the same as the previous island: a strange recurring object. Melting in the summer heat, it was clear they had not been here for long.
After taking the chance to camp and rest and watch the unusually-stormy sea, Expeditionist Mont'larin struck on the idea that this area might be near the sunken city Kholis, according to the old Vessoth map the R.E.C. had obtained some time ago. They decided to dive under the churning sea with waterbreathing magic, and find what they could: on this trek, they found an ancient pillar long-submerged whose writing seemed to confirm the hypothesis. They also took note of a massive serpentine creature that seemed able to generate spears of ice to hunt.
Deep underwater, risking discovery by an apparent sea monster, and with promise of the Redshift surely to begin soon, the party elected to retreat for now and report on their findings back home.
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A week later, the party returned to the islands with Rodyle to explore them further. They found little on the surface, the tiny islands - or perhaps what had once been hilltops - lonely and home to merely seagulls. Scraps, barely ruins, of what civilization might have been here was all that remained. Expeditionist Naia took to her habit of speaking with the local fauna, and learned from one of the gulls that the fish-like creature haunting the uneasy waters seemed to be a new arrival in the area - as recent as a few weeks ago. And it may even have an appetite for birds.
The expedition was not a waste, thanks to this information and the expanded coverage of Expeditionist Gro:ntassle's maps, so the party retreated while they had time to spare and hurried back to Orvis to meet Decus and discover what work he had managed to perform with the unicorn horn.