9th Letter Home
General Summary
Mother, this letter might contain a surprise. Does contain a surprise. It would appear that things are not as they seem. Or seemed.
But perhaps you knew that? Guessed?
I shall explain.
We made our way to the mage school, which is a giant tower resting on its side. Most of it is underwater, so the Sylvans were unable to get to it, try as they might. Alyona got potions from the Lightkeepers that allow us to breath under water. We're unable to get into the book we stole, and we made copies of the map. So we decided to give the map to the Lightkeepers, and to see if they could open and decode the book. And we decided that the sooner we got those things to them, the better. We also knew we wanted to explore the submerged tower, as we were quite certain that the Sylvans had yet to try. So while Alyona was there dropping off the book and map, she acquired the potions.
The rest of the party quaffed the potions with little hesitation, but being underwater is even less desirable than being under ground. I was really not looking forward to it, but I drank the potion and headed under.
It was extremely uncomfortable, and mentally exhausting, my brain constantly pushing me into panic mode. I did not enjoy it at all.
Though swimming under there was actually much like flying. Just like flying. It was pretty much flying, but slow. I couldn't move as fast, but if I stopped "flying" I didn't drop fast either. I did get used to it.
And slowly my anxiety ebbed.
Past the entryway, with me “flying” just above the floor, we began to enter the 2nd story, which is now a room because the tower is on its side. As we looked into the room, I heard the grandfather Drow behind me shriek in terror. I turned to see a large group of bones assembling from the muck and climbing his leg!
I immediately engaged, hacking at the disassembled menage of random bones. I dealt a significant amount of damage, chipping and cracking some of the bones. Alyona bashed the bones, also dealing significant pain, assuming it can feel pain. As we all pummeled the batch of bones, the ‘Baxi moved up into the next room, alone. And found another of the messes of bone.
The youngster and I smashed the remainder of the bones off of her grandfather and turned to help the ‘Baxi. I “flew” over the team to get next to the bones attacking the ‘Baxi, who had already retreated from its grasp. Again the granddaughter and I began to pummel the thing.
We finally destroyed the 2nd bony conglomeration, and headed farther in to the tower.
We found some classrooms, which we ignored, and headed into more interesting areas. And interesting we certainly found. Part of the tower was not flooded! It was a little sealed bubble of extremely stale air, trapped within the submerged building.
It felt good to be out of the water.
In a room marked Library we spotted an apparition. It seemed preoccupied, and not threatening in the least, mumbling in an ancient Sylvan dialect. Baermak was able to approximate the dialect and converse with it. He spoke for a bit and the apparition headed off, Baermak following along. So we followed too.
Turns out the ghost is…was... a student, about to present his thesis. We pretended to be his thesis committee. He asked for introductions, and I felt my heart rise in my throat, but successfully convinced the young man…young. Convinced him that I was a professor of natural magics.
The really odd thing is that when the spirit spoke to me, I understood it; it was not speaking Sylvan. And it understood my questions and answers, though I spoke no Sylvan.
He started explaining to us his research into chimera and using life coding to add capabilities and limit things, primarily lifespans and reproductive capacity. He mentioned research into human-animal hybrid chimera, and we then asked about the focus of those experiments.
I knew why I asked the question. I somehow expected the answer, but also did not. I wanted the answer, but did not want to hear it. I did absolutely not want to know, but I could not resist asking.
Because the answer would change everything.
A key focus of their research on human-animal chimera is on avians.
These chimera would have limited lifespans, and be unable to naturally reproduce. They could thus be sold, but their owners would need to replenish their stock, as the purchased beings would be unable to create new life, and wouldn't live long. It was as if you sold somebody a seed for a plant, but the plant that grew would be sterile.
And those chimera; they're slaves.
Slaves with limited lifespans.
I asked about technologies to reverse life code limitations on aging and reproduction, and he said that advanced magics could be used to reverse both. But that customers would be far more likely to simply purchase additional chimera instead of expending expensive resources for something far easier to acquire.
We told him that his presentation was most excellent, and that we would most certainly recommend graduation, after which the apparition smiled happily and faded to mist.
My head spun.
The team searched the area, and found an empty room. I simply followed.
Slaves.
Another room was locked, the lock being almost frozen shut with time. The ‘Baxi was able to work it open, but as we opened it a floating eyeball with additional eyes on stalks appeared from down the unexplored corridor.
It immediately zapped Baermak and the granddaughter with rays from its eyes. The party closed with it, raining blows on it, and I snapped out of my reverie to drew down on the huge eyeball. But before I could attack it, the thing panicked and ran.
I charged forward, but it was gone. I readied my fabulous new bow in case it popped out for a peek, but a different one popped out instead.
Not being particularly picky about which one I should shoot, I shot. I hit it right in the eye and it shrieked in surprise and pain. Two of its eye stalks zapped at me, and, dodging one, I stepped into the path of the other.
And froze. Every muscle tensed. Unable to move. Unable to react. Unable to do anything but ponder my inability to do anything.
Baermak immediately ran to my side and cured my paralysis, so I ran forward again, trying to close with the creatures. That’s when the elder Drow, Vessyr, turned and swung his huge hammer at me. Startled, I ducked back, watching the hammer swish by my face and slam into the wall. Then Alyona turned and swung her staff at her grandfather, I assume to protect me. She also missed, and he looked at me apologetically.
I ignored him for the moment, and ran into the hallway, looking for that original creature. I found it and put an arrow right through its enormous head. By the time I turned to engage the second beast, Vessyr had already dispatched it.
We decided to rest and recuperate in the office that the ‘Baxi had opened. While we battled, she had plundered, finding ancient coins, broken crystals, and a strange metal puzzle.
I sat in a corner and tried to understand.
They had used magics and experimentation to ... to create us? We descend from slaves, sold as products, and designed to fail early, unable to experience the joys of fatherhood, motherhood...childhood?
We're products, with obsolescence baked into our beings?
The Sylvans did this?
Alyona explored further under water while we rested, and found another teleporter room. We decided to use our 2nd breathing potion so we could expand our exploration. We arrived at the teleporter room and there were two additional rooms on the way in. I was uncomfortable going in to the main room leaving the rooms behind us unexplored, so we checked out the first room, which was empty.
On our way to the second room a strange...thickness in the water appeared. It was like thicker water inside the water, keeping its shape and moving as an organism. An organism that was attacking us, so I immediately engaged it. With the amount of damage I did with my short swords, it knew I was the primary threat, so focused its attention on me.
And its attention was quite devastating.
After a single blow, I knew I could not withstand another, so stepped back to allow my comrades to take up the close quarters fight. I sheathed my swords and drew my bow, aiming directly at the watery fiend.
But Baermak healed me, so I dropped my bow and drew my swords, closing the distance by floating above my team.
That’s when Vessyr lit up the strange creature with a fabulous glow, making him a most excellent target. Such an excellent target that I now had to decide whether to resheath the swords and retrieve my bow. The bow would do more damage, as I’m much more likely to hit a brightly glowing target…
So I did. I simply dropped the swords, and I heard them hit the bottom with a muted thunk. And I drew my bow.
The bow was much more effective than the swords, and I could see the liquid swirl and discolor where my strikes hit. I (and the rest of the group) rained blow after blow, arrow after arrow, on the strange watery fiend until the ‘Baxi finally landed the killing blow and it dissipated into the surrounding water as if it was never really there.
After we recovered a bit, we opened that second room, which was full of broken glass. We found one unbroken vial of red powder and a pendant that somehow had not decayed.
We then headed into the teleportation room and found an additional cryptoporter (which, when we removed it, stopped the flow of water)! This would make the lightkeepers quite happy, and earn us quite a reward.
Though no amount of gold can match the knowledge I have gained.
The book turned out to be a journal. It discussed mostly their battles with the undead and their various challenges excavating the ruins. They will be quite displeased to learn that we have beat them to the tower, and that they missed a cryptoporter.
The journal mentions their lack of a cryptoporter, making our find even more delicious.
We also learned that Baermak's old employer was also interested in the area, and was exploring. She came in conflict with these Sylvans, and they apparently dispatched her with the help of Shadow Knights. She might have the key to the Engineering school, so we shall likely head there next.
It also mentions...me. They call us "Dreg-Feredir", which is what I heard them shouting as they pointed at me and focused fire. They have been watching me since I arrived. They don't realize that all of their sightings are of the same person; they think there are at least 2 of us here. But however many they think there are, they are watching for me. And for some reason, that knowledge makes me miss home even more.
Add that to the knowledge that the Sylvans engineered us. They made us as a product to be sold; disposable. Quickly expended. Replaced. Short lived.
Sterile.
The Skymother didn't create us. She freed us!
She gathered us, freed us from slavery, used her magic to grace our eggs with fertility, gave us as many more years as she could.
Is this the final war she told us to prepare for? Am I the tip of her spear?
You may have guessed at this knowledge; you may have known. But why send me? I feel I am not up to the task. The knowledge weighs heavily on my shoulders, burdening my wings. My feathers are made of lead. I am a vessel unworthy of carrying this knowledge.
I lack the sharpness to be the spear's tip. I fear I cannot do what needs to be done.
Report Date
09 Apr 2022