Hollow Isle

Recently discovered in the middle of a yet unnamed pond, Hollow Isle appeared to be just an average mound shaped piece of land. When a group of cartographers landed to map the area they discovered that the center of the island had a large cylinder hollowed out of it with a stair way the spiraled down. Further investigation revealed that  all along the edge of the stairway at even intervals where small rooms each all nearly identical.  The construction of the vertical shaft seemed to have been painstakingly dug by hand an descended well below the water level. Every 30 feet or so a stone platform would create a partial floor to the shaft each showing signs of a common area some with a large fire pit. The cartography team exploring the abandoned settlement meticulously documented their findings. The stairs abruptly ended  part way into the rock as if whoever was working on it had simply stopped working for the day and left with the intention of coming back but never had. On the very last step they found a faded message in a language none of them recognized naturally they copied it down to show others when they got back.  They then proceeded to search each and everyone of the cell like rooms hoping to find any clue as to what had happened, who had lived here, and why they had left but in the end they came up empty handed except for the note.

After finishing the job they had been hired for they took the paper back to a linguistic expert only to find out after significant research that the ancient language the message was not ancient or a language at all. It was modern stenographic short hand that read " Upon your imminent return continue digging." Needles to say the contents of the message was just as confusing as the location it was found in. Why had it been left there? Who had written it? Who was it for? What was the purpose of the structure? Who had inhabited it? All these questions remain, the Hollow Isle settlement remains a mystery.

Type

Hamlet