The Old Radio Tower

Chapter 1: “See? What did I tell ya?” said Arena, a gnome wearing heavy brown robes with almost sheep like hair and ears, as she stepped out of the dense jungle and into the clearing. “My divination magic was bound to work eventually! And there you have it, one bonafide old world ruin!” She skipped forward, almost tripping over her comically oversized boots as she approached the dilapidated ancient stone tower as her two companions struggled to free themselves from the thick underbrush.
Ezekiel, a dwarven technomancer chuckled at his young companion’s antics and in a deep baritone voiced called after her, “It took you long enough to lead us here lass. And given how many side trips we made, I wouldn’t be surprised if we just stumbled upon this place by accident.” He ran his practiced eye over the structure. “Well, at least the place doesn’t look like it’s been looted yet, so I guess we may have that going for us yet.”
Arena took a quick hop up and onto a boulder and stuck out both her arms to balance herself, before quickly spinning in place to face her companions. “So, what do you have to say about it Jeddah? Aren’t you impressed with my ability to lead you here?”
The third member of the party, a man with a shaved head and cold blue skin and striking red eyes stared at Arena for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, “Listen kid, I only care about your magic if your magic can turn us a profit. Which, if I may remind you, has not happened yet.” His voice a raspy croon, like a glacier grinding against the earth.
“Oh, what Heretics to the power of the might of the King of Clockwork” sighed Arena as she clasped her hands together, “what a great test you have put before me oh lord. . . Welp, what are we waiting for? Lets crack this sucker open and see what we can get!” Her mood rapidly shifting between quite introspection back to her usual overbearing self.
“Yeah yeah” grumbled Ezekiel as he approached the heavy metal door of the tower. “hmmm. . . still appears to be sealed. . .” Ezekiel reached down to his belt and pulled out a small knife with a retractable blade and quickly shaved off a bit of the top layer of the heavy door into a fine dust that landed in his outstreatched palm. Licking up the shavings Ezekiel rolled them around in his mouth for a moment, seeming to savor and relish the flavor.
“Iron. . . Carbon. . . and maybe a trace amount of tin. . . A few acid charges should do the trick without causing any possible structural damage.” The dwarf quickly set about detaching several devices from his belt and placed them at both the top and the bottom of the metal door.
“So Ezekiel, what makes acid the right choice for these doors?” Chirped Arena, closely watching as the dwarf went about his business.
A twinkle came into Ezekiel’s eyes at these words, as he almost seemed to relish the chance to answer a question, “well, as you can see, this building is old, so using explosive charges could damage the structure of the place, and a bunch of loot buried under a bunch of tower wouldn’t do any of us any good at all, and since this door is light and made of common metals, my acid charges should do the trick without damaging the foundation!”
Jeddah rolled his eyes, “ugh, just finish up with charges already. I don’t need an explanation. Arena, let the dwarf do his job already” an edge of irritation creeping into his voice.
“Relax Jeddah, the charges are set.” Chuckled Ezekiel stepping back from the door and pulling out his detonator, “three, two, one. . .” a loud hissing filled the air. After a minute, the metal door fell out of the wall with a loud clang, faint wisps of smoke rising from where the charges had been placed.
“Alright Jeddah, your turn!” chirped Arena, giving her companion two thumbs up, “you rock this party!”
Jeddah grunted, unhooking his rifle from its harness raising it to his shoulder before rushing past the still smoldering door, disappearing into the darkness. After a few moments he called out to his companions, “Ground floor clear, nothing much down here though, just some stairs leading up.”
The other two adventurers worked their way through the doorway and into the tower, finding themselves in a small, dusty room. Jeddah was already looking through an old cardboard box at the foot of the rusted metal steps leading upwards towards the top of the tower.
“Find anything interesting?” Chirped Arena as she skipped over to Jeddah’s side to peer into the old box.
“Looks like some of those old world recording device things” Said Jeddah, pulling out a small translucent plastic wheel with black tape spooled in the middle. “Hey Ezekiel,” he said, tossing the tape to the Dwarf, “does it look intact enough for us to be able to sell it to any pre-war eggheads?”
Examining the spool, Ezekiel shook his head, “looks like this lower level must’ve flooded at some point, there are clear signs of water damage on this thing. We might be able to get a small handful of G from a museum in the Empire, but hardly worth to lug out of here.”
Jeddah let out a sigh, “Hey, Arena, can you actually try to be useful for once and see if you can get an arcane reading on this place? I don’t want to be surprised by any pre-war spirits or some automated defense system once we start heading up.”
With a huge grin on her face Arena snapped a quick salute, “on it chief! Gimme some space you guys!” The gnome began humming to herself making wild motions with her hands. Across the floor of the tower a grid of blue light suddenly appeared and began to slowly move upwards, enveloping the stairs before disappearing from view through the ceiling above.
Arena stood there for a few moments longer continuing to hum and to move her arms about methodically while her eyes remained shut tight. Then her eyes popped back open and she turned to her companions, a huge grin on her face, “No sign of spectral activity chief! But your gonna love this, the tower?” She said waving her arms around, gesturing to the building surrounding them, “its still live! The power generator unit upstairs? Its still going!”
Jeddah stared at Arena for a brief moment before for the first time all trip, a smile passed his lips, though he tried to stifle it. “huh, sounds like we may actually be the first ones here. Now we still better. . .”
He was interrupted by Arena suddenly sprinting up the stairs, “Race you to the top!” She called down at them.
“keep and eye out!” Ezekiel called out at his energetic companion before looking at Jeddah. “Well, she keeps things interesting at least.” He chuckled.
Jeddah grunted in response, not making any effort to disguise his annoyance before he slowly started making his way up the long set of stairs leading to the top of the tower. After a few minutes of stomping up the old metal stairs, the three adventurers found themselves standing on a landing with a small ladder leading up into the top room of the tower.
“Took you two long enough!” teased Arena, bouncing from foot to foot, “who wants dibs on checking out the big room first?” before either companion could answer, Arena shouted, “Dibs! Too late!” and bounded up the ladder.
“Slow down Arena!” called Ezekiel after her, “we still don’t know what this place was used for! For gods sake. . .” he muttered, before climbing after her, the old metal stairs creaking under their weight.  

Chapter 2:
Arena braced her shoulder against the old and rusted metal trapdoor separating the stairway from the room above.
“Hrrrrng!” Arena grunted as she strained against the old hinges and bulk of the door.
“Wait up lass, I’m sure we can get it open if you wait up for us!” Ezekiel called out towards his diminutive companion.
“no no, I got it! Don’t worry guys!” Arena tapped a few keys on a keyboard built into her right gauntlet and a radiant light sparkled from her palms. She gently pressed her fingers into the trapdoor, while mumbling a brief prayer. The rust on the hinges suddenly crumbled away into dust, returning the door to a near mint condition.
Arena smiled down at her companions who had finally caught up with her, “see? Told you I got it!” Before ascending the last few steps.
The room was small. A console covered in blinking lights sat in the center of the room, a series of blinking lights flashing across its face. A headset, old, dirty, and dusty hanging by a cable connected the console sat on the floor. Two metal towers stood against the back wall, a series of tapes slowly spinning within their casings. Within the back wall were too doors, one leading to a small lavatory, a simple sink and a commode, and through the other, a room with a simple, long since rotted away mattress, now little more than a pile of rusted springs. Every wall was a window. From floor to ceiling, slightly angled, allowing for one to more easily look down and into the jungle below.
Arena let out a low whistle as she surveyed the room, “I think I read about these while at the academy. . . This is a radio tower yeah?” She turned expectantly towards Ezekiel
“Looks like it, never seen one in this good of condition though” replied Ezekiel, glancing around.
“Alright” interjected Jeddah, “Lets get stripping this place down. This much still functioning old world tech will make us a fortune.” He unclipped a device from his belt and threw it onto the sun bleached carpet with a loud thunk. “my portable pocket is set up, we’ll fill that up before we’ll start carrying any of it by hand.
Arena, who was digging through some old drawers beneath the radio console, suddenly let out an excited squeak, “Hey guys! I found an old data entry thingy!” she fiddled with small glass device for a few moments, its screen suddenly flashing to life, “and it still works!”
“Anything interesting? On it?” asked Ezekiel as he held a headset attached to the central terminal up to his ear, his face suddenly filled with shock, “This place is still broadcasting too!”
Jeddah suddenly paused his work, “a fully functioning, still powered old world radio station. . . think we should start making notes on everything in this place? Ya know, make sure we know exactly how to set this stuff back up once we move it out of here. Some eggheads would probably pay extra for schematics of how this place is set up.”
Ezekiel chuckled before pulling out notebook, “I’ll be expecting an extra cut for this. Hey, Arena, read out what you find on that data recorder, hopefully its something interesting and will make this job a bit faster.”
“Right on it chief!” Arena flashed another salute before opening the first entry on the recording device.
Log Entry 1:
Day 1: So. . . got a new job. After what I pulled in college, I was lucky to get something even this good. I’ll be overseeing WKR2 radio. I bought this recording device with pretty much the last of the money I was able to talk out of the family. Figured having something to write on would help pass the time. Basically, I’m the only person who’s gonna be out here until the radio station can find someone else to help share the load with me. But that’s perfectly fine. I needed some time away from people anyway so I figure this should work just fine. The job description is simple enough, all I do is make sure the music never stops playing, answer phone calls, play a few clips for whatever sponsor is dumb enough to actually pay for adds on this station, and another few odds and ends like making an emergency broadcast in the case fog rolls in, and to never delete any phone records. Those last two had me a little confused, but I figure whatever. I’m not paid to ask questions.
The first thing I will say about this job is it is boring. When I was told I would have to take calls, I expected it to be a thing that would actually happen, but its all been quiet up here. Too quiet. My brain must not be used to this much silence, I just keep hearing things. Footsteps on the stairs below, indistinct mumbling coming from the back rooms. I’ll ask my boss when he calls tomorrow to provide me with the certification that this place has passed its spectral test. Working in a haunted radio tower is not my idea of a good time.
Day 2: The boss said he’d try looking for the certification, but he assured me that it was up to date, and he even had the place checked for curses and demonsign. I’ll believe it when I see it. As it stands, this place is just weird. Today one of the songs I played lasted for almost two hours. I’m not saying it just looped for two hours, I mean, it seamlessly repeated itself for two hours. Eventually I worked up the courage to quickly swap out the tape for something else and that seemed to fix things. But shortly after that I got my first call. “Hello! Thank you for calling WKR2! Now what are you calling about today!” I said doing my best to sound cheerful. Whoever was on the other end only said one word in response, “Thanks.” Before hanging up. Guess they didn’t like the song.
Day 3: Well, either this place is haunted, I’m just going nuts, or this place had the worst electrician this side of the wuld. So my dispatch board? The one I use to transmit and control what music I’m playing, switch sound channels and the like? Well, Its clearly intended to have two DJs operating it at any time since they have two headsets hooked up to it. Naturally I only use one of them and I keep the other set muted at all times, but today when I decided to take a quick walk around the office I thought I heard something coming out of the second set. Confused and honestly kinda curious I slipped on the second headset and sure enough, it was some guy on the other end. He was saying all sorts of weird things, like how the trees were wonderful this time of year, and how much he enjoys walking in the jungle. I turned on my mic to see if I could respond to him in any way but got no response. Maybe somehow my rig started picking up some signals from a phone or something? But as I continued to listen, the weirder things got. . . The man started sounding kinda, I don’t know. . . panicked? He started saying stuff about how he didn’t recognize where in the jungle he was and how the path he usually follows just wasn’t there anymore. The whole thing was getting too weird and I needed to get back to work announcing song changes and stuff so I just unplugged the second headset. That seemed to work. I’ll have to ask around, find out if this is something radio towers can pick up sometimes.
Day 4: Well, no news on the certification yet, but I did meet our delivery man today. Apparently one of the reasons I was hired over anyone else is because of my species inability to eat or drink. But he still brought me some cleaning supplies the boss had sent over so I could polish things up when I wasn’t announcing things or changing tapes. I’m already here 24/7 so I guess he figures I can be the maintenance person as well. Wonderful. The headset ghost was gone today thankfully, but instead I got something else. Rodents. This time I was woken up by the sound of something in the walls just skittering around and tearing through things. Ok, not something, lots of somethings. How long have these things been here? It sounds like there are dozens of them so I couldn’t have missed them that much! I’m also not seeing any usual signs of rodent infestation, so I’m not sure if they do all their business in the walls and the rafters? Ok, new update, definitely rodents. While I was introducing a song, one of them ran across my foot. I screamed right into the microphone broadcasting to the entire district. The thing was big with grey fur and looked like it was diseased or something. I only saw it for a second but it looked like it was missing patches of fur and was covered in boils. Now I need to ask my boss about getting an exterminator up here cuz having a bunch of vermin chew through my clothing is not something I want.
Day 5: Got the certification today. This building is guaranteed 100% ghost free so that’s a relief, I wanted to ask the boss about the rats but he seemed pretty miffed at having to track down the certification so I thought better of things. But today I ran into a new problem. The fog rolled in. I was kicked back in my chair just listening to whatever it was on the radio at the time when I noticed the fog coming in when the light in the room visibly dimmed. Now, I’ve seen fog before, but this, this was something different. The heavy grey mist was rolling down through the jungle valley, it was a rapid roll, it almost looked like a liquid cloud oozing through and around the trees. I quickly sat up, turned off the music and opened the radio channel “Hello, this is WKR2 with an emergency fog warning, I repeat, this is an emergency fog warning. Please go into your homes and lock the doors and wait for the clear sound. Do not open your doors or windows for any reason. Stay safe.” I read off the script, seemed a little paranoid to me but whatever. By the time I finished my message, the fog had completely consumed the jungle below and had enveloped the base of the tower. As far as I could see, my little observatory was sitting alone above a sea of gray. Then I heard *it* it was like a pained scream reverberating throughout the jungle as the trees swayed back and forth in utter turmoil, the fog shook and billowed below me, as if something was tearing through it with tremendous speed. The fog suddenly billowed upwards, wrapping around my observatory cutting my vision off even shorter. I then remembered the first rule of this station, never let the music stop unless it’s for commercials or calls. Still watching the fog swirl around the windows I flicked the switch to get the music playing again and the fog slowly subsided, inching away from my windows while still pooling around the base of the tower. A few hours later the fog slowly slithered its way back up the valley and disappeared. I’m not sure what was up with that fog, but I do not want to be caught it in. Another thing, delivery guy must’ve left the tower door ajar when he dropped off the supplies this yesterday too, and that fog must be surprisingly dense cuz the door was open and the cardboard box he left down there was soaked. Hope the boss doesn’t mind having to pay for some extra tapes for the phone recorder.  
Chapter 3: “That’s the end of log one. . .” mumbled Arena, “what do you suppose was going on there chief? I thought the old world wasn’t supposed to have any freaky stuff like this.” She tilted her head quizzically.
Ezekiel was buried up to his chest inside the broadcasting control terminal, doing his best to examine its inner workings. “hmm, nothing I’ve read of old world history books would imply anything like that happening.” He pushed himself out from underneath the terminal, dusting off his leather jacket while standing up. “But this does raise entirely too many questions for me to feel entirely comfortable continuing digging this place up.”
Hey, Jeddah!” Ezekiel called, “hold up on taking scrap from the bathroom, I think we should investigate this place more first.”
The chythist man stepped out of the radio tower’s small restroom, his signature scowl even deeper than usual as his blood red eyes flickered in irritation, “You’re not gonna let some spooky tale from over five hundred years ago get in the way of the biggest payday any of us have ever seen are you?”
“I haven’t lived this long in this industry by ignoring potential warning signs sonny” grumbled Ezekiel. “Now you sit your ass down until – “
He was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a scream.
Both Jeddah and Ezekiel’s heads snapped towards Arena who had a shocked look on her face.
“What the hell?” growled Jeddah, letting anger trickle into his voice,
“Are you ok lass?” called out Ezekiel,
Arena still with a look of surprise turned towards her companions, “s-sorry” she half giggled, a bit of a sheepish smile spreading across her face, “A rat just ran across the room while you two were talking, I was surprised is all.”
The moment passed, Arena seemed to regain her composure, “Hope I didn’t give you two too much excitement for the day!” She said cheerfully, sticking her tongue out while striking an impish pose.”
“Blasted Gnomes” muttered Jeddah. “If we’re going to make this a more long term op, whats the plan? We have shelter in this tower, but we blasted the door off. That’s not going to offer too much protection”
Ezekiel stroked his beard as he thought, “Right, the first job is to secure this tower. I’ll get working on an improvised locking mechanism for the trapdoor, that means. . .”
“yeah yeah,” interrupted Jeddah, scowling in distaste, “Arena and I will secure the perimeter . . .
“. . . and I’ll set up light traps!” Arena chimed in, seemingly oblivious for her teammates distaste. Arena struck an energetic pose with one hand on her hip and the other pointed into the air, “right on chief! We’ll get starting right away!”
“Remember, this is a deep jungle run” cautioned Ezekiel “Keep line of sight on your partner at all times, the gods know what’s lurking out here. Especially since this place had something weird going on before everything turned to hell. I don’t want either of you to take any chances you don’t have to.”   Chapter 4: Outside the old radio tower, Arena and Jeddah found themselves standing in the heavy underbrush of the jungle.
“All right!” proclaimed Arena, placing both her hands on her hips, “The old man gave us a job to do so lets do it to the best of our ability!” With a flourish, the young gnome pulled several small cube shaped crystals from a pouch inside her robe. “Cover me Jeddah, I’m going in!”
And with that, Arena launched herself into the air, crashing face first into a patch of ferns. A moment later, the jungle was lit up with a pulse of blue light and Arena pulled herself out of the undergrowth.
“There we go! One light trap set, five more perimeter points to go!”
“Must you always?” growled Jeddah, as he stomped through the dense foliage following Arena as she skipped to the next point.
“Must I always what?” Queried Arena as she planted another of the crystal cubes in the dirt, this one also flashing briefly before going dark again.
“Must you always make such a racket?” the man spat, his red eyes sparking in the growing darkness.
Arena shot her companion a confused look as she pushed her way through the dense underbrush. “I’m just making conversation. . .” She muttered, a sly smile growing upon her lips, “Don’t they teach you what conversation is in the northern regions?”
Seemingly even more annoyed at her verbal jab, Jeddah’s face grew even darker, “Of course, but we also learn that we need to shut our mouths every so often. A lesson you seem to have forgotten!”
Arena giggled at her companion’s clear irritation. “maybe I did!” She said looking over her shoulder while sticking out her tongue and winking playfully. “There we go, three down, two to go!” Arena called out cheerfully.
The duo had already managed to walk almost completely around the radio tower, planting the small crystal devises at regular intervals from each other.
“Okay! Lets finish this job an – “
Arena never got to finish her sentence. A shadowy form suddenly came bursting out from the underbrush, releasing a shrieking wail as it dashed towards Arena, a look of shock and terror flickering across her face.
Reacting as quickly as his hunter’s instincts would let him, Jeddah fluidly raised his rifle to his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The woods echoed with a loud explosion as a bolt of electricity burst forth from the muzzle of his fire arm. With precise movements Jeddah ejected the spent casing from his rifle and fed another round into the chamber. The howling shape was briefly visible in the momentary flash of light.
A mass of what appeared to be gnarled roots and stems pushed itself forward with unnatural speed, a thick black ichor dripped from the point where Jeddah’s attack had struck, but it showed no sign of slowing down.
“Get down!” snarled Jeddah, as he raised his rifle back up to his shoulder for a second shot, the blazing burst of electricity lancing out and striking the creature once again.
Arena threw herself to the ground, covering her head and ears, barely avoiding the ghastly creature’s assault as it rushed past her before veering off and screaming off into the distance, disappearing into the dark of the jungle.
“See? This is why you need to keep quiet” growled Jeddah, reloading his rifle as Arena pulled herself back to her feet.
Arena peered into the darkness of the surrounding undergrowth. Everything was eerily quiet. “We’d best plant the last two crystals then” she said, her ears rotating upon her head as if they were searching for a far off sound. “If my talking was enough to attract one of whatever that thing was, your rifle may attract the entire family.”
Ezekiel scowled. Sweat beaded on his brow. “Come on laddie, we can do this, just a little more. . .” And with a grunt the dwarf pushed the last piece of metal into place before stepping back and admiring his handiwork.
Where once a simple wooden trap door had been now sat a gate enforced with sculpted steel plates and rivets complete with a simple sliding lock.
Stepping back to admire his handiwork, Ezekiel frowned, “Blast it all, this will hardly hold anything back, I wish I had more time and materials to work with. . .”
The Dwarf was suddenly raised from his reflection by the sound of fists banging against the other side of the trap door followed by the panicked voices of Arena and Jeddah.
Ezekiel lurched forward, undoing the lock on the door and pulled it open.
At the top of the rickety stairs stood Jeddah, his rifle at the ready, Arena slung over his shoulder with her hands outstretched behind them. The interior of the staircase was a mess of writhing root like tendrils, flashing eyes, and foaming snapping mouths being held back by an intricate lattice of golden light extending from Arena’s fingertips.
“Out of the way” growled Jeddah as he pushed past Ezekiel and into the radio control room. As soon as they entered, Ezekiel slammed the improvised gate shut and Arena pressed her hands against it, the golden light from her hands seeming to strengthen the rickety door.
Gritting her teeth Arena called out to her companions, ‘My gauntlet. . ‘ The trapdoor shook, throwing her off for a brief moment. ‘Someone, take my gauntlet.’ She took the sleeve of her robe into her mouth, pulling it away from arm, revealing a glove with a built in keyboard and a small display.
Ezekiel rushed to Arena’s side, ‘What do you need me to do?’
Through clenched teeth and her robe Arena mumbled, ‘Press the keys, C-9-7-B-3-1-5 in that order’
Ezekiel mumbled to himself, ‘C . . . 9 . . . 7 . . . B . . . T . .’
“Not T!” Snapped Arena, still holding her robe in her mouth as another concussive force almost threw her from the door, ‘Three! And Hurry!’
“3 . . . 1 . . . and 5!”
Suddenly thee points of light shone upwards from the jungle, visible from the wide glass window framing the front and sides of the control room. “Defense barrier activated!” Shouted Arena.
The rocking and crashing sounds of the horrific monsters suddenly stopped and the sounds of them tearing down the stairs took their place.
Arena slumped back away from the trap door, breathing hard. “That. . . that was too close. .”
“What the hell was that?” asked Ezekiel, his face grim.
A foul look upon his stern features, Jeddah sneered, ‘Arena couldn’t keep her damn mouth shut and ended up attracting all those things. We’re lucky we were able to set up the defense perimeter before they started swarming.’
Shakily Arena rose to her feet, ‘maybe if you didn’t start shooting at them they wouldn’t have swarmed!’
‘But if I hadn’t shot them they would have eaten you!’
‘Enough!’ Shouted Ezekiel, stepping between his companions. ‘Jeddah’s right, we don’t know whats going on out here, best to try to keep quite while out in the Jungle from now on. You two got lucky it seems to me.”
“Yes boss, understood boss.” Said Arena, somewhat sheepishly, her bravado draining away. “So. . . where do we go for now? The suns almost completely out and even I know not to travel after darkfall. . . We’ll be stuck here at least another 12 hours. . Shall I get started on log entry two ta help pass the time?”
Arena looked expectantly at Ezekiel who ran his hand over his beard in contemplation. “get started on that next log. Maybe it will shed more light on what’s going on here and how we should proceed.”
“I’ll prep the mess kit, see if I can make us something in the meantime.” Jeddah’s anger from before seemed to burn away as he pulled open his backpack and began taking out a variety of provisions and a small stove and pot.
Log Entry 2:
Day 1: The boss was angry at me for how long it took for me to turn the music back on after sending out the fog warning. I kinda tuned him out halfway through his rant. Something about the people in the valley getting anxious when the music isn’t going. The people here are weird. I’m beginning to wonder if I can maybe try to get a job doing something the next town over, but the nature of my job means I can’t easily leave the station for anything. Maybe once the boss calms down a bit I can ask him about the rodent problem and maybe getting me a part timer to help out so I can have some more free time.
Day 2: A different delivery guy came by today. When I asked him what happened to the last one he just kinda shrugged his shoulders. But before he left, he said that two days ago his delivery truck was found abandoned in the jungle off the side of the road. I hope the guy is ok, he seemed nice the few times we met. But in other news, we got the headphones ghost again! This time he seemed really panicked. He kept begging for someone to answer and that he didn’t want to be stuck out in the fog anymore. The fog lifted two days ago so I think this could just be some kind of pre-recorded message? I’d think this could be some kind of prank, but I’m not sure what the prankster would be getting out of it to be honest.
Day 3: Something is building a nest right outside radio stations window. Out on the fire escape. I first noticed it this morning. A few scraps of cloth intertwined with a few sticks and branches. I don’t know why but I get a sense of foreboding looking at this nest. Why would any wild animal build a nest so close to a window I stand right next to on a daily basis? Whatever, I’m probably just overthinking things. I finally worked up the courage to call my boss today about the rodents. Boy oh boy did I almost regret doing that. “Obsidian! We hired you so we could SAVE money on station costs! Now you want us to spend all that money we’ve been saving on you to kill a few rodents? Grow a spine you anthropomorphic rock pile! Before you started I had to live up there and maintain everything! Not once did I complain about the rats!” ugh. After a response like that I’m not expecting much from him, and I didn’t even dare to ask about getting a part timer. Guess I’m going to be stuck for a bit longer. . .
Day 4: By. Atlus’s. Name. I was trying to sleep last night and right when I was about to off, I heard someone banging on the trapdoor leading to the stairs. When I opened the door, nothing. Empty. I went down to check the door to the tower itself and it was unlocked and open. So naturally I closed and locked it again. Once I got back up and crawled back into bed it happened again. A loud steady knock at the trapdoor. This time I ran to the door and pulled it open. And again nothing. The door to the tower was once again open and unlocked too. Naturally I was livid so I decided to lie in wait after I relocked the door. I must have waited for around 10 minutes but nothing. . . So I went back to bed and no sooner did my head hit my mattress than those same damn knocks again. I ignored it this time. Ain’t no way some local kid was gonna get his laughs on me for this long. But then I heard the knock again, but this time it was closer. . . it was right on the small window of my bedroom. I sat straight up upon hearing it that close and immediately leapt to the window, peering out onto the fire escape. Nothing more than a tangled mass of vines from the surrounding jungle. I sat in my bed wide awake for the rest of the night. I don’t care that this place passed its inspection, I want this place re-tested.
Day 5: Nothing has been happening today. Its actually a pretty nice change of pace just being bored all the time. But the last few days worth of events have left me entirely too jumpy. I feel on edge all the time. Every time a viewer calls I just about fall out of my seat in shock. But who knows, maybe whatever spirit or creature that has been messing with me has finally had enough fun and has moved on I’m not sure but whatever it is, I’m glad its gone. 23:48hrs log Resume: I spoke too soon. I was setting up the systems to play the music and announcements for the time while I sleep when I first felt it. It started out subtlety, a faint tingling on the back of my neck, a sensation of not being alone. I did my best to ignore it. Nothing was going to ruin my perfectly normal and boring day. Not now. I knew I had to be alone, the trapdoor never opened once. But then I felt it again, a feeling on the back of my neck, and this time I smelled it too. A mix of rotten meat and plant matter. Slowly, I opened my drawer and withdrew my journal. I can still feel it behind me right now, every so often I catch a whiff of its smell on the breeze it creates as it stalks back and forth, I think I can hear the faint sound of claws scratching on the wooden floorboards. I don’t know why it hasn’t attacked yet, I’m sitting here helpless and alone. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here petrified with fear but it feels like hours. I think I may turn around. Its stupid I know, what if that’s the only reason it hasn’t attacked me yet? But I can’t take this for much longer, I wish it would just end things already if its just going to keep stalking back and forth. I know I’m technically an immortal, but I’ve never experienced death and if this thing can get into locked rooms without making any sound how do I know it can’t kill an immortal? Fuck, I can’t take this any longer I’m going to look at it. If it attacks I’m sorry about the mess. Please don’t fire me if I survive. There was nothing there. I turned around expecting some sort of hideous beast or ghost or something, but the room was empty. No sign of anything. I looked over the floorboards and saw no sign of anything with claws or talons or anything. Maybe I really am just going insane. . . Or maybe my little visitor is continuing to just try to mess with me. At this point I don’t know which is more likely.
  Chapter 5: “And that’s it for Entry 2” Said Arena. Concern clearly etched across her face. “This uh, this doesn’t sound good Chief. Maybe we should just leave this place be.”
“The hell we will.” Scoffed Jeddah. “There’s enough tech here to settle down into an early retirement. If there are ghosts, we’ll find a way to get them to pass on, if there are demons, we’ll send Them back to the Nether. This is all a part of the business.” Jeddah passed Arena a bowl of steaming soup from the cauldron on the floor of the control room. “Either way, eat up, we’ll need all our strength if we are going be able to do anything about this.”
A dark look decorated Ezekiel’s face as he thought long and hard. Occasionally sipping at the thin broth in his bowl. “I think we need more information. . . The log mentions a town this radio tower was supposed to broadcast too right? It’s probably been eaten by the jungle at this point, but we may still be able to find some clues about what’s going on here if we manage to locate that.”
“The log also says the fog came down from the mountains, and I’m willing to bet wherever that’s coming from could be the root of all the weird stuff around here, so maybe we could look into that too.” Chirped Arena as she sniffed cautiously at the soup Jeddah had prepared, her ears twitching with anxiety. “hey Jeddah, whatcha put in this stuff anyway? The meat doesn’t smell particularly familiar. . .”
The Chylthist shot his gnomish companion a look of annoyance, “Whatever was in those ration packs we picked up at the last outpost. You haven’t let me go hunting in awhile since you were so sure you’d divined us a treasure trove.”
“O-oh” said Arena shakily putting the bowl down in front of her. “uuh, I think I’ll just have some of the fruit I was able to forage on the way here. I’m not so sure I trust any meat being sold by elves to. . . well. . . you know.”
At this Ezekiel chuckled. “When you are out here long enough you’ll learn not to trust all that Imperial propaganda Arena. Yes elves are a strange bunch, but I’ve never heard of them eating people outside of those public service announcements I hear whenever I visit Imperial cities.”
“Maybe your right boss” replied Arena pulling the bowl closer to herself again, “But what is this meat anyway?”
Arena’s question hung in the air for a few moments until Jeddah broke the silence, “well, its kind of like seal. . . But this area’s much to warm for seal so I’m not really sure, Ezekiel?”
The dwarf simple shook his head no, his eyes narrowed while peering into the contents of his bowl.
Arena placed her bowl back on the floor again and smiled weakly doing her best to lighten the mood, “so fresh fruit anyone?”
Jeddah suddenly tipped his bowl over backwards, pouring its contents into his mouth. “There its done.” He said sourly, leaning back.
Ezekiel and Arena stared at their blue skinned companion for a moment. ‘So, Arena about this fruit. . .’
“Coming right up boss!” beamed Arena before opening her pack.
The rest of their meal passed with relative peace. Arena and Ezekiel sampling the varieties of wild fruits from the region while Jeddah scowled in annoyance at his stew being ignored.
“Sun’s out.” Jeddah noted. Directing his eyes at the inky black expanse beyond the windows of the tower, the light from Arena’s defense barrier noticeably dimmed by the undulating darkness.
Both Arena and Ezekiel nodded, their faces grim. ‘Lets settle in then. We won’t be getting anything else done now. Arena, you can take the first sleeping shift.’ Spoke Ezekiel as he slipped a pair of spiked gloves onto his hands, letting a bolt of electricity arc between them as he tested their functionality.
“Thanks boss, wake me up when it’s my shift.” Arena nodded as she pulled out her sleeping bag and hunkered down onto the tower floor and soon she was mumbling softly in her sleep.
Jeddah and Ezekiel stood side by side, faintly illuminated by the small burner from Jeddah’s meal kit.
“So, do you really have your reservations about this place?” Jeddah asked, concern seeping into his voice.
Ezekiel shifted slightly on his feet, peering into the darkness that surrounded them. “Hopefully we’ll find more answers in that log book, and in the village in the morning.”
Jeddah nodded before suddenly snapping his rifle to a shifting shadow on the far side of the room, his red eyes flickering in the darkness. While keeping his eyes on the darkness of the room he asked, ‘So what about the gnome? Do you think she’s gonna work out? I’m not convinced her finding this place was entirely thanks to her abilities.’
“We were all green once Jeddah. She’s just the same. And gods do have power, although I do have reservations on their reliability. We’ll give her until the end of this run and if we think its best to part ways, we’ll part ways.”
A gust of wind rose out of nowhere and swept through the small chamber, the lights from Jeddah’s stove flicked wildly as he lunged to protect it. “tch, well, whatever is going on around here, at least we know that it ain’t messing with nightfall. Just as hellish as ever.”
“It’s a small solace I suppose, but it also means we have to focus.”
“Right on boss.” Said Jeddah as he stabilized their small light source. “Lets hunker down and keep our eyes open. You take the next sleeping shift, you and Arena can take the shift into morning.”
A few hours later, one of Arena’s light traps began to flicker, the swirling dark of the Everwuld night clawing at its luminescent aura. “Fucking hell. .” Jeddah muttered. “Arena, up and at it, we got trouble.”
Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Arena sat up glancing around the small room “my shift already?” she slurred.
“Afraid not” grumbled Ezekiel, throwing Arena her bag, “something’s messing with your barrier. If we don’t want to get overrun . .”
“. . We’ll need to take care of it” Arena finished. “Those things should keep most anything at bay, we’ll have to be doubly on guard.”
“Right.” Ezekiel nodded before turning to Jeddah. “you ready?”
The Chylthist nodded, activating a small magical light on the end of his rifle that projected a cone of light into the darkness of the console room. “As ready as I’ll ever be. I hate night ops.”
Arena finished re-equipping her gear and flashed her companions a thumbs up. Although her face remained grim. With a few quick keystrokes on her gauntlet, a dim light erupted from its display. “I only got enough power to keep this light going for around 15 minutes. Tops. After that we’ll have to rely on Jeddah’s torch.”
“Right, lets make this quick then” said Ezekiel as he fired up his shock gauntlets, testing their functionality.
The three made there way down to the base of the tower and stepped out into the jungle. Gone was the bright and lively jungle of the day. It its place stood an twisted horrifying landscape. The trees, beautiful and lively during the day now appeared as ominous shapes, outstretched towards the sky like many fingered claws shifting and grasping at the unseen sun as it hung lightless in the sky.
“I’ll never get used to the dark” Arena said, her voice trembling slightly. “Imperial cities work hard to keep everything well lit. It never gets close to being this dark back home.”
Jeddah shot his companion a stern look and placed a finger over his lips, signaling for her to be quite. Arena glanced to Ezekiel for confirmation and was met with a grim nod from him. The diminutive gnome peered into the bright display of her gauntlet, then pointed in a direction out into the jungle, signaling to her companions the direction of her malfunctioning light trap.
Jeddah moved quickly and silently through the jungle underbrush, his rifle at the ready, the light from his rifle creating a dim cone of light in the inky blackness ahead of him. Ezekiel and Arena stood side by side, their progress through the vegetation slightly less dexterous than Jeddah’s, as they huddled together in the faint bubble of light provided by Arena’s gauntlet.
Jeddah snapped his rifle upwards as a sound of something skittering through the canopy above could be heard, but nothing appeared out of the dense interlocking branches and vines.
Jeddah was the one to find the light trap. He nearly let out a curse as he tripped over the metal box that lay on the jungle floor. Arena quickly stooped down and began tinkering with it a slight frown forming on her lips. After fiddling with her bracer for a brief moment she held up the display for Ezekiel to see. ‘Power Drained. Require power reset. Grid offline 5 minutes.’
Ezekiel signed five to Jeddah, who’s red eyes flashed with frustration and fear in the dim light, before turning back to Arena and giving her a thumbs up.
With a few swift strokes on her keypad, all the light traps suddenly winked out, darkening the already pitch black woods even further.
A stillness fell over the forest. No sound and no light existed beyond the light from the scavenger’s equipment. For a brief moment everything was still. . .
Then the peace was shattered in one horrific moment. A swarm of the plant like masses descended through the dark towards Jeddah, Arena and Ezekiel. Surging forward through the dark and into their circle of safety.
“Fucking hell! Jeddah growled as he squeezed out shot after shot into the undulating mass of twisted vines and roots. “how smart are these things?”
Ezekiel’s gauntlets sparked to life as he released an arc of electricity that ignited the plant like monsters as they swarmed over each other towards him.
In desperation Arena jammed buttons on her gauntlet, a faint shield of light forming around her for a brief moment before it shattered as one of the monstrosities rammed into her, knocking her, gasping for breath to the ground. The young gnome extended her hands towards the plantlike monstrosity, her hands glowing in celestial light, which promptly flickered and went out.
A look of horror flashed across Arena’s face as the creature raised itself up winding up for a finishing blow. . .
A lighting round lanced out from the dark, catching the beast clean through its core and it shuddered and collapsed to the ground, its vines twitching. Arena pulled herself back to her feet, and looked to her companions, a look of terror in her eyes.
‘Run’
The three scrambled over each other, rushing back to the relative safety of the radio tower. Jeddah let loose with a tirade of chylthist curses as he squeezed off a few additional shots at the pursuing creatures, but it did little to stem their flow from the inky blackness of the jungle treeline.
Ezekiel unstrapped his bandoleer as he ran, tossing it behind him before blasting it with a shock from his gauntlets, the shockwave flattening several of the creatures and slowing the advance of several others.
And yet they still came.
Arena was the first to pass over the threshold and into the lower levels of the old radio tower, however Ezekiel followed close behind followed still by Jeddah who was still vehemently cursing in his mother tongue.
“C’mon work already!” Arena was on the verge of tears, pressing keys and spinning dials on her gauntlet.
“What the hell is going on Arena?” Jeddah called out. “I’m running low on ammo, if ya gonna do anything, you gotta do it NOW!”
“I’m trying!” the gnome, appearing to be little more than a child desperately attempting to fix her favorite toy, squeaked as she hunched over her gauntlet. “No nonononono! This . . This can’t be right at all! Its almost as if. . . nonono! Nothing could do that! It has to be user error!”
Ezekiel extended one of his hands, ready to release another blast of electricity, however all he produced was a short arc that barely served to slow the next creature as it attempted to force its way through the small door.
“Arena, lass, we need just about anything right now!”
Suddenly a short but jaunty tune played from Arena’s gauntlet and her eyes went wide. “Connection re-established?” With confidence she leapt to her feet and extended her arm, her hand glowing with a brilliant white light as a slight smirk spread across her lips, “Purge corruption.”
The light was blinding. Both Ezekiel and Jeddah felt their bodies go numb as its stillness enveloped them.   Chapter 6: A buzzing sensation ran through Ezekiel’s skull as he felt the cool hard concrete floor of the radio tower’s basement pressing against his cheek. He could hear the faint chattering of parrots echoing in his ears and the distant warmth of sunlight brushing against his closed eyes.
“No no no. . .” Arena mumbled as she continued to fidget with her gauntlet, the petrified remains of one of the great vine monsters blocking the doorway out of the tower. “That wasn’t supposed to be the system’s reaction to that input. . . and now the network’s down again? Oh! Good morning sleepyheads! Congratulations on surviving your 14th night since leaving the city! Things were pretty touch and go there for a bit, but it looks like we were able to pull things through!”
Ezekiel, who had awoken moments before Jeddah, blinked blearily. “What was that?”
“I double that sentiment” Jeddah grumbled as he pulled himself shakily to his feet. “I feel like I’ve been thrashed by one of the artic worms we have up north”
Arena blinked a few times at her companion’s inquires. “I’m uh. . . I’m not sure honestly. . . I’m encountering server communication errors with the Clockwork King back in the Empire. That’s why my light traps went down and why my spells stopped functioning as intended. But now. . . Now I have some sort of stable connection with. . . uh. . . something. . .” A look of fear flickered across her face, “But I don’t think it’s the King. There are two conflicting signals, and this new one is almost completely overriding the one I’m getting from the empire. . .”
“Great, just great. We may as well be lugging around an imp with the good you’ll do for us now.” Jeddah turned to Ezekiel, “I don’t know about you but I think our business with this gnome should end once we get back from this job, she’s been nothing but a pain in our ass and now she can’t even do what we hired her to do!”
Arena seemed to droop at Jeddah’s words, her fleecy ears sagging from a combination of exhaustion and guilt. But Ezekiel interjected, “if it hadn’t been for her magic acting so unexpectedly last night, we very likely could have met our end. And as I’ve said, there is something not quite right with things around here. And this new signal is clearly something related . . .”
The exhausted gnome did her best to manage a smile, “Thanks for the backup boss. . .”
“So, conflicting clerical signals, what could be causing something like that?” Ezekiel asked his now somewhat more revitalized compatriot.
“It shouldn’t be possible really boss. . . my gear is specifically engineered to interface with the power the Clockwork King generates as well as being synced to my biometrics so it will only function properly if I’m the one using it. Pretty standard cleric stuff really. Find it anywhere from Gilgamesh’s dragoons to even those heretics in the Clergy of Silence. But one thing is consistent, one god’s gear shouldn’t be able to effect another gods. So whatever is out here isn’t a god, or isn’t playing by their rules. . ”
“Wait. . . clerical signals defying divine rule. . . weird jungle creatures. . .” a smile lined with avarice spread across Jeddah’s face, “Kiddo’s we may have an old divine corpse around here somewhere! Think of the money we could make if we can track that thing down! This could maybe even supersede the amount we could make from the Radio Equipment!”
“Jeddah. . . If the rumors are true, Divine Corpses have gotten teams of adventurer’s three times larger and more experienced than us completely destroyed. If this is a Divine Corpse, we’d best cut our losses yeah?” the look of fear on Arena’s face clouded it even further.
“Bullshit, the risks are worth the payout. My vote is we stay.”
Ezekiel let out a sigh, “I suppose the tie is up to me then. I don’t think we have enough evidence to say that this is the location of where a god died. That being said, even the payout from the radio tower is more than enough for me to justify staying for a little while yet. My vote is we investigate the area a little further before we make any kind of decision. Is that ok with you two?”
The gnome and the chylthis nodded their heads in hesitant agreement, with Jeddah grumbling under his breath.
“Now, do we have any rations left?” Ezekiel asked looking to Jeddah.
“About three days of the dry stuff if you wanna get going to try to find the village right away”
“Yes, lets pass that around and get moving. I want to find the town ruins as quickly as possible. If we decide this place is too dangerous I’d rather us find out sooner than later.”
Jeddah handed each of his companions small packs of dry but heavy bread, wrapped in a thin layer of cellophane paper. “If those elf rations are out, this is just about it. We’ll have to go hunting soon.”
Arena’s face fell upon seeing the packages and with a bit of effort she forced another smile, “Well, its better than nothing at least. .”
Ezekiel bit into his ration, a loud crunch filling the air as he winced. “Food is food.”
Arena struggled with the rations for a brief moment before her teeth were finally able to pierce the hardened crust of the bread.
The diminutive gnome peered up at the fossilized monster that barred entrance or exit from the tower. Now, in the light of day, the three scavengers could get a better idea of what they were facing the night before. The creature was large, standing nearly 6 meters tall while on all six of its tangled masses of root like legs. Its body was a dense mass of the vine-like tendrils, with a few sparks of light shining out from between them, indicating that their body structure was much the same all the way through. But situated directly in the center of its mass, much where one would think a face would sit was the most disturbing object of all. A single human eye sat staring down at Arena, Jeddah and Ezekiel. Unblinking, the eye followed the three as they moved about beneath its gaze.
“I don’t like this thing. Why did all of it turn to rock but its eye? And why does its eye look so much like you guy’s eyes?” Jeddah grumbled, shifting uncomfortably.
Ezekiel despite his experience also had a look of unease upon his face, “I’m not sure, but it certainly seems to be aware of us at some level. We should be careful with this thing still.”
“So, hate to bring the mood down even further. . . But any ideas how we are going to get passed this thing? Whatever my gauntlet did seems to have made it pretty solid given none of the other beasts were able to push past it. . .”
Ezekiel smiled slightly to himself and reached for his bandoleer, his face contorting when he remembered what he had done the previous night. “That. . . that is a good question. . . How many rounds do you have left Jeddah?”
He riffled through his various pouches and bags, an irritated expression on his face, ‘Eighteen regular, one grenade round left. So not much at all. However . . .” with a flourish the chylthist unhooked a pair of ice picks from his belt. “Once I run out, I can just use these.” A grim smile spread across his thin blue lips.
“Oh yes, these will do nicely” Ezekiel commented, grabbing one of Jeddah’s ice picks before he even could notice what was happening. “Hopefully the stone these things are made out of isn’t too hard so this won’t take too long.”
With a quick strike the dwarf imbedded the pick into the stone of the petrified statue, bits of it crumbling onto the concrete floor.
“Well, this isn’t what the Ascendency had these things forged for, but it works” and Jeddah soon joined his dwarvish companion at chipping away at the blocked passage with their picks.
Arena continued to mess with her gauntlet for a few more minutes before letting out a sigh of frustration. “It doesn’t look like I’m going to make any headway on figuring out whats messing with my magic or how. So unless any of you guys mind, I think I’m going to start on the next entry of Obsidian’s journal.
Wiping a bit of sweat from his brow, Ezekiel grunted his approval.
And above the doorway, the single eye of the petrified monster snapped to Arena, a glint of recognition briefly flashing in its obsidian depths. . .
Log Entry 3: Day 1: Its been a few weeks. After the knocking incident, things seemed to go quite for a bit. I got used to having weird shit to write about in here. So the lack of anything just resulted in me not really caring about writing in here, but today . . . oh boy today was a doozy. To put things simply, the fog came back. It was bad that first time with how eerie it moved and shifted, but this time. . . I saw it. There were things in the mist. I broadcast the emergency signal like I was supposed to and went back to playing the same old music. And I swear, the fog completely swallowed up the tower. My entire view was engulfed and it took up a curved shape as if it was pressing itself against an invisible force. It was only then, staring into that swirling mess that I noticed it. Shapes, much darker than the wispy clouds surrounding them, gently caressing the outermost edge of the fog. The moment I became aware of it, I could feel that it was aware of me. I think I might have an idea as to what ‘god’ the people of this town worship is now. . . Day 2: The fog receded as usual and everything returned to normal early today. But after that I’ve made up my mind. I can’t stay here. Whatever that thing out there is, it doesn’t want me here. I can feel it watching me even now. Not at the same level as that one night a few weeks ago, but I can just *feel* it watching. I don’t get any kind of sensation of aggression from this thing, but it wants me for something, that much I am sure of. I’m just afraid that now that it knows I’m here it won’t let me leave. Regardless, I have to try. I’ve let my boss know I’ve quit, he really wasn’t happy, ranting raving at me ect. I’m sure he’ll probably come by himself in a bit to give me a piece of his mind, so I won’t let him get that far. I have to leave now. I left the music playing, and rigged the system to keep repeating the same three tapes ad-nauseum. Sure it’ll get stale, but that allows my boss enough time to get here and cycle the tapes so we don’t end up with any down time. Idk what it is, but I think that there is something about the music we play that keeps the fog at bay but I can’t be sure. But at this point I’m just putting off the inevitable. I need to set out. What the fuck. What the actual fuck. No seriously. Three times I’ve tried to walk down from the road leading up to the radio tower, and all three times, the road somehow managed to loop its way back around and spit me out back at the foot of the tower. Is the thing in the fog really just not going to let me leave? Well screw that! I’ll just have to keep trying! There is something wrong. Sounds like there is thunder to the west, but I see no storm clouds in that direction. Also the sun for some reason is growing dim despite it still only being mid day. Maybe I should just go back to the tower? But I need to get out of here. . . One more attempt to escape then I’ll head back and wait for this to blow over. The fog started rolling in during that last attempt to escape. That was entirely too close. I could feel whatever that thing was breathing down the back of my neck the entire time I ran. At least the it all still just loops back to the tower still, even when I try to go off the road. But the fog itself. . . I think that’s part of the creature too. Everywhere it brushed against me, bits of my glass body were chipped away. It even managed to completely take one of my eyes with one of those tendrils I’ve seen. For the split second I was under the fog’s white blanket, something rammed into my eye socket and plucked my left eye out. The worst part is, I can still see out of it. Its just sitting there. Right at the edge of the fog outside of the radio tower where I’m writing this now. This thing is mocking me. Tempting me to come out and face it. Where the hell is my boss, I was expecting him to come up here after I said I’d quit! Unless he knew this would happen when I tried to leave. . . Day 3: The fog still hasn’t lifted. I’ve never seen it stick around this long. I’m beginning to grow worried. Whenever I try to raise anyone on the phone, I can’t even connect to the operator let alone anyone on the outside world. I know I first took this job to get away from people, but this level of isolation is driving me insane. . . Day 8: No change. The days bleed together. The dull grey of the fog outside may as well be the only bit of the world that remains for all I know. I spend all day staring into its swirling depths while listening to the stations never ending music. Day 13: I’ve started hearing voices from out in the fog. They are calling my name, begging me to come out and join with them. It has to be some new kind of trick. Maybe my isolated brain is making shit up. Day 22: I understand now. There is nothing but the fog. The fog has always been here, and will always be here. I was foolish to try to fight its will. Tomorrow morning, I will open the doors of this tower, and surrender myself to its embrace. It calls to me.   Chapter 7: With a sudden crack and a shudder, the petrified creature lurched to the side and crumbled into a pile of loose rocks. Jeddah and Ezekiel, panting in the heat of the midday jungle sun, wiped their brows in near exhaustion.
“Well, that took longer than hoped.” Jeddah grumbled, “I thought you dwarves were supposed to be good at mining.”
Ezekiel scoffed, “And I thought you Chylthist were honor bound warriors who never left their tribes in the north for wealth and glory.”
Jeddah fumed at Ezekiel’s retort but failed to respond. It was in this brief moment of silence when Arena piped in, her voice small,
“Hate to interrupt your bonding time guys but did you hear how this log ended? This really doesn’t seem safe now. I double my request to leave this place asap!”
Ezekiel let out a sigh before turning to Arena, “Yes I heard, and I too find that quite concerning. Especially given. . .” the dwarf picked through the ruined remains of the collapsed monster for a moment, before picking out the creatures single glass eye. “Just look at this. Remember how in that long the author said their eye was plucked out by the fog? Well, look at this glass eye, made from Volcanic glass no less, here in the body of one of the monsters that attacked us. This can’t be a coincidence.”
“Oh no. . .” Arena breathed.
“Kalavasti. . .” swore Jeddah.
“Agreed. So we have proof that the events of the log are reflected at least in part in fact. But given we have not seen any sign of fog since we arrived, some things may have changed since then.”
“I still say we should leave” mumbled Arena.
“And I’m beginning to agree. Lets just grab what we can of this tower and move out.” Jeddah responded.
Ezekiel nodded “That’s a majority for getting out sooner than later at least, we’ve already taken half the day just getting out of the tower, Jeddah, do you really want to spend more time tearing this place apart more?”
“I suppose not. . .”
“Excellent! Let’s get moving then!” Arena veritably dashed out of the tower and into the brush of the jungle beyond, clearly eager to leave the tower behind, while her two older companions struggled to keep pace with her.
  Chapter 8: “It can’t be! Please . . . please!” Arena sobbed as she pushed through the underbrush, her companions breathing heavily behind her.
“Asathanari Candara dresti you filthy cleric!” exclaimed Jeddah, “This is all your fault! You led us hear and now we are all going to die!”
Tears streamed down Arena’s face as she continued to run through the jungle, “No no no! I didn’t want any of this! I don’t want to die! I swear!”
“Jeddah!” Ezekiel said as firmly as he could between gasps of breath, “Leave the poor girl alone, she clearly is having a hard enough time of things as it is.”
“Yeah, but she’s the one who led us here in the first place!” Jeddah didn’t even try to hide the contempt in his voice as he spoke, before suddenly nearly tripping over Arena who had come to a complete halt right at the edge of a small clearing in the jungle.
Arena fell to her knees, all her energy suddenly gone. She buried her lamb like features into her oversized gloves and began to truly cry.
Before the party stood in the dying light of the sun, the radio tower.
“Back on your feet Arena or I’m leaving you behind” Jeddah snarled. “I’m going to take another crack at leading us out of here cuz clearly your so called clerical divine senses have led you astray. Again”
Pulling her face out from her hands for a brief moment, Arena turned to Jeddah, spurting forth from her sobbing mouth, “whe-whe-when you trie-ied to lead us out of here the f-f-f-irst time, w-was that because y-your d-d-d-ivine senses failing you?”
Jeddah clicked his tongue “I just got confused due to the circular rout you led us on the first time we tried to leave this place!”
It was at this moment, Ezekiel stepped forward between the two fighting parties and outstretched his hands.
“Enough children!” the dwarf bellowed, clearly having recovered at least some of his stamina. “Fighting isn’t going to help us survive! What we need to do is figure out what is going on here and how to escape it. Clearly, we can’t leave in the conventional sense, so we’ll just have to find another way. Now, I think that our senses are likely being messed with, so while we think we are walking forward, we are actually walking on a slight curve. Or perhaps, the path itself is somehow being twisted. Either way, maybe if we try making adjustments as we move, we may be able to escape from this mess!”
“T-this is exactly how Obsidian’s log ended though chief! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you guys out here, Jeddah’s right, this is all my fault.” Tears began to well up in Arena’s eyes again as she began to cry again, but before she could begin in earnest Jeddah spun around to face the jungle, raising his rifle
Fog began to seep from between the trees, forming into tendrils that slowly reaching out towards the three scavengers with menacing purpose. Slowly the fog formed into the shape of a woman, unnaturally slender with short hair. The figure extended its hand, beckoning the three, a faint smile parting its lips. Suddenly the data log Arena had taken from the radio tower buzzed from where it was clipped on her belt, its cracked screen lighting up in the dusk.
In disbelief the gnome held the pad up to her eyes, reading the words that appeared on its small screen over and over again, as if typed out by an unseen hand, ‘joinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinus joinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinus joinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinus joinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinus joinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinus joinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinusjoinus’ “It want’s us to surrender to it.” Arena squeaked, barely able to contain her fear.
“By the void am I surrendering to die in some backwater jungle!” Jeddah fumed as he raised his rifle and fired two of his remaining rounds into the fog only for it to swirl about and reform into the shapes it had before, completely unphased.
“Jeddah, take Arena and get to the tower. Now. Signal Atlus 001”
Upon hearing his friend’s words, the Chylthist’s eyes darkened. “May the Twins smile upon you Ezekiel.” Jeddah in one swift motion scooped Arena up underneath one of his arms before running at a full tilt towards the radio tower. Tendrils of fog moved to pursue, but Ezekiel punched one of his gauntlets into the ground, a wall of earth 5 feet tall and almost 8 inches in width rising up to slow the fog’s progress.
“Not so fast. Its just us two now. I don’t know what you are, but I figure I just need to slow you down a little eh?” A thin smile spread out upon the dwarf’s face. “So come now then, whatever you are. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The fog surged forward, billowing through the treeline directly towards Ezekiel. The dwarf blasted an arc of electricity from one of his gauntlets at the coiling tendrils, briefly dissipating it and slowing its progress.
But slow was all it did. Another grasping claw of fog lashed out at the dwarf, coiling around his leg and he screamed out in agony before scurrying backwards a few paces. Where the fog had brushed against him his clothing was now shredded and his skin was now red and blistered as if torn away by a thousand tiny mouths.
“I get the feeling you’re toying with me!” Ezekiel roared. The dwarf clashed both of his gauntlets together, causing a tremendous spark, before plunging both fists into the earth.
The land around the impact point instantly twisted and warped. A single tall tower rose out of the earth, assembling itself from the components in the jungle floor and even the treeline. After a few seconds of growth the tower finished, and Ezekiel smirked. “Let’s see how you manage this one!”
Bolt after bolt of lightning suddenly arched down from the heavens striking the narrow metal tower before being directed outward, striking the fog wherever it surged the thickest. However with every blast of lightning and expression of strain grew ever more and more apparent on Ezekiel’s face. And finally, after 6 blasts of lightning, the dwarf collapsed forward barely catching himself on his hands.
Breathing heavily, the dwarf looked up and towards the darkness of the jungle. His face crestfallen.
The fog remained unbroken and unmoved. And in the time it took for him to steady himself it had already surrounded him. Once again the figure of the woman emerged from the fog’s depths and outstretched its hand to Ezekiel, a smile plastered upon its incorporeal lips. . .  Chapter 9:
“What? W-what are you d-doing?” Arena blubbered, still in shock at having been suddenly picked up by her Chylthist compatriot.
“I don’t like it but this is what Ezekiel wanted. And since he used *that* code guess I got no choice in it.” Jeddah grunted after every one of his footfalls as he made a mad dash towards the radio tower. “for now, we have one job. Keep ourselves alive.”
The sky rumbled with thunder behind them and the jungle lit up with bolt after bolt of radiant blue light as the two scavengers pushed their way into the control room of the radio tower, baring the gate behind them.
“That doesn’t look good. . .” Jeddah mused as he looked out through the old tarnished windows of the tower. The fog was rolling in from all directions and even now was it coiling around the base of the tower, its long thin tendrils seeming to be grasping and searching for something, anything to latch onto and pull away into the mists.
“Where’s Ezekiel? Do you think he’s ok down there?”
Jeddah paused before speaking, “listen kid, Ezekiel and I have been running jobs for probably around as long as you’ve been alive, we know each other quite well. . . And code Atlus means . . . That means one of us is planning on making a sacrifice for the team to tryta fight another day. I’m. . . I’m sorry Arena, he’s probably gone. . .”
Gone was much of the bitter bravado of the Chythist warrior, and instead stood a gaunt and tired man, seemingly aware for the first time the reality of his situation.
“Now! We have to think, Ezekiel bought us the time to make it in here, but its only a matter of time before whats out there makes it in. We need to get to work on a plan, you with me Arena?”
The expression of shock still fresh on Arena’s face, the diminutive gnome nodded slowly. “R-right. . . uhm, the journal, it took the fog awhile to get to Obsidian, maybe there’s some kind of clue to why that was hidden in here!”
“It’s as good a shot as any we’ve got” the Chylthist grumbled. “Get researching through that thing. We gotta try anything that stands out. I’ll try a northern enchanting ward designed to keep spirits out. Can’t guarantee anything, but it’s at least worth attempting.”
Jeddah reached into his pack and pulled out a stick of charcoal and began to draw a circle around the porthole down to the stairwell, marking it with arcane sigils unlike any Arena had ever seen during her time at the Imperial Academy. Arena herself paid them little mind and instead was frantically scanning through the digital pages of the electronic log, desperate to find something that might help them survive.
However, before Jeddah could finish the runic inscriptions, the trapdoor burst open, propelled by a blast of electricity.
Stiffly Ezekiel pulled himself into the small chamber, his face grim and expressionless. “What the fuck Ezekiel?” Exclaimed Jeddah from where he had been thrown from the force of the lightning bolt. “What where you thinking? That was our best bet to keep that thing out! Unless you killed it. . .”
Ezekiel attempted to smile. But it was thin and ghastly, as if made by someone with no memory of how to smile. He then beckoned for his companions to follow him as he made his way towards the stairs downwards.
Arena took a tentative step forward but Jeddah blocked her movement with an arm. “Ezekiel.” Jeddah said, his face cold “Why does the North Winds Blow?”
Ezekiel turned back to look at Jeddah and beckoned with his hand once again and began to climb down the ladder.
“That’s not Ezekiel.” Jeddah muttered to Arena as he raised his rifle.
The Ezekiel thing stopped its movements immediately and looked directly at Jeddah, its eyes and mouth now open wide as the two scavengers looked on in horror as a series of plant like vines slithered out from the thing that was once their leader’s mouth and fog gently poured from its eyes to collect on the floor of the tower.
“Shit, fuck!” Jeddah shouted, pulling out his rifle, squeezing another two rounds into the creature before them. More tendrils burst forth from the wounds and lifted the horrifying monster into the air as it suddenly rushed forward towards the Chylthist ranger. One of its tendrils lashed out at Jeddah, knocking his rifle from his hands and another impaled itself through his shoulder, bursting out on the other side.
He screamed.
The Not Ezekiel lifted Jeddah into the air, seeming to examine him with now ruptured eyes, their holes filled with more tentacles and fog. “Arena.” Jeddah whispered. “When I give the signal, place a ward of protection on Ezekiel”
Arena let out an unintelligible squeak from her position on the floor where she lay cowering in fear.
“well, here goes nothing. Three, Two, One, Mark!” With a sudden movement, Jeddah unhooked a small metallic device from his belt with his free arm and threw it underhand towards the monster. The creature swiftly caught the object with its tentacles and seemed to draw it close for inspection. And then a light golden light formed from interlocking hexagons appeared around Not Ezekiel. And then the grenade round exploded.
The light from Arena’s ward faded and Jeddah fell to the floor with a grunt. All around them in the jungle the two heard the whirling wind scream. The fog outside the tower writhed in seeming rage at their actions but did not come closer.
Arena began to sob softly from where she sat and turned to Jeddah, “t-t-the chief is dead! We killed him!”
“Shut up Arena, Ezekiel and I went way back. . . but we have to keep our heads on straight. We didn’t kill him. He was already dead. We just made sure that he could pass on peacefully to Atlus.” He let out a long sigh “Look, I’m sorry for snapping, this is hard for me too and I wanna live dammit. So,” he said, offering his hand to his diminutive friend, “Shall we keep fighting?”
  Chapter 10: “Yes, lets.” Arena reached up and took her allies hand. Her eyes suddenly sparking with fire. “For Ezekiel.”
“For Ezekiel”
“Now, one thing I’ve noticed is that not once has the fog come directly within this building. It always sends those tree things in. I think that may be our key. There is something special about this tower.”
“the question is, what exactly?” Jeddah let out a sigh, “lemme go through the journal again” he said as he reached his hand out towards Arena in the dim light offered by her one remaining flickering light trap.
A few hours had passed since they dispensed with the Not Ezekiel and the two had been hard at work, fortifying their stronghold and brainstorming ways to escape. The fog still swirled outside the tower windows hungrily, occasionally forming into a young woman to beacon to the adventurers, but more often, using the face of Ezekiel to taunt them from outside.
“Don’t let it get to you, your stronger than that.” Jeddah growled to Arena who had begun to seem downtrodden again.
“oh, right!” responded Arena her ears swiveling with renewed vigor. “Say. . . I wonder why this place was never supposed to stop playing music? Could there be something special about this places musical tracks?”
“yeah. . . they seemingly had to be played at all times. Even for the townsfolk. . . Its worth a shot. Arena, shut off the music, but only for a moment. I wanna test this.”
The gnome scurried over to the bulky music transition machine, and reached up to the power switch, grasping it with both hands. “Ready?”
“Ready. Just for a second” the Chylthist stared out of the window towards the fog outside, his eyes cold.
The second the switch was thrown the world erupted into chaos. Fog blasted through the windows towards the two. Arena screamed as she saw Jeddah be lifted into the air and the flesh from his right arm melt away under the power of the fog.

She threw the switch back.
The fog within the tower vaporized in an instant, pulling back to outside the tower and resumed its prowl.
“oh gods oh gods oh gods!” Arena dashed over to Jeddah who was slumped on the floor, his right arm a bloody mess.
“n-not that bad” hissed the Chylthist. “just help me stop the bleeding”
“Jeddah! I can see bone! Not that bad?? Oh dear oh fuck oh gods!”
“Arena! Steady” Jeddah hissed. “I need you to focus. Tie off my shoulder. We need to stop the fucking bleeding!”
Arena as if in a trance reached down and tore off a strip of her robe and deftly tied it around Jeddah’s shoulder. The Chylthist then slowly reached up with his surviving hand and gently touched the wound while muttering in his native tongue. Ice slowly spread across his arm and then with a swift torque he shattered the remains of his arm, letting them fall to the ground. “its better this way.”
Arena tried to vomit, but the lack of food for the last day left her dry retching. “At least warn me!”
“Come, we need to find a way to transport the old world music with us. Keep the fog at bay.”
Arena retched again, still in shock from her companion’s sudden gruesome display. “r-right. I’ll get on that.” Arena walked over to the transmitter device and began to examine it in detail. “Hmm. . . its much too large to transport on its own. Perhaps I can find a way t-to patch its signal into my gauntlet? With the interference I have it’ll be a g-gamble but it’s the best idea I got. . .”
“Then lets do it” Jeddah growled. “What all do you need?”
“Everything I need should be here in my gauntlet. Its just a matter of if it will work.” Arena responded. Now that her mind was back on track she seemed to regain some sense of bravery. “alright, lets do this.”
Arena tinkered with her gauntlet, pulling several wires from it and hooking them up to the transmitter. “Ok, music systems downloaded, lets hope this works.” A faint musical tone began to play from the device on Arena’s arm. “Let’s hope this works.”
“we’re fucked either way so lets go” grumbled Jeddah. “Let’s lock and load.”   Chapter 11: The two worked swiftly to undo the barricades they erected protect themselves within the radio tower and crept down into the stairwell below. With the crackling of the improvised radio on Arena’s wrist the fog’s tendrils recoiled, seemingly distressed by sound. Arena and Jeddah nodded at each other and ventured forth into the darkness beyond the tower.
The fog was impossibly thick, but wherever the two walked, a small bubble formed around them, pushing the fog away. “not sure why this is working, but thank the King it is” Arena whispered. “This also seems to have overwritten this things ability to manipulate my gauntlet so that’s a good sign.”
“Yeah, but we have to be careful about those root monsters still. They didn’t seem to care about the radio noise.” Jeddah whispered back.
“Right quite.” And so the two crept onwards in silence, not talking to each other. Slowly the fog faded and the two found themselves once again just standing alone in the dense jungle, miles from any civilization.
“d-did we make it out?” Arena asked tentatively to her companion.
“Looks like we did it. . .” mumbled Jeddah in response before collapsing to one knee and grasping at his stump. “No, no rest yet. Straight ahead until dawn. Make sure we are free of this horror.”
The two continued forward through the jungle desperately hoping to find society hoping they were finally free from the horrors of the old radio tower.