My name is Yuka Portsworth, I am second in command of Lornknelm's intelligence bureau, and I decided to document as much of this investigation as I can in hopes to add this to my collection. Most of it is just stories of previous investigations and interesting days I've had while climbing the ranks in this department, however, this one is both serious, and interesting. I have been tasked with investigating a newly formed black market that revolves around selling and distributing gnore flasks. These supposed gnore flasks aren't the usual "power enhancing" type that we've dealt with in the past, these are said to give the consumer visions and thoughts of what is most important to them, and how to get it. Pretty weird shit if you ask me; and to be honest we have no idea if it's legit or not. We have small samples of it, and it contains what we call a degradable. Degradable's are substances that break down living things into ether. Now I can go into what ether is and whatnot but this isn't a science lesson so I'll leave it at if something contains a degradable, it is illegal, like everywhere illegal. Anyways, we've received reports of suspicious people traveling down south with flask crates. This is currently are strongest lead, so the plan is to stock up on supplies, and take a crew of 15-20 people to check it out. We may even stop by the Lornknelm catacombs to make sure there's nothing evil at plan there. Well actually I only said that so I had an excuse to take another two helpers and three, tier 3 soldiers. You see, the Lornknelm catacombs is known for having people go missing, found completely slaughtered, and has even made the previous first in command go completely insane. That last one is partially true in my opinion, he was diagnosed with something before visiting the place, but after returning he was much much worse and had to retire due to whatever it was. Honestly if I really was going there, I would've asked for a fleet instead of a crew, getting us to around 50 people, I'm the over-protective type; I do my best to make sure everyone comes back with the goal of returning with less problems then before. Anyways that's enough blabbering, I've got a big next three days to prepare as much as I can before we head on out. Especially so since I spent the last four days spending precious time celebrating my birthday with friends and family! Ha ha, they really like to go all out for me. I'll see you guys soon!
.
Two days later...
.
Well I'm back, and I've got some possibly concerning news. A day before we head out and I'm being told by my first in command, Travis McClure, to grab a sample of pictures of the writing near the catacombs entrance for one of are scribes to study... Why is this happening to me right now. I considered the idea of getting myself sick to completely avoid this all, however considering the dangers of the flask, I decided to fib myself out in order to get my fleet. Thankfully he wasn't mad, he finds my overprotectiveness to be a good trait to have. Embarrassed, I used the extra day he gave me to prepare to stock up some more. Also yes, I do believe I need a fleet of people to secure some pictures of an old abandoned place, I don't mess around with those catacombs. I will see you all in two days.
.
Two more days later...
.
The day has come. I just completed head count and we are heading south now. We have a total of ten helpers, people who are tasked with carrying supplies while walking, organizing documentation, preparing food and drinks, just general tasks. We have twenty tier 3 soldiers, responsible for protecting everyone in the case of an attack, five tier 4 soldiers, these guys are our first responders during an attack, they prioritize neutralizing the target over protecting people. We have ten investigators including me, tasked with, well, investigating. Finally, we have three medics, and 2 handymen for repairs. It'll be about a two day journey to the first destination, a small southern village called Woodhaerst. Reports mentioned the first sightings of the crates here. I don't suspect they're operating here, so we'll just ask around and check-in with the town head to see if they have any new info. If there's nothing new, then we'll make way towards Rotherham, another village along the southern coastline, which will take another two days after leaving Woodhaerst. Rotherham is most likely a cover for the real location of the operation, which I can only guess is either in some cavern, or maybe in the nearby forest. Based on previous experience and experience from some of my teachers, it will most likely be somewhere in a cavern by the east-side mountains. If that ends up being the case, then that information will be sent to Mr. McClure, and most likely will become a joint operation between him and the Lornknelm military. We don't have the supplies to cross into the mountains, plus it would take another four to five days of travel for us to even get there. Hopefully that isn't the case so I can take responsibility for the successful eradication of the gnore flask black market operation, it would give me a very good reason for increased pay. Well I will go ahead and give an update after our visit to Woodhaerst is over, I'll see you guys then.
.
Two more days later...
.
No new information was given, we even scouted around to see if we could find anything ourselves, but nothing came up. Pretty uneventful visit, however the villagers seemed a little on edge, makes sense considering you've got 50 people running around that you don't usually see. I do wonder if the information we have is intentionally misleading, or if the town head is in on it. Usually such cases are quite rare, but part of me always considers it as possible. Investigating that would most likely be a waste of time at this point, so as I said before, we'll be heading to Rotherham to conduct our investigation. I'll see you all then.
.
Three days pass…
.
Unexpectedly, it took us an extra day to reach Rotherham. We ran into a carriage with a busted wheel. It belonged to an elder man, maybe around 180 years old (humans in this world live to around 200 on average). He told me an eerie story, he says it's a true tale, but I have my suspicions that he's just messing with me; although for some strange reason I feel like I've heard this story before, long ago. I'll recite the entire story here, "Long before time was a thought, there was a child who was nothing but curious. He traveled across the universe, and eventually stumbled upon an old church. In fact, this church was so old, not even he recognized its tongue. Curious as he was, he took a look around and discovered a hidden entrance that led underground. As he made his way down, he began to hear voices, see things deep in the darkness, felt things brush up and cut at him; none of it bothered him, he was more interested in who, or what was doing this, and why. Some time later, he eventually finds the cause, it wasn't a person, or a mechanism. It wasn't living, nor dead. It was.. antipathy in its worst, most vile form. He, and what we call the gray man that hates, starred at each other, both understood that neither could realistically do anything to the other. The child said he learned something new for once in the eons of his wondering around. There is no limit to how much one can hate, nor how much someone can suffer because of it."
.
.
.
We just finished our investigation, we arrested six memebers, well, we were going to. Upon being caught and unable to escape us, they took their own lives. This was unusual display of allegiance to their leader, mainly because of two things. One, this operation, as far as we're aware, is new. It doesn't make sense for someone to pledge allegiance to something that is unlikely to prosper, if anything, this is the type of operation to be used as a sort of trial, for a bigger, more important and greater potential business. Two, the resolve and speed in which they took their life was unnatural. When you've been in this department for so long, you learn through teachings and experience why criminals do the things they do. You learn the psychology of their choices, and this typically leads to a greater chance at success during an investigation. These six men did it simultaneously, without any facial expressions. We had them cornered in an alleyway, and they immediately took out their knives, and slit their throats. Are medics confirmed there was nothing in their system that hinted that they were being controlled, or under the influence of anything. What's also strange is that we couldn't ID any of them. Naturally, this makes are investigation more urgent and dangerous. The new plan was to locate the operation, and then it will all go into the hands of Lornknelm's military. This is protocol, I have zero say in the matter, not that I plan on going against it. Like I said before, I prioritize everyone coming back in one piece over success. We have a lead that these men arrived to town by boat. This most likely means they are in the east mountain side, however, this also means they could be at the catacombs as well. We have to stop by the catacombs for pictures anyways, so this doesn't change much aside from the amount of time we'll be spending there, all the more reason I asked for a fleet instead. It'll be a three day journey there, and once we've finished up, it'll be about a week long journey back home. It's unfortunate the way this all turned out, but that's reality sometimes. I'll update either once we arrive to the catacombs, or once we're finished there, whatever makes more sense at the time.
.
Three days later…
.
We've just arrived, and I decided to record everything using the PicPrint (Device that records the surroundings using aetheria runes, it then transcripts the information onto a journal of one's choice) from here on out, I'm tired of writing and I want this to end as soon as possible; so from this point on, everything will be happening in real time.
Yuka: "We will split up into six groups of five, with one tier 4 soldier in each group. I would like everyone to recon the area, and if anyone or anything is found, please relay that information back to me before acting. After recon is finished, if everything checks out, we'll grab our pictures and head on out, if not, we'll discuss the plan before we move. Any questions?"
No response, everyone seems on edge. Let's finish this up quick, I'm getting a strange feeling about this place.
The surrounding area was littered with unrecognizable stone and wooden structures, presumably ruins to an old town lost to time. The grass and soil reeked of rot and decay. The few remaining trees were thin, almost like they were shaved down. After a few minutes of looking around, I noticed an extremely run down building, a bit larger than the others. It was constructed with stone and wood just like the others, but it also contained some colored glass, stained glass, I believe is what it was called. An old architecture design rarely seen today.
Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a little girl yelling for help within it. I wasn't dumb enough to run right in, but in the off chance it was a girl that needed help, I rushed to gather everyone and peered inside, yelling back to her, "Don't worry, we're here to help you!".
Little girl: "Down here! I'm stuck, and I can't reach!"
Yuka: "Alright honey, we're making are way to you! Keep yelling out so we can follow your voice"
I carefully climbed through the rubble along with 9 other members with me, with a tier 4 right behind me in case something were to happen. I didn't want the building to collapse without enough strength to crush us. Typically about five tier 3's is enough to shield from a collapsing ceiling. While making my way to her, I glanced around the crumbled walls, there appeared to be some sort of text and images, something that Mr. McClure is looking for, another thought is why would he want something like this anyway. These thoughts quickly faded upon reaching a gap in the flooring. There she was, down in the bottom laid a little girl, clothes riddled with dirt and mud. She reeked, I could smell her from above.
Yuka: "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Little girl: "No, I'm just scared" she said her eyes welling up with tears.
Yuka: "Alright sweetie everything's gonna be ok, I can't reach you from here so I'll have to jump on down ok? Stand against the wall so I don't hit you on my way down."
Tarik, the tier 4 soldier who remained behind me, advised against jumping down myself and that he should be the one to do it. I accepted and let him in front of me. He jumped down, and gave the ok. As I looked down, it seemed as if the gap between the floor and me widened, I couldn't reach Tarik from where he stood. Tarik starred back in confusion.
Tarik: "Hey, I don't remember the fall being this deep, do you?"
Yuka: "I… I don't know. I-I'll check and see if we have any rope". I turned back and told one of the tier 3's and he relayed the message to one of the general assistants. In the meantime, we asked the girl some questions.
Tarik already learned her name and age. She is 9 years old and her name is Flora.
Yuka: "Are you out here alone?"
Flora: "Not at first, I thought I heard my grandma's voice yelling out to me. She was yelling that she was stuck. I was crawling in here and fell down".
If it weren't for the fact it was a little girl stuck in the Lornknelm catacombs. I would find the situation quite amusing. I tried to ID her, but nothing came up. I started to question if the damn thing was even working, when suddenly I was told we had no rope. It was used to help repair the wheel on the broken down carriage from earlier.
Yuka: "Damn carriage" I mumbled under my breath, "Alright, I'm gonna jump down with you two, and the plan is, Tarik, you life me onto your shoulders, and I'll lift her above mine. That'll be more than enough to cover the distance. Tarik, catch me on my way down"
Tarik: "Wait! Shouldn't one of the tier 3's do it?"
Yuka: "There's not enough space for another man to fit, I'm quite small myself, if I'm down there we won't get ourselves stuck"
Tarik, clearly not comfortable with the situation, agreed that was the best course of action. I slowly lowered myself down with my hands gripping the edge of the hole. I yelled out, "Ready?". Tarik confirmed, and I let go. Tarik catches me, however, the floor beneath us suddenly collapses. We tumble down a good 5-10 seconds, I didn't even think to count. I opened my eyes to see that Tarik cushioned the blow for me. A fall like this won't hurt Tarik, but I was worried about the girl.
Yuka: "Flora!" I yelled out. "Are you hurt?"
Tarik and I glanced around.
Yuka: "Did she pass out somewhere?"
Suddenly, we heard giggling in the distance ahead of us. Startled, I looked up to see what looked like Flora standing deep in the dark, I squinted to make out her face to see if it was her, but... the details were, strange. It felt like I wasn't looking at a human face.
Yuka: "F-Flo-"
Tarik quickly covered my mouth with his hand.
Tarik: "We need to leave" He whispered so quietly I could barely make out what he said.
Unsure what was happening, out of fear I just starred at the figure; waiting for Tarik to make a move. I had no idea what he was thinking, or what his plan was. I just simply stood still. As are eyes began to slowly adjust to the dark, I could see more and more of its face. Sunken eyes, an abnormally large smile, its teeth rotting and decayed. I began working under the assumption that either Flora never existed and was bait, or this thing disguised itself as Flora.
Suddenly at an incredible speed, it crawled at us, tongue flailing around, its limbs and joints moving so harshly you can hear the bone crack and snap. Its feet and hands slapping at the ground. I screamed, shutting my eyes from the pure horror racing at me. My heart felt like it was about to explode, I shivered. Seconds pass, I slowly open my eyes to the darkness. It was just.. gone. I looked over to Tarik, who wore a grim expression.
Yuka: "What was that?" I asked while trying to control my breathing.
Tarik: "An Elderfolk.."
Yuka: "I thought those were only found in Ucral (A southwest continent)"
Tarik: "Fuck" seconds of deafening silence passes by. "This means one of two things. We're either being attacked by a lich, or we're fucked"
Yuka: "What do you mean, "or we're fucked"!" I yelled out in distress.
Tarik: "I-" He paused. "It's better you don't know. Let's bank on it being a lich. If we kill it, we'll leave just fine. Lich get stronger though fear, if we gather most of our soldiers, we should be fine"
Tarik seemed to be hiding something other then the less desirable scenario. It made me feel anxious.
Yuka: "Don't we need some kind of cosmic spell to kill a lich?"
Tarik: "We can weaken it, and incapacitate it enough to leave. We don't have to kill it"
I could tell something was very very wrong. Tarik was a tier 4 soldier, I've never seen him so on edge. Not only that, he said we can, "kill it" at first, but then decided to incapacitate it only after I stated the obvious? It takes a lot more then a lich to strike this much panic into a tier 4, hell, even most tier 3's would stay relatively collected. Tarik didn't even seem to have much resolve.
Tarik: "Lets gather the others now, before anything else happens"
Tarik yelled up to the others and told them the situation, they one by one slid on down. Two bags of supplies, two helpers to carry the bags, fifteen tier 3 soldiers, three tier 4 soldiers, one medic. The rest were told to stay back and setup a small camp. We had a total of twenty two of us, which honestly made me feel quite a bit better then before.
I told Tarik to take lead from here on out since it's a combat mission, plus I'm still recovering from the image of the crawling monstrosity. Tarik explained the game plan, which I will summarize. We will descend into the catacombs and investigate around for what is called ectoplasm. A substance that is left behind by a lich as it wanders around, it's essentially rotted aetheria. It glows when light hits it, so it should be quite easy to find once we come across some. After finding the lich, the plan is to surround it and hit it with light-based spells. This will incapacitate it for a few minutes at most, so the next step is to trap it though a recitement which will be done by Tarik himself.
I asked Tarik why we couldn't just leave, and he said it's complicated, "A powerful lich will always lead you back to itself" is what he said..... Honestly, through all of this, I hate to say it but I cannot believe Tarik is telling the full truth. He's acting strange, the "recitement" whatever that is will be done by him, he's being elusive with his responses to my questions. I wonder, surely he won't leave us behind, right? Maybe... maybe I should kill him when I get the chance.