The Timeless Depths

Journal Entry: #1

Dated: 05/25/221

We have finally reached the town of Silver Keep, the last stop before we reach our destination. Captain Keyphyra had been informed ahead of our arrival and prepared places for our expedition to rest from our long travel, and stables for the trikes to be cleaned and fed. We still have a day of travel ahead of us, but this is the last place we’ll be able to stop for such amenities, and it is nice to rest before the work begins. At least, that is what I have told the expedition. Personally, my mind has not stopped racing as our proximity to the site grows closer, and I cannot wait to begin our research. For as far back as our history goes, the Church of Taollune has never approved an expedition of such magnitude, with over a hundred people from diverse backgrounds in studies and skills, surely we shall be able to uncover some of the truth of the mysterious pit we now venture towards. I can’t wait to get my mages to start setting up divinations about the place, or for the diving teams to start working on uncovering the true depths of the chasm. I’m positively buzzing with excitement… Perhaps I can convince Expedition Commander Illana to set out early in the morning, so that we might arrive with enough time in the day to begin work immediately.

 

Journal Entry: #2

Dated: 05/26/221

We have finally arrived!! Illana refused to cave to my requests to leave before the sunrise, but we made better time than expected and I was blessed with almost an hour of daylight to begin looking around while the camp was set up! I made my way to the edge of the pit, and even without any of my instruments or rituals set up I could feel the energy of the place all around me. The ground opened up as far as I could see, and stretched downwards even further than that. In those depths I could hear strange sounds echoing out of the canyon, as if the wind itself wished to tell me something and I simply lacked the means to understand… It was exhilarating! I cannot wait for tomorrow when everything is unpacked and I can finally begin my work in earnest!

 

Journal Entry #6

Dated: 05/30/221

How fortunate we have been! One of the expedition’s scouts returned with word of an abandoned campsite, seemingly set up with a similar intention to our own. I had been under the impression we were the first research team formed to study this place, but is it possible that others have lived in this region before? Legends tell of the Castouts forced out of their homelands, leaving only desolate ruins behind. Could this be of their workings? If the Castouts studied this place before departing Endrun, I might not have to start my own research from nothing. I’m set to travel to the site tomorrow, where perhaps I might be able to uncover some answers myself.

 

Journal Entry: #9

Dated: 06/01/221

I’ve spent all day moving through this site, an easy feat given the size disparity compared to our own camp, and uncovered some surprising details of note. The entire site is basically ruined, lost to time and age that is difficult to place exactly, but I’ve found evidence of tents and items that don’t seem as ancient as the rest of the place around them. This is most curious, it is as if there have been multiple visits to this place, but I have never heard of another expedition. Why did I not know of this? I discovered what appears to be a record of events that happened here, but the pages are aged and fading, and what remains is practically incomprehensible. A pity, if I was able to learn from the Castouts, then perhaps I would have some answers to these mounting questions. It matters not. I will return to the main site tomorrow, and continue my own research. There is nothing the past can teach me here.

 

Journal Entry: #14

Dated: 07/05/221

We have been conducting studies inside the pit, with a few of the digging crews rappelling down further and further to take readings of lower depths. The energy here is staggering, and has overloaded more than one of the recording crystals. I have isolated the magic of the pit, but it does not align with any of the known schools of magic. Could it be that within this place lies a truth of the Weave yet unknown? The implications are staggering… But I must know more. I have spoken with the commander to arrange a deeper dive into the chasm, but so far she has denied my requests. Here we stand on the edge of a breakthrough in arcane knowledge, and all she is worried about are a few late scouts. As if dereliction of duty is of a higher priority than uncovering the mysteries of this place.

 

Journal Entry: #21

Dated: Day 72

Something is wrong… According to the calendar, we should be nearing the middle of summer, but a cold front has pressed in from the north as if winter is on our doorstep. By all accounts this is impossibly early, but logic does not seem a valid defense against the chill. Expedition Commander Illana has sent two expedition members to Silver Keep to requisition cold-weather supplies, as we were not expecting such a climate so soon, but I worry it will not be enough. It has grown difficult to keep track of the days, as if my mind slips away from the details when I try to pin them down. The research has continued, if slower than I would like, but I have come no closer to understanding what we have uncovered. I find myself returning to the journal I found at the old campsite early in our stay… Perhaps in those ancient pages I may find an answer to this puzzle…

 

Journal Entry: #25

Dated: Day 105

We are starving. Illana has now sent three groups in total to try and reach Silver Keep, but none have returned. A blizzard has made travel perilous, and it is difficult to tell when the storm shall end. Yet the chasm still beckons, even as I watch the snow fall within only to disappear and reappear, caught within the flurries of magic that permeate the area. Illana wishes to return, to uncover what happened to her missing people, but I cannot abandon my work. I have finally cracked the cipher on the journal, surprisingly one I used to use in my younger days at the Church, and I’m so close to discovering the truth. If I can convince the expedition commander to hang on just a little longer, I know I can finally uncover the reality of this place and the secrets it holds. I just need more time…

 

Journal Entry:

Dated: DATES ARE FALSE AND CANNOT BE THE CIRCLE MOVES EVER FORWARD, ROLLING AND ROLLING AND ROLLING WITHOUT END We are but SPOKES ON THE WHEEL, a part of a part of the whole but unaware of anything but the MOVEMent. Again and again we go, always FORWARD, round and round until all that we know is the JOURNEY that has no destination and whose END WE ALL RUSH towards. The DEPTHS stretch not into the world but INTO EACH of us, open and yearning and TIMELESS and it is all we can do to FALL DOWNWARD tumblING OVER AND OVER ALL that is the hole is not the end the pit is not the BEGINNING the depths are timeless and eternal and NEVER WERE and all and nOTHING. We were never here and we will never be gone the circle moves ever forward the circle moves ever forward the circle CANNOT MOVE IT IS BROKEN CAN’T YOU SEE I SOLVED THE PUZZLE AND NOW CAN ESCAPE THE CARRIAGE A LONE WHEEL LOST AND FOUND AND ROLLING ON ITS OWN JOURNEY NEVER TO END AND ALWAYS GONE

After missing their 30 day check-in, a scout team was sent to find the expedition site to discover their fate. Of the sixty individuals that stayed within Silver Keep as a part of the expedition, no evidence was found of their fates, living or dead. Their initial research site appeared abandoned, with no signs to point where the expedition might have gone. The scouts recovered some of the Archmage’s notes and this journal, but I can make neither head nor tails of the research and the events documented within these pages is… Disturbing. There have been no reports of unusual weather patterns in the area, nor has there been any sight of the communications supposedly sent our way. Additionally… My predecessor, Captain Aire Keyphyra, is called out by name in the very first entry of the journal as arranging a stay for the expedition within our walls. Except… Aire hasn’t been captain for seven years now, and I was the one to meet with both Archmage Tal’Ires and Expedition Commander Illana.   I am officially restricting all travel to the supposed “Timeless Depths”, and suggesting to the Church of Taollune that any future expeditions are discouraged, or at the very least better equipped to deal with whatever strange curse lingers around this place. I will also be requesting additional reinforcements delivered to the keep. Sometimes, history is best left buried.