Terras

Discovery

From the notes of Doctor Ivan Sanderson.

"For ages, I had heard stories from the villagers of Omuschia Village in Southern Almahna of creatures they described as 'Stone Turtles' living in the Deep cavern entrance near to their town. But I had never received the training that I needed to be able to explore the depths of such caves. So instead, as much as I wished to go myself, I sent Jane Dawn, my assistant. She was most eager to prove to me she could handle an expedition on her own, and she had received the required training to ensure she could explore the caves in safety. So from here on are her own notes on the encounter she had.

Jane Dawn's Expedition Log, 3-28-1336: We arrived in Omuschia during a harvest festival. So we took the opportunity to go around and speak with the villagers and collect accounts on encounters with these so-called 'Stone Turtles'. All of the accounts were very similar, describing four-legged creatures with large rocky shells on their backs, their eyes like black pebbles. They also described it as aggressive and dangerous, and kept warning us to stay out of the caves. Apparently the town had even suspended their mining operation due to the presence of these creatures and the danger they supposedly posed.

Before my arrival here, I had a guide lined up to lead me into the caves. However at the last minute, just as we were about to go in, they pulled out and said it was too dangerous. I tried offering more coin than I had promised but no matter how much I offered, it simply wasn't enough, they would not go.

Without a guide to lead us into the caves, I felt I had no choice but to pull out and head home. That is, until I was approached by a Fey woman, by the name of Boriel Ariann. This woman offered to guide us into the cave, for the original price I had offered the last guide. She did not seem to fear the creatures at all. She seemed to feel that the fear was unfounded. It was almost as though she had encountered the creatures herself. I gladly accepted her help.

So down into the depths of the Deep we went, with our cave diving gear in tow. She led us deep into the caves, so deep I wondered if we would even be able to find our way back. Yet she seemed to know precisely where we were going, as though she had a deep well of experience in these caverns.

Eventually we reached a wide open chamber and she raised her hand telling us to stop and crouched us down behind a giant boulder. As we peeked out from behind the boulder, we could make out in the beam of our headlamps a herd of several animals, stony in appearance, with four massive thick legs and huge rocky shells on their backs. Stone Turtles for lack of a better word to describe them. I was amazed at the very sight of them. They seemed to mostly ignore our presence, and simply grazed upon the rocks and pebbles in the massive chamber. I could scarcely believe it, animals eating rocks! Yet here it was right before my eyes. Yet I could tell by how they glanced our way several times they were well aware of our presence, and seemed wary of us but seemed to leave us alone regardless. 'As long as you do not approach the herd and stay as far back as possible, they will leave you alone. If you get too close then they will attack,' Boriel explained. I asked her if her people had a name for these creatures. 'Terraskinkuqui,' she responded. I would not dare try to pronounce that, so I will pull from it instead and name it 'Terras'.

These creatures should not be feared, however, is what I learned the most. They should be instead respected, and their territory respected. As long as you do this, you have nothing to fear from them."