The Tenorio Expedition - 6/12/19

This documentation will provide a brief overview of how humans first explored the Nightlight Zone. It is confirmed that hundreds of people have been transported to the Nightlight Zone, but almost immediately after they entered, they have gotten captured by a Cave Stalker, and likely killed. Only three times have humans ever entered the realm and gotten out alive. The story of the first are documented below, featuring Netarts resident Edith Tenorio, along with her father, marine biologist Victor Tenorio.

Overview

Edith Tenorio, and her father Victor were accidentally transported to the realm, after Victor traveled too close to the Gatekeepers in his submarine. Edith was merely visiting him after a long absence, and when she arrived, he immediately began telling her about how he first saw the beings, only after a brief conversation. At first, Edith did not believe any of it, until she saw them on the horizon herself. Victor wanted to find out how they walked upright through the water when the area they were walking was miles deep, while Edith wanted to stay away from them, although she was soon convinced to accompany him. That's when they got too close to their legs, and the creatures transported them straight to the Nightlight Zone.

They found themselves in a large plain of sand, with a few anomalies already in sight, namely the species that inhabited the realm. Upon first arrival, Edith immediately wanted to return home out of fear, but Victor convinced her to stay for a little while, claiming they should explore their new discovery. They apparently could also find their way to where they entered from the sonar map inside the submarine. Edith knew he could not rest at the opportunity to explore something new he had found in the ocean, and went out by herself, careful not to stray too far from her father as she inspected every new species she found. Soon, a starving Thanadon began chasing her through a grove of Copper Stems, almost catching her foot in its jaws at nearly every turn. It was only when the creature was fighting with a Gladioceras did she manage to escape. Afterwards, a voice in her head told her where to find her father, and she eventually listened to it after failing to find him otherwise, surprised that it worked.

Upon returning to her father, the two decided the realm they discovered was too dangerous for only the two of them to study, and followed their sonar map back to the entrance. After discovering the chute they entered from had disappeared, they first attempted swimming upwards, thinking they could reach the surface from there. Soon they were chased back to the seabed by the increasing pressure, and the Watchers above. They instead planned to wander around aimlessly until they found an exit, as they had no other options. From there they traveled all the way from what they called "the Plains" to the Ash Fields, encountering numerous different species inhabiting the Nightlight Zone, as well as strange glyphs carved into rock. Eventually, upon reaching the Ash Fields, they noticed they were running out of air, but they knew the Pocket Caves had breathable air, from when Edith explored one in a hunch it would lead to a way out.

They managed to find another Pocket Cave, where Edith climbed down with the submarine's air tanks, and waited for them to fill with air from the cave. Soon, a pair of Rhino Scorpions attacked her, and after fighting with them she was chased down a nearby tunnel while the scorpions began building a nest. She found the tunnel had a glyph carved into a wall, and in a daze she got close enough to it for it to cause a hallucination, where she heard a voice speaking to her in a cryptic manner. It began telling her to stay where she was, before disappearing, and leaving her inside an image of her house. Soon, Victor climbed into the cave, seeing the scorpions attack her, and bring her out of the hallucination by pulling her away from the glyph. They were able to put the air tanks inside the submarine again, with Edith carrying them into the water herself, as the scorpions lost interest in needlessly attacking them as they made their nest nearby.

Afterwards, they traveled towards a range of mountain-like structures in the distance, hearing a voice in their heads telling them where an exit was. Soon, they found an exit in the center of the mountains, being guarded by a swarm of Sawtooth Bullsharks. Victor had to plow the submarine through them, while Edith guarded him by hanging off the side, and blocking the creatures' attacks with a SeaSled stored on the side of the vehicle. The submarine made it to the chute first, while Edith had to swim there herself after being pulled off without her father knowing. She took a blow to the leg as she made it to the chute, having to stop herself from bleeding out as she was escaping the Sawtooths. She was transported into the Pacific Ocean again, and the injury left her with a scar, as well as a tooth that dislodged from the ray's snout. Victor wanted to keep it as proof of their journey, as though he wanted to continue learning about the realm, while Edith would rather never speak of it again. From there, they found out about the two other parties that had made through the realm.

Edith described the glyphs as being shaped vaguely like a trident, that glowed a bright red, and were always carved into a rocky surface. The one that caused the hallucination introduced her to a voice possibly belonging to an entity residing in the Nightlight Zone, though it was confirmed to be different from the one that told the both of them where the exit to the realm was. There were also human-sized patches of black moss surrounding that same symbol. It is thought both the symbols and the moss were created by Tenubis, who may have monitored the southwest region of the Nightlight Zone, before moving to a different area after not finding enough humans to capture.

Interaction with the Watchers

When Edith and her father were swimming upwards, they heard voices whispering to them just before they turned around towards the seabed, and it is possible they wandered close to the Watchers. These beings are thought to surround the Nightlight Zone at every angle, and some must've wandered closer to the realm just as the submarine was swimming towards them. It is unknown if they intended to chase them off in that exact moment, but it is thought the voices the two heard guiding them to their safety belonged to these beings, as they were attempting to chase the two humans away from their creation.

Nomenclature

Victor Tenorio is the one credited for coming up with the name "xenopelagic," along with the common name "The Nightlight Zone." He based the names off of how the real world ocean zones are named, and planned to reference how many of the creatures that lived there featured bioluminescence, with the name "Nightlight." He also named the environments with the common names such as "Sand Plains," and "Ash Fields," including the environments explored by others such as Ava Porter and Ethan Hodges.

Miscellaneous

Upon first entering the realm, the two of them encountered a Demon Turtle inspecting their submarine, likely never having seen humans before. Victor used it as proof that the realm was safe enough to explore, as the turtle was harmless. This was also the first time they saw a vertebrate with bioluminescent eyes, conveniently living at the bottom of the ocean.

After swimming away from the Thanadon, Edith encountered an Asseristome on the way that paralyzed her. Just before it attempted to decapitate her, Victor's submarine swam forward and pushed it away, allowing Edith to swim inside after the paralysis wore off. Previously, they had never heard of a large predator being able to paralyze its prey with just the swipe of its tail.

In the Ash Fields, they discovered species such as the Sand Stalker, Armidium, Spinapterus, and the Crescentfin Fish. They found that the Crescentfins were highly intelligent, and acted not unlike a group of curious dolphins.

At one point, Edith decided to explore a Pocket Cave, as they had never seen one before, and thought the entrance was some type of portal that led to the surface. Upon realizing it was just a cave with breathable air, Edith returned to the submarine, and they continued on their way.