Posted by Kim on April 30, 2021, 10:40am
With all of the research that's been conducted on the notes, letters and journal entries that have been preserved from the Order of Volcanic Tranquility, the Elven Scientist has been able to put them into a likely order and to transcribe them! Found the cursive writing too bothersome? Found reading out of order annoying? Not a problem!
February 2nd 580 Basilisk
Journal entry by Dumdutain Earthbrand
By the stone! It’s everything they said! Perfectly preserved! I can’t tell what era it’s from, but when the sun comes up we’ll get to digging and we’ll solve some mysteries.
The rest of the team has gone on to the inn, but I couldn’t rest until I had clapped eyes on it myself. There’s a sliver of moonlight that falls down into the tunnel where they said the village child fell through. I trust my tunnel vision enough to pick my way carefully down into the tunnel, and I don’t think it’s a tunnel at all. I think it’s a hallway. I could even make out what must have been wool cloaks hanging from hooks in the walls. Underneath, what I think must be shoes, though they were damaged, I think by the fall that revealed this site.
This is OLD. You can tell from the stone work. This must have been built well before the current Era. The Era of the Sphinx? Maybe even the era of Dawning.
I should get some sleep. I want to be out here at first light. What else could be preserved here?
March 22nd 582
My dig team broke ground on a fourth site this morning -- another small residence, probably belonging to a blacksmith judging by the tools we’ve reclaimed so far.
The team over at site #3 unsealed a new room today, and there is a person in there. Still there, ducked behind a bed, like they’d been turned to stone. I found myself muttering “By the stone” when I entered, but it didn’t feel right as soon as I heard it leave my lips.
A whole person, preserved in stone! This poor soul. What tales will they tell us? Could a medusa have been in this town? Or perhaps even the namesake of this era, the basilisk? Or perhaps it’s a curse of some kind that might even be breakable?
Jul 16 582 Basilisk
Friend Qrowet,
I hope you’re enjoying the island weather with your hatchlings and this missive finds you in good health. I hope you’re reading this in the sunshine, because what I have to ask about may give you chills.
The dig site I told you about in my last letter has exceeded my wildest expectations. So much history preserved for us to uncover! But they say we should be careful what we wish for, and maybe I wasn’t specific enough in my prayers to the Genres. We’ve found four bodies so far. These weren’t grave sites, or what you’d normally think of as a grave site. These were people frozen at their daily activities. The first one was getting out of bed. The second looks like it was washing dishes.
We’ve found dozens of buildings now, though we’ve only been able to start digging on five so far. We’d been going one by one, but after the first two bodies I directed a team to start their next dig on what we think is the far side of the town. It was the same there. We didn’t even have to open the door to find the body in this one. There were two figures in the buried street. A humanoid of some kind and a horse.
The person is tightening the straps on the horse’s saddle. You can still make out enough of the face to see that the person was making a shushing noise at the horse.
Qrowet, I’ve never seen anything like this. There’s almost three miles of distance between the early dig sites and the latest. What could have happened to preserve a whole city like this, frozen in a moment? Was it magic that buried this town? It was something so sudden that they were all still here, all still doing their daily activities.
I know you are on holiday with your family, so I don’t expect to hear from you soon, but If you have any thoughts about what this might be, I would appreciate it. Or if not, tell me who I should write to next. Who can I ask? Is this a matter for a sorcerer rather than a geologist?
Your faithful colleague,
D. Earthbrand
July 31st
Dumdutain,
I will be there as fast as I can. I have to see this find for myself. I am packing now. Who knows, perhaps this missive will not even arrive before me!
See you very soon,
Q
August 22nd 582
The Crack of Dawn Post
WELCOMEVILLE - A small town along the coast has seen a flood of new visitors this past month, as word has spread about an amazing archaeological find. Part of an ancient city appears to have been preserved whole, including a number of citizens who are said to have been turned to stone.
This reporter is glad to see an increase in tourism revitalizing the local economy. Local entrepreneurs have set up shop leading tour groups around the perimeter of the dig. Catch a tour during the day if you want to hear historical speculation, though the experts arriving in town to join the archeological project warn the Post that little is actually known about the forgotten city at this time. If you want something more exciting, this reporter suggests joining one of the tours that leaves at night. If the tour is going to be speculation, may as well make it ghost story flavored!
Lead archaeologist Dumdutain Earthbrand has asked locals and visitors to please respect the boundaries of the dig site and refrain from “stomping up the past.” Welcomeville’s own Mayor Twumi told the Post this afternoon that going forward, guards will be posted at the dig round the clock to make sure the dead are being properly respected by visitors.
Most Esteemed Gentle Beings,
I write to you this day of June 4th, 583rd Year in the Era of the Basilisk with most urgent news. As royal geologist, I have discovered an active volcano lurking at the edges of our new kingdom. My measurements thus far tell a disturbing tale. I am most afraid that we may face an eruption before the end of this decade, of a scale that could erase us.
This is not the first time that this volcano has ended a civilization - I was first put on the trail of this hidden menace by Professor Earthbrand, Dr of Archeology. Along with her skilled team, Professor Earthbrand has been laboring to uncover the mysteries of a petrified town In analyzing the soil composition at the Welcomeville dig site, it was immediately apparent that the cause of the city’s entombment had been a volcanic eruption. I have spent the last year tracking the sediment across our lands to the Kudos Mountains, and found our end among them.
It sorrows me to say that I have no solutions to offer. Identifying the problem is as far as my skills will allow. I lay this terrible news on your doorstep, and with it, the responsibility of saving us on your shoulders.
- Qrowet, Royal Geologist
Journal entry by Eladus, Jun 8 583
The task that has been given to me is enormous. It takes my very breath away to consider its magnitude and consequences. And the time, the time we are given is so short! Perhaps no more than a decade left before nearly certain doom befalls us. How easy it would have been for the first warning to be no warning at all, but the end itself. The Defense Committee repeated ad nauseum that the Genres had smiled on us to give us some warning. I held my tongue, but if the Genres were truly feeling benevolent, they would have led us to this discovery five decades ago. Instead, I must think that their smiles are at least somewhat at our expense.
We have not the time for lengthy reviews and interviews. We will need people I can rely on, whose worth I have seen with my own eyes. With time as our enemy, it could be anything, anything that causes us to miss the cosmic deadline - an interpersonal disagreement, an illness, a small oversight, even a minor betrayal. Whoever I choose must be able to work together beginning on the first day we meet, and continuing until the end.
Jun 9 583
Yesterday, I worked late into the night, reviewing my journals and crafting letters to the individuals
June 10th 583
The Crack of Dawn Post
Chromatic Council Wizard to Head New Official Order
NEWHOME - Following an impassioned presentation by Royal Geologist Qrowet regarding the possible status of Mount Ovation as an active volcano, the nobles of the Defense Committee have signed a decree forming an Order of Volcanic Tranquility.
Royal Geologist Qrowet warns of a coming volcanic eruption from somewhere in the Kudos Mountain range that could spell disaster for civilization itself.
"Qrowet? What does a birdfolk know about what's happening underground?" one citizen I spoke to in a local pub demanded to know. "Seems like alarmist blather. Waste of money."
Sources inside the committee report that Eladus, Head of the Chromatic Council of Wizards, has been tapped to head the new order. Experts say it is unlikely that Eladus will accept, given how prestigious and difficult a position being head of the Chromatic Council is. If he does accept the position, but does not resign, that might indicate that the new Order is merely ceremonial.
June 15th 583
Wizarding Weekly - Gossip So Good It’s Magic
Power struggles no more?
Shocked as we were by news of Eladus announcing a sabbatical as Head of the Chromatic Council earlier in the week, the subsequent announcement of Solomander Pondu as his stand-in absolutely rocked the wizarding world. As long time readers will know, Eladus’ power struggle with Solomander over who will head the council has stretched to nearly a half century.
We caught up with Solomander as they were arriving at the council chambers for their first day in charge. “No, I don’t take this as a victory,” they said. “I take it as a duty. The work that Eladus has gone to do is of unspeakable importance. I want him to know that he doesn’t have to worry about the Chromatic Council and can focus on the Order of Volcanic Tranquility without reservation.”
A remarkably changed tone from Solomander, who has long agitated for sweeping reforms. They are known for harsh criticism of Eladus, famously having called him “uncompromisingly committed to ancient rules and ideas about magic that no longer serve us in our modern age.” Given that, will Eladus truly be able to put the work of the Council behind him and focus on his new Order? If it were us, we would worry we wouldn’t recognize the Council when we came to take it back!
New Moon, New Look?
Is Inilorh Moonfall trying to rehabilitate their image? The known necromancer was seen last week exiting a local eatery in a simple white and grey gown, with only the faintest hint of lipstick.
“I didn’t want to get my spell components sticky,” Moonfall sneered at our reporter when asked why they were out of their usual ensemble of black robes and jewelry made from humanoid vertebrae.
“No, I had no idea that they were a necromancer,” said local proprietor Robert Kneen, owner of Buns in the Sun. Buns in the Sun is famous for their bite-sized cinnamon rolls and other sweet buns, sold in paper bags of one dozen. “Their money spent fine though.”
Summer Love!
Deandrae Drifaris the Green, normally a resident of Patience, is rumored to have been spotted coming and going at all hours from the workshop of local Dream Guardian Zsigmond. Neighbors say that this has been going on for at least a week. Unlikely research partners, or budding love? We waited outside the homes of known associates of Zsigmond to ask them to dish!
The Crack of Dawn Post
June 17th 583
Two names announced: two new members of Volcanic Order
NEWHOME PALACE - Two new members of the Order of Volcanic Tranquility were announced yesterday, Ligorin the Azure and Rhozora the Seer.
Ligorin the Azure is one of the oldest serving members of the Chromatic Council, both in terms of membership time and in her age. She is also one of the most highly credentialed Wizards in all of the RPR, with degrees from Yoxelts, Erodwiths and Bogsarth. She has worked on a long list of successful projects with Eladus in the past, making her an obvious pick for the Order. “If this is a problem that can be solved, we will solve it,” she signed to our reporters before entering the palace. When asked if she had a message for the citizens of the RPR, she added, “Do not despair. Plan ahead for a long life.”
There is much less public information available about Rhozora the Seer. Ze is known to be consulted by monarchs about matters relating to periods of famine or illness. We asked zir why ze did not foretell the eruption of this volcano, if natural disasters are zir specialty. “I see as do the stars,” Rhozora told reporters, while hovering roughly six inches above the palace steps, and glowing from within with the light of the cosmos. “What is beneath the earth is harder for them to perceive. But now that we know what to look for, we can search the stars themselves for clues.”
“I’ve been given a task of monumental importance,” Eladus said later to the reporters who were waiting for him on the steps of the palace. “I cannot hope to accomplish it alone. I am immensely grateful to those brilliant minds who have pledged their help. I ask the public for patience.”
The Crack of Dawn Post
June 20th 583
Hero appointed to Order of Volcanic Tranquility
NEWHOME - Excitement was palpable in the capitol this afternoon as adventuring hero, Usim the Fire Heart, arrived to answer the summons of the Order of Volcanic Tranquility. An impromptu parade of children and other admirers formed in his wake as his red steed trotted through the market square on the way to the palace. He was seen wearing black armor with gold trim, with a flame picked out on the chest in honor of his affinity for fire magic. The braids he wore last year are gone in favor of a shaved head, with elaborate runes patterned in. Though Usim is best known as a heroic battle mage, it is widely thought that his natural abilities with fire magic are why Eladus issued a summons for him.
The public spectacle around Usim’s arrival was such that few noticed the announcement and arrival of Master Artificer Emnunydae to the Order of Volcanic Tranquility. Emnunydae is best known for the wide array of magical traps that she has invented for the defense of sorcerer’s towers, including an expansive labyrinth surrounding one of the archives of the Chromatic Order commissioned in 561 and completed in 576. This reporter questions what use traps will be against a volcano, but no doubt she has more tricks up her sleeve than we know!
News from the palace is that riders are currently scouring Forum Forest in search of Eladus’ final pick for the Order, Liri Starsprout. Sources say that Liri is a half-fae druid, apparently with no formal training but widely regarded in the herbalism community as the most complete and reliable source in the land of the Repository for information on spell components that can be grown, found or foraged. Our sources further inform us that the appropriate pronouns when referring to Liri are they/them.
Official Meeting Minutes of Order of Volcanic Tranquility
June 22nd 583, Era of the Basilisk
Palace Council Chamber
In Attendance:
Eladus, head of Order, he/him
Ligorin the Azure, member, she/her
Usim “The Fire Heart” Moltenad, member, he/him
Rhozora “the Seer”, member, ze/zim
Basia Emnunydae, member, she/her
Dumdutain Earthbrand, invited guest: archeologist, she/her
Qrowet, invited guest: royal geologist, she/her
Meeting called to order by Eladus. Goal of preventing destruction of world by volcanic eruption reiterated.
Qrowet and Dumdutain Earthbrand give a joint presentation outlining the vital statistics of the volcano and what is known so far about previous eruptions. Sketches of slides attached.
Mount Ovation is the newly discovered volcano. No other mountains in the kudos range are thought to be volcanic at this time. Mount Fortune may have been volcanic in the past, but if so, is now thought permanently dormant.
Mount Ovation currently 3915 meters tall. May have been the tallest mountain in the kudos range prior to its most recent eruption.
Ash from previous Ovation eruptions found as far away as the Buggy Quagmire, beyond Forum Forest.
By unanimous vote of preset Order members, Qrowet invited to remain in Newhome to continue consulting for as long as may be needed.
Scrap of hand-written notes, much crumpled. Likely in Emnunydae's hand. Specific day and year not specified, but references information likely gathered during the June 22nd 583 Order of Volcanic Tranquility meeting.
3914.55 meters tall from sea level
Cooling mechanism - source of adequate ice where?
Net of spells bound in metal? Embed in foothills - depth and spacing?
Pocket dimension? Meet with Ligorin to discuss stats her theory implies
main issue pressure already ↑↑↑, very late in process to halt. Oz prevention > lb cure. too bad for us.
Usim thinks volcano has feelings. okay.
Maybe need floating cities? just in case
Blah blah blah blah blah good thing Eladus also competent
Usim maybe freaked out by Rhozora hehe
Teamwork?? EGOS
Ligorin if you can read my handwriting from there blink three times
July 8th 583
Rhozara,
I was honored to receive the call to join the Order, but I could not know how great a blessing it would be for me. These last weeks of meetings, I have been blessed to see you work with my own eyes. You are everything your reputation says and more. I am overflowing with esteem for you. I have not stopped thinking about the ways your fingers, so graceful and skilled, wove oracular spells in the air, and the confidence in your voice. You are truly powerful and wise.
Next week I am traveling to Mount Ovation to examine it myself. I would value your insights on this trip more than words can say.
This is true, but I am certain you have Seen that this is also a pretense.
When we arrive in the mountain range, I hope that you will allow me to serve you dinner. I understand that you subsist largely on cosmic energies, so I had in mind a starlit picnic atop the highest peak.
Know that no is a fine answer, both to dinner and to travel. I understand if you do not wish for any distractions during this period of trial, or indeed, for any other reason. If I have made our professional relationship awkward with this asking, please forgive me and allow me the opportunity to show you my esteem by keeping a respectful distance for as long as you will it.
With all my admiration,
Usim
July 9th 583
Usim,
Thank you for your kind offer. I am afraid I am unable to accept at this time. I look forward to a successful working relationship.
Rhozora
Journal entry by Eladus Aug 15 583
It seems clear that no one solution holds all the answers. Instead of trying to find a single spell that will quell Mount Ovation, we will pursue our three most likely ideas, and attempt to combine each smaller working into one great working that will bind the mountain from erupting.
Rhozora and Liri are to work on a calming spell that will decrease the likelihood of pressure and subterranean turbulence resulting in an eruption.
Emnunydae and Usim are working on reversing the build-up of pressure that already exists within the volcano. They seem to be at odds about the best approach to pursue first, but at least it appears to be a friendly competition.
That leaves Ligorin and myself to work on slowing down - or halting, if we can - the continued building of pressure. She has interesting theories about arresting the very flow of time itself, in the local area of Mount Ovation.
The more of these strategies we are able to deploy, the better our chances of preventing disaster. If after a year we seem to be making no progress on one of these solutions, I may have to move Order members to more productive teams.
We are to continue meeting every two weeks to report on our progress and seek ways to support one another’s efforts. Liri and Rhozora have already requested permission to skip the next meeting so that they can travel back to Widget Wood to seek out spell components to experiment with.
November 1st 583
Fragment from Liri Starsprout’s journal
I am doing everything I can to help, and I won’t stop, but there’s this feeling that nags at me… It’s very hard to make something go against its nature for long, let alone forever. A volcano isn’t evil, it’s just doing what volcanos do. Oh oh oh, the force that’s going to be required to restrain it!
What if this is what the Genres have planned for us? How long can it be fought? Perhaps we’d be better served working on a way to survive this natural cycle. Emnunydae keeps mentioning floating cities.. That doesn’t sound too bad.
December 7th 583
Qrowet’s journal
I’m excited by the readings of the temperature augury! We have penetrated to the very chambers and tunnels that cross the land beneath us. It seems that our world is VERY hot indeed, far higher in temperature than I had previously imagined. It seems that the heat can melt crystals easily! My auguries have predicted the presence of a great cauldron, deep beneath the ground where every mineral flows together. It is a spell of terrible heat, though the molten fluid is extremely thick. This cauldron lies to the north of our city somewhere and it slowly builds in volume and pressure. My initial probes were made from simple cast iron, easily replaced but these melted in the heat of the furnace, I had new probes made from a nickel/beryllium alloy and these could withstand the temperature.
December 30th 583
An Open Letter to Eladus and the Order of Volcanic Tranquility:
The problem that you seek to address directly affects the future of every single living being in the land of the RP Repository. And yet representation of the many types of life that resides here is sorely lacking.
Perhaps Eladus only wished to include those with magic proficiency in the Order. If so, this still does not explain the shocking lack of diversity.
There is not a single cleric of the Genres.
- No alchemists.
- No magic user with particular affinity for ice, water, wind, or even earth.
- Black magic, necromancy and other less main-stream forms of magic have been completely ignored.
- All current members of the order are humanoid.
Rather, the ranks of the Order are disproportionately filled with mainstream wizards who have existing relationships with the Chromatic Council and Eladus himself.
Mount Ovation is too dangerous to include such a small sampling of opinion and talent in the fight to save us all. We need all perspectives to be represented, and non-traditional approaches should be considered.
We, the undersigned magical professionals, urge Eladus to consider immediately expanding the Order.
Signed,
- Rustrum Bladewalker, Battle Mage
- Owix, Channeler
- Akalis Lignilon, Oceanic Mage
- Mahogany Nightdove, Cleric
- Ibine Coldmourn, Shaper of Ice
- Glamors Freebraid, Lore Bard
- Inilorh Moonfall, Necromancer
- Enelle Twilightdane, Circle of the Moon
- Idyora Slateswift,Diviner
- Duan Xinyue, Planewalker
- Nem-ur, Oracle
- Dusk Sunblossom, Flora Magics
- Skuawk Featherspine, Wind Mage
- Thyestias, Earth Magics
- Amir Ali Dirbaz, Cleric
- Nyoko, Earth Mage
- Hiroshi, Alchemist
- Aduback Runedraft, Illusionist
- Bot Kuysok, Warlock
- Braurael Gloom, Necromancer
- Tiger Gemtwist, Alchemist
- Holly Wrinklebottom, Cleric
- Dilys Sourthistle, Transmutationist
- Usadore, Devourer of Chaos
- Ghaiffa Skullblossom, Sorcerer
- Peculiars Wildbrow, Editor of Wizarding Weekly
- Godros Addi, Cleric
- Marmaduke Mugwort, Herbalist
Read the rest of this tale in the research library itself!
Post tags: Epic Week 2021
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April 30, 2021
7:17pm