![[BtS-143-1.png]] The moment [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] shared the details of his Sending we jumped into action. We knew that [[Ad Majestas]] would soon surface now that the fight was over, but perhaps this new ship would be faster. From [[Badda]] and [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]]'s initial estimates it would have been. At maximum speed [[Ad Majestas]] could make the trip in about four hours, while it would only take two on the [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] ship. With that said we found it likely we would be attacked should we approach [[Phoenix's Cradle]] from above water. For that reason I was strongly against using the [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] ship, but everyone continued to debate over which was better. The other important feature they considered was the cannon on the front of the [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] ship. It was not a normal weapon, the barrel was solid and came to a jagged triangular tip. From this [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] could conclude that the weapon fired condensed magical energy. It could do so consistently up to a range of approximately two thousand feet, and aim at most forty five degrees upwards. With a slightly closer look [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] could already tell that removing it from the ship would be extremely complicated and time consuming. While people were still debating what to do, [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] and I were collecting everything we possibly could. Specifically I was looking for diamonds, hoping that the [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] capable of casting had some on their persons as spell reagents. We were going to need as many as possible to resurrect those that had fallen in whatever attack had happened. I couldn't find any, and neither could [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]]. The crystal ball had seemed somewhat promising to me, but according to [[Wilborin|Wil]] it was a complete magic item and not simply a focus and wouldn't help with resurrections. He was unfortunately unable to work out what it was capable of though. It was then that the top of [[Ad Majestas]] breached the surface of the water. The hatch flew open and [[Zuzanna]] peaked out to yell, "Grab everything that you can! Every bit of information you can find! We need to go!". She was right, we needed everything we could get our hands on. All of the bodies were stripped of anything useful and ferried down with [[Arkai]]. All manner of weapons, armour, magical items, and even a spell book. Down in the lower decks we found a fairly small amount of papers, most of them being logistical notes between the crew on the operations of the ship. In the area just below the aftcastle there was a piece of information far more valuable than anything else we had found. At first we had just dismissed it as a simple a table, but on slightly closer inspection [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] noticed that there was a lock on it. Instead of calling me over he pulled a Chime of Opening out of his bag and rang it. I don't even remember when he got that, it must have been quite some time ago. Anyway, the chime was successfully able to unlock the table. Upon lifting off the cover a colourful illusion appeared, a three dimensional map of the Terror Isles. There were a few different kinds of markers on the map. Most of them were a faint blue with a purple edge, seemingly markers for different [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] outposts given that the one we visited earlier was marked in this way. There were two types, square and circle, with the latter of which having names. It stands to reason that the circles indicate larger, more populated areas. There was a single square marker with a name, "Fort Va'ell". This fort is not on a land mass, and is instead floating above the water about fifty miles south east of us. We quickly came to the conclusion that this is some sort of a floating outpost and was where the airship had come from. In the central mountain range of the land mass we are close to there was a red line with a red diamond in the middle. Given the path of the leyline, it is likely that this mark is [[Zarkisor Castle]]. On the outermost islands there are small bits of text without any specific location markings. Abadar Gate, Torag Gate, Asmodeus Gate, and Nethys Gate. As you should know these are the names of gods from [[The Ring]]. It is currently unclear as to what these are. My theory is that they are similar to the planar gates I had heard about in [[The Ring]]'s inner sea. There is one other notable point on the map; I've saved the best, or worst, for last. Right where [[Wilborin|Wil]] and [[Kitsuki Nagahashi|I]] had pinpointed the source of the effect blocking planar travel, there was a mark. It was the largest of the marks and had a purple centre with a blue ring around it. The text next to it marked the location as [[Ahs Asuman]]. That, my dear readers, is the missing fifth [[Ancient Elven Miracle Cities|Miracle City]] of the [[Mithral Empire]]. It was capable of flight, and the people within [[The Ring]] had assumed it had crashed into the ocean during [[The Elven War of Shattering]], lost to history alongside the [[Mithral Empire|Empire]] that created it. These are not scattered remnants of the [[Mithral Empire]]. No, the Terror Isles are a multiple millennia old stronghold that houses a hydra long thought to be eradicated. It was clear that this mapping table was capable of being modified with up to date information, but we did not know how. Once again [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]]'s faded knowledge of his old [[Mithral Empire|empire]] allowed him to quickly work out the answer. Below the table there was a trace of incredibly small runes inscribed upon the floor which led out and to the main mast. There were two contact points on the edge of the mast which [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] claimed would connect to some large device. Since it might be possible for us to get updates or at least manually modify the map, we decided to take the table, which [[Arkai]] was able to take down to [[Ad Majestas]] with little difficulty. It was still unclear if we were going to take the [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] ship, and with the last of the items being ferried over it was time to come to a conclusion. To cut through the debate I called down to [[Zuzanna]] for her input. With a pained look in her eyes she told us that speed would not matter, everyone would either be dead, captured, or safe underwater. This settled the matter quickly, and we decided to stick to the safety of [[Ad Majestas]]. Before we left, [[Badda]] had one more treat for whoever found the ship. Using bombs they had prepared early in the day they rigged the ship to explode the moment anyone stepped foot on it. It was expertly done, using the floorboards as triggers for the explosives. Even I would have a hard time spotting the trap. The only unfortunate part is that we won't be able to see the explosion when it happens. It had only been fifteen minutes at most since we had left [[Ad Majestas]], but it had felt like hours. When we stepped back on board I noticed that [[Zuzanna]] was wearing the Communication Pendant. Heading below deck we found [[Anoretta]] balled up in a corner, weeping as [[Erris Solé|Erris]] did her best to comfort her. [[Wilborin|Wil]] took over as [[Badda]]'s helper with the engine as to not interrupt. Getting to [[Phoenix's Cradle]] as soon as possible was still our top priority, as we needed to retrieve whatever bodies we could, and find anyone freezing in the water. By overdriving the engines we were able to make the trip in two and a half hours. While we sailed I got the full rundown of what happened from [[Zuzanna]]. The moment that our fight started, so did the one on [[Phoenix's Cradle]]. Getting a clear description from [[Anoretta]] at the time was difficult, but from what [[Zuzanna]] could gather, [[Phoenix's Cradle]] had already been surrounded by invisible assailants when they received the threat. Most of the crew died in an instant from the first spell that was cast. It was a massacre. There was no doubt in my mind, we must contact [[The Horizon Fleet]]. If it is at all possible we should try to use Sending. If push comes to shove however, we will have to go to the edge of the planar locking effect and Send from there. I told [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] and [[Wilborin|Wil]] to focus their efforts on trying to get a Sending out, and gave them the following message for any early attempts. >[!Proposed Sending] >[[Mithral Empire]] remains. Send all combatants immediately. [[Ahs Asuman]] middle island. Known slaves. Outposts all islands. [[Phoenix's Cradle|Cradle]] Sunk. Airships. Getting Response Questionable. No quarter. Fifteen minutes into our travel [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]] spotted a faint spot of fire through the darkness of midnight and a snow storm. There was no sight of any airship, but it was too far out at that time. Thirty minutes later the storm had begun to die down, and [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]] was able to spot a trail of smoke in the air. It started fairly low and close to [[Phoenix's Cradle]], and slowly ascended into the clouds heading south east. His guess was that the airship had been damaged during the attack. Once we were about fifteen minutes out from [[Phoenix's Cradle]] he could see that it was still floating, though it was on fire and listing. In the distance he could see a faint structure in the sky, but without any reference for scale he was having a hard time working out just how far it was. [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] had an idea that I didn't quite understand which used atmospheric haze that the two of them promptly used to calculate the distance. It was over thirty miles away and very large, almost certainly the sky fort Va'Ell. Searching for bodies only by looking out the front glass wasn't going to be enough. [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] and [[Kitsuki Nagahashi|I]] geared up to go diving in hopes of finding our officers and crew, alive or dead. Before we went out through the hatch [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]] gave me the voice activated lamp that he had bought from the [[Republic of Sauresh|Sarenian]] trinkets ship. As a sort of beacon [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] maintained focus on Dancing Lights out the front of [[Ad Majestas]] from the navigation area. [[Wilborin|Wil]] was also in the navigation area, keeping an eye out as well. There was a lot of debris, which lead to a frustrating amount of false positives. About ten minutes into our search [[Wilborin|Wil]] spotted a flicker of light from three hundred feet below us. To point [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] and [[Kitsuki Nagahashi|I]] in the right direction [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] formed an arrow with the Dancing Lights and we quickly headed down. As the two of us got close the blurry figures slowly came into view, two close to each other, and two floating aimlessly in the currents. Holding tightly to each other were [[Drafna]] and [[Ravali]], both alive. The other bodies were of two crew members, both dead in a position that looked as though they were hugging themselves disturbingly tightly. Once I moved to within approximately sixty feet of them [[Ravali]]'s head suddenly snapped up, sensing my magic, and she held her hand out in my direction as though she was trying to cast a spell. [[Drafna]] was completely catatonic, and [[Ravali]] couldn't see who I was. To make it clear that I was not there to hurt them I cast Mage Hand, entwining it's fingers with [[Ravali]]'s outstretched hand. At first it scared her, but when the hand did not go away she realized what it meant. While I guided [[Ravali]] and [[Drafna]] up I pointed [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] to the two remaining bodies. She understood the message and began to drag them up as well. The entire swim I could tell that [[Drafna]] was repeating the same thing, over, and over again, while clutching the Communication Pendant. Without air in his lungs it was impossible for me to understand what he was whispering. It only became clear what he was saying once we returned to [[Ad Majestas]] and Water Breathing had magically expelled air from our lungs. "They cast Desiccate" [[Drafna]] kept repeating, the answer as to what had killed our crew. A horrifying spell which effects any number of people the caster can see, sucking the moisture out of their bodies until they are just a husk. The safety of [[Ad Majestas]] did nothing to help him out of the state of shock. Of all [[Phoenix's Cradle]]'s crew, [[Drafna]] was the only one without combat experience. In hopes of helping both him and [[Anoretta]], I brought the two of them together. [[Anoretta]] immediately latched onto [[Drafna]] and kept crying with him in her arms, no break in [[Drafna]]'s constant muttering. When I passed by, [[Zuzanna]] had taken off the Communication Pendant as [[Drafna]]'s constant messages were too much for even her to bear. Despite the brave face that [[Ravali]] had put on, she too was in a deep state of shock. The moment that [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]] took her arm she broke down crying. Through the sobs she told us that [[Eisen Ravenor|Eisen]] and [[Captain Thelvi|Thelvi]] were dead, and their bodies were taken. Before he died [[Ravali]] managed to heal [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]], so he should have been captured alive. That likely explains the trail of smoke coming from the airship. There is no way [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] would go down without a brutal fight. While [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] and [[Kitsuki Nagahashi|I]] were collecting people from the depths, [[Wilborin|Wil]] and [[Arkai]] went up to [[Phoenix's Cradle]] to recover what bodies they could. [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]] had spotted a few on the top deck of the ship, and the flames were quickly burning them away. By casting a spell on [[Arkai]], the two of them were able to speed up to the surface and collect what they could. They managed to save six corpses, all in a similar position to the ones we found in the water though unlike those we found these were shriveled and dried husks. The two of them also found one of the ship's two undead servants just standing on the lower deck, completely unharmed. [[Phoenix's Cradle]] had eleven non-officer crew, so in total we lost the bodies of three to the fire. Working out what we will need to resurrect our crew will have to wait until tomorrow. One thing we could do today was get a grasp on the spirit situation. I asked [[Badda]] to perform a quick check on the situation with their abilities to contact spirits. Despite being exhausted they got right to it, sitting down, closing their eyes, and entering a trance. They broke out of it rather quickly, the screams of the terrified spirits inlaid upon their ears. The spirits were looking for the Ethereal Plane, and their inability to find it left them in anguish. To both calm them and corral them, we were going to need some sort of strong magical beacon. Breaking a powerful magical item in a specific would work for certain, but obviously we would prefer not to if possible. There is a possibility that [[Arkai]] could serve as a beacon, but he would need to swap to whatever power source is emanating from [[Ahs Asuman]]. It is possible for [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]]'s soul cage to act as a beacon as well. He was willing, but did say that just seems like too risky of an idea though. All in all, more research is needed. But now it is time to sleep. We got to [[Phoenix's Cradle]] at well past one in the morning. I am absolutely exhausted. ![[BtS-143-2.png]] --- #### Abadius 18th, 2431AS While we somberly ate breakfast this morning, [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] recounted what he had done during the night with the extra few hours that his mechanical physiology has granted him. First he went through the spell book which we found in hopes that it might have a modified version of the Sending spell in it. Upon opening the book [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] was met with a searing mental pain as he felt a non-existent hand begin to tighten around his his spine and skull. It is some sort of curse which with a bit of assistance [[Ravali]] should be able to remove. As for the contents of the book, it did not have the Sending spell in it. Interestingly all of the spells were very old school, with only minor modifications to modernize them. With that lead mostly dead [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] decided to just try casting Sending. Unsurprisingly it failed to find any connection. After thinking on it he then began to modify the spell to follow some more old school spell patterns to see if it would help. Upon casting it in that way he could tell that things were a bit different, but there was not enough energy to overcome the effect that is blocking the spell. After I reminded everyone of the [[Asereth Dynasty|Asethi]] methods of drawing on leylines, we came to the conclusion that if we are able to tap into a minor branch of the nearby major leyline, we should have enough energy to overcome the spell being blocked. As luck would have it, following fort Va'Ell on their current course should put us near some of those minor branches. As we were wrapping up the Sending conversation, [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] suddenly received one. Standing up he planted his hands on the table he growled his response before telling us the message he had received. >[!Sending between a Star and Avrec] >Star: Why did you resist your rescue beloved friend? I only wish to help. come home. Come back to us. Let me help you. > >[[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]]: You sank my ship, killed members of my crew. I'll rip that crown from your head and lay to rest our mistakes in this world. Once breakfast was finished [[Zuzanna]] came up to ask us for our plans. Boarding fort Va'Ell is now our primary goal, so we asked her to have [[Ad Majestas]] follow it. It would be best for us to attempt our Sending to [[Lady Irorika Galvira|Irorika]] before our assault, so [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]], [[Wilborin|Wil]], and [[Kitsuki Nagahashi|I]] spent the day working on that. Reviving our dead crew at the current moment simply is not a good idea, we do not have the space, the air, or the money for them. While [[Ravali]] did agree with this sentiment, it was still an incredibly awful one. So she excused herself, and alongside [[Badda]] and [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]], helped [[Drafna]] out of his state of shock throughout the course of the day. By evening [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]], [[Wilborin|Wil]], and [[Kitsuki Nagahashi|I]] had worked out the details for the ritual required to channel energy from the Leyline into [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] for him to cast a spell. At least as much as we can until we arrive at the leyline. We are now sure of our calculations, the plan should work. Within the next couple of days we should hopefully be able to find a minor leyline branch of adequate size. We took the rest of the time until dinner to identify the magical items we had taken, something that [[Wilborin|Wil]] surprisingly needed assistance with. The way these magical items functioned were still somewhat foreign to him, despite his extensive history with [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] artifacts. It doesn't help that these items are extremely powerful, which makes them more difficult to identify. The following is a list of all items we had taken: - Black Dragonhide Buckler - Dagger with Greater Striking, Greater Potency, Shock, and Returning Runes - Breastplate with Potency and Resilient runes - Chain shirt with Potency and Resilient runes - Clear Quartz Crystal ball - Bag of Marvelous Medicines - Ring of Lies - Two Greater Healing Potions - A Fifth Rank wand of Lightning Bolt The components used to make the Black Dragonhide Buckler are clearly very expensive, and given that none of us use shields, we have agreed to break it down into crafting components. As the person with the most medical training [[Badda]] has taken the bag of Marvelous Medicines. I took the Ring of Lies for what I hope are obvious reasons. Later into the day I saw [[Nhox Cropslown|Nhox]] eyeing the dagger, possibly as a replacement for her Blink Dagger. The Clear Quartz Crystal ball is capable of scrying to a degree that none of us are capable of, so it will be kept on the ship for everyone to use as needed. It is unclear as to what will happen with the other items, however it may be a good idea to break the armours in such a way to use them as spiritual beacons. Speaking of spirits, once [[Drafna]] was up and moving around [[Badda]] went to ask the spirits in the area about fort Va'Ell. They received some fantastic information, learning that it is a large, multi floor mobile fortress, either as large or as complex as all the ships from [[The Horizon Fleet]] put together. Strangely enough this information came from the spirit of a sapient extraplanar being. I'm sure that piece of information will become relevant at some point in the future, but right now I am not sure of what to do with it. Just before dinner [[Ad Majestas]] surfaced for air, and thanks to some phenomenal work from [[Badda]] and [[Erris Solé|Erris]], we now have thirty four hours of air. The two extra living people are putting a bit of extra stress on the system, but it is amazing that we can go so long. Being on the surface even just for the thirty minutes of maintenance and air refilling was fairly nerve wracking, but to our knowledge nobody spotted us. Once the ship had resubmerged we allowed ourselves and the rest of the crew to relax and eat some food. Soon after everyone was finished eating I brought them all down to the navigation area for a speech. After what had happened yesterday some things needed to be said. > What happened yesterday was horrible, and I am sorry. It was not an outcome that we had ever anticipated. From the moment we split the two ships up we made mistake after mistake in our decision making. We underestimated what we were going up against, and I want you all to know that it will not happen again. Before I could continue [[Zuzanna]] interjected, "It was a failure, but do not take the blame upon yourself. This was beyond what could have been anticipated and there is a difference between making mistakes, and being outplayed". I disagree, from the moment there was any inkling of an idea that the [[Mithral Empire]] was here we should have been as careful as possible. Splitting the ships, investigating the seaside fort, and most of all not rendezvousing with [[Phoenix's Cradle]] upon learning that they were being chased were all mistakes. It was not time to argue this however, it was time to move forward. I kept those thoughts to myself and continued my speech. > Regardless, what matters now is how we move forwards. We will spare no expense in Resurrecting all of those that we can. [[Eisen Ravenor|Eisen]], [[Captain Thelvi|Thevli]], and [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] have been captured and taken to a fort in the sky. In the coming days we *will* rescue them. In fact, I fully intend to send their fortress falling into the ocean. These people are the [[Mithral Empire]], the hydra of legend which [[The Stormwall|Purgatory]] was created to imprison. Their sentence is unfulfilled, and the gods have told us so. We are the ones destined by those mighty above us to administer punishment for their escape. The [[Mithral Empire]] is an evil, vile beast which deserves to be eradicated for the atrocities it has committed. We will be sending a message out for backup from any and all nations which will support us. We will give them **no quarter**. As silence fell once again upon [[Ad Majestas]] it was [[Badda]] who first spoke up. "So... that one rule... I don't need to wait for them to attack first anymore?" they said, a faint smile visible on their face. Once we're going into places that are not explicitly military emplacements I'll change things a bit. For now though, I told them that no, they do not have to wait. [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] then stepped up, not to say anything, but to use the Clear Quartz Crystal Ball. From what [[Ravali]] had told us [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] was alive, so we could scry on him to see the situation. With his hands on the ball [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] activated it, announcing all that he could see. The vision opened to show [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] being escorted by two [[Mithral Empire|Mithi]] marines. He was covered in anti-magic manacles linking his legs, arms, hands, and neck. There was even a mask which tightly sealed the lower half of his head. The signs of battle were still on him, he had been provided no healing or medical attention. It was clear he had been caught by Desiccate as well. The marines were walking [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] along an extremely windy platform, presumably on the fort which was clearly high in the sky. He was brought to a large central structure, upon which the marines spoke to some guards for a moment. While they were distracted [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] stepped back a bit which brought something else into the Scry. Carried upon a floating arcane disk, [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] saw [[Captain Thelvi|Thelvi]]'s distinctly armored legs. To be clear they were still attached to his body, the spell just prevented [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] from seeing his whole body. Finally, as the spell was about to run out [[Andrii Khareno Roi|Andrii]] was guided through a fairly serious checkpoint before being taken down an elevator in the central building. Our officers are still being held captive, and we know exactly where. Getting that far into the sky while being unnoticed might be difficult, but I know we can do it. The whole situation is definitely a trap, but it is one we will walk into knowingly and prepared. While everyone was dispersing I took [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] to the side. There was something he needed to be told. "They would have attacked no matter what." I whispered, knowing it was the only reason I wasn't about to chew him out further. "The order to sink, that was upon seeing your visage." I almost growled, "Do not make the same mistake again". [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] turned his eyes towards me, acknowledging my warning without answering. Hopefully he properly understands the situation and was not being quiet simply to avoid confrontation. Returning to normal volume I mentioned my concerns about [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] being scryed upon. [[Zuzanna]] turned to mention that there are runes built into [[Ad Majestas]] which specifically block scrying. Unfortunately we have to consider that our enemy's magic may be powerful enough to bypass the effect, so adding on another layer of protection could be a good idea. Everyone agreed with that sentiment, so instead of heading to his room, [[Avrec Rishten|Avrec]] decided to take a seat in the corner of the galley to sleep in. This was a good spot for casting Peaceful Bubble such that he could still be reached, but would be even more safe from Scrying. It also let [[Drafna]] take a proper bed to help with his recovery. Obviously [[Ravali]] has been staying with [[Gideon Roi|Gideon]] (and [[Badda]]). ![[BtS-143-3.png]] >[!Recap Note] >Goodbye [[Phoenix's Cradle]]. You shall not be forgotten. The ship that helped vanquish [[Vanathor Aunor]].