The Vega Bridge
Plank Walkways
Found in Vega Bridge South
I am finally finished with the construction of the plank walkways connecting the disjointed Vega Bridge. Hopefully this makes it easier for travelers to come and go down this ancient and hallowed route, and doesn't just benefit the Ancient Guardians. I had to kill countless in order to install these makeshift bridges, but the Ancient Guardians resurrect as humans do, in a puff of blue azoth smoke.
Conscripted Guardians
Found in Vega Bridge South
The Ancient Guardians who watch over this bridge seem bound here eternally by their Ancient masters. What a cursed existence, forced to wander the same stretch of stone for all time in defense of a civilization that no longer exists. How were the Ancient Guardians conscripted? Were the Ancients cruel masters or benevolent ones? How I wish these chittering skeletons were chatty, instead of just clacking about their bones.
Starcrossed Meeting
Found in Vega Bridge North
Vega, the brightest star of the constellation Lyra, shines luminously tonight over the bridge. I asked you to meet me here but you are nowhere to be found. Have you forgotten me? Or worse yet, do you remember me with malcontent? I will wait here until midnight for you, praying to see your face once more.
Moonstruck Longing
Found in Vega Bridge North
The moon over the Vega Bridge is a sight to see, but no sight could ever be as lovely as thee. We are of rival towns, Periville and Taryville, but here on this bridge between us I know neither name, know neither clan nor creed. Here is a place where, Ancient Guardians avoided, we can be free.
Taryville Tales
Turkey Racing
Found in Taryville
Those no-good, down-low, rotten fiends from Periville got me again last night. We were betting on which turkey could run the fastest across the tavern and of course the turkey Ma caught was slow as molasses. Told her not to be so rough when catching it, it's not like turkeys can heal their wounds at a campfire like people can. It was flopping and flapping all over, running in circles as the Periville swine took my coin and laughed. I'll get them next time. Next time, I'll catch the turkey myself and slip it a haste potion for good measure.
Town Rivalry
Found in Taryville
I think our little town rivalry is starting to make Flores batty. I see it on his face when we come into the bar. He's a good man, a good barkeep to let us take drinks out on debt to him, but his patience is wearing thin, I can tell. The last brawl between the Periville boys and us ended in a broken chair and now Flores expects us both to cough up the coin to replace it. Where does he expect us to scrounge up that much? He's a good man, I swear it, but he's growing tired of the fighting.
Piscarian Life
Alligator Menace
Found in Piscarian Fishery
As if there isn't enough to worry about on this forsaken island, now the alligators are encroaching upon our humble fishery. I haven't the slightest what could have caused this migration in their hunting patterns, but it might have something to do with the rumored illnesses sweeping in from the west. If the alligators don't have plentiful, healthy food in the waters it only makes sense they would come to where we've baited the swampwater for years. I hide my hound inside now, and refuse to let him into the Fen without my observing. The last thing I need is a confused, resurrected animal on my hands, too.
A Disease of the Flesh
Found in Piscarian Fishery
My suspicions were correct. The fish of the Fen have developed a yellow tinge to them, sickly and paler than I've ever seen them. This must be what poisons the people and drives the alligators towards our fishery. I do not know how much longer we can remain here with our main source of food fallen to disease.
Pirate Logs
Sea Shanty
Found in La Escamilla
Oh come ye lads and lasses with eyes all bonnie bright! To hear a tale that gives ev'ry living sailor fright!
There is an island eternal surrounded by storm! And just once will we warn...
To stay away if you value your life!
Aeternum, Aeternum, land of the living dead! Aeternum, Aeternum, just ship me home instead!
Cargo Manifest
Found in La Escamilla
Two crates of gold ingots, three of silver, and six of iron. Should be enough to barter with anyone we encounter and keep our weapons in top repair.
Keep a close eye on the grog supply, Mattheson has been lingering suspiciously around the cargo hold and we all know what he's after.
Karburg's Poetry
Fen of Folly, Fen of Sorrow
Found in Karburg
Fen of folly, Fen of sorrow With no promise of tomorrow
Beloved Fen we call our home In the morning swamplight how it shone
Upon the face of my lady love Song sweeter than a dove
Fen of folly, Fen of sorrow How I long to see tomorrow
Pox Dirge
Found in Karburg
My lady love, stricken with pox No more luster in her locks Here she lies with herbs anointed While my thoughts remain disjointed If the Alchemist doesn't save her, no one can And I will be left but half a man
Hazel's Diary
Secrets
Found in Weaver's Fen
The fen speaks its secrets to those who are still and willing to listen. It is the settlers and those who came before that I fear will not hear it.
- H
Forgotten Words
Found in Weaver's Fen
I met a settler who spoke to me in the tongue of my people, but I pretended not to understand. That life feels far away now, and they are not my family any longer. I think he saw that I understood, yet respected my silence.
- H
A Reluctant Gift
Found in Weaver's Fen
I came up another lost in the Fen. I cannot say I pitied him, but I resolved to help him. I placed a small sack of food and healing herbs in his path where he might find it, and piled rocks pointing to the Ancient Road.
- H
A Gift Returned
Found in Weaver's Fen
Weeks had passed when the same man who had wandered lost came again. At first, I thought he had come seeking another gift, but instead he lay down a leather bundle of his own, then placed a ring of flowers about it. He was thanking me.
– H
Lake’s Second Vistor
Found in Weaver's Fen
I saw a hunter, a woman bound for the Lake. I did not leave a gift, for she did not seem she needed it. I wonder what she creature she hunted amongst the trees that encircle the crater.
– H
Strange Banners
Found in Weaver's Fen
I saw the banners of a king held by the troops as they marched along the road. To each tradesman and fisherman, they greeted kindly. They did not seem to be marching to a destination, but sought to meet the people of the Fen. I fear what they bring with them.
They are not evil-looking men. Not yet.
– H
The Black Ridge
Found in Weaver's Fen
Hunters of the Fen and the people from the West of the isle seek to capture the ridge on the hill, I see that now. They move quietly through the Fen, and while I wish no more blood spilled here, I left gifts and markers in their path. While I am hesitant of their intentions, the ones they go to fight I fear more.
– H
The Desperate Man
Found in Weaver's Fen
I saw a man today from the South, his beard thick, his eyes filled with fear. He was not seeking something, he was running from it.
As he ran, he cast away his garments, as if trying to run from them as well. I thought perhaps he was mad, then I saw the gold and the crest and knew he was trying to flee his homeland, just as I had.
– H
This Devil’s Peak
Found in Weaver's Fen
I traveled North long ago, to a mountain that was touched by poison. The mountain loomed over all, and in its shadow, smaller shadows toiled.
I thought it a land of the dead, where those on this isle go to die – but it was the mountain that I feared most.
- H
Now Devil’s Crown
Found in Weaver's Fen
When I gathered courage and I returned to the mountain years later. Perhaps ten summers had passed. Perhaps a hundred. But the mountain had grown angry, and now wore a stone crown that rested in the air above it.
In its shadow labored a greater collection of shadows than ever, industrious as ants upon a corpse, feeding a queen that I could not see.
– H
Corpses Feeding on Their Own
Found in Weaver's Fen
The living dead, their eyes red with corruption have come to feed apon the corpses. We shall never be rid of them, another curse in the marsh, as if we needed one.
- H
The Talisman
Found in Weaver's Fen
I found a strange talisman today in the pocket of a desiccated corpse. Squared corners, shaved bezels. An evil visage glared back as I wiped clean the mud. I cast it away into the Fen, where none might find it.
- H
The Grave
Found in Weaver's Fen
Where I cast the talisman, the mud of the hillock had grown a strange red moss, as if the talisman had struck it and the hillock was now bleeding.
Yet when I prodded the moss with a stick, countless holes in the moss opened up, like tiny, suckling, hungry mouths, each one seeking to drink in all that was around it.
The talisman… it had given birth to a horror that stained the marsh. I lit a fire on the skin of the moss, using the oils of the Fen and watched the evil smoke rise into the air as the moss twitched and writhed.
- H
The Journey
Found in Weaver's Fen
The Journey back to the lake was a mortal risk, undertaken for the regents I need to heal the child. Hiding from torchlight behind narrow trees, I narrowly avoided the patrols of the strange and evil looking men.
- H
Blood Waters
Found in Weaver's Fen
The evil-looking men walk in the waters of the Fen that run red. Countless battles, yet they wade through it without a care, as if it strengthens them.
- H
The Crater
Found by the Lake of Mallory's Notch
The moon gleamed back, reflecting the perfect round of the lake. I found the otherworldly plants needed for my oils, but lingered for the splendor of the blue lit cliffs dancing above the water.
- H
Battle in the Pass
Found in Weaver's Fen
Their battle still rages in the pass. Traveling back to the Ancient Capital will require going through the desert now.
- H
The Beast
Found in Weaver's Fen
The soldiers threw themselves at the demon, dying by the dozen as his mystical fires raged. The sacrifice was perhaps too great for this harrowed marsh.
- H
Tired
Found in Hazel's Cave
Though my eyes are as strong as when I first gazed upon the sea, and my legs are as strong as the day I first walked on these shores, I have an old woman’s heart. I have seen much I cannot unsee with these young woman’s eyes. The Fen is stained with blood. More settlers have come. They will only know peace for a single beat in the long, long, heartbeat of the isle.
I could leave again, for elsewhere, but there is no where to go, and I do not have the will.
It is not a sad thing. It is not a helpless thing. The only place I wish to be is here, upon this isle, and I ask it to accept me. I shall sleep and dream of its shores, its waters, and the songs in the Fen. And I shall hope that others come to hear it as I do, and finally, let go.
- H
Fishing for Trouble
Playing Pirates
Found in Fisher's End
Pa says I shouldn't play pirates by the water but what else am I supposed to do? There's water everywhere! All the grown-ups are scared because the fish turned that funny color, but I'm not scared of no yellow-bellied fish. I like boar stew better anyway.
Three Days
Found in Fisher's End
It has been three days since the boy's disappearance and Timothy remains inconsolable. We have sent search parties throughout the Fen every day and every night, but to no avail. It's as if the waters parted to swallow the boy up, not leaving body nor soul anywhere to be found. We are running dangerously low on red meat supplies and may be reduced to eating the diseased fish lest we go mad with hunger. I am almost grateful the boy isn't here to see this, but nothing breaks the heart quite like hearing a father cry.
Canopus Expedition
Blue Flames in the Distance
Dear Kemal,
Do you ever wonder about the blue flames in the distance? As Overseer I know you have little time to spend exploring and foraging like the rest of us with your duties to attend to, but do you ever wonder? Or is that too much for your flitting heart to handle? I speak of it fondly, for I know it well. I am putting together an expedition to the ruins of Canopus to the east and wish for you to give this journey your blessing.
Your friend, Yusuf.
Ancient Immunity
Found in Canopus
Day 16 of the Canopus Expedition has been met with critical failure.
While the Ancient Guardians are immune to the contamination that sweeps the Fen, our fleshy bodies are not. We lost three men today and when they came back they were duller, slower in wits. I fear they are withering, and that we will have to leave them behind when it comes time to return to the settlement. I have begun to develop hives on my right arm where it was slashed open by an Ancient Guardian, and fear I am next to die and come back with less than I started with. We are no closer to understanding the blue flames, and instead have one stepped one foot into our graves.
Providence have mercy on us all.
