Amarthiel (Patrick)

26 Tenthmoon. Illmythil Outpost. Amarthiel Eldasilquendil. The first mission we did was search for missing Morganti weapons around the outpost. I was late to the inn this moon, and as such did not get a rundown of the general goings-on and do not know which innkeeper talked to us and what they said. On the way there we met a researcher who was struggling with some magically infused scalpels that appeared to be overheating for an unknown reason. They were using regular oven mitts and having a hard time because they were so hot. It seems that under normal circumstances they would be able to use a magelore item and stafftouch to be able to pick up something that hot without incident, but when they did so today the crystalline in the magelore item exploded. The scalpels also needed to be moved every so often or they would explode. I believe we directed the researcher to bring the items towards a safe magical disposal location elsewhere in the outpost. A few of us left briefly to escort the researcher there. They all seemed to make it there and back without incident. This continues the trend we’ve noticed of general magical warping. Last month we encountered a researcher wearing magical boots that had their effects entirely reversed. Normally, these boots let the individual wearing them walk faster, but when we encountered the researcher they were walking as if they were in deep, thick mud, on account of the boots. There are further disruptions we’ve observed across sources and scapes that indicates that this disruption is wide-reaching. More on this later. When we arrived at the section where the Morganti items went missing, we found it a little tricky to navigate at first. There was a mix of what appeared to be disrupted research experiments and magical, purposeful pranks. The pranks mostly consisted of little traps that would make some kind of small, usually glittery explosion when they were triggered. The good news was that the pranks were harmless and the disrupted experiments appeared relatively inert. That being said, the first few minutes of our searching were definitely somewhat tense as we contended with these unknown and potentially dangerous factors. There also appears to be a little tension brewing with the regular townsfolk of the outpost. There was an individual attempting to fix many broken doors to classrooms in various states of disarray. This individual was very frustrated by an apparent lack of attention from various higher-ups around. They disliked how many resources were consumed by this king's disappearance investigation and seemed to feel left behind and ignored. It may be worth tending to more mundane needs to ensure these people feel seen and avoid any kind of future incidents. On the other hand, it is understandable to want to tend to the higher-level, deeper issues at play around the outpost. I am not entirely sure myself what to make of this situation. It feels bad to ignore these people but it is also incredibly difficult to resist the possibility of making a bigger impact. Our search was slow-moving but ultimately productive. Part of the issue was that the weapons did not emit their normal aura of soul fear until they were found, and even then the soul fear was not encounter-wide. There were three weapons that went missing and we were able to locate all three. I found the first one, a tiny dagger, in a cupboard in one of the aforementioned run-down classrooms. Funnily enough, my Morganti wound from the demon moons ago ended up being quite helpful, as I had a sort of metaphysical connection to the substance that I was able to combine with my area search skills to narrow down the location of the weapon quite a bit. The dagger itself was warped and scarred white all up and down the blade. This is very unusual as Morganti is commonly known for its general difficulty to destroy and interact with. I also felt as though my calming spirit was somehow impacting the weapon in a way I did not understand. As such, once I found the weapon, I stayed put for a while in the little corner where I found it to keep it safe and also avoid causing some kind of panic by being out and about with the weapon. Even after I began to roam around again, I was very focused on keeping the weapon safe so I do not have a ton to say about what else occurred during the search. The next weapon was found by Calypso Ferin Marenstreld, or Cal for short. I believe she found it in a sort of kitchen area. I was not able to learn much about how she found it, but I did sense a belief from the group that the weapon appeared later in the encounter in a location we had already searched. This weapon was longer, closer to perhaps a broadsword in length. This weapon also had a similar scarring and warping. Cal ended up letting me hold onto this weapon as well on account of my calming spirit effect. We returned to the inn with the understanding that we had not succeeded all the way, having only found two out of three weapons. Once in the inn, however, a child who wished to remain anonymous pulled me aside and presented the third Morganti weapon from under his cloak. This one was a blade on the shorter end of the spectrum, perhaps closest to a long stiletto or shortsword, that also had the same scarring and warping as the other two. He seemed paranoid and sensitive to some sort of vague bad person out there getting ahold of the weapon. In general, the child is quite concerned about secrecy. I was a little frustrated and concerned that the child had located the weapon and kept it from us but also relieved and honored that he trusted me enough to hand the weapon off to me. When we returned we spoke with Samaníl, who, as always, had us do the trust/don’t trust discussion exercise again. I spoke with a new face, an elf who did not give a name but instead described something along the lines of they are one who sees over the forest and through the wilds. I spent a lot of my time in the inn speaking with the child and trying to poke at this new individual to see what they were like and how to interpret what they were saying, so I did not get much discussion in. We ended up voting to investigate a strange whistling noise heard from a cave up in the mountains. At this point Samaníl pulled me aside and escorted me to a researcher named Lathíl Ansumnar1, who was in charge of the weapons and is a notable Morganti researcher.. I stayed behind while the cave mission was going on to speak with him. He informed me that Morganti has a sort of 1 *[OUT OF GAME NOTE: This may not be the correct name. If my notes are accurate Kim was not able to locate this person’s name in the moment. As such, I am going off of Benjamin’s list of researcher names/descriptions. If this is confirmed / denied at any point I will reupload with the correct name] sentience, which explains why my calming spirit was able to impact the weapons. He commented that he had not seen such warping or scarring before, and also mentioned that the Morganti weapons had been locked up overnight before going missing. Lathíl then described that under normal circumstances, Morganti does have some regenerative properties. It is sort of hard to describe. He said that it heals relatively quickly but over a long period of time. What I think this means is that Morganti operates on a very long time scale so from the weapon’s perspective it heals pretty quickly but this would be quite long for any person. It seemed relatively similar to the difference between how an illion elf and a human would experience time, only much more exaggerated. Lathíl pulled out a few tools, some heavy duty hand / eye protection, and began poking at the weapons and listening for unusual sounds. He used a hammer and chisel and a sort of thin scratching tool, which made a terrible, terrible noise when touching the scarring. He polished them with alchemicals to see if the scarring would come out. He also heated up an incredibly hot fire and placed the blades briefly within it. None of these seemed to have a major effect on fixing the scarring or warping. During this testing, the weapons started to flicker with a strange sense of what can only be described as reverse soul fear. It felt as though the usual fear that the weapons exuded outwards was instead turned inwards, as if the weapons themselves were perhaps afraid. This a very worrisome prospect considering Morganti is perhaps the most destructive, durable, and scary substance in the world. As we moved into another room the weapons seemed Lathíl also noted that he had not observed the soul fear effect being modified in this way or being turned on and off this way before. He said to the weapons something along the lines of “Have you been holding out on me? Can you control it?”. I am not sure if this personalization was simply a habit or a turn of phrase the way sailors refer to their ships as “she” or if it was his intent to truly interrogate the weapons. After this moment, he let me return to the adventuring party. I agreed to return to his quarters multiple times over the next moon to sit with the weapons and see how my calming spirit impacts them over time. I am not sure exactly how the sentience of these weapons works, but if they are thinking and feeling individuals then I hope I am able to bring them peace. While I was speaking with Lathíl, the group went to investigate the whistling cave up in the mountains. I do not know much of what occurred on this mission, only that some of us did not make it back to town. The sense I got was that those who were lost apparently either went deeper into the cave, went into the spirit scape, or both. I believe on the way back from the cave the party observed a dragon flying overhead, looking around. These are incredibly rare sightings. As such, the next thing we all did was ascend to the top of one of the mage towers and tried to see if we could get its attention. It flew around in a circle, seemingly looking around or investigating. It flew close to us briefly but we did not really manage to capture its attention or impact it in any visible way. It flew off uneventfully. The final mission of the day was heading to the Naurë river to speak with the Elithu(Fey Spirit?) of the river and cash in on a favor a researcher had. I was not present on this mission. It seems as though the group was able to come to an arrangement to learn information regarding the King’s disappearance. I would check the next moon’s issue of the Illmythil Inquirer or speak with Elethir directly for more information. She was on that mission and normally takes good notes on what happened. You can also speak with Maddia if you are curious about the fey, as he apparently has some sort of connection to them and seems to understand them on a more emotional level. Overall, as I mentioned earlier, this moon’s events indicated to me that the King’s disappearance is connected to a quite far-reaching and generally unheard of disruption to the world. The state of the Morganti weapons indicates that this disruption is able to impact things that are primal. The cave mission indicates that there is a disruption affecting the spirit scape as well. I do not know much about dragons but I have a vague sense they are powerful and quite knowledgeable. A dragon appearing to us seemingly confused or at the very least curious indicates to me that whatever we are facing is unprecedented and entirely new in nature. I have heard rumblings from the group that perhaps we are facing something to do with the Brilliant Faces, a group of deities from another world or plane previously seen in the Syenon region of Falnorian. Perhaps the King made some sort of sacrifice or arrangement and is bringing them into this world. I am not sure what to make of this. Going forward I believe it will be important to keep an open mind and assume that precedence and previous incidents may not be very helpful in dealing with whatever threat is presented to us. I look forward to the next moon. Thank you for reading. Amarthiel Eldasilquendil.