Author Topic: A Gray Notebook  (Read 441 times)

Lion El'Jonson

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A Gray Notebook
« on: November 16, 2021, 04:19:26 PM »
The entries are neat with good handwriting, though the subject of the notes vary widely.

Quote
Page 1

The Core

Having been taken from my home world, or perhaps stumbling away from it, I find myself in what is colloquially referred to as 'The Core'. The name of the specific nation I found myself in is 'Barovia'. I very quickly learned that the native peoples are very suspicious of non-humans and indeed, outsiders in general. They refer to non-native Barovians and Gundarakites as 'Outlanders'. My attempts at study were met with outright hostility, I very quickly made it a priority to travel elsewhere. Thankfully, I encountered two other Gnomish kin that were able to aid me. I will refer to them as Tandria and Hisbis.

Giant Arthropods

Before taking our leave of Barovia, I was shown a species of gigantic ant. Determined to study them further, Hisbis aided me with his arcane skills before sending me on my way into the Ant's nest alone. Unfortunately the insects reacted with hostility to my investigations and I was forced to engage with combat. Thankfully I was able to learn a bit just by studying the remains.

The giant ants are structured like normal ones- a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. Firm exoskeletons made of durable chitin, they have six legs and two large antennae on either side of their eyes they seem to use for their senses. Other than their proportionally large size, their mandibles are typical of what you would expect and are used for breaking down their food.

I was unable to witness their procreative habits, however they did possess a Queen that resided at the bottom of the tunnel formations, which leads me to presume they mate similarly to normal sized ants.

Subject 1: Karliah
'Dragonkin'


I met the subject during my stay at the Keep of the Dyad, where I discovered an unmanned bar called 'The Resting Wyrm' set up in the outer reaches of the area. She made herself known as the owner of the establishment, sold me a drink, upon which I immediately noticed her abnormal appearance.

The subject has large silvered wings behind her back, her hands are clawed and silver scales line her eye sockets. Aside these unnatural traits, the subject is above average height for an elven woman, standing just shy of six feet tall with an athletic build with average skin tone. Darkened hair, another abnormal trait I noticed was two different colored eyes- the subject's left eye is blue with gold flecks while their right eye is silver.

The subject demonstrated the ability to breathe ice, using it to instantaneously chill the drink I ordered. I requested an interview with the subject to learn more about her nature, to which she agreed. I have already jotted the interview logs below.

Spoiler: Subject 1 Interview Logs • show
T.W: "Were you born with those wings?"

S1: "I was not, no. As my blood awoke, they grew and sprouted in time. It- was a pretty excrutiating process, in truth."

T.W: "Interesting.. you say 'as your blood awoke'. What exactly does that mean..?"

S1: "Well, as you can tell by the colouration of my scales, my ancestry is that of a Silver dragon. Not all that I am, given-y'know, I'm Elven, but- with time, inflection and some- introspection, my blood reacted to who I am. Given my wings sprouted infront of Caerylia, nearly showering her in my skin and blood,-" *The subject is temporarily distracted by passerby*

T.W: "That's fascinating. You're saying that your heritage responded to your conscious efforts to reach out to it?"

S1: "In a way. It's a two way thing, I was aware of it, and made an effort, and it stirred enough for me to make the attempt."

T.W: "I see. Well, I've already seen the fact that you can breathe ice- are there other abilities you possess as a result of your awakened bloodline?"

S1: "It improved my capacity to see in the dark, as well as providing better ease of movement. I do have the capacity to fly, but- well... Largely not worth the risk to do so."

T.W: "I see. Very interesting! Well, I'll leave it there for now as not to further disturb you, Miss Karliah. Thank you for answering my questions."


-Torry Wilson-
« Last Edit: November 16, 2021, 09:08:48 PM by Dale »

Lion El'Jonson

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Re: A Gray Notebook
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2022, 11:43:58 AM »
Quote
Page 2

Har'Akir


A fascinating domain, Har'Akir is home to several ruins of a presumably ancient society of forebears to the Akiri. Whether the builders of these old temples were the Akiri themselves, or a proto-civilization that preceded them, is a question I currently cannot answer. As of now, I am aware of three temples. The Temple of Thoth, the Temple of Anubis, and the Temple of Harvest. The Temples of Thoth and Anubis are presumably religious in nature, centered around the two Akiri gods in question, while the purpose of the Harvest Temple is unknown to me as I have not yet explored it.

I have a frustrating lack of details on the history of this domain and their temples as, due to the actions of 'Shadya', the sands necromancer, current Institute policy dictates we avoid traveling to Har'Akir without each other. Until the threat of Shadya is dealt with or blown over, studies on this domain will be paused.

Wererats

Beneath the Village of Barovia is a series of tunnels infested by a species of lycanthrope colloquially referred to as Wererats. Freakishly structured, Wererats have a humanoid build of two legs, two arms, a torso, and a head, with the added attribute of a tail. Their heads are a twisted, elongated shape of a mostly hairless rat, with wide stretching maws and sharp teeth. Beady eyes and rounded ears, they appear to have average vision but excellent hearing compared to most humanoids.

Their skin is surprisingly durable- unenchanted weapons are near useless is piercing it, but magically enchanted weapons and weapons made of silver will cut them like cheese. While I understand the durability of their skin being vulnerable to magical weapons, the weakness to silver is what intrigues me. What is it in the properties of the mineral that rends the flesh of these lycanthropes? Is the nature of this weakness scientific, magical, or divine? Better yet, what is the nature of the curse and its origins in general?

Unfortunately there are many questions and most reading material on the subjects is illegal in Barovia. Follow up research is required but will have to be conducted abroad.

Subject 2: Shadya
'Sand Necromancer'


I encountered the subject during an expedition to the remote desert of Har'Akir, when returning from a Temple to rest at the village of Muhar. Tailed by a group of controlled creatures, the subject appears to have the ability to raise and control the undead to perform her bidding. Similarly, a great, towering demon with a flaming sword, a skull for a head, and flaming eyes obeyed her as well. Whether this creature was summoned by Shadya or came from elsewhere is unknown, but an answer should be acquired as soon as possible. (Important!)

The subject displayed immediate hostility and attempted to shepherd me out out of the domain alongside several other travelers. However, being separated from Hisbis and company, I slipped away while she was distracted and located them. The subject returned and confronted us in the sands, making various claims about ownership of the lands and threats towards our safety should we stay. When the subject delivered an ultimatum that they would be harming Tandria, we were forced to put our foot down and confront her with hostility. While the others dealt with her summoned cohorts, I chased her away with blade in hand until a sufficient distance had been covered, before falling back to regroup and leave the domain.

At a later date, the subject acquired the body of Lewin, one of our Gnomish associates. When we arrived to claim the remains, the subject kept their distance and refused to confront us, so we brought Lewin back to the Mist Camp and revived him. So far we have elected not to return, making clear guidelines to avoid the domain alone to avoid being ambushed, however it appears the sand necromancer has servants abroad who are willing to help them.

Questions To Be Answered

Who are Shadya's servants?
What is the full scope of Shadya's abilities?
Is Shadya fully mortal or undead?

Answers to these questions may have to be answered posthumously, as it's unlikely the subject will cooperate with any attempts at research.

-Torry Wilson-