Sewca

General Summary

It has been a month since we've been stationed at Sewca. It's cold, the food's terrible, and the locals are less than friendly. Worst of all, there's no library. Completely unbelievable.
One of the miners, Opo, ran to us screaming that the mine was haunted. He seemed truthful, and the translators told us not to worry about things... Though he told us to return to the mines with Opo to look over things to reassure the man. I wouldn't worry either way. Ghosts and monsters are long gone. At least it's a break from staring at the fog... Davina, Octavie, Dinu and I rode with Opo for an hour.
Deep into the mine he led us, and then gestured for us to go further in. He left us behind soon after. He left us behind in the dark, with a large path stretching deeper into the ground.
"Suppose we'll need torches from here on out," Davina said as she gazed into the deep. "I have a lantern..." I said, and lit it. Davina and Dinu nodded and lit their torches. Octaviu stuck close beside us.
Down we went until we reached a dead end that was being worked on, that seemed to have been left in a hurry. There was a small crack in the wall that looked big enough for us to squeeze through. We went through, one after another. It was longer than expected, and as we went, a strange humming came from the rocks around us. Soon enough, the rock opened to a red glow, and an unearthly wail came from it. We exited, and there was a sight unlike any I've seen before... A room-sized stone pulsed with energy, red runes glowing on its smooth surface. I swore. This was no ghost. This was better. This was... I approached it, and the lights suddenly shut off. I could still see the runes, and by the light of my lantern I took notes on them, recreating them to the best of my ability. Octaviu joined me in examining the gate. I paid him no mind. Some of these runes were unknown to me. Some were of my school, and some of the council, and some of beyond even those. The magical areas in this 'room' were higher than I've ever felt. My recreations weren't right. I moved to make some etchings. Before I could lay my paper down, the rune glowed. The rune glowed blue at my hand. My hand felt warm. It felt familiar deep inside me, but I've never felt anything like this before. I moved away, and went to another rune. It didn't respond this time. I had a thought. I shaped water from my flask. I moved it in front of the blue rune. The water reacted... Strangely. It shifted from water to something that looked just like water, but it was most certainly not water. It shined iridescent for a moment, before shifting back to the simple transparency of before. Dinu's voice called to the others, but I paid no mind. This was more pressing. I shaped the changed water back to my flask and took a few more notes.
[scattered magical notes and sketchings of runes. comments on properties and questions are written beside magical equations]
"So what do we do?" Davina's voice cut through my thoughts. I looked up at the group. Right.
"Hey everybody, this is our planet!" Octaviu spoke up and I saw him tap the ruin for our planet. He immediately pulled his hand back, and a small drop of blood was pulled into the structure. The stone whirred, and the humming returned. The lights pulsed back on again before fading.
"Okay Octaviu, if another one you pops out of this thing our safe word is periwinkle." "You think that's possible?" "I don't know, you studied this stuff! I just watched a mage..."
Octaviu was staring at his finger sadly. Davina shook her head, "If the council knew this thing was down here they'd have a conniption..." "Well it's a good thing they don't know," I smiled. This was my discovery. I would like to enjoy it a bit longer, at least. "I think it wants us to come in..." Dinu said, his voice grave. "Better not be for dinner..." Davina scoffed. "Well, let's see what it wants. Is there a door? Maybe a trigger mechanism..." I spoke my thoughts aloud as I went to the structure again. Dinu seems to think it has intent. Ridiculous. ...Though, it might be worth examining all possibilities... I opened my mind to it. I felt something... Brushing, against my mind. It wants us, but it mostly wants me, and more of... I went to touch it again. It was hot. Unpleasant, but familiar. I felt a tugging. My magic, slightly draining. As I touched it, more of the connecting glyphs lit up. I felt weaker, but allowed it to take some that I would not miss. After a second, Dinu's hand joined mine on another rune. More lit up one by one, until eventually, they all lit up at once. And then in a flash we were on the ground. I felt drained, and pushed myself up. After a moment, the gate retreated into the ceiling, leaving a small passage we could crawl under. It seemed to be the same metal stretching into darkness. "Well, that opened it," I said, masking my pain rather well, I think. Dinu went to crawl past me. I crawled after him, and the others joined me.
A feeling of dread crawled in the corners of my mind... What if the door closed? What if Opo was right? What if... I shut my thoughts down. Ridiculous thoughts. I stood up, and looked down the hall. It was lined with more runes, though these ones were arranged in neat columns... I absent-mindedly brushed my hand over one of the runes. It lit up for a second, then darkened. I felt it again. It felt... Friendly. No, not friendly. Like an old friend, long forgotten. Moved past. Davina followed my lead, and brushed her hand over the wall, but nothing happened. Seems to only like mages, then... At the end of the room was a small hemisphere jutting from the wall. Small gears were on the sides of it, and no runes touched it. Octaviu moved forward, towards the hemisphere. I followed him. He seemed interesting in the gears, and pulled out a tool kit as he tried adjusting them. I watched as he lifted a small panel, and carefully adjusted some of the gears. They made a small ticking as they moved. Octaviu asked us if we could read the runes above the sphere. I went to look, and I lifted my lantern for him to see better. I heard the unsheathing of a weapon "What did you see?: "Thought I saw something move over there..." Dinu pointed to one of the walls. I looked, but saw nothing. Davina pulled her shield off her back. I tuned my senses, and listened to the magic... But the magic of this place was drowning out anything concrete... I changed my tune, and focused for anything not magic... And I felt it. Moving around the room, a small patch of non magical energy. "There's definitely something here," I said. Silence. Octaviu asked, "Does anyone have any chalk?" I handed him a piece, and he quickly crushed it, and tossed the dust where Dinu pointed. In a second, "Well, um,... Davina dug in her pack, and pulled out some dried meat, "Okay... Maybe you would rather eat this than us..." It paid no mind to us as it darted about the room, and the dust fell from it. It scrambled to the jerky, then grabbed it, skittering away into some hole.
"Fascinating," I said in awe. "Have you seen anything like that before?" Davina asked. "Well hopefully if it comes back, I'll be able to sense it. Or not sense it, I suppose," I said. "And hopefully it doesn't bring back 20 of its friends..." She added.
After a moment, Octaviu left from his hiding spot behind Dinu, back to the gears. I had a thought. I called for some magic, and covered the ground around us in sand. "If they come back, we should be able to see their tracks now," I said, as I went back to the gears. A small flash came from behind me, and I glanced to see Dinu lighting some incense. A familiar fragrance drifted by as the smoke rose. And then a louder thrumming started. It sounded angry, and the connection between the door and I felt sharp. The sound of the door closing rumbled from down the hallway. I quickly snuffed the incense, but the door didn't stop. Dinu ran to it, leaving the incense behind. I ran after, and saw Dinu trying to hold the door open, but it wasn't enough. He fell back, and the door slammed shut. The chamber fell into uncomfortable silence. A moment later, the sphere glowed red, and from it came a smaller floating sphere...

Report Date

23 May 2023