Exploration West of Shaman's Fall. The Nautiloid - 11/05/20

apologies for the length of my report in advance....

Report concerning the excursion to the east of previously named ‘Shamans Fall’.

Lead Author: Odenski, Juniper

Excursion participants: Silverhands, Aegon; Onyxbearer Bardrin; Galau, Grok.

Date: 11th May of the year 2020.

Abstract: This document is the brief summary of the details relating to the excursion to the east of Shaman’s fall. The full 495 page document can be found by contacting The Whitecap Mechanics Guild. This report relates to previous reports on the exploration of Xadkha. Introduction: Following a previous encounter with the so named ‘Lil’ Bastards’ (fungal based entities, see report dated 4th May 2020 henceforth known as LB’s) the party’s intention was to travel to their last known location and seek the source of their disease and eliminate it. Results: Upon reaching Shaman’s fall the group encountered a purple Plip (see previous report dated 9th May 2020) which, on further discussion with the Aquan speaking Grok (he still refuses to teach me) divulged that he was testing the ground for the eventual change of location for Plipholm. He stated that the LB’s produced brown clouds of spores and confirmed that our intended direction of east was correct. We continued east for approximately one hour and came upon the spore cloud along with approximately four LB’s and one unknown entity (Appendix A). Battle ensued and once defeated we were able to see the source of this fungal cloud appeared to be several large brown mushrooms (Appendix B).

We visually ascertained that further clouds were emanating from the northeast and therefore headed in this direction. Upon route we encountered a gelatinous cube. I will not be providing any additional details on this as, quite frankly, they are well documented and anyone should know by now not to stick your hand in one. As we continued on the ground became more porous, the vegetation wilted, and the water had turned acidic. Further research is being undertaken on the nature of these changes by Silverhands, A and I will include his results in future reports upon request. Upon reaching the centre of the cloud (which was approximately 1 mile in circumference) we found a strange shell-like protrusion from the ground from which LB’s appeared to be spawning and looked as though it had tunnelled its way into the ground. Understanding that the longer we left these entities the more they could reproduce we decided that the danger required immediate response and entered the tunnelled cave like structure. Once inside more LB’s were fought along with large explosive fungi (Appendix C). Once cleared we came upon a large vessel which resembled a purple ship with tentacles (Appendix D). This was unlike any known entity I have observed travelling across the Empire and whilst organic in nature appeared otherworldly.

The deck contained the following components: 1x blue structure akin to a fountain Metallic lined on the inside. No water present. 1x metal 4 foot structure containing brightly coloured gem-like stones which could be pushed in to change the nature of the vessel When pressed these had several effects such as opening doors and creating lights similar to my own dancing lights magic. 1x chair in a laid-back position akin to a Barbour shop This appeared to control the vessel. Once I lay in this chair it attached itself to me making it impossible to move, other than to cast spells. It appeared to require these spells to issue commands. 4x large metal containers Container 1 - Appeared to contain small metal coloured ropes and/or snakes. I must apologise that these were immediately destroyed before samples could be taken as I feared they were snakes. They may just have been metal ropes or wires? Container 2- A jelly like substance that tried to reach out when approached. Small sample obtained by Silverhands, A. Container 3- empty Container 4 – Appeared to be the source of the fungal disease and where the LB’s were being produced from. This was destroyed. 3x side rooms on vessel Room 1 – Contained a giant aggressive insectoid which was despatched finally by Onyxbearer, B. The room itself remains unexplored Room 2 – 5ft x 5ft containing three skeletons Room 3 – 50ft by 100ft long, containing claw marks on the wall, door and celling. 1x skull of unknown humanoid (Appendix D)Surrounded by dried blue liquid, with a trail of this blue liquid coming from a small tunnel. The skull had a large round shaped hole through the right temple. The skull was placed inside robes, Inside these was a strange device (Appendix E) which was taken for analysis. Small tunnel To the west of the vessel leading to a 20ft wide hole, depth unknown.

I was able to converse with the chair via a voice inside my head, similar to message magic or to the druidic magic of mind link. This allowed me to both give commands to the vessel and to ask questions. The following is a summary of the discussions: -   The vessel is owned by Illathids who can be contacted to request ‘clean up’ -    The vessel has a master who is now deceased -    The vessel is called M4A Fruitless Endeavor -    The class of the ship was Nautiloid -    The vessel communicated that it was preparing a ‘launch sequence’ and as it did so ten flashing lights appeared. This was later cancelled by touching the gems and the lights disappeared -   The voice stated that there had been a ‘system error’ -    The voice stated that it has biological bombardments but that current chance of infestation is zero. -   The vessel is used to travel between stars -    The vessel’s use is as a ‘spelljammer’ and travels between the crystal spheres sailing the ‘flodgestan’ In the room to the east of the vessel was a 20 foot diameter sphere hovering 5ft off the ground. This had a colourful yet oily visage as seen previously (see report dated 9th May 2020). The only difference was that this sphere emitted bursts of purple light around every five seconds.

Discussion: Any thoughts expressed here are my own and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Whitecap Mechanics Guild or any of its associates. This appears to be the source of the infestation. The fungal entity burned out of the metal containers appears to have been intended for use as a weapon of some kind, and an effective one at that. We do not know how far this infestation has spread but it is safe to assume that there are more LB’s in Xadkha. The level of technology seen on this vessel is beyond my understanding but it safe to assume that there are more of these Illathids if we were able to request assistance. Does the skull belong to an Illathid? Could it be that they live in the stars? Are they gods and if so what is their intent with us? If the sphere was created by the Magisters then was this the cause of the vessels demise? Was the jelly liquid in the container a spawn for gelatinous cubes? Conclusion: Please send any information you have that pertains to this report. Have you any knowledge of Illathids or have you ever encountered any of the sketches in the appendix? We will continue our investigations.(edited)