The First Land Herald/440-09-22
| Article Number: 70 |
| Dateline: 440-09-22 |
| SECOND EXPERIMENT PROBES CUSTODIAN RESPONSES TO LIGHTS Recently, a group of researchers and interested observers traveled again to the Zengmodaleth, the Plane of Electricity, in order to study the malfunctioning custodians there. Recent visions of the custodians working upon a giant, mechanical head, in addition to others of lightning-spiders, production lines, and a mysterious, tall figure in a black robe have continued to puzzle those interested and prompted our continued research. We were met inside by the renowned Scholar of the Grove Uryutis, who spoke to us of his own research on the topic. He told us, "[I have been working on] trying to isolate what is wrong with this place. My research is at a bit of a standstill. I've faced experimental failure after failure, and am uncertain of how to proceed. There is something wrong with this place which seems to defy any effort to quantify or isolate. Frustratingly, my peers seem to think I'm simply failing in my experimental designs. My protocols are not flawed. If there is a failure it is in an unknown that is far more serious than a mere unaccounted for variable. Grasping at straws, I consulted with Moon Mage associates, and was concerned to hear of the frequency of which the Plane of Electricity has featured in their visions, and how. The custodians have featured in many visions in various state of aggression, and alarming, ah, productivity." He went on, "Yes, I am concerned with what they may be working on. No, I have no idea what it could mean, and the Moon Mages were unable to confirm if this was to be taken literally or metaphorically. I am at a loss. All I know is Daervlan is increasingly agitated and withdrawn, and something is happening to this place, and maybe others... Yes. Even our own Plane." He also confirmed that the black-robed figure in the visions does seem to be Daervlan, at least according to the Moon Mages he's conferred with. When Visionist Miskton asked him about the "spiders made of lightning" featured in a vision, he said, "Yes. Firstly, there are things here that we could say have the approximate form of spiders, but that is sort of a square peg, square hole, but all square things aren't the same, you know? If it has a lot of legs and walks along a web of something and wraps stuff up in that something and preys by waiting and trapping, sure, that's spider-like. It is not a spider, but we're splitting hairs here I suppose. That analogy is muddied. The point I'm getting at is that there is life here, and it is strange and beautiful and its own thing." Saragos asked if he had seen signs of the giant construct in the visions, or the cube. "No, and that is very alarming to me. Though, the Moon Mages assure me it may be a metaphor, which did not make me any less concerned." "Conduct your experiments, learn what you can. I don't know what will happen, but I know things are changing, and Daervlan is concerned and the space is shifting... The structure is always shifting, but the edges of the Plane are shifting. It is difficult to notice... The shape upon which the structure resides is shifting. Whether that is in response to external or internal perturbances is unclear. There are also ripples of a sort that can be detected at the edges... I would suggest things have shifted more in recent memory than ever before, but time lines are longer than my memory or historical understanding... Daervlan would not allow me access to places he didn't want me to access. But I can wander, a bit. It's a large Plane, like Planes tend to be. I'm not even sure I'd be able to tell I was unable to access a space he didn't want me to know about." Upon hearing this, we discussed what the meaning of the structure is, Saragos inquiring if the structure is what maintains the coherence of the Plane of Electricity. "An interesting idea, I hadn't considered it that way. My impression is no, though I may be wrong. I always thought the structure was merely a conduit, a means to draw from the vast energies that are this place." I asked if the Plane of Electricity might affect our Plane of Abiding in some way, if the shifting will affect us. He answered, "I don't know if they are linked, or if it is the same issue occurring in both places. I don't know if this place is weaker for some reason, or stronger for a different. I sometimes feel we are walking a tight rope in a hurricane, and I don't know if we should lean into the wind or if the winds will shift." With that, our conversation ended, and Uryutis bid us farewell. We proceeded further into the Plane, arriving at the place we have been calling Scador li Darva, or "Prepare the Hammer" in Gamgweth, the place where we encounter the voltaic custodians. Sir Madigan was kind enough to provide a Banner of Truce, and under it, we endeavored to corner a custodian, Saragos presenting it with lights flashed on spheres of Aether. The first pattern he presented was, "red, blue, green, blue." A thunderous *BOOM* echoed through the area, and the custodians froze in place for a moment! The second pattern, credited to Cryle for her brilliant work at discovering a pattern within the minute delays and changes we witnessed at the last experiment, was, "green, blue, blue, yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue, blue, green, blue, red, green, blue, red, blue, blue, red, yellow, blue, red, blue, green, red, blue, blue, blue, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow, blue, blue, green, red, red," which he had the spheres keep repeating. In response, a blinding series of lights flashed along the interior of the facility, repeating this same pattern at full second intervals. After two repetitions, the flashes ceased, and I blinked away disorienting afterglows. Not long after, a deafening buzz echoed through the area and another blinding series of lights flashed: red, green, red, yellow, repeating at half second intervals. After ten repetitions, the flashes ceased. The buzz sounded again, and then quieted. Perune suggested flashing the first sequence again to see if it might halt them once more or change their behavior. Saragos again flashed, "red, blue, green, blue." This time, there was no thunderous sound or freezing in place. Instead, a custodian broke from the line and approached the group, extending several electrical appendages, perhaps in either curiosity or irritation. It gave a melodic "chirrup" that could have been an inquiry or a command. It repeated the "chirrup," and then quickly withdrew its appendages, returned to the other custodians and resumed working. Perune suggested giving it a command then. Saragos repeated the same sequence, then bowed to the custodian, motioning it to do the same. Four custodians rushed forward and linked appendages. They rose on columns of writhing lightning, and four more custodians rushed forward and slotted underneath. They balanced oddly a moment, then released, and quickly merged back with the other custodians and resumed working. A few of those present tried to mirror their behavior by climbing upon each other. Kethrai attempted to create the same "chirrup" we heard on his chalumeaux. I observed no response to these attempts. Finally, Saragos flashed, "red, green, red, yellow," a pattern repeatedly seen in visions and often associated with an aggressive response by the custodians. Several custodians approached, flashing blue at three second intervals. They hovered a moment, then returned to the other custodians and resumed working. Then, they suddenly froze and begin to flash blue. One shook a bit, and the flashing color began to shift in color, deepening to purple, then red, and suddenly, the singular custodian began to move. It approached, flashing red at one second intervals, and extended several appendages, rising higher. It tilted oddly, as if inspecting the area. It began to flash more rapidly, approaching the Banner of Truce, extending its appendages toward it. Flashing faster and faster, it slammed two appendages into the bulk of the banner. The banner crackled with electricity and began to fade! The custodian flared with red, green, red, yellow, and the banner exploded into a hazy corona of electricity! The custodian suddenly flashed blue and returned to the rest of the custodians. At this point, we were overwhelmed by hostile custodians and a few lightning selreks. After some difficult fighting, we retreated to another Bannered room, where a couple of selreks began slipping in and out, flattening into an undulating leaf of energy, sliding down along the ground like stingrays. We greeted one, and I cast the Aura of Tongues upon the area, but I did not see it respond. Perune reported that it pointed at him. After various attempts to point at different things and try different greetings (I myself tried whistling a few notes), the selreks looked up and seemed to scream in a furious crackle of reverberating lightning, then slammed their thin hands together in an explosion of coursing light, blinding me momentarily! When my vision cleared, the selreks were gone. Perune wanted it noted that the selreks are reconfigured elementals, not natural elementals. From the Treatise on the Elements, Volume 2: "A natural elemental is one that appears in what we would view as its natural and primary state. A humanoid-shaped figure appearing to be nothing except living, moving flame would be a fire elemental classified as a natural elemental and existing in the natural and primary state. The notable thing about natural elementals is that their form and appearance on Elanthia is almost identical to what we believe it to be on their home Plane of existence, the Elemental Plane from which they are derived. In other words, it is their natural state because it has not been altered for the Plane of Abiding. A reconfigured elemental, on the other hand, does not exist in such a natural and primary state; alternatively, it has had its appearance and configuration modified by the transfer between planar existences. Natural elementals are generally those which exist on the Plane of Abiding temporarily; reconfigured elementals, on the other hand, are typically elementals that, while native to one of the Elemental Planes, are nevertheless restricted solely to the Plane of Abiding and not afforded planar transfer such as natural elementals. These are elementals that have been shaped by the operating reality of the Plane of Abiding, such as natural elementals have not. Natural elementals will always be created from the Elemental Planes and then come to the Plane of Abiding, either of their own volition or through summonings, for a certain amount of time; reconfigured elementals are sometimes not derived from an Elemental Plane, but may instead be borne from a planar conduit of an Elemental Plane -- an object within the Plane of Abiding which channels the essence and power of an Elemental Plane." Another example of a reconfigured elemental, from the Treatise, is the seordmaor. So, what does it all mean? To be frank, we still don't know. The clues are here for you, reader, to make your own assessment. Rest assured, there will be more experiments. Sincerely, Navesi Daerthon |
| Real Date: Unknown Date |
| Subject(s): Daervlan Elanthia Elemental Planes Lesser voltaic custodian Madigan Miskton Moon Mage Perune Plane of Abiding Saragos Uryutis Zengmodaleth |
| Author(s): Navesi |