Current Training: Detha

Donations: Daangrus Diggins (40-50%).

Exploration: TI and Ash.

Fordi, day 2 of Autumn, 569.

Up where the air is thin on the Dark Cloud, the air has thinned a bit more recently.

Now when you peer over the edge, instead ofseeing only obscuring mists, you can see far into the distance to the clouds and land below.

It's quite dramatic.

Terrdi, day 35 of Summer, 569.

The Darshak activity on TI continues.

Although the tougher Darshak are now few in number and generally scattered, the island is often unsafe for the casual traveler.

During their time with sole control of the island, the Darshak definitely were up to no good.

On the Western inlet, they have begun to construct a new Outpost.

There is a supply ship tied up at the inlet, and various buildings have been hastily erected.

Further evidence of their intention to make this Outpost a permanent one is all around.

There is a newly constructed dock just North of the inlet for large troop transport ships, and a watch tower to guard it.

A second ship is tied up there, and groups of Darshak fighters are often found here regrouping.

As long as they can reinforce their troops on the island, we'll have problems here.

Most troubling of all are the other types of construction located nearby.

There is the beginning of a tunnel leading to the east.

The work appears abandoned now that the Darshak are unable to secure their new encampment.

Where it was intended to lead remains a mystery.

Most curious of all is an unactivated kyuem.

Where the Darshak learned of such artifacts at all, and how they actually obtained one are puzzles indeed.

That they decided to attempt to erect one here and activate it is even more curious.

Surely they must know that exiles have conveniently emplaced and activated a functional kyuem on their very own Ash Island during the Ether Incursions?

Surely they must know that there is another such kyuem already on TI in Flander's field, and another in Tenebrion's Tower?

But perhaps these other kyuems do not lead to desired place in the Ethereal Plane?

But had they activated it, what portal was it meant to stabilize?

For there were no burn marks visible anywhere nearby indicating that a portal (as we know them) had been open here recently.

Whatever business the Darshak think they have creating stable portals to the Ethereal Plane, I have no doubt they mean us no good.

On the subject of portals, the large hole in the area just East of Flander's field appears to be one, of a curious sort.

Jumping in leads, of all places, to the Annulus in the Ethereal Plane.

This is clearly just the kind of planar merger we all so feared during the Ether Incursions.

Although Ethereal creatures are found here in some abundance, it does not seem to be a two-way portal.

The forces unleashed by the Darshak to create such a planar merger must have been immense, as evident from the scorched earth surrounding the hole.

How precisely the Darshak managed to do this, and whether this was their intended outcome or a mistake, remain unknown.

But it seems no coincidence that, once again, Tenebrion's fingerprints are all over something involving the Annulus in the Ethereal Plane.

The proximity of this hole to Tenebrion's Keep seems no accident, but is likely a result of some experiment gone awry there that led to Tenebrion's apparent demise at the Annulus.

PTF ventured deep under Ash Island into the Thaumaturge's Lair.

It was the first time down there for me, although I'd heard interesting stories of it for some time.

Most of this Darshak complex seems to consist of long hallways tunneled in the bedrock, with occassional glowing runes on the floor.

Necromancers and High Priests seem to be the ones doing the work here, whatever vile rites it is they actually perform.

It is defended by a variety of Darshak fighters, including some very tough elite units.

However, the resistance was generally not very strong in any one area, so once we secured the curious entry area, we advanced quickly.

Our goal was a locked doorway deep in the complex, to check if it we could pass deeper into these dark realms.

Although we reached our destination and were able to penetrate into an apparently newly-openned room, we met another locked door.

Finding nearby clues, we tried a variety of things to open the door, but to no avail.

I'm sure we'll be back to try again in the future.

Anything to disrupt the Darshak enough to prevent threir expansion into other islands, or perhaps learn more of their goals for their planned TI outpost, will be of great value to us.

Visitors to the Ethereal Plane may be surprised to see a new beast there.

At first I took it for some Ethereal doppelganger of a Landdew, but it didn't hurt me near enough when it attacked.

In fact, it behaves like a Slime Monster, dividing into smaller and tougher beasts as it is attacked.

These large ones are called Massed Ethereal Spume.

I didn't divide these into smaller, tougher beasts to see their names, but I imagine they are varieties of Ethereal Spume as well.

Click here for my report on the previous storm.

Click here for my report on the next storm.

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