This information was pulled from the ships log from Ilian.

711/5/5

The day began as any normal day had, with the ferrying goods within the cargo
holds of the Viking Warship Ilian to the Chateau Bigeaul in the north-central
part of the world. The Baron, Jean-Pierre l'huitieme, had ordered several
hundred casks of the finest ales to be brought to his residence for the yearly
harvest festival. Jean-Pierre had invited the farmers that tended his land,
along with the monks of the Beldarus Monastery who had moved onto the lands
that had been donated to them. With the harvest being plentiful this year,
Jean-Pierre felt that no expense should be spared for the festival.

After loading the supplies from the Bat City Harbour, a course was plotted
eastward along the northern sea which separated the main continent from the
northern reaches of the world to the southern passage past the city of Dunamor
after passing by one of the cherished shrines of the Followers of Tarmalen.
This stretch of sea is very treacherous as it is known to be full of the worst
pirates in the realm. Before being hired for this run to Bigeaul, several
other ships had fallen prey to the renowned pirates onboard the ships Perkele
and Interceptor. Luckily I had hired the best crew available to hopefully
avoid any confrontation in these treacherous seas and to protect the cargo in
the holds below.

For some reason, on this day it felt best to pilot the ship through the water.
On most days this trip would have been navigated through the air for the
shortest route possible, but knowing that the festival was still a few days
away and discussing the path with my trusty ship navigator Akasha the anchor
was raised and Ilian left the harbor plowing through the rough sea. The wind
filled the sails with such a force that the ship lurched out of the harbor at
a frightening speed. Luckily we had chosen the water route, as the gale
around us made it unsafe for the ship to fly.

As the ship traveled eastward, the skies darkened and several water spouts
were spotted in the distance. Storms like this were not normal in the seas
this time of year, they were more prevalent in the late winter months. The
wind was bringing the rain down so hard visibility was at best a few hundred
feet ahead of the bow and a heavy fog was starting to set in. Lightning lit
up the sky in a display that hadn't been seen in ages, or at least before the
birth of this elven soul.

Suddenly and almost unnaturally, the storm ended, being replaced by a red glow
coming from the south. Shortly afterwards a very large boom was heard by all
onboard, sounding like a very large explosion. What appeared to be snow
started to fall from the sky, but under further examination it turned out to
be a very fine ash. The long dormant volcano near Orthanc must have become
active again, burying the surrounding area in a thick layer of ash. A much
peculiar event, as it had been divined centuries ago that a time of change
would be signaled by the long dormant volcanoes across the realm reawakening.

Not to alarm the crew on the ship, we kept sail to Bigeaul as fast as we
could. I instructed my first mate Oredaq to be on the look out for any other
peculiar events during our voyage and went into the cabin to meditate on the
events at hand.

711/6/5

The past evening went without incident and the seas have calmed to where we
are experiencing hours of very little movement in the water. After the events
of yesterday I am wary of taking to the skies to finish this journey as I
believe it will be safest to travel by sea to Bigeaul still. Early this
morning, to the south, we passed by one of the holy shrines to the goddess
Tarmalen. A peculiar event happened as we were traveling by the shrine, the
ground around it seemed to ripple likes waves followed by sand boiling to the
surface. I have not witnessed an event like this before on land and it
frightened the crew. I had to reassure the crew we would not be stopping here
to investigate what was going on, and this temporarily calmed them. Little
did we know of the horrors we would experience later that day.

Travel was slow and the winds were light during the midday. I was hoping to
make Dunamor by noon but at this rate it would be almost nightfall before we
reached the small sleepy town. As we passed under the bridge by Hugoville, I
found it odd that there was a mass migration of people heading to the
southwest along the road. The masses did not notice us as we passed by them,
they seemed intent on fleeing whatever tragedy they left behind.

As the afternoon was getting late, a sailor in the crows nest called out smoke
on the southern shore. This was not good news as the plotted location on the
maps Akasha had created showed us to be near Dunamor. I feared for the worst
and ordered the ship to be anchored at the closest point to the small village.
As we approached the shore, the black smoke got thicker and our hopes of a
peaceful night were diminished.

Upon reaching the shore and disembarking, a small group of warriors along with
myself set off to determine the source of the smoke. Little would we know the
horrors before us as we came across the small village just west of Dunamor
that had been completely destroyed. Most of the buildings had been engulfed
in flames, and those that had not were demolished by some powerful force. Not
a single soul was found alive in the city, and strangely enough, there were no
bodies of the residents to be found in the remains of the village.

Just as we were about to head back to the ship the ground started to shake and
roll with such a force it knocked everyone down. The remaining burning
buildings collapsed to the ground and a great fissure erupted down the center
street. This was enough to scare most of the warriors back to the ship, but I
stayed behind to investigate with just a few of the bravest souls.

We approached the fissure in the ground and peered down into its depths. A
deep red glow emanated from the bowls of the earth and several strange gasses
rose in freedom. Several more earth tremblers followed, much less severe than
the first one that opened up the fissure, but it was definitely a clue for us
to return to the ship.

Back on the ship, the warriors who had fled the opening of the fissure had
told the rest of the crew what had happened. By the time I arrived back, the
crew was in revolt and was ready to sail back to the Bat City Harbour and wash
their hands of the job they had been hired on to do. I would have nothing to
do with this and ordered the crew to secure the ship and prepare to stay the
night at this anchorage. This order would be one of the worst decisions I
could have made considering what happened over the next few hours.

An unnatural darkness enveloped the area when night fell. The light of a
fire, or that of even a magical torch would not cut the darkness more than the
immediate area. Light spells cast on staves would disappear into the darkness
when tossed away from the camp - when in reality they should have been visible
from hundreds of feet away. All around the ship there were unholy noises all
through the night, including what seemed to be explosions in the direction of
the small village. The crew refused to go below deck to their quarters all
night as they wanted to make sure they saw the sun rise in the east the next
morning. As you can imagine, very little sleep was had on the ship that
night.

711/7/5

When the sun rose early in the morning, the sky was a dull gray and the smell
of smoke filled the air. I gathered the crew and informed them that we were
going to get to Chateau Bigeaul as quickly as possible now, and informed the
lift magi on the ship to prepare the ship for air travel. The focus items
were prepared, and the order was given for lift off. Unfortunately, to
everyone's surprise, the ship did not rise out of the water but just sat
there. It seems that some unforeseen force was keeping the ship in the water
and that would have to be our chosen medium for getting to our destination.

After passing the small mountain range on the coast, the ship lost all wind in
the sails and sat there stalled. Without the ability to fly, and with no wind
for the sails we were adrift in an unfamiliar sea with no knowledge of trade
winds or water currents. It could be days or weeks before we were moving
again towards our destination.

711/8/5

The crew is idle, and the wind is still. No birds in the sky, no whales or
squid seen in the water. I fear for our safety as this is not normal at all.

711/9/5

Finally, after 36 hours of no wind a gale picked up. The skies darkened and
an unnatural rain started falling from the skies. With the force of the wind
it would be a day to Bigeaul where we could finally unload our cargo and get
back to a safe harbour. Hopefully during last few hours we would only have to
deal with the driving rain.

711/10/5

We finally arrived at Chateau Bigeaul to find the castle in utter chaos.
Knowing that we would be arriving before the festival, the masses of the
castle and the surrounding areas had amassed at the docks. The castle
ramparts had been destroyed and flames were erupting from some of the
surrounding buildings. The chaotic masses at the docks were demanding entry
to the ship so they could escape from the earthquakes that were happening at
an unheard frequency. It had already been reported that part of the surface
near the castle had collapsed and water had filled the area to form a new lake
and the residents were afraid that this would happen here also as the area was
full of caves.

Unfortunately, to evacuate the folks, we would have to unload the casks of ale
in the holds. With the masses demanding passage out, they were not giving us
the time we needed to make available space for everyone. I ordered the crew
to dump the casks as quickly as possible but we were still not making the
progress needed to handle the folks storming the gangway. Fights were
erupting as those in the back of the crowd pressed their way forwards to try
and gain access to the ship.

Suddenly a massive earthquake struck, and the crowd panicked. Throngs of
people started rushing the ship and at that instance I knew what I must do.
The safety of my crew and my ship became my first priority, and before
everyone could board I had to raise the gangway before the ship became
overloaded. I instructed the lift magi to do all they could to get the ship
into the air and away from the raging crowd below before the ship was
destroyed. At first the ship just lurched as it had before, seemingly being
held down by an unknown force, but suddenly and almost unexpectedly the ship
launched into the air.

All around the area the ground was opening up and swallowing livestock into
the same type of fissure we saw several days before. This time, though,
instead of one fissure opening up we witnessed at least a dozen forming, and
then suddenly closing. As we moved slowly to the south of the castle a
blazing white light enveloped the area. From the docks on the ground, an
elderly mage had struck a large staff into the ground and the light was
erupting from it. Around him, the people looked calm and tranquil as if they
knew they were out of danger.

I attempted to steer the ship back towards the dock, but I was unable to.
Akasha approached me and stated that a new map had appeared in the library
labeled Lucentium which was located in the far south eastern part of the realm
which no one was familiar with. She then informed me that no matter what she
tried to get the ship back to the castle, it seemed to be stuck on a heading
toward Lucentium. Hopefully this new destination will be as safe as the one
we were unable to return to, but with the world changing around us and the
prophecy told before, we might be heading to our doom.

711/1/6

I am unable to remember the trip to Lucentium or exactly what happened during
the past few weeks. All I remember is waking up with the ship in a position
where the city of Silver Lake used to be. Unfortunately this island city does
not seem to exist any longer. I returned to the great capital Bat City to
search the libraries for any mention of Lucentium but have been unable to find
anything. I also consulted with the mage guild to see if in their research
they had come across this location but alas the search has been unfruitful.
Maybe when I return to Shadowkeep I can find something in its library.


-d