Lannis
You've yeed your last haw
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A tidily-written message upon sheets of vellum is posted around Linlea's message boards. It is not signed, but is stamped with the Kane sigil.
Some weeks ago, an expedition was made to explore a cavern suspected to hold significance to the plague that we face. Many entered, but from
injury and obligation, few reached its depths. After coming to peace with how to describe it, I now share a record of what was found within.
Creatures of the Desert
In seeking the cavern, we encountered several creatures native to the desert, evidently under the thrall of the plague. Gryphons, a rotund creature
with an armored hide, immense scorpions, flying insects with scythe-like limbs, and a gargantuan worm from beneath the sands beset the expedition.
Vermin and smaller creatures of the desert watched us as do the birds, but they did not attack.
The Ravine and Arachnid Monstrosities
The first day of our delve led into a series of branching tunnels, sinking deep into the cliffside. There were few notable features besides an ancient
shrine-like structure, with inscribed columns surrounding a blue painted floor. Above it the ceiling was painted yellow, but there were no other
discernible markings to indicate its meaning.
The tunnels led to a ravine, choked in webs. From it crept aberrant beings, bearing features of the giant spiders and scorpions known to the lands.
Its blood burned those it touched, and many were injured in slaying the largest of them.
The Dust Tunnels
Only a handful returned to venture beyond the ravine and investigate what remained. Within the webs were accounts and belongings of those infected,
lured to the cave by the entity, but none of their bodies. Beyond the ravine was a cavern laden with dust thought to be the source of the infection, its floor
and walls laced with stony white veins. They traced the tunnels beyond, converging on a wall of the same white stone. While breaking through it, the
stone bled blue ichor, and a caprine eye revealed itself from the stone above to observe our efforts.
The Bowels
The excavation of the wall opened into a cavern defying conventional expectations. The stone walls were replaced by flesh, air humid as if we had
stepped inside the cavity of some great beast. More eyes revealed themselves upon the walls, and quickly closed. Acrid-smelling pools dotted the floor,
and the far end of the cavern split into three tunnels.
Two became impassable, but the third opened into another grand chamber. Cast above a wide pool was a rift, a tear in the reality of the cavern. Nodes
of light hung along it, threaded together with glowing traces as an intricate tapestry. After witnessing this, the entity’s mental presence in the cavern
increased. It spoke to our minds, appeared before us as an apparition of one of our fallen, but did no more to impede us as we exited.
Warning and Conclusion
The cave within the desert appeared significant to what we face, but we did not first venture with the means to interact with it. In our absence it
has likely restored and bolstered its defenses, and any that venture without a comparable force will surely fall. We will mount another voyage in due time.
