Finding themselves in possession of a great collection of Klackon khipu-texts--strands of silk knotted in intricate patterns to form words and phrases--the Survivors of the Tel have directed their in-house researcher Razo, with the help of fellow Survivor Raoden (who can magically read languages) and friend of the Survivors Gan (no relation to Gan ad-Din) to translate and transcribe the collection. While that herculean effort will be detailed in a near-future addition to this chronicle, in light of the stated intent of the expedition expected on 4 December (tomorrow as of writing this) the Scribes thought that the particular details related here were of enough interest to post separately (and forthwith):
Amongst all the research notes, exploration accounts, and correspondences in the various texts collected by the Survivors and their companions--all the contemporary material, rather than the literary texts and histories, &c.--a certain strand (as it were) stands out as quite interesting, developed in a series of three semi-parallel accounts. In short,
- A narrative account of the Sixth House's delvings deep into the Tel seeking a rich (rumored) zortrium vein, its discovery, and what transpired thereafter, kept by leading-dore Itzkatl Xhoa
- A court document detailing the Princess Zaharxa's entertaining of a strange delegation of grey-men and their cloaked escorts
- A separate narrative account of of the Sixth House's use of a "translation pad" to explore deep caverns found to contain domed "life manufactories" guarded by terrible demons, explorations led by natural-philosopher Xixitlatzali (a dore)
The Accounting of Itzkatl Xhoa on the Zortrium Vein and What Lay Behind
This set of khipus comprise an ongoing set of reports sent to the Princess Zaharxa over the course of Itzkatl Xhoa's explorations. It begins with an overview of rumors of a rich vein of zortrium being located at a certain stratum of the Tel al Safina, and of his use of diggers to mine deep into the mountain in hopes of finding it. When they do, they cannot cut it, and so turn to the Barcidae, and elsewhere, seeking tools to help cut into the vein for usable ingots. Finally securing efficacious tools, they begin the work of mining it:
... When we had thus secured the torches from the Zoq-Fot-Pik, we had already dug down and under the vein, and so we started to cut there, because it was easier. And right away, the torches told against the zortrium, and we cleaved off a huge slab in a watch or so. But our enthusiasm was too much, and we had to halve that slab even to get it out of the hole, and cut it down again to form ingots.
After that, the workers got into a rhythm, and we had a holdful of ingots in a few shakes of a glowglobe--except that was when we cut through the outer layer and found that the vein was hollow! Like the carapace of some huge and desiccated dlakolel, so that once broken through there was much room on the other side. Strange passages carved through the vein, almost like through a worm-riddled fruit, except the passages were obviously built--but I'm getting ahead of myself.
When once we heard there was a space within, I sent Kilik with some her scouts to look inside, and to report to me what lay within. She reported as I have described, strange passageways riddling the metal veins. So much metal lay beyond that we are rich beyond our wildest imaginings--the Sixth House could outspend the Ten Cities League with all that lies buried here!--but it is not unguarded. Several ru'un came up out of the darkness therein and would have destroyed the scouts entirely if Kilik had not broken the red eye of their leader with her estoc. Even still, only half the scouts returned. ...
And later:
... and as you commanded, so we have obeyed, and though many scouts were lost, still they have found many treasures. In one place, strangely unguarded and lit as if waiting for someone, Kilik did discover a sheet of strange metal attached by metallic spinal-column to a pair of smallish boxes. All could be moved, and so Kilik and her scouts lifted it all up and hauled it out of the place without incident from ru'un, and now it is in our possession. I will send sketches to the Princess and her advisers, while I and my apprentices look into the nature of the thing. ...
A number of other episodes follow, detailing especially the heroism of Kilik and her scouts in facing off against ru'un, and other strange things, some perhaps demonic in nature, others frankly bizarre. Not all come from inside the vein of zortrium, as the deep caverns are home to strange worms and other malevolent creatures.
All the while, Itzkatl Xhoa has his workers cut off thinner slabs of zortrium to be shaped into ingots, to be sent up to the workshops above, while he tinkers with the strange sheet of metal and its boxes, and finally discovers that it can dematerialize objects placed onto the pad when a certain combination is pressed into the studs of one of the boxes.
Later, Itzkatl Xhoa comes to the realization that the objects are not dematerialized so much as "translated" elsewhere, and can be brought back. This then, is the "translation pad" ...
The Princess Zaharxa Entertains the Grey Envoy of the Erga
At about the same time that Itzkatl Xhoa has figured out that his strange device is a "translation pad" that can send and receive objects, a strange delegation arrives in the market of the Great Spire, seeking an audience with Zaharxa of the Sixth House. It is said that they have come up from the tunnels and caves below, rather than entering by the outer doors; and they are a peculiar sort, of such a like as thought only to appear in old stories and hero songs:
... As they entered the audience hall, a great murmur passed through Zaharxa's entourage. "See, it's only a child!" ... "But the color--so grey, so unhealthy. And not human at all." ... "The cloaked ones walk with warriors' gaits." ... &c. &c.
The envoy was indeed the stature of a human child, but its skin an unhealthy grey pallor, its eyes large, black, and terrifying. It was escorted by tall cloaked figures that stank of meat, all broad of stature, except the one closest the envoy, which was tall and narrow, and silent as it walked.
All bowed before Zaharxa, and the envoy intoned a greeting in a strange burbling tongue that none recognized--and yet we all understood it implicitly, as if we did. "We are but tools of the Erga Chondrias, yet we bear greeting from them to thee, great Princess. The Erga is a great sorcerer, and they have seen the depths to which thy Sixth House has plumbed, and the greatness to which thee and thine aspire. Yet they fear that in thy ascendency that the old terror will be renewed--the terror of the Doulii and their Immortal Columns! They ask us to ask thee, great Princess--how might we find Accord, as was found between thy Xholda cousins, and the humans of the Cities?"
I looked to the Princess as this was said, and I saw that a fire had been lighted inside her, to be so likened to the Immortal Doulii, but she was rightly chary about it, deigning not to show how she gloried in it to these strange delegates. "We are Attines," she said, antennae waving coyly. "Our ways are not Doulii ways." And though I stepped forward to translate, I found it unnecessary--the Erga's envoy already was nodding. The Princess continued, "Stranger-guests, be welcome in our abode, drink mold-beer with us and be at ease. And let your Erga know of this munificence of the Princess Zaharxa, that all who come humbly to her will be treated likewise, however great she may become."
This speech we all felt was good and dissembling, true regardless of our ambitions, and the delegation seemed to take it well. ...
Many speeches and counter-speeches follow, promising mutual friendship and aid, and goodwill all around. Izlutzl, the author of the account and the main translator-dore for the Princess Zaharxa in her audiences, maintains that the Princess was exceedingly crafty in her exchanges with the envoys, and was able to glean more about their purposes than reveal about her own--though both seem to amount to little in his telling of events.
The most significant item in the exchange, in light of the other accounts, was a set of "navigation coordinates" given by the envoy to the Princess. According to Izlutzl, this was gained by most devious diplomacy on the Princess' behalf (aided by Izlutzl, of course), in which, using the discoveries of Itzkatl Xhoa she feigned mastery over the "translation pad" and its uses.
... "So of course you have explored [coordinates redacted], then," the envoy declared. "As that is most easily discovered. But perhaps we could exchange knowledge of other places, if the Princess deigns it to her liking."
At this, the illustrious Zaharxa breezily dissembled. "It is no account to me what else you have found, as I'm sure my dores have already found the same, or gone beyond your Erga's own dores."
It was shortly after this that the Princess began to show signs of weariness, and called for her slaves to come and bear her out of the audience hall. She bade the delegation remain as long as they wished, enjoining them to the mutual hospitality that they had all harped on for so long; but the envoy admitted exhaustion as well, and declared that the entourage of Erga Chondrias would return to the Erga that night for rejuvenation. So the audience was broken with little ado ...
The Accounting of Xixitlatzali on the Exploration of the Life Manufactories
After the audience with the strange grey envoy of the Erga Chondrias, Princess Zaharxa ordered her natural-philosopher Xixitlatzali to gather scouts for exploration across the "translation pad", and to convene with Itzkatl Xhoa for briefings on the use of the device.
Despite Itzkatl Xhoa's natural jealousy--his crew had found the device, why should he not be the one to first explore "through" it?--the Princess' orders were of course to be followed, and Itzkatl Xhoa duly showed Xixitlatzali its use; and Xixitlatzali entered the coordinates inadvertently supplied by the envoy into the device and thus "sent" and "received" the same object without incident. After that, a scout was sent through and retrieved, and she returned without any obvious injury. A period of cautious experiments and explorations followed (all while Itzkatl Xhoa's crew continued cutting zortrium and sending scouts into the interior).
What was ultimately discovered was a great cavern-complex far below the surface of Ardha, with strange dome-structures built into the space:
... They found huge domes in the cavern, built up with what seemed to be metals of strange alloys--seemingly translucent? There was no obvious ingress.
A stair found carved into the cliffs to the west led down into narrow caverns, and though these at first seemed promising, they only issued ultimately onto another large cavern with equally inaccessible domes.
At last, after much exploration, the first cave on the right hand side was found to contain a similar translation pad--though only activated by a curious medallion found on the husked corpse of an ancient creature. By this device we were finally able to penetrate into the secrets of the domes.
What we discovered is a cornucopia of lost knowledge! ...
The text goes on in rapturous language about the wonders that Xixitlatzali will bring forth from the ancient lore, and all the secrets stored in the domes. They are found to be some kind of "life manufactories" where life can be created in various vats, and stored in magical sarcophagi, &c. &c. Untranslatable glyphs cover everything, and there are strange magic mirrors abounding. Signs associated with the demons of the Fortress Moon are also everywhere, and some of Xixitlatzali's scouts encounter strange shadow creatures that seem demonic.
So Xixitlatzali has a demon-codex brought to him, and dubiously identifies the "shadow-demons" as "notules", flying shadows that seek living-warmth, and has ember-fires built to attract them away from the Klackon explorers.
Then, discovered within the depths of the strange domes:
... Klackosn and Hlyss of ancient stock, suspended in strange not-death. I see the likeness of the ancient Doulii in them, great warriors who swept all before them!
This must be the place where they were originally created--bred? built? nurtured? But all those in the sarcophagi we open putrefy shortly after their release. The magic here is strange. Difficult to parse. So I have sent my scouts and apprentices to look for other clues.
Fortunately, one Droxa has returned with other reports--smaller creatures, fellow arthropods, in eggs that are yet well preserved. I am certain--this must be where the ancient Heroes devised our glorious ancestors, as well as their fleshy counterparts, and from here they set them on Ardha to walk in glory. But we have degenerated, as is obvious--and so we must begin again with the smallest of our fellows, and see how the Heroes (the Gods themselves?) devised our glorious ancestors.
The work begins forthwith. Droxa and her scouts are already hauling the great eggs up to the laboratory, along with other specimens and materiel. As soon as all is ready, I shall put knife to flesh and look behind the veil of mere materiality ...
Some of Xixitlatzali's research is already known to the Survivors, in the spellbook The Pale Beetle Under the Knife, and the many biological notes that were translated along with it. And, of course, the fate of the Sixth House is now known to all--cursed by a strange parasitical plague, brought on by these delvings into ancient secrets better left unknown, which brought utter devastation to the House and almost could have destroyed the rest of the Spire-Klackons if not checked as it was.
But there's still so much to puzzle out! Surely our heroes won't succumb to the same hubris as Xixitlatzali and the rest of the Sixth House. Surely not! ...
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