...has been three months since excavations
began. Acolyte Frisirth has been of great aid, using his powers to shape the
tunnels without need of spade or shovel. This magic was unknown to us, but it
seems Frisirth's family had preserved some of the most eldritch of the Falatacot
magics. He himself believes that it is one of the spells used by the gods the
witches worshipped in the swamps, from the time before men crawled across the
land. I do not know what use these land-shaping spells may have been to them,
but...
...amazing discovery! Frisirth had gone on of his own accord, casting tunnels
above the main level of Frore. He claims he felt called onwards.
The crystal is enormous, a pale sliver spinning slowly in place. It emits a
light which seems most peculiar to my eye; as if every object within its
radiance cast a second shadow, violet and flickering in and out of vision. But
my eyes are not quite what they were, after all; I could be mistaken.
Or perhaps this is merely an expected effect, due to the power contained within
it. If only we could safely consult one of the Old Lords.
I cannot guess the antiquity nor purpose of this construction, but its method of
discovery seems to be an act of destiny. I do wonder if it may be an agent of
prophesy...
...definitely has some intrinsic magical connection with the deep earth. We
cannot discern what it may be, but Frisirth assures us that it is harmless. I am
concerned about the lad - he has spent more and more of his time poring over the
more obscure of the surviving Falatacot texts - the Uotecatl Ceqt of Nahouhnztl,
and the fragments of the Book of Eibhil. In the past year, the Council has
barely seen him, as he continues his experiments on the crystal. When last we
spoke he was agitated and distracted, but assured us that he was drawing close
to finding a use for the crystal which would answer the prophesy of the Fourth
Sending.
...crystal's magical bond to the depths of the world will allow us to draw the
heat out of it, as volcanoes do. By this drawing and containing of the
heat-energy within the earth, we will bring about the Great Frost we have sought
for so long. Fennagar expressed the opinion that drawing such heat into our city
of ice might be fatal, but Frisirth seemed quite convinced that the crystal can
contain it safely. It is hard to check the lad - he seems overjoyed that his
work might be used to bring the prophesy to fruition, and allow us to return
home.
Home! The majestic Plateau of Gelid, where the Kings of Dericost once reigned in
icy splendor! After the years of persecution by the barbarian Yalain, and the
subsequent period spent hiding from the plague Alaidain's blood loosed upon the
land... No, I dare not think on it further, lest my anticipation prove
ill-founded.
Fenngar came to my room later today, after the meeting. He said that Frisirth
has had an unhealthy glow in his eyes of late. I laughed at the choice of words,
and he amended to an unwholesome glow. I suggested that the boy has merely been
absorbed overmuch in his studies of the crystal. Now that they have reached
fruition, surely he will rejoin...
...first week of casting has gone well, I think. The crystal's bond to the
depths is definitely stronger than it was before. Whereas prior to our work it
was of indifferent temperature, it definitely radiates heat.
I feel I should mention, however, a most peculiar experience while casting on
the Great Work last morn. The Council and the Lords had ringed the crystal, and
had begun to weave together the strands that would allow us to collectively bend
the force within it to our needs. While the chanting commenced, I chanced to
brush the terminus of the crystal's aural presence with my awareness. In that
moment, it was as if the light of the room had been swept away.
It was not unlike the experience of passing out, before I took my last mortal
breath. The steady drone of the chant collapsed into a dull, distant buzz. Light
and color faded and spun away, while the pale facets of the gem remained fixed
in the center of my view. At that moment, I would swear I saw, within the depths
of the crystal, a pair of smoldering red eyes swing to meet mine.
In a halfbreath, the two eyes shattered into twelve, and then I found myself
staring as the Great Work as before; the Lords chanting around me, the room
brightly lit, and the translucent crystal rotating with a reassuring serenity.
I did not mention this peculiar experience to my colleagues; doubtless it was
some unexpected side effect of our spells upon the artifact. I might have
achieved some glimpse of the future, such as the Falatacot would receive during
their unsavory scarification rituals. An intriguing experience overall. Once the
Great Work is complete, I look forward to investigating it in more detail. It
may be of some use in the coming era.
...luminosity of the Great Work has increased tenfold. The crystal now suffuses
the entire chamber with a lambent yellow glow, and the heat coursing from it has
made the casting sessions uncomfortable for all but Frisith. The lad has become
a mighty enchanter indeed. He seems to be the only one of us who rests easy
during meditation; it seems I am far from alone in my experience of dark visions
during...
...Frisander brought the most ancient of our texts, claiming it had been in
Frisirth's care for the last several hundred years. I did not ask how he had
procured them, for the answer was obvious - I must remember to chastise him at
some later date, privately. It is not proper that a member of the Council should
resort to thieving from one of the Lords.
I read the sections that were the focus of his concern - obscure and
irresponsible references to the forbidden Falatacot gods that were worshipped by
the Old Lords. The writing was incomplete, having decayed with the passing of
aeons, but seemed to imply titanic battles between the witch-gods and a force
which writhed within the bowels of the earth.
After a half-hour of browsing the fragmentary texts, I asked Frisander to simply
explain his concerns. I have no taste for the cryptic references of the Book of
Eibhil - the shocking descriptions of the most debased Falatacot blood rituals,
the inscrutable whispers about the "Mouth of the Abyss", the "Web
of the Elder Gods", the "Pulse of Darkness" which sucks at the
lighted world above, and other archaic blasphemies. I confess, the book was
unnerving me to some degree.
He felt that our use of the Great Work - the magical crystal found by Frisirth -
might have been premature. We still do not know whence it came, nor what its
original purpose was. All we know is that the power within it has some
mysterious tie to the nether regions of the earth, which we exploit to capture
the heat from the world. What if, he asked, in addition to drawing up heat, we
were also drawing up this force alluded to in the Falatacot texts?
Preposterous, and I told him so. That we should rely upon the oldest and most
debased of the Falatacot myths, instead of our modern understanding of magic, is
ridiculous.
We are already having an effect upon the world; scouts sent beyond the outer
caverns report that temperatures have dropped, and snow is becoming more
prevalent. On the back of the hand, a party of the outlander people managed to
find the entrance to the outer caves last week. Frisirth moved quickly, rallying
the Initiates and Acolytes in defense.
They are far more primitive than even the Yalain, barely possessing any magical
ability at all. Still, we of the Council had to take action at the very Gates of
the City before Frisirth could slay and enslave their souls to us.
We are on the cusp of going home, or being discovered by the cattle that call
Killiakta their home now. This is a critical time - to call a halt to the Great
Work would be folly of the gravest sort.