Chapter 1: Prologue

The following is the last recordings of Dr. Chloe Duval, transcribed in accordance with the applicable sections of the Laws for Miasmic Interaction. Copies of the transcribed vocite provided with permission by the Academic Coalition for Arcane Study (ACAS)

Recording #1

Gods willing, we will be up-river and studying the ruins of Idune by the end of the fortnight. There’s a wealth of miasma there, ripe for the sampling.

[A long stretch of static broken by the snapping of twigs and the sniffling of noses.]

I’m hoping these new preservatives prove useful.

As am I, Laurent. The last samples proved too volatile to give more than a cursory scan. Without them, it’s difficult to determine the success of the preservatives… but I maintain faith, regardless.

We developed them on guesswork alone.

But perhaps the gods will be kind this time.

Professor Duval, do you think we’ll find success out here?

Time will tell, I suppose. At the very least, the advancements in Abjuration should make our trek leagues safer than the last one.

The gods willing.

The gods willing, indeed.

Recording #2

The forests in Elrick are trickier than I gave them credit for.

It’s easy to get lost, to be fair. The first day, I found myself trampling a circular path around the same set of bushes. [A soft chuckle.] How many times did we do that, Laurent?

Four or five, I think.

That sounds right. [A cough, followed by a sniffle.]

We’ve been walking for a couple of days now with the map Doctor Guérin provided for us. It seems the path has seen some changes since their last expedition. That’s nature for you, I suppose. Still, I have ensured the appropriate updates get made as we go.

[Papers rustle. Twigs snap in the background.]

Professor Duval?

Hmm?

It… I feel like we’re being followed.

Ah, yes. [The rustling of papers continues.] Nature, for all its beauty has a way of making you feel paranoid. This is your first expedition, is it not, Dominique?

Well… yes.

As I thought. The feeling will pass.

[Footfalls trail off in the background. Moments later, heavy crunching.]

I’d be remiss if I did not confess to you I felt similar, Chloe.

We all do… even myself. It gets easier to ignore. The wildlife gets curious, takes to poking around a bit. So long as we ignore them and keep our wards in place, we will be find.

It feels different this time.

[A sigh.] Go speak to Professor Kontos, then. Perhaps between him and Agnis, some extra preventative measures can be taken.

[Stomping and snapping twigs fade into the distance. A long pause punctuated by static.]

I would be remiss if I did not confess to feeling the same… but the gods would not allow their most holy of sites to fall to corruption. Though the trek is long and full of brambles, I am not so eager to retire from it. The chairwoman would have my head for wasting funds.

[Another sigh.] Laurent’s paranoia is getting to me. That’s all this is.

Recording #3

I’ve updated the map to an incomprehensible degree at this point. Laurent has had to make copies for the sake of legibility. Keeping the interns at bay, though, has proved to be a challenge most unique.

Dominique continues with her insistence on there being something in the woods. Our zoologist, Professor Kontos, assures me they’ll remain out of our path. [Harsh metal jangling.] But, as a precaution, they’ve distributed clackers to keep us from stumbling upon things we shouldn’t.

Still, our fumbles have delayed the timeline considerably. I was banking on the extra time arriving early would grant.—the more I can study the miasma, the better. Alas...Where the gods give, they also take away.

[Distant jangling stops.] Professor?

What is it now?

Look.

[Clanking continues.]

Ah. It seems you’ve come across the remains of something’s dinner. Interesting. Laurent, dear, get a look at this.

[A long pause, filled with crackling static and jangling clackers.]

Seems too neat to be a prey-kill. And it’s still intact.

I thought similar. It’s unsettling. Dominique?

Yes, Professor?

Take some samples and a few photos, if you please. Professor Kontos is still a ways behind and I’m sure they wouldn’t want to miss this.

Recording #4

I submitted Dominique’s sample to Professor Kontos and found the... whatever it was had been covered in miasma, not blood. This struck me as odd, though, given every miasma sample I’ve recovered from Idune looks the same. It’s viscous and black and inky. These new samples seemed more like a halfway stage, something between miasma and blood. Does this mean blood can turn miasmic? Can blood be so easily corrupted?

Enlightening and troublesome in equal measure.

Another interesting discovery is the sample collected appears to have limited activity. It was practically alive when we rested for the night, straining against the glass. I’ve never seen a sample behave this way.

There’s been slime molds that look like this before. Lindbladia tabulina comes to mind, known for its dark color and dense clusters. Still, slime mold wouldn’t kill a larger organism. Not by itself, anyway.

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[Glass clinks together.]

Looking at it now, this sample has lost much of its animated properties, but I’m unsure if that’s due to decay or something else. Gods willing, I can keep it preserved enough to compare to samples in Idune once we arrive.

Recording #5

The Gods aim to keep me vexed. The miasma we collected has lost its color and reduced itself to a sort of grime at the bottom of the tube. This decay, at least, is a constant with all other samples I’ve ever observed. It seems any research I’m capable of doing will need to be immediate and harsh.

I’m still not certain what to classify this fluid as, though it is reminiscent of miasma. A subtype, perhaps? I wish the sample was still viable, so I could better compare.

There’s no time to turn back, alas. It’s been almost a fortnight since we landed on Elrick’s shore and we’ve barely made it halfway. The chairwoman will not be pleased at our tardy return.

Recording #6

Dominique was right. I’d scarcely admit it to myself, were it not for the horrors we’ve faced.

We had made camp for the night, as usual. I had Laurent and the group do chores while I continued my (unsuccessful) port-mortem observations of the material we collected. It was while doing so Dominique herself came to visit me. “I’ve felt it again,” she told me. I told her it was the paranoia of an amateur explorer.

But, by the Gods, she was right.

Not long after her visit to my tent, I heard them. I don’t even know what to call them. Monsters, I suppose. Creatures reminiscent of humans, wearing what looked like insect carapaces and dripping with pitch. It’s easy to describe them in retrospect, I suppose. In the moment, I could only focus on how absolutely wrong they looked.

The hunt was already on when I emerged from my tent. Dominique’s blank expression focused on me across the clearing, eyes staring at nothing. A mix of blood and black slime seeped from the wound in her side. Dead before she hit the ground, I assume. I pray the gods were merciful and took her swiftly.

Most of the research team was killed in the attack.

It’s just three of us left. Myself, Professor Kontos, and Laurent. I still don’t know how to describe the full depths of what happened.

[A long pause. Low, pained groaning in the background.]

I will stop the recording here. It appears Laurent is coming back to.

Recording #7

Laurent, my dearest friend, my loyal partner in science, is dying.

The wounds they sustained during the attack have festered in a way I’ve never seen before. Each time they’re leeched, the fluid is brackish and putrid. The scent that rolls off them is equally as foul.

“Leave me here,” they said last night. [Shuddered breathing.] I had half a mind to comply.

But… I can’t. Professor Kontos succumbed to his own wounds a couple of days ago. If Laurent dies, I’m alone. I can’t bear to try to continue this journey on my own.

[More shuddered breathing, accompanied by sniffling.]

In a sick twist of fate, Laurent’s injuries have allowed me another look at the fluid we recovered from the deer corpse last week. It appears this same fluid surging through Laurent’s system now is what we sampled and recovered before. It’s behaving in similar fashion, animated and reaching. I have no doubts now as to what caused it. There are monsters stalking these woods. Are they related to the miasma we’ve studied in Idune?

By my new counts, we will be in Idune within a couple of days. I have to keep us moving.

Recording #8

This recording will remain brief. Laurent passed on overnight. I am now, more than I ever have been, utterly alone.

There is nothing to distract me from this truth, and that terrifies me. Worse still, the samples I harvested from Laurent died with them.

Laurent, my beloved. [Heavy sighing and sniffling.] I’m terrified. More than I can possibly say. But I am determined. I will finish this expedition. Your death can’t have been in vain.

[Several seconds of sobbing, followed by crackling as the recording suddenly stops.]

Recording #9

If I didn’t know what I was looking for, I would’ve missed it.

Idune has become naught less than an overgrown hovel in the years since its formation. Nature in Elrick, it seems, is aggressive and quick to reclaim any stolen land. The statues here look more like poorly-trimmed hedges.

But, at last, I’ve found it.

I don’t know how I’m getting out, if I’m being honest. The exploration team has been reduced to... me. Can I truly brave the wilderness all by myself?

Ah, well. I am wasting time thinking of my own mortality. For now, it is just me and the wealth of miasma bubbling around me. I should get to studying.

[A long pause punctuated by static.]

Laurent should have been here for this. It was their department that backed the expedition, not mine. I’m just the woman with the measuring instruments and the knowledge of miasma. I’ve been at this for longer than I’ve had any right to.

It’s just... it’s just not fair.

Recording #10

The pools of miasma here have grown considerably in the last two years. I tried to take measurements to compare to the old notes and ran out of tape for most of the sites. The smallest mass of it I’ve found thus far is an impressive five feet. It swallowed the stick I used to try to measure depth, however. For now, the notes just say “very deep”. An unscientific approximation as any.

Another feature of note is the activity. Much like the small samples I’ve obtained on the way, the pools here gurgle constantly. If I turn my back for too long, I find they’ve shifted position, like they’re reaching for something.

It’s difficult to quantify their makeup, but it’s reminiscent of slime mold. Only... more sentient. I set traps and fed a couple of the sites what small vermin I managed to catch. They consumed the offerings. Or perhaps, like the stick I lost, the animals drowned in their depths and are fermenting somewhere below.

A final, strange observation I’ve had, the whole of Idune - miasma and all - becomes incredibly active whenever I cast a spell. Being the byproduct of said magic, I cannot say I’m fully surprised, but it feels different than the notes I’ve made previous. It’s not that more miasma forms when I cast a spell. For example...

[A hiss like a match being struck.]

Here, I have produced a wink of evocation magic. Despite the weakness of the spell, the puddles around me have reacted in an instant.

[Another hiss.]

I’ve tested this theory with all the avenues of magic available to me. The result is the same. Somehow, this is all connected. I just hope I have time to decipher it all.

[Distant groaning.]

I’ll have to pick this up la—

[Growling in the background. The sound of a pistol cocking.]

[A single gunshot, followed by an astonished shout. Static slowly builds to a crescendo before the audio suddenly cuts.]

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