It has been two days after our last encampment. We finally reached the final mountain wall. The surface is very smooth. It's very unusual to see rock as smooth at this.
Whatever this is, it does not deter my father's goal. I just hope that this is not the end of the journey. It would be a real disappointment. We start beaking into the rocks
with pickaxes. We place gun powder into the crevices. We detonate them. When the holes were big enough, we start placing explosive barrels in them. After placing a
hundred mega barrels into the hole, we all took cover. The fuse is lit. Those mere moments are filled with an eternity of anticipation. We cover our ears. The
force of the explosion could be felt going through our bodies. We see light coming through the tunnel of dust. As the dust settles, we slowly proceed. We don't know what
to expect. We pass through the tunnel and reach the other side. It was a sight to take in. We were observing a very unusual landscape. There is a massive river system
in a very flat desert. There are several large mountains in the distance. We are also surprised to see that there are is a large ruins of a massive city. This changed the
course of history of Astera. We thought this new world was uninhabited to colonizers like us. This was hard to comprehend. We look around to see if there was something
else to this place. The great mountain wall surround this place in a great circle, even in the far distance. We slowly made our way to the base of the mountain slope. It
took us several hours but we finally arrived to the abandoned city. We arm ourselves due to a feeling of uncertainty. The building structures are unlike anything we have
never seen. The smoothness of the buildings surfaces felt unnatural along with their glass and steel skeletons. We even see what appear movable structures with wheels.
Some of the groups split apart to explore the city. There are many unusual things inside these buildings. I found a machine that opens with a push of some round lever.
It made chime like noise. Inside are some kind of paper and what appear to be coins. I continue to look around. I come across another structure. A small square box.
What is this thing? There is a small lever device. I pushed it. A beam of light appears suddenly. I threw it onto the floor and readied my weapon. It made a strange
humming noise and pushed out a piece of paper. I pick up the piece of paper. I was truly astounded. I was seeing a reflection of myself, not like looking at a mirror but in
that moment. Could this be some kind of time capture device? These people were obviously a very highly advanced race, possessing unknown machines and technology
that I couldn't comprehend. There are many levels to this building. I've only managed to explore two levels. The day is passing by. I use my sundial. It approximately
6:30. I better rendezvous with the others. I take what I can and head out. I find the others. They too have come across strange things. The winds start picking up. We
make camp. We take our time to try to figure out the strange devices. Some people brought books, it must have been their knowledge. Their language is complex.
Fraerya, our Wyverian translator, has never seen such a language before. It was as if the language is a combination of Wyverian, Troverian and possibly human. My
groups drink with cheer for we have all made remarkable discover. However, despite all the cheer, I can help but to wonder what happened here. It is late into the night.
I decide to hit the rack, the wind howling outside. I close my eyes. The morning rose the next day, like any other. Then I heard an unexpected noise. Somebody
screamed. We all got out from our tents, I came out armed with my Jaw Blade and ran to the source of the scream. One of our smith engineers, Bjarni, husband to
Fraerya, was gone. He was taken sometime in the night. Fraerya was crying over his torn and shredded clothes. They were bloodied. My father rallies everyone to
organize a search party for our missing comrade. We arm ourselves and begin a sweep of the surrounding area. We found drops of blood and tracks heading towards the
city. We march in that direction.
