The forest... it's gone.
I returned to the place where the fire raged last night, expecting to find nothing but ash. I wasn't far off. The once-dense evergreen forest is now a wasteland of blackened stumps and smoldering ruins. The trees are no more than charred skeletons, their branches twisted and broken, still faintly smoking. The creatures that once roamed the woods—spiders, pigmen, everything—they're all gone. Burned, I assume, in the inferno I unwittingly started. The destruction is total. Yet, in the devastation, I found something curious.
Charcoal. Everywhere.
Every burned tree has left behind a lump of charcoal, a material that could prove quite useful in the days to come. I didn't realize how valuable a resource it could be—until now. If I'm clever, I might be able to put it to use. Perhaps in crafting, perhaps in making a proper campfire or even something more advanced down the line. I gathered as much as I could carry, though it's almost overwhelming how much there is. The whole forest has become a trove of charcoal, black and lifeless, but oddly resource-rich. And there was more. Amidst the ruins, I found what was left of the spider dens. The silk had not burned completely, and scattered about were spider glands, mixed with the remains of their charred corpses. I gathered them too, unsure yet how I will use them, but knowing they could be useful for healing or crafting. Despite the devastation, the forest still provides—just in a different way now.
But then I found something... else. At the heart of the burned forest; there was a strange structure—one I've never seen before. A large, scattered altar of sorts, built from rough stone, with four ominous pig heads mounted on sticks around it. The sight of it stopped me in my tracks. There was something deeply unsettling about it, something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It felt wrong. I approached cautiously, unsure of what to make of it. This place... this altar—it doesn't belong here, at least not naturally. Someone—or something—put it here. But why? And what is its purpose? I couldn't help myself. I mean I am a scientist! That's my life purpose, finding the unknown! So despite the eerie atmosphere, I reached out and touched the altar. The moment my hand made contact with the stone, I felt a faint surge of energy pulse through it, like the ground beneath me had shifted. The altar... repaired itself, the cracks in the stone filling in... I quickly withdrew my hand, unsure of what I had just done. I have no answers, only theories, to be honest. The altar felt ancient, as though it had been here long before I arrived. Its power is undeniable, but its purpose remains a mystery. All I know is that something dark lingers here—something that seems to defy the natural order of things. Could this be a resource in itself? A way to cheat death, perhaps? I don't know. But I'm not ready to test the last theory just yet...
For now, I'll mark this place in my memory. Should the worst happen—and it feels more likely with each passing day—I may have need of this altar. If my suspicions are correct, it could be a way back. But it's not something to rely on. Whatever power this place holds, it won't last forever. As I left the burnt forest behind, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'm not alone here—not just in the literal sense, but in the sense that this land wants something from me. Something dark. I don't know what it is yet, but the deeper I go, the more it feels like I'm getting closer to some terrible truth.
Tomorrow, I'll explore further. This world has secrets, and if I'm to survive, I need to uncover them—before they consume me... Or worse...