General Yunan – Expedition journal

Day 0:

King Andrias is sending me to Frog Valley. I have 7 days to find something called 'the Source'. I have no idea what it looks like, all I know is that whatever it is, it's inside a large cave. And I know that there is 'no classic cave entrance'. Worst case scenario, I'll have to dig up all of Frog Valley with a shovel. In just 7 days...

But that shouldn't be a problem for General Yunan, Scourge of the Sand Wars, Defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, the youngest newt ever to…

Writing that is far more tiring than saying it. I should probably stop doing that in the future.

Oh yes, this mission is also super-secret, by the way. Basically, that means I have to destroy this journal once the mission is complete. Again.

Day 1:

I had decided to take the most direct route into the valley. This means that I only had to climb over a few mountains before I would reach the edge of it.

Easy practice.

It was about 6 hours from Newtopia to the lower range of the mountain range. In total I had to climb 4 mountains and then back down again. A masterful exercise in moving over rough terrain, breathing in thin air, and hoping I might set a new personal speed record. Unfortunately, I couldn't.

The first mountain was climbed fairly quickly. 3 hours for 900 meters. Good Average. I was able to use my previous markings to save time.

Second mountain, 3800 meters, 11 hours. Broke my previous record by half. Never been so fast. At the top I had found my supplies from last time.

The descent from the third mountain proved to be difficult as I injured my right leg at its top. So much for my record attempt. Between the last two mountains I had set up a camp to heal the injury. Not sure if I broke a bone or just sprained an ankle. Whatever it is, it should be healed by the next day.

I should have arrived in the valley by noon tomorrow at the latest.

Day 2:

As planned, I had overcome the last mountain by noon, my leg was fine again and I was able to start looking for this cave. Well, not really. I was still missing some important key information.

King Andrias said the entrance to the cave, according to legend, was unconventional. What does that mean?

It is self-explanatory that caves are underground, and all known caves have a direct connection to the surface. What I'm looking for may have an artificial entrance, perhaps in the form of a tunnel. Or a well. Or something completely different.

But just the fact that this legend exists means that at some point someone must have seen a cave that could be attributed with mystical properties and that means that there must be an entrance.

I feel like I'm repeating myself...

Doesn't matter. I needed more information. I wanted to walk to the nearest village to ask around on how I could get the information I needed. The only problem was that there was no one there. It's called 'Orkori' and it actually has a population of almost a thousand. The houses all looked as if they had been recently abandoned, but without any sign of violence or property damages.

Even the local town hall is empty. I was in the village mayor's office. The records suggested that another conflict between Toads and Frogs was imminent and probably all the villagers had volunteered. I could still remember the last rebellions very well, where only a few hundred frogs took part. Based on the theory that the villagers all did indeed join the rebellion, and nothing worse happened to them after all, and other villages in the valley are just as empty as this one, I believe the frogs have the capacity to actually drive the toads away. I would have to investigate this further sometime later.

Before I moved on, I checked a few well shafts and tried to find out if there might have been geologists among the missing inhabitants. I was hoping to find underground maps. Unfortunately, there were only farmers, artisans and a blacksmith in the village. Eventually I moved on. In the next village, I was hoping for one of four things that might theoretically provide me with helpful information: a geologist, a historian, an archaeologist, or an archive.

'Sheiro Swamp' was approximately 15 minutes from 'Orkori'. Well, for me at least. 3208 inhabitants. One of the largest towns in the valley. This city was also largely deserted. Only a few elderly civilians and children were walking the streets. I had approached a few people and there was actually a geologist in town.

An axolotl. Pretty old. Perfect. Was able to provide me with a number of geographical data and underground maps of the whole valley. I was there until late into the night, studying the data. In the meantime, I had also asked her about the legend of the source and whether she might know where it could be. She had heard of it once, but didn't believe in its existence.

The maps were ultimately useless. I had actually hoped that I would be able to use cave maps to identify potentially uncharted caves in order to exclude certain areas of the valley from the search. While it is possible to mark cave entrances on surface maps, it is not possible to see what is underneath. Ergo, no new findings, but a trace. The axolotl had told me she remembered who told her about the legend. A historian named Odal, who recently joined the rebellion against the toads. Ergo I have to get to the base of the rebellion tomorrow.

Day 3:

I think Marcy would be far better suited for this type of task than I am. Okay, admittedly no one is faster or more battle-hardened than me, I'm good at interrogating people and squeezing information out of people, but science and tracking down ancient legends isn't necessarily one of my fortes. I would actually be interested to know why King Andrias sent me on this mission instead of Marcy, but who am I to ask?

Unimportant. It was early morning when I left the geologist's house. I went to the market in town for new rations. Saw a trader selling exotic goods. Just one arm, glove on the tail, weird woman. Had asked if she knew of the source. With a strange determination, she said that it would no longer exist. She knew something, but before I could ask any more questions, she said she was going to lunch now and went to the back of her tent. I followed right behind and when I ripped a cloth aside, she was gone. Dissolved into thin air.

Imagination? Hallucination? Magic? I'll have to deal with that when I'm done. So, I had bought supplies and then made my way to a place near a village called 'Wartwood', the base of the rebellion as I've been told, and hopefully the whereabouts of Odal. On the way there I stopped for a while at Point Weatrôj to pay my respects to the fallen of the past.

I don't remember how long I was on the road until I saw the first tents that were set up on a huge meadow next to the road. This multitude of tents stretched out as far as the eye could see.

There are over 22000 individuals living in Frog Valley, and from what I saw in the other two villages it was estimated that around 60-70% of them are here right now. While I know that frogs' fighting abilities are no match for toads or newts, their superior numbers should not be neglected. When I get back to Newtopia, I should report the king about it.

As I was scouring the area to find Odal, I noticed something strange: nobody seems to know exactly who is leading this rebellion. The people I had interrogated... questioned had given me several names: Plantar, Toadstool, Boonchuy, Gardner, and Flawrik. I made a separate note of those names for a future investigation.

Later in the evening I finally found him. Andrew Odal, Professor of History and Archeology from Newtopia. Was sent by the university to the rebellion as a neutral observer.

Had asked him about the source. He knows the legend. A few decades ago, he had even looked for it himself, but eventually gave up. He still has his documents about it, but they are in his office in Newtopia and it would take too long to get them.

Fortunately, he still remembered a few things that might prove helpful. During his research, he found that the source predates all of the communities in Frog Valley and is therefore likely not in any of the villages there. Perhaps there are still ruins to be found somewhere that are older. I'll follow this lead tomorrow. Professor Odal had told me more, but nothing that would help me.

Day 4:

Before I left today, I had another chat with Professor Odal. Not only had he pointed out the locations of some of the ruins on a map of the area, he was also able to tell me who was in command of the rebellion. 'Ben Flawrik' is deputy leader. I will pass this name on to King Andrias as soon as I return to Newtopia.

I left early when the sun was barely visible on the horizon. The markers on my map all lead me south-east into a dense forest, which unfortunately meant I can't move as fast as I'd like.

It didn't take long for me to come across the first ruin. It was basically just a gray wall made up of large, rectangular stones. I assume this was part of a larger house. It is no longer possible to determine more precisely. On the wall hung a couple of pictures that appeared to be taken from a book on magic, and a couple of round glass bottles filled with some kind of liquid. Not of interest per se, but an indication that maybe someone else could be staying in this forest. Until now, as I write about this day, I have not noticed any other people.

At the second position there were only a few stones scattered on the ground. A few stones were burned and appeared to have been partially melted. However, these events were too far in the past for it to be possible to determine the cause.

At the third position, I found the remains of a few dozen pillars, seemingly lined up in two rows. Could be trail markers. On some of the pillars were symbols that I could not interpret. Could also have been writing. I'm sure Marcy would be able to translate that.

At the fourth position there were the largest ruins so far. An almost intact stone arch. Several meters high. Around it was a circle of stones that had protruded from the ground. A little way down from the archway were the remains of what might have been towers that have collapsed. I took a closer look at the archway, as this is the only structure that is almost completely intact. There were also symbols which, as with the pillars, I wasn't able to interpret.

When I walked through the gate and found myself in a completely different place, I was stunned. First, I was in the clearing and suddenly in a huge underground cavity, on all the walls gigantic, yellow glowing crystals.

I'd been exploring this cave a bit and I found a few items that prove my theory from earlier that someone else knows about this place: A few books on witchcraft and wizardry, and a dropped straw basket with miscellaneous stuff. Didn't think there would be any magic users left.

So far, I hadn't found anything that would justify the name 'Source', but I'm pretty sure this is the place King Andrias wanted me to find.

Thing is, finding this place was almost too easy. I mean, I only had a rough idea of the area and just talking to a few people got me here? Granted, the ruins are pretty remote and there are some pretty aggressive creatures in the forest that will attack anything that can't defend themselves, but there aren't any traps, guards or anything like that at the gate or in the cave itself. So why didn't anyone know about this place? And is there a defense mechanism that I wasn't able to identify yet?

In light of my safety concerns, I decided not to set up camp inside the cave. Outside, I've set up a security perimeter around the stone arch, to ward off potential known threats, as well as other slightly more intelligent unexpected guests.

Up until now I was still in the process of writing the report about my find for the king and sending it to Newtopia with a messenger bird. Since it's already dark again, I'll take care of the further security of the area tomorrow, and defend this find with my life until I receive new orders from Newtopia.

Day 5:

Something happened.

When I woke up, I was no longer in my tent where I had gone to sleep yesterday, I was lying in the cave. Wounded in multiple places. The sun was setting when I first left the cave, and I have no memory of what happened. In most cases, this is a sign of a concussion or traumatic brain injury, not a serious thing in and of itself.

Oh yeah, another thing worth noting is that all of the crystals in the cave have lost their color and luminosity. Everything was gray and dark. In the center of the cave a crystal lay shattered on the floor. Probably detached from the ceiling and fell down. Perhaps a couple of the pieces had hit me and hence the injuries. There were no other life forms to be seen.

I've collected one of the gray shards and I'm making my way back to Newtopia now. I'm a fair bit slower than usual with my injuries, but if I'm lucky, I'll be fully healed by then. If new orders from the king should arrive, the messenger bird will be able to find me. The camp remains in place to show presence and this journal is now being destroyed.