Entry #2
Dear Diary,
Traveling with a bore is a blast! This thing can RUN! On walls! Imagine the best climbing you've ever done and then make it times one hundred! It would walk on walls and then jump over chasms and literally be amazing! And then there's the drilling! There's nothing like the feeling of power over nature you feel when a rumbling machine, its engine roaring with energy, pierces the rock at your command, creating new paths through the underworld! … It is kinda bumpy though. Let's just say it's a good thing those seats are padded, otherwise I would be quite sore. At least I was lucky enough to be in the control room, which rotates so that the floor is always down (a bit nauseating at first but you get used to it). The people in the rest of the bore that did not adequately secure themselves were left to bounce from walls to ceilings whenever we changed orientation. Good thing most of the things in the bore are firmly secured.
<There's a rather jittery drawing of the bore leaping over a chasm, the lines suddenly becoming jagged in places. The same is true for most of the above text. Arrows name the various parts of the bore: its legs attached to the same level as the engine, the drill hanging between them, the engine right above that and the control room at the top of the bore's cylindrical, multi-level body.>
I withdraw all my reservations, Vikkan is a very competent driver (at least under normal circumstances) though from what I understand he doesn't do everything manually, the bore's system helps quite a lot. Which is understandable, given that there are like a billion controls up here. I have to admit, at first I didn’t fully trust it. When I heard and felt the noise of all the gears of the drive system engaging as Vikkan threw the lever, I gripped my seat tightly, not knowing what to expect. The machine adjusted itself, finding its balance and then… it flew. After I realized we weren’t going to crash, I let go and began enjoying myself.
I realize now, after more careful thought, that given the complexity of the controls, it would require several people and perfect coordination to move with the same speed we did without any assistance from the mechanical brain. But this machine doesn’t just move mechanically. It moves with power, with grace. I hope its brain never gets damaged. It would be a terrible loss, not only due to the loss of function and the difficulty it would cause us, but because that thing is beautiful, a work of art. … And it also looks like it would be hell to go in and repair it or make changes to it.
I shudder at the thought of how much effort went into designing and making such a complex mechanical brain. It's an impressive sight to behold and its constant ticking and thrumming is actually quite soothing and reassuring, like a beating heart letting you know all is OK, like a metallic stream of star-bells. And this is supposed to be an old model! I can’t imagine what the new models can do.
<There's a drawing of the control room, with the bore’s clockwork brain sitting at its centre (a brass cylinder with various cutouts showing the various control panels and gears through them). From the center of the control room sprout various control panels, full of buttons and levers and gauges and Nixie readouts. The bank of periscopes and the control sticks next to it are the most prominent. There's also a few split-flap displays on the brain, currently outputting 'STANDBY’. One wall is occupied by a giant paper map. It includes big dials for scrolling it around, since the map is extremely large and zoomed in. The glass dome in the ceiling is covered by blast shields, hiding the outside world from the viewer.>
By the way, I found out that the bore doesn't have a name, which I find a bit odd. It seems pretty old and lived in, so it must have had a name in the past, yet our 'Employers’ saw it fit to remove all evidence of it (perhaps to better cover their tracks). I guess I'll refer to it as the Nomad for now, for simplicity's sake.
The Nomad's brain occasionally spouts out its status via split-flap displays, but it's mostly boring messages, like 'STANDBY’ or 'READY’. It does give me an idea though… When all of this is over and I am actually part of a bore crew instead of a slave working in one, I could enhance my bore’s brain to give it a bit more… personality. <3 I'm going to replace those boring messages with something a bit more entertaining.
<Scribbled in one corner is ‘The ladder leading to the control room has ribbons tied to it. Tied by former occupants? Why? Who were they? Are there other things they left behind?’>
We reached the ruins after about 8 hours of running and digging (3 hours South through Journeyman's Path until right before Mason, then 5 hours of drilling West towards the ruins). We felt it as the bore suddenly lurched forward as rock gave way to empty space. The sensor readings didn’t bode well. Extreme heat. Turns out the ruins are right in the middle of a magma lake. On the plus side, that means we won't be needing those lamps. (Think positive!)
We also knew it because of the map. The bore’s brain can keep track of how we move with its various gyros and other gizmos, which allows it to automatically scroll the giant map in the control room to wherever we are. And luckily most of the map of the local area has been filled out, much of it by hand from the looks of it. (Various hands, to be precise, probably filled out over a long time.) One such addition includes the location of the ruins.
To be precise, this location was marked ‘Ruins?’, which means that whoever made that addition to the map suspected there were ruins here but didn't know for certain. (Wonder if it was added by the previous occupants of the Nomad or our ‘Employers’. Maybe the two are the same thing?) I updated the map to reflect the actual contents of the cavern.
And let me tell you, that map is huge! The entire Local Cluster must be there in amazing detail. Imagine all those hands that drew this map. If it actually went to all those places, then this bore has actually toured the entire Local Area. If only its brain could speak, what stories could it tell us? But even if it cannot speak through words, it can still speak through all the scars it bears, all the changes. This bore is a living piece of history. And now I am a part of that history, part of that family, no matter how small.
I like the feeling that I am continuing the work of so many people before me. I like the feeling that no matter what happens to me, as long as the bore survives, the additions I and any others make will remain as a testament that we were here. Maybe that's why the Nomad's previous crew put those ribbons on the ladder. To show the world that they were here. Maybe like me, they knew that they would probably not stay in this bore for long.
<There is a crude drawing of the cavern and the ruins, focusing mostly on its dimensions. The cavern is marked as being bell shaped, about 120 metres high at its highest point. The bore is on the side, at the midpoint, marked as being about 70 metres high. The level of the magma is marked as being about 40 metres high. The bottom of the ruins is also marked as being 40 metres high, about 30 metres lower than the bore and 100 meters from the ceiling. The distance between the walls and the ruins is marked as being about 25 metres.>
The ruins themselves are quite impressive. They're essentially giant crystal shards rising out of molten magma. They're light blue, semi-transparent, almost like giant ice cubes. (I hope they're as cool as they look. Literally. It's hot in here.) I wonder how precious they are. I should grab some if I get down there. Even if they're not worth much, they would make a fine addition to my collection merely because of the story behind them. (Plus, they’re shiny! Must have shiny! <3) The structure is jagged and sharp edged, like a castle made of shards of broken glass. It looks like it has tilted slightly to one side, as though the foundation has sunk unevenly into the magma.
<There is text written in large 3d font: ‘Golden Rule 3: Everything has value for someone, sometime.’ Below it there is more text in normal font: ‘Corollary 1: Something does not necessarily hold value for someone.
Corollary 2: You can make something hold value for someone.’>
The only problem is the… thing. Some of the Abducted are calling it Star Dragon. It's a fitting name, based on what I know of human mythology. Dragons are apparently like giant worms, only they have scales and they breathe fire. Now I don’t know if this thing is as large as a giant worm, but it is pretty huge. Its body is wrapped around the ruins several times. And yet it still moves around it constantly, at very high speed. It is also quite unnatural. Magical, probably. Its body is a hazy cloud of darkness with bright spots of white light all over its ‘skin’.
The humans said those lights look like the stars. If you don't know, the stars were points of light in the sky (imagine it like the ceiling of the greatest cavern you've ever seen). The sky was something they could see from where they used to live in the overworld (some even worshipped it), before they came here to escape the monsters that came to hunt them. And they said the church teaches that those monsters that drove them out of the overworld were constellations (collections of stars) that escaped from the sky and came down to “visit terror upon the world”.
Could this be one of those monsters that managed to find its way to the underworld? I can't say, not for certain. But what I can say is that in all the civilized races, it is the greatest offense to try to reach the overworld. Everyone is taught that doing so will only lead to death. Death not only of the one attempting this foolish thing, but also the death of countless others by the horrors unleashed. So if this is one of those monsters, a monster powerful enough to drive the humans into the underworld… I am not eager to find out what they can do. In fact, I think we should seal the tunnel before we leave, just in case. If that thing ever loses interest in that ruin and decides to snack on nearby towns instead… it won't be a pretty sight.
<There is a drawing of the ruins, towers and shards poking out of the magma, all of them wrapped by hazy lines snaking around the entire thing.>
Frax says these are not Antediluvian ruins, these are ruins of the Gemstone people, a now extinct race of living gems that once upon a time lived in the Local Area. Essentially gem golems or maybe crystal elementals, depending on how you look at it. (I guess that means they didn't mind the heat, not being made of flesh and all. I, on the other hand, can't stop hyperventilating. Humans are so lucky with their ability to sweat. Except for the smell, I wish they could do something about that.) He says they didn't have very advanced technology but could manipulate crystals, which is how they built those impressive structures. I wonder if they had any relationship with the Antediluvians or if they merely discover their stuff like we do.
<There is a drawing of a transparent woman looking at her hand, her sparkling hair dancing in the wind. The words ‘What did they look like? Where did they go? Could I find some here?’ are written next to her. ‘Even if it's just the remains of one of their bodies, I bet it would be a very interesting find.’>
Anyway, I've got to go now, we're currently discussing how we can reach the ruins. We have a few ideas but no concrete plan yet. I'll let you know what we decide.
Write to you soon,
Kara
P.S.: Note to self: Ethral CAN glide but apparently don't like doing so outside of the familiar comfort of their caverns. Who could had guessed? Not me. I apparently insulted one Ethral called Drett by suggesting Ethral glide around magma-filled caverns all the time. (In fact, my exact suggestion was for an Ethral to glide down to the Ruins while carrying a rope so the rest could slide down it.) It was an honest mistake, I mean, you hear all these rumors about Ethral and, well, if I could glide around I'd do it all the time. But I guess I see how it can be dangerous if you don't know the area.
I dunno, I think I might have been a bit too forceful, I could have been more diplomatic. But in my defense, I don't want to die and that means getting that artifact. And while I'd love to stand back and let someone else do the job for me, I know life often doesn't work like that. I need to help as best I can and that includes suggesting things as well as doing things. We're all going to have to put some effort into this if we're going to survive.
I apologized and tried to explain myself. I hope he isn't still mad at me.
<There's a drawing of a cartoonish Ethral with its arms crossed. There are eybrows on its mask set in a frown. The mask itself has a circle carve in the top third, stylized lightrays splitting the mask in half and coming down in symmetrical angles. The eyeslits are angled, almost malevolent looking.>
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Topic: DIG: Heresy (Read 414138 times)