It has been far, far too long since my last record. Matters beyond my control have delayed me; now, though, I have time. I will aspire to be brief, and record in summary.
About a week after my previous entry (or thereabouts), a day arose where Garrick Caranthir seemed wholly absent from Korth, perhaps for another world; seizing the opportunity to act outside his awareness, I set about constructing a machine I now refer to as the Lighthouse.
The Lighthouse is an admittedly crude amalgamation of the Old Man's machine (which now seems inert - they had spoken of disassembling the machine, saying it had served its purpose, though while non-functional it is certainly intact) with the Flume (the gateway between worlds, found in the mine beneath Asgard, not far from the machine); I am no warlock, but through reference with the books the Old Man left about and my own analysis of the Flume, I was successful in reconstructing both to a reasonable degree.
I will record the construction and operation of the Lighthouse elsewhere; what need be known here is that it is situated near the Holy City - a choice some will criticise, but is necessary to power it - and that it enables a gateway to be opened to some point in an object's past (or perhaps even future), with said object even able to be pulled through time to now. I will return to this later.
Perhaps a day or two later, I met one by the name of Jetorix Felagund, one of Garrick Caranthir's four siblings. He claimed to have been trapped in Orda for some time, and sought to oppose Garrick; foolishly, I trusted him. He imparted me with memories of an event from long ago (which, again, I intend to record elsewhere), then took me by some strange spell into an echo of
Orda Kao'a, claiming I needed to look upon a stone in a Temple or Order. This was not his true intent, of course; instead, he implanted Garrick Caranthir's long-discarded third eye into me, then went deeper into the temple with the intent he would not leave alive.
I will admit, my fury got the better of me. I returned to Korth and immediately and set about activating the Lighthouse, my intent twofold: first, to reach back in time and pluck Garrick Caranthir from his childhood, slaying him and thus preventing him from plaguing Korth; second, to find my own past.
In the first, I was partially successful. The moment I activated the Lighthouse, Garrick seemed to... dissappear, into some strange work of light that still remains to this day. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in plucking a childhood version of him from time - instead I seem to have accidentally saved him from the moment of his death, at which point he immediately reclaimed his third eye (saying Jetorix's true goal was to find it for him), then vanished. This further maddened me.
On the second... When I looked into the Flume with it focused upon me, there was nothing. An empty void of darkness, no ground beneath, no roof above... I moved in further and further, trying to find something, and perhaps if not for the actions of Reddragon, Vampara and Keshi, I likely would have fallen in. What that would have entailed, I don't know - perhaps I simply fall out again at some point in my lifespan, perhaps I am instead smeared across it. Regardless, the Lighthouse scoured across the entirety of time, space, existence, and there was almost nought it could find about myself.
But I did find the Sliver.
A small piece of paper, about the size of my hand, torn on all edges, though from what I cannot tell; perhaps reality itself. There is writing on it, scrawled across both sides, but this writing is impossible - there is more written upon it than there is in my entire library, all co-existing on that strip, yet every word and stroke is perfectly distinguishable from the other. It is too much for me - to look upon it raw pains me greatly - but for the Lighthouse to lead me to it, it must have something to do with me, with my past. The first, concrete evidence of my existence.
To enable me to read it, I constructed the Oculatorium - again in reference with other books and to the best of my abilities - at 66 South, 66 East. The morality of constructing a place for the specific purpose of deciphering forbidden knowledge, and moreso leaving it open for public use, is perhaps dubious; but I had need of it, and perhaps less harm will be done through the availability of good craftsmanship (If need arises, though, I can easily disable it by removing the keystone).
By use of the Oculatorium I have been able to isolate fragments of sentences inscribed upon the Sliver, recording them as I could. The first seemed to be taken from a diary of some sort, with three themes; the first was a complaint against a 'half-breed elf' laying claim to a race through usurpation (possibly Garrick Caranthir); the second was a reflection about a plan involving the author adopting a new alias; the third were records of the creation of a new spell, derived from Ethgri Welden Buthr ('Summon Forest Child', a spell that conjures fruits). I have made further discoveries, but such are too intricate for summary here.
There was the passing occurrence of some... thing, going by an alias akin to 'the Silver Menace', who seemed capable of turning anything they touched to metal. They did something to the machine, then vanished - but not before leaving behind the Horned Skull of Pylos, which I claimed. Garrick Caranthir must have some magical bond with the item, for no sooner had I picked it up did he let loose a horrendous roar and demand it be returned to him; I refused. He then... removed his face, like a mask, and beneath was the vaguely familiar face of Multilex, his son. Still I denied him the Skull, so he resorted to pelting me with fireball spells - a futile gesture, thanks to my vast amassment of glaze and lead. I responded in kind by pelting him with Tak (the same he had tried to blow up my house with, weeks prior!), and he fled.
It was not long after this occurrence that my latest hiatus began. I had destroyed the Lighthouse after its first use, so as to prevent it from being used; I opted to repair it, deeming that the Old Man's superior proficiency would make it easy for him to do so, if not produce a superior version. Some of my days I have spent wandering through time by use of the Lighthouse, seeking answers; many more were used in the Oculatorium, scouring across the contents of the Sliver.
Foremost was my journey across the seas to replace my gloves - mauled by a mishap in the Oculatorium, with an enchantment few can recreate. Such was my initial reason for the delay in my record-keeping; I cannot write without my gloves, for I lack the fingers to hold a quill. It didn't take me long to replace, though, and beyond that the task simply slipped from my mind.
Little seems to have happened in my absence, according to Keshi and Vampara; there is mentionings of a guise of Garrick who, quote:
- Quote :
- Spoke of a 'dragon child who looks like an immortal'... 'A dragon child born from the spice convergence of a shadow angel and wind demon'
I think I recall a brief encounter with Garrick Raiden who was seeking those mentioned therein - one he had found, another he had not. Other than this, the only other event brought up was the appearance of a scroll mentioning that 'Meta Ike is coming' - though such has yet to occur.
Now my recount is complete. Perhaps longer than some may bear, but this is as brief as I deem sensible. My focus returns to scrying the Sliver, and affirming the growing fears I have within.
- Shiosai Ike, the Chronicler
Home 
