"An Exploration of Old Crossing"
by Melistat

Greetings,

It is with great care that I begin to pen this missive for all to read. I have been conducting a preliminary study of the area below the Moon Mage guild that was recently discovered by Lasarhhtha and several other citizens of the Crossing Town. My findings have discovered quite a fewf interesting things that appear to have been overlooked in the haste to see the obvious attractions there. I do not wish to ramble on with this, so I will move quickly to that which I have found. Make of them what you will....

Initial Discoveries > The Area

I followed the thrumming noise......

The area beneath the Observatory stretches down and eastwards, away from the City. Yet the area itself appears to be a part of Old Crossings, or Ancient Crossings. What this leads me to believe is that the current City we know all too well actually stands West of the original site of the city. This would point to the Middens and the swampland nearby as the potential site of Old Crossings. I wonder if the Segoltha changed its course over time and rendered it necessary for a move onto higher ground.

I found much below: the skeletal remains of an adventurer who apparently was in the wrong place at the wrong time; the remains of an encampment by another, whose shadow appears burned into the nearby wall. I found a door with ivy scrollwork adrift in the sewage. I also saw a hut adrift on a small island of refuse; my attempts to proceed inside met with failure.

However, the most interesting of these little discoveries in the area has to be the pile of dead and decaying rats that I found but a short slosh from the hole which leads to the buried Mansion. The current state of the pile appears in such a condition that 'someone' or 'something' has been placing the rats there, and has been doing so for a long while. Even though the area was closed off, we appear to be not the only visitors to come calling.

I also have my suspicions of the red colored fungus that appears to be thriving below. It appears placed intentionally in some areas, and grown wild in others.

Further Discoveries > Approach to the Mansion

The area looks excavated to a certain degree. Well stacked and neatly placed are the blocks that were removed. However, as neatly piled as the blocks are, the entrance from the Eastern Conduit of the sewer into the area is a jagged hole, uncharacteristic of the neatness that was. Was the hole created during the excavation, or was it created later, by something else?

I found a statue of a lion that has been crystallized. I had first thought it perhaps had been a living creature, but upon further inspection I found it to be a either an ornamentation or a possible streetlamp. Why do I surmise this? Well, I am conjecturing that we are tracing our steps along a road that led to the Courtyard of the Mansion. The Lion holds within its grasp a Tzgaa Orb, which is an old device created to light an area.

Also throughout this area, I saw much soot and ash, strewn about in the low standing water. Just before the Mansion I was able to discern paving stones upon the ground, gold-flecked they were and no doubt once very elegant. I believe this area to be a Courtyard because the current entrance we know of to the Mansion leads us through pillars colored and fashioned to resemble albino trees. The first room we enter into is the Ballroom. Typically speaking, by design Ballrooms are not the first room one comes into when entering into a House of this type. Coincide that with an actual entry way on the opposite side of the Mansion, and it becomes quite apparent we have entered into the Mansion through the backside, and through a possible courtyard.

The Mansion itself appears a burned skeletal shell from the outside, but upon entering within, one finds most of the Mansion only shows smoke damage, and does not appear overly damaged by fire.

Further Discoveries > Inside the Mansion

A ruby sigil upon the floor lies through the pillars, beckoning those who have visited there. When focusing my magical senses upon the item, I found my ability to manipulate its matrix to be quite lacking. The sigil appears dormant. However, when magi of sufficient standing within the guild dance around it, chimes sound throughout the area. This reminds me of an artifact that was once created called the Chimes of Disruption. Is there a connection between the two?

I followed the thrumming noise....

I saw vague unidentifiable footprints that had been left in the thick coat of dust that lay across the floor. Adjoining that area, I discovered the dust and grime strewn about, as if something was recently, and quickly dragged through the area. I can only wonder as to what happened here....

The Study: Within lies a desk untouched by time, but not unaware of those who attempt to manipulate it in any way. It either is seeking its master, or protecting what lies within its holds. I'm cautious to dismiss either pondering for it does not cause actual damage to the individual who moves too near it. Also within the study, there is a painting, the frame and canvas of which show no signs of aging or signs of abuse from the area in which the painting hangs. There is an ooze that has dripped upon it, but in truth, this appears more a part of the painting, rather than damage to it. We cannot discern who the painting is of either, such disturbs me.

The Library south of the Study: I am quite angered at my findings here. The Library was deliberately burned to hide that which lay within. I believe this fact because even though other parts of the Mansion show signs of smoke damage, there are no further burn marks or scorches. Whatever was within that library is now lost to time.

I found two sets of stairs, one leading down, and one leading up. The steps leading up are so slippery with a muck that drips continuously down them that I could not traverse them safely or effectively. What lies above remains a mystery. I was, however, able to proceed below.

I followed the thrumming noise....

In the celler I discovered the bones of what appears to be quite a few who died. The reason of such remains a mystery, however; I saw no signs of what the cause might have been. I did discover an opening that appears something blasted its way through the wall in the same area.

Through the opening I discovered a crevice. Upon attempting to traverse the crevice, I discovered it would not be easy to accomplish. After a time and much effort, I pushed my way through to a ledge upon the other side. Within is where I made the most startling and most obvious of discoveries.

I found a vast chamber/vault hollowed out beneath Elanthia. In this room there appear great claw marks that stretch from ceiling to floor and back again. They appear rune-like in structure, but they are too foreign to distinguish if they are simply there or follow a distinct pattern. I shudder to think what created such marks, and I hope my intuition is wrong.

Further down I discovered a slagged pile of translucent material. Upon what is left of the material are runes and etchings. I cannot discern their purpose any longer, but an educated guess leads me to believe this is yet another Obelisk that has suffered a similar fate to the one we lost near Theren. I had found the source of the thrumming I had been following. I assumed the Obelisk had melted, until I stepped into the adjoining room to discover many crystal shards embedded firmly into the wall. The area is in such a state of disorder that I ponder what bodies might lie beneath the collapsed rubble strewn across the ground.

I also noticed an area nearby that appeared sunken deeper than where I stood, and I preceeded to enter therein. At the base of the pit, or as deep as the rubble within allowed me to proceed, I found the outstretched and grasping glove of someone who apparently died in the collapse/explosion. The glove was truly a shock within itself.

The glove, black with a reddish tint, was made of cambrinth alloy. I am uncertain if the reddish tint is blood, or a part of the coloring of the armor itself, but I do know only one thing wears such armor: an Y'Shai guardian. The research of the Group predictions produced a vision of a lone guardian defending an Obelisk, and the Y'Shai guardians within the Observatory, when asked of the Obelisks, state that it is a shame one of their number died in the defense of such a device. One piece of the puzzle solved, perhaps, or will history repeat itself? Is another set to die in defense of the one remaining Obelisk that we know of, which stands on Taisgath island?

Such are my findings thus far. I thought it best to share with the guild and the council as to such. I have formulated my own speculation and theories from what I have discovered, and have now begun to prove or disprove them as quickly as possible.

Most magi believe the Council hid this area from our discovery, which I am certain they did. However, most citizens and magi believe they did so to hide secrets, while I have begun to believe they did so to PROTECT us from whatever caused the destruction of the Obelisk, and from that which created the great claw marks.

I've many questions to ask the Moon Mage Council regarding this. I have asked one of Zeltir already, and I will continue to ask those I encounter. A shame an audience with them is close to impossible, the safety and future of the guild could depend on as much knowledge as we can gather. These answers in whatever form they come, I will then relay to all.

The question I have asked was this: Zeltir, do you know what created the claw marks in the chamber below, were they created by the Shadowmaster?

He glanced at me, and responded that he did not know. His answer was delivered in a sincere fashion, and I believe he truly does not know. I believe, however, he fears such to be true.