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Diary entry 7713. Rising Moon, 13th day. Vaeforn Forest





    I decided to try and find the source of the sound i so distinctly heard last night.I thought that a tree just snapped  because of the wind and just decided to give up standing and trow itself on the ground.Or maybe a better suited description would be that of a ship's body creaking on a fierce storm.

    First thing i did was extinguish the fire near me, take my backpack full of measuring instruments and armed with  only my glasses (studying at the Firrae Academy takes it's toll on all of it's apprentices) and my Initiate Staff i started observing my surroundings and tried to remember from which direction did that sound came from.You might find it hard to believe that i would pursue such nonsense as a sound that is in his own right to be in a forest, but i have learnt that following your instincts is always for the best.There was something about that sound that awoke something in me...like a childish curiosity.I knew that before continuing on my task for The Academy i must find the source of that sound.

It was early morning, the sun could barely be seen because of the dense canopy above.Could her some melodic chirping all around me.If i would have stopped to listen to them, i would have certainly become confused.

    Damned be these Vaelites and their foolish customs! The forest around me looked like no one has ever passed that way ever.I could not even see the way i came from.I then reached out for the compass i wear around my neck, and decided that the sound most definitely did not came from the West, for that was the direction one had to take to get to the Fortress of Firrae, my sweet home.That left me with, well basically, with quite some question marks in my head.I could not remember from what direction did the sound came from.And who could blame me?It was well passed Sundown...

    As i stood there quietly and trying to decide which way to go, with only the occasional sound of those Fae birds singing (after some time you can get to almost completely ignore that sound since it is so repetitive), i vaguely heard the sound, although muffled by the tree trunks and the bushes, on my left.So leaving my memory to rest, i started heading in that direction.

  As i walked i reached in my side-bag with my left arm for something to eat, grabbed a loaf of bread and started chewing on it.I also thought that i will have to satisfy my curiosity today, and tomorrow morning i should be on my way to Rak-te-roh's hut, otherwise i'll have to have another interesting conversation with the ruler of my academy. 'An initiate must be punctual in every circumstance'....hmm. i guess i got a little bit lost in this place or even stopped and listened to the Fae's singing.But nonetheless i cannot be late more than a day for i do not want to be thought of as incompetent.

  Fortunately i almost fell when my staff got stuck in a hole.Fortunately because stopping short on my tracks i saw a cave almost hidden completely by branches.When i saw it, my heart skipped a beat and i knew! I knew it the moment i saw that open dark mouth into the earth that the sound came from there.I was almost crying from happiness.

  Examining the cave from a distance i could see that it was not a natural cave.There were some heavy looking rocks piled on the margins of a mound with a hole in the face.The hole forms a tunnel, that on the margins looked like it was dug by the use of some very strange tools.From what i could see, the forest not being so bright, the shapes on the walls of the tunnel resembled the shape that a spoon would make scratching the soil.

  As i got closer to the cave i was struck by a faint smell, bitter but not unbearable.The tunnel looked descending.Although i could only see a few meters in front of me, the rest being covered in deep darkness, i took a few steps in.Not being able to put my curiosity to rest, i kept going forward feeling the moist walls on my left side with my hand.Having a light source would have been very useful in here.Unfortunately i did not have one.I could have made an improvised torch, but that would would taken much to long...

  The tunnel was quite big in diameter, more or less about 2 meters, and as i advanced, a new smell made itself  real: the smell of wild mushrooms.After about 10 minutes of advancing blindly, slowly descending into the bowels of the earth i saw a faint glimpse ahead of me....At first i thought that my vision got accustomed to the  darkness of the tunnel, but then i realized that the light is somewhat green.As i got nearer, i saw that there were small, almost transparent,fluorescent rocks.