Alia. Let's see what secrets lie in the ancient documents.

I am also curious about what's in the docs.

Machine Devils Alia 2014/01/26(Sun)02:02 No. 559548 ID: eaa372
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Most of what we know about the Deep Elves was based off of heresy, half a thesaurus, and a dozen or so pages of suggestive romantic poetry. Somehow Veechy and I accidently stumbled onto more information than discovered by decades of archaeology. I’d be overjoyed by this if it weren’t for the fact that we can’t go back home to Sunwine now that our mentor and patron, Paragon Penrose was lanced through the neck in those ruins. Veechy’s asking around for someone we could sell our expertise on the Deep Elves out to.

I’ve been translating a few of the documents I’ve skimmed and a few of these passages stand out. Which one should I focus on translating?

“Experiment 35: Synthesis of Oil Based Polymers”
A chapter out of a book of “Chemistry”; some variation of alchemy? I have no idea what a polymer is but it might have to do with that tower shield we left behind. There seem to be a lot of references to so called “extremity electrons” in here too. This might be a guide to converting rock oil into Deep Elf materials.

“EYES ONLY: VALKYRIE CLEARANCE OR HIGHER: DO NOT REMOVE FROM SECURITY CORDON”
These papers contain references to an individual called the “Reclaimant”. Perhaps some kind of legend or prophecy?

“To whom it may concern.”
This seems to be a letter intended for a stranger to find. There is a sentence apologizing for a past failure. This letter seems to have many pages…

Or I could take a break from these documents and speak to Red Lucy in the common room instead.

>Experiment 35
You are correct, it is a process similar to alchemy, but without any magical component. It uses a variety of rocks to process rock-oil into a resilient and lightweight material, that can easily be formed into complex objects with application of heat (on the order of a cooking fire rather than a forge).

>EYES ONLY: VALKYRIE CLEARANCE
A sensitive military document. It may relate to the purpose of the Deep Elf ruins.

>To whom it may concern
Sounds like a general apology notice, and likely to be the least interesting of the set.

The first document will be very useful if you intend to manufacture and sell the sorts of materials you found in the Deep Elf ruins in order to fund your research, or can find a partner to perform the manufacturing and provide funds for you to continue your research (will likely require providing them a sample of material).

The military document may provide some insight into the purpose of the Deep Elf ruins, and may indicate what areas may contain valuable artefacts (and what may constitute a valuable artefact). A single expedition could provide a large profit, but you'd still need a way of raising funds for that expedition to start with.

The first (may) explain a valuable manufacturing technique (provided the information is complete, and we have enough of the resources to enact it). The second sounds like it describes an individual- a threat, or experiment?

I think you're underestimating the value of the last one, though. A letter meant to be found may have pretty relevant information. It might explain why their civilization fell into ruins, what they did wrong, or why their constructs attacked you (or possibly a means to safeguard against that?).

I'd start with the last. If it becomes clear it's nothing but self guilt and apologies we can shift gears and do one of the others.

I'd start with the third or the second document myself since I'm betting it has something to do with either those constructs directly or has relevant information about their operational parameters.

A 'polymer' is all about manufacturing new materials out of rock oil and/or other substances. Without substantial competence and understanding of what you're doing the process itself and the materials created tend to be dangerously flammable. If you didn't already know that as general knowledge and the term 'polymer' has no current-usage translation in your language it's doubtful that this is particularly useful to anyone that isn't a researcher in the field of chemistry (alchemy?).

[1/2] Alia 2014/01/28(Tue)20:24 No. 559952 ID: eaa372
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I’ll start translating the letter. It might have some insight into what happened to the Deep Elves. It’s written in informal Deppen so the meanings will be muddled but it’ll be easier on my eyes to read. This letter may just be self-pitying drivel but I should be able to find out if there’s any useful content in here.

To whom it may concern.
If you’re reading this then we’ve failed to contain the outsiders. I’m sorry that we couldn’t save you future generations from the marauding abominations that will likely plague you. We couldn’t put up organized resistance when they used our family and friends against us. Petty promises of granting power were enough to split us up. The only compensation for losing our civilization is that they’re now too busy fighting each other to finish wiping out the few of us that are alive. We’re going up to the surface, hopefully the outsiders will stay too busy with each other to bother digging up.

Outsiders? There’s NO references of these Outsiders in all the other ruins Veechy and I have investigated on the surface. Surely there would have been some sign about the influence of these outsiders, perhaps not direct evidence but surely-
I have to keep reading, maybe the author has a more thorough description of what the hell an Outsider is.

[2/2] Alia 2014/01/28(Tue)20:26 No. 559953 ID: eaa372
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DEEP ONES
ARE FIGHTING
AGAIN LESSER
DEMON

KILL THEM FIRST

This was written in Republican standard, a modern language! All the other pages of the letter have this burned onto them too! I don’t recognize the emblem though. Who’s responsible for this?!

Jeeze. So is the content under that message completely lost? What's the page made of, and the original writing, and the new overwriting?

Depending on the chemical composition we might be able to treat the pages to remove the new message, or make the original text readable.

...I don't suppose if you hold the page up to a light, you can make out the original text under the new? Or if you turn the sheet over and try to read through the backside? (Having to translate mirrored text, or having to read through a mirror, would slow you down, but it's better than nothing).

Another possibility is attempting to read the relief-impressions from the original writing using powder.

if you have time left, move on to the Reclaimant papers.

Machine Devils Alia 2014/02/04(Tue)21:48 No. 560932 ID: eaa372
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>Check for indentations
I need Veechy to get his hands on some specialized supplies if I want to glean any more information from the letter.

>Check Reclaimant documents
These papers were kept in a parchment sheath wrapped in red ribbon. At least none of the pages in here are obscured like the letter. There are a few glossy images in here with the papers. A deep elf woman in some kind of plated armor. The papers describe a “Rowansdepp Incident” in which a woman called Reclaimant Commander Kyesvin lead an expedition deep into the earth to clear out a settlement called Rowansdepp that was taken over by the Outsiders.

She returned with only 12 soldiers and manifested the ability to heal wounds and summon fire which apparently violated “Thermoreactive Laws”. Strange, it seems that Deep Elves had no concept of magic until this Rowansdepp Incident. There are more glossy images here of black thorns growing over ruined structures, Rowansdepp? Still no explanation of what the Outsiders are.

There is a map of Rowansdepp here as well. Along with something circled in red ink with the words “incursion point” written next to it.

More mysteries. Great.

>it seems that Deep Elves had no concept of magic until this Rowansdepp Incident
Which would imply that they had never come into contact with it before. Or that, potentially, it didn't exist until that point. Circumstances that could keep an entire advanced civilization from observing magic at all are certainly interesting. And in the unlikely event this was it, the origin of magic would be even more interesting.

if magic started being a thing in Rowansdepp, you gotta go there. go to a map specialist person, or whatever they're called. maybe he can tell you where that is. or maybe you can do that yourself, I dunno.

if these outsiders are what brought magic here and they're hostile, everyone you know may be fucked. for life.

Alia 2014/02/05(Wed)22:29 No. 561126 ID: eaa372
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>>560935
Well that upends most theories about the nature of magic.

>>560957
Plenty of unpleasant implications in these documents but there’s no need to proclaim the end of the world. Back in Sunwine there were many scholars proclaiming the end of the world after thoroughly studying historical documents. And by scholars I mean conmen competing to steal money from people who should know better.

Too many documents, I need a break.

I’m going to speak to Lucy and Veechy down at the bar, perhaps they found some leads for finding another patron.

Lucy’s a bit of a mystery, she was hired onto the expedition by Paragon Penrose as a guard and stayed mostly aloof. Her contract died with Penrose yet here she is calling favors to keep Veechy and I afloat after saving us from the constructs back in the ruins. When she first found us she had this frantic tick in her voice like she was afraid of being left alone. I originally thought she was another hired sword living from job to job. There’s more to the woman though, in the ruins she moved too fast for your average human. She managed to flip over those constructs in a matter of seconds.

The constructs first attacked us in our camp setup inside the entrance of the ruins. She was sitting with us for the first few seconds that the constructs started attacking. By the time I had grabbed Veechy and ran further inside she was moving towards us. She completely disregarded Paragon Penrose and left the rest of the guards to be butchered by the constructs.

But what's her interest in Veechy and I?

maybe you smell nice.

>But what's her interest in Veechy and I?
Perhaps she was pragmatic enough to realize you two, with your knowledge, were more useful in dealing with the ruin and the constructs. Allowing her patron to be killed in order pursue that edge is surprising, but maybe she had decided there was no way to help him or the others caught out in the open in time?

Or perhaps her interest started earlier. What if her hiring was no coincidence? Perhaps she allowed herself to be hired because she was interested in the ruins (which would make her employer an expendable means to an end. And you and your twin a more valuable means). Or perhaps she was interested in the two of you from the start, and joined as a guard specifically to get close to the two of you (would explain why she was sitting with you, and your safety was her immediate concern).

So... cutthroat pragmatism, an ulterior motive regarding the ruins, or regarding the two of you. Not enough information to narrow it down more than that, though.

>she moved too fast for your average human
Well, let's think then. Are you aware of anything that makes humans significantly faster or stronger than the norm? Or perhaps, anything inhuman that can pass itself off as human?

Clear-slate analysis: If she's known to move in ways you don't expect a human to be able to move then either she has a particular background that gave her this ability or she's not human. Working backwards from her observed abilities, knowledge and talents should help you figure out about her background. My first guess would be that she is or was special/elite forces of some kind, possibly a scout.

Regarding her 'odd' behaviour during the ambush, there are at least two plausible reasons. Perhaps she chased after you in the camp due to a particular mission or personal goal that valued your survival over Paragon Penrose: Your expedition has uncovered particular documents and artifacts, has it not? The other likely guess I'd make about that is she saw the camp as a lost cause after a snap-decision tactical assessment during the ambush: Veteran soldiers survive by making good judgments of the risks that they face and acting accordingly.

You can put some of this doubt to rest and perhaps discover enough further details by opening the question of contract renegotiation. A particular question you may consider asking would be, "You're obviously a high-class veteran of some kind, surely you have your pick of many desirable employers. Why are we so valuable to you?"

This whole "Rowansdepp Incident" thing sounds like it could be quite a good pitch for a patron. Whether or not it was the source of magic, it sounds like the site of a very important deep elf historical event.