6.08a - Dayblind Hollow

With the retaking of the outpost underway, Anneleigh made her way to the caves of Dayblind Hollows and asked to speak with Lana Farnish.

“So you are the one Tabitha Leighton has sent me?”  Lana said with surprise and delight.  “My scouts bring word of your victory at the Outpost, the Vigil be praised.  Your knowledge of the Abyssal will be an invaluable asset to me as these caves are teeming with them.”

In spite of herself, Anneleigh laughed.  It was the first time she had done so in quite some time.   “What do you need me to do?”

“These caves, the Dayblind Hollows, have been swarmed by Abyssal.  They’ve kept to themselves mostly but have solidly repelled all the attacks we’ve been able to mount, and our scouts have been little help in shedding more light on things.”

Anneleigh nodded and Lana continued.  “We have noticed the cutltists gathering Tidestone from the Hollows.   The concentration of Tidestone in this area is critical to the strength of Crucia’s prison.  If the cultists were to remove it, it could be disastrous for the Icewatch.  If that weren’t bad enough, the Tidestone would strengthen Akylios and the Abyssal. “

“So I need to prevent them from collecting the stone?” Anneleigh asked.  “The only way to accomplish that would be to make them leave the area.  Do you have a plan?”

Lana shook her head, but continued.  “We don’t believe the Abyssal are here only for sourcestone; we believe we have uncovered some information about the true mission of the Abyssal here.  The cultists have been searching for tablets that contain information on Calyx, a cephalon in the service of Akylios.  These tablets apparently contain information on where Calyx has been imprisoned.”

Anneleigh smiled.  “So you need me to prevent them getting hold of the tablets?  That is a much more accomplishable task.”

Lana smiled back.  “According to our reports, the cultists have managed to translate one of the tablets.  We need to know what’s on it if we’re to have a chance of stopping them.”

“I will go and get the tablets for you, and we can send them to the Chancel of Labors for translation.”  Anneleigh said, remembering the smaller tablets Bavik had translated.

Lana looked concerned and took a moment to answer.  “We do not have the time to send the tablets for translation, and besides, I’m afraid it will be more difficult than even that.  The scouts who have spotted the artifacts report they are not fully excavated, and are too large to remove, even if they were.  No, Anneleigh, we will need you to accomplish something even more difficult than removal of the tablets.”  Lana swallowed hard and looked Anneleigh directly in the eyes.  “We need you to force a cultist in the Hollows to read the translated tablet for you.”

“I’d have more luck convincing Akylios himself to give me that information.”  Anneleigh said, only half joking.

Lana smiled weakly at Anneleigh’s joke, but said no more.

“I’ll do what I can.” Anneleigh said at last, and turned to leave the camp.

Entering the caves of the Dayblind Hollow proved to be easier than she anticipated.  Not a single abyssal cultist stood in her way, and those who she thought may walk into her path turned and walked in the opposite direction. 

“The Vigil is with me, or they believe they are letting me walk into my own trap.” Anneleigh thought as she continued into the cave.

When she had finally reached the end of the cave, she knew she had reached the right spot.   There, partially chiselled from the rock, was a tablet the size of Anneleigh’s torso. 

“Psst!  Hey!  You!”  Anneleigh heard from behind her.  She turned to see a young Mathosian in a metal cage.  He refrained from touching the cold bars, but still looked frozen to the core.  “Get out of here before they catch you and try to make you read that tablet over there!”

Anneleigh walked to the cage.  “I couldn’t read it even if they tortured me.  It’s in English, or even Elvish.” She said as she fumbled with the ropes that tied the door of the cage shut.

“It’s worse than that.” said the prisoner, trailing off.  Before he could explain further, Anneleigh was lifted from the ground and tossed into a nearby cage.

The cultists, who had turned their attention to the young man, began to open his cage. 

“Please, you don’t know what you’re asking!  Please!  The last person to read this went mad!”  He shouted as they released the final knot.

“I’ll do it.” Anneleigh shouted.  “I’ll try.”

The young man looked at her in disbelieve.  “You don’t know what you are saying.  You haven’t witnessed this madness.”

“I’ll do it.” Anneleigh said again, “Just leave that poor boy alone.

The guards smiled, possibly at the thought of having an easier prisoner to work with, and retied the boy’s cage. Taking Anneleigh by the arms, they positioned her in front of the tablet and backed away.

“Read it.”  One commanded.

Anneleigh allowed her eyes to slide out of focus and glossed over the printing on the tablet.  It was in a language she had never seen before, but slowly, as she remained unfocused, the meaning of the words came to her.

“I’m not able to read everything, but this section here,” she pointed at the line near the top of the tablet. “Says Calyx was imprisoned within the ice.” 

She turned to look at the guards, whose attention was fully on the tablet now.  She crouched down on the pretence of pointing out a line at the bottom of the tablet.

“This section, down here, makes reference to a fortress.  I can’t make it out though.”

As she had hoped the two guards leaned forward, attempting to make sense of the foreign characters.  While they were distracted, Anneleigh removed her blade from her belt and stabbed each of the men in the chest.

“You must be Vigil blessed,” said the young man from his cage.  “Every other person who tried to read the text went mad and had to be shot.”

Anneleigh smiled at the boy as she untied his prison chains.   “Be careful getting out of here.  Can you get a message to Lana.  Tell her I’m close to cracking the secret, but need a bit more time.”