Date: 20/9/1694

Up to this point, Ana and I have only ever engaged in small talk, and I had no idea where to begin. I started out by asking her about the Navori over breakfast, and she’s dismissed them as being a fictional cult to spook people. As a result, I only told her the half-truth of why I left home all those years ago over dinner, leaving out the part of the Navori death threat.

As I finish telling her my story, I’m greeted with silence. She looks at me with a mixture of sadness and utter disbelief, then shakes her head and walks away. I try to get up and go after her, but she’s too fast and out the door, striding on to the front deck. My splitting migraine hits me again and I’m paralyzed due to sheer pain, unable to get off the canteen stool and go after her. When I recovered three minutes later, Ana was still not back, and so I trudged back to our cabin and went to bed.

Four hours later and she’s not back. If memory serves, Ana gives the silent treatment when she’s angry. I don’t blame her. She had every right to be upset, considering that Dina was a mage and that we all could have faced that threat together as a family. Well, maybe she’s pieced two and two together and thinks that I’m a complete idiot, or deadbeat; the irony of being a scientist and spooked by a fictional cult to abandon my family. Godammit, that was the lowest I have ever felt in 8 years time.

I didn’t feel like going after her, not in my current condition. My head still hurts a little ever since I woke up, and I want to do some tests on myself using the samplnfFyfKYdkh,

---

A sudden impact sends the ship rocking portside.

Belongings, notes and clothes lie scattered round the room, like a storm just tore through it. Heimler gets up on his elbows, only to notice that the floor is slanted at an angle. 

Outside, screams could be heard from the occupants of the ship as the increasing gradient  pushes the ship towards the starboard side. Heimler looks out the open door on the opposite side of the room, only to see people losing their balance and sliding downwards towards the water. Grabbing onto the open window next to the table, he hangs on, only to see the crystal sample fall off  and slide down the room, joining his journal and notes. 

The screaming intensifies outside just as Ana leaps into the room, short sword in hand. Driving the blade into the floorboards, she uses the newly created handhold to swing herself onto the bed right next to her father. 

Are you alright?

What’s going on?!

We’re under attack. 

By who?!

Don’t know, but we need to get off now.

The terrified screams on the front deck died out, replaced by a series of bloodcurdling shrieks. A one eyed construct the size of an arm floated out in view of the window, shining a harsh orange light on Heimler, immobilizing him. Three appendages shot out towards his forehead, each of them glowing with purple energy at the tips, only to be cut off by a glowing kama as Ana leapt towards her father. Shrieking, the creature backs off, releasing Heimler from its trance, and he falls towards the other side of the room. Ana throws her kama into the wall nearby, and grabs her father’s hand while hanging on to the window. It seems to break his trance.

Huh-

Wake up!! We got to leave now.

I-

Save it for later. I’m gonna swing you to the door. We’re gonna run for the smallest lifeboats on the aft side and-

The wall near the door explodes as another creature crashes into the room. Four limbs barely hanging from a sundered torso revealed a molten orb at its open center, a horrible amalgamation of crystalline and organic matter, save for the core. A crystal shard protruded from what used to be a human head, eyes glowing an unearthly orange as crystal spikes grew out of the man’s face. Leveling its gaze at the duo, a left arm digs into the floorboards as the abomination grows spikes from its right arm. The right arm detaches from the abomination-

What the-

Watch out!

-and shoots towards Ana as the abomination leaps towards Heimler. 

Heimler lets go of Ana’s hand, and falls towards the wall behind him, one thing on his mind.

Letting go of the window, Ana kicked against the wall, dodging the arm-missile and launches herself at the abomination. Runic tatoos glowed emerald as a translucent shield projects from her outstretched left hand. Shaped from hundreds of hexagons, the mana shield as tough as surtnarian maculite, yet weightless and twice as effective produces a resounding crack as Ana collides into the abomination, sending it crashing into the back of the room four yards from where Heimler was, and hangs on to the shortsword she planted earlier. 

What was that for?!

Before Heimler could reply, the right arm missile retracts towards its owner as the abomination clawed upright, if that was even possible given how slanted the ship was. Without even waiting for the detached limb to reattach, an unmistakable snap came from the abomination as its head breaks off and floats towards Ana’s right flank, firing a concentrated eye beam at her. Ana propels herself towards her glowing kama by the window, parrying blows with her gauntlets as the abomination leaps into melee range. Trapping a right hook from the abomination, Ana slices off its spiked arm with her magic kama, the blade glowing brighter as it drank in its victim’s mana. Too late to block the incoming retaliatory slash from her left, Ana dodges back, but a searing pain across her cheek meant that she took a hit. Noticing the severed right arm in her hand trying to slash at her, and the floating head re-positioning to get a better shot at her, Ana throws the arm at the floating head, sending it spinning away. A back thrust kick sends the rest of the abomination flying across the room, away from her father. That gave her time to recover, grabbing her travel cloak off the floor, and sheathing her short sword and kama. 

A shriek. The abomination’s parts start reassembling while firing eye beams, but Ana tanks it with the brunt of her mana shield, and raising both hands, she yells:

SIÉRHE!!

Pyro-blasts erupt from both of Ana’s hands as she fires at the abomination and at the wall behind her father. Two holes the size of a bed tear open in the room as the abomination is blasted outwards. Taking advantage of the chaos, Heimler scrambles for his journal and a precious few notes. Tucking them in his shirt, he runs over his important things mentally, and is missing one particular crystal. He crawls back into the wreckage of the room, frantically searching for the crystal sample.

What are you doing, dad?!

A loud crack pierces the room as the abomination leaps back into the wreckage of the room, its organic components still on fire, revealing a misshapen crystal endo-skeleton beneath. The shriek dies down as Ana’s fire burnt away the abomination’s throat, but the creature carried forward, apparently incapable of  feeling pain.

There! In the rubble of the drawer, a soft glow shrouds a crystal, the sight unmistakable. Heimler grabs the crystal as the abomination leaps towards him, only to receive another pyroblast from Ana, staggering it but not taking it out.

Heimler barely manages to shove the crystal sample into his jacket before Ana grabs him by his left arm. With what little strength had left, she pulls him clear of the wreckage and tosses him out the opening in the wall onto the slanted deck. All the while, the tilting of the ship only worsened, and incapable of balancing, Heimler slides down the deck, followed swiftly by Ana. The creature tries to follow, and is hindered by the table in the room crashing into it.

My God.

As they slid down the deck, the scene that beheld them was something out of a nightmare. 

 

 

 

 

 

The rising sun illuminated the room, casting a soft, yellow light on everything it touched. Sunbeam in his face, he rubs his eyelids and yawns. He is greeted with soft, brown hair that glowed a beautiful ochre in the morning light, messily framing a pretty oval face a few inches from his.  

Life is good.

His right arm numb, he sneakily loosens it from the pillow beneath her head. His left arm reaches behind her back, feeling the warmth of her flesh beneath his touch. He pulls her closer, not that they weren’t already right next to each other, and nuzzles her on the forehead. Eyes still closed, she flashes a lazy smile. He prods her cheek, she grunts. Typical Saturday mornings; she won’t be getting up anytime soon. 

Can you get the postt? I’m expecting that invitationnn~~

Only if you fix breakfast~

mmmmhmmmmm…

Someone’s being a bad girl.

He tickles her vigorously.

Sthapp~

Breakfast 😛

mmmmmhmmmmmm~~~

A peck on her cheek and her reciprocatory grin seals the deal. He gets out of bed and walks out of the room. 

Mug of coffee in hand, he walks out to the front door. Alirean lilies dotted the front yard, their soft, purple and amber glows from male and female flowers respectively fading in the morning light as the flowers slowly closed shop. The hilly landscape ahead was scarcely dotted with houses, and the mist was slowly rolling out from the depths of the hills. Lively birdsong sounded from everywhere a sign that the Alirean valley was coming to life, ready to begin a new day.

Ten paces places him in front of the mailbox, where he peers into the mail. Sifting through them as he walks back to the house were three letters; the expected invitation to the neighbors’ Yue’da moonlight festival next week; a letter from the local school, and an unmarked letter.

He opens the last letter, the cover a sturdy paper of pristine quality, but with no decorations, markings, or words. Its only content was a slip of paper, and the only thing inscribed on the paper was a symbol. An eye with reptilian pupils leaked a tear that curved in the shape of an s, topped with a triangle above the eye itself. The symbol had a rainbow hue to it, but as he stared, it took on a shade of pitch black, then the tear started bleeding downwards, the black transitioning to blood-red. The symbol then lifted off the paper, slowly dissolving into jet-black  vapor that dispersed into the morning air, leaving only the blood-red trail on the paper.

The Navori were supposedly an urban myth, a tale to scare people. The only known thing about their cult was their symbol, which guaranteed death for the individual who saw it bleed.

His clients weren’t supposed to be shady, or were they? That would explain the fact that members of his team disappearing on a monthly basis, never to be heard from again. Whatever it was, apparently it was far too deep, and they didn’t want loose ends. How were they even working for the Navori in the first place? How did they know he lived here?

When would they strike? Today? Next week? A month, like what happened to his friends? A year?  His blood runs cold, all the sleep gone from his system as his mind went into overclock mode.

All thoughts of a lazy Saturday out the window, he runs back into the house. He runs past the smell of freshly cooked omelettes drifting from the kitchen, dropping the letters on the table. Rushing into their room, he throws open a suitcase, then runs into the study and starts gathering research papers, clothes, and notes. The commotion isn’t unnoticed as she peeks in.

Fuck, fuckfuckfuckgodammit!!

What’s the matter?

Uhm, I need to leave now, urgent, late for a meeting, I’ll be back in abit.

How long will you be gone for?

It’s urgent, but I need you both to stay safe for me alright? I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, probably a month, but I’ll be back, I promise.

What’s this about-

I can’t tell you, but I need you to trust me when I say I need to go now!

Hey-!

He grabs her by the shoulders, and glares into her eyes.

Dammit, I want to tell you but I can’t, so God help me, swear that you’ll keep yourselves safe!!

I promi-

That’s all I need. I love you.

The bewilderment on her face barely registers before he drops a quick kiss on her lips, and he was down the hallway the next second. The man, in his rush, bumps into a teenage girl, the splitting image of her mother. 

What’s the rush?

It’s important, I’m erhm, late for a meeting…got to go, I’ll see you later!!

Shrugging, she said; I’ll see you later. Love you.

He was already out the door, the ground disappearing beneath him in rapid paces. He needed to be anywhere but here. It wouldn’t make a difference, but he needed to disappear, and quick. Yarrmathia? Lanthara? West Surtnar? It didn’t matter, he kept running, even with the sharp morning air searing his lungs, he ran, knowing that to stop was to embrace death, to turn back was to put his family in danger. He ran, knowing that his work had cost them all far too much. He ran until his legs gave out, crashing him into the dirt, but he picked himself up and forced his exhausted body to keep moving. He ran, and with coin he bought a strong graght, and riding on the beast he headed for West Surtnar.  

Life just went horribly south, and so Pirean Heimler disappeared off the face of Evryn.

---

Date: 19/9/1694

My ‘gone for a while’ was 8 years ago. The Navori haven’t come for me yet, unless that letter was some sick joke, or that they were biding their time, ‘toying’ with their food. 8 fucking years is a long time for a death threat to come full circle. Goddammit, I have lived like a rat, going by aliases and living in highly guarded institutions. My considerable wealth was depleted to keep my cover, to go places, to disappear. Then I arrived in Anaya a year ago broke, and literally begged Garrick to take me in as I helped with research. No one would be looking for Toomis, a haggard, tanned, long-haired man who was a shadow of who I used to be. The Anayan Research Institute (ARI) was secure for my needs, guarded by magical sentries all the time and being capable of transforming into a bastion, and it was close to the capital of Lanthara, which meant reinforcements.

Now on the boat on the way to Vanar, the safety of the Anayan Research Institution lies far behind me. Hoax or not, these thoughts of the letter occupy my thoughts again. Eight years was a long wait, but would the Navori strike when I was out in the open? More importantly, could Ana protect me? Could I augment myself to the point where I become literally unkillable instead? That’s it!!

I don’t care if it that goddamned letter was an actual death threat or some sick joke, screw all the danger the world could throw at me. I had a solution. I’m sick of hiding from unknown danger; COME AT ME. I will not stand for letting my family down a second time, and Ana deserves to know the truth of why I left home eight years ago.

Yeah, I’m gonna do it. Eight years’ worth of atonement had to start somewhere.

And this time, time is on my side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: 17/9/1694

What does it mean to be filled with hope? I’ve always been an atheist, ask me about miracles a week ago and I’d likely invalidate your argument in the worst way possible.

I don’t know if its the start of a paradigm shift, but from the ‘miracle’ crystal sample, to my daughter showing up as her assignment, to being able to enjoy Anayan chicken stew again, my mind might just start to change. Honestly, I’m undecided. As cynical as I am, I’m still careful while I conduct my research, and I question the motives of the powers that assigned Ana here. I initially thought that Garrick arranged for a Spellblade to accompany me to help with my research. How did he know about the significance of my research in the first place when I’ve only discussed the sample with him once? Was Ana here of a Spellblades’ assignment, or was it an order from the Grand Council of Mages? Does Ana even know the significance of my research?

I don’t really know what to do about all these questions, and so I think I’ll stick to my current option: travel to Vanar, play dumb, see what I learn, maybe I can even turn things to my advantage. Uncertainty fills my path ahead, but while I catch up with my daughter, I can perhaps learn something about my current circumstance. What is certain however, is my shot at being able to make a difference in the scientific and magical communities, and my second chance at being a father to my not-so-young-anymore Ana. To those glimmers of hope, I say: we take those.

Speaking of my experiments last night, I conducted the first human experimentation. If my hypothesis from the mice experiment was right, it should not go wrong if I concentrate properly.

---

Human experimentation notes #1                                                                                  16/9/1694

Subject: Pirean Heimler (me)

1. Heat crystal sample up in warm water.
2. Expose left arm to warm crystal for 30 seconds, concentrate on improving grip strength. Handle with right hand, use glove.
3. Wait and see how it turns out. Get a towel to bite on in case it hurts. Painkillers on standby as a last resort.
4. Clean up thoroughly afterwards.

Observations (luckily I’m right-handed):

Feeling a strange, tingling sensation in my left arm. It is not uncomfortable, but it seems to get more itchy. About 10 seconds pass, and now my aRm hUrts LiKE HeLl, LiKe smTH iS crUsHinG Tt. N0anMnWghjkTmsdg

Writing this after the pain subsides, which was about three minutes after exposure to the sample. The pain feels like something in my arm is being crushed at first, then as time passes it feels as if a thousand white hot needles are being jabbed into my arm. As quickly as the second sensation appears, it subsides, replaced by fatigue and soreness, like when I exert myself through overexercising. Apart from the skin on my arm rippling slightly throughout the process, there are small visible changes after that.

Results:

Writing this the next day (17/9/1694). My arm feels weird. I am definitely not used to this degree of vitality or strength in my movement, evidenced by a broken cup when I gripped it a little harder than usual. From my guess, it seems that my left forearm strength has been improved by about threefold. My left arm also appears more muscular, with several veins popping out (reminds me of when I was Ana’s age). This will take some time getting used to.

Conclusion:

If what this test shows is true, then it seems that the crystal sample allows me to reverse the effects of aging, and I cannot stress how much that it feels like playing God to a certain degree. Whether the crystal can prolong life by exposure through the constant reversal of aging requires further testing.

---

Turns out, it worked, although it will take some time getting used to. Since I dislike imbalance, I repeated the same on my right arm, so that it does not look out of place. I can attribute my strength to carrying alot of stuff in my time in Anaya as an excuse. Maybe I should repeat the same on my infrequent headaches which were the last of the annoying symptoms from a few days ago, while the rest seem to have disappeared. Maybe I can be a magical healer of some sort, too? That wouldn’t be too bad either. Fingers crossed, hopefully Ana doesn’t notice anything.

Speaking of Ana, she seems ever-so-slightly excited to teach me the basics of magic, using Garrick’s scryfer as a textbook. I’m really looking forward to that, father-daughter quality time. I’m wonder, does she not have any resentment towards me, leaving her and Dina all those years ago?

“You had your work ahead of you, and while I hated you then, I learnt to forgive you for it. I’m giving you a second chance, but if things were the same as 8 years ago, we’ll part ways for good once this is over.”

Going back to being all cool and calm, a croquette vendor caught her attention and she started being curious again, just like when she was younger. I’m going to hold myself to this promise: to be the father she needs, because we are the only family that the other have. I smile at the thought of our family, and with a literal elixir of youth contained in my bag, I sip my cup of tea and savor a moment on the front deck. We leave for Vanar tomorrow.

Maybe that’s what hope is, a guiding beacon of light in a sea of uncertainty. Faith that all things will turn out alright.

Date: 16/9/1694

I would confidently say that I’m not someone easily surprised. The past few days have proven me wrong and today was no different.

Having barely an hour to pack my belongings as soon as I was released from confinement, I only managed to grab the bare essentials and my travel cloak before running down to the lab to grab the crystal sample. Meeting Garrick by the main lobby, I was introduced to my companion from the Spellblade Order.

Slender with a well built figure, with hands on her hips, she stood tall and proud in her purple and gold travel cloak and light runic armor. Twin runic blades sprouted out of scabbards on her waist, complimented by an array of pockets possibly containing magical artifacts of her own. Taking off her hood, brown hair tinged with white streaks tied loosely in a braid complimented a slightly tanned oval face. Dilated pupils framed by green irises poked out from under close-set eyes, and her thin lips were open in an unmistakable sign of surprise.

She may have white streaks in her hair, a line of small runic tattoos running down her left cheek, but otherwise was the very splitting image of her mother, Dina.

“Dad?”

“Ana…”

Eyes like mine stared at each other, an awkward few seconds of silence passing between us. I don’t know ho to put it, but my mind went blank at that moment. Stepping forward, she embraced me tightly; 8 years apart was a long time for a daughter to be away from her father.

Pleasantries were exchanged with Garrick, and without further ado, we set off for the Anaya town square. Turns out, it was her first time in Anaya so I took the pleasure of showing her around. From the arcane statue in the middle of town to my favorite restaurant in town, we settled in there and talked over Anayan chicken stew.

Ana left home with Dina at 16, and spent 4 years completing her studies while working to support her mother, who had contracted magiseptsis* a year after our divorce. While I moved over to Lanthara to conduct more research, she was already moving up in the world of magic as Dina’s apprentice. 3 years after she left home, Dina passed away and Ana chose to join the Spellblade Order after the funeral. Not long after that, she passed the trials and became a full-fledged Spellblade herself, her first mission being the take-down of an illegal arms smuggling ring in Yarmathia. Taking on several more assignments with her team, her last mission was the containment of the beast that caused a disaster in Surtnar, and now she’s here to accompany me on my research trip to Vanar.

I didn’t know how to properly process it all. She had been through so much, and I wasn’t there for her. I think of the letters from Dina in the first two years that I never opened due to my obsession with my work, and the stream of letters that slowly trickled to none after the second year. Had I been that selfish, refusing to reach out to my ex-wife when she needed me the most? I feel worthless, sacrificing everything that had ever loved me to achieve recognition in the pursuit of knowledge. I don’t deserve my beautiful daughter, and no matter how much I may try, a part of me will always feel guilty for ignoring my family. For the first time in a long time, I cried.

Now in a room in the inn above, I look at Ana as she sleeps. She’s so beautiful, and it feels like I’m staring at Dina again. A gentle lamp illuminates the room and I’m left alone with my thoughts. Retirement thoughts, starting over in Surtnar, maybe even opening my own research institution? Not sure how I can go about doing it, but if anything would make it possible, it would be the crystal sample in my bag. I think I’m gonna study Garrick’s scryfer, then work on a few more experiments myself. If my research proves right, and that crystal allows me to play God with matter, then it IS the key to my redemption. With it, I will make the greatest scientific and magical breakthrough the world has ever seen, and finally have a chance make amends with the family that I left behind.

Sleep can wait.

---

Study notes from Garrick’s scryfer (Historical)

• The history of magic has been a poorly documented one. Humans have learnt how to wield magic by the end of the third age, and with the present day being the fourth age, we as a species are still relatively young to magic.
• As far as the first documented use of magic goes, a nomadic people from Surtnar were the first to demonstrate some form of control over magic. The first magic users may have originated in the aftermath of the Sundering**, but the records are sketchy at best.
• With the rise of the Magyron Empire in south-east Surtnar towards the end of the Third Age, the rate of development of magic was at an all-time high, albeit unchecked. The rampant use of unchecked magic led to conflict with the other nations in east; Surtnar, Zuerta, and Tianzeia as they sought to dominate their neighbors. An internal power struggle between the mages coincided with an attempted coup resulted in a masssive civil war between the dictatorship and those who opposed them in the Magryon Empire.
• The civil war, combined with the war against Surtnar and Zuerta, resulted in the downfall of the Magryon Empire. Facing two foes and fighting on the inside, the Magryon Empire shrunk to a quarter of what it was, and eventually being driven towards Mount Minomato***. Before the combined forces of Surtnar, Tianzeia, and Zuerta could approach them to negotiate surrender terms with the Magryon dictatorship, the rebels struck first, resulting in the destruction of Mount Minomato and the last of the Magryon dictatorship.
• In the aftermath of the Magryon war, the mages of Surtnar, Tianzeia and Zuerta banded together and formed the Grand Council of Mages, a governing body to make sure that magic does not run unchecked. Following that, elite mage-warriors from Tianzeia and Zuerta banded together to form the Spellblade Order under the Jurisdiction of the Grand Council.
• Where the Grand Council oversees the use of magic throughout the world and research on the latest developments, the Spellblade Order acts as a neutral, independent faction in itself until the time the Grand Council has need of their services. Both are based in Deka, and are their own sovereign city state in the Confederacy of Surtnar, but are minimally involved in politics.
• Despite being 45 years old, some of the notable feats of the Spellblade Order include diplomatic/humanitarian efforts in the north of Yarmathia and Jalantis, and assassination of arcane terrorist Rava the Shifter****. Their most recent endeavor was the imprisonment of a mysterious beast that broke free and wrecked havoc in western Surtnar, and according to official sources the best is currently under study in Deka.
• The last I heard of the Spellblade Order, they were leading humanitarian efforts in the free lands of Midnor, who happen to be caught in between the warring nations of Vanar and Zuerta.

---

*Magiseptsis: According to Ana, magiseptsis is also known as ‘Mage’s bane’ in the magic community. It is an extremely rare, incurable disease that attacks the nervous system of a mage, causing excruciating pain whenever they move or cast a spell. Symptoms include fatigue, mana (the mage’s word for energy) burns, extreme fatigue, brittle bones, nausea, vomiting, muscle atrophy, and eventual paralysis in the long run. As far as patients are concerned, there is no known cause and cure for magiseptsis, and treatment only delays the inevitable. The fact that Dina lived for up to two years with magiseptsis is nothing short of miraculous, as normal patients tend to die within a year when diagnosed.

**The Sundering: A cataclysm of unparalleled proportions that tore the continent of Surtnar in half. While records of that time are few and far between, the results of the Sundering can be seen on maps today. The scar left on the world is a massive, continent-wide chasm that supposedly leads into the heart of Evryn known as the Rift, but no one knows for sure. What is known for sure is that the plant life surrounding the edges of the Rift have demonstrated quasi-magical properties, and the area is a well-known mining powerhouse, producing some of the strongest metals the world has seen.

***Mount Minomato: A small mountain that used to exist towards the east of Surtnar and north of where Zuerta is today. The fall of the Magryon empire caused the destruction of the mountain, and today the main bastion of the Zuertan empire rests on top of where the mountain used to be.

****Rava the Shifter: An arcane terrorist that came to power 10 years ago. A former member of the Grand Council of Mages, he left the council and began his acts of terror across Evryn, most notably liquification of entire populations by napalm to prove a point. His claim was that the Grand Council was corrupt and that Surtnar was being corrupted from the inside out, but no one has ever been able to prove it. He was assassinated the night before he was about to liquify the people of Deka. As his name suggests, he was an expert pyromancer, fluids expert, and shapeshifter.

 

 

Date: 15/11/1694

In my younger days I recall reading legends about an ancient race who were granted great power to protect the world from demons. I wonder, was their choice out of pure altruism, or was it out of necessity? Did they see themselves as men chosen by a higher power to perform acts of good, or as godly figures saving all sentient beings?

What happens when one person is suddenly granted the powers of God? How does he use it? Will he rule the world, save it, or will he simply fade into the background? How will he justify his actions, with the actor-observer bias* being such an intrinsic part of human nature. Undoubtedly he will change the world, lest he be a coward, but will history remember him as a savior or a destroyer?

Put simply, my mind was blown. The rats I experimented on yesterday used to be sickly (ref: Experiment Report 14111694BHLR), but not anymore. Out of the 10 that I experimented on, two were sick, two were juveniles, and the rest were healthy adults. The juveniles have grown to full maturity in the short span of time between my rest and the containment after their exposure to the sample. The sick mice recovered to full health and were even more energetic than ever. The adults however, had mixed results. While two remained the same after the experiment, the remainder had broken out of their cages with new…adaptations and made a mess of Bio-Lab 4. These adaptations range from empowered limbs to retractable scythe-like claws and increased strength, which was discovered when the clean-up crew ran into them. Putting them down was unfortunate, but it showed me what the crystal sample could do to organics. Biological tissue made no difference from inanimate matter, it was all the same to the sample.

My cover story was a follow-up experiment from one of my previous projects, a potent gas-based tranquilizer for military uses. Even so, with a warning from the Head of Department, I am to be put under observation until my departure (which isn’t going to be long). Only Garrick knows the true reason behind the mice, but even then he cannot participate in my project, for he is duty-bound to the Anayan Research Facility and the Lantharian Magus council. While he has not yet discovered my nightly secret experiments, the longer I stay the more he will find out. With me leaving the next day for Vanar, I suspect that the spellblade sent to accompany me on my research trip will act as a proxy for him, to keep eyes and ears on my progress. I do not have much experience with magic, but maybe the scryfer** on the fundamentals of magic that he gave me could potentially double as more means to keep an eye on me.

I initially wanted to keep this project a secret because of its potential and didn’t want anyone to steal my ideas. Now, with 6 guards and a ward keeping watch on me***, I cannot help but feel like this project is somehow tied to something far greater than just an individual research project.

Was this sample sent here intentionally, for the brightest minds in Evryn to study? If so, why limit it only to the study of only one scientist, and not distribute it among the many other brilliant minds in the same facility? Was the project supposed to be a tightly guarded secret, knowing the reputation of the Spellblade Order **** and my research trip to Vanar being accompanied by one of them.

The sample sits in my laboratory drawer, but I only have 10 hours until my escort is here and I’m free to go. I know a few things for certain: that crystal sample essentially allows me to play God, that my entire research project is a secret, and I am being watched. I may have to power of God in that crystal, but I must play dumb for now, for there are many things at work here.

---

* Actor-Observer Bias: The difference in making a decision based on whether the individual is an observer or the actor in a given situation.

**Scryfer: A virtual library housed in a runic chip, with an energized spheric emerald for a core. Scryfers are a recent invention, containing vast amounts of knowledge on a chip half the size of a hand while being able to function as an independent computing device.

***For any muck-ups in the facility, an investigation is usually carried out, with the scientist in question assisting. To detain a research member such as myself and place me under heavy guard without allowing me to help in the investigation/clean-up screams something covert, like they don’t want anyone to find out what happened.

****Spellblade Order: A neutral order of elite mage-warriors spanning Evryn. While they hold no particular affinity for any existing sovereign faction, they have historically been peacekeepers and guardians of magic, working to establish and mediate mage associations from different factions.