aterat | audio.

[ Ivy sounds a bit tired and slightly off for anyone that knows her. She lets out a sign before she starts speaking. ]

I'm sure most of us remember the incident with the plants from sometime ago. Watts and I have been investigating some clues we found. Honestly, I expected us to get nothing but I suppose we got, well, something. [ She's not really sure what precisely they got, but it's probably worth telling people. ]

There's a settlement deep within the forest, on the far side of the pyramid that the portal is on. The scent of magic there is strong, alien, like the city. I think it comes from the portal itself. [ she's not sure if that's important, but might as well mention it. ]

Further past it though, there are totems. 12 of them. The people that made them took a great deal of time to carve each one and enchant them with Earth magic. It's a scent I'm very familiar with. [ There's a hint of sadness that touches that statement before she quickly moves on. ]

Past that we found vines that had pods that looked a lot like the ones that we had in the City. So, I guess we can say we know where they came from now. It took us time and some scratche but we eventually made it to a pathway that has consistent use. Unfortunately, that's about as far as we could really make it. The path doubles back on itself, I'm assuming it's some kind of enchantment the people have made it.

On our third attempt we found a note that said:

“Condolences. Enemy not. Beforecity call wrath of Balefire. Nowcity follow path. Softskin wizard know."

Maybe it'll mean something to someone else. That's all we found, but at least it gives us some information about who did it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Aside from the magic I've seen around here, I can't say I'm overly familiar with magic in general, so I'm going to take your word on most of that.

[The language, though...]

Weird, though, right? That note sounds like it was written by someone who's not familiar with our language, but none of us have trouble communicating with one another, or with the natives.

[There's a beat.]

Do you still have that note by any chance? I...work with Watts, I'm...slightly psychic, and I might be able to find something out from it.

Magic is pretty prevalent in my world. Or at least in my portion of it.

[ She pauses. ] I have to admit I hadn't really thought about that. [ Which she wasn't intensely happy about admitting. ] I should have.

But, yes, I still have the note. I can bring it to you.

I have moments of brilliance.

[His tone was jesting, but he doesn't long, instead moving on to the task at hand.] Brilliant, sounds like you're more of an expert than me. [And sure, why not touch the note with dubious origins? What's the worst that could happen?] Know where the Gullwings office is?