The Mists by Asdon Garlin

[Semli]

[SIZE="4"]Garlin's The Mists:[/SIZE]

No topic has been more edged around then this vaporous seeming sentience that surrounds this island, one that seemingly pervades all we do and acts on us as is its wont.  There is very little anyone can say on it, or would choose to, so it is up to me to speak the unfortunate truths of this entity that have been neglected in lieu of better established studies.

Garlin’s Theory of the Mists’ and its Beginning:

In a time long before our own, the Mists did not exist.  These islands were somewhat similar to how they are today, with animals and sentient beings going about their business in a tribal fashion, likely hunting and warring as necessary.  Perhaps there were culturally advanced peoples such as the Illithiri or the Netherese on the island at this vague point in time, but no evidence of the Mist’s existence in either age has been presented.

It was then that a volcanic event occurred.  Fire, smoke, ash, and lava claimed the lives of many, chaos and agony consuming the island.  It is in such times of horror that free undead may be given life if proper burials are not given to the deceased, and lacking their corporal shells the spirits were loosed into undeath simultaneously.  Instead of each becoming a spirit in their own right, the undead instead formed a group body and conciousness and came to be the Mists as we know them, hovering around the mountain that slayed them in life.  A few peoples managed to survive the troubles however, and because of that life was able to return to Ymph.

That the Mists are not an overtly hostile entity is perhaps the troubling aspect of this theory to some, but I shall clarify the point; the Mists are not sentient in the sense that you and I, or even other examples of sentient undead are.  Imagine, if you will, a body composed of hundreds if not thousands of minds, an alien being that is entirely aware of every secret the island possesses and has the mental facilities to foresee the outcome of events long before they have begun to play out.  A child placing an ant on a leaf might seem vast, strange, yet all the while kind to the ant, but the child may very well know the of the spider’s web the ant is almost certain to fall into now.  Simply because the Mists do not lash out at us straightaway does not mean they are benign.

The Facts Surrounding the Mists:

What can be said for certain of this being is little, but of vast importance.  Some time ago, the Archeological Society set out into the jungles to aid the neighboring tribe of Stargazers who had lost a hunter to some orcs, as they had promised us some ancient lore that would aid our community in order to see the thing done.  The Society raided the camp and was successful in freeing the captured Stargazer hunter, but in the foremost cave of the camp we encountered an orc shaman who had been preparing to sacrifice said prisoner.  A formidable sorcerer, the beast was nevertheless felled by our combined efforts.  Upon its death, however, its spirit was visibly loosed from its body and the Mists rolled into the room even with the obstructions of the cave walls.  Warded from the illusions and tricks of evil forces as a standard preparation for battle, the Mists first bombarded us with spell-like abilities that removed said protections, and then made us believe we were quite literally drowning to death as the room filled up with water.  After recovering our facilities from the horrifying experience, we found ourselves nearly returned to the Stargazer camp, having traversed a fair bit of distance hence unknowingly.  Although some may believe the Mists in fact transported us there, I believe we simply moved forth under mental compulsion.

While the Mists are dangerous in the sense that it possesses what I believe to be a very large amount of intelligence and substantial sorcerous abilities, this is not the most disturbing facet of the being.  The death of the orc shaman seemingly angered it, suggesting it was pleased by the sacrifices that the orc was performing for it.  This, combined with the existence of other shamans known to traffic in spirits to give to the Mists, suggests that the Mist is in fact feeding off of the souls of those that perish in this manner.

I shall now quote a prediction made by the Commended Otula Tauvivi, Priestess of Akadi.

“Nevertheless, my writing on the first portion triggered my chain of thought and I'm prepared to make a minor prediction on the course events may take. The settlers here 50 years ago were being influenced in some way by the entity. Perhaps not directly, but moreso than it is shaping events this time. The city of Old Port, in destroying those settlers, interfered with the Entity's plans, causing it no small irritation…

This is of course conjecture, but it opens a new avenue for research. We should find out from anyone of Old Port who may know, of whether the settlers in Nebedzzos 50 years ago displayed any significant resistance (as in, the sort that might have come from power granted by the entity).”

It is now known thanks to the Half-Drow proprietor of the Hanged Goblin that roughly fifty years ago the Ziggurat was raided by the thugs of Old Port and its people sold into slavery to the Drow of Traensyr.  A recent fact that has come to light thanks to the arrival of this Dreamer’s Cult is that many years ago, when one of their number was a young child, Old Port was surrounded by the Mists and they would not abate, causing the settlement a great deal of headache as they could not safely navigate ships from or into it.  The people then imbibed some elixir concocted by the cult and fell into a deep sleep, some later awakening while most did not.  When the ritual had been undergone by many the Mists abated, but exact fate of the awakened and eternal sleepers is something the cult has not, so far as I am aware, commented on.  What can be said with certainty however is that Old Port was being punished because the Mists wanted people in and around the Ziggurat for some reason, and their having cleared it out was not in its best interests.

This leads us to another quote from Otula Tauvivi, one that while perhaps debatable in some aspects as she is crediting Hbala, an ancient evil prisoner of this island, with the Mists’ actions, she raises an interesting point based on the evidence we’ve uncovered thus far.

“The answer to that is simply that, given the entity's current means, and range of power (which must be quite short, confined perhaps to merely the Ruins, or the island Ymph at most), its most effective method to securing its freedom can only be by the massive influx of a wide variety of people of widely varying moralities, inclinations, and professions. Allow me to express this differently:  As time passes and the population of Nebedzzos increases, the probability of any of the new citizens performing the necessary tasks to secure the entity's freedom becomes a statistical certainty.”

Garlin’s Theory On the Mists’ Intentions:

Most would likely agree that if the Mists are spirits as I have described them, they do not desire much in the way of freedom.  They are likely bound within the confines of the islands as most spirits who linger do so near their place of demise, but this fixation with locales seems a product of the undead psyche common to incorporal beings rather than an actual constricting force that acts upon them.  Miss Tauvivi’s statistical certainty theory, combined with her staggeringly accurate prediction, suggest to us that the Mists want people here on the Ziggurat in order to accomplish a specific objective.

Given the sacrifices that have been made to the undead mass in order to placate and please it, one would think it simply wants us here so it can continue to consume souls.  Our presence and internal conflicts aside, it has plenty of shamans in the environs that will feed it, so why are people inhabiting the Ziggurat necessary?  Will the release of Hbala ensure it a mass sacrifice of some kind?  Is there some ancient artifact awaiting activation in the ruins that can accomplish as much?  When dealing with such alien intelligences, one can only make guesses at the goals they hope to see realized.  It is important that regardless of what the Mists or any other creature wants, every action and its potential consequence is considered before one blindly chases adventure and treasure, especially if this settlement is to survive five, ten, or even fifty years with such forces acting upon it.

Asdon Garlin, Lorekeeper of Oghma