Unnamed

There's something inherently terrifying about the things that lurk in the unseen. This inborn terror is a product of evolution, a reminder of a past time when acknowledging fear is the slim difference between survival or being eliminated from history. Although the Arcane Flight as a whole may seem to have evolved backwards to the point where that genetic code for fear has long since disappeared, there are some things even the most psychopathic Arcanite fears. And there's something that even Clan Aequitas, the lair that has only a 99% chance of death by your clanmate's haywire experiment, fears.

We begin our story in the air vents, a massive labyrinth of tunnels that wind through the entire lair. You might've heard of them, or at least seen the grates that some ingenious dragon in the clan had fixed over their openings. Now, what's terrifying about an air vent? The tunnels might seem bad for the lair's structural stability, but they also serve as the clan's life support. Without the fresh air that naturally feeds into the lair through those Fae-sized tunnels, half the clan would perish before Muffin gets to them. (Though at that point we might as well blame Muffin anyway.)

Still, there's an unspoken, mutual consensus in the clan that the vents is off-limits. See, there's something down there, something that strikes fear into the hearts of anyone brave enough to try poking their head past the grates. Only Ravanai dares to venture in, but when you have control over time, you experience the unknown differently. For the rest of the clan, though, they experience this haunter of the vents as a melody, a horrid mix of rap, jazz, classical, and bop music that plays as an accompanying piece to whatever activity is currently going on in the clan. This unknown is what makes the members of the clan stop in their tracks and regain a little bit of that instinct which evolutionarily placed dragons on top of the food chain.

Fear is natural, after all, when you are facing the things which you do not understand and cannot hope to comprehend. Fear is prevalent. Fear is sickening. And more importantly, fear is safety.

But sometimes, the thing you should fear isn't what's hidden down below, or what happens when you go into the air vents. Sometimes, what you should fear is what happens when something comes out.

[The writing here is corrupted, stained by coal and ash. The pages are bound by an unknown magic, but enough time has passed that the spells are weakening. A bit of light shows you that this was once a binder, rather than a journal. You cannot find a name, but you can read the writing.]

5th Year of Our God Arcanist, 13th day of February

Lost another two. We're still unsure how it's manifesting in these tunnels, but the captain has restricted all access to the ventilation system. The seer says he can't see anything, but his prophecies have never been accurate since we've been spirited here. I'm worried that it's the magic here. There's something wrong about it. It's... bleeding. Or oozing. Both sound wrong, but that's the best way I can explain it.

The stabilizer we've built is still working, for now. I'm uneasy about staying in these caves. We've had too many go missing. Sure, it was okay when we first started. Inevitable, really. But there are only a dozen of us left, and we can't afford to lose anymore hands. The lieutenant is arguing with the captain, trying to get us out of these godforsaken caves, but I can't imagine the captain will agree. We tried living in the forest outside, and there are too many Beastclans for us to be safe. The crane flock alone is vicious, and even if no one died, we all very nearly did. Still, I might be willing to risk it. Just... not alone.

The lieutenant's calling. It's my turn to go maintain the stabilizer. It's our only source of hope here. Without our magic, we're useless against... whatever's in here. With us.

Stay safe, my friend.

5th Year of Our God Arcanist, 30th day of February


We've made some headway into this place though. The rock formations are sedimentary, and there are signs of these mountains having once been beneath the sea. The peaks were likely once islands, before the sea level dropped. There are signs of habitation, by Nocturnes of all races. But if a group of them once lived here, they must've all died out... or worse.