Story:Assorted Reports of Mahant Tangmeida Lishog Ywnrenh

I write as the Mahant in charge of the expedition to Sa Tam, the unknown land on the edge of that which is seen. I give first my thanks unto the Ayatollah Brje Hul, who organized and funded this expedition. I give second thanks to the crew, both mine own scientific and the alloted sailing, for it is every hand which opens this most far Eye of the all seeing Temple. I give thanks third to my family, to my mother and my siblings and my many lovers, who have aided me in ascending to such a high honor as this position in research. I give thanks highest up to our God, Modhes Ywl, and through Saint Sarrhu his blessings, for great tithing on this voyage.

On the Voyage

It was on the end of the third day that the Lharrosi established contact with us. They had several days as a head start, yet travelled in that inexerable speed-as-stone of their people. How a voyage so short could span a weak, I have no clue. Their captain, a man by the name of Garoukyo, is personable and agreeable, if perhaps lacking in the mind's eyes for an expedition such as this. I can say less of the Missionary-Resident who I am paired with by private money, Kaqwben Drur-Trubc. Let not the name betray it, the man is lowborn, in fact I an not sure any of is the name he was given fresh the womb or even years after, and while I hold no contempt for the laity, I hold much towards those who call themselves "missionaries". Trubc is as pure an example of them; he ignores my authority and is defient on my every statement as though he himself were in control, and he acts as though his clubskulled posse are in some ways an arm of the Temple most holy. Already he has stirred talk of violence against the natives if they do not comply to convert, already he has done this, when we are yet even to land!

We have slowed to a crawl to accompany the Lharrosi, though it is to be advised in this weather regardless. Our captain, a gruff man veteran of any number of wars by his demenor, tells me of rocks and strange floating accumulates of ice, which were attested prior by Ouapeans whalers (among other things. I will not be shy to mention if there appears eels the length of the horizon, or squids the size of a dozen dozen kegs). We are near to the coast, and have spotted their curious sea-fairing schooners. On the coast can be seen a thinly spread collection of moderately sized dwellings, but inhabitents are yet to have been found. I have urged to the Lharrosi the importance of landing, and of making to find the people of this land, to understand them, and Garoukyo agrees. It has been 18 days since departure. We land tomorrow.

Arrival and Contact

This place is colder than high Ywl in the winter, and is home to a facinating celestial phenominon wherein the skies ripple with brilliant hues of green, as though the angels of Heaven were snaking along the cosmos. The Lharrosi took an irrationally fearful reaction, as to be expected of their cultural psyche. I held a rite of screaming to heaven, to ease the mood and make the pheonominon seen as a beauty of nature, but I do not believe our compatriots took to it. The Lharrosi austerety in the face of the extrordianary is something which must itself be studied, perhaps there is an excess thickness in their skulls or a genetic weakness in a passage of their brains. I do pity them. They were so rattled by the sky they began panicking to use the radio, and in their confusion broke theirs, though they claimed there was an interferrence disrupting them. I took that into consideration, postulating that the celestial event may affect the air below and radio within, but I believe they only heard every other word.

Explorers were set out, and despite Kaqwben's protests, I allowed none to be missionaries. They returned within days and spoke of a settlement populated by a pale, cyan-tinged folk. I took the time to brush up on the Joyan and Rojan tongues, which are thought by some anthrolopologists to be related to one another, and which I theorized may be related to the Tami tongue. Myself, Garoukyo, and four others departed to the village (keeping our number small so as to not intimidate them), and arrived within a day.

Once there, we found the people of Sa Tam. They are indeed a very pale shade of light blue, and the rounding of their eyes and slightly conic facial structured marked my assumption of "Rojoya" theory relation to have been correct. Their bodies are lean, vaguely kite-shaped, as one would expect of hunter-gatherers, and they stand at a moderate height. Their tongue is indeed a distant relative of Joye, though with many coincidental similarities to Lharrosi, which was seized upon by them, but I believe this to be a case of convergent evolution, such as found in similar connections to Tieteran, Tanospy, and Krondish. For example, the natives refer to their island as Domws Swpra Sacha, which the Lharrosi believed similar to Duomo Suprema Saggio "Great Bishopric" roughly. I however believe it akin to Joyan Jane Obra Esa "Home Above Rocks". The natives, henceforth refered to as the Sachi, wear thick outfits of fur well worn for the climate, though among the few I saw without I noticed markings upon their skin. They do not wear their skin shorn like Roja, and in fact an elder shaman of sorts, Calyach, sported a full beard. It was Calyach who took us in and gave us food, fish gutted with an expertly crafted stone handaxe. He gave it to us as gifts, though the Lharrosi, being a people unfamilar with hospitality, attempted to "pay" for it. Indeed, the Sachi live an idyllic and peaceful life, free of bondage and societal concern. They live and hunt in community with little governmental structure other than a respect for their elders and wise ones. Calyach, being their equivalent to a priest, said that it was Mas Kel-Thuurm whom they worshiped (though of course not by that name) in his capacity as the Storm and lord of chaos, but that ever since the calming they have believed him dead. He said also that farther inland were those who worshiped the flames of Heaven, which they also woshiped but not in the same capacity. This to me marks a Sasatanl'c society, but one which has drifted back as close to Adeydom as possible. They are a wise people, who know much of natural philosophy, as the sort that the urban-dwelling modern populace has forgotten.The Lharrosi gifted the Sachi a dagger, and I gifted them a necklace, one of many that I have packed to give as gifts. We stayed with them for another day, observing their customs and culture, before returning to the camp.

I have given the order for two ships to scout the coastlines, one to the west and one to the east, and a Lharrosi'i ship will accompany one of them. I plan for another voyage inland, for longer study, during which I wil bring my fellow Nrohos Luyp Afoeldekai, who is a more expert linguist than I. Kaqwben has relented in his gunghoity, as in the time that I was gone he decided to mouth off to the capitain of my ship, and was for this beaten relentlessly by him and thirteen other sailors. With this, he has been humbled, and bends the knee to my judgement. I had to give a nominal punishment to the captain, first for assault and secondly for not naming his accompli, but it was of course quite minor, and he understood that I was merely following in law.

In The Following Time

I write now as a new entry, distinct in time from the last. It is, at time of writing, the 39th day; the prior entry ended upon the 26th. Things have grown quite curious since my last log, for reasons I will now attempt to explain. Following the departure of our two ships and the Lharrosi'i third, Garoukyo led out on another expedition, with some men of his own, leaving an individual named Lharrin-Tsou in his place. I took this as an excuse to delay my own planed voyage, though in truth the disuasion came from the meddling of Drur-Trubc, as well as the attention of Nrohos. Drur-Trubc has not been made as humble as prior intended; once he recovered from his bruses he began slipping mouth about "educating natives", as though he were intending to slip out beneath my hand. I would consider this a plot, were it that he attempted secrecy. In attempt to keep diplomatic with him, I sent a man into the villages, inviting them to come to us if they pleased, as a reciprocation of our own visit. I believe I can keep Kaqwben contained better here than on the road with us. As for my parlayance with Nrohos, he and I have bonded over linguistic corrospondence, and he is quite excited to join me on our voyage next. Nrohos is a delighful lad, if so fragile in his composure (I am told he comes from an old wealth) as to scare me into reconsidering. I cannot deny his eagerness however, not to mention his usefulness. I will bring a hearty sailor with, to protect Nrohos if need be.

Nrohos tells me I should be keeping better track of dates in my records, and as such I say that it was on the night of the 31st day that the Sachi arrived. They came with larger number than anticcipated, and infiltrated the Lharrosi camp, much to the chagrin of Lharrin-Tsou, who I neglected to inform of the arrangement. Among them was Calyach, the elder met prior, who was leading them. I had the misfortune to be asleep at the time of their arrival, and the fortune that Drur-Trubc was to. Thankfully, Lharrin-Tsou was awake, and offered them a great supply of food such that they ate well into the morning. By the time I awoke, it was too that Garoukyo also had returned. He later recounted to me of his travels: he and his fellows travelled up and down a mountain. There was some value in his travel however, as he revealed Sa Tam to in fact be two islands, seperated by a frozen strait. As the first to know of this, I took a humor, and named the two lands as Tam Sa Tam and Mag Sa Tam. I spoke briefly to Calyash, who was disheartened from some thing that the Lharrosi had said, apparently about our intent on this island. I assured Calyash that our intent was as neutral and cooperative observers, and studiers of their culture, but he seemed largely uninterested, and continued away. I worried if perhaps Garoukyo needs containment as much as Drur-Trubc, as such insisted that I join him in his next expedition, which he slated for three days following. His intent was for a large expedition, half the force, and, though I turned it over many times in my bedchamber, I decided ultimately, with council from Nrohos, that I would have to take Kaqwben with me. He and his missionaries cannot be trusted to stay put with a reduced protectorate around them. He and two of his skullduggers were to join, though I felt confidence in the muscle of both my own and the Lharrosi force enough that he would be of minor issue.

A Second Expedition

It was morning on the 34th day that we departed. I left in control of the camp a Vicar I trusted named Jangthan Qwyah a'Nlogn Sebor, as well as the shipcaptain, now free of his small penance. It took two, nearly three days for our troop to all retrace the prior Lharrosi route, during which there were little notes. Traversal of the land was difficult, as Sa Tam is composed almost entirely of harsh cliffs and barren wastes of ice. I gave Nrohos three coats to keep himself warm, though he insisted it excessive, but I did not want him to shiver. The complaining from the missionaries came almost immediately, but to his credit Kaqwben took a stoicism to himself that I must commend. The same cannot be said for the Lharrosi, for I worry Garoukyo to break into tears at most moments. He is so dramatic, and frequently murmers about the "dead god in the sky". There is a pressence alarming to the lack of the flames in heaven, as, in contrast to my prior theory, radio communication continues to fail us even so. I postulate an adendum, that being that, rather than the flames of heaven causing the radio maloperation, both are instead subject of some underlying cause, perhaps an unknown quality to the air such as is found in Niueyjar.

It was once we diverged from the prior Lharrosi route that the issues began. Garoukyo had claimed there to be a number of Sachi tents visable from their summit, yet the wasteland of snow was empty as far as the eye could see. At this he became insolvent, and aloof in that Lharrosi'i way. Following this, there came some disagreement between him and his fellows about the direction to proceed, and as such we meandered for some time, not reaching the intended stopping point for day until well past sundown, and it was freezing when we laid our tents down. Due to the haste, many of us shared tents, including myself with Nrohos, something neither of us complained over. The three missionaries, however, shared a large tent, and while I do not know what occured in there, by the following morning it was clear that some argument had occured, with the two quietter than usual and Kaqwben unusually friendly, but with an uncanny sunkenness to his already dark eyes; it was evident there was some illicit reason for his demenor. I am not one however to cast aspirsions, and Kaqwben Drur-Trubc made a rare show of conraderie with us, albeit much more with the Lharrosi than his own kin. He struck up a loud conversation with Garoukyo, clearly attempting in some way to convert him. I overheard Kaqwben reveal his real name to be Crubwd R. Yongboc, as well as several other, "humble" details. The kind of life story a Lharrosi might find inspiring, though Trubc was not quite subtle in this pandering. Garoukyo was evidently uninterested in Drur's attempts at conversating, and brushed him off. Trubc attempted this exchange several more times with the Lharrosi, and eventually with most of my own crew, each time more overtly self-interested. Nrohos suggests to me, as I write this, that Drur may have been attempting to curry favor in the group, such that he could later attempt things more daring. I cannot help but agree.

At the dawn of the 38th day (yesterday from now), we were now embarking on uncharted territory. Our goal was to find some location of safe respite to establish a second permanant base, and at this we sent our scouts in the morning in all directions. I and Nrohos had a conversation over breakfast with Garoukyo, our first real such one since arriving on the island. While he had openly portrayed himself as an emotional wreck, he seemed to regard his own disposition as austere and and confident, only "revealing" his doubts in private. I, for my part, attempted emotional reconciliation, though I believe something about my and Nrohos's pressence made him uncomfortable. A clash of cultures, I suppose. In the afternoon, the scouts trickled back into the our outpost, and one reported a suitable location for a camp, near to the frozen channel that Garoukyo had mentioned. One of the scouts however, failed to return at all, something we found quite alarming. We stayed for some time, the rest of that day, awating his return, but it never came. This delay brough Trubc great irritation, for some reason, and he continually insisted to me that we should continue without him. This was the first time Drur had initiated direct conversal with me since the first expedition. I refused his pleas, and indeed we slept again in our temperory logings.

An Incident

This morning, still noting the absense of the scout, we packed up our things, and left a marker in the case of his return, telling him of the direction we were heading. The site chosen for the permanant base was indeed ideal, but soon after we set up our camp, several Sachi arrived. They were led by two elders, Kwdwr and Oumbr, who said they were cousins of Calyach, and who urged us to leave this land, though they were vague as to why. To add in curiousity, when it was that we questioned this, they immediately dropped the topic, and became friendly. I suspect they did not think highly of our reasoning, and only wanted food, which we ended up giving them anyway. Nrohos had such a glint in the amber of his eyes when he saw the Sachi, and his cheeks were red with excitement to hear them speak their native tongue. As they ate, he managed to pull quite a wealth of information on them, though they were reluctant to speak on anything more to their culture than their language, and the things most basic. They have a thinly spread class of elder male priests, subsist off of hunting rather than agriculture, and have a maternal-line familial structure.

Trubc inserted himself into proceedings at this point. He began inquiring as to their religious beliefs, and once they reitterated their worship of the flames of heaven and Mas Kel-Thuurm, he began making less than subtle comparisons between this and the old Sasatanl'c beliefs, in a suredly pre-rehersed setup to the Modhes myth. The Sachi however were uninterested, and ignored him. Only the elder Oumbr seemed to pay him any mind, but Oumbr was a very old man, and may have simply been staring unto oblivion. This dismissal must have twisted something within Trubc's mind, as he grew loud and angry. Our own men restrained him, and Nrohos and myself apologized to the Sachi. I do not know if their following exit from our camp was because of the incident, or because they had considered themselves sated. By either reason, Garoukyo was upset with the encounter, and upset with me, both for "wasting" our food, and for Trubc's behavior. Garoukyo did not quite understand that Trubc's behavior is not under my control, that he is not a priest. I write this now as of the evening, and Garoukyo has not spoken to me since the afternoon. I hope to mend our relations. Trubc has been disciplined, forced to recite prayers of penance. His own men seem afraid of him now, for reasons unclear. Drur-Trubc has attempted to apologize to me personally, but these apologies come as an explanation of his poor reasoning, which he clearly does not regret. I will make him regret it.