Section Two: Arrival

Day One:
-Just seeing this land over the horizon over the sea is… depressing. This place is a forest, there are many trees and plants here. But none live. Only dead trunks, dry wood. Not even a leaf upon the ground. There is no sound whatsoever. Just footsteps and the rattle of gear are ear-piercingly loud and echo with reverence.
-Observations predict this land must be seriously controlled by necrotic magic. Source unknown.

Day Two:
-Setting camp here is nearly impossible due to the terrain. Upon inspection, the ground is everlasting loose, dry dirt. It simply cannot pack and form friction on stakes. The lack of wind had helped, though it still somehow caused the collapse of the tent. In a very odd note, the dead wood and brush cannot catch flame. It only crumbles into carbon upon contact with flame, even magical. The emergency fire kit would not stay lit either.
-Hypothesis: this land is cursed with spiritual death magic geographical in origin.

Day Three:
-As there is no food or water to collect from this land, tomorrow will be the last day I will stay; the 4-day survival kit will have to be replenished at the ship, and I simply do not want to stay any longer, so the trek back to the ship will be the only. In other words, re-reading preresearch on this area indicates hypothesis is tangible, as this was said to be originally home to a society of natural-magic wood elves that were known for their affiliation for time and life-force magics.
-I set out to discover any artifacts. Three were found: one (1) tablet about the size of a brick inscribed in ancient Bosmer (send to crpytology), a set of four (4) small crystals likey used in magical ritual (no magic detected), and a diagram inscribed on a stone pillar that seems to be a map of key locations. Position seems to be recorded. Created one (1) rubbing of the diagram.

Conclusion: to be determined. This land requires far more in-depth study and exploration to document and predict the history of it. Will submit request for full expedition.

Signed, Ect. Jakobin Revan, Geographical Surveyor Specialist

Being a guild scout, you see a lot. I’ve seen villages victim of pestilence, sorcery, and more atrocities than most can fathom. It’s not the most glorified role, but without the scouts evil would be left to fester untouched.

Few folk actually know what guild scouts do. We gather the information that guild masters and dispatchers use to inform heroes where they are needed. Heroes are the brawn, and we are the brains. But I doubt any hero would admit that they wouldn’t know how to help if the objective wasn’t handed to them.

In the scouting world we have a tier system for the danger levels of the locations we visit. It scales from thriving to infested. The location I’ve been ordered to explore is thought to be infested. A scary thought.

As I approached the outskirts of where this Empty Forest was supposed to be, I started feeling darkness. It was nearly overwhelming and progressively got worse until I reached the boundary between The Empty Forest and The Trail to Nowhere. I stood at the threshold of the forest, frozen in fear. And then I took a step.

“You aren’t supposed to be here” a disembodied voice boomed. “This wasn’t supposed to be explored yet, how did you find out about it?”

I was speechless. What was this place. How did I get here. Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle scattered. “I… I don’t know. Who are you? Who am I?”

An elderly figure appeared from the abyss. “You have broken what is, was, and shall be. You are displaced in time and you mind and body are scattering. I shall return you to your land. This will become a place of great darkness. Should anyone ask about anything beyond the road to nowhere you are to lead them away.

He snapped and the world went dark.

“Lyriss! Are you ok? Wake up!” The guild master was standing over me. “Thank god you’re back, with all that twitching we thought you were a goner. You don’t need to travel past the road to nowhere, I didn’t realize it would evoke such a visceral reaction.”

And then I was back in the Empty Forest.

“Lyriss, these are my last words, you are more than a scout. Time will come for you to conquer the darkness of this land. But right now you need to prepare.”

And I was back in the guild. Something was different, I don’t know why but I felt the desire to be a hero.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

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