Long ago, a boy lived by the sea in a fishing village just like any other. He would spend his days swimming in the crystal blue water and staring off idly into the distance waiting for a catch to come in. In those days, that was the best life that you could hope for. A peaceful, quiet coexistence with the sea.

The sea was all he and his family ever knew, and ever needed to know. The boy couldn't remember the last time he had a meal that didn't come from the sea in some way or another. To some within the village, the sea was even regarded as sacred for this very reason. The boy remembered, once, when he was young, sitting by the beachside and letting a little boat with a mirror atop float off into the distance. He knew it had something to do with this "sacredness", but it had never really made sense to him.

That day had always been peculiar for the boy. Even though he was barely old enough to speak for himself, he remembered it in perfect clarity. He remembered that his father hadn't taken his brothers out to fish that morning, and they had all opted to stay home. Instead, he had brought the whole family out to the shore, and given each of them that strange little boat. His father had told him not to look up at the sky. He knew, even at that age, that looking at the sun hurt his eyes very much, but his father made sure to remind him multiple times today for some reason.

Even still, the boy snuck a glance or two. The sun looked strange, but he still didn't understand what could cause all this commotion. Then, he heard the crowd gathered around the beach mumbling, and the sky went dark. It was almost as if it had become night in an instant. He felt his father tapping his shoulder, and he urged him and his brother to put their boats into the water. He watched what must've been a hundred boats drift out into the sudden darkness, and as suddenly as the darkness began, it ended. The day had returned in full force, and the boy felt a little disoriented.

All of the boats reflected the sudden radiance, and the boy watched as a hundred flimsy stars drifted across the shifting sea. The crowd fell silent, and despite the entire village being there, the only thing he could hear was the gentle lapping of the waves across the sand, and the faint whistle of the wind through the trees. He stood there for what felt like hours, until he felt his mother tug on his hand, leading him back up the path to the village. He begged her to stay, but she told him they had to be back before dark for dinner.

The boy had always struggled to forget that day. To dismiss it and let it blur between the lazy days at sea he had become so accustomed to as he grew older. He did his best to ask around, to find out anything more, but no one his age seemed to know any more than he did, and his parents were of no use. They just told him it was a special day, and it would come around again eventually. As the boy matured, their responses became more and more disinterested. Eventually, the boy had enough. After all, he wasn't too far from being a man. Just a good four or five years shy. So he began to question anyone he thought might know something about that day.

After being told off more than a few times, he found an elderly woman who was willing to at least humor him. She told him that what he remembered was called The Flicker. It was an event held very rarely. In fact, for as long as she had lived, it had only been celebrated five times. Perking up at this, the boy eagerly asked her the next time it would be held. The woman frowned, and told him that though the sun would darken once more in a few weeks, not a single little boat would float across the water.

She explained mournfully that The Flicker was not just a local tradition. The last time The Flicker was held, in a village just South of where the boy stood, it had ended horrifically. The boats had attracted the attention of a beast, and the village fell to ruin. Friends of many years drew blades against each other on a whim. Women walked into the sea haphazardly, as if the water wasn't even there, claiming they had heard something. Men set their own families home ablaze, or hacked it apart altogether. It seemed as if, in an instant, many had lost their mind.

Worse still, those that hadn't lost their mind and took up arms against the beast had only ended up worse. None returned in a recognizable state. Less than men, resembling more the beast they had aimed to slay than anything else. As the woman continued on, the boy only got more and more horrified, but even more, he felt a sense of injustice. A terrible pit in his stomach had begun to form. While he witnessed the most beautiful sight of his life, an entire village died at the hand of this beast.

The woman told him it would be best if he just forgot about The Flicker altogether. His parents were just trying to protect him from the truth, but now that he was old enough to know, he shouldn't go messing with it. But the boy was determined. He would go out and fashion a boat to the best of his ability for the next Flicker, and lure out the monster once and for all. Then, he would kill it, just the same way his father had shown him to kill any other sea creature. No matter how big the creature might be, a well placed spear would do the trick.

So when the sky began to darken, the boy came to the water with a metal spear his father kept by the bedside, as well as his own little boat with a mirror atop. While it was a far cry craftsmanship wise from any that he had seen that fateful day, he hoped it would do the trick. This time, his experience was profoundly more... disappointing. He sat patiently, watching as the light once again reflected off the boat, but it had none of the impact it had on him before. Of course, he still glared at as if transfixed, waiting for his imagined monster to emerge from the sea. Eventually, eyes watering from staring at the light, he sat down to rub his eyes. He was remarkably disappointed to say the least, and began to feel dumb for even beginning to think any of this made any sense. The old woman had probably just been messing with him, or perhaps she had simply lost her mind.

Just as doubt had began to set in, the boy saw it. Emerging from the water, for a split second, a mass of tentacles erupted from beneath the previously calm waves. They were unlike anything the boy had ever seen, but just as he began to understand the creature, and ready his spear, he was left speechless. The tendrils continued to unfurl, almost like a titanic ball of yarn. This was certainly not like any squid he had seen before, but his dread would only continue to deepen. The hulking, impossible structure continued to rise above the water, until the point it became clear that it was only a part of a larger, serpent-like being. The boat was long gone, and the creature cast a shadow that almost mimicked that of the brief night brought on by the sun. The boy was no expert at hunting, but he knew against such a being, he stood no chance.

So, leaving the spear behind, he set off to run. To his horror, he found, though every last drop of his being compelled him to run, he couldn't even bring himself to lift his feet. He stood at the shore as he watched the beast contort itself in a circular motion, as if it was analyzing its surroundings. It made a few rounds in this manner, until, much to the boys' dismay, it stopped. The top of the creature was pointed almost directly at him. He watched, petrified, as the tentacles began to writhe. He felt his feet move, but he had no say in the matter. He tried to scream for help, but he was only met with a sharp pain in his head and a shut mouth.

He tried his hardest to resist, but he had become a spectator in his own body. He felt step after step march him towards the shore, until he began to be submerged. He wasn't even granted the privilege of holding his own breath as the depth steadily increased. He tried to look around desperately, for any way to escape, but he found that he had lost even the control of his own eyes. He couldn't even look down, the boy could only feel the water rise. First past his ankles, then his knees, then his waist. Then, all the way up to his chest. The boy felt like he couldn't even think anymore as he approached the beast, as if his very mind was suppressed.

Eventually, with the water dancing at the edge of his vision, he began to accept his fate with the last bit of thought he could muster. He felt like an idiot for even beginning to think he could take on such a creature, and felt terrified for his village. Hopefully, the beast's hunger and curiosity would be slaked after consuming him, and it would return to the sea. That is the very best he could hope for. As he felt his very mind begin to fail, he saw something bubbling up from the water. Not only that, the water changed from a clear blue to flickering between a yellowish and green hue.

At first, he thought it some kind of hallucination, brought on by the creature. However, he then felt the sea itself stiffen and change altogether. It almost felt more solid than liquid, and he noticed his body had stopped. He saw the colors spread out, closer and closer to the creature. He noticed he felt significantly less tense, and while still unable to run, he was able to turn his head to look around. The water was being changed at a rapid rate, and seemed to be headed directly for the beast. Just a hundred feet or so shy of the shifting colors reaching the creature, he watched the beast instantly submerge. The colossal mass crashed into the water, causing massive waves to rise. He watched the waves sluggishly coalesce into the changed water, before petering out shortly after. The creature, seemingly, was gone.

The boy was free to move, if somewhat uncomfortably, out of the bizarre slush-like water. His heart was racing, but he was just as confused as he was terrified. He had seen many impossibilities today, but he had only seen one miracle. Without the sudden transmutation of the water, not only would he have died, he could've taken the whole village with him. He would've been responsible for hundreds of deaths, all because he wanted to play hero. He decided the best thing he could do at this point was pretend none of this ever happened, and return to his family. Perhaps he would spear a few fish and head back. It would make a convincing enough story, he wasn't the best at spearfishing, so falling into the ocean wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. It might even get a laugh or two.

So the boy looked around to reclaim his spear, and saw a robed figure not far from him on the shore. He noticed the figure seemed to be holding something, and was drawing nearer to the boy. The boy cried out to the figure, asking who he was, but was met with no response. Whoever it was simply advanced on, until they were within a few feet of the boy.

The man was clad in robes that entirely covered his face, as well as most of his body. The man walked up to the boy with a somewhat odd gait. It reminded him of how his grandfather walked when he first got his wooden leg a little, but much more graceful. The man held out the boy's spear before him, and the boy reluctantly took it. The boy thanked him for returning his spear, and the man nodded. The man seemed remarkably unbothered by the events that had just transpired. The boy asked him what his name was.

The man didn't answer, and began to creep towards the shore. The boy reluctantly followed, curious about what he could be doing. Despite the man's strange disposition and unfamiliar clothes, this was presumably the man who had saved his life. He wanted to ask him a few questions, and make sure he knew he was grateful. He watched awkwardly as the man reached into his robes, and took out a vial. The boy asked what he was doing, and received a single word response in a hushed voice that was just above a whisper: "Alchemy". Then, he poured the vial into the sea. It seemed to return to its original state, losing the colorful appearance and slowly returning to its wavy, fluid consistency. Before the boy could ask him a single other question, he saw the man put his hand into the robes, and the boy swore he could hear a faint click. Then, the man disappeared.

The boy was mesmerized, but decided that was more than enough for today. He ran back to the village with the spear, and returned to his family as if nothing had happened. He went on with his life, swimming in the crystal blue water and staring off idly into the distance waiting for a catch to come in. Nobody would believe him even if he dared to speak up. He felt reassured, however, that even if a creature like that exists out in the seas, someone would be around to protect him from it.

PURPOSE:

Transport an elementary object in some limited capacity to a higher plane.

METHODOLOGY:

It has been shown, both in myth and direct firsthand accounts, to be possible to enter a higher realm via extremely potent magic. While I may lack the firepower of the Gods, I hope that by using some simple magical machinery I can open a minuscule entrance by closely manipulating the distances between objects. It seems that, wherever or whatever this place is, it exists within our physical space in some capacity. By agitating space in a ritualistic manner, as well as utilizing some of the principles of Conjuration, it is possible to make a rift of sort for a few minutes, though it is invisible to the naked eye. By performing this process in a reversed order, it should theoretically be possible to reverse the direction of the rift, returning a transported item from the surrounding plane.

For this experiment, I only intend to transport a small jar of sand. I have applied a plant-based dye sourced from a flower from Vulas, known as Lemphisa's Lilly. It gives the sand a bright pink hue, which should allow it to be distinct in the event the jar is damaged. The whole mixture weighs in at precisely 50 grams, accounting for both the dye and the jar itself. I intend to pass the jar through the rift after locating it, and then retrieve it after a 10 second delay.

EXPERIMENT:

I had my partner operate the displacement artifact, and after 12 unsuccessful tries, was able to successfully open a rift roughly 6.6 cm in diameter, a near perfect circle I would guess. It appeared about a meter to the left of the displacement artifact, and was located by my partner poking around using his "Sovereign Blade" (Some sort of faux staff? I fear his act lacks internal consistency at times.).

Upon location, I gently pushed the jar through it using the aforementioned tool, making sure to keep my distance in the case of an adverse reaction, much to the chagrin of my partner, who wanted me to "get it over with". As the jar came in contact with the rift, I noted it gradually disappeared altogether. After around 5 minutes of waiting, the rift naturally closed, and the jar was nowhere in sight.

I then instructed my partner to perform the reversed operation, and he did so. We saw the jar manifest in the position it initially entered the rift at. The process was gradual, much like the entrance, and the object was only partially visible for much of it. After about the same amount of time (~5 minutes, potentially the exact same amount of time it took to close initially. Worth timing in future trials.), the rift closed once more.

ANALYSIS:

Once removed from the rift, I allowed the jar an hour to sit wholly undisturbed. I did not observe it to visually change or present any danger within this period, so I deemed it safe to analyze. The jar itself has some minimal physical damage. Several cracks have formed, though not enough to shatter the jar altogether. The damage is consistent with that of a shift in atmospheric pressure, or potentially temperature.

The sand itself has undergone a significant fading of color, several shades lighter than it entered at. It is currently unknown to me what caused this process, but I had previously ascertained that a flower-based pigment would gradually fade rather quickly, perhaps over the course of a week or two. I did not predict, however, that this would play a role in the experiment, considering we are working with much shorter intervals of time. Could it be possible that the substance experienced a period of.. accelerated time?

PURPOSE:

Explore the possibility of possible time acceleration within the higher plane.

METHODOLOGY:

Specifically for the purpose of this experiment, I have gathered four different instruments:

Two of them are basic physical time-keeping instruments relying on a pattern of gears and on escapement, which increment around a dial corresponding to the time. In other words, a clock. The other two perform a similar purpose, albeit through different means. I have commissioned two runestones to be enchanted in order to display a numerical rune that increases once every second, once I say a given incantation. Likewise, they may stop or be reset.

I intend to keep one of each manner of device as a control variable, and have their twin pass through the rift. Once it exits, I will see if there is any disparity in the time kept between them. I expect this to be quite a methodical and precise process, and I am taking great care to ensure that both pairs of devices are aligned with one another.

My partner suggests we should attempt to pass both through the same rift at the same time, but I fear that could introduce a litany of issues. In fact, I initially suggested this experiment to be broken down into two different trials, with up to a week of waiting in between. We have compromised on this matter, and a few hours wait will hopefully suffice.

EXPERIMENT:

The initial rift took 23 tries before producing anything operable this time. The diameter remains exactly the same, however, which I am greatly relieved by. Both the time-keeping device and the stones were constructed with those measurements in mind. To my surprise, however, the rift appeared in a different place, just a few centimeters shy of the original position, but distinct nonetheless.

The process was relatively smooth after location. I opted to insert the non-magical device first, and I made note of the time it took for it to disappear, which came in at 4 minutes and 49 seconds. Not far from my initial estimate of 5 minutes. We then performed the reverse process once more, and I noted that my theory of it taking the same time was unfortunately incorrect. The object took a total of 4 minutes and 58 seconds to return, a differential of 9 seconds from my previous estimate. All of this is curious and I will have to research further, however, it is by no means my top priority. This is due to a much more confounding issue I cannot possibly hope to explain, and in my eyes, a much more pressing matter.

The clock that remained by my side displays the expected total duration of 9 minutes and 47 seconds. However, its' sister device points to a vast discrepancy. Even accounting for the brief period it would take to collect the device, the time recorded is wildly off. At first, I believed that the clock had malfunctioned in some way, since the time displayed seemed to be before the starting time. However, after thoroughly inspecting the inner mechanisms, there is only one possible explanation: the clock nearly elapsed an entire cycle. I would estimate, in fact, that it had gone through multiple. It is impossible to truly know. This would put the total time it experienced at, bare minimum, 22 hours, 33 minutes, and 11 seconds.

After this confounding event, I was eager to complete the trial with the runestones immediately. I quickly readied the equipment necessary, and my partner, perhaps sharing my enthusiasm, eagerly complied. Though slightly out of character for him, that is not the subject of my analysis. We opened another rift near where we had conducted the previous trial, and got to work.

The runestone took a similar amount of time to complete its' passage, though, once again, not exactly matching the previous trial. 5 minutes and 1 second to disappear, and 4 minutes and 2 seconds to reappear. I eagerly collected it, and upon inspecting it, I was left even more confounded than with the clock. It was perfectly in sync with its' twin.

ANALYSIS:

There is.. no solid explanation that I have been able to come up with that would explain this phenomenon. My best guess is that, while this "other" realm may interfere in the matters of the physical, it cannot interfere with the magical. Though, this doesn't entirely make sense to me. The runestone is still made of physical components, so why does it show no signs of wear?

Additionally, as my partner has taken no time to point out, this theory makes little sense. If, as I first posited, this is indeed the dwelling place of the very Gods of Tellia, then why can physical objects not enter the area, without experiencing such turmoil? Surely, there must be some extraphysical component to the place, if the Journals of Khisma are to be considered authentic. While the Gods were no doubt special in an innumerable number of ways, they were all once merely men.

Is it possible some force, or even, some entity is responsible for the moderation of this realm? Deciding what stays and goes, so to speak? But even then, why be so arbitrary? All of this is quite troubling to me, with so many variables to test for. However, to my partner, this event seems to have invigorated some sort of vigor for spectacle within him. He is already discussing all manner of acts, with several of them troublingly involving volunteers and he himself interacting with the rift.

These schemes of his have put some significant strain on the already tenuous partnership I have endured thus far. I am seriously considering taking my research elsewhere at this point. Once I have conducted a few more trials, I hope to do so.

PURPOSE:

See if transporting living beings through the rift is possible, and if so, measure the effects.

METHODOLOGY:

The methodology for this experiment is, in theory, rather simple. I gather a few desert mice from just outside where the fair grounds, and I will transport them through the portal just like I did with the instruments previous. Unfortunately, being live animals, they have a tendency to not comply with my wishes. Perhaps I could incentivize them in some way? Even then, getting them to hold completely still while still maintaining their "living" status is quite a difficult ask. Even if, perhaps, I managed to get them while they were sleeping, they could easily awake, exit the rift early, be trapped in there forever, or all manner of undesirable outcomes.

I discussed this manner with my partner, floating the idea of perhaps hiring an enchanter in order to subdue one of the creatures for a small fee. He seemed very disinterested, in the matter, and proposed to me the idea instead that HE enter the rift. I laughed, figuring it a joke, but he seemed dead set on the idea. I reluctantly recollected myself, and politely told him that it wouldn't be safe for the time being. He pressed me harder, and asked maybe if it could be in some limited capacity.. and I, to my worse judgement, replied amicably.

We began to work on constructing a simple pair of gauntlets that would attempt to make a rift near the wearer. After a few trials, we were able to get the process surprisingly consistent. The gauntlets attempt the agitation process around 20 times a second, all but guaranteeing that one or more will be a success. However, I noticed that these rifts, being created in a flash, seemed to be quite unstable. While they are invisible to the human eye, I noticed they seem to close much, much quicker. A matter of seconds, in most cases. I predict, likewise, any object reappearing after entering them would not take long to reappear. This instability in this context worries me greatly, and no doubt I will have to spend much time mediating on the issue, to the chagrin of my partner.

In order to avoid the issue for the time being, I spent my days fashioning two pairs of goggles in order to assist with the experiment. While I initially only intended them to be for protection in case something went awry, fortune had it otherwise. I struck up conversation with a runesmith while I was gathering a few things from the bazaar, and despite the absurdity of my work, he seemed to take a great interest in it. I talked to him about some of my proposed theories of the mechanics of how the rift might be concealed, and he told me that, through a specific combination of runes, it might be possible to reveal such an object. In fact, he told me would inscribe the goggles right here and now, for a price.

I eagerly accepted, and he took out a sort of tome I hadn't seen before, flipped to about halfway through, and began to recite some sort of incantation. Then, after, moving his fingers along the lens', he told me the process had been completed. I asked him what he expected in return for such a service, and he let out a hearty chuckle, telling him there would be no need. I shook his hand, and bid him farewell. Hopefully these will be of use in the experiment to come.

ANALYSIS:

It's all gone. He took everything. He moved before I could. Was that runesmith somehow in cahoots with him? I can't find either of the men around town.

I'm ruined. We will have nothing for this Lady's Lament. By the time another fair comes around, I will be resigned to a life of begging. Had he been planning this all along? Every single thing that could've helped out with further experiments is simply.. gone. I don't have much pocket money remaining beyond what is absolutely necessary to survive, so.. until further notice, I am afraid these experiments will have to come to a close.