Sogomere

Background

Sogomere was a realm that was originally a bridgeway between the realms of the mortal planes, Tardorevan and the realm of the gods, Elyssestria. Created as a means that allowed the gods power to be linked to Tardorevan. Yet under the very god’s noses, residual energies caused by the creation of Allurian had formed. It is unsure how these energies gained consciousness or formed, however soon they began to grow, under the god’s eyes.

When the Varduin grew they drew power from Sogomere and in return helped take care and grow it. For that Sogomere grew and grew. A Varduin named Nimuna would finally be able to harness the power of Sogomere and soon began to grow massively in power. Rallying most of the Varduin to his side, most of Allurian fell under his control. However, one of inhabitants of Sogomere, Rackna had grown angered at the Varduin’s influence over Sogomere and made a tribe of hurdin resist the might of the Varduin and managed to remain to this day. These Hurdin would later become Tieflings. 

Yet while this happened, the gods had without a doubt noticed the power of the Varduin. The gods, regardless of their alignment, soon struck the Varduin aiming to bring them down. Among the wide variety of weapons they brought, the gods charged Sogomere with power and turned it’s power against the Varduin. Combined that with the might of other creatures such as Dragons, the might of the Varduin was shattered. Yet the war had turned Sogomere into a conductor for massive amounts of energy expelled by both sides. 

By the time the gods had realised this, it was too late, entities and beings had gained control of the power. The war had corrupted Sogomere and these entities now wielded great power. Many of them wished to extend their power. The gods tried in vain to regain control, yet their efforts were disjointed and the corruption too deep. That was with even some of the gods thinking that perhaps Sogomere could be influenced. 

The powers of Sogomere had always targeted the mortal realms of Tardovean. The mortals there helped grow their power and the world was rich with power that they could take. Defences and wards were placed by the gods to prevent them from ever breaking through yet the beings of Sogomere and their agents have often broken through.

Once they invaded the realm of Tardovean, during the Crisis of the Far Realms, their forces and agents have tried to establish a permanent link between both realms. Yet beaten back at great cost. The portals were destroyed and their followers crushed. Yet all the time their power grows and the defences that the gods put up may not be sufficient. For the gods, they could easily destroy Sogomere but to do so would crush their connection with the mortal realms and would likely permanently cripple them and as such, they have attempted to try and clear out areas where they control. These attempts have been met with extremely limited success for the corruption that has infused Sogomere too strong. 

Most beings of Sogomere, notably the demons since they make up a large portion of it, desire power, power to control the mortal realms, power to know all that has transpired, power to control all life in Allurian but above all else, most desire power to ascend to godhood. 

Structure

A common misconception is that Sogomere is one plane or one singular entity. This cannot be father from the truth. It is a collision of various planes overcharged with magic. 

There are its elemental planes, once used to forge the mortal planes now left in limbo, there are also the shadowfell, the astral plane, the fey realm. There are also planes that are the result of the devastation of the realm such as the seven hells. These planes are interlinked with each other theough are considered relatively stable, or as stable they could be inside Sogomere.

The so-called middle plane is what is commonly associated with Sogomere. This wasteland is where the various planes have clashed together in a horrible maelstrom of immensely powerful energies. This is the largest of Sogomere’s planes, and its massive untamed energy is why many beings have chosen to take up residence in it.

Horrific monstrosities, Eldritch Demons, devils, Shunned Celestials as well as various divine agents reside here. Using its ecosystem to grow incredibley powerfull. 

This plane however is extremely volatile, the unpredictable nature of it means few beings can truly survive without protection and so turn to the powerful beings that live there. Which leads to often conflicts between various so called demon lords. 

There is also something know as the “in-between” void spaces rich with untamed energy and between the planes. These are ones where the most horrible and eldritch being resides. Their creation is a mystery, while some could be classified as demons, others are far more incomprehensible. It is said however, these beings may have been beings that failed to become gods, or are masses of energy that gained sentience or the combination of millions of souls that failed to reach the gods

Military

Sogomere has no unified military, its various planar leaders, demon lords and other major powers have large various armies and powers. These forces use a mixture of beast and accursed mortals bound to them for war and most often war amongst themself. 

Only a few times have Sogomere attacked the mortal planes in direct and sustained manner. With a massive psychological and magical advantage, their attacks are devastating but are heavily reliant on anchors.

Black Iron, a type of demon forged metal is the most often material used for weapons and armor, but various other type of materials such as the Ki’lsa, a rare type of hyper flexible living material.

Sogomere most often have wars amonsgt each other, be it the various planes and lords. Yet these are relatively small in scale and generally inconsequential.

Anchor and the Mortal Realms

Some within Sogomere seek to conquer the mortal realms, but many of their creatures are unable to sustain themself inside the mortal realms without a direct connection even the stronger ones are often greatly weakened.

These take the form of Sogomerean anchors, large ritualised magical devices that help allow Sogomere beasts to remain intact and allow the usage of their powers. An exception is for elemental creatures who can sustain themself when near relevant elements 

These anchors have an effective radius where they can spread Sogomere powers. These radius can greatly vary on the anchor.

Moving from Sogomere to the mortal realms is extremely difficult and requires high level magic just for individuals to be able to transport much less armies

For this reason, many in Sogomere have sough to recruit or corrupt mortal races to assist. This has resulted in numerous cults that often hide or cover themself that exist. These often promise power to people, organisation and governments and have had some success, though are often tracked (see below)

Counters and Defence

Across the mortal planes, Sogomere is seen as a distant but dangerous threat. It rarely materializes beside small scale cults and local governments often use local intelligence and military forces to prevent their appearance.

There are also a few cross border organizations, chief among them the great arcane order that monitor and watch for potential incursions or wage shadow war against Sogomere cults

There is a general feeling after the crisis of the far realms that a direct military inter realm war against Sogomere is too devastating and may not even be winnable without the destruction of much of the mortal realms. Because of this, much effort is made by various nations and international organizations to ensure this advantage of the sogomereans requiring anchors is leveraged.

Crisis of the Far Realms

The crisis of the far realms was the first and only major Sogomere incursion in history. This led to a massive invasion by Sogomere forces. The devastation was horrific and the shock of the attack led to the various nations having little defence. The first year of the attack was horrific, and with the attacks being random and not in a unified manner for combined armies to defeat.

Some resisted better than others. At Naskmoth, Lizardfolk forces crushed the Sogomere invades, at the Aurion Isles, elven defences anhiliated the invaders. The most powerfull nations brought forth immense military power to counter the attack. Though for the mortal races, there was no indicidation if it could end.

However, by the end of the year, the Sogomere portals all disappeared, though the reason to this day is not understood

Below hosts a collection of documentaries of Sogomere meant to enrich one's understanding of it.

All tales originate from a book titled: the tales of Sogomere, by Cartier R. Wimbleton, as a means of understanding Sogomere in an attempt to fight it. Due to its contents, this book has been banned across Allurian, with only few surviving copies maintained by scholarly institutes, or cultists. This particular book is being updated based on the current events in Allurian. The fate of Cartier is unknown.

The tales can be violent and terrible. You have been warned.

 DM's note: if you want more stories just ask. It can be totally new ones or additions to the current ones.

 

 

 

The Infected

The Infected, while having a not very inspiring name, refers to a hive mind entity that physically infects, corrupts and grows using any organic life it can come into physical contact with. A similar parallel would be a hyper advanced disease, who can use its host to further its infection. As if that wasn't enough, the Infected can display intelligence not dissimilar to that of a toddler, able to adjust tactics based on what was used against it, circumvent the effects of spells, etc.

 

But thankfully, by the gods, the infected seem weak to magic. Based on the few encounters we have, magic has been useful in dispatching and handling the disease. However, there is no guarantee that the Infected cannot learn to prevent or even wield magic on its own. Indeed, the encounters below show already a rudimentary understanding of the power of our gods and limited capability to use them. It has been extremely long since the last encounter, and it is speculated that should this entity learn anymore of Allurian, it may very well spell our doom.

 

There is currently no confirmation on whether the Infection isn't still in Allurian, hiding and biding its time for a perfect strike. Thus although only two events are largely related to the Infected, thus it is not an exhaustive list and many smaller events may also link to it. Furthermore, it isn't certain where it comes from, or what specifically brought it here, that being a specific area of Sogomere, or something else entirely.

 

The first would be the disease of Toraq. Not much is known about Toraq, or where it was located, with records of the event having been found in a tomb within Shurin, though no such area named Toraq ever existed. It describes a hellish landscape of citizens suddenly attacking each other, and those attacked began attacking others as well. No race was spared. The city forces became locked in controlling its perimeter while fighting the Infection from within. After enough time and mass, additional growths began sprouting from the infected, and then beings that did not resemble anything in Allurian emerged. After some successful incursions, the coty troops managed to make a decisive attack that destroyed the Infected by burning them down.

One issue, however, was what they were preparing; a large singular mass as large as a house, growing beneath the dirt. It was stopped in time before it could do whatever it was meant to, but days later some soldiers turned Infected again. Due to only specific individuals getting further affected, it was then hypothesized that the Infection had either 1. Become airborne like other illnesses or 2. Had "infected" something intangible, like the air, or the sight of the mass itself. Whatever it was, the rulers of Toraq must've decided it to be the first, for Toraq then disappeared from Allurian, having likely been razed for containment, or of some other worse fate.

 

The other incident was also within Toraq itself, though it is specific for its implications. Mendia, daughter of Mendis, was a soldier for the city guard, and a wife and mother of three children. She was as happy as most woman could ever dream of being. But in defence of the city, she was struck by an Infected. Unlike most others, a quick thinking mage nearby used magic to cleanse her wounds and rid her from the Infection.

However, Mendia began acting strange, though she was completely free of Infection. She kept stating that she had seen the end of the world, what the stars truly are, how there were things beyond the sky, sun and moon, and that everything, every star, moon and other potential Allurians would be snuffed out like candles, and that everything would die. But the Infected had told her its plan to preserve everyone, that if all would assimilate it could bring about the salvation of Allurian and other similar places.

Magic and interrogations proved that Mendia was not only telling the truth, but doing so of the own accord. One night her husband broke her out from her holding area and intended to desert, but Mendia refused, saying that she must return "for the good of them both" and she was last seen disappearing into the darkness near the Infected's quarantined zone.

This implies that the Infected doesn't merely corrupt one's mind, but convinces them to join it of their own accord. Whether what Mendia had seen was what convinced her, or if what is shown to other infected individuals remains the same, is unclear.

 

Separate but mostly insignificant encounters have also been made, where life-forms of the Infected seem to have been cut off from the greater hive mind, rendering their infecting capabilities severely limited and reducing any Infected to mindless monsters. They still have great capacity for destruction, such as an Infected horseman ploughing through a crowd during a festival, an Infected elephant, on spotting hunters, extended its body twelve times to fight back, or a cave rumours to have abominations lurking within that resemble the grotesque forms of the Infected.

 

For now, there has yet to be any serious incursion by the Infected of their own accord, and no discussions are in place for any countermeasures. Should one occur, I hope that Allurian has solved all its issues, political, economical, or whatever other problems it has, for nothing short of total unity can stop it.

 

Addendum:

Infected have breached Allurian but seem to be conspiring with an Ulitharid who is somehow keeping them under control. Although Shurin is under threat, efforts are being made to study the Infected and what is keeping it at bay, including Shurin's prolonged demise if necessary.

Attachment one: the Infected have built multiple organisms that are possibly making several hundreds of people disappear in Shurin in days.

 

 

 

 

The thing that cannot be discussed:

First of all, what cannot be named is a collection of events, items and effects on individuals that are related to something that cannot be named. As you might have guessed, what we are discussing is an information hazard, meaning any understanding of it may affect you. Obscuring its true nature, such as not giving the thing in question a strict name, is a way to circumvent its effects and allow documentation without further hazards.

It is unclear what exactly the damn thing is, but inferences can be made based on events that have occurred relating to it:

• The thing I cannot describe is a story of some sort that when understood, induces madness, hallucinations and psychosis, beginning first as an obsession over what we are talking about, though behaving quite normally in spite of it. It is unknown what form this story takes, be it tale, song or play (see below).
• This will then advance into degrading mental capacity, worsening of the symptoms as stated above, and a compulsion to emulate the tale that should remain untold, the effects of which are described below.
• However, as mentioned above, understanding any part of it with no correlation whatsoever of any context or narrative, or conveying it while obscuring its true nature, would ensure that the madness will be limited, if not absent.

 

It began in the city of Rosacca in times far more ancient than our own. Rosacca was a city that sat upon one of the more major trade routes in the area now known as the Land of The Dead. A once thriving city whose culture exploded with an influx of wealth from various factors, having peace and stability being the norm, and with scarcity a thing of the past. Hard work and labour became replaced with the arts; sculpting, painting, poetry, and most significantly in theatre. The zeitgeist of the city, the talk of dinner. Every kid wanted to star in anything they could. And so many scrambled to plot, build and dream of whatever story they could put on a stage.

But one play in particular went horrifyingly wrong. As the play progressed, cast members and audience alike began devolving into lower creatures bereft of all dignity or morality, beginning slowly at first, with actors seeming to truly hate each other on stage or taking their roles a little too seriously, real weapons being swapped with fake ones, and real blood was drawn in the name of theatre. Then it went to tearing limbs apart from improvised fight scenes, parents hurling their beheaded children onto the stage, spells being cast that eliminated portions of the theatre building, and ending in a bloodbath that almost spilled onto the streets around it.

No one was sure of what had occured and it was ruled a Sogomerian interference, though such things have never occured before. A taboo was immediately placed on the play, but so was a challenge. Several other groups tried to put it on as a display of skill, and the same thing occured. The, at that time, bailiff of the city placed immediate bans on any play, and theatres were shut down while investigations begun. However, it didn't stop cast and crew to perform the play to others in subconscious manners, and those who watched it, even subconsciously, became affected too.

At some point, the bailiff and his advisors realised that both play and people were affected and in an effort to ensure its containment  they ordered the city to be destroyed, and none to be left alive, lest any traveller or trader become part of the wider cast and go on to affect other places. They did this quietly, but citizens eventually found out and chaos broke, resulting in the city to be engulfed in flames and razed to the ground.

Almost nobody and nothing survived it. Almost, for one parchment famous amongst scholars and storytellers alike did: the code of Laerytham. Laerythiam was presumably a man affected in some way by the title of this chapter, who at his last breath and in strange delusions wrote out a string of just two letters on a book attributed to him, that by sheer stroke of luck (or perhaps not so divine intervention) survived, and for anyone intelligent enough, it read:

010000110011010001010010010100110100010101000100001000000101010000110110001000000100111001001111001100110010000001000110010011110011011101000101001110000011010001010010001000000011010100110001010001010100000101001011001000000011011101001110001000000101001000110001001110010100110101000101001011000000110100001010001100010100111001000100001000000100011101000001010110100100010100111000001000000101010101010000010011110100101000100000001101000100111100110011010011000100010001010011001000000100011001000001010100100010000000110101010001010011010001001111010011100100010000100000010011010011100001001110010001010010111000001101000010100100011100110000010101010100011100110011001000000011011101001111010101010101001000100000010001010101100100111000010100110010000001001110001100100101011100101100001000000100010101010110001100110100111000100000010000110100111100110111001100110101001000100000010101110011011001010100010010000010000001010011001101000100111101001011010001010010110000001101000010100011000101000101010100110101010000100000010110010100111100110011001000000100010101010110001101000101001000100000001100100100010101010100001000000011000100110011010001010100110100100000001101000101000000110111010011100010000001001000001100100101001100100000010110010100010101001100010011000100111101010111001000000100001101001100001110000100000101001011001011100000110100001010

I have been told that this matches none of the coding frameworks used by the thieves guild or officials alike. Even magic cannot decipher this.

Stories bearing similar beginnings and endings are clustered nearby Rosacca, and few have been told in places far from it. They cannot be linked directly to the subject matter as no evidence directly points to Rosacca, and though the effects of madness are rather limited and do not spread so easily, the symptoms are undeniably similar.

What is most unsettling is that nothing about the indescribable problem actually links it to Sogomere. Yes it is deeply disturbing on many levels only entities of Sogomere are capable of. But it very well could have originated from this plane, by a faction wishing to disturb the race of Man, or by Man itself. Perhaps the culture had developed so feverishly quickly that it blurred the lines of ethics for the sake of art. If any of the stories are to be taken seriously, perhaps the unnamed thing isn't even of this world or of Sogomere, and the incoherent ramblings are testimonies of minds that have seen beyond, with the play being a gateway. While nothing confirms it as the catalyst, even if it was, how did they discover it? Through some unholy matrimony, or simply by chance? Until more conclusive evidence is discovered, which I really hope does not happen, Sogomere remains to be blamed for such a terrible event.

 

 

The Sign of Red 

The Sign or Red is a cluster of physical marks on the skin that resembles boils, rashes or insect bites in a certain pattern. If one sees the Sign anywhere on their body, regardless of location, pain or size, he is to seek a practitioner of the high arts of magic immediately, and is to follow their instructions. Do not make any contact with any other individual in the process.

 

The Sign comes from a being in Sogomere, and is its way of identifying their next victims or followers, depending on what the person chooses. The sign can appear on any part of the body, with the most common being the forearm, back, chest, neck, thigh and calf. Regular treatments, medicinal or magic, cannot ease the sign. Destroying the skin will cause the sign to appear elsewhere. Destroying all skin will still cause the sign to appear on muscle and fatty tissue, and does not stop the Sign, as evidenced by the late Joash Goodman, who upon seeing the sign and knowing what it was, burnt himself alive and ripped his flesh out, only to have the cavities occur later.

The cavity is a process that occurs after two to four days. It comes in three stages.

In the first, many more marks will appear in random fashion, no longer following the pattern of the Sign, and usually appearing around the original marks. If the Sign is not removed by this stage, it becomes near impossible later.

The second causes the boils to grow inwards and form a literal cavity. But they mainly appear as many small holes in one's body. Blood, pus and liquid will be voided in the process, and necrosis also takes place, giving the area a black and sickly look. This stage of the Sign is very hard to cure. Scratching aggravates the cavities and causes them to worsen. More boils do appear though they almost instantly become a cavity.

At the third, the cavities extend all the way through the flesh. It seems to disregard bone, organs or whatever may have obstructed the cavity and creates a hole through the body. The pain is so extreme at this stage that the affected usually die. Those who have pledged allegiance with the being responsible, however, will not die, and instead are said to have been given enlightenment rather than experience pain. The end result is a hunched creature with liquids leaking from holes that riddle their body, seeming to be unable to have basic motor function from their muscles being practically non-existent, yet can move as a regular person would. If one hears about the Red Sign and devotes their life to the cause, the Red Sign will form on them as well.

 

The followers of the Sign are deemed as a cult by both Empire and Coalition, and rightly so, for they do despicable acts in the name of their god, ranging from thieving and stealing, to kidnapping and murder. A trademark calling card would be how they dig out holes that run the length of a victim's body and dispose of it in public areas.

Based on their chants and messages, the cavities seem to represent the idea of emptiness and nothingness. One particular message left in blood claim that “Only in darkness can there be light. Only in nothing can there be something. The Red Sign is a testimony that we have lacked, but are many. Nothingness is the sweet embrace that all creatures tend towards in our lives, and our god will bring us and the world to pure emptiness. Only in emptiness can there be happiness.” 

As such, the followers of the Sign and the Sign itself wish to bring about the emptiness of this world, but doing so would mean fighting their mortal enemy, the Branch of Green.

 

 

 

The Branch of Green

The Branch of Green is a being in Sogomere that afflicts victims or followers with an unhealthy obsession with geometry. If symptoms are discovered, seek a practitioner of the high mystic and occult magic. Do not converse with anyone else, or seek the affected objects and persons. If you wish to join it, please kill yourself at the earliest convenience.

 

This obsession is usually on things that are potentially never ending, such as the spiral on snail's shell or repeating patterns. Mathematicians have also been affected when theorizing other infinite geometric objects that the common man may not be aware of, and that I care not to explain here, and so it mostly deals with spirals. These obsessions appear harmless at first, with piqued interests in mathematics or architecture, or an interest with things with spirals, such as the aforementioned snails, their fingerprints, waves, and even clouds. After a certain point, the obsession turns into fear and madness, realising that the Branch, the being behind it all, is within those geometric shapes, and what once captivated these victims now become sources of immense fear and torment. Affected will attempt to do everything in their power to hide from them, usually culminating in suicide or a mental breakdown so tremendous that only death would be a fitting cure.

If, however, the victim chooses to embrace it, they become followers instead, with the madness turning into enlightenment. The associated geometric forms become sources of power, inspiration, and some followers are said to have abilities of using these shapes. That being said, followers of the Branch are deemed as a cult, and should be thoroughly prejudiced against. According to what believers proclaim, all have seen a vision of a city stretching out infinitely, with those geometric shapes they enjoy, residing in Sogomere, with a large green branch extending through it. They claim that the Branch is a fraction of their god's true form, and should they succeed their mission, it will unite everything in Allurian under its many other Branches.

And so it is ironically fitting that a god representing everything has to deal with a god representing nothing, the Sign of Red.

 

 

 

Disappearing people:

There were reports of men that linger around random locations in various cities. This seems normal, but these reports say that these people are at one end of Allurian, and at the other end the next day. Reports and descriptions of these people, who were identified as humans, match those from several hundred years ago, though they could be dragons disguised as them. Some of these people disappear in front of multiple eyewitnesses for no reason or cause. These occurrences have been attributed to the Occult and Sogomere, and are still being investigated.

 

 

 

The Abandoned Forest

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

The Forest is a pocket dimension that originated from a magical workshop in Tardoervan, which consists of a literal forest containing flora and fauna similar to what is native to Allurian with some discrepancies, as if copied poorly. Due to the events as stated below, its location has been classified to Sogomere, though it is unclear how a forest is in Sogomere. Then again, Sogomere's true nature is yet to be fully realised.

 

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

From the expeditions, the Forest is sparsely inhabited by things that have been forgotten about. Due to this, it is important that I place reminders here when comprehending the Forest, and it would be wise for you, reader, to give such similar reminders when thinking about the Forest, as one can theoretically forget oneself and become part of it. Attempts to document the Forest have been unsuccessful, and so many of its properties are still unknown.

 

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

The forest was discovered when a powerful wizard was finding a location with high amounts of magic to fuel his research. He was the first to explore the forest and was killed soon after. His body was discovered by the first expedition team.

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

 

Expeditions:

Expedition one: A high practitioner of magic.

Result: One dead high practitioner of magic. Portal sustained.

The first expedition began shortly after the wizard did not answer official summoning for three days, and was declared missing. His workshop was stormed and soldiers found the portal open. A team was hastily assembled and they managed to recover his body

 

Expedition two: A cleric and five soldiers.

Result: All five soldiers dead, cleric gravely injured who died later.

Work was being done to understand the spell and portal while the expedition team was sent in. Not long after only the spellcaster, a cleric, emerged brutally injured, rambling about something unseen tearing through the rest of his comrades. He quickly succumbed to his injuries.

 

Expedition Three: A wizard and five soldiers.

Result: Whole team was lost

It was concluded that more firepower was needed.

 

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

Expedition Four: Three wizards and five soldiers equipped with various magical items. Each person was tied to rope.

Result: Two soldiers and one wizard dead.

Before entry, one soldier deserted and was instantly killed by another guard. The rest made it into the Forest with no further issues. Several checks were made to ascertain the location of the Forest, such as plant and dirt samples, sky charting, and with magic. It is to be noted that in every expedition, the Forest is always under night. Their tests were halted when something attacked part of the group, and only two soldiers and wizards returned, with one confirmed to have his rope cut and had run into the Forest. Their tests revealed what was stated above; that everything is startlingly similar but with something off. Only one body was recovered and its wounds matched no known thing in Allurian or other not so terrible planes. Hence it was reasoned that the Forest likely resides in Sogomere. At this point, the workings of the spell had still not been concluded.

It is to be noted that the soldier that ran had been forgotten.

 

Expedition Five: Three wizards and five soldiers.

Result: All returned. First girl encountered.

The team managed to spend five days in the Forest and made a rudimentary map and markings on trees. Permission to set up a small base was denied.

One of the soldiers found a toy horse that resembled exactly one he had lost as a child, scratches and even initials and all. He was allowed to return with it.

At a certain point, two members claim they saw a girl in a white gown wandering and singing, but when they approached she fled. The two had a difficult time recalling her and had to record the events as if something were preventing them from remembering. The expedition was halted and the crew was returned safely. The girl's features was sketched on parchment.

 

Expedition Six: Three wizards and five soldier.

Result: All dead except for one soldier who was left mad and committed suicide after. First girl, previous soldier, and creature encountered.

The overseer for the expeditions, a Sir Carvecache Elsinger, did not show up. A superior, Captain Dain, stepped in.

The same expedition team was sent in, and after two hours they encountered the same girl again, who reportedly gave a grin before disappearing once more.

Another hour in and the team encountered the soldier that had fled in the fourth expedition. The team realised that they, along with the group in the workshop, had forgotten entirely about the soldier, to the point where no plans had been made for burial or reimbursement unlike the other crew whose bodies were recovered. The team then lost the soldier. In that moment they realised that if they had forgotten about the soldier, there might be something else they had encountered but forgotten.

This proved true when someone exclaimed that they remember a creature that had stalked them quite obviously but after leaving the Forest they had promptly forgotten about it. They then feared that in reality, they might have had way more crew members, in the expeditions or back at the workshop, but because of the Forest their memories have been altered to forget them.

The lost soldier appeared again, and they realised too late that the soldier was dead, and a creature was using its body to lure them away. It then quickly dispatched most of the team despite heavy resistance, with only one soldier having managed to flee back to the portal.

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

The creature noticed the portal and managed to extend a limb through it, tearing through a nearby soldier's armour and body as if he were paper. Another soldier quickly knocked the portal within the workshop and it collapsed, rending the creature's arm off before it quickly turned into dust. The spell was not learned in time and the spellcasters present could not replicate the spell to create the portal. Riftwalking was not possible either.

The soldier that had survived remained alive for a few hours before his mind began breaking down, saying that he recognised the girl as his wife, then saying that it was his mother, then his daughter, contradicting the fact that he has two sons and a wife who look nothing like the girl. He began attempting to remove his eyes and was stopped by nearby crew. He was bound and isolated, but later found dead with a heart attack. A day later Sir Carvecache was found dead with his eyes, nose and ears forcibly removed by himself, before he bled to death.

 

While this seems unsettling, the real issue is that although reports of this have been found within Rodan, no such portal, experiment, or individuals exist. It is likely the nature of the Forest that has caused some meddling with Rodan history that resulted in this. For now, until more or new evidence can be recovered, the Forest remains an enigmatic part of Sogomere history, reshaping the way we define and think of the hellish place.

 

You are remembered and you are who you are. Do not let anyone forget.

 

 

 

The Second Girl:

This might be an extension of the previous article on the Abandoned Forest.

Entry logs by Sir Carvecache Elsinger, the overseer of the expeditions into the abandoned forest, into his personal diary lead to the belief that a second girl was encountered during the expeditions and had escaped through the portal unbeknownst to the crew, or rather, there was a battle, she escaped, and they lost their memories of it. Similar to the Forest, there is no such Sir Carvecache Elsinger, or Captain Dain, but there is an Ethena Elsinger.

The entries are the ones that are relevant and make mention of the Female, or provide sufficient context for understanding.

 

Entry one: A day before the second expedition.

Alright. Big day tomorrow. Captain Dain trusted me with this position and I intend to see through with it. This could give me the promotion I’ve been waiting six years for, and maybe I can buy that house for Ethena and I along the roadside, the one she pointed to when we were on horseback last year. Do not forget to keep the logs in check and remember to send in the finest men we have. Also, remember that Ethena’s birthday is next week. Buy her something dammit.

 

Entry two: After the second expedition.

I don’t know what to write. I have seen orcs ripping men apart, and goblins wrangling women and children, but I cannot describe, or even believe the wounds of their bodies. Their armour was rend like papyrus! Just one arm of a soldier made it back! I sent them to their deaths. I don’t know if I can go on. Ending here tonight.

 

Entry three: Two days before the third expedition.

I’ve found out that the soldiers sent in, and the ones to come, have little to no background. They are making me send pigs to the slaughterhouse. A Burnrat (Labrat, because wizards use rats to practice fire magic) to the wizard! I know I’ve directed men towards hordes of enemies, but this is too much! 

I will not do this for the promotion, but for the sake of finding out what this gods-forsaken place holds.

On another note, Ethena said she made a new friend today and played with her. Said she’s fun and spontaneous. How’d she even know that word when she’s still nine? Anyway, it’s good for her to make some friends. Perhaps they can keep her company while I’m at the tower.

 

Entry four: A day before the third expedition.

I’ve steeled myself for tomorrow with a talk with a good old pal. I will brief the soldiers and wizards, if they even listen to me, myself, and they will not know fear and triumph where the previous had failed. I just pray and hope that all goes well.

Ethena said she wanted to introduce me to her friend, but I told her to wait to the morrow.

 

Entry five: after the third expedition.

The whole group was lost, but I have hope that they are out there, somewhere, perhaps hiding in a thicket or bush and are safe from whatever found them. There is still funding and orders for the searches, but things are looking bleak. I talked to Dain and he seemed as displeased about the situation as I am, but what can we say against the archmages. Of course they know what to do! As if their high and cocky egos know anything about ethics and human life and preservation! Otherwise, they wouldn’t be sending men, good men mind you, to another dimension!

I do apologise for the rant to whomever who reads this in the future, hopefully not you, Ethena. Speaking of you, why did Ethena say that her friend was there? She pointed to the air and said her friend was right there! I told her that her friend must be imaginary, which is common these days, but Ethena insisted that her hat-wearing friend with, and I quote, funny clothes and a ball-toy, stood right there. I tried to convince her, but she just stomped off. Now what do I do? My daughter is upset and I am too about the expeditions. At least we have a break for two days. 

 

Entry six: a day before the fourth expedition.

I swear on the gods of humans, dwarves and elves that I could not have seen Ethena’s friend. I know I saw something out of the corner of my eye as I turned to my daughter. It looked green? Yellow? But when I looked back it seemed I mistook it for the grass that lay yonder. But Ethena jumped and was excited that I was looking at her friend. Anyways, I was tired that day and maybe the stress is getting to me. Also, I realise that our numbers have been dwindling quite quickly, though I am not sure why. I've put in a report for the deserters.

Expedition starts tomorrow. I need to get some early rest.

 

Entry seven: After the fourth expedition. The handwriting seems panicky and improper.

Two things happened today. Firstly, the team confirmed it is similar, but fundamentally different, to Allurian. Talks have been scheduled with the Fey to see if they're playing some sick joke on us. We may be onto something. But the second is that I think I saw Ethena’s friend again. Not once but twice. From the corner of my eye and in a mirror at night. It was a she, I think. And I think I saw a big hat. I can’t tell anymore. My head is hurting up a storm. Going to bed now.

 

Entry eight: Just after the fifth expedition.

I’m seeing her now. I can see her. She’s sometimes there, and sometimes she isn’t. I see her when I turn my head but she’s gone when I turn back, and I don’t seem to remember her until I write these. Is she that girl? She doesn’t match the soldier’s descriptions and as to our knowledge only we have gone through the portals. (Elsinger seems to have dropped his charcoal here) What about Ethena? I can’t let anything happen to her. I cannot. (charcoal was placed down and some words are smudged, but discernible. Likely an accident.) She just told me that her friend, if I can even call that thing a friend, just wants to know me better, but I’m being too focused, that I need to let go of my stress or whatnot. (Words become more clear and concise) Maybe she’s right, that I am too stressed and I’m seeing things. 

 

Entry nine: The night after the fifth expedition.

The expedition went very well, with all crew returning, and a girl was found. Based on the way the Forest works, the way the crew can't seem to remember the girl, and the soldier's toy, we hypothesized that it may be a place of forgotten things. More checks are being scheduled. The wizards seemed to like it a lot. They better remember me when they make their report. Those bastards. I didn’t see the girl today, and because of the hard time I've been having remembering her, I need to speak to the wizards about this too. (some of the words are intelligible).

PS: remind the crew to stop humming. It is annoying.

 

Entry ten: A day before he sixth expedition

Now it's not just Ethena. Now Jovile's kids, the kids of that bloke two blocks away, Martha's and Tanner's kids say they can see that friend. I was just passing by the lot of them as they played in the fields, and again I felt that there were eight people there when there were only seven children, and they called out to their friend with a name I can't remember. I don't know what to do. I don't know anything anymore. Why in hell did I write two entries yesterday? I can't even focus on the project anymore.

Forget the Forest. Forget the promotion and the house and the money. I am going to find out what this friend is. Forget the spellcasters laughing at me. I will protect my little girl. I've made arrangements with Dain, and I can only pray now that both our missions go well.

 

Entry eleven: On the day of the sixth expedition. Handwriting is mostly unintelligible and smudged.

Oh gods she was singing she was singing this whole time and I've been listening oh gods I cans ee her and eel hershe wasby mysid Ethina youhav to geta way sh dange cannot rember how writ (the rest is no more)

 

After the sixth expedition, Sir Elsinger was found dead in his study at noon by his daughter, Ethena. Elsinger seemed to have gone insane, took off his nose, eyes and ears, and drove his sword through his neck. Evidence from toppled furniture and wounds inflicted on Ethena suggests that Elsinger intended to kill her too, presumably to free her from this friend, but stopped himself and committed suicide before he could do so. 

Wizards cordoned the house off and inspected it, but found no magic anywhere. There were also no signs of substance abuse or alcohol that was ingested over the period of the expeditions. There were no eyewitness reports, and those that interacted with Elsinger and Ethena claimed that the two did not differ from their ordinary selves.

The only evidence that suggests what may have happened are the notes, but upon questioning, Ethena claims and is adamant about her not having any imaginary friend, saying that she played or studied by herself throughout the period. The other children described in the notes also claim that they have no idea what they were talking about. Ethina had long since passed away and there is no way I can contact her, even through magic.

It is theorised that another girl had managed to enter Tardorevan, as Ethena seemed to have played with this entity only when the portals were kept open, and hence why none of the children or even Elsinger could remember or perceive her. Though no other crazed reports were made after the portal was closed, it is unconfirmed whether the girl remained in Allurian. It could have been a simple case of insanity, due to the nature of Sogomere. Or it could just not matter since, like the notes mentioned in the Forest article, none of these individuals exist, save Ethina.

I suppose if you hear any humming, or out of the corners of your eyes, see a girl wearing yellow and green with a big hat and ball toy, you better do something to your memories before she does.

 

 

 

Succubus and Incubus

Succubus and incubus are one of the many types of demons that inhabit Sogomere.  It is rumoured they were an experiment of Saluin, goddess of lust and wanton desires before Sogomere fell out of the gods’ control. What happened since then has been unknown but over time they have become some type of demon. During the Second Great Alliance Wars, the demons of Sogomere realised they could easily prey on mortal races to prey on their carnal desires and so as the war progressed, the demons of Sogomere utilised knowledge gained from aeons past and so came the first succubus and incubus.

 

While it was too late to make an impact on the war with Elven magic, divine powers and the great armies of Dwarfs and mankind forcing the invasion back, the first usage of Succubus and Incubus proved highly effective at corruption and disruption. Thus, some Demon lords began to employ and create more Succubi and Incubi, utilising them as tools to disrupt and cause chaos amongst the mortal races. In time, some succubus and incubus rose up and became demon lords themselves.

 

The very scent of Sogomere is apparent among these creatures and only the most skilled of them are able to mask it. Even then, the most powerful magical protection often can detect them. However, few in Allurian are able to afford such protection making many easy prey for Succubus and Incubus to corrupt them. There have been numerous instances of towns ripped apart by chaos due to their influence. Cases of great nobles, merchants and mages falling to their influence litter the history book as a warning to the danger they can have. Yet Succubus are few in nature for the power required to enter and sustain themselves within the mortal realms are hefty. Furthermore many of the great kingdoms of Allurian have placed defences to guard against such threats. Clerics and Paladins keep watchful gaze over many cities while places such as the Aurion Isles and the Woodland realms proved impossible for Succubus to enter.

 

There are in general two types of Succubus and Incubus found in Sogomere and by extension Allurian.  The first would be those in service to demon lords who utilise the Succubus and Incubus as tools to gain power in Allurian often by means of subterfuge.  They are fully in service to their demon lord and work to better them. This does not mean they are incapable of free thought for Succubus and Incubus are highly reliant on their wit and intelligence to infiltrate mortal society and as such are highly intelligent free thinking creatures.

 

The next type would be Succubus and Incubus independent of a demon lord, often these are Succubus and Incubus who are demon lords themselves who utilise their great power and an army of Succubus and Incubus and other demons to further their power. The most powerful of these rival all but the most powerful of the demon lords. There are also smaller independent Succubus and Incubus with powers order of magnitude weaker than demon lords, they hold no servants but often can utilise their skills to further their powers or in some cases lend aid to other demons in exchange for a variety of types of payment.

 

The goal of a Succubus and Incubus is to ultimately corrupt the soul of a mortal through seduction though other side goals often at the behest of their lords exist. Through the corruption of a mortal a succubus gains power. The more powerful an individual, the more powerful the Succubus becomes. Through filling their victim's dreams with debauched scenes and whispers of forbidden pleasures, tempting them to indulge in their dark desires, appetites, and taboos. Eventually, the succubus enters the mortal realm directly, in a pleasing form previously seen only in the dreams, and befriends or seduces their victim, so they can influence them directly and indulge all their desires so they would perform evil deeds of their own free will.

 

It is when a Succubus and Incubus completely corrupt a mortal, when their thoughts are filled with carnal desire and their mind is at the brink of madness to the point where any semblance of free will is lost, that a Succubus has successfully claimed its victim. From here the Succubus often kills their victim outright with a kiss that takes the fully corrupted soul and sends it to Sogomere. From there, the souls will have many purposes, it could be given to their demon lords, utilised by the Succubus and Incubus themself to further enhance their own power, used to create demons or other purposes, all of which involves the victims soul screaming in both agony and ecstasy. 

 

Other times Succubus and Incubus leave their victims alive, instead slowly feeding on their soul, in times like this, they often amass many victims which they seduce. Often these are of the weak minded and poor virtue for little time would be needed to turn them to their side. Rarely would a Succubus do this as it would draw much attention, only when maximum chaos is needed or an army of deranged cultists is required would such an action be done. 

 

There have been strange, unusual cases in which a child has been produced between a mortal (often almost always human) and a Succubus or Incubus. Such procreations are a rare occurrence. Succubus and Incubus rarely if ever seek to create children and as such such a creation is still a mystery to the scholars of Allurian.