MESSAGE RECEIVED:
FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST ALL CHANNELS
AUTHORISATION: CARTOGRAPHIC/ANTHORIA GREEN
DO NOT ENCODE DO NOT ENCRYPT. FULL TRANSLATE RIGHTS GRANTED
RELAY LINK: OPEN CHANNEL ALL RELAY OUTBOUND KEPPLER FULL RADIAL
All Vessels:
Please be advised that substantial changes to Maelstrom traffic conditions have been reported in the vicinity of Albretch Haven Isle.
Area is henceforth upgraded to CODE BLACK AVOID. Malignant Dragon activity is currently present in surrounding penumbra; overall area of impact is yet to be determined. Current exclusion zone co-ordinates to follow.
All vessels are advised to avoid travel in this region. Command cannot guarantee safe passage. Alternate routes are in development. Vessels active in vicinity of Albretch Haven Isle and surrounding area are to IMMEDIATELY reroute and report to nearest deployment point for decontamination.
Comms are advised to broadcast message on all outbound public communication frequencies, including telepathic relay and Immateria.
DO NOT engage with Dragon. DO NOT attempt contact. Dragon is to be considered hostile and highly dangerous. Specimen is mobile and malignant. Existing routes are compromised and no longer secure. All vessels within exclusion zone are to be considered contaminated and containing substantial psychoactive hazard.
MESSAGE RECEIVED:
CONFIDENTIAL VX0913-AH-STD
CLASSIFICATION: BLACK
TO: Comm. E. Heinmarch
FROM: Dr. M. Philodocius
COPY: Fleet Command Eddings; Fleet Command Astoria, file copy to Archive
RELAY LINK:36 STEP OUTWARDS CH OUTBOUND PORT KEPPLER PING BARROW.
REPLY PENDING Y/N
Greetings, Heinmarch!
We have completed our survey of Albretch Haven and can report the situation is, if anything, worse than previously assumed.
The change to Maelstrom conditions are indeed as earlier reports suggest. We have had no luck in finding the lost scout ship Stalwart but have found their beacon trail. Bless the soul who invented them, each little brass ball had provided a solid record of the decay of the penumbra around Albretch Haven.
Decay was fast and powerful with incoming waves of changing tide that has left sharp indentations in the brass casing. Previously established Dragon Roads have collapsed entirely under the onslaught, and the region is now thick with dense and impassable masses of aggressive energies. I would go so far as to call them ‘jealous’, an almost megalomaniac cloud that smothers Albretch Haven and renders it completely unapproachable. This is in addition to substantial raw magical potential, a sort of cascading series of thaumatological discharges that are reminiscent of a terrestrial thunderstorm.
Overall, these conditions render the area inimical to traffic of all types, especially smaller trade vessels and our unfortunate scouts. I have come to the conclusion that they are likely lost.
To further complicate matters, the area has attracted the attention of a Maelstrom Dragon of considerable age and power known as the Extolled Epicurean. He is best known to my researcher colleagues among the Wayfarers as a herald of bad tidings, as he primarily dines on tides tinged with egomania, jealousies and religious fervour. Ships that stray into areas favoured by the Epicurean tend to fall to petty feuding and mutinies, tinged with overwhelming religiosity and strange, hitherto unknown heresies.
This energy profile also inspires worshipful reverence towards the Dragon itself from lesser creatures, no matter how poorly the Epicurean treats the people in its vicinity. He is prone to attracting weird little cults, even by Wayfarer standards, often to the detriment of the participants. He is known to eat his worshippers from time to time, though what a Maelstrom Dragon could get from such a tiddling meal is hard to determine. He seems flattered by the behaviour and will often indulge whatever practices his little followers come up with and will almost ‘play-act’ godly behaviour when the mood takes him.
It’s rare for these cults to last, however, as the Dragon will leave an area once the local Storm conditions mellow and can no longer provide him with nourishment. Once the religious mania leaves the Storm, the Isles nearby tend to return to normal.
It is likely that the Extolled Epicurean will remain around Albretch Haven for some time, as there is a substantial amount of the atmospheric malignancy upon which he feeds. I am thankful to have not spied him myself at this point, but will endeavour to place buoys of my own in the interest of collecting data at a remove. I have devised a specific pattern that I am sure the Dragon will find pleasing, and with luck he will bless me with a greater understanding.
Despite these less than stellar developments, the Isle itself remains in good condition. We have not made landfall but can report observations taken from above. We are currently at a stable anchorage in the shadow of the Isle’s small moon, where we can safely observe.
Albretch Haven is a small, flat Isle, largely forested with a network of narrow waterways that pass through exposed gullies and canyons. It is still as lush and green and well-watered as I had hoped, and there’s evidence of civilised life even at a distance. Small boats move on the creeks that crisscross its surface, and I have observed that the forests on occasion lose a little of their upper canopy, suggestive of limited tree felling. There is also a substantial temple at the highest point of elevation, a crude wooden structure several stories high atop a dormant volcano.
That having been said, I am yet to see any people themselves about the Isle. They seem to be keeping their heads down and staying out of sight. While the temple suggests they are falling under the sway of atmospheric religiosity, they seem to be restricting their behaviour to a subtle worship that will not upset the Epicurean. I am left to wonder if they have displeased him at some point in the past and are making penance, as would be fitting.
Much more prominent are the large amounts of terrestrial mundane dragons across its surface. They are readily observed and are going about their business as one would expect. These dragons range from substantial arboreal specimens that resemble large trees themselves, onwards to small flitting species more reminiscent of birds. Though we have not done a serious survey, the oceans and lakes of this lovely Isle also contain large, mobile shadows suggestive of aquatic dragon species. None of these of course are even remotely as elegant and refined as the elevated and Extolled Epicurean, but all are at least a pleasing echo of their far superior master. They seem unworthy to be devoured, and he leaves them to their business.
I will continue to report back as often as time and conditions allow. I have sent a coded communique to a close colleague on the Wayfarer Ship Radiant Pennywort, as they have substantial dealings with malignant Maelstrom Dragons. They are likely to have useful information on how best to navigate the region around Albretch Haven without disturbing His Lordship the Elevated and Extolled Epicurean. I dare not risk any action that would cause discord in his most reverent harmonies or cause him any displeasure. Until I will observe, as ordered.
Yours in watchfulness, yet unconsumed,
Dr Mallord Philodocius,
Research Lead
ITF Observational Vessel Eternal Eye
