Zandik's Legacy

Zandik's Legacy (unofficial name) is a series of interactables that can be found throughout Sumeru, all of which involve Zandik, a Trainee Dastur at Sumeru Akademiya long in the past.
There are two main sets of interactables revolving around Zandik: one in Ardravi Valley involving an Investigation Team dispatched by the Akademiya to conduct field research on Devantaka Mountain, and another in Apam Woods where Zandik was involved in medical experiments and came to be interested in capturing the Aranara.
==Locations==
* Akademiya Investigation Team's Interim Report
** Located in a camp on the cliff southwest of Loumelat (Sumeru Fishing Association).
Interactable Akademiya Investigation Team's Interim Report Location.png|Akademiya Investigation Team's Interim Report location
Interactable Akademiya Investigation Team's Interim Report Location Context.png|Akademiya Investigation Team's Interim Report context
* Zandik's Note
** Located inside the Ruin Golem, on the top floor.
Interactable Zandik's Note 01 Location.png|Zandik's Note location
Interactable Zandik's Note 01 Location Context.png|Zandik's Note context
* Sohreh's Note
** Located inside the cave behind the Ruin Golem, on the far southeastern side next to a set of large gears.
Interactable Sohreh's Note Location.png|Sohreh's Note location
Interactable Sohreh's Note Location Context.png|Sohreh's Note context
* Sumeru Investigation Team's Note
** Located in a camp by the southern Vimara Village Teleport Waypoint.
Interactable Sumeru Investigation Team's Note Location.png|Sumeru Investigation Team's Note location
Interactable Sumeru Investigation Team's Note Location Context.png|Sumeru Investigation Team's Note context
* Ragged Attendance Record
** Located next to the Damaged Ruin Guard (Records: Code "Fehu"), along the path from the Sumeru Investigation Team's Note.
Interactable Ragged Attendance Record Location.png|Ragged Attendance Record location
Interactable Ragged Attendance Record Location Context.png|Ragged Attendance Record context
* Dissection Records
** Located in an Eremite camp south of Port Ormos' northwestern Teleport Waypoint.
Interactable Dissection Records Location.png|Dissection Records location
Interactable Dissection Records Location Context.png|Dissection Records context
* Ragged Records
** Located in Apam Woods.
Interactable Ragged Records Location.png|Ragged Records location (underground)
Interactable Ragged Records Location Context.png|Ragged Records context
* Zandik's Note
** Located inside the cavern leading into the Ruin Golem in the Valley of Dahri.
Interactable Zandik's Note 03 Location.png|Zandik's Note location
Interactable Zandik's Note 03 Location Context.png|Zandik's Note context
* Zandik's Note
** Located inside the Ruin Golem in Wounded Shin Valley, on the top floor.
Interactable Zandik's Note 02 Location.png|Zandik's Note location
Interactable Zandik's Note 02 Context.png|Zandik's Note context
==Messages==
===Akademiya Investigation Team's Interim Report===
"Someone seems to have burnt the contents in a hurry. Only a few words remain legible now."
...Found a large group of mechanism, similar to the huge walking machinery we previously found at the ruins of Gurabad...
...After a preliminary investigation, I reckon that they are from the same era...
...The key parts missing in the "Gurabad samples" (excuse me for the rash name) have been found here. It may be possible to repair the machinery's automatic system...
...Found an organization called Schwanenritter, and its existence may be confirmed by the legend of Ruins of Dahri...
...Recorder, Trainee Dastur, Zandik...
===Zandik's Note (Devantaka Mountain)===
"A page from the research notes, but it seems to have been torn off and hidden here by the author."
...Collected a lot of components, these spare parts of the huge machine, if only I could figure out its working principle and manufacturing process...
...Fiddling with these components almost caused a delay in my work. These exquisite mechanical parts have a unique and ingenious style, which is not likely to be found in the handcrafted artifacts under the rule of Archons. I am going to take them apart, and record the size and shape one by one...
...But first of all, this secret must not be revealed to the other team members...
===Sohreh's Note===
(This seems to be a page torn from a research log — perhaps because it was irrelevant. The paper is covered in moss, and the contents have long ceased to be whole.)
...Explored the jungle with Zandik. Its local biodiversity is impressive. Although the growing effects of The Withering in other areas have also affected this place, it has yet to pose a great threat... We discovered a few new micro-scarab species. I suppose I could name them "Nahidad Scarabs," which means "the Dendro Archon's Boon" — a good name, I'd say!
...Zandik was attracted by the ancient machines left behind by some civilization here...
...He's young — handsome, too. But he's too rigid, and the research approach of his Darshan has nothing in common with Amurta. As a result, we have nothing to talk about even though we are exploring this place together. That's pretty annoying...
...Zandik and I discussed the traits of local plants and animals. We also exchanged views on their evolution models. We had a great time and decided to go on a picnic tonight...
===Sumeru Investigation Team's Note===
(Someone seems to have burnt the contents in a hurry. Only a few words remain legible now.)
...Thank goodness, Zandik reacted quickly. Otherwise, the whole team would be in serious trouble...
...The terrifying killing machine has stopped. Zandik insisted on bringing it back to the Akademiya to be disassembled and reverse-engineered. That was absolutely ridiculous! Sage Sharnama reprimanded him and removed him from the author list.
...We buried Dastur Sohreh and sent the wounded back. Looks like this field research has come to an end...
===Ragged Attendance Record===
;(Interact with the Ragged Attendance Record)
:Ragged Attendance Record: "...Trainee Dastur Zandik has acted without authorization for the third time... It brings unpredictable risks to the investigation team... Punishment is advised..."
:Ragged Attendance Record: "...Dastur Sohreh of has been critically injured under the attack of Rishboland Tigers. In need of first aid..."
===Dissection Records===
...The deceased...Dastur Sohreh...
Multiple trauma wounds...
Lacerations... contusions on internal organs... hemorrhage...
...But the fatal injury is the wound on the throat... fractured hyoid bone...
Mechanical asphyxia... unable to ascertain the cause of death...
===Ragged Records===
"An ancient, tattered paper with incomplete information written on it"
...Previously at ███, we collected 3 dosages of common substances that had been exposed to The Withering. But as we approached this facility, they were all purified, with no traces of abnormality left. The reason is still unknown...
...Collected 5 samples (class: human) in the nearby village. Subject III: male adult, 20–25 yrs old. Subject IV: female adult, 25–30 yrs old. Subjects V/VI/VII: 1 male child, 7–14 yrs old, 2 female children...
...All juvenile subjects went missing after displaying hallucinatory symptoms. The subjects in question seemed to be communicating with their "imaginary friends" in secret. Said "friends" are likely to be a Ley Line/Elemental creature that inhabits the forest (Aranara?).
About Aranara
According to the tales of the forestfolk, Aranara is a highly intelligent being (botanic creature?) that can travel freely between reality and dreams. They can even create dreams based on the fabric of real-world environments. Far-fetched though it may sound, the folklore is not without credibility. We should keep looking and try to obtain a living sample.
If we put them to good use, cognition, complex memories, and irrational fantasies shall become controllable variables with which we can alter human individuals. As for the controllable dream, it has huge potential for both civil and military applications, and might even elevate human intelligence to a whole new level.
If the plan goes well, mankind will obtain the power to conquer both reality and dream, and truly transcend the earthly boundaries we are born with.
(A large ink stain was splashed next to the period. It seems that the writer broke the pen as they wrote this line.)
Attached is the documentation of the folklore associated with the unverified creature, Aranara. This content is for reference only...
...Subject IV, adult, body functions completely shut down, a large area of skin ██████, visceral ██████. COD: loss of blood.
Upon seeing Subject IV in a coma, Subject III (adult) resisted violently in panic before being forcibly subdued, which resulted in the cessation of the experiment. Current conclusion: The Withering contains an unknown substance that can induce (the word "unpredictable" has been crossed out) pathological skin mutations. More tests are needed to identify the pattern of said mutations...
...Subject III, adult, body functions completely shut down, a medium area of skin ██████, visceral ██████, blood ████, too. COD: Extreme fear led to complications, which caused heart failure and multiple-organ failure.
This is a waste of resources. It is advisable to watch over the subjects' mental state in the next experiment and avoid exposing them to extreme environments...
Lab Lead on duty: ████
(Some part of the signature was smudged, causing the entire name to be illegible.)
===Zandik's Note (Valley of Dahri)===
(This seems to be a page from a research journal that has been torn out and hidden here for unknown reasons.)
...It should be possible to repair this titanic machine's primary weapons systems using components salvaged from abandoned mechanisms, but to avoid attracting the attention of the other team members, I have simply made some basic measurements for now. Any further experiments must wait for another day...
...The things that the sages call Suda's Flow are nothing but products of sedimentation caused by perturbation of the elements. To think that they would use these as the core of the seal... Laughable in the extreme...
===Zandik's Note (Wounded Shin Valley)===
(This seems to be a page from a research journal that wound up discarded by a researcher for unknown reasons.)
...As I thought, it seems that the components I found in the large cluster of mechanisms can be used for this "Gurabad Specimen"...
...This golem's main weapon system has suffered less damage than that of the previous machine...
...The dimensions and structure match previous records perfectly. Despite its size, its workmanship displays a high level of precision...
...It seems like such golems were all designed without the implementation of gyroscopes, causing the interior structure to tilt constantly and simultaneously with the machine's movement. A piloting trial had to be suspended after half a minute due to severe physiological side effects caused by disrupted balance... I speculate that its pilot may have had to undergo modifications to their vestibular system, or wore specialized adhesive boots and gloves...
...It's a shame that documents regarding its energy supply systems have been lost, and I have far too important a mission to accomplish to afford to start from scratch. If not...
==Trivia==
* While reading these interactables, the active character changes to the Traveler while Paimon appears next to them. Normally, this behavior only occurs while interacting with characters or objects that are involved in a quest, event, or sometimes, a Hidden Exploration Objective. This is the first time that this behavior is induced upon interacting with something that is not known to fall under any of the three.
==Change History==
ja:ザンディクの遺産
ru:Наследие Зандика