Gate of Memoirs/Durumn's Log

More mentions of the Vardket... Things are starting to come together.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Demon Slayers"	Music: "Demon Slayers"
 	
**Ah-CHOO!*
*You sniffle and blow on your hands in a futile attempt to keep yourself from shivering.
*That Revenant sure was nasty, gripping you in its freezing fist like that.
*If it wasn't for that one good death blow you might have just become a popsicle.
*Someone hands you a towel, and you gratefully accept it, thanking—
 	
*Giselle: You're welcome! And welcome back.
 	
*—Giselle. Huh. You could've sworn that was Elise a second ago...
 	
*Giselle: Aww. Did you catch a cold? It WAS pretty cold out there.
*Giselle: I think part of the water's edge is covered in shoggo snot now.
 	
*Giselle: So, did you find anything?
 	
*Through a glasslike portion of the Revenant's chest, you spied a metal device frozen near its core.
*After the Revenant fell apart, whatever energy held its form together dissipated,
*and the ice that made up the bulk of its carapace rapidly dissolved into water.
*Normally you'd fear that an electrical device soaked in liquid would be destroyed,
*but after your last experience removing a similar one from a solid chunk of lava,
*you have a pretty good hunch it'll be just fine.
 	
*Noel: Oh. Yeah, hope you're right about that, .
*Noel: Water damage is one of those things we haven't fully found a solution for, even in this time and age,
*Noel: but restoration techniques are more sophisticated than ever.
*Noel: I'll get the lab staff to look into this immediately.
 	
*Giselle: Why don't you take a break in the meantime, ?
 	
*Giselle: How about some of my *delicious* stew to warm you right up?
 	
*Noel's Voice: No! Don't fall for it!
 	
*Giselle: Hush, you! Just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean won't!
 	
*Giselle: Well, I'll be back in a jiffy!
*Giselle: It won't make a single peep this time. Promise.
 	
*A few days later, having recovered from your terrible flu, you receive a note to meet in the hall.
*You find Giselle and Noel waiting with the same audio equipment they used to parse Galea's Battle Log last time.
*Seems like the cleanup went well enough.
 	
*Noel: . Morning. We don't need to explain what this is about, right?
*Noel: I'd like to say it was all thanks to our technical expertise, but the truth is...this Battle Log seems to be made to resist liquid.
*Noel: After we were able to pull its data, we realized why: this belonged to a member of the Ulnhann family faction.
 	
*Giselle: Known for riding those enormous snakes everywhere, no?
 	
*Giselle: The lesser cousins of which now crawl around guild camps in the land above. Eurgh.
 	
*Noel: It seems that the Ulnhann use these logs as records of their serpent mounts, which would explain its greater durability against wear.
*Noel: Well, let's get it up and running.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Where it Rains"	Music: "Where it Rains"
 	
**crackle* *click*
*Gruff Female Voice: "Update on the little 'uns...we stabilized them, but they don't look so good."
*Gruff Female Voice: "The dam's not breathing anymore and I suspect the sire will soon follow. Breeders believe it's an external virus."
*Gruff Female Voice: "Tch. At this rate we'll have a lot less mounts to train."
*Distant Voice: "Durumn! Cage Five—they're all sick too!"
*Durumn: "And let me guess: no one has done a thing because they're arguing over who's responsible for the Vardket booking out of here."
*Distant Voice: "...Yes."
*A loud thump and clatter, as if someone had pounded a fist against an empty cage.
*Durumn: "They don't understand the gravity of the situation, do they?"
*Distant Voice: "Durumn?"
*Durumn: "Watch the hatchlings. I'm going to knock some sense into this clan, or we'll all fall apart."
*Durumn: "If we don't make a move, the damned Greherd will wipe us out."
*Durumn: "Forget the Vardket. The wolves are at the door."
*The sounds slowly fade out, before a click indicates the end of this recording.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Devil's Heart"	Music: "Devil's Heart"
 	
**bzzztt...*
*A particularly strong echo comes through the device. Durumn—if she is still recording this—must have been underground or in a cave.
*The slithering of a large, armored reptile can be heard just over the ambience.
*Durumn: "This is wild. I figured they were hiding something, but it's the first time we've explored their facilities for real."
*Durumn: "Good thing we don't have to put up with any resistance now that they've booked out for good."
*Durumn: "Hey. Careful there. Don't drop those crates. It's got what we're looking for."
*Male Rider: "Is this really the Vardket's research facility? This laboratory gives me the creeps."
*Female Rider: "Yeah. But...if their concoctions can cure our mounts..."
*Durumn: "Shh. Do you hear that?"
*The voices go quiet. A faint humming, followed by a high pitched whistle, pierces the silence.
*Durumn: "What is this..."
**shuffle*
*Male Rider: "Whoa! Durumn! Take it off! We have no idea what it does!"
*Durumn: "Quiet! I can hear something!"
*Durumn: "... ..."
*Durumn: "Holy hell."
*Durumn: "I can hear it. My...my serpent's...thoughts."
*Female Rider: "What...?"
**click*
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*Giselle: What was that all about?
 	
*Noel: I think there's more, but for whatever reason I can't get it to pl-
Music: "To the Top"	Music: "To the Top"
 	
*Durumn: "Alright riders! Listen up!"
 	
*Giselle: Wow, she has a big voice.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Durumn: "You've all had a chance to get the Vardket comms set up. You've all trained hard in just a few short weeks."
*Durumn: "This is it. Those Greherd garbage are just outside the encampment."
*Durumn: "We're gonna make them rue the day the first hatchling died from their viruses."
*A roaring cheer shakes the device.
*Durumn: "Remember: you are your mount, and your mount is you."
*Durumn: "You were one before; and now, you will be connected to each and every one of us."
*Durumn: "I don't know what the heck is in a Vardket comm, but it's our best bet against them."
*The distant sounds of missile strikes and explosion can be heard in the background.
*Durumn: "Now go! We ride!"
*Durumn: "We will show them that the Ulnhann Faction is NOT to be messed with!"
*The howls and cheers and thrashing of scales resounds around the Inquiry hall before the device falls silent once more.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Demon Slayers"	Music: "Demon Slayers"
 	
*Giselle: The Greherd again, huh.
*Giselle: They are one ornery faction, aren't they? Going around picking fights and all that.
 	
*Noel: This would be the first direct piece of evidence of Orebus's civil war, you realise.
*Noel: And not only that...there's more about the...Vardket, whom we previously have no idea about.
 	
*Noel: This is a big discovery for the Inquiry.
 	
*Giselle: I'd say! And to think all this time we've only scratched the surface.
*Giselle: Quite literally, at that.
*Giselle: Whoever they are, we at least know that the family factions are tied to them somehow,
*Giselle: and that they have conducted some sort of labwork and experimentation in their facilities.
 	
*Giselle: Yes, this is wonderful news indeed. And deserves a big stew for that!
 	
*Noel: Ugh.
 	
*Noel: She is right, though. Keep up the good work.
*Noel: If the Vardket are as major an influence in Orebus as these Battle Logs seem to suggest,
*Noel: then we can hypothesize that the civil war may have been started by their disappearance...
 	
*Giselle: Who knows? They might not even be native to Orebus, given how they seem to just up and leave so easily.
 	
*Noel: That's...a bold hypothesis.
 	
*Giselle: I try.
 	
*Giselle: Well then, , I expect you're quite tired by now!
*Giselle: Elise isn't here today, but I'll let her know about the paperwork.
*Giselle: You just go on and do your stuff, now. 
*Giselle: We'll call you back when we've mapped out the next area.
 	
*Giselle: Toodles!
 	
*The relationship between the Vardket and the factions seems more complicated than you can imagine...
*Galea, Keres, and now Durumn...They were all opposed to the Greherd.
*What lies behind their warmongering ways?
*With that lingering thought in mind, you leave the Inquiry.