The Lost Journal of Meshkatawis I

The **Lost Journal of Mshkatawis I** is a journal that was discovered by the court of Meshkatawis III over 600 years after the establishment of the Dominion of Meshkar. It was translated by Royal Scribe Eopei of Keri, although, much of the text appears to have been either lost or translated poorly due to the text being written in Knarkan. However, the last portion of the journal, was written in Neo-Menewa by Meshkatawis III herself. It is not known why, but the Pharaoh possibly did this as a sign of overcoming old woes.

## Content

*(This Journal of the first Queen, Meshkatawis I, has been restored to the best of my abilities. However, I cannot describe what is going on at the very end...*

*Though, I had done my best to translate it from Old Knarkan to Neo-Menewa. Hopefully, this is a coherent translation.*

*Not all of the words and grammatical structure is correct, but I tried my best. Do forgive me for any mistakes you may have had to read.*

*Also, many of the pages were either torn out, withered or just were too hard for me to decipher. Ancient languages are rather tough to translate. However, if I manage to get around to finishing translating all the pages of this journal, then I will. Fortunately, a few pages remain co-herent.*

*- Royal Scribe Eopei of Keri.)*

*Day 1*

So I had never written in a journal before. How funny.

Perhaps I should start things off by saying hello. Yeah… yeah that would definitely be a good way.

I am Meshkatawis, a scholar in the Court of Knarka. Well, scholar and… records keeper.

It often gets quite boring down here in this chamber. So I decided to keep all my thoughts and stories inside of this nice leather journal I made.

Ah. What am I even saying? No one is ever going to read this… or maybe if they do, they’ll find something interesting to read. Maybe, I’ll actually find something interesting to do while I’m stuck in these boring halls.

Anyways… let’s start off with a story… hmm...

Oh, I got one.

So today, someone came down to ask me to record something about some kind of strange activity happening at Mount Tavkaris. They said that something was roaring, and some of the oracles were having rather mixed predictions. Some say a good omen is coming for us, while others say the evil God, Kanta, is coming out to doom us all. I simply just let him babble on about all of this. Then, during the middle of it, someone came in, and said that the Council wanted to see me. When I head to the council, they said that I should head to Mount Tavkaris, and try to record whatever the Oracles are saying there.

Well… I suppose that would be a *break* from all of the paper jobs...

*Day 3,*

Strange rumblings in the ground, as well as minor earthquakes have been happening recently. I don’t know why. Usually, the island is quite active with earthquakes, rumbling quite a bit… but this was beyond abnormal. Several buildings collapsed in Avara today, but nothing to be concerned about. At least it didn’t hit here!

However, I am starting to have a strange revelation. What if those oracles that were saying this was a bad omen were right? I mean, I haven’t seen a single trade ship from the south recently… As far as I know, news is spreading that something really bad has happened to Menewa. But much of that was considered nonsense. But I have my own suspicions. It’s not like the weather to have constant storms for the past few years, and usually, Menewa trade ships had come here quite often since the Battle of Nakaris, and many of the delegates seem fairly neutral toward us, even some were beginning to warm up to us, with members of the council marrying into the Menewa Royal Family.

Jeez… some people can really be strange at times. But once again, I’m back to doing… you know… *this.* As much as I like the quiet, it’s still very strange to me that this was even happening. Oh well, who am I to judge? It’s probably made up nonsense.

*Day 10*

The loud sound that came from outside scared me witless beyond belief.

It happened… it actually happened.

What I had witnessed was utterly terrifying. And… dear Gods, it’s coming this way, and it’s coming fast!

Everything is collapsing! The ships are filling, and I quickly made my way to a ship to witness the destruction of the island. It was… sinking? I watched as it began to sink. Everything that we had worked so hard for, was going under.

Did we truly angered the Gods? Or did the Gods betray us?... I’m starting to think about the latter. No prayers had saved any of us…

Truly cruel, malevolent beings.

*Day 3650*

The eruption of Mount Tavkaris years ago… The destruction of our civilization. Everything we worked hard for. Gone.

It has been long since I remembered myself as an elusive scholar in the halls of Letakova, peacefully writing records for the council to help with their daily affairs.  I was a nobody then. Life was perfect, peaceful, and quiet with little disturbances. But… I still remember them. The shakes. The tremors. They were fresh as day. The screams, rushing out, to find Mount Tavkaris turned into my worst nightmare.

And now, ten years later, I have become something I never wanted… A leader. I was captaining a ship of survivors, who had been trying day and night to accept a home for our people. The varying settlements on the coast saw us as invaders, and open fire upon our ships. These others were very similar to us as well. It didn’t matter to them however. But I could understand. Somewhat.

The catch came in, as one of the crewmembers lifted up a cage full of fish that had been scooping the seas for food. The sound of the wheels on the ship that propelled us forward, filled my ears. Some of the members even looked eager to raid another coastal settlement, as I saw them swinging their swords at dummies, and a few of them training. It was just yet another day like this, of course, before landing and raiding people for their food, supplies and riches.

The sea air and serenity would suddenly be interrupted by someone shouting, “Meshkatawis! Land’s ho!”

Quickly heading to the bow of the ship, I would glance out and notice that something was coming. Was that… Menewa? The land looked extremely familiar to me. Others were readying their raiding equipment as they were prepared to land and raid some Menewa Settlement. But something didn’t go right with me… I held my hand up and glanced at the others.

The sounds would go quiet, as we went through. All I could hear was the sound of our ships moving, and the ominous silence. We haven’t felt any sort of hit from their magical defense systems, ships appearing, or any form of warning indicating our arrival. It was all… dead silent.

The ships would go through the riverway of the Nirine Delta, and continue onward. But all we saw were collapsed structures, even some blocking a few riverways, statues damaged, but not a single person in sight. The sound of birds, crocodiles and hippos were the only thing we had heard, passing through the delta. I placed my hand into the water, scooping it to see if anything happened to the water.

Nothing… the pure form of the river remained. One of the refugees came up behind me and asked, “Meshkatawis, where is everyone?”

I stood there, dumbfounded myself. “I… do not know.” I answered heading up to the front.

The catastrophe of what our former enemies had suffered… It brought a sharp pain in my chest. I gave a soft breath as I looked. It was all so strange. I could have sworn we fought them over 40 years ago… could they have suffered the same fate we did? Perhaps the volcanic eruption made them suffer too? Perhaps… it could explain why all of a sudden, trade ships ceased entering our ports before our demise?

Only the glimmer of their former wonders, including their pyramids in the distance, could be seen. Even as we stepped off our ships, we saw no Menewa.

We would continue to walk and explore the area ourselves, until we came across a settlement that should have been their glorious capital, only to find there was indeed Menewa there, but they did not seem to recognize who we were. One waved at us.

“Why hello.” she said in the Menewa language. “Who are all of you? Where did you all come from?”

“What… what do you mean, who are we?” I asked. “We are the Avarati! We invaded your lands forty years back! You don’t recognize us? You haven’t even called us savages!”

The strange hospitality would have even gotten stranger as the woman spoke again with the other gathering, Menewa.

“Never… heard of you people before.” she said sincerely. Our scouts didn’t even report any ambushes or anything. They were also using… copper tools. For a moment, it was just a staring contest, curiosity, as if they had never seen our people before.

“Meshkatawis!” one of the refugees shouted. I would come over to the source, and discover that these so-called mana pools, which the stories said, had just a small seep of… liquid left. As soon as I scooped it up however, it would be nothing more than a dry pit. Could this be the source? Their mana pits running dry?... I know not.

However, I do know that we had indeed found our new home. The land was fertile, the people seem quite welcoming to our people oddly enough, and the land was fertile for crops to grow. I believe we may had found our new home after all.

*Day 3835*

It has been about a good six months since I wrote in this journal, and I had come across something… odd.

Deep in the deserts of Khu, I had discovered this strange Pyramid that seemed to have still been powered. No one was there however. No priest, not anything, but it was still going, everstill moving. Curious about it’s nature, I went toward it.

Now, the first thing that I had noticed, was that the Pyramid was made of some kind of… stone? It wasn’t marble, nor was it limestone. It was strange, since the other pyramids would have been sandy, and ancient, already worn, and the stones weathered. However, this pyramid still looks as fresh as a small tablet that I found on a chair. I read it carefully, and gazed at the very text.

Nonsense… I couldn’t even understand a damn word.

Bah. Regardless, I would begin to light a torch, and went toward the entryway, opening up the door. But as I stepped inside, there was… lighting. Raising my brow, I extinguished my torch and followed the pathway of lights. Was this some kind of residency or something? A crisp of cool air covered my face as I walked through, keeping it cool. Whatever sort of technology it was, it was definitely felt as if I was in the cool waves of the Crisenpece Sea.

Regardless, I kept moving… The glyphs on the wall made sense to me, up until I reached this one chamber, which contained some sort of strange… thing. It was powering something, but I couldn’t tell what. But it was in an advanced state of disrepair, and I felt it would be rather dangerous to approach it. The brightness got dim somewhat. I used some of the spark of magicka to re-kindle my torch back to life, and looked up at the murals. It appears that it was depicting what had happened or something. Was this some kind of monument that was dedicated to this… very catastrophe?

The fact of the matter is, this was beginning to give me chills, worse than sickness that I had seen on even the most lowliest of the citizens of my home. Regardless, I followed the portraits, until I saw a symbol on the wall. The sun. The way it was depicted, was not in the best light of what I had seen on other temples dedicated to this deity. I glanced at it carefully, not too sure what to make of it, and noticed it had dark tentacles, wrapping around people. Buildings, nature, cattle, what not. The mural started to get much more violent, until finally, I saw

*Day 3838*

I had no idea what happened. I just stopped writing for whatever reason. This particular image I couldn’t even remember what I just saw.

Apparently, from what I was told, I suddenly lost my memory, and was set back by a few thousand years. Fortunately though, it wasn’t a permanent side effect. I don’t know how I managed to survive that strange loss, but I remember… everything following my journey to the Pyramid.

When I slumped to the floor, dropping my journal, I would begin to walk out of the pyramid, and randomly went to sleep. The next day, I saw my journal, but I was unable to write an entry. Infact, my finger felt as if it forgot how to write, as I didn’t even know how to do it. Which was extremely strange, since throughout my life, that was all I ever did. One of the refugees, who was a close friend of mine named Hashtanar, managed to bring me back to our settlement in the Menewa Capital of Mennwakh. I was told to rest, and not think about anything for a few days… and well… here I am.

Could that same pyramid be the reason why the people of Mennwakh were acting strange? Acting more backwards than what they once were? If so, then why was I cured of it in a few days, whereas, they seem to be irreversibly affected? It was all so strange… To think such a mighty civilization would have figured it out. What caused this to happen? Arrogance? Lack of self-confidence? Perhaps… error? From what I remember of the Menewa, they were quite full of themselves. Prideful, and always saw that their civilization was the peak of perfection, with their isolationism being quite clear from their empire’s borders.

There were so many questions I had… too many to count. I held my head, and just sat there… quiet.

Don’t really know what to think.

*The Revival of Menewa*

The Menewa dies, as the Avarati rise,

Could their failure be their greed and pride?

For whatever decadence they may of had,

Their gods smite them for all they have.

But much like the reed stocks along the Nirine,

We shall not once again be denied.

I will not allow other oppressors to arise,

For the Avaratis’ rule of the Menewa, is divine.

That is why I declared myself Pharaoh,

And return Menewa’s pride, to be redeemed.

With the Arm of Dennu, we will smite Ansharadakh,

May her followers feel Dennu’s wrath.

Tabu’s light will brighten the lands of Khu,

Those who oppose us, are mere fools.

I, Meshkatawis III, will carry on my mother’s legacy,

For I now have her journal, rescued from heresy.

The hooves of the Avarati, shall rise again,

Reader beware, for if one worships Ansharadakh…

You better watch your back, or you shall suffer my wrath...