Leandro's Travels - Beyond the Waves

Leandro's Travels - Beyond the Waves is a diary and journal of an amateur eponymous explorer, discovered upon the isle of Low Pakulo.

## Description

After travelling to South Pakulo to investigate recent occurrences that damaged a temporary port on the south edge of the isle, an adventuring party from Amber Run travelled to Low Pakulo wherein they discovered Leandro's tent, seemingly abandoned months prior. Contained within were all of Leandro's belongings, including the journal itself.

## Reading

### Completed by Arnica

[...*I've always found myself drawn to the bold and wonderful, beyond the scope of what the Principal Races could surely achieve. That is not to say that ingenuity and determination do not exist - the spirit of victory as a gift from the Battlemistress extends to more than just combat - and I've seen many a wonder of such a kind too achieved by the collaborative efforts of the people, but by comparison the breadth of nature is nigh incomparable. Although they arose a little before my lifetime, the majesty of the Perianths and the Corrogos cannot be overstated, and unlike the bubbling crags created by volcanic activity rippling through the waves, the density of flora and fauna instead echoes of an existence far longer. I cannot see how even the mightiest of mortals wielding primal magic could manage such an act, a testimony to the might of the natural world and the forces moving within it once more*...]

[...*naturally, once I was able, I made a point of travelling to as many of these wonders as I could. I have tried to strike a piton into the base of Ulding's Keep to instead find that even the hardiest of steel fails to pierce the stone. I have visited the sacred grove of Caihrnn in the depths of Renia Covert, treasured and protected by the Tyndians and breathed an air so very fresh. Before arriving on Low Pakulo, I spent time on the isle of Corrogo, where many have come to gather to bask in the warmth of the volcanoes at its heart, and heard the preaching amongst the embers. And yet, my mind now settles upon what I will find upon this isle, the fishing skiff once owned by my father carrying me far to reach its banks*...]

[...*the stone is igneous, a basalt-like structure, albeit formed differently from the vesicular and porous forms more commonly formed with rapid cooling. No, instead this vast monolith is solid, with large crystal structures, as if formed over a very long period of time with gradual cooling. As a result it is incredibly dense, though does give way beneath a pick - I found a few left by a prior excavation. The tunnel, partially collapsed, led deep beneath the isle, winding down the side of the stone pillar, and in a few cases ventured inwards. I am uncertain what they found, but their journeys failed to descend particularly deep, and the examination of the inner portions excavated were likewise identical - it seems that the monolith is uniform internally as it is externally. Beyond these efforts, I have found no signs of any other working on the surface, having paced back and forth over its length many times over. No chip or scratch of chisel or shovel, simply the gentle erosion of wind and sand and wave, and even then the density of the stone seems resilient to that too*...]

[...*I've been away from the chaos of Viridell for a month and a half now. The forest on the isle contains naught in the way of food, no fruit grows, no vine or shrub or tree yielding what is so readily offered by the surrounding isles. But the waves still yield a bounty, and my father's skiff finds a common use once more. There are others on this isle, druids I'd posit, but I've never seem them fishing, nor do they leave the boundaries of the forest. Nature provides somehow, I suppose. And despite the isolation, I find myself more at peace than ever before. I have attuned to myself, the limitations of its needs, the simplicity of its being, and its fleetingness in the grand scale of the wider world. The relinquishment of the burdens has granted new energy, new vigour, I am liberated*...]

[...*to say I am alone is a misnomer in truth, for I am surrounded in my dreams by spirits. The essence of the world around, that of the clouds above, the first rays of light in the morning, the last in the evening. The essence of the very rock that I sleep upon, the waves that lap at its edges, the warmth of the red sands and the presence of the few shrubs hardy enough to grow within them, the ashen breath of the volcanoes, the tension in the air before a storm rolls past. I do not speak their tongue, but they are a comfort nonetheless when their voices call from afar, as if they have lost their way - or perhaps it is us that have lost them?*...]

[...*out of curiosity, I visited the southern coast of the isle today, where the waters between it and South Pakulo are choked full of coral reefs and the wreckage of what the Principal Races have wrought. The Triumvirate, the Thrice-Damned, what they have left is already being claimed by the waters, wood giving way to the vibrancy of the world around them. Naught will remain in time, a forgotten memory of something, however pleasant or elsewise it may have been, cast aside. Each day I find greater resolve in these beliefs, and embrace what will come, portended by the signs, but I still have questions. I will seek out the Redeemed and will it find a fleeting rebirth as Disciple, as Adherent*...]