After observing the creature for a couple minutes it becomes apparent that it is gathering food from the tree, oblong fruit growing out of the higher branches. It isn't progressing quickly but it does have a steady, methodological approach to gaining the prizes.

The main group stops to take some deeper samples of the soil and rock, providing the creature ahead time to eat and move-on after Vashilli's suggestions. Zelpuz monitors the animal for a good half-hour before it begins lumbering casually along the ridge in a northern direction. He quickly informs the party of this development. Vashilli and Vanyra break off and move to a forward position to monitor the approach of the animal.

By stretching out her senses mentally Vanyra is able to find the creature with Zelpuz's guidance as it makes its way through the foliage. It is not moving in any urgency though it is headed in their general direction.

Vashilli mentions in a low voice, "Can you see it yet? We can likely dissuade it from coming close by making a lot of noise. From what Zelpuz has said it doesn't sound like it is looking for trouble."

"I can see it.  Let's try moving to the side a little so that we make some noise we don't draw it to the group by accident."

With Vanyra's guidance Vashilli and the Freyan head southward from the main group. After travelling a few hundred meters they begin making quite a racket, through yelling, banging of branches against trees and rustling leaves.

Zelpuz has maintained a safe distance from the creature and sees it halt its path, perking up its ears in a curious fashion. Like it did with the tree earlier, the creature stands on its hind legs and surveys the land ahead of it. It moves northward for another minute, stops again and surveys the area east again as it did before. When it continues it begins moving back in a westerly direction, away from the main group.

Zelpuz relays the information to Vashilli and Vanyra, providing coverage as it moves beyond the range the the Freyan's ESP ability. The pair shadow in a parallel path to provide a block in case the creature changes its mind.

"Hm, I think we're safe. But we may have to deal with it on the way back. We should alert base camp, and perhaps have someone keep an eye on it," Vashilli remarks.

Zelpuz radios back: "Should I keep following the creature?"

The base camp responds back that they'll task one of the drones to keep an eye on it for know so you can proceed with your mission. With the animal dealt with and the survey team finished with their sampling at this location the group continues south on the last leg of the day. Beyond a few birds, small reptiles and insects the team does not come across anything further creatures of note.

Now at 10km from base camp the survey team splits into two, one east and one west to take samples from each side of the ridge and also to get a better view of the valleys on each side. Zelpuz goes with the west team and Vanyra the east. Another hour is spent collecting some samples from the ground, setting up another comms balloon and surveying the general area.

The return trip is much faster due to the lack of sampling and surveying. Base camp confirms that the creature had moved down the west ridge line before getting too near the camp. An altogether productive day by the standards of the science team and they begin to process the samples, survey and drone data immediately; the results of which should be ready for the morning briefing tomorrow.

The night passes without event and most of the expedition team is busy processing the data compile through the day's outing. The following morning there is some excitement during the briefing, the reason for which becomes immediately apparent when the drone scans are reviewed. A digital map of the entire ridge is presented and two points along the eastern edge are highlighted, one approximately halfway and the second all the way at the southern tip. Dr. Vaanhaak and Grena Wills (electrical technician) explain the drone scan suggests artificial structures at these two points with both metallic and electromagnetic signals detected. As a result today's expedition focus will be on finding the closer of the two, about 30km from camp, and uncover the nature of this anomaly.

With the day's briefing completed the groups set about preparations with the expectation that they'll be moving out within the hour. The comm balloons are working well, allowing the away team to have an easily marked route for the first several hours. Once they reach the general target zone a more planned and deliberate search will commence.

Once they arrive at the target area Vanyra stays with the search team while Zelpuz, along with a pair of drones from basecamp and Yuu's drone fly ahead to pinpoint the location of the other oddity.

Working in pairs through a grid pattern, with Vanyra at the lead center and those with sensors to her flanks the search party manages to locate the odd source of the readings in just under an hour. If not for the bizarre rectangular shape they may have missed it completely as it was completely covered in moss, vines and partially buried, but the hand scanners verified this is it. The signals are extremely weak, barely above ambient for electromagnetic interference, but using some active scans the team is able to verify the presence of a considerable amount of metal.

The next couple hours are spent carefully removing the foliage on top, scrapping away the moss and digging out the bottom portion. After a considerable amount of increasingly painstaking work the crew reveals a tall cera-metal box. It is approximately 2m in height, and half a meter long and wide. There is a door or hatch on the one side with no visible hinges and small, thin slot to the right that is only a couple fingers high but only a width of a thin knife blade.

"Some kind of key mechanism no doubt. I've seen these before but the unfortunate reality is none of us have the key. We'll have to either jury-rig a bypass or figure out how to open this without the key," notes Grena with a dejected and puzzled look on her face.

"No doubt that'll require some careful planning. This is going to be some old tech, we don't even know the condition of the interior... could be quite deteriorated," adds Praxam Jyural, one of the grad student researchers.

"Indeed. Mayhap the best plan for now will be to uncover some of the surrounding ground, see if we can find what it is hooked up to. I can try to run some more detailed scans to ascertain if this lock is even functioning in the meantime," Grena concludes.

Vanyra starts looking intently at the ground around the box.

Meanwhile, several kilometers away to the south, Zelpuz and three drones have reached the end of the ridge. In a 270-degree cone around them the valley stretches out before them, bottoming out some 1000m below. The end of the ridge looks tiny in comparison to the vista before them but there is still considerable ground below them and nothing stands out as being an electrical source. After about 5 hours of deliberate and intense searching they do eventually locate a foliage covered cube, some 2m in each dimension, located about 100m from the southern edge along the east side. From the air it blends into the forest seamlessly, but up close it definitely stands out unnaturally. With the amount of time it took to find Zelpuz only has enough time to place the locator beacon and head back to meet up with the rest of the group.

By the time Zelpuz meets back up with Vanyra and the rest of the away team a good 2.5m of vegetation and soil have been removed around the metallic box. Grena has completed all the scans and analysis of the hatch and locking mechanism that she can, hoping it will be enough data for them to jury-rig some sort of lock pick back at base.

Vanyra was able to locate a buried conduit below the structure, dropping down a half-meter below the surface and then running north and south. The team suspects it is the power and control cabling that links whatever the box is to other structures. It is suggested that a re-tooling of a couple of the drones may allow them to follow these conduits through subterranean scans; it would be relatively slow work but a lot easier than trying to dig them up.

As daylight begins to wane the team makes their way back to the base camp.

That evening passes by rather uneventfully. Grena, Yuu and a few others thoroughly review what little information they have on the metallic cube in preparation for the next day's mission. Upon hearing of Yuu's transformation spell ability the mood lifts considerably as the though of trying to power hack a potentially dead electrical lock was not enticing, nor was the thought of blasting it open. Grena and Dr. Ulaar and Vaanhaak also explain what they know of Zhen Halan technology and electrical systems, and Dr. Rezam and Dr. Hyunzi related current Spacer technology which was ultimately derived from the time of the Ancients and revised by the Empire.

The rest of the camp is preparing the additional equipment for the way-camp; hammocks with screens, food stocks, a powerful radio, and basic excavation tools. To maintain maximum mobility the distant away team will be limited to only 6 members. The marking of the other object by Zelpuz and drones has done much to mitigate the lack of additional personnel, as has the experience with the nearer electrical box.

The next morning the large group sets off, a total of 16. The trail is well worn and the team makes good time to the first box. Six of the team break off to set-up the away camp, while another six begin making their way south, cutting path that follows the drone scans of the subterranean conduit as best they can.

Yuu, Grena, Dr. Rezam and a grad student begin their examination of the metal rectangle. The Ossylian mage begins with a small spell focusing just enough nether to transmute a 2cm section of the panel into a cotton-like cloth. After discussing the problem the previous night some sort of cloth was deemed the best option as it provided some measure of continued protection for the interior, while allowing access to the interior and without the possibility of contaminating the inside with other debris.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:58, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

A moment later the cerametal is transformed into a taught circle of cloth which is cut away with some effort, it matching the thickness of the panel at about 5mm. Using a small light Yuu and Grena take turns peering into the box with wiring and circuit boards confirming their initial assumptions as to its purpose. There appears no sign of power though.

Yuu next transforms a section of the panel nearest the cardlock which allows them to open the panel properly. The inside is surprisingly spartan, with only a few bundles of cables running from below into what the group thinks to be regulator mechanism and a small bank of batteries. Despite its age interior is spotless, likely due to the seals around the panel and all the edges; they certainly built this to last.

After performing some tests Yuu and Grena come up with a plan to recharge the batteries, hoping this will give them some basic functionality access and possibly information on what this is connected to. Dr. Rezam and the grad student agree to return to the base camp to prepare a solar charging unit while Yuu and Grena work out how exactly to make it work with this ancient technology.

Over the next two days the team confirms the batteries can still hold enough charge to provide a small electrical current through the lines. With this small current the team is able to re-configure the scanners on the drones to more accurately trace the lines of the conduits, allowing for much faster and accurate mapping. With this discovery the expedition forms two away teams, one to continue tracking the conduit to the far power relay station in the south, and the second to track the conduit back towards the base camp.

While working on the batteries Dr. Ulaar, Vaanhaak, Hyunzi and Rezam spend much time cataloging the exact components within the power relay station and comparing them with databases they have. Ultimately they estimate the device dates back to the century before the Golem War of the Zhen Halan Empire due to the lack of more advanced components that were developed over the course of that conflict. That would make this at least 350 years old.

Vanyra elects to stay with the away team and track south along the path presented by the slightly powered subterranean conduit. The faint electromagnetic signal provides just enough guidance to keep them on the path, eventually leading them to the southern power relay as they had expected and hoped. The cerametal box is in much the same condition as its northern companion, covered with vegetation that requires only a bit of muscle and dedication to remove. If this power relay is connected to another there must be an internal switch as the electrical current stops here. Aside from the power relay and the majestic 270 degree view of the valley beyond there are no signs of any structures, as Zelpuz had reported earlier.

Meanwhile far to the north Zelpuz is assisting the team working its way back towards camp while following the empower conduit. The path is easy enough to follow from the ground, the current being too weak for aerial tracking, until it abruptly ends approximately 500m from the cliff-face where the ridge meets the meadow upon which the base camp rests. Zelpuz recalls scouting this area with Vanyra upon their arrival and noting the steep descent to the valley floor below. Perplexed by the sudden loss the team returns to base camp that evening to review their path and findings to reorient their search the following morning.

The next day Zelpuz performs some closer aerial reconnaissance of the area, looking for natural pathways which may suggest the change in course of the conduit. The rest of the team is scanning the side nearest to the base camp to see if they can pickup anything there. After a few hours and some high and wide examinations the Mespah notes the extreme difference in angle of descent from the area of concern compared with the ridge in general. From afar it appears as though a piece of the ridge may have broken free or washed away at some point. There was certainly some concern in selecting the base camp location of mountain runoff so it seems plausible that it could have triggered a major landslide at some point, possibly severing the conduit and whatever it was connected to.

Zelpuz relays his observations to the team and they decide to get more detailed topographical scans of that area, as well as get some ground samples, which should reveal the history of the zone. This takes up the rest of the day and Zelpuz joins Ashari Neachen, the recently arrived Freelancer reinforcement, in patrol of the base perimeter and to engage in some idle conversation about flying. Ashari arrived only three days passed, a request from Dr. Rezam and Hyunzi to their home station in response to the rapid progress in finding the remnants of the old Imperial facility and the difficulty of maintaining a secure presence over such a large area. She arrived in a most unexpected fashion, having performed an orbital drop in her powered armor suit early one morning. While a native Spacer she's been a Freelancer for all of her adult life, inheriting the armor she pilots from her mother who received it from her father and so forth; the suit apparently can be traced back to around the end of the Golem Wars.

Several hours later Dr. Vaanhaak calls together the team who remained at the base camp and the near away team to discuss the results of the analysis from these most recent scans. It would appear as though some violent event, natural or otherwise, resulted in a landslide in that area. With the testimony Vanyra provided of her post-cognitive vision, and given the presumed age of the conduit this may have been caused by the destruction of a generator or a reactor overload. The Zhen Halan empire had perfected the nether reactors that are used in many places now and if such device was present and was destroyed in that violent incident there should be minute residual nether crystal fragments scattered about. To that end he asks Yuu to assist in developing a means to detect such faint traces of nether energy, for while they possess a lot of conventional technology and a firm grasp of nether reactors, a more intuitive and refined approach will be needed here.

Yuu had watched, captivated by the orbital entry of the power suit. He is quick to introduce himself to Ashari, and offer a quick tour of the camp. His enthusiasm to ask questions about the armour is obvious, and he hopes she will have time to answer during some down time.

Later, as the discussions unfold regarding the new discoveries and plans to proceed, Yuu listens in and adds his bits here and there where he can. It's all quite exciting stuff, and getting to share and utilize some of what he knows with all the adults is stimulating. When they ask him to assist with the nether problem, Yuu is elated, and only too happy to help.

Thinking it through, he suggests a spell, as it would give him some flexibility beyond a mechanical device. Although a device could be wired together, creatiing the features would be time consuming, when his talents with spells would get the team the answers they need. He'll get to work on it once the briefing wraps up.

Meanwhile far to the south the away team is searching the area around the power relay. After some time Vanyra announces to the team that there appears to be a shaft of sorts under the hillock adjacent to the power relay. After a quick explanation of how she knows this, which most of them do not understand, they do conduct a few scan using ground penetrating radar and some near-surface ground sampling. A Few hours later, with light waning, the results come back conclusively supporting Vanyra's claim. The nature of the cavern is unknown, but given the power relays and the presence of the overgrown road, it is logical to assume this will be a lift shaft of sorts. Bolstered by their find the team radios back the finding to base and heads back to the forward camp with renewed vigor to pass the night.

That evening, Vanyra will pull Zelpuz and Yuu aside.

She relates a story that she had a vision of the past in the complex they are looking for.  She was inside the complex as it was evacuated with alarms going off.  They claimed to have found something major in this complex, but evacuated it in the middle of the night in a rush.  They then left through the worldgate, apparently abandoning the base.  She believes that the elevator shaft she found today is the one she remembered evacuating from, but with the upper few meters caved in.

Zelpuz listens intently. "That sounds interesting, any idea why they were leaving so quickly?" He rubs his chin. "And can you explain your visions to us? You seem to have quite accurate visions of the past, and sometimes the future. Are they the same? And is the past more accurate than the future since it can still change?"

"I don't think the people there even knew why they were forced to leave.  They woke me up in the middle of the night and we abandoned the world."
Vanyra pauses and shrugs, "I still don't really understand it.  I can see into the past on purpose better, it still isn't easy all the time.  I found the old roads around here by looking back.  Future dreams just happen whenever they want to."

"How many people did you see?" Yuu asks.