It did not go unnnoticed when, several months back, Rak'ia and Etil'ck
Arthar'rt were spotted leaving the Overcity of Hallifax in what seemed
to be a fair hurry. Few offered them much of an eye when they passed
through Magnagora, and fewer still batted an eye when they appeared lost
in the Glomdoring, despite Rak'ia's huffing in anger. Still, it had not
missed the attention of Phoebus, Archmage of the Aeromancers, nor
Ileein, the Execumatrix of the Matrix Research Institute, who began
asking what Rak'ia would come to deem 'excessive inquiries'. Little
could they discover, however, for everyone, including their elder cousin
Aduathic Arthar'rt, a Senior Researcher with the Emerald Research
Project, was terribly tight-lipped, offering only that they were on
their way to speak with the Mesa Compound in the Skarch over a mutual
trade arrangement. Finding the Mesa under attack by the Nomad Camp, the
Arthar'rt siblings found themselves forced to take action to resolve
what they only referred to as 'a minor problem in the mountains'.

The few visitors from Hallifax that came to the Arthar'rt Observatory
noticed a cluster of lucidian mercenaries known as the Protectorate
Guardians (who both the Arthar'rts and the Mesa would claim the other
hired) around Etil'ck's lab, where contruction began on a large
crystalline construct. When asked its purpose, the more mechanical of
the Arthar'rts explained that "The Arthar'rt DIV (Death-Inducing
Vehicle) was the optimum in transport protection, with eight
crystal-arrays on each side capable of out-putting searing beams of
energy at anything the operator has marked as threatening. Charged with
sunlight, its all-terrain hover features enabled it the ability to
traverse the mountain routes without problem." Despite Etil'ck's
enthusiasm regarding it, however, his project would not come to fruition
- mid-way through Dioni, a large flash of light erupted from the upper
levels of the Arthar'rt Observatory, followed by sounds of an explosion.
Rushing to discern the problem, Hallifax deduced the same thing Rak'ia
and Etil'ck had - the Protectorate Guardians had likely sabotaged the
machine.

Etil'ck, now explaining the caravans had been attacked by giant, mobile
plants, was shocked to hear no one else had been aware of them - and so
intended to investigate. Ridley, a Junior Fellow with the Institute, was
supposed to accompany him - but left without him. Still, Etil'ck would
not be dissuaded, and departed. Deep into the Southern Mountains,
Etil'ck found himself surrounded, on both sides, by great morasses of
aggressive vines. Quickly erecting a field, he was managed to hold them
off from himself, however, so surrounded, he had no where to go. When
Ridley and Execumatrix Ileein became aware of his entrapment, they
warned Rak'ia, who rushed to rescue her brother. Herself captured, it
became Hallifax's mission to rescue them - and so they did. Yet as they
cut through the plants to rescue the Arthar'rt siblings, they were
unaware of the plants' continued growth, covering much of the Southern
Mountains and well into the Teeth. As the siblings returned home,
Hallifax became aware of another individual trapped in the morass of
vines - a trill, by the name of Zaebron Darkfeather, the caravan driver
for the trade route that was in need of protecting.

It didn't take much for Hallifax to realize Zaebron was unwell - his
screams of horror shifted wildly to demands for 'it', even accusing
Ridley of 'holding out' on him. Between pleading sobs and terrified
cries, Zaebron claimed 'it wasn't supposed to be real', and that 'they
said I just needed to lie'. With a few brief inquiries, Hallifax came to
learn that he was addicted to a narcotic substance known as "starchum"
that, as explained by Doctor Creshok zi'Prouep of the University of
Cosmic Understanding, was extremely dangerous for trills, who alone
suffered its effects. Going on, Doctor zi'Prouep explained the
withdrawals included hallucinations and poor differentiation between
reality and fantasy and that, though Zaebron may never again take
starchum, the effects of the withdrawal are long-lasting and, without
the narcotic, he would be essentially non-functioning.

Curious as to the ongoings, Count Estwald of Magnagora came out into the
mountains and cut through the plants himself, discovering the confused
Zaebron after he had ran away from Hallifax. Sobbing and demanding the
drug starchum, the delusional trill then began to question the reality
of his situation. Indeed, even as Pesukaru of New Celest and others
began arriving, he seemed unable to differentiate who, and what, was
really there, and what was nothing more than a lie crafted by his own
mind, much as the horrific plants he had lied about had been. In time,
the Protectorate Guardians themselves arrived, attempting to claim
Zaebron for themselves. Unwilling to allow it to happen, Hallifax and a
few members of the Glomdoring and Magnagora attacked the Guardians.
Zaebron Darkfeather himself disappeared in the ensuing chaos.

A flash of light erupted in the Teeth, followed by the sounds of crying
and the evacuation of much of the Protectorate's forces. It didn't take
much for people to realize the lucidian mercenaries were, in fact,
gnomes and, as some suspected, a faction of the criminal faction known
only as the Gnafia. Escaping with stolen goods from the Village of
Talthos, a small group of the Protectorate were seen escorting a gnome
through the Aetherplex. Hoping to waylay their escape, the Starhopper
and her captain, Girda Starhopper, engaged, however they were quickly
met by several Gnafia ships, including the infamous Bondshredder. Unable
to stop them, Girda and her crew could only watch as the ships escaped
with the stolen goods.

Hunting down Zaebron Darkfeather and, plying his sorry state with
alcohol, the group lead by Professor Ileein Shevat gained crucial clues,
guiding them to Frosticia. There they engaged the Protectorate Guardians
and, with the help of Xenthos of the Glomdoring, cut through the forces
and pushed back the mastermind of the horrible affair: Max Coldsteel.
Having discovered Talthos through tracing the harmonic energies the
village's domes were emitting, the gnome and his men set about taking
advantage of their seclusion and ignorance of the world. Escaping as his
protective field fell, Max Coldsteel abandoned his base, disappearing
into the depths of Aetherspace in his ship.

Amongst the belongings of a cache of goods within Coldsteel's hideout,
those gathered found three things: a crystal seed, used to grow crystals
in Talthos, a resonator, also used to grow crystals, and five thousand
units of raw gem commodities, stolen from the village. Quick on his
feet, Count Estwald of Magnagora quickly pilfered the gems, while
Xenthos claimed the resonator and seed. Making his escape, Estwald and
his few fellows from Magnagora disappeared immediately, leaving many
confused as to what occurred.

Returning to the Basin of Life, the seed and resonator were given to
Zaebron to be returned to his home - and, in exchange, he lead them to
the village of Talthos. Piecing events together, it became evident that
the Gnafia had discovered Talthos and engineered a racketeering scheme
to extort gems from the village. After bribing Zaebron Darkfeather and
getting him hooked on starchum, they used him as a frontman and directed
him to claim there were monsters along the supply route from Talthos to
the Basin of Life. Talthos then hired the Protectorate (who were Gnafia
gnomes in lucidian disguise) to guard the supply train in return for a
cut of the gems. As the Protectorate began demanding a greater and
greater cut of the gems, the Arthar'rt Observatory and the Mesa Compound
began becoming concerned as they saw their gem supplies dwindling. When
they began an investigation, the Gnafia released actual monsters and
sabotaged the Observatory's work. Perhaps the Gnafia would have gotten
away with it all if it wasn't for the perseverance of the people of the
Basin.

Talthos became displeased with their current arrangements with the
Arthar'rt Observatory and the Mesa Compound, who had concealed the
return of the nigh-mythical city of Hallifax. The village to become
independent and open themselves to outside contracts with a city or
commune who could protect them and bring them into modern times.

And so, in the grand play for power and control of the Basin of Life,
another village has entered the game - a peaceful and reclusive people,
the Talthosians bear a heritage of technological advancement from their
former purpose as a production facility of the city of Hallifax, where
its primary dome still grows a broad variety of gemstones.

Penned by My hand on the 23rd of Avechary, in the year 279 CE.