For about a year now there's been a dark shape occluding some of the stars. A few days ago it fell to earth, bouncing off the mountains and Oleanvir, being deflected by New Celest's shields, skipping over the Inner Sea, and landing here in the Grey Moors. We found on it a scrap of an extremely resilient cloth with smudged and scorched writing in Divine, which I transcribe here:

UN**OWN **OMALY E*********D
LO** T**CK OF N****I
WAY B*CK DI****TED
SE*D*NG HOM*** ***CONS
CA**OT RI*K ***ENCE
N**DS TO *E AC**VA**D

We believe the writing would have read, if it were in full:

UNKNOWN ANOMALY ENCOUNTERED
LOST TRACK OF NOHAJI
WAY BACK DISTORTED/DISRUPTED (both fit)
SENDING HOMING BEACONS
CANNOT RISK ESSENCE
NEEDS TO BE ACTIVATED

The beacon itself is of a complex and highly symmetrical polyhedral shape, almost spherical, which bears some superficial resemblance to a combination of the icosahedron and dodecahedron of the Continuum, though with additional interposed faces, for a total of 62. However, Ayisdra observes that despite this similarity of appearance he does not believe it to be related to the Continuum or its denizens.

We've found we could power it up with about thirty essence (the exact amount is unknown since many people were adding it, some shrouded, and it seemed like maybe the first time took a lot more), plus the power native to the person who touches it once it is full. Then it sends this beam of light into the sky for a while, though it doesn't last forever; after a day or so, it begins to flicker and eventually dies out and needs to be powered up the same way again. We cannot add more essence (or anything else) while it's running. As of this writing we've charged it three times.

So we speculate that an Elder who had previously been in the Basin of Life, perhaps Darvellan (who was known to have been tracking Nohaji and who some thought might have built something with materials and designs like this beacon), was tracking, hunting, or being hunted by Nohaji, and then lost track and sent out many beacons to find a way back here, and could not power them up using their own essence, as that would be too risky, perhaps exposing them in their hiding, so hoped we would power it. One of these beacons happened to find the Basin of Life.

It is speculated, including by a scholar who visited to observe it, that if the beacon took a while to get here, so, too, might whoever or whatever it calls to. But we might have to keep powering the beacon up for that to happen.

There was discussion of moving it, perhaps to near the Transcendental Fulcrux since it has powers that align with the beacon's purpose. However, there was also concern that it might not be wise to put something unknown that near to the Seals. In any case, no method of moving it at all has been discovered; while it hovers above the ground it remains firmly immobile there.

Xiran also determined conclusively that whatever it is, it does not like rice.

- Lendren Starfall



Penned by my hand on the 4th of Avechary, in the year 654 CE.