Baron Restali,
While I have only been on Earth for a few days, I can already say that the information about both Serenity and Earth seems to be accurate yet incomplete. The Tutorial took seven months, far longer than any world I’ve heard of; part of this length seems to be that the invasions did not cause the usual level of significant death; there seem to have been a higher than normal amount of odd invasions; while some of these were extremely dangerous, and some were even underwater, many appear to have been individuals who somehow obtained Invasion Crystals. This may be connected to the extreme number of invasion portals allowed for this planet.
Only 291 of the 512 invasion portals have documentation I have been able to locate. This is obviously far more than normal for a non-Imperial world and indicates the level of survival, the populace’s obsession with writing things down, and how completely uncontrolled and available the information is. I will send the report via the Messengers’ Guild once I am to a place that has one; it is far too much information to send any other way.
The top three invasions of note are a Hegemon Worm Plague, an item that killed silently in an area around it, even after the portal was closed, and possibly an area that became impassable with no outward sign. The last is all rumors, but I included it because of the similarity to the weapon that was employed on Dsaava to empty it of people before the Kyit attacked.
The other two are interesting for other reasons. Hegemon Worms are known, but the only known solution has been to kill the infected, as anything that drove the worms out was all too likely to kill in any case. This planet derived a nonmagical solution, though it comes with a large number of warnings to administer the counteragent only in a setting with appropriate healers. It appears to be something that may be worth supplying to troops if they are to travel in potentially infested areas; obviously this will require additional research but I can see the potential.
The invisible death item seems nothing more than a damaged sword, but it fills the air with a localized sickness that the locals call “radiation,” as if it were the only thing that spreads that way. I do not understand their explanations, but I have attached a great deal of background information, including other case files that appear to include its use as a weapon of planetary war, to the packet I will send as soon as I have the chance.
These are not the only invasions I found noteworthy; details on others, including that of an individual that seems to have called down an oversized lightning storm at only Tier Five, are in the packet. You will likely require a translation item to read it, as I did not take the time to re-copy it; you will understand why when you see it.
As for Serenity himself, he is noteworthy partly in how large a role he did play in closing the portals, and is possibly even more noteworthy in how he vanished from attention soon thereafter. I do not understand his goal; none of his actions seem to aid him in gaining control of the planet, yet that is clearly his goal. I have obtained two different versions of his symbol - one with two planets and one with four - and in both cases, one of the worlds clearly depicts the land of this world as the inhabitants believe it to be. The change in symbol is unexplained.
I have also made no progress on what larger organization he belongs to or what the rank “Friend” means. The meaning in English appears to be close to the meaning in Bridge, which implies that he is a covert operative of some sort, meant to work by winning over people through his actions and personality, yet that does not seem to suit him at all well; in person, he is awkward, withdrawn, and a little abrupt. I can only assume that he is playing a deep game and playing it well. His style seems to play very well here, which implies deep study of the locals.
His origins are a mystery, because of how mysterious they aren’t. His cover story is well-known. He was born Thomas Rothmer, son of General Alexander “Lex” Rothmer and Ambassador Bethany Rothmer. They seem to have earned those titles as thoroughly as any in the Empire, though they obviously do not have matching Tiers. They are not at all people I would choose to deceive, so it seems likely that the substitution was with their knowledge.
It seems to have occurred at the beginning of the Tutorial; the stories from that tutorial are unbelievable and the first time Serenity surfaces afterwards he is in his half-dragon shape. He is definitely a shapeshifter, though all of the shapes appear to share the same face. It is remotely possible that this is a Skill he earned in the Tutorial and there was no substitution, but I have never heard of a Tier One shapeshifting Skill of such power.
Of note, he has used his shapeshifting to appear to be two people; more details on that will be in the section of my report labeled “The A’Atla Incident.” A’Atla may explain the extreme variety of bloodlines present on this planet; it is obvious that this was once a civilized world, though it clearly predates the knowledge of the natives. Given the timing, I suspect the Terror War that nearly destroyed the Empire also struck here, but with far worse results; a fall to savagery and loss of all magic ensued.
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There are signs that a limited amount of low-Tier magic was preserved, despite repeated clear suppression by the ruling class. The general population believes magic survives only in distorted stories, though they clearly speak of facts; too much about them is true to believe anything else. That is not the only place they survive, however; Serenity’s wife and father-in-law are both clearly Talented, though I cannot say what the Talents are. Most importantly, however, they are both trained.
Serenity’s family offers a different challenge, however, and his name is World Shaman Senkovar Et’Tart. The resemblance is even closer than I thought. I was able to find some paintings of General Alexander as a young man, and he appears similar enough to the Shaman that they could be brothers. This is one of many factors that make me wonder if the truth is a shapeshifting Skill rather than a substitution.
Shaman Senkovar has accepted it enough to declare their relationship a Clan matter to discourage me from probing too far. In accordance with the Suratiz Treaty, I have not pushed farther than is acceptable. Please inform me if this is a matter which warrants greater risk.
Is there any information on which bloodline is common on Suratiz? I do not recall seeing anyone else with horns like Serenity and the World Shaman, but that simply means the line is rare or does not awaken easily. Perhaps the tale of a bloodline is less farfetched than I thought, but I still cannot believe it could be so strongly awoken in a newcomer to the Voice when an elder like the World Shaman cannot awaken his own.
As you can tell, I cannot decide what to believe about Serenity. He is a paradox. Everything points to him simply being another native who entered the Tutorial and came out different. His change is too large, however. People talk of him teaching both fighting and magic. That is not something I would expect from even a mid-Tier world before integration and Earth was Tier Zero.
Earth itself is a paradox, and this time I do not mean its past. Earth has moved from Tier Zero to Tier Five in a little over four years. This is clear evidence of prior Tier loss, but it is too great for that. If the population was enough to Tier it up so much, why was it only Tier Zero? The population today is mostly Tier Two, which is fast but not incredibly so for a new world, but that means Tier Zero population should have enabled the planet to be Tier Two or Three.
Since Senkovar Et’Tart is a World Shaman, I asked him about that. His answer was that the planet chose to stay at a lower Tier. He then said that “his apprentice” may have helped it heal. I do not know who he means, but I suspect it may be Serenity. He would not explain further and as I feared it would touch on the matter he already declared a Clan matter, I did not pursue the question.
He did say one ominous thing, however. He stated that he was able to determine the World-Eaters’ path through space and somehow they are going to skip halfway across the sector to attack Earth. I can not tell if that is the full truth, if something has attracted them, or if the World Shaman simply wants an excuse to spend more time on this strange planet with his possible relatives.
I have requested a trip to A’Atla. We will leave in the morning. I plan to examine the ship for the mark of the Claw or the Fighting Knife. There almost has to be one or the other if it survived the Terror War. Their myth speaks of a land of plenty and wonder that sank beneath the waves due to the actions of gods.
All know there is no God save the Emperor.
I can only guess that it speaks of the war. There certainly were enough Powers who fought to give people who never rose above Tier Zero the misapprehension that powerfully incomprehensible forces were to blame. The history of trade sounds rather like the Fighting Knife, though the implications of conquest in some of the stories make me wonder.
Speaking of the Fighting Knife, their inheritor has somehow managed to establish a presence on Earth. It is an odd arrangement; instead of killing the corrupted, they capture them and treat them somehow. I have not been able to determine the cost, but it appears to be significant, as they are kept for significant periods of time before they are treated.
Beyond the paradox of the planet’s Tier, Earth ought to be an easy target; it is politically shattered and the factions hate each other; minor factions envy the major ones. The usual tactics for that situation seem like they should work, but I am not certain that the usual incentives will apply.
I have attached a compilation of commonly available material goods and several descriptions of daily life that are horrifying in their smug peacefulness. In much of the world, they do not expect to die of violence - in fact, there are large portions of the population that are so insulated they never even see anything beyond a simple fist fight!
The paper the message is on is called “printer paper” and it is commonly available and cheap. The reason I was able to compile so much information for so little cost - all of this cost me less than three Etherium! - is that it is not written by hand but by a nonmagical enchanted item called a “printer” that apparently requires only “printer paper” to work.
Despite its nonmagical nature, Serenity’s assistant Janice assured me that profanity makes it more reliable. I suspect that she is making a joke at my expense, but it is true that after she started swearing at it, it started working more reliably.
Lord Cymryn