A book lies on the ground, lying in a puddle in a dim cave. It is a well-used notebook, lined with grid paper and neatly bound. The first half of the notebook is filled with research notes, tables of data, and observation logs, but the second half is a journal.
Day 1
It seems it would be prudent to start keeping track of things now that we’re all stuck down here. Much has happened. We finally reached the objective of my dispatch to Theanill as a researcher, yet we were brought much closer to it than we thought possible…
The only way I can even keep track of time down here is with my pocket watch; the Center was quite strict with research funding, but they gave us this, at least. It seems to be running slightly slow, but maybe it’s just my imagination. We have enough to worry about as it is.
Day 3
We encountered the first of the creatures which Tzimmes, our guide, was worried about the first time we entered this place.
A black cyst bulged from the wall and burst, bringing forth a strange dog-like creature that seemed to be made of the same flesh as the caves, but infected with some sort of black substance. It was not difficult to dispatch, but the corpse was absorbed back into the floor before I had a chance to examine it.
Day 4
According to the map that Penumbra Mark has been drawing, we should have looped back on a tunnel we have already traveled today, but the old passage was nowhere to be seen. He says it was merely an inaccurate drawing, but I fear the worst, that these caves are yet still alive—and yet still move.
Doubtless to say my colleagues at the Biomancy Center (Ms. Wynn’s penchant for fieldwork comes to mind) would have killed to have seen something like this in person, but it does not improve our prospects of ever getting out of here… if such a thing was ever even possible in the first place.
Day 14
Our rations are running desperately low. We were lucky enough to have restocked before making our ill-fated journey, but we were not expecting to make such a… lengthy expedition.
Day 18
It turns out the flesh of this place is edible. Mark is a braver soul than I will ever be.
The flavor defies comparison, although my best approximation is… Lindwurm grubs? Tender, but not too gamey. Food and water should not be an issue now, but our stocks of spices have become much more important.
Day 27
Damn it all. We’re out of pepper. I fear morale will deteriorate soon.
My watch has also stopped working, which is quite strange. The embedded mana crystal should have kept it functioning in any environment save for an antimagic zone. This will have a negative effect on my bookkeeping.
Day ??
We found a skeleton of a humanoid. The bone structure implies it was likely an adult human. Perhaps this is Mr. “Threadbare,” whose journal we were following. If this is the case, it seems he did not find a way out in the end.
The bones were picked clean. This place has been relatively safe for us, so far, but maybe that will only hold as long as we are living? I shudder to think of the alternative.
Day ??
The beasts are appearing in greater numbers. We are holding them off, but I fear that the deeper we delve (if we are even getting any deeper), they will only become more numerous.
Day ??
We were too lax. We entered the largest chamber we have seen yet, a place where the walls seemed to move and pulse more frequently than anywhere else… and the only opening closed behind us. The only thing in this chamber to note is a black pool of some kind of liquid in the very center. I believe our main concern will be cutting, burning, or otherwise finding a way out of here.
Day ??
It’s no use. The walls, the floors… they regenerate as quickly as we cut through them. Worse yet, this chamber also seems to be shrinking. I have calculated that we will have roughly seventy-two hours before the chamber shrinks to contain only the black pool at its center, assuming a linear relationship.
Day ??
The walls are closing in. It is moving even faster than I had calculated.
Day ??
It appears we are out of options. We have decided…
Some more text follows, but the paper is waterlogged, and the ink is unreadable.