SonOfTheSaviour

The Turtle Knight sat in the smoke filled room of the Adrian tavern in the early hours of the morning, without the slightest movement or sound he read the entirety of Callahan's missive thoroughly, twice, though the darkened steel mask of his helmet would hide any reaction he might make. He placed the missive upon the nearest empty spot on his desk, besides all the others, before lighting his 17 blunt of the day.

The Turtle Knight sat alone, upon a cushioned seat deep within the grand Euler tent, surrounded by smoke, scrolls and papers filled with nothing but incomprehensible scrawls, maddened ramblings and what appear to be city plans. He took another hit from the turtle bong before another packet of moonflower seeds found a way through the holes of his seemingly unremovable helmet and into his mouth, surely this will give him the creative edge for the great task set before him, or perhaps, at the very least the shadow people will have something useful to say this time.

The Turtle Knight lay fully reclined in his his brand new FullyReclinableTM bought with hard earned Eulerbux, sipping on a fresh batch of Euler MAX, preparing to MAX out the day ahead, or possibly the next day. With an Eulersburg Wild Rue blunt; his favourite; firmly rammed in the lower hole of his helmet and suspicious lines of powder laying on the nearby table. The fourth tenet was his favourite.

Wow so cool and awesome what a cool and awesome build i can't believe anything evil and/or nefarious would ever happen at such a happy and wholesome place like DISTRUGESTADT. It just sounds like such a cool and fun and awesome place wow so awesome and what a cool build I love DISTRUGESTADT...

Jan Euler sips on his Euler Max, indulging in his brother's newest culinary achievement in the comfort of the Euler gardens, while observing the Yellow Berets returning from yet another successful training skirmish. "It's a good day to be Euler".

Excavations in the Caverns of Velec: A Report Brave Adrian explorers descend into the depths beneath the town of Velec. A report into the recent discovery and subsequent excavation of caverns beneath the Adrian town of Velec. 14th of Horen’s Calling 1912 A brief introduction On the evening of the 13th of Horen’s Calling 1912, the Adrian town of Velec was hit by a sudden and unexpected earthquake, citizens and visitors felt the ground shake beneath their feet, some looking for any shelter they could find from falling objects while others trying to secure their most valuable possessions from falling off shelves and tables. The quake ended almost as suddenly and quickly as it had struck, after the shock of the populace had passed and assessment of damages conducted, it was concluded that only minor damage was done. However, the most serious of damages turned out to be the collapse of a small section of wall in the partially constructed tavern basement. The collapse revealed a small, natural cave tunnel. An expedition team was swiftly assembled and descended into the cave, being met by an almost completely vertical shaft of unknown depth shortly after entering the tunnel. A seemingly stable rock shelf was spotted roughly 40 feet down the shaft, along with a further tunnel, the team descended via rope ladder and eventually found themselves within a small chamber; in this report recorded as chamber 1; with no visible exit. In the corner of the cavern a possible further tunnel was identified, albeit completely collapsed, while in the corner at the lowest part of the cavern, under a thin layer of rubble; likely from the recent quake; animal bones were identified, however these shall be discussed later in the report. A wall on the far side of the cave was found to consist of a weaker and more brittle rock than the rest of the cavern, the excavation team quickly took it down to reveal another, larger cavern; in this report recorded as chamber 2; as well as a spider-like beast that threw itself at the team, but was swiftly dispatched by the skilled greycloak guardsmen. The second cavern contained at least three collapsed tunnels, although whether these collapsed during the recent quake or a time before that is unknown. Most curiously, a number of human skeletal remains were identified, one male, one female, one unknown and one probable male child, along with various pottery fragments, however these will be discussed further in the report. Recovered Pottery Along with skeletal remains, chamber 2 of the cavern system also included a vast amount of fragmented pottery. The burials of the adult male and female included the most pottery recovered, although mostly small fragments, with a couple medium fragments still aligned roughly in the positions where the pots would have been placed during burial, however all undecorated. The pottery collection near the unidentified remains was rather small, both in size and amount, however the sherds seem to share the same style as those of the other adult burials. Pottery recovered from the vicinity of the child remains was in significantly better state than from the other burials. Two whole pots with only minimal damage have been recovered, along with various large fragments that could be used to reconstruct entire vessels. This pottery appears much more stylised and higher quality than that of the adult burials, however the implications of this I will share further on in the report. Illustration of recovered pottery as reconstructed by Jan Euler. Skeletal Remains The excavations yielded a number of skeletal remains. Within chamber 1, the disarticulated remains of an animal was recovered, the skull was left largely intact which allowed us to identify the animal as an ordinary goat, native to the region. The majority of the bones were covered in marks and scratches typically attributed to the gnawing of predatory animals, despite this they were recovered in generally good preservation. This, along with the lack of any other recovered material from chamber 1, leads me to believe that the remains are likely contemporary, and the goat was dragged and feasted upon by predatory animals or beasts in relatively recent times, no more than 10 years. The skeletal remains identified in chamber 2 however are much more interesting. Based on the skeletal morphology, all the individuals; save the unidentified remains; are undeniably human. The size of the bones suggests they were slightly shorter than the average human today, but also quite a bit stronger, their bones are larger and would have supported a much more rugged and active lifestyle. Fortunately the mandibles of the adult male and female individuals were largely intact with at least 50% of teeth still in their place, based on the wear pattern of the teeth I suspect both these individuals were in their late 30s to early 40s at the time of death, however the cause of their untimely demise is difficult to tell through the surviving skeletal remains alone. Both the identified adults as well as the unidentified individual were buried in seemingly natural dips around the edges of the cave, likely out of convenience, and then covered in a layer of rocks. The skeletal remains of the child however are a vast contrast to the previous burials, firstly the remains are arguably in slightly better condition than those of the burials, the size and level of fusion of the bones as well as the dental wear suggest the child was 10 to 12 years old at the time of death. The position of the remains is also quite interesting, located at the highest point in the centre of the cavern, the alignment of the remains is highly unnatural compared to both modern standards and the previous burials, and most interestingly, both the child’s patellas as well as the proximal tibia of the left leg were almost completely crushed. Considering the good preservation of the rest of the skeleton as well as the grave goods around, I believe it is possible this damage was done shortly after, or even before the death of the individual, quite possibly for some form of ritual purpose. Discussion and recommendation Despite the wealth of information gained from the archaeological evidence recovered, we are left with much to interpret. The recovered pottery from the adult burials is rather simple and of quite primitive design, unseen in Almaris. The significant increase in quality between the adult burial grave goods and the pottery found near the child suggests there may have been a significant timespan between the use of the cavern as a simple burial ground and its use as a ritual site. Despite the relatively high quality workmanship and good preservation of the pottery found near the skeletal remains of the child, the overall design and style is still more primitive than any pottery previously discovered in other parts of the world and along with a lack of other burial goods, I believe the last human occupation of this cave may date to entire millenia ago. Whether the cavern saw continuous use throughout this period is yet unknown, however it is clear it is a place of some significance. It is my professional recommendation; and hope; that the excavation of the caverns continue, I cannot put a price on the knowledge and understanding of this ancient culture that can be gained through further research, but it is in Adria’s best interest to, at the very least, clear out any vile monstrosities that may be lurking in the depths beneath its city. Written and Signed Head Archaeologist Jan Euler