9/17/2026

Another request from Leadale was received, something about a mine. Great.

Once again we boarded a ship with the same captain as last time, Captain Delhany. However when we got to about halfway there, we experienced strange turbulence that fully rocked the ship. I stayed below deck in the room assigned to me. We eventually arrived to the island once again, meeting with a contact that directed us to the same manor as before where we spoke with Lord Leland again.

Shev struggled with the stairs again.

Lord Leland led us inside to give us breakfast again and Bri asked why the islanders are not able to go outside during the day. It seems the people of the island burn up into skeletons in the sun. They have reflections however so they are likely not vampires, especially since they properly eat still. He gave us a rundown about the mine, miners going missing and strange noises happening so he wants us to confirm it is safe for the islanders and his people. He provided us devices that can be used to breath in airless environments to assist as we explored the mine.

We headed to the mine next and a few workers were talking at the front of it. They warned us to not have open flames, which is common sense considering there's an unknown gas. After a small bit of preparing, we headed down into the mine.

After walking down for a bit, we spotted shadowy snake-like creatures. I'm...not entirely sure what exactly happened. I think Shev started speaking telepathically. But then their attention was drawn to me for some reason and they lunged forward to attack. They attempted to swallow Shev but Yashir and Bri were able to stop it from burrowing beneath the ground with him. When they were defeated, they dispersed into the shadows--the likely culprits of the missing minors.

Our exploration continued and the gas intensified the more we went downwards. Yashir found a diary of sorts that explained as they expanded the mine downwards they hit a gas pocket and intended to close the mine off due to deaths. It labeled the ore we found as greymatter. Yashir came to the conclusion that the mine was actually some kind of creature's skull and the shadowy snakes we fought were brain worms...

We continued down further, finding a large cavernous space that looked like a lair that had a lot more of the rocks piled up. There were many pools of the strange, pink goo that emitted the gas and we found strange tadpole eggs inside. We removed them and killed a vast majority, taking some for ourselves. There were bones of what we assumed to be the missing miners, likely being used as food for the eggs so that they can grow.

Then we headed back up, completing the exploration and telling Lord Leland what we learned.

17 Elient, 1502 D.R.

Myself, Solia, Salviron, Bri, and Shev/Gobbles were dispatched once again to the town of Leadale. The mayor seemed to approve of our performance last time, and we set out again by boat, much to Bri's dismay. The trip was mostly uneventful, though at the end, we were briefly disrupted by the appearance of a giant eyeball, staring at us. It was, apparently, benign. Apart from staring and unnerving us all (except for Shobbles, who took it as a challenge he intended to win), it did nothing to trouble us, and soon disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.

The town was much the same this time as last -- bustling despite the hour, and the Mayor served us breakfast again. He also seemed oddly determined to learn our names, which I like not at all, but none of us refused him. I began to wonder if the entire place were peopled with vampires, but the others assure me I am being paranoid. No, no. The simple, obvious explanation is that they are active at night because they cannot be during the day, when the sun strips the flesh from their bones. No, they don't know why. No, they aren't particularly curious about it. This is all normal.

Whatever. I have more important mysteries to occupy my attention.

Some miners had disappeared in a local mine, according to the mayor. We were sent not so much to find and rescue them as to learn what had happened to them. The mine was long disused, and Leadale told us that anything we found there of value was ours to keep. We were also informed of "natural" gas suffusing the place, and were given equipment with which to safely breathe.

Well, we found what had happened to the miners soon enough. A couple of serpentine creatures, conversing in Draconic and hungering for brain activity, confronted us a few steps into the mine. We slew them despite their burrowing, and despite their consuming some of us (only temporarily).

With them out of the way, we were free to explore the mine. We searched the place from top to bottom, and what we found was a whole bunch of strange pinkish ore. We found, also, some mining logs identifying the -- once again -- PINK ore as "gray matter." That's brains, right? Gray matter? That's a colloquial word for brains. There was also a lot of pink goo that we convinced Shobbles to eat. It seemed to do him some good, though he said it tasted like copper. You know. Like blood, or similar stuff.

It's a brain. The mine is a giant skull, and they're mining its brains. The creatures we slew were monstrous brain-worms, and while we only encountered two of them, there was evidence of many more. We discovered and mostly destroyed their eggs. The miners had been fed to the creatures.

Once again, the others assure me I am being paranoid. The mountain in which the mine rests does not in any way resemble a skull. The mayor insists that the gray matter and pink goo are used to power their technology, which is entirely normal. He bought from us all that we found and paid us fairly for it, all things considered.

This is not normal. It is also, however, none of my business. I have more important things to worry about; this cannot be one of them.

-- Yashir adh Rumahr