ROLEPLAY

chapter 50 (those against the great explorers)

if you believe the self proclaimed great explorers they've reached the point where the so called upper branches come in contact with the surface. now they intend to conduct a major inspection of the area for any clues there because they claim that these sites look like they were semi permanent in their construction. such wild tales these homins want us to believe in, why would anyone want to? more over, to what end does all of this lead to?
we've little more to say on our thoughts at this time, but as always once more we ask homins to go on about their lives and not pay mind to the crazy tales that are the supposed correspondence of these great explorers. don't waste time with foolishness.

chapter 51 (the great explorers)

homins of atys:
this report will be short due to lack of new information at this time. the first of the teams has completed the investigation of their campsite at the base of the upper branch. the lakes team now plan to begin scouting the route up the upper branch. they do not intend to travel as a whole but a small group of the whole will attempt to climb the path to determine how difficult the climb will be. all teams have been informed of this plan and we all agree that it would be the best course of action for all teams as each team completes it's efforts to inspect the sites. the other teams will continue their work and we will send home another short report as soon as there are some results to report.

chapter 52 (the great explorers)

homins of atys:
first off the forest team has now completed it's inspection of the camp site at the base of their upper branch. to our dismay no clues were discovered at this site either. they now plan to begin sending their small team on the path of their upper branch to investigate it's difficulty to traverse.
the lakes team has reported that the climb is very difficult and dangers but not impassable. the team they sent out has not attempted to reach the top yet, they've been trying to find the safest route with the least difficulty. they report that there are many routes around obstacles to contend with.
with two team now exploring the routes up the efforts of the remaining two teams have now become hastened in their efforts to finish the inspection of the sites and start to explore their own paths up. we will report home again as soon as there is news of any kind.

chapter 53 (the great explorers)

homins of atys:
the desert team has now completed the inspection of their site and like the previous two teams we are sad to report there are no results at this site either. they too are going to start sending a small group up the upper branch for travel assessments and route mapping.
much like the lakes team the forest team is reporting similar terrain on the upper branch path. the lakes team reports that they have about half the branch mapped out for their travel up. it's been agreed between the teams that until the final team has completed the inspection of their site all other teams will wait to start moving up the branches.
the progress of the final teams inspection is nearly complete, our next report will come once that work is finished. we will also include the efforts of the other three teams work mapping the best routes up the branch at their respective locations.

chapter 54 (the great explorers)

homins of atys:
the jungle team was nearing completion of their inspection of the camp at the base of the upper branch when their efforts finally paid off. a large chest was discovered in one of the few remaining grid squares. this new discovery was something to be marveled over, like the other chests found by other teams at various sites this chest also had scrolls and items in it.
the scrolls in this chest were a brief history of the lands the homins that created this site had recorded about recent events in their land above. the tale tells of serious dangers from not only creatures but also bandits. they go on to tell of their escape to the surface.
the items that were found in this check are incredible and hard to describe beyond saying they are most unique compared to anything in the known homin lands. the items are as follows: a set of light armor, magical amplifiers, jewels, and a dagger and axe set. the one thing that stands out more then anything else in all these amazing items is it's clear that the dagger and the axe are meant to be used together, a concept unheard of in our known lands.
we now intend to send messages to the other teams to begin the climb to the top of the upper branches. it's unknown weather or not the trained izams we use to carry messages back and forth will be able to find their way up and down the branches. if they can not it will be some time before another message is received between the teams or to you at home. in the even that this happens the teams have made plans to explore what is above and then return in a set time to send a message to each other and then back to you at home.
regardless of what may come, our efforts will continue to go on as they have all along, still with a single goal in mind.

chapter 55 (those against the great explorers)

isn't that a twist, now the fourth team finds something, and almost at the end of their searching. it seam too perfect and too planned out for those of us in power to believe any of the crazy stories they've sent home, but this is by far the most perfectly timed of them yet. they have no idea if they will be able to provide any contact with those of us here once they "climb up", as they like to say. how lucky for them that they might not be able to send more messages home, seams like an easy way to lead people to believe something is really going out far out in a collection of unknown locations. how lucky that each of these teams seamed to find the same things in very different ecosystems. more scrolls that didn't get sent home, more items no one is likely to ever see. this is now the perfect chance to lead homins on by saying nothing.
what foolishness this all is, how weak anyone must be to believe these lies they're trying to tell you as facts. please homins of atys waste not one more day of your time thinking about this outlandish tale. don't believe in the hoax they're trying to feed you. once more we ask homins to go on about their lives and not pay mind to the crazy tales that are the supposed correspondence of these great explorers.

chapter 56 (the great explorers)

it has been two full years have passed since the last message was sent home from the great explorers. in their last message they stated that they were not sure if they would be able to send messages home after they made the upward climb. after so long we can only assume that their worry about sending messages home was correct. in the end only time will tell...

chapter 57 (the great explorers)

homins of atys:
we realize that it's been over three years now since you had any messages from us. we know this because after a week in the lands above we sent a message to the other teams about an update so that we could put together a message home, the day after we released the izam it had returned with the same message we sent out. that made it clear to us that as long as we were in the lands above no messages could be sent out. thanks to planning ahead between the teams prior to going up the branches it was agreed that if this happened we would spend no longer then 3 years searching the lands above, and would return to the base of the upper branch to make contact with our findings and compile a message home with our various results. this is that message.
all four teams took the full three years time to explore the upper lands. what each team found is exactly like the rumors said as far as being other lands, complete with cities. there is things to note about the lands above that everyone should know now.
first the cities are indeed there, and it would seam that they are full of bandits. each team sent in various homins from different backgrounds to try to make contact, each homin was attacked and chased for a short while. this would lead us to our conclusion that they are bandits because they would not allow anyone to enter the cities. as a result of these attacks we have little information on the cities themselves.
the creatures in the lands above are much stronger then those on the surface, there are breeds that normally don't grow so strong on the surface that can be found here. some seam to roam in strange patterns thought out the lands above, and every season seams to favor movement of different creatures. there is much to learn about these stronger creatures, the one's that we encountered that were stronger then their surface counterparts are as follows: clopper, cray, goari, igara, izam, javing, yber, ragus, bawaab, bodoc, capryni, frippo, gnoof, lumper, messab, raspal, and rendor. you can also find all of the other creatures found on the surface in the most dangerous regions of the homin lands. it's our belief that because of so many dangerous creatures these are forced to grow stronger in order to survive. perhaps these are closely related to those on the surface, but of a more robust line of breeding then the surface creatures.
we're all on our way home from the base of the upper branches following the sending of this message, when we reach home we intend to share the recovered scrolls found on our journeys for all to see and read themselves. we also intend to meet with those of us at home that first started the great quest's work of the scrolls, and to decide how to proceed on finding a way to share with others a chance to see the lands above.

chapter 58 (those against the great explorers)

after so long gone it was thought that the creators of these wild tales had moved on to real and tangible things. it's clear that they have not, we in power have decided these fallowing things if you show us proof of these wild tales you have claimed to be sending home and promise these things if you have a next phase to your efforts:
we'll allow the great explorers complete controll over these newly found lands.
we'll provide any homin with payments for services rendered to the great explorers efforts. in the spirit of treating everyone equal:
we'll offer dapper's to anyone on a fixed scale up to the limits of homins that have no allegiance to any nation, even homins of no nation.
we'll offer civilization credits on a fixed scale again up to the limits of homins that have no allegiance to any nation.
we'll provide the great explorer's with dapper's to buy items they need from homins in order to complete their efforts and promote economic stimulation by offering homins another way to sell their items.

we in power will do all of this if they can only provide solid proof that the stories they have told everyone is true. this is our final word on all of this.

chapter 59 (great explorers return story)

recovered scrolls found by great explorers team 1 (forest team)

"we have traveled a great distance from our homes already. we have fought our way past vicious and dangerous beasts after coming down a steep and dangerous climb. now here at this camp we write these messages for any who may risk the travels as we have, or perhaps for future generations to find as they travel back to where we came from.
the master crafter's with us have created a set of jewels, armor, and daggers to leave with these writings. these items have been made with the very best materials we have. the master crafter's used the most secret crafting skills known to our people to make these items. we hope that whoever may find these will put them to good use and respect the effort and dedication it took to make them."

the items were shown to those in power as proof after being displayed to the homins of the forest lands. solid proof of their tales because there's nothing like these items that has been ever seen before.

chapter 60 (great explorers return story)

recovered scrolls found by great explorers team 2 (desert team)

"after the long distance we have already traveled from our homes we are making camp to put our story into words that we hope will one day be read. our trials have been full of dangers, from the vicious and dangerous beasts we have fought to the long and dangerous climb down the steep path. even after the climb we have found ourselves still in danger of vicious creatures, though it's our fortune that they do not attack us here like in our home lands. here the attacks are random and not as often when we are in one place. we encounter more attacks when we travel but that's to be expected as we are much more exposed and on the move. the attacks that do come are quickly defeated by the master hunters and warriors in our group of travelers.
we have set out from our homelands in search of a safer place to live. in these last few months at home our cities were being attacked more and more often by large packs of vicious creatures. it wasn't uncommon to encounter these creatures far from the city, but lately they've been attacking the cities. with every day that passed the attacks became more frequent and the groups of creatures larger. at the time of our departure the attacks were getting so bad that we had to seek shelter when they happened. only the hunters and warriors would remain outside to fight. soon it was so bad that a new course of action had to be taken. at that time it was decided that we would take a large group of homins willing to risk the dangers outside the city to seek out a new land to call home. one that might be safer then our homeland had recently become.
now here we all are writing this down for someone to read. the jewels we are leaving with these scrolls are the very best our master jewel crafter can make. he is one of the last of the great masters of jewel craft in our land, this set may be his legacy should things go badly in our future. we have chosen to leave it here in the hope that one day someone will find it and put them to good use. what the future will hold for us after we leave these scrolls behind is a mystery to all of us."

the items were shown to those in power as proof after being displayed to the homins of the desert lands. solid proof of their tales because there's nothing like these items has ever been seen before.

chapter 61 (great explorers return story)

recovered scrolls found by great explorers team 3 (lakes team)

"after sad events recently we have chosen to write down a short history of events leading to this point.
our homeland and cities had been under siege from large groups of very viscous, violent, and dangerous creatures. at first the attacks were only small numbers and quickly put down. as time went on the attacks grew in both frequency as well as the numbers in the groups attacking. even as the attacks grew more common and the groups larger, we continued to defend against them with good results, at least in the beginning. over time it was getting harder to stop the attacks in the lands outside the cities.
it was agreed that we would be safer and more protected to stay within the cities and defend them from attack with more concentrated forces. for a time this was a very effective method of protection and defense from the attacking creatures. it soon proved to be less then enough.
first one city was overwhelmed by the creatures and the homins there were forced to escape to the nearest city for refuge, the combined force of the evacuating warriors, hunters, crafter's, harvesters, and unskilled homins that survived the escape with those in the city which they fled to were able to defend the pursuing creatures. it wasn't long after that there was another large scale attack on this safe-haven. this attack was the most fierce one yet. while the city did not fall there were massive losses. there was an emergency meeting of the remaining cities, with brave messengers taking each city decision to the next. after each city had come to realize how grave the loss of the first city and the following attack on the second city was there was only a single logical path to take at that time, move everyone into a single city where the mass of forces could perhaps repel the attacks of these creatures. shortly after this was decided upon there was a massive movement from three of the four remaining cities, with the fourth city being the city where everyone would live and make their stand.
for some time this was effective against the attacks of the creatures. slowly there was a growing concern that each attack was larger in numbers then the last, and that at some point we would run the risk of being out numbered and over-run. it was with these foreboding thoughts that a new plan was devised. that plan is what lead us to where we are now as we write this, simply put, we took a small group of willing homins out of the city with the plan to go beyond the known borders of our land in search of a new land to safely live in.
after traveling beyond the known borders of our homeland we came to a dangerous and steep climb before us. looking out from our high vantage point we could see land below us, a land that was until that moment unknown to all in our land. we could see that there was a chance to work our way down a narrow path, while we could see no creatures upon the path before us, there were still creatures that had been following us and making attempts to catch us off guard. while they had yet to do any real harm to us other then slow us down, they were a constraint reminder of what was behind us.
it was decided that we would risk the narrow climb down no matter how steep or how dangerous it would be, for staying there would mean certain death from the creatures if their numbers grew too large to defend. once the long climb down was over we found ourselves on new lands much like those of our home, at least by it's looks. a few of the following creatures had tried to follow us down the climb, but they were few in numbers and quickly killed. we made our first camp in these new lands at the bottom of the path from above to decide what to do next.
that night while we rested we were attacked by a small group of aggressive creatures, nothing like what we had fought in our homeland though. it was decided then that we would keep a watch even in these new lands as we moved looking for a new place to call home. for days we moved and fought small groups of these aggressive creatures, with little fear to loosing, these were nothing like the beasts that had drove us from our homelands. we were perhaps over confident, and would soon find it would be fatal to some of us.
one day after setting up camp it was decided that we would send out a few small teams to collect things we needed. we sent several hunters and warriors in each team, leaving they younger and newer of the hunters and warriors and elders of the crafter's at the camp. each of the teams we sent out was to collect food, materials to craft with, and a team to scout the area to decide where to go next. while those teams were gone on their various missions there was an attack on the camp.
the attack on the camp must have been larger then those prior to that day. it's our belief based on what we found upon the return of the teams we sent out that it was indeed a vicious fight, though none survived the attack in the end. we had lost some of the greatest crafter's our people had ever known.
it was the tragedy of that day that we decided it best to tell our tale and leave it behind with some of the greatest items crafted by those that were lost. while these items were made to be used to protect us on our journey we had decided that it best to leave them behind with these scrolls. perhaps one day they will be found, and then used as they were made to be used or given to a new generation of master crafter's to try to unlock the secrets that went to the grave with the passing of our great crafter.
it's our hope that these scrolls will one day be found and read and that our story can be told."

the items were shown to those in power as proof after being displayed to the homins of the lake lands. solid proof of their tales because there's nothing like these items has ever seen before.

chapter 62 (great explorers return story)

recoverd scrolls found by great explorers team 4 (jungle team)

"we have left our homes in our known land above where we are now. the travels have been long and dangerous every step of the way to this point. we've build a camp to rest and take time to write a short history of our people in the lands above this place we now find ourselves in. it's hard to know where to start at or what things to deam worthy of putting in our writtings.
i guess the history of our people doesn't matter at this point because that is all it will ever be at this time, a history. there is no hope of returning to our land that we can forsee, it's become far too dangerous. bandits had grown in numbers in the past few years, and they were a grave danger to peaceful homins. they had made many attempts to attack the cities with no success.
to further make our lands dangerous the wild creatures have grown even more dangerous in recent seasons. they too began to make life in our lands a difficult one. as they grew in numbers they also grew in strength and aggressiveness. it wasn't long till the creatures began to chase homins longer and longer distances, many homins died as a result.
as the risks grew it was clear that between the bandits and the dangerous creatures our lands were becomeing far too hostile to trek outside the cities. as fewer and fewer homins were leaving the cities as a result of these new dangers attacks on the cities from creatures started to occure. at first they were easily repelled, but over time they grew more vicious and in larger numbers. it was thought that perhaps the bandits had something to do with this but there was never any way to prove or disprove it.
soon the homins of our lands were confined to the cities only, and the only travel between them was a very dangerous one that required large groups. attacks continued upon the cities from the creatures, and with each attack they grew in intensity. it was decided that all homins in the smaller cities would move to our capital city for safty in numbers.
there was a slowing of attacks from creatures for a time, but it was a short one. once again the attacks started to happen more often and the creatures were attacking in ever growing numbers and strength.
the wise homins and elders came together to decide what to do next. the elders decided that there would be a request for homins that were willing to attempt to leave our known lands in search of new lands to live in. the hope was that we would find safer lands to live our lives in, one where we could grow and prosper without fear.
our journey from the city was not a quick one, nor was it safe or easy. every step of the way was a fight for our lives, as we reached the borders of our lands the dangers lessened some, and we were able to relax a little as we travled. a short time after we reached the edges of our known lands, and from that point on it was a venture into the unknown.
after a few days of travel beyond the borders we found ourselves at the edge of a long downward path. the sight we beheld at this point was like nothing we had ever seen before. we could see a huge landscape far below us, and it was then that we realized that we were far above the surface of our world. we rested for a day and started the dangerous climb down to the surface we could see below us.
for 3 days we traveled downward, carefully trying to find our way around the obsticals that lay before us on this steep and dangerous path. one wrong step could have ment certian death for anyone in our group, perhaps taking others with us. as we worked our way down the path slowly turned less tretrous, but only slightly. on the forth day we reached this point we're now writting this.
with these scrolls we're also going to leave the finest set's of armor, magical amplifiers, jewels, and a dagger and axe set. the armor was crafted by one the greatest crafters in the land we left behind, and created in the hopes that it would provide more then just protection from attacks. the amplifiers came from the only crafter known to know the secrets that would provide a increse of power over double the caster's ability at over double the speed. the jewels were crafted by a jewel crafter that only shared her knowladge with one other, the knowladge of how to increase the health of the wearer more then then any other jeweler could. the dagger and axe set was made as a one of a kind set by the greatest weapon crafter in known history, they were made so that a homin could use both the dagger and the axe at the same time and with a speed that could not be beat.
we've left these items behind in the hope that with the scrolls they would show whoever might find them what our dedications to our skills could allow a homin to do."

the items were shown to those in power as proof after being displayed to the homins of the jungle lands. solid proof of their tales because there's nothing like these items has ever seen before.

chapter 63 ("the final plans" last story in the upper branches series)

there was much work in the now official group of the great explorers, who's members had started out together from all different backgrounds, beliefs, organizations, and religions. they had discovered the great upper branches regions as a single group with a common goal of seeking knowledge, freedom, truth, and equality. their efforts together made truths out of the forgotten scrolls and the rumors of the lost cities.
as a result of this they had the right to claim the newly found lands as theirs to do with as they wished, it was also the fact that only they knew the route to get to these upper branches. the homin governments had pledged to support them in the next step of their efforts, and that would come at a cost to the governments.
while the governments didn't agree with their lack of authority over these new lands, their hands were bound by the promises they made and they did not want to risk revolt in all of the civilized lands by going against their own word. it was the wishes of the great explorers that the rangers would protect all homins regardless of civilizations, organizations, or religions in these new lands. the lands and the cities, once freed from bandit rule, would be free to any homin on atys.
there were plans in the works as to how the homins of atys could unite to remove the bandits that now ruled the cities in the lands above. a time table is being worked on as this notice is going out, with the hopes that all of atys will unite as one to free the cities. it was clear from the meetings of the great explorer teams that it would not be a quick and easy effort to remove the bandits from the cities.
it is planned that once the cities are freed of bandit rule trade routes would need to be established. the newly freed cities would need merchants of all types and skill trainers. a planned pilgrimage would then follow all cities being liberated in the lands above. this would be to promote stable livings for homins seeking to explore the cities and lands above.
the great explorers would provide transportation to any homin that could pay the cost of travel, a fixed flat rate for all homins of atys. this income will help provide the great explorers with steady income and a way to purchases needed items from homin crafter's. there would also be a need for occupational products for the great explorers to keep the newly established travels going to and from. because of the promises of the governments part of the payments for any help was already secured, and guidelines already drawn up by the great explorers would define how homins helping would be paid for their help.
now will all these plans in motion now or already established as you read this notice there is but a couple things to do: help or travel to new lands. it should be warned that the new lands are very dangerous in many ways, and that any homins that travel there should be very cautious once they reach the new city.
further more it's necessary to note that travel from one upper branch to another is not possible; first because they do not connect to each other; second because of the great distances between the different lands via surface routes. as a result of this if you wish to visit the upper branch of the lakes region you will need to travel to fairhaven and find the great explorers outside the city limits, the same is true for the other regions of the upper branches. the great explorers travel service will be found outside the capital city limits in each of the homin lands. because of the request of the rangers to protect homins in the upper branches lands you will find the great explorers in the upper branches in the largest city of each upper branch.
above all there's one thing we, the great explorers, want to remind everyone of atys, anyone and everyone is welcome to travel with us to the new lands. first and foremost the new lands are free and open to every homin on atys, religion, organization, and civilization allegiance's do not matter to us. we have the only means to reach them, keep you safe, and are the only one's that know the route; these facts will ensure that they forever remain free and open to all.

OOC:

this concludes my upper branches stories i wrote to support the upper branches ideas i posted in the forums in hopes of a small expansion to the game world.

i hope you enjoyed reading them as much as i enjoyed creating them. feel free to start a general forums thread to discuss these stories if you feel they need discussion.

thanks and enjoy atys and all it has to offer.