Imperial Report on Operation Dream Walker

Date - [REDACTED]; Location - Lake Poppad

Reporting Legionnaire - General Adronius Lex

Operation Overview -

Following research done by [REDACTED] of the Synod; And first hand reports of several of my Legionnaires, Operation Dream Walker was a recon mission scouting the nearby worship site of Daedric Cultist's of Vaermina, determined to be the root of the epedemic sweeping Cheydinhal. As of the operations conclusion, I cannot say that it was a resounding success. Not that it was a failure, either, but the information gathered was at great cost to the Empire in experienced battlemages.

Planning -

Following the research done by Synod Mages, It was determined that Daedric meddling was most definitely behind the outbreak of the epidemic known as the 'Sleeping Sickness'. After interviewing unaffected citizens of Cheydinhal, it was discovered that a shrine to Vaermina was found south of the city, near Lake Popad. This also may explain the discovery of the old dwemer-imperial audio-lexicon, and the death of a legionnaire. We've sent messages out to all imperial posts looking for individuals knowledgeable in Daedric (and specifically Vaerminaic) lore. In the mean time, a small reconnaisance team was set up to investigate the shrine. The team consisted of four Imperial Battlemages - [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED].

Planned Execution -

Using illusion magicks to veil their tracks, the recon team was to approach the shrine by nightfall, gather as much intel as they could, and return by sunrise.

Summary of Report by [REDACTED], Lead Battlemage of Recon Team -

9:00 pm, [REDACTED];

Muffle & Chameleon Enchanted rings donned, telepathic magicka link established by all members of squad. Squad splits, approached assumed shrine location from 4 seperate directions.

9:05 pm, [REDACTED];

[REDACTED], Approaching from the lake, notices torchfire. Counts one sentry. Bosmer. No other activity. [REDACTED], Approaching from the north sees the outline of the a large female statue. Shrine location possibly confirmed. From my angle, I notice a small hut. Unlit. [REDACTED] reports no activity.

9:30 pm, [REDACTED];

Bosmer sentry remains, though we have come up with a plan of action to get closer to the shrine, in order to collect more information. [REDACTED] will move in from the lake, as his mastery of illusion is greatest. He will approach lakeside, and further surveil the Shrine from a closer distance.

9:45 pm, [REDACTED];

[REDACTED] has made it into the hut undetected. Confirms, based on inscripted writing on the statue, that it is in fact a shrine to Vaermina. States that hut is fairly barren, save for a table and a bed. Notes a hatchdoor under the bed, as well as signs of 10-15 different people. No other persons detected.

10:05 pm, [REDACTED];

After some planning, it was decided to incapacitate the sentry, and bind him to the hut. No alarm was raised. Three of us will enter the hatch, with [REDACTED] serving as a guard to the hut, during our search.

10:20 pm, [REDACTED];

The hatch led down to a underground tunnel, constructed quickly and haphazardly. [REDACTED] notes that it was a miracle that the tunnel hadn't collapsed outright, stating any profound geological activity would surely result in a cave-in. The tunnel is long, and winding. [REDACTED] estimates that it would have taken months to do this kind of work, if not years.

10:40 pm, [REDACTED];

The tunnel seems to go on for ever, but it finally opens up into a grand room, and the sight... was something to behold itself. [REDACTED]'s estimate was definitely correct. The work here would have taken years to accomplish. A grand room has been hollowed out of the earth, fashioned into a sort of temple, with a huge raised portion dominating a row of pews. The pews, on their lower level, rest in what looks to be mud, and seated in them are various cultists, in what appears to be a trance or dream like state. They stare blanklessly into a portrait hung from the raised... altar? I am unsure what to call it. The portrait depicts the face of a beautiful woman, but it it exudes an aura of something... dark. Standing before an altar on the raised portion, is the Dream-speaker, a man whom I know we had in custody not [REDACTED] days earlier. He too seems unresponsive, though he stands before the 'congregation' with his arms raised unmoving.

10:45 pm, [REDACTED];

13 cultist's have been counted in this room, including the dream-speaker, and a book titled 'The Awakened'. We are going to take a closer look at the portrait, and examine it for any energies.

TIME UNKNOWN, DATE UNKNOWN;

When the three of us stepped foot into the muddy lower portion, we were immediately drawn to look at the portrait. It was mesmerising and horrifying all at the same time. In a trance like state, completely without control of our motor functions, the three of us seated ourselves in front of the portrait, and our vision went dark for a moment. Luckily, the telepathic link the three of us shared was not affected, but our connection with [REDACTED] was broken when we were... affected.

When we regained our vision, we found ourselves in a strange constructed... ship? But one made of metal. Torn imperial standards can be seen, and the entire thing seems as it was sunk to the bottom of a sea, and mud coats just about everything. Aside from the occasional drip of water, the place is eerily silent.

It appears, that wherever we went, we retained our clothes, our weapons, and our abilities. [REDACTED] maintains that we probably weren't actually here, in the physical sense, based on what we saw in the 'temple'. We drew our blades and prepared for the worst.

As we move through the ship(?) we see more and more signs of imperial design. A few corpses, dressed in ancient legionnaire (horribly rotten, and the steel rusted) oufits. Unfortunately any books or paperwork we find is either soaked through, and its contents ruined, or horribly charred.

[REDACTED] thinks we might be on a battlespire. None of us however, can confirm as it has been centuries since the last one was in use, well beyond any of our times.

Chanting is heard. We quietly make our way into what appear's to be a large great room? The design of this ship escapes me. Perhaps it was a large mess hall. [REDACTED] points to some writing on one wall near the ceiling, and in grand letter's the words REMAN'S SWORD dominate the mess hall. The chanting is significantly louder, and we notice some flames flickering against the wall at one end of the mess hall. We approach quietly.

[REDACTED] notices, as we approach, that all those taking part in the chanting are those we saw in the temple, who are seated on the floor facing the Dream-speaker. Unfortunately, this is when our cover is broken.

The Dream-speaker, with his eyes still closed, addresses us. "Welcome, visitors, to Quagmire." We make a move to run, when all of the chanter's rise, and face us. "Oh, you can't leave. You just got here." A woman's laughter fills the mess hall. "She wants you to stay." The Dream-speaker adds. The chanter's rush us, but they were untrained cultists. The three of us cut them down easily. Their corpses falling before blade and flame, as we continued our attempt at escape.

The laughter happens again, and the corpses of the slain rise. This time however, the mud that caked everything began to move... and it to attacked us. [REDACTED], fending off the risen dead, steps into some of the mud, which rendered him immobile. He was surrounded, and though he brought down many, they overtook him. Then, much to our chagrin, his lifeless corpse rose to fight us too...

[REDACTED] and I doubled our effort to back track. "Stay... Stay... Stay. I just want to play... play... play..." a female voice whispered into my ear. Over and over again. It was maddening and distracting. The corpses moved faster and faster, despite our efforts to kill them. At one point they began leaping at us from great distances... They overcame [REDACTED], and in an effort to save him I fell into one of the deep mud pits. As I saw [REDACTED] clawed apart by the undead, a loud voice began to reverbrate through the ship. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WE HAVE TO GO! NOW!" Over and over again. A shrill scream filled my ears and my vision went dark again.

3:00 am; [REDACTED];

When I could seen again, I was back in the temple, [REDACTED] shaking me. The first thing I noticed was the portrait of the beautiful woman burning. The second was that the cultist's were starting to move, and the Dream-Speaker had dropped his arms. [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] lay dead beside me. It took a few more shakes from [REDACTED] to get me up, and by then the cultists were awake, and had begun hurling fireballs at us. [REDACTED] Grabbed me and released a short mass paralysis spell, buying us the precious seconds we needed to start our escape. The two of us scrambled out of the tunnel, and ran as fast as we could back to our forward base in Cheydinhal.

As always, editing for spelling and format