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As previously reported, there have been some reports of unnatural detections coming from the Member’s Lounge at the Brisbane Chapter. Most recently, we had to undertake some shuffling of the team at Arcadium after my colleague, Joie, was afflicted with something very curious indeed…

She was recently in the area, although it has recently been closed off for investigation so no one is quite sure why she entered or what she was looking at or for, but when she emerged she was speaking nonsensically but otherwise appeared entirely unharmed! It was not even clear if she was aware that she wasn’t speaking in a way that we could understand – or at least, not in a way that any of my fellow guides or myself could understand. She was quite as confused as she was confusing!

The incident at first was quite striking but after consulting the Archives we recalled Vedilalia Mainesthai or the Zany Affliction; a well-documented affliction that is known to impact all Adventurers that enter the Realm of Fantasy. The Zany Affliction affects all Adventurers that enter the Realm of Fantasy, which results in a particular set of symptoms upon their return through the Portals. First and foremost is that Adventurers become nearly entirely insensible for a period of time speaking only in gibberish. They also become afflicted with a kind of temporary confusion leading to exceedingly quirky behaviour and finally, a kind of amnesia settles in upon the Adventurers such that their adventures into the Realm of Fantasy come to them only as indistinct scenes of a dream.

Whilst it may sound scary, we are assured that it is not. The Zany Affliction has no lasting impacts on the Adventurers and has actually been used to great humorous affect over the years. The quirky behaviour of afflicted adventurers always errs on the side of good-hearted playfulness and does absolutely no harm to either the Adventurers or those that they interact with upon their return. It is suspected that some strong form of ‘elios‘ – the unexplained magic of Arcadium – emanating from the Realm of Fantasy is the source of the affliction.

All of this, of course, leads us to believe that there must be a portal emerging to the Realm of Fantasy somewhere inside the Brisbane Chapter!

Joie was unfortunately affected by the same amnesia that settles on all Adventurers afflicted by Vedilalia Mainesthai and so could not recall any thing of the events in question but she did have with her a note, which she had been adding to and scribbling on immediately after we discovered her skipping and singing quirkily around the Chapter.

We are hopeful that in amongst the nonsense there might be some clue as to what might have happened to her and where she might have stumbled upon the portal to the Realm of Fantasy. I’ve included a copy below in the hopes that one of our Adventurers might be able to make some sense of this mystery…

Stay curious,

E.L.L. MCAO

Dear Adventurers,

As many of you will be aware, the instability of the Portals continues to be an ongoing issue across all Chapters impacting our ability to explore the Realms of Arcadium.

Processes have been standardised across the Order for many years, including the strict time limit on adventures and open communication with Chapter Headquarters. In the rare instances that the Chapter is able to pick up any particularly abnormalities in the Portals, Adventure Guides are able to quickly bring back Adventurers. 

These practices have helped the Order to avoid any recent incidents but they have been informed by learning from the past. We have few records, but there are some that suggest that Adventurers have been ‘stuck’ in the Realms when Portals have closed behind them. Whilst the Order itself as its roots only in Chapters originating in the early 15th century, there is certainly conjecture that Portals may have existed for many centuries, or even millennia, before this time. In fact, there is a theory that the ‘Locals‘ of Arcadium may be the distant descendants of Adventurers that were caught beyond the Portals many centuries ago.

Our understanding of the Portals remains much of an art than a science; I would encourage you to read more here. We do not know precisely how they work but we are familiar with the usual behaviour of the Portals and have developed technologies to help us measure any changes in behaviour and use communication technologies to recall Adventurers when needed. Before these technologies existed, it would not be difficult to imagine that there would have been instances of Portals closing when Adventurers were on the other side.

While we continue to investigate the magic of the Portals, we are also working on how we can leverage even more technologies to assist in our Adventures. The Scientists are currently working on the development of a prototype Digital and Remote Operation Investigative Device, robots of a kind, that can be sent through the Portals and controlled remotely by Adventurers to explore and search for Artefacts.

These devices will be connected with the Archives and therefore have access to any information previously recorded by Adventures as well cameras and microphones for feeding live information to Adventurers. For now, they remain limited in their ability to interact with the environment with only simple ‘claw’ components.

We expect that this will allow for even more Adventurers to assist us with quests and searches beyond the Portals who may not otherwise be able to attend our Chapters and we even expect that these technologies will allow for longer Adventures, since the risk posed by the Portals closing will only result in the loss of a device. Having said that, the investment has been significant and we should not want to lose any devices if we can possibly avoid it! 

I look forward to writing to you all again soon in the near future with an update on the development and success of these new devices.

Stay curious,

E.L.L, MCAO
The Loremaster

Dear Adventurers,

I must admit that although I loathe to pick a favourite, the Realm of Mystery has always held a special place in my regard as my first introduction to the Realms of Arcadium.

Except for the Archives, the affectionately named ‘Little Study‘ in the Realm of Mystery, which in truth is not that little but indeed has seen many studies, is one of my favourite places to be. The Little Study has long been the gateway for Adventurers making their first forays into the Realm of Mystery and a meeting place for Adventurers with the Arcadium Locals. The Locals or Arkadites, of course, are the few natural inhabitants in the Realms of Arcadium. They are largely comprised of the descendants of past Adventurers; few would choose to live in so curious, but also so unpredictable, a place.The prevailing theory is that the forebears of the Locals were most likely stranded in the Realms when portals closed unexpectedly in the past, as they are apt to do.

Whilst portal technology has improved over the years, there still remains more of an art than a science to maintaining their stability, which is why we continue to advise adventures of no greater than 1 hour in duration at a time. In the past, it would make sense that some adventurers would most unfortunately have been stranded when portals closed. Moreover,  the portals are neither guaranteed to reappear in the same location either on Earth or in the Realms of Arcadium or, indeed, reappear at all; meaning that in centuries past, it’s not surprising that some Adventurers would end up stranded in Arcadium.

Interestingly, the Locals sometimes refer the themselves as the Laetassus.  Scriveners have debated the correct etymology of the term but it may come from roots meaning either ‘the glad‘, ‘the weary‘ or ‘the lesser/later’. For my own part, it would not surprise me if there is some truth in all of those meanings. If I were lost in Arcadium myself I must admit that I might at once feel a little glad but, perhaps a little weary in time; ‘the lesser’ or ‘the later‘ I am not as certain about but I find that there are few coincidences when it comes to the world of Arcadium.

Should you wish to learn more about the culture of the Laetassus, I would recommend trying to find a copy of the Seabright Tales; a collection of short stories or fables that is very popular with all Locals. Perhaps I can find some time to discuss some of these tales in further detail in the future.

In any case, if Adventurers should wish to meet with the Locals, it is typically done in the Little Study in the Realm of Mystery or at the Meeting Place  in the Realm of Magic; a cheerful tavern located at the main crossroads that lead to the Caves of Plenty and Mountains of Hundun.

As for the artefacts of the Realm of Mystery, among the most prized are the Book of Thoth, the Skull of Hevel, the Cup of Truth and the infamously lost, Pandora’s Box.

As outlined in, ‘The Adventurer’s Guide to Mysterious Artefacts‘, the Book of Thoth is a legendary book said to comprise largely of a dialogue between a person called ‘The-one-who-loves-knowledge‘ and a figure identified as Thoth.

As with all of the artefacts, there is a lot that remains unknown about the artefact known as Book of Thoth.

The Book is said to contain forty-two books or ‘chapters’ with at least one of these Chapters relating to the Elixir of Life, as was famously translated by Nicolas Flamel

Importantly, however, it is not known whether Flamel was ever in possession of the original artefact or merely one of the latter transcriptions. He himself made reference only to the ‘Emerald Tablet‘, believed to be a chapter of the Book of Thoth.

Dear Adventurers,

This month passed quickly as I was left largely undisturbed in the darkest and coolest areas of the Archives.

As you know, I can’t reveal too much about the location of the Archives under the Abscondern Edict, however I’m certain a description is relatively harmless!

Upon first arrival at at the Archives through its Mystika Porta,  you enter into the vestibule; a small and perfectly round chamber. The structure, removed from its original location during the Reformation, is not larger than 6 metres in diameter and the walls and floors are all made of some kind of sandstone. At the centre of the floors in the same stone are 6 carved, 6-pointed stars in a ring around a flower with 5 petals.  The chamber is  well-lit with a warm glow except for the dark dome of the roof, nearly black, which has inlaid iridescent stones that twinkle in the darkness. At the centre of the dome is an oculus, once perhaps it might have opened up to skies but in its new location has no such opportunity.

Still, it is truly a beautiful sight and I imagine, once upon a time one could have spent the day gazing upwards to watch the dome be lit by contrasting sunlight and moonlight in the most spectacular of ways.

The chamber feels at once intimate and comforting and vast and infinite. A truly magnificient room and I’m so glad that it has been safely preserved all these years.

This chamber of course, has two doors, one being the Mystika Porta and the other the entrance to the Archives beyond which I spend most of my time.

I think I shall recount the tale of my first entrance into the Archives at another time, but I can tell you that every time I step through that second doorway I am just as overwhelmed as I was the first time.

It is not just the resplendence of the space, but the sense of history; of curiosity. There is so much to discover.

In any case, this month, a single shaft of light led me to a fragile letter pressed between the pages of an ancient leather-bound tome.

It appeared to be some kind of letter dated April 1608 in London. The document is in poor condition but I have transposed elements that were legible below,

…could not have been more engaging. We share a passion for discovery  yet for a young man, I find his preference for papers and books most peculiar. I am certainly an old man yet I still long to be on adventures beyond what we know. To sail to new lands and meet with fellow adventurers with their own…

There is some fading before it begins again a quarter of the way down the page,

H. speaks with great animation of this place for the knowledge of the Order. It is an ambitious plan indeed and he assures me all his current endeavours are to this end. He is clearly intelligent, determined and although I had rather always imagined the position to be held by one with more vigour, I trust that you are without error to consider him for the role.

 

Should I be able to make any further enquiries on your behalf, send word.

 

I remain, dear Sir, your loyal adventurer,

 

Sir James Lancaster VI, CAO

The letter has since been moved to its chronological place in the Archives with the hopes that further contextual research will provide further insight into this specimen of personal correspondence between Adventurers.

On the surface, I have heard that the Scientists have been recording some instability in the Portals at the Brisbane Chapter of Arcadium and are simultaneously investigating the possibility of Portals somewhere in Melbourne.

It’s too soon to tell though if this will bear fruit and despite the best efforts of the Scientists we do know so little about how the Portals operate.

For example, it’s a common misconception among new members that the Portals always appear in groups – with access to each of the Realms of Fantasy, Magic and Mystery. In fact the Oud Eeds, documenting the earliest days of the Order, show definitively that it was more common place for a single Portal to appear to a single Realm in any one location. Over time, it become more common place for Portals to appear in groups, often of 2 but occasionally, 3. The occurrence has actually been quite rare until more modern times.

The Scientists think that it has something to do with the instability around the Portals that allows for the connection between our two worlds in the first place and that, in an entropic manner, whatever it is, is becoming less stable over time.

Of course, it’s also still a mystery what created the ‘Fissure’ in the first place though the prevailing hypothesis is some kind  of initial cataclysmic or ‘Big Bang’ event.

All of this change does beg the question,  “What does the future hold?”. While there is an awful lot we don’t know, we can be certain that the Portals are not in a ‘steady-state’ so change is the only thing we can be certain of occurring.

As ever, I would love to hear your theories so please send through your thoughts about either the correspondence or the ultimate fate of the Portals.

Stay curious,

E. L. L., MCAO

Dear Adventurers,

A reminder to each of our members that we continue to migrate materials from the Archives online.

As a member, you have access to these resources for your own further education, which can be accessed here or upon login through your account.

As I explore the Archives, I am reminded that there remain still many secrets of the Order to be discovered, although I suppose that is to be expected with an organisation of the age of the Order.

With so many centuries of information to parse through, the journey as Lore Master often involves finding more questions than answers.

For example, I recently stumbled upon some texts in a language that I could not immediately translate. A scanned copy of one of the articles I have included for your interest below.

At first, I actually believed that it might be a code of some kind but having shared the script with some Analysts in the Investigations Bureau was assured that it was much more likely to be a language. I am confident that somewhere in the Archives will be some kind of Rosetta Stone to make sense of this message and I assure you all that I am most eager to discover it, in whatever form it may exist.

As always, I am keen to hear from members from across the world. One of the great joys of this role is being able to share with others of like-mind the curiosities of the Order and hear about their own adventures and theories. The best way to contact me is to leave a comment here or send an email to loremaster@orderofarcadium.com.

Stay curious,

E.L.L. MCAO

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