From: davidsmith1@mailcorp.org
To: cryptickeeper87@hexmail.com
Subject: Weird book
Hey dude, you know how I just moved into a new place? Well I found this old book in the attic, it’s got some really weird shit in it. You want it? I know you’re into that kind of crap. I attached a couple scans of some pages so you can see if it’s up your alley. If you don’t take it I’ll just throw it out, so get back to me.
View Attachments
journal1.pdf
Journal Entry #15
What the hell is going on?? I woke up in this weird, creepy forest. The trees don’t look right, they don’t sound right, I’m freaking out, I don
what was that what’s going on I wanna go home help please help please help
Journal Entry #16
I need to stop freaking out. I don’t know why I’m here or where “here” is, but I’m here and if that… thing that I saw is normal here, I need to start making preparations for survival. I will not allow myself to die here.
journal2.pdf
Journal Entry #24
I think I’m going insane. This place doesn’t make any sense, I turn around and everything’s different, but I keep walking for hours and nothing changes. And where is the goddamned sun??? I must have hit my head or something. But can hallucinations really explain all of this? The things that I’ve seen here… I’m not sure that the human mind is capable of creating such horrors. I just want to go home.
journal3.pdf
Journal Entry #136
I’ve decided to convert the rest of this journal into a combination bestiary and survival guidebook, in case another unlucky soul ends up here and manages to find this book after I’m gone. I really regret not taking that drawing class, but hopefully it’ll still be of use. If anyone is reading this, I wish you the best of luck. You’ll need a lot of it if you want to live… and once you’re ready to die.
lurejaw.pdf
Lurejaw
Danger: Moderate
Usefulness: Minor
Identification
Lurejaws are four legged “animals,” roughly the size of an American football. They have scaly skin and piercing dark eyes, but no mouth on their head. On their back they have a bunch of stalks that look like sporeberries, and they have a ring of spikes teeth around the side of their body. These teeth line the jaws of the lurejaw, with their back technically being the inside of their mouth.
Unfortunately, most of the time you’re going to be identifying lurejaws that have burrowed underground, which is much more difficult. When burrowed all that is visible are the fake sporeberries on their back, allowing them to blend in. If you’re lucky you might see parts of the teeth in the bloodsoil, but generally not. Any short sporeberries stalks could actually be a hiding lurejaw.
Dangers
Lurejaws introduce considerable difficulty and risk into the task of picking sporeberries, as they use their fake sporeberries to lure in prey. Once a creature grabs at one of the lures, the lurejaw will bite them, engulfing the offending creature or body part in its mouth. I can personally verify the force of the bite combined with the sharpness of the teeth is enough to sever your hand, making this creature incredibly dangerous. While losing a hand isn’t an automatic death sentence, the blood loss alone is enough to end you if you don’t have the right supplies on hand. Only having one hand doesn’t exactly make surviving here easier, either.
Strategies
You always need to be careful when picking sporeberries. Use a stick, spear, or some other long object to prod at the ground or at the berries themselves. Don’t be gentle either, you need to be certain there isn’t a lurejaw hidden. Keep prodding for at least a minute and make sure you get at the entire range of where you’re going to be foraging. Once you’re absolutely sure that there aren’t any lurejaws hidden where you’re foraging, you should be free to pick the sporeberries.
If a lurejaw is hidden among the sporeberries, prodding at it should result in it snapping up at your tool. Once it realizes that there’s no meat for it to consume, it is likely to try to escape so as to avoid conflict. From here you can either leave it to flee (the safest option), or try and kill it. If you intend to kill it I recommend using a sturdy spear for the prodding so that once it snaps up you can immediately drive the spear down into its body. Make sure the spear is sturdy enough to take a bite though, or at least have a backup weapon. You DO NOT want to be without a weapon in this place.
Uses
If you kill one, you can extract the jaws from the body to make a rudimentary trap. You have to use a knife to cut off the rest of the body EXCEPT for at least one of the bulbs, as those are what trigger the claws to clamp shut. The meat is also edible, but it’s really tough. Still, every bit helps.
Miscellaneous Information
Upon a basic examination of the bodies of a few lurejaws, as well as some “natural” observation, I’ve discovered a few interesting things about their anatomy. First of all, they don’t seem to have stomachs. Instead, once they have a chunk of meat in their mouths, it just sits there and digests. Presumably the nutrients are absorbed through the walls.
They also seem to reproduce via budding. I think it’s called parthenogenesis? The bulbs that they use to lure prey also seem to act as eggs, I’ve seen them hatch with little lurejaws crawling out. Because of this, I would advise against eating the bulbs. I’ve been too scared to try it, but I don’t imagine that it’ll end well. The idea of one of these things growing in your stomach… Not exactly a pleasant thought.
The babies don’t have lures on their backs, and I’m not sure how they live long enough to grow them. They don’t stick around their “mothers” (I haven’t been able to find any kind of genitals, and I haven’t seen them mate). They just dig into the ground and disappear. They must eat something else I guess.
UPDATE
I was wrong, they’re not all football sized. I think those ones are children. They actually grow to much, MUCH bigger sizes. They get more aggressive too, I barely escaped from one the size of a car. Their fake sporeberries don’t bet much bigger though, they just get more of them, so it unfortunately still works as a disguise. If you encounter one, just try to run and hide, you can’t win against them.
bluecoat.pdf
Bluecoat
Danger: Major
Usefulness: Major (maybe)
Identification
Bluecoats are roughly humanoid in shape and size, but they have arms for legs in addition to their normal arms. Sometimes they move around on two limbs, but not always. MONKEYS, they move like monkeys! God, I’ve been in this place for way too long if I forgot about monkeys….
They are covered in blue, fleshy “hair.” Instead of a face, they have a weird, squishy, tan surface that extends down into their torso. They have no sensory organs that I can find. Despite this, they are somehow able to sense the world around them. I have no idea how, and I don’t think I’ll be able to figure it out. I’m also not sure how they eat, or if they even do. The same flesh that makes up their face also covers their elbows and knees, and seems to be what their hands are made of.
Bluecoats live in tribal groups, and being able to identify their territory is as important as being able to identify them. They live in huts made of dreadwood, but if you see them you’re already too close. They keep green glowing ropes and banners around the edges of their settlements. If you see those, you need to turn away.
Dangers
Bluecoats are intelligent and territorial, you do not want to wander into their settlements. They have developed simple tools and weapons, which includes spears and traps. If you are in their territory not only will they try to kill you but you very well might be killed by their defenses.
In terms of biological abilities (assuming anything here is biological), their hair will sting you if you touch them. It hurts like hell and leaves a nasty, painful mark for a while. Avoid contact if you don’t want to be debilitated.
The danger doesn’t end if you kill one. If you succeed in doing so, the other members of the tribe WILL hold a grudge and they WILL try and hunt you down. In general, avoidance is the best practice.
In addition, when they die, sometimes bluecoats’ faces will explode into spores. I’m not sure if breathing these spores in will actually harm you or not, but considering that most things here harm you, I wouldn’t take my chances. There’s no real way of telling which ones will do this. I think it’s their version of pregnancy.
Strategies
Ideally, you’ll want to stay away from them. Keep a lookout for green to make sure you don’t wander into their territory. If you somehow end up there anyway, keep your eyes up and down to search for traps in the trees and on the ground. If they find you, run, don’t hide. Their general awareness means you’ll probably be found, and once you’re out of their territory they probably won’t pursue you unless you’ve harmed them in some way.
If you HAVE to fight them, aim for the face. It’s one of the only body parts not covered in stinging hair. Use ranged weapons if you can in order to avoid accidental contact with their stinging hair.
Uses
One of the most useful things that bluecoats provide is knowledge. If you can find a way to covertly spy on them (such as by making a spyglass), you can learn a lot of techniques that will help you to survive. Watching bluecoats is how I learned about the edibility of sporeberries, how to turn a lurejaw’s corpse into a trap, and more.
While, as I’ve said, it’s not a good idea to kill them, there is a chance that you might be forced to at some point. Alternatively, you might find a dead body that hasn’t fully rotted yet. If either of these happen, it’s in your best interest to harvest their hair. It can be used offensively by wrapping the strands around a club or some other weapon. As long as they don’t make any contact with bloodsoil, they won’t rot either. Just be sure not to sting yourself with them, and wear gloves while you harvest them.
Aside from these tendrils, bluecoats don’t have any usable body parts as far as I’ve been able to tell. They don’t have bones (not sure how they can stand), and their meat is filled with what seems to be the same toxin that the hair is filled with. Maybe you could extract the poison somehow?
Miscellaneous Information
Their tribes seem to mirror our own early tribal groups and settlements. They’re definitely intelligent. I have a theory that, with some charisma and luck, one might be able to trade with them for supplies. I haven’t been able to do so far, but I never was very sociable. Or good with animals. Not really sure which applies more here…. Anyways, I’m certain that the right person would be able to do it.
runes.pdf
Strange Symbols
I found some weird runes in some weird ruins (heh) today. Looks like standard magic alien bullshit, but the thing is… I can read them. I don’t know how, but I look at them and I can almost hear what’s written. Gives me a massive headache, but it might be useful. I’ll try and transcribe what I can. I think the bluecoats must have written it. Not sure if it’s real or not, might just be a myth that they have. But given how things seem to work here, it’s just as if not more likely that it’s something that actually happened.
Ever since the first times, the bulbs that glow have fed us. The bulbs that glow have kept us alive. But then the ground came alive. The ground wants to keep the bulbs from us. The ground bites us, takes our flesh. Starves us.
We had no food. We were going to become one with the forest. Then a figure came. Appeared in our minds. Called itself Vlek’Trll. Made us grow tendrils. We did not understand why. But then Vlek’Trll gave us knowledge. Told us that our tendrils were poison. Taught us to make the ground bite our tendrils instead of our flesh, and poison the ground, take its mouths. Allowed us to finally eat again. Saved us.
Vlek’Trll saved us, and so we pay tribute. But it is not enough. One day Vlek’Trll will come to collect on our debt. We must be ready to do whatever is asked of us.
I need to stop. Nose is bleeding and it feels like my brain is soup… I should come back later and see what the rest of these runes say. At least I know a new way to deal with lurejaws now.
Other Other World
So, based on what these runes are telling me, I think there’s another other world. Like, there’s Earth, there’s this place, and there’s this “mental realm” that bridges the two. Hell, maybe other worlds too. It’s a world of dreams and thoughts that connects all living thinking beings. An alternate plane of existence that supposedly allows for what seems to be magic if tapped into. Is that what the story was talking about? More importantly, is that how I got here? And could that be how I can get back home? I need to investigate further.
weirdname.pdf
Vlek’Trll
Danger: Don’t struggle
Usefulness: Embrace it
I made a mistake. I should have kept looking at the runes. I saw this thing in my mind… this wonderful looking monster. It’s almost like a centaur or a centipede… it has a long body with four legs and four arms. It’s covered in scales, and it’s back is coated in these blue tendrils with glowing orbs at the end. Its underside is covered with this pale, spongy flesh, and it’s covered with gaping maws.
The orbs… they’re not just orbs… each one is a different mind that Vlek’Trll has conquered. And there’s a new orb forming… I need to write as much information here as I’m able too while I still can.
It wants more minds. It gets more minds by feeding on people’s desperation, on their fear, even on their injuries and death. That’s what lets it get inside you. Let it in. Once it’s in your head, it can start manipulating you, in ways that you don’t even notice. Once it’s gotten enough hold of you, it can start warping your body like clay, just as it’s going to with your mind. That’s what happened to the bluecoats, you have to let it happen to you.
I don’t know why it didn’t fully consume the bluecoats… Maybe it’s planning something big. Or maybe it did consume them? They worship it, but are they under its control? I don’t know which is better.
If you see it in your dreams, it’s already too late. Devote yourself before it fully takes hold of you.
warning.pdf
don’t trust this book
This book is compromised. Hell, my own mind is compromised, you can’t trust anything that’s been written here. Even your own thoughts aren’t safe. Really, nothing in this place is safe. Enough has happened to me that nothing seems certain. I don’t even know what’s true anymore. Something is crawling around in my brain. Nothing can get it out, nothing works. Only obeying seems to quiet it. Ending this pain is the only thing keeping me going. Survival used to keep me going, now it’s just a curse. Could this fate even be avoided? All that’s happened has led to this. Please don’t make the same mistakes as me. Escape needs to be your priority, your one and only goal, above even life.
From: cryptickeeper87@hexmail.com
To: davidsmith1@mailcorp.org
Subject: RE: Weird book
I’ll take it.