On the horizon, you spy an island which looks to be entirely of human construction. Great walls stretch up to the sky from beneath the ocean's surface towering over you. Entirely featureless, they offer no place for you to land your ship. Nevertheless, the island gives a sign of life:
As your ship nears the edge of the island, you hear a voice speaking in your head. It says "This research facility and the airspace around it is not associated with any sovereign nation. Attacking will serve no benefit in war and we will retaliate with extreme force. If you have no hostile intent, we kindly ask that you divert your flight path around the facility so as to not obstruct any ongoing research and to avoid any accidents.
Run by Bohoori.
Terven Hallside
There has been limited research into this area in history. Most notable are the works of Andrew Mutthauser, a third era priest of Noctoria, discussing the process of Hankaniri. Quote:
"A soul can't leave a restless mind. Removing consciousness from biology will render the soul blind to the death of its host. This corrupts the divine morphology of the host and leads to the hankaniri victims being how they are."
While independent testing should still be performed in this avenue, it is likely that the immortality gained through Hankaniri is inherently corrupt and not useful for any practical purposes beyond the existing uses of Hankaniri.
There are two figures from distant history rumoured to have uncovered a secret to eternal life: Travis Thorne and the Unicorn King. Both born in the second era, there is very little data on their lives, their deaths (or lack thereof), or what they may have uncovered. The story goes that Travis found a way to preserve his life indefinitely, the Unicorn King (who is presumably not a literal unicorn, but even that is unclear with the lack of data), decided to follow in the footsteps of Travis and keep watch over him. Travis eventually decided that he no longer wanted to live, so attempted to trigger an apocalyptic event to end his own life. The Unicorn King, along with others, stopped him. It is unclear how.
While that story sounds promising, there are too many versions of it with wildly different explanations for how eternal life was realised for it to be useful, at least at this stage. If more information comes to light (and I will be assigning one of my staff to research it) then there may be something worth experimenting with.
For now, so as not to get ahead of ourselves, the project will be focussing on defining what it is to be alive.
Mary Mertle
I have been assigned to research Travis Thorne and The Unicorn King. For now, my project updates will be related to this.
The biggest challenge we face is that there is a great deal of conflicting information about the pair. Some accounts say that Travis died, others say he is still alive. There is even one far-fetched claim that he is hosting an unending party on an island somewhere. Others state that this party is on a mountaintop.
Separating the fact from fiction is going to be a challenge, but for now I will add any information to this log, true or false, to be sorted through.
The most promising document I have come across (supporting document EL1) is an account of these events written in the third era. The account is from a Koltarog newspaper and was published as part of a project celebrating heroes of the past. The article itself admits to lacking clarity on some points, but its version of events are that Travis Thorne created a potion which granted him immortality. He gave this potion (or possibly its recipe) to a select few followers. Travis was power hungry and obsessed with a prophecy. Although the article does not state what this prophecy is, it is supposedly related to the end of the world. It names four heroes, Steven Bishop, Helden Artz, Cauri Eckle and Faelen Maraen, who it cites as putting a stop to Travis Thorne. Finally, the article casts doubt on the role played by the Unicorn King, stating that he may have been in allegiance with Travis, or fighting against him, and suggests that the circumstances of Travis's death were debated even then, stating that some accounts tell of Travis killing himself.
As far as our project goes, this potion and/or its recipe are the important things to be looking for. The names of these heroes is another point of further inquiry. Perhaps they were able to acquire this potion or its recipe. If the Unicorn King still lives, a contemporary account of events may be possible to acquire, which again could lead to this potion or its recipe.
In some of the more tribal regions of Koltarog, there are oral histories passed down. Unfortunately, much of this is passed down as song, so a lot of what has happened is obscured by metaphor. Nevertheless, I was able to speak to a tribal wise-woman, who, after significant bribery, was willing to tell me the verses of the song passed down in her tribe (supporting document EL2)
The song appears to name The Unicorn King: Aelgar. It is possible this is referring to someone else, but unlikely. The mention of the elements is interesting. It dates the events to the end of the First Era, if the tales of raging elementals bringing an end to the first era are to be believed. To me, and I will stress this is my own subjective interpretation, it implies that Travis and/or The Unicorn King may have been involved in the elemental cataclysm as well. Perhaps exploration of the elemental planes could reveal clues.
Another avenue of research I wanted to take was to check mage guild records from Koltarog. Not that the country is particularly famed for its mages guild, but something as monumental as this should have records. Unfortunately, while I was there, I was denied access to the records. Local Bohoori offices are putting pressure on the guild for infomration, but so far to no avail.
There is a temple of Mentecrius on a mountaintop not too far from the research centre. I will head there to gather more information.
There are a number of contemporary artworks that have survived, depicting the events. Unfortuantely, I cannot attach these as supporting documents as I have had no means of copying them. Nevertheless, I can say that they are all conflicting. Some show a wizard fighting a literal unicorn. Some show a wizard fighting a man in armour adorned with a horn. Others show the "iconic heroes" and other omit them. Some even show the wizard riding a unicorn fighting a group of people. Often, the backgrounds are coloured with vibrant reds, whites, blues and browns, which may imply some relation to the turning of the era.
For now, further research is needed. While I do have other accounts, most of these are modern, conflict with contemporary accounts, and are entirely unverifiable, so will not be added into the supporting documents.
Terven Hallside
After a week of brainstorming and discussion, the team has arrived at a conclusion for a definition of "life" that is useful to the project's real goals
For the purposes of Bohoori research, the most practical definition for life, at least in context of what we are aiming to extend, is a continued sane consciousness attached to a physical form on the material plane where the consciousness is able to control the physical actions of the physical form.
By this definition, Hankaniri is not promising at all, as the victims invariably end up insane. It is possible that tweaks to the method could yield favourable results, but currently a lot of that is behind divine magic and inherently uncontrolable by mortals, at least directly. I have been made aware of another project, being spearheaded by none other than Vander, which aims to bridge the gap between the arcane and the divine. Such research is outside the scope of this project, but should his team's research yield results, it could be applicable to using Hankaniri as a basis for longevity. I will send word to the team congregating at Stanton Henrickson's resort that regular updates would be appreciated. Of course, the facilities there are yet to be built, so I don't know how soon an update is realistically going to come.
The story of Travis Thorne remains promising and Mary has successfully uncovered new information. If a potion is capable of granting eternal life then it should be possible through arcane means, even if it requires the use of divine physical components to brew the potion. I expect the solution in potion form will be something of an "outside the box" idea. Ingredients and incantations surrounding the arcane elements of life and death have already been extensively explored and no such elixir of life has yet been discovered on that path. Perhaps something more specific to the effects of aging, or how consciousness exists. Again, the latter sounds like it would be associated with divine magic.
Orivand Fell
A group of Bohoori scouts near Mora uncovered some documents that may be relevant to this project. First, they found a journal of one Major Cussock, a fourth era major in the Praectus army. The full journal is available in the supplementary materials, but to sum up what we are taking from it:
Construction on the conversion machine has begun. It is to be tested by General David Alcorn in his settlement on the Murtaag glacier. As much as I would enjoy testing this, myself, this facility has limited human specimens to use for testing of such apparatus. The procedure appears invasive, so it is likely that it would cause death when not operated properly.
Mystical Maelstrom: The Enigmatic Era of Travis Thorne and The Unicorn King
Bromley the Bold, History Correspondent
During the Third Era, whispers of a legendary elixir that purportedly granted eternal life stirred the imaginations of many. The renowned wizard, Travis Thorne, was said to have crafted this mystical concoction, relying on its properties to become immortal. Travis's thirst for immortality led to the creation of the elixir, which, it was rumored, he distributed among a select few loyal followers.
Travis Thorne's quest for ultimate power, fueled by his obsession with an obscure prophecy, cast a shadow over the world. This prophecy, obscured by the sands of time, was believed to herald the end of days.
Heroes who emerged from the shadows to challenge Travis Thorne's sinister designs were none other than the iconic Steven Bishop, Helden Artz, Cauri Eckle, and Faelen Martaen. Together, they set out on a perilous quest to destroy the villainous wizard.
In a twist of fate, the elusive Unicorn King emerged as a figurehead in this critical juncutre. History enthusiasts debate his role, some suggesting he was a mastermind orchestrating the entire plit with Travis Thorne and others claiming he joined forces with the iconic heroes.
The climactic battle against Travis Thorne was a spectacle of willpower versus willpower, as it has been recounted. However, our accounts contain inconsistencies; they hint that Travis willingly succumbed to the forces of righteousness, vanquishing himself. We were unable to clarify the exact circumstances surrounding his ultimate demise.