Where shall I teleport to first? Beoth? Too depressing. Perhaps Dynafel, pay Narla Deshu a visit. She’s become too embroiled in Iscobal politics. Ah yes, I think I’ll pay a visit to the City of Bridges. It would be nice to see home again…

I returned to the Durkhal this afternoon to find it waiting for me, the great distance teleportation device I had commissioned De-auana to build for me. I had provided the Wright with a small handheld version that can teleport one person several kilometers to a place they had previously been. My plan is for a much more powerful version, one that can teleport a person or perhaps several people thousands of kilometers or more, potentially to any place in the Ninth World.

There must be something to the hyperboloid shape of the one De-auana has created for me as it’s the same shape as the cypher I gave her for reference. She added two handles on either side, I assume so you can grip it while using it. There’s a smooth rounded piece with green and black swirls embedded in the top of the device. The note De-auana included states it’s a “midnight stone” which apparently comes from an area a long way from Qi, somewhere in Navarene if I remember correctly. She writes here that this stone is what will enable it to send a person greater distances than the cypher it’s based on. As she explains it, the midnight stone also has a self-mending property that will allow the device to be used time and time again, making it more like an artifact than a cypher. That way the user can return from where they teleported, which makes it much more practical than a single-use item that’s pretty much limited to using just for emergency situations.

She couldn’t have delivered it a moment too soon, as the Priesthood has been pressing for the completion of this device. I’m told even Pope Durranet VI has expressed interest in seeing such a teleporter developed. I’m thinking The Order has plans for a large scale version once they see how this one pans out, possibly to be able to get forces past the treacherous Cloudcrystal Skyfields. My hope is that a successful demonstration could earn me rank and privilege, enough to gain me access to the Citadel of the Conduit. Once I familiarize myself with the artifact and how to employ it I will test it out, making sure to take copious notes throughout the process.

I now have an understanding of how to operate the device. Each handle is on a pivot, where one is pushed forward and the other is pulled back. This twists the bottom portion while the top half that holds the midnight stone stays stationary; the torsion is what activates the device. The operator continues to hold onto the handles as both the operator and the device are teleported to someplace the user has already visited. I’ve used short distance teleportation cyphers in my research so I was comfortable with the process of teleporting. I’ve gotta admit, my excitement and anticipation are building for my maiden voyage. For my destination I’m envisioning the City of Bridges in Ghan, the place of my childhood. I am now about to twist the handles and in moments I will be standing on the platforms looking out to sea as when I was a young boy. Then I will return here and report my findings to the Order.

A green and black essence is starting to flow around me… I think it’s working…

Success! The device works brilliantly. I am no longer in my place in the Durkahl. It has successfully teleported me to-

Wait… this cannot possibly be the City of Bridges. There is no sea before me, there are no bridges between platforms. Instead I’m in a wooded landlocked place. I see a city behind a large wall at the edge of a huge forest and I’m surrounded by more tents and campsites than I can count. I can see several buildings in the city rising above the walls; a couple of giant stone automatons stand before a pyramid, a humongous egg-shaped structure reaches high above the walls among several towers, and I can see other smaller buildings just inside the walls. By the size of the place, I would guess it houses a significant population. Nothing like Qi, of course, but it could easily accommodate the entire population of the City of Bridges, which it certainly is not. Why do I not recognize this place? The device was supposed to bring me to a place I’ve already been. Nothing about this place is familiar. I’m absolutely certain I’ve never been here.

I need to find out where I’ve been teleported to so I can determine how effective the device is. I approach some of the campers that are all around me to get a sense of where I am. I’m told I’m just outside a city called Cheloh. Yeah, this is a place I have certainly never heard of, much less ever visited. The people camping outside it are pilgrims of sorts, having traveled great distances so they can- something about rebirth or something. I try to get information about the places they’ve come from but I don’t recognize any of the names. I must’ve been brought to somewhere in the Beyond. I would really like to be able to tell the Order how far I was able to reach with the teleporter.

As I try to nail down my whereabouts from these pilgrims, one finally declares that we are in the lands of the spirits. It takes a minute for it to sink in for me… the lands of the spirits… the Spiritlands! I am amongst the Gaians! I need to return before they discover a potential enemy in their midsts. Let’s see… I pull the handles in the opposite directions as I had originally… nothing’s happening. Why am I not teleporting?! There’s got to be- oh no. The midnight stone in the top… it has disintegrated. Without this device functional I have no way of returning. I’m trapped in Lostrei with the Gaians, the people with whom the Order of Truth is preparing to go to war!