2: Charon Doesn't Make Change

The S’pht have preserved a myth, throughout their long period of slavery, about a lost clan of their race which abandoned Lh’owon before the Pfhor invaded. The ten clans which stayed were destroyed or disbanded after the S’pht were conquered, the survivors scattered as slaves throughout the Pfhor empire. If this mythical eleventh clan survived, then it has had a thousand years to grow and learn since leaving Lh’owon. My S’pht believe that there is a way to contact them somewhere on the planet, and that is what we are searching for. The S’pht rebellion against the tyranny of the Pfhor will certainly fail unless the lost clan is located. Explore the area and return here.

/-/S’pht-Translator-Active/-/ I felt S’bhuth at burning dawn. The endless war rages about us, and yet we, the S’pht’Kr, cannot fight. S’bhuth stops us. He bled on me, straining. He says to not let more S’pht feel him. He says more will destroy him, that he was meant not to be alone.

/-/S’pht-Translator-Active/-/ We leave this message for any who might find it, but we have barricaded off this area, to make it difficult. S’bhuth has gone into a deep trance; we know that we’ll soon be leaving Lh’owon, but we don’t know how. The border fighting has ceased, the other clans know something is going on, but can’t see the grass for the fires. We have sent emissaries to the other clans, but only S’bhuth knows what messages they carry.

/-/S’pht-Translator-Active/-/ We are leaving behind many F’lickta to keep the ducts clean and working. They should be able to build one of their stable societies here— there is plenty of food. We would ask that if another clan comes here that they would respect these creatures and leave them to continue their work and preserve our home on Lh'owon.

/-/S’pht-Translator-Active/-/ The S’pht’Mnr attacked us. S’bhuth is entranced, and we are powerless to fight back. The outer villages have been slaughtered without their defenders. The attackers have overrun and killed most of us who were in the compound.

/-/S’pht-Translator-Active/-/ Only those of us in the central chamber have survived. They won’t likely find these chambers, but we cannot survive here forever.

/-/Pfhor-Translator-Active/-/ Report from Science Manager 7 ZONE 29-s [Lh’owon Garrison] We’ve been studying these beasts for some time, but periodically we’ve been forced to kill our specimens and capture new ones because they become unpredictably upset at our presence. It has been difficult to study them for any length of time, but their numbers in the surrounding caves are impressive. The caves must go deeper than we have been able to ascertain. Our scientific studies have revealed that these creatures are genetic ancestors of the S’pht, although in morphological terms this is absurd.

/-/Pfhor-Translator-Active/-/ Report from Science Manager 7 ZONE 29-s [Lh’owon Garrison] Also, they don’t eat. They take energy from the sludge that surrounds them, using a method of energy transfer that is unknown to us and beyond our depth of study. Variations of these creatures live in the active volcanic regions of Lh’owon and there have been two sightings deep in the Central Garrison’s geothermal station. In no cases were the creatures aggressive like they are here.

/-/Pfhor-Translator-Active/-/ Directive from Garrison Command//Hlford To: Leader, Station 29-s Warning: Damage to dam on the Minor River has caused severe damage to the water system in zone 6, and flooding of this same river could cause catastrophic damage (?sarcasm) to station 29-s within two hours. Station 29-s has been ordered to evacuate to Garrison Command.

/-/Pfhor-Translator-Active/-/ Report from Science Manager 7 ZONE 29-s [Lh’owon Garrison] We have explored many of the surrounding caves, but continually find the combative creatures the S’pht call F’lickta. Archeological evidence suggests that this was once a center of S’pht life, though it appears to have been abandoned after an ancient battle. The quality of the machinery is quite extraordinary, and most of the computer terminals are still functional even after two thousand years.

/-/Pfhor-Translator-Active/-/ Report from Science Manager 7 ZONE 29-s [Lh’owon Garrison] This terminal is teleport—linked to others that we installed in caves that are not easily accessible. We also found some additional tunnels by blasting away barricades that were apparently erected during the ancient battle.