[Curio] Petey Burro: Day 0

This is, admittedly, not the kind of chapter I saw myself writing.

After hearing a set of odd news in Rumba Sumba, I've relocated myself to Oldhomes eastern marshlands, to a remote campground the locals know as Petey Burro. Assumedly an archaeological digsite, it seems to not be truly affiliated with the guild I previously mentioned in my logs, but ran privately by an individual researcher by the name of Pete Muzo.

My reason for being here is the alleged rumors of "aliens" spotted rather violently combing through the area for yet undetermined reasons.

*Note: The word the southerners use indicates these intruders have potentially descended from the skies, which I personally find absurd. But noting the incident of the World Pillar and the notes and findings of maiden Brilla of hall Ironmaw predating the events, I suppose we can no longer afford defaulting to absurdity without confirmation.

Upon my arrival it was clear the news had traveled, but seemingly attracted only a very certain set of characters. Many of the southerners seem to take this phenomenon as a form of entertainment, and I've witnessed more than a few of them outright admitting they don't believe in the validity of Muzos claims; they have simply arrived to the marshes to enjoy the buzz and thrill of the situation. There are those who seem to be genuinely interested in helping ascertain the purpose and existence of these "aliens" and secure the safety of Muzo and his site, but these souls are surprisingly few. Interviews will be attempted later on when I'm more settled in the area again.

I've previously been acquainted with some of the few locals who call these lands home year round. There are few established and organized communities in this part of Oldhome, and most of the people I've spoken to admit they came in as nomadic stragglers themselves. Some of them remain this way, while others have bonded together and formed their own circles, to use familiar terminology. Part of my plan for the beginning part of this chapter is to seek them out and obtain more first account information about the events of the past week, when the issues allegedly started manifesting.

On my hike from where I arrived to the campsite itself, I spotted several signs of the marshes themselves being in a state of light disarray. Foreign objects (papers, mostly. The ones I found were admittance forms from the campsite) have been scattered across the wilderness, some fresher than others. The local wildlife, which I found during my last visit to be mostly amphibious and on the calmer side, are exhibiting signs of stress and hostility I've learned are quite uncharacteristic for them.

My goal during this visit is thus- to ascertain whether these rumored figures are real, and to document the proceedings in case this incident leads to something bigger worth logging into the history archives of the library. If this log is delivered and processed at a later date, you can assume something worthy of note was found during my stay.

-------------------------

(509 words)

In which one librarian arrives to the bog to write about claims of aliens.

-------------------------

Name of Event: Close Encounters of The Swamp Kind

Focus Curio: Osk
Guest Curio: --