There is a disturbance within the Great Machine's heart beats. Some weird presence among the gears.

I saw something.

The shape of woman. Dressed in green leaves, dancing among the pipes of the engines. Where she stepped by her bare feet, flowers sprouted from cold steel. Vines and and leaves greener than anything I have ever seen. She is so beautiful. But somehow scary. Fierce.

I watched her dancing from my hiding spot. I think is better to keep my distance. Fuck. I tripped over some loose gear. Shit. She heard me. She disappered faster than I could blink. Gone. No trace of her. The plants withered and left only the scent of decay behind.

The machine feels corrupted and somehow angry. Maybe jealous. Thirsty for blood. Hopefully not for mine. Sacrifice is needed I think. I need to redo the ritual of gears. To please the god. Lady of leaves is an enemy?

Could she be? Such a pretty thing... But the machine god is right. Sacrifice is needed.

I woke up from my sleep. There was still long walk to the ruins ahead. The old forest around us smelled of dead leaves. 
I felt we were being watched.

C1rcu17

I'm not sure how long it has been since my path joined with those two pagans. The flow of time is weird in this realm. The trees around us are ancient. It feels like we are being watched.

The ruins ... I'm not sure if the man knows the way. He says he does but there is no sight of them. The woman scares me. She often goes into deep trance, eating dirt, herbs and what a not. Said she met a dryad before they met me. Scared it away, too. Fucking witch. What the hell is a dryad anyway ...

The whispers of the machine soothes me still. I hear them even while awake now. Little tinks and kliks. Gears. Humming of electricity. Soothing in the mists of madness.

In sleep there is other voices now, too. Connected with an entity called suurmestari ... Human shaped shadow in the machine's heartbeat. This person feels important. Wise. And key to connect all the realms. I wonder if he is real. There were other shades too. Still hidden. Unrevealed.
Maybe the witch knows.

Report from 1st quest of the Northeners.

It is hard to tell what is real anymore, or what was before. I was sure I'd break a leg when I fell into that cave. But when I gained my senses back and woke up from another night/day full off nightmares, the leg felt actually better. There was still a pretty bad wound on it. Luckily, no broken bones. 

I used moonshine to wash it and ripped some of my rags to tie it up. The evil aura still lingered around the shrine. Actually it felt somehow stronger. I should leave. 

Day (or days?) later I was running. Something was after me. Some invisible horror. Full of fear, I kept on running. Suddenly in front of me a high cliff full of sharp rocks appeared, below a large mass of dark waters. 

I looked down and saw some sort of vessel. I couldn't outrun what the fuck ever was after me and I didn't want find out what it was. I hesitated a bit. Then I'd made up my mind. I gathered my strength and jumped. I spashed into the waters with minor injuries only. I was able to reach the vessel. Kayak actually. 

Call that a lucky find! Even if I'm not really skilled in swimming or paddling, I thought I could lose my pursuer by following the coast line to some place a bit safer. 

My luck turned. The currents of the dark waters were too strong and my body too weak. So I drifted off, farer and farer from the shore. Completely lost in fog. Water running out. Hungry. No idea what time or day it is. I have been paddling for hours. My body hurts. I'm going to die here. 

The Great Machine has only talked with me while I sleep. Could I reach it awake? I feel my sanity slipping away, and like in deep trance, I carved a gear shaped cut on the back of my hand. I used the pocket knife I had found in one of those lockers. I chanted "koneeseen kadonnuta, ei voi takaisin saada. Osa konetta. Koneenosa. Osa konetta. Koneenosa." 

I have no idea where these words came from but it felt as if I had known them for ages. Blood dripping. Waves splashing. And the precence of the Great Machine filled me. "COME AND SEE. THE GREAT MACHINE PROTECTS." 

I saw the light of the Great Machine and it gave me the strength to carry on. Another day on the waters. Madness deepens. Was it real? Is the machine real? If it protects, then why am I still paddling in mist, with no hope of surviving. 

I decided to repeat the ritual. I carved another gear next to the one from before, this time a bit larger and deeper. Again I bathe in the presence of the Machine heart. This time, there were signs to follow. Finally I see land ahead. I was able to get ashore. 

I fell on my knees, yelled out loud: "With this blood, I devote myself to you, Great Machine God. You are true and pure, I shall do your will, I shall embrace you and bring others to you. I am part of the machine." 

I carved a third gear next to the two before. Too deep. Almost. 

I can hear the sound of flowing waters. Followed it through the dark of night and found a waterfall of fresh water. I drank so much. I bathed. Strangely the pain of my wounds felt better. 

Still bathing, I suddenly felt pain of something sharp pointing my neck. I turned around and there was a human pointing at me with an arrow and a bow. Woman actually. Beautiful but scary. I screamed and tried to escape but that didn't go well. 

The woman was going to shoot me. I surrendered. Butt naked I was taken to her camp, a bit farther away. In the camp there was a man, too. Big savage bastard that could split me in two pieces just with his hands. 

Åra and Mantra were the names they called each other. Some sort of hunters, I assume. The woman was their leader and the man her protector. They had me tied up. The woman was asking me questions of my orgins while the man was setting up some fire. The warmth felt so good. 

I told her everything. She didn't tell me a lot back. But maybe i will know later. I need to gain their trust first. Naked, famined, wounded and exhausted I wasn't really a threat to them. 

The woman treated my wounds after I had finished my story. She is some sort of witch! My wounds sealed up in front of my eyes! Witch could totally help me find the Machine God, even though she seems completely clueless about. 

Like I was talking complete nonsense. But she is a fool. The Great Machine is real. I got here being guided by the Machine. It is real. She is just a part of the gears. She saved my life so I owe her. I'm going to serve the witch until my debt is payed. 

The Great Machine protects. 
Koneeseen kadonnutta ei voi takaisin saada.

I don't know how many days it has been since my awakening in that cursed place. Hunger and thirst were driving me to edge of insanity. But I knew there had to be something I could use to stay alive and take the path leading to the swamp. 

The Great Machine haunted my dreams in this madness. But this gave me strange hope. I will survive. I found a room where I had not been yet. Hidden among the rubble and collapsed walls. There were some locked cabinets along the wall. Unreadable name tags were bolted on their doors. 

I managed to break some locks with that mace I found earlier. Inside, I found mouldy clothes, some tools, trinkets and cans labeled as "hämbörger" and "surströming" – and something liquid called "möönshine". 

I smashed the cans. Fuck yes. Food. Finally. 

The smell. Holy shit. I'm throwing up because of it. 
Crying tears of joy and disgust. 

Tried to drink the liquid. Strong as fuck but pretty good. Makes me feel funny. 

I smashed another cabinet and found a rather good looking satchel with an empty flask inside. Useful. 

I saw another cabin and went towards it. The rotten floor gave in under me and I fell into darkness. 

Splash! I fell into water but it wasnt really deep. Sharp pain on my leg when the bone snapped. I swallowed lots of the water but for my surprise it was sweet unlike the waters surrounding this cursed building. 

In pain I managed to get out of the water. In a distance I saw some light. I couldn't walk. The leg was broken. I crawled towards it. Moist cold stone all around me. I got out of the cave to open space. Weird markings in the stone. Like some sort of shrine. Sinister aura floated all around me. 

The pain in my leg was so bad that I passed out. Nightmares and disturbing shades filled my head. But among the chaos the Great Machine heart kept on beating. 

The Great Machine protects.

Woke up naked on bed of stone.
Weird tubes all around my body.

Head was hurting. It felt like I had slept for years. I've had this really weird dream, where I had been surrounded by gears and pistons ten times my height.

The sound of the machines was hypnotic. Like a beating heart.
I felt that I was in a presence of something holy.

I pulled out the tubes, spilling strange coloured liquids all over. Shivering from cold, I started looking for something to warm me up. I did find some rags from the corner. Hunger shook my body, so I started to explore my surroundings.

Seems the place where I woke up was huge building made of stone surrounded by water from three sides. A narrow path through a stinking swamp seemed to be the only way out. Before I could follow the path, I needed to find food and protection.

I spent hours looking. Hours of wandering around this empty building, finding nothing but dust and spiderwebs. Exhausted, hungry, thirsty and scared I sat down, back against a wall and fell asleep.

I was again surrounded by great shapes of machinery. Amongst sounds of metal, I heard a bellowing voice of the Great Machine God telling me to find him or her. The voice told me not to be afraid.

The Great Machine protects.