Vahl Expedition Report/Fragment/Text

Exped Ldr Sharakh Vahl

I am finished. We huddle still, deep within these ruins, but there is no warmth in it. Where there was camaraderie and trust, there is now only chill.

It was such a simple thing. How could it have done so much? The last message I wrote, both for my peace of mind and theirs, false in stated intent but still well-meaning... Shala discovered it, I care not how. The important part is that she has discovered my deception. A simple little gesture of false hope, to be sure, but now she has none at all. The warmth is gone, and with it trust.

We were doomed before, to be sure, but knowing that my own meddling robbed us of joy in our last hours makes it worse. The camp looks to us. When we were close and trusting there was warmth and hope; we have drifted apart, and so the vah around us suffer for it. More than that, Shala looked to me for guidance and I betrayed that trust.

Always manipulating, always deceiving, always meddling and grasping at control I haven't earned. I should have known it wouldn't have lasted, that I would fumble it and drop it and break it to bits. Try as I might, I couldn't hide my nature from her. It has been our undoing.