Date: 6 August 2025
Chronicle Day: Day 130
Abercrombie’s recollection, frae the funeral pyre tae the sea’s edge and the axe that draws blood.
We held the funeral. A beautiful ceremony.
Glynn’s memory honoured. The stone felt heavier than ever.
We arrived back in Port Macquarie, ahead o’ Rudy, Kaz, and the rest.
Dart and Fluffy—whose true name is Gilbert (nae tae be confused wi’ our elder kin)—
had been off-the-books investigators, pokin’ around the Salty Swallow and its crew.
Ryn’s been tinkerin’ since we returned. Somethin’ quiet. Somethin’ precise.
Rudy brought grim news:
- Throsh’s village: utterly destroyed
- No signs o’ entry
- A hole found—an Alone hole, a prison system o’ old
Runes were found:
- On buildings, wreckage, and stone
- Same as those seen on the Swallow, Kaz’s axe, and the Kraken
- Throsh copied them into his sketchbook
Dart mentioned caves near the wreck—worth investigatin’.
The next morn, Thom and his kin arrived.
Gilbert Whalan’s progeny. Ryn and my nephew.
They moved intae my room.
I took Glynn’s, as next o’ kin.
Gwendolin and Loretta stayed in Mount Druitt.
Rudy had slept there. I nearly chastised him,
but reckoned he’d nae ken the weight o’ that stone.
Dart secured passage aboard a ship captained by Jippery Slim and his brother Slipper Jim.
Ryn now walks wi’ both feet.
Was it restored? Magic? Miracle? He’s no said.
We boarded. Headed for the caves.
Sea monsters had been sighted near the wreck.
Rudy and Kaz dove overboard, inspectin’ the hull—no runes found.
Then came the Kuotoa—seekin’ Kaz’s axe.
We fought. We held.
Kaz fell, but Rudy restored him.
The axe remains in his grasp.
“The stone was heavy. The sea was watchin’. And the axe still draws breath.”
