I write down these words on the eve of the conclusion of this Grand Hunt, whether it results in failure or success. My name is Benjamin Sutton, a noble of the Empire, whatever worth such a thing might have in these Wildlands that I now find myself traversing. Sometimes I wonder why I chose to leave that place, the Great Empire, bastion of humanity. I would be lying if I said that it wasn't mostly for freedom, even though it is a word that I still find difficult to properly define. The walls that protected me, they were all too stifling. While the rules that supposedly kept order were nothing if not oppressive, and although I have since learned that the free Wildlands might have their own brand of oppression, I don't think I regret leaving behind the Empire's own particular kind of oppression. I write this down in hopes that I can put to rest the small misgivings that I may sometimes have about starting this little adventure. It has never occurred to me to go back to the Empire, not out of fear of reprisal, but because I believe my spirit will never again accept such a barbed and small cage, no matter how much protection it may offer.

With that said, I believe I may have spent way more writing than necessary in my own background, for which I sincerely apologize to the bored reader of this document, although I do believe it is quite necessary to know where I am coming from. I might leave behind stories now about the adventures that I have experienced up until now, but on second thought, they might not be all that relevant. If they are great enough to merit that they be passed down as important stories, then they might just be redundant for whoever might read this, while if they carry no such weigh, then it might just be a waste of ink and paper on my part, as well as of time of whoever might be in possession of this and decide to read it in its entirety. It is funny, for as much as I have told myself that this is to be for my eyes only, I still worry about those who might find interest in the contents of this piece of paper.

Greedy as I am, it seems that I have taken still more of this document's space talking about me and my thoughts. So, to avoid the risk of having wasted the entirety of it on the worthless me, I shall start writing about my companions. First I suppose I should talk about the one who accompanied me through most the entirety of this little adventure, Layla, the ascended firefly. What could I really say about her? While we may not have known each other for that long, it is quite certain for me that there is not enough paper in this world or any other for me to properly explain the feelings that I have for her, and yet, perhaps in one single phrase I might let out too much. Of all people in the world, I would say with certainty that she is the one that I sincerely hope would never find this, and yet, perhaps she might be the one other person in the world that I might actually be writing this for, other than myself. As I left the too tight embrace of the Great Father's order, she helped me find the beauty in what the Great Mother's chaos had to offer, while making sure I did not get myself killed by its thorns.

Of my companions, there was none who has half as much of a significance to me as Layla does, for while I met her at the entrance of the Wildlands, all the others I have met at one of the hearts of the Wildlands, the Pool of Cain, from whence came many of them. Although I believe that from a historian's perspective, any of them would be more important to history than she, so I suppose that in the name of interest, as well as hiding the extent of my feelings for her, I should endeavor to write as much as I am capable about them. Most of them were from either Gardia or Entoma. So perhaps it would be good to talk about the one of them that did not belong to either of these countries.

Samson, a Berserker of the Goddess of Tal. What exactly such a position entails, I am not entirely sure, but one thing that I can write with absolute certainty is that he is a fearsome warrior, stronger than any other human I have seen, at moments perhaps surpassing even the mighty Baron Basbazuc who also traveled with us? Although I suppose the Baron would never accept such an assertion as truth and Samson wouldn't truly care about it. It isn't so much that the man is humble, I believe, but that he doesn't see his own strength as something to compare with. No, that might not be quite right. Perhaps it's just that he doesn't really see himself as a person, like any other person. It is quite difficult to explain, but perhaps at the heart of it lies the truth of the Tal that so many scholars desire to know. Of course, I have never broached the subject with him, for as much as he has vowed to protect me for my being supposedly interesting, if ever he should change his mind, I can surely say that it wouldn't then take such a long time for me to no longer walk this earth.

The weapon that Samson carries on his back. I couldn't help but ask him exactly what it is. Its appearance is that of a staff with a saw at the end, not exactly how one might picture a weapon. Perhaps it was created as a tool, or something. As I spoke my thoughts about it, Samson corrected me. “It is a holy relic.” He said. “It destroys the enemies of the Goddess through my actions.” Funnily enough, when I asked for him to be more objective in his answer, Samson obliged. Apparently it's a much more sophisticated weapon of the kind that eventually evolved into the Blades that the Knights of the Empire use. Unfortunately that does leave quite a few questions, such as whether it has some kind of system to link to a person's consciousness. Perhaps the answer is in the blood that it forces its user to spill?

Now I suppose would be a good point to go on to write about my other companions whom I have met at the Pool of Cain. Each of them impressive in their own right right when it comes to combat. I have witnessed with my own two eyes their almost successful attempt at slaying a Dragon, which only ended in failure due to the absurd appearance of a newly ascended Dragon. Two of them are Great Nobles of the Wildlands, the Countess de Trestia, ruler of Entoma and the Baron Basbazuc, ruler of Gardie, while all the others are among their most powerful retainers. Quite impressive company indeed.

First I suppose I should write about those who I know not much about, those who came from Gardie. It is my understanding that ever since Basbazuc became the Baron of Gardie, it has been in a state of almost constant conflict with Entoma, so I suppose it is only natural that they should keep some distance from me, as I spend a considerable amount of my day with Layla, who is from Entoma. Nevertheless, I shall share here what I know about these great warriors.

First, Newton, the ascended honey badger. How to best describe him? I suppose that reckless would be a great start. He just doesn't seem to care about many things, thus, he was by far the best source of information I have when it comes to the other warriors of Gardie. Unlike the others from his country, he is a first generation ascended, and yet he gained considerable fame and status through his prowess alone. It seems that Gardie has a considerable appetite for fighting sports and Newton never lost an official match. In fact, his name wasn't originally Newton, but he gained it as a nickname during his fighting career because he was an unstoppable force, or so he claimed. That fighting career ended when he challenged the Baron to a duel. Funnily enough, Newton didn't give me many details of that fight, which leads me to believe it might have been a thorough beating, however, it seems that the Baron respected his prowess enough to make Newton part of his personal guard.

Thunder, the ascended mongoose, yes this does seem to be his name, is also part of the Baron's personal guard and, of the whole group accompanying the Baron, seems to be the most loyal of them, or at the very least is the most vocal about it. Whether he has any particular reason for having such devotion to his lord, aside from some code of honor, I do not know, for all my inquiries on the matter where met with a refusal to answer and Newton did not know either. I suppose its that loyalty that pushes him to so completely rebuff someone such as me, who seems to have some sort of connection to Entoma. I must say he has impressive reflexes, which I suppose would make his name not that absurd.

The third one I talk about is one whose given name I do not know, Fuchsgart is how everyone else called him, the ascended fox. I surmise that it must be his family name due to how it reminds me of the family name of the Mayor of Palma. Perhaps there might be some kind of naming convention or something. According to Newton, Fuchsgart is a member of a quite old and quite influential family in Gardie, somewhat of a dynastic noble family, although I suppose that they would never dare to take a title of nobility for themselves. He is quite unnerving to be around and if I was being honest, the feeling of talking to him was not unlike when I talked with acquaintances of my father back in the Empire. Unlike the previous two I have talked about, he seems to be quite the possessor of cunning when it comes to fighting, although one would be foolish to think that he was all that behind them in terms of physical abilities. After he humored me for a match of arm-wrestling, I can say for sure that he has a certain amount of strength that no regular human could have. Although I barely beat him, it must be said that my augmented arms are of quite high quality. Newton's assessment of him seems to be that he is “a piece of shit politician, which is too bad, since he can actually fight.” He is also the only one with the Baron that is not part of his personal guard.

The fourth one that I write about is Sergei, the ascended raven. He is a very quiet man. He very rarely talks with anyone, even his fellow countrymen. According to Newton, he is the do-it-all of Gardie. Scout, spy, assassin. It seems that whenever the Baron whats anything that is related to information or is not something strictly above-board, then Sergei is the one he turns to. He is the only one of my companions whose fighting prowess I know nothing about. It seems that during the hunt he is used only to locate the Dragon. Perhaps he just isn't suited to fighting the Dragon? Or maybe it's just that the Baron doesn't wish to show his capabilities to his rivals of Entoma. And while we are on the topic of the Baron...

Where should I start in talking about the Baron Basbuzuc, ruler of Gardie? One would think that most, if not all of the things I heard told about him were rumors, but it seems like every single one them has documents that prove their veracity back in Gardie. I suppose that underestimating anyone that manages to become one of the Great Nobles of the Wildlands would be pure foolishness. Even if this account might end up redundant when analyzed against other documents in the future, I must commit it to writing.

Like most Mutants in Gardie, he was born to a wealthy and influential family. How else would they be ensured access to a Pool of Reorigination in order to ascend? From a young age he was already fairly aggressive and brutal, something which only worsened when his father was caught up in some sort of corruption scandal and lost most of his wealth and influence. Apparently those were trumped up charges to punish his father for being involved in a rebellious movement against the ruler of Gardie, an immortal frog that had lived for close to 300 years at that point.

With vengeance in his heart, Basbuzuc joined the rebellion, eventually becoming one of their most important men of action. It all culminated in his leading the operation that invaded the former Baron's palace. Exact details were not provided to me, but, after being taunted by the former Baron at that place he was enraged and murdered every single person there that favored the former Baron. Being something of a valiant hero figure for the rebellion, he didn't have much difficult installing himself as the new ruler.

As the new Baron of Gardie, it seems he has not softened one bit, leading not only to numerous abuses of people there, but also to a very strained relationships with both Lionia and Entoma. The former due to trade disputes of some kind, while the latter case was because the former Baron of Gardie was something of a protege of the Countess of Entoma.

Personally, I cannot help but wonder about the stability of the current government of Gardie, but I am just and outsider, so I suppose my thoughts on the topic don't have much importance. Also, regardless of any personality issues that he might have, it is undeniable that the Baron Basbuzuc is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to combat ability. During this journey from the Pool of Cain in Lionia to the Pool of Abel in Entoma, these were various moments where our group was attacked by irrational mutants or had to hunt for food. In every single single one of these situations he proved to be a great warrior. The one reason I do not claim his superiority over even the Countess is because of her unique abilities that afford her more options in battle.

Having written some about the people of Gardie that accompany me, I suppose its time that I should write about those from Entoma. They are honestly a really big paradox for me. While in many ways they are the friendliest people I have met in the Wildlands, perhaps due to my friendship with Layla, they have easily the kind of appearance that makes it somewhat difficult for me to feel entirely at ease with them. Honestly, this brings me no end of guilty feelings. Why I am certainly capable of talking and acting normally with them, there is always something within me that is not entirely comfortable which I sometimes feel is something of a betrayal to their good faith. But then, what can I really do about it? They are all ascended from bugs or gained bugs' features from ascending as humans. This is no moral failing on their part, but can one really be blamed for not entirely being comfortable with their appearance?

Moving on, I believe I should talk about them as individuals. Well, I suppose I am about to write about a pair of them instead of a single individual, but then, it seems like their lives are intertwined enough that it shouldn't be a problem. I am talking about the wasp twins, Diana and Artemis. Biologically speaking, it would be absurd to call them twins, as they aren't even the same species, but in all other aspects, it makes complete sense. Artemis, the quiet and dark one, Diana, the bold and bright one. Apparently the two of them ascended at the same time, an extremely rare occurrence.

Perhaps owing to the species they had ascended from, the two of them were quite efficient hunters from the moment they ascended and didn't take all that long for them to catch the attention of the Countess for their abilities. While one of them has a calm, deliberate and calculating demeanor, the other is easily excited, fiery and impulsive. I can only try and deduct that their very different personalities help them cover each others' weaknesses during hunts. To be honest, I can't help but be nervous around them. Having seen them bring the freshest of kills when hunting makes it clear to me that just like regular wasps, they are able to produce the same kind of “mind control” venom. Knowing something of the terrifying things that may be found among insects and the like, I cannot help but question how anyone would be foolish enough to directly antagonize the country of Entoma like the people of Gardie do.

Alana is the name of the ascended mantis that participates in the Grand Hunt. I will be honest, for almost a full day, I had no idea that she was female, after all, unlike the wasp twins, she puts almost no effort whatsoever in attaining a human-like form. When I asked her reason, she simply asked me back why should she put effort into looking more like a human, and I must admit that I couldn't give her a satisfactory answer. She does sometimes morph her claws into hands, but I suppose that is the extent of it. As far as I understand, she is the kind of person that just lives for herself, by her own rules, as long as it doesn't disrupt other people's lives. Unlike the other people from Entoma, she doesn't seem to have any particular loyalty towards the Countess, but it's not like she has any enmity either.

I have to comment on her seemingly supernatural reaction times. Thinking back on it, she was the only one that even managed to wound the Dragon that had just emerged from the Pool, and although the Dragon wounded her back, it actually yielded some useful information: The poison from the Dragon's claw was strong enough that she had to amputate the wounded arm. Even now, as I write this, I suppose my companions are discussing how to deal with it during tomorrow's confrontation. I suppose that it goes without saying that she seems quite mentally strong.

The one I am about to write now is the only man among the people from Entoma traveling with me. Abdul wasn't born in Entoma, which is not all that surprising, since among all the countries in the Wildlands, it seems to be the one with by far the lowest human population. He was born in one of the city-states at the south of the Wildlands that seems to be constantly at war with each other. He would not tell me which city, he was from, he would not tell me why left it or even why specifically why he went to Entoma. I could use my imagination but it would likely lead me to a wrong conclusion, so I shall refrain from it.

He seems to not really mind all that much the fact that he has parts of his body that function exactly like a scorpion's, and yet he puts more effort than any of his companions into hiding his appearance. Despite the full body clothing being considered traditional clothings here in the Wildlands, it is clear that such an attire is usually favored by weaker Mutants, which is not Abdul's case. It's not like he is a particularly quiet man, as many other topics I broached him about, he was quite happy to talk about. In particular, it seems that he harbors quite the devotion towards the Countess, although I never heard the reason for it. I can only imagine it has something to do with his past.

And now, this account reaches its crown jewel in terms of historical interest. It is time to write about the Countess, Isabel de Trestia. Where to start? I suppose I should first get out of the way the most widely known facts about her: Just like Dragons, she is immortal. She rules Entoma. She was once a human, but at some point ascended and acquired several characteristics of spiders. She is fair, but ruthless. Violent, but caring. More than any other of my companions, she is the recipient and giver of such strong emotions that it would be hard to ever consider calling her not a human, no matter how much her form may have changed from the past. From all my companions from Entoma, including Layla, she is spoken of with no less than glowing praise. As for those from Gardie, nobody dares to speak of her in disrespectful tones, with the exception of the Baron himself and even then, it doesn't take much to detect in the the Baron's harsh and boorish words a begrudging acceptance that regardless of Gardie's relative superiority to Entoma in many aspects, the Countess is the only other Great Noble in the Wildlands that he would never dream of challenging to a duel.

As her surname suggests, the Countess claims to have once been ruler of Trestia. While it might not be very well-known in the Wildlands, it is quite an important production center of the Empire, which is why I really had to question her about it. Fortunately, she seemed just as interested to know how her story had been passed down the centuries in the Empire. Alas, there wasn't really anything for me to tell her. The man she says was her father was considered the last ruler of Trestia, and the civil she claims was instigated by her is talked about in history books as having been caused by a crisis of succession that was never resolved, eventually resulting in Trestia becoming a republic. The Countess laughed at the Empire's account of Trestia's history, saying that was nothing like what she remembered. Of course, I cannot discount the very real possibility that she is lying to me, but somehow I believe that to be highly improbable. What would she gain by pushing a narrative that paints her as a cruel butcher of people? That she claims to have assassinated the Emperor later on only makes me believe her all the more. Most official stories of the time claim that a sickness claimed the life of the Emperor, while a few documents in more restricted archives pointed to the fact that not only that Emperor had been poisoned, but that the culprit was never found.

I believe that this last part will have to be censored in any copies of this document that might be taken to the Empire. While her values will clash with many of the Empire's, not just owing to past history she has had with it, but also due to the realities of the Wildlands, I would say that any Emperor would have much to learn from her. To say that she has the kind of wisdom that one may only acquire after living for centuries is beyond the obvious, but there is something else, she also seems to have a kind of flexibility, of tolerance to the new that many would think scarcely possible to be found within someone that is centuries old.

I believe that at this point I might have written enough. The night will not last forever, and tomorrow I plan to witness the end of this Grand Hunt. So near the Pool of Abel, it is not little the amount of fear that we have for the possibility of the two Dragons becoming one. I have little to contribute to that fight, and yet I shall do my best to witness the battle so as to in the future write and talk about the heroic souls that battled in the Grand Hunt.