There was no sound save for the gentle scratch of pen on paper in the dark and dank chamber where Shia had set up her alchemist's tools in the depths of the prison. Here, the only source of light came from a candle that had neared the end of its life, the many pages filled with notes owing a debt to its sacrifice.
"Justicar Andor," the report had begun, "As was obvious to even those with no skill in the arts of alchemy, the samples collected contained soil not native to the Abyssal lake of fire, and as I examined the sample through a magnifying scope, I noticed shells and crystallized sand as one would expect from a shoreline."
The girl had lifted her pen from the paper's surface, narrowed eyes now looking over what she had written and then the notes spread atop her desk, then back again as she resumed.
"I thought to break these grains of sand to their base in an attempt to find out more about their composition, and found that the acid I had used to accomplish this had no effect. After further, similar experiments and observing the effects of the sand coming into contact with water, earth and flesh, I have come to the conclusion that the collected sand had been formed over time from the constant crash of acid waves onto rock to the point where the acid itself had become part of its composition."
Another pause and a quiet sigh which threatened the flame that already so barely illuminated the page, and Shia ignored its gentle dance as it so desperately tried to stay alight, too occupied with her thoughts to be bothered by its plight. And then the pen resumed its faint scratch.
"It is my opinion, based on the evidence and the results obtained from my experiments, that the dragon encountered in the Abyssal lakes of fire was not only alien to that plane, but also to that of Shadow, and it's origins instead lie where great bodies of acid would be found."
"With your permission, I will now focus on narrowing down which of these planes we are more likely to encounter the beast, and to its motives. From there, we will learn how great of a threat it poses to the security of Sigil and what preparations should be made to counter it."
~ Shia
A graceful flick of her wrist had left the elegant mark of her signature, and once she had vacated her chambers, the closing of the door behind her had extinguished the flame and all was still and silent again.
The Findings.
