122.2

With a with a dry ozone smell and a deep thrumming that causes your teeth to ache, the floor begins to ripple and morph, rising into a topographical map of the Valley! Flowsteel extrudes beneath your hands to form a control panel. With growing confidence, you begin to manipulate the device.

Soon, the flowsteel is shifting like water in response to your commands. You determine how to switch the map to a top-down image of the arcology’s levels. You quickly enhance the image so you can see a detailed view of your surroundings, and your eyes widen. There is a tiny representation of the partial tunnel collapse you had to navigate. And there you can see the flowsteel rippling in a flat pool where you remember a flooded maintenance passage. The map is a live representation of the arcology.

Exhaust any number of other features.

This map can be a valuable resource, but you need to reference it relative to the markers you’ve already placed. Even as you begin to navigate the displays, the thrumming seems to be getting quieter. You may get only a couple of chances to view the relevant maps.

YOU CAN READ ONE ENTRY FOR EVERY TWO MARKERS ON THE CRYPTIC WAYFINDER:

A) Chart a Course to the Arteries.

You focus the map on the arterial passageways and can see the telltale rippling sign of deep water. It looks like the route is completely blocked by flooding. You won’t be able to make it there without some means of breathing underwater. If such a device exists, the Ranger Lunn would know of it. For that matter, he may already have something in his collection of rare artifacts and curiosities from afar that could help.

B) Chart a Course to the Verdant Sphere.

The passageways to the Verdant Sphere seem to be completely choked with twisting knots of vines or roots. As you look closer, however, you see an open space where the vines end well short of clusters of the local mushrooms (themselves rendered in minute but precise detail). Perhaps the mushrooms hold the growth at bay somehow. You determine that the only way to know for sure is to visit the Mycelial Conclave and see for yourself.

C) Chart a Course to the Arboretum of Memory.

The passageways to what appears to be a carefully arranged copse of trees seem clear of flooding or strange plant growths—possibly because the routes are sealed off by heavy vault doors. You’ve encountered these before in the arcology. All were shut, and whatever alloy they were made of resisted the strongest cutting tools the expedition brought.

As you scan away from the passageways, the flowsteel shifts quickly into a series of habitation blocks. Suddenly, you stop and zoom in. The map shows one of the vault doors in the Silent Dormitories of the Estians, but this one is open! If you inspect it, perhaps you can figure out how the Estians opened these doors.

Discard the Cryptic Wayfinder.