We recovered the remains of a kite, its leather and bone frame smashed to pieces in the wet grass.

A survey of the crash site yielded the discovery of a tattered scroll and a bronze cube of a size no larger than a baseball.

Runes worked in the bronze glimmered even in the dwindling light of dusk, providing clues as to its nature.

It is a keystone, and though much of the scroll was destroyed by rainwater, what remains has been translated here:

"The maiden is gone. I go in search of my lost love, up spiraling staircases, ladders, ramps, and sometimes reach dead-ends where the only path is to scale the outer walls. My handholds the talons of the gargoyles.

(illegible)

…they disguise themselves - some can be recognized only by the mantras they chant. Learn these well, and avoid the monsters who wander this tower endlessly."

Several lines of inscription could not be translated, and we conjecture that a second keystone may have been lost during the flight from the tower.

We have composed these songs with inspiration from the unknown contents of the cryptic passages.

released May 29, 2022