Cavernous Maws

The vines behind the maw began to shake and vibrate as if the maw had come alive! Soon, I felt enveloped in the air (or really the breath) that I had felt coming from the maw in East Ronfaure. Everything around me started to merge into a sea of color and shapes and soon (much like when I use my warp spell) I felt myself in what can only be described as an "ocean of nothingness." Soon, I heard a strange metallic voice asking questions I did not know how to answer (I couldn't even tell if I understood what the voice was saying at all). Then appeared to me a black, cat-like creature where, I can only assume, the voice came from. At once, the cat thrust me into the nothingness and I felt myself falling. I cannot recollect how much time had passed but I soon felt a bone-crushing impact.

As I awoke, I found myself in what seemed to be Sauromugue Champaign - but different somehow. Above me (as I was lying on the ground) were a few soldiers. They questioned me and one looked as if he was about to kill me. Another intervened on my behalf and eventually they all agreed that I was a civilian and should be leaving the battle field at once. I overheard their discussion about the same sort of Cavernous Maw I had gone into in Rolanberry Fields. They spoke of a number of places where the maws had materialized and they debated the reasons why the maws might have appeared. I learned that the maws had been sighted by others in the same places I'd found them myself. I began to feel that the maw linked me to this place somehow and I decided to return to Rolanberry Field to explain to the other adventurers what had happened to me. I figured by now, the adventurers who had gone into the maw, like myself, would be returning to Rolanberry Fields. I got to my feet and found I had a pure white feather in my hand. It seemed odd to me that I'd have this in my hand but even so, I put it in my Gobbie Bag and started walking toward Rolanberry Fields.

As I ventured through Sauromugue Champaign, I realized that, while this was still Sauromugue Champaign, this wasn't the Sauromugue Champaign that I knew. Ramparts and walls that were only ruins in my Sauromugue Champaign, where fully built and outfitted here. Vegetation that did not see growing in my Sauromugue Champaign was growing here. Beasts and animals that I'd never seen before, roamed the hills in this Sauromugue Champaign. I began to believe, that I had stepped back in time - somehow - possibly to the time of the Great Crystal War (strange that we had just had a Crystal War event put on by the Moogles recently)!?

Through Rolanberry Fields, things looked much the same as they did in Sauromugue Champaign; what was once old to me, looked new here. I prayed to Altana that I'd find the Cavernous Maw in the same place I'd found it in my time and thus be able to get back. As I neared the area where I'd found the maw, I saw it again, but instead of anchored in the ground as it was in my time, this maw floated and writhed above the ground as if it were alive! When I approached, I remembered the white feather in my Gobbie Bag. I pulled it out to have a look at it and when I did, the breath from the Cavernous Maw enveloped me just as before. I was sucked into the nothingness again and, in what felt like no time at all, was again standing in the Rolanberry Fields of my time, with the same adventurers standing around with even greater looks of disbelief painted upon their faces.

I described what had happened to me and after they felt it was sure enough they'd be able to return, they too entered the maw to look for their friends. Before leaving, they mentioned to me that they'd heard on their linkshell that Cavernous Maws had appeared in many locations other than the ones I'd found them in. I decided to see if I could find a few more because I'd become intrigued by what was happening. I returned through the maw and ended up in the Rolanberry Fields of the past. I ran to Batallia Downs (it too looked like what I'd seen in both Sauromugue Champaign and Rolanberry Fields) and used the maw to get back to the present time. Then I "warped" (I don't know what else to call it) back to Batallia Downs and ran into Jugner Forest.

I'd planned on running through Jugner Forest to La Theine Plateau, then on to Ronfaure to see if the maw I'd seen in East Ronfaure was present in the "past" as well. My plan was circumvented however, as in Jugner Forest I ran into a blockade that looked like it was built by the Orcs. Searching for a bit, and not finding a way through, I decided to give up and return to Batallia Downs and eventually back to my time. This time travel had made me very weary and the only thing I sought now was my Noble's Bed in my Mog House! After resting I might investigate this situation more - but not until I've had a chance to talk with fellow adventurers! This circumstance has gone well beyond affecting just me. These Cavernous Maws are truly changing Vana'diel!