Wow. Wow! I knew I would find something all the way out here...
Side note before I begin, but I feel like I'm the only traveler actually doing any traveling. Is that rude? I mean, ever since Flint disappeared, Esme seems to be too scared to go off on their own, Chester has never really been the adventuring type (though their curiosity may surpass that of my own), and well, Gael is Gael, so that really just leaves me. Anyway, I'm sure you aren't reading this just to see me complain.
It started with a rumor. It always does, right? The wilds have been a dangerous area to explore since our town was founded, which leads to many stories and rumors of the happenings within. The rumor itself (something about an eldritch force corrupting the wildlife?) is completely false. Mostly, anyway. Oh stars, I'm getting ahead of myself aren't I? I should start from the beginning of my journey.
I packed up my things - plenty of rations, reliable flashlights, and so on - and was granted entry into the vertical gondola that leads out of the Cliffs. Once at the top, I began my hike into the Wilds. I knew it's said to be thick and difficult to traverse, but I didn't expect it to be that bad. Giant roots and loose rocks, creatures scuttling just out of sight; I'll be honest reader, I was terrified. I tried to radio Esme - just to check on them, of course - but all I was getting was static. I managed to find a relatively safe area and set up a temporary camp. The next day, it seemed easier to traverse through the thicket, so deeper in I went.
All of the sudden, get this, the leaves shimmered! That might not sound so amazing, but it was. It was like a wave of silver brushed through each tree, each leaf, one by one.. And it kept happening every hour or so. Obviously, I had to follow and potentially identify its source.
I remember reading something in one of those dusty old books in the library. It said that the Wilds were dangerous because it was alive, and even had a heartbeat of sorts that invigorated it. With that in mind, I trekked onward into the uncharted. Night began to fall, so I settled somewhere slightly open, but I must have left my pack unzipped because when I woke up, my entire supply of rations were gone. My marshmallows, nutrient bars, everything. I blame those silvery pulses (which oddly made it very easy to sleep) and I didn't hear the (possibly large, fanged) creatures robbing me of my sustenance! I wasn't too stressed out by this - I know how to forage, of course - and I figured marching forward was my best bet.
It was so subtle I didn't realize, but around now I could start to see the cause of the silvery glimmers pulsing through the flora. Some sort of faint pink aura was radiating throughout the forest from a central point. ...Okay, I'll be completely honest here: after walking for another several hours, I stumbled upon this building here. I mean, literally stumbled. Tripped over a root and fell down a hill, hit my head on the base of this structure. I'm still surprised my banjo wasn't damaged.
At first I thought it was some kind of alien base, with a large glass dome and fancy looking mirror structures at the very top. After looking inside, I realized it was a kind of greenhouse. I can't begin to state how happy this made me, I mean, you can only live on dubious berries and leaves for so long!! - and right in front of me were clusters of fruit trees, vegetables, all that good stuff.
Have you ever eaten a fresh orange straight from a tree? I don't think I tasted anything so delicious in my life. After I finished it, I felt the need to plant the seeds back in the soil. I mean, it wasn't my garden, was it? And once I had done that, I sensed it - genuinely felt it pass through me - another wave of what I've decided to call the Glimmer. I looked to see where it came from, and noticed the mirrors I saw from outside seemed to concentrate light directly into some sort of... battery? It looked like a large canister that contained a massive pink jewel of some sort. Once the Glimmer had passed, I looked down at the seeds I planted. And there, right where I had buried the seeds, small orange tree sapling had sprouted. I'm not making this up - that sapling was NOT there before.
Since then, I've been making observations and taking notes. I confirm - I repeat, I CONFIRM that this crazy jewel or whatever has the ability to grow plants at a massively accelerated rate. This is obviously a huge discovery, but I'm smart enough to know not to mess with it. Who knows what kind of damage I could do if I disturbed this process? Still, I'm inclined not to leave this place, this... Beacon. I mean, It must be the cause of the overgrowth of the Wilds, which implies it must predate our entire history. Oh stars, this is a little overwhelming. I think I'm going to go have a lie-down.