THE CHRONICLES OF INTHANDONIA; Part 4, The Wizard Wars Mega Tree Nanobots. The pesky things are everywhere here. Rumours from a thousand years ago make reference to two stars that fell from the heavens. Astrologers in Darthan considered this to be such a significant event that the Council of Thandar created a whole new calendar at this time. I now have other sources of information about that time in the form of data, mined from the distorted records of the mad Skrellian Mind-ship via the quantum entanglement channels between the ship and my own nano-net. The ‘falling stars’ were in fact the arriving Skrellian ships. One ship simply fell out of history and the single sailors tale that survives to this day suggests it sank somewhere in the Islands of the Ten Thousand Serenities far to the south of Deggia. The other starship was none other than the Skrellian Artifact I had boarded in the Mountains of Inha Sosul. Before making landfall amidst the chilly peaks the ship had burned across the skies of Great Kizzim, venting smokes and flame. Damaged during the atmospheric entry the ship had cast a wake of dead and damaged hardware across the eastern foothills of the Inha Sosul. Amongst that trail of debris and wreckage were countless trillions of nanobots most of which were destroyed. Enough of the molecular machines however had survived to leave a clear mark on the surrounding landscape visible even now almost a thousand years later. The original Skrellian beings had been massive plant-like organisms which, over vast ages of time, had developed sophisticated nano and biotechnology to enhance and sustain themselves. The nanotech that was spread by the Skrellian ships arrival however was damaged and corrupted by the ravages of time and degraded programs. Hopelessly estranged from the giant plant colonies they were created to serve the nanotech had improvised and the result was giant trees. As our small group grew nearer to the great river we began to encounter trees of enormous size. Their biology and genetic natures had been warped and mutated by the defective nanotech into trees unlike anything seen elsewhere on Inthandonia. Twisted into fantastical shapes, enlarged far beyond their natural size, many of the native trees of this region had become monstrosities. Saprophytic vines hung in tangled tendrils from their bloated branches and entire mutant ecosystems developed in their unnatural heights. These nano/biotech abominations broadcast a rasping discordance to the normal note of a healthy nanonet such as my enhanced cybernetic systems. The sight of these tortured trees set my teeth on edge and my psychic senses reeled. Our path under the giant trees was now well marked. Rustic bridges of vine and wood spanned the gaps between the roots of these arboreal abominations. For me these poor blighted trees were yet another incentive to make greater haste but still the shaman Ragu refused to hurry. If anything he went even more slowly, often stopping to caress the bulbous truck of some corrupted pine or oak whilst murmuring softly into the knots of its stricken bark. At these times the sadness in his eyes was almost more wrenching to bear than the sight of those poor ravaged plants. Although I myself longed to stop and pit my magickal powers against these afflicted groves, to try to right the grievous wrong that had befallen them, I knew I had no time to tarry here. People in their thousands were dying beyond the mountains and their needs were greater than those of this toxic forest.