"Sleep is an unlikely possibility for any of us tonight, as every new unfamiliar call from the brush startles our nerves, removing the idea of sleep from our minds. The dim glow of the foliage also has taken complete darkness away, and occasionally my eyes catch upon an animalistic silhouette in the distance. The scraping of a claw retracting, a patch of fur slipping away, the brief rustling of leaves followed only by silence; I am not sure how much is imagined paranoia or truly the near-miss of a lurking monstrosity stalking from the shadows.



Sometimes I catch sight of an animal that does not bother to hide or does not hide itself quickly enough. Some spindly-armed creature with four globular yellow eyes, a pair of ungulate-like beasts with long spines and six legs; sometimes the dark, translucent wings of draconic fliers are glimpsed briefly through gaps in the canopy, their luminescent faces casting a red glow below. I am now quite sure this forest is not the Plantae kingdom, their motions and complexities far exceed any I have studied. I have only started to regain sensation in my arm from attempting to examine the last plant, so I can only speculate their ancestry until I can return with our specimens.



It does not feel I am of the same world anymore, and I wonder if I truly have stepped through the Gate of Hell as myth has told. It is only as I gaze up at the night sky and observe the Moon and stars above that I know this place is of the same planet."



--- Excerpt from the journal of Nathaniel Dyer, February 29, 1926