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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mahiro Satsu" data-source="post: 305031" data-attributes="member: 4970">Episode XII Promises to Keep part 3from the journal of Kaemris Tencoin20th of ChesThese woods are unnaturally still. No more bird songs or chattering squirrels. We have seen no deer or bears, no elk or even field mice. I flew up above the canopy of trees to look for landmarks, and thought I spied a wide hill in the distance, an enormous stony horse etched into its grassy slope.Later we discovered a caravan cart, and the decaying bodies of those who accompanied it. A terrible scene of destruction. We tended to burials and blessings as efficiently as possible, and began a thorough search of the area.Tracks were few in number, almost nonexistent. It was as though the forest itself had fired the arrows that stuck out of the bodies, one in each, all of them killed with precision. The horses were all gone. In fact, nothing had been taken from the caravan cart but food. The rest of the goods–some of them quite valuable–were untouched. If the wild elves are starving, then their rampage begins to make more sense. But what could anger them enough to bring on slaughters like this one? I don’t understand.Once we had surveyed the situation, I attempted to divine what action we might take to track down and locate the assailants responsible. Still the Lady gives no answer. We place ourselves in fate’s hands, and trust to the Luck of the Lady. It is all we can do.21st of ChesI write this entry with a heavy heart, at the farmhouse of Tarbee, the man who was kind enough to invite us into his home on this dark and miserable night. It was misty and dripping, cold and utterly silent, for the entire journey today. Then things grew worse.We were surprised to find a halfling sprinting toward us, screaming in terror, “He’s after me! He’s after me! Don’t let him kill me, please!”An armored horseman thundered into view, flickering like eldritch mist, looming like a black cloud over the Tallfellow’s shoulder. It raised a sword, coming forward much faster than we could reach the poor halfling and save his life. With a choked squeak the small one collapsed under the falling blade.On it came, the insubstantial and yet all-too-solid horseman. I commanded it, in Tymora’s name, to flee this place and never again return to plague my sight. It was, shall we say, completely unimpressed. Van and Aoth moved to fight the grim visage, but it reared and fled.I conjured a spirit of fire to cut off escape, and we ran to stop the fleeing highwayman, but he sped away on rapid hoofbeats. The dead halfling lay crumpled in the mud, pockets full of acorns.Just around the bend we found two more corpses, and a cart filled with empty food sacks. Curiouser still. I intone a prayer to Our Smiling Lady, humbly requesting a sparrow who could deliver a message to Eveningstar. It took quite a long time, much longer than usual, for the tiny brown bird to arrive. When it did I tied a message to its leg: Lord Mage Ironcrest,Terrible events have overtaken Hullack ForestFamine plagues the landPlease send what relief you can.Yours truly,Kaemris Tencoin, Journeyman of the Order of Auspicianscompanion to Aoth Spret, Lenet cor Tarak, and Van Dyksun.I will patiently and faithfully await a reply.From the sound of it, Van Dyksun and Tanasha, the farmer’s malnourished yet ravishing daughter, have finished their dalliance for this evening. Ah…young love. In the midst of misfortune it lives on. I think I will keep the lamp lit tonight; best to be safe in a strange farmhouse. By Tymora’s grace.</blockquote>

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