On the 28th of February the peace of Ravenholt was disturbed by a quarrel between the Marquessa and the Duchess of the Unfey over the severed horn of a unicorn. The explosion of magical energy released in the fight created a glamour around Ravenholt which somehow made the part of the town caught up in it inaccessible to the rest of Ravenholt. Most of those caught in the glamour believed for some time that they had been transported to the realm of the Folke.

Azimar of Anvil discovered the discarded horn after the battle, and the spellsingers in the vicinity found that they were able to hear a strange voice singing that others could not. Amadeus identified the song as a song of Tarry, a powerful harmonics spell which holds the spirit of a dead person within their body for more than five minutes. Amadeus did a song of vision an saw a man standing over the body of a unicorn and singing.

The forces of Ravenholt were able to follow the song and the horn to the body of the unicorn where they discovered a spellsinger holding the spirit of the unicorn with his song. Apparently the unicorn's magical nature warped the spellsong, because the other harmonicists were puzzled to find that the spellsinger was not only casting his spell without a tuner, but he was able to start and stop singing without losing the spell, which is not the way a song of Tarry normally works. The spellsinger told them that the spell had been warped by the magic of the unfey battle, and that he would need his tuner if they were to save the unicorn.

Dame Lilith, Houlie, and Amadeus stayed with the unicorn for the night to help it as they could.

Other heroes went in search of the various pieces of the tuner, which were scattered by the unfey and other agencies. One group spoke with a being called FatherTree, who told Sir Victdar of Eastwyck how to use a variety of magicks in concert to encase the unicorn in amber and trap its spirit in place. Michaela Bronwyn, Amadeus Baljar, Anastasia, and the spellsinger who originally found the unicorn all sang the song of Tarry in a round, which restored the unicorn to a degree. Finally the broken pieces of the tuner were reunited and Azimar was able to Life the unicorn, which gave its thanks and went on its way in full health.

A phantom island that has been seen by many out on the lake off and on during the winter materialized and solidified over two mile off the coast in Lake Ardynn near the port for Ravenholt's fishing vessels. The island materialized during the last storm that unexpectedly swept across the lake.

This island which appears to be made of bone, and has a perpetual haze over it, has been referred to as the necropolis because of its likeness to Sakalid's old necropolis north of the Mystic Woods. Fishermen who have taken their boats towards the necropolis have had their boats destroyed under them. Tult Pesner Captain of the former fishing boat, "Lizard -Eater," told the Raven's Herald after he resurrected that he set sail for the island as soon as he got his crew together. Tult states that as they got within about a half a mile of the island, the boats progress slowed and then stopped, even though the sail had full wind. "It was the strangest thang," said Tult. "The sails a flappin’ and all but we weren't movin'." Tult then reported that a crewman saw glowing red eyes under the water, just before decayed and rotting lizard claws ripped the bottom of the boat open. The crew states that they felt an unnatural chill just before the boat was assaulted and pulled under.

At about the same time as the island materialized, so did a boat wharf. This wharf seems to be made of bone, and has a strange gong hanging from it. Town guardsmen have investigated the wharf, and tried removing it. Any damaged or missing parts faded into mist, and reformed on the wharf itself. Official reports from the town guard state that ringing of the gong has caused the appearance of a bone boat, piloted by what appeared to be an undead skeletal creature. This creature brought the boat to the wharf, and seemed to wait for passengers. The creature seemed unaffected by attacks from swords and basic spells. Once the attacks began, the creature slowly poled the boat away from the wharf, and once about forty or fifty yards out, dissolved into a mist that flowed away in every direction. There are no reports of anyone actually getting in or on this bone boat as of yet.

As winter recedes, the armies of the Duchy ready for the renewal of the Sessuar invasion. The Sessuar who began a kingdom wide attack last fall dug in during the winter and are expected to renew their attack a the weather warms. Except for scouting assaults and one failed attack in southern Capulus the Sessuar have remained quite immobile.

At the present time, the Sessuar hold territories including Elveswood, Martin, Goblintooth Gap, Giant's View, most of the upper end of the Northern Downs, Wyrmbane Hill, and Kragen Helm in the eastern half of the Duchy. It is reported that major forces are situated at Kragen Helm, and the area around Martin. No one has been able to contact the town of Shandlin's Ferry, which has been surrounded in a strange mist for months. Military forces are unsure if the Sessuar are using the mists as a staging point or if something more sinister has befallen Shandlin's Ferry.

In the western half of the Duchy, the lines are a little more nebulous due to the lack of fixed settlements in the plains or woodlands in the northern extremes of Cumberland. It is reported that the Sessuar have control of the Kragen Moors all the way to their southern edge and have linked up with the forces that had taken Kragen Helm. The western forces of the Sessuar are still mostly concentrated within a day's travel of Longhope Keep and its flanking outposts. No reports have come in about any assault on the coast.

Westmarch and Capulus have suffered small incursions along the trade routes from Trader's Rest, Copper, Dragon's Gap, and Ironvale. All assaults into Ironvale have been brutally beaten back by the miners, mercenaries, and malcontents that make this town their home. Sessuar have halted most of their activity in Capulus after being pushed back from the Bone Mountains by forces led by Duchess Alexa.

Rumors have it that units of the Northern Royal Army, are being shifted from Volta to Ravenholt. It is said that the 3rd and 4th Infantry, 10th Pike and 6th support are being given extra support and supplies to compensate for moving during the winter.

Samus Powers formerly of Wanderlust, was killed while adventuring with a party during the incident with the Unfolke, He was given an undead form, and walked among us for less than 24 hours before the nobility present deemed it necessary to put his spirit to rest.

Samus is dead. I have no problem with that. I believe in destiny, and he must have fulfilled his. He died while undead. I have no problem with undead. I have no problem with that. The undead are an abomination, no matter if they are friend or foe. He was slain while being chased down and eventually confined by magic in the middle of the tavern by Dame Lilith. This is where my problem is.

It is not with Dame Lilith, who took many of Samus' friends aside to apologize and retained her composure even when Michaela Bronwyn, her squire in the Belladonna, resigned to her, nor is it with Delahr, who cast the confining spell. He was acting under orders and intended no malice.

My problem is with the supposed lack of concern for him or his friends.

We were not asked to confront him on his condition. We were not regarded to help ease his passing by our presence at his execution. We had a rare chance to say goodbye to a fellow adventurer, but instead were witnesses to his public execution.

He wasn't very well known. He did not call attention onto himself. But he was a unique individual whom I count myself fortunate to have known. I only wish those responsible for carrying out justice and taken time to know the man and granted a stay of execution long enough to let his spirit pass in peace.

I would like to thank Baroness Ganthe Overwind of Eastwyck, who came moments too late with a Life spell, and who listened to my concerns about Samus after his return, and who assisted in our audience with Dame Lilith. -Harold MacDonald

T.F. Arcevol's research into the flux in magic in Ravenholt has led to the discovery of a way to distill enchanted plant oils into spell ink. Arcevol's research shown that the normal process of boiling various herbs and plants for potions and scrolls can be enhanced and refined so as to create a stable spell ink for use in recreating spell books. So far, the refining process takes one dose of a distilled mixture and concentrates it into a substance that can be used for two doses of spell ink. Arcevol has found that certain spells cannot be duplicated using this spell ink, and some spells and incantations are missing form every book he has viewed.

Along a similar path of magic, Arcevol has discovered that certain objects have become imbued with mystical energies that seem to work similar to the pages of spell books no matter what form they take. Arcevol stated that these objects are "Spell Foci," and reports that information about them has been found at the Royal Academy. Arcevol demonstrated a spell focus by casting Ward spells on several buildings without his spellbook but only using a spell focus in the form of a wooden stick that he called a Ward stick. After expending all of his energies to cast ninth circle spells, Arcevol invoked the mystical power of the spell focus itself giving him the energy to immediately cast one more ward spell. This not only allowed Arcevol to cast one more ward than he normally could, but it also caused the ward stick to crumble to dust.

Arcevol later explained that the spell focus allowed him to cast an additional spell similar to a singly enchanted object, but that he burned out or "overcast" the last ward spell because the ward stick's power was failing and would have expired within a couple of days.

As you know, Samus Powers, Squire to the Seelie Court has passed into the hands of his cousin, Cormack. The funeral will be held in the first gathering of spring, on Saturday afternoon. All who knew him or wanted to know him are invited to attend. Thank you for your continued support in my time of sorrow.
-Kain Kircell

Nameless Ones:
Attempt no such ill-deed to the nobles or to Dame Kyttrel. Violence helps no one, nor truly solves any problems.
-Gwyneth Whitefeather.

Shadow: When we left Fisherman's Cove, you neglected to return my good war club. I expect that you will correct that oversight immediately upon your return to Ravenholt for the first gathering of the spring. you may return the weapon to me or to any member of the Baljar tribe. We live upstairs in the tavern, and so are easy to find. -Catahoula MacHine Baljar.