Raven's Herald
June, 599

Undead Menace Laid to Rest

As the sun set over the town of Two Roads, the residents became painfully aware of a stirring in the darkness, and the sudden appearance of undead in the area. These undead, whose twisted forms were tainted by various elements, began to attack. Over the creatures and past their lines, there appeared six figures that seemed to command them. The bells of a gypsy echoed through the night and it was realized that these were the undead seen in the area previous to the gathering.

These six commanders of the undead engaged the townsfolk, driving them back in a retreat to the circle and draining away the essence of their spirit. Though many valiant efforts were made to drive them back and to reclaim injured townsfolk, there was no success. During their time around the circle it became clear that these masters were not undead themselves, or rather, appeared to retain at least part of their original race and sentience. Eventually the undead and their masters left and scattered when boredom claimed them. As the undead cleared and left the area, the townsfolk began to journey pensively about their town, attempting to stay safe against the occasional small forces that would attack frequently. As the creatures and searched, a handful of local residents, namely Mison, Zenith Mirabad, Seraphina, Oberon Anduin, and Keyla of the Mages Guild, eventually came into possession of five small jeweled items that identified as compasses.

The night passed with little more to do with these events, until nearly the morning. At this time these compasses drew upon their owners, compelling them to adventure through a gate to a place filled with puzzles and many of the same undead that were in Two Roads. Toward the end of the adventure they were each to find another piece with a jewel, in the shape of a hand and traced with runes. Along with these 'hands', they each found a small assortment of papers that were later to be collated for information. Though there were some problems and at one point a rescue mission was needed to secure the mission, eventually all five of these jeweled 'hands' were found. At this time, barely before dawn, the tired citizens of Two Roads that were saddled with these compasses were finally able to rest.

The late morning and early afternoon was uneventful for those committed to the quest although many members of the Order of the Silver Rose brought together the papers found on the previous adventures and began to assimilate the information contained therein. It was, through these methods, discovered that in order to end the plague of these powerful undead, the citizens would need to assemble pieces of a circlet that would put them to rest.

As the afternoon stretched on, the jeweled hands began to act in a similar way to the compasses, compelling their owners to journey into a gate. This gate was constructed and held by an elderly elf gentleman, who exhibited some connection to Tyrra. Through this gate they journeyed to a similar place, with obstacles like to those that they encountered the first time they journeyed.

Toward the end of the adventure, a ward key was found on each that allowed them to enter into a chamber and talk to a being within. To the surprise of those present, the beings within appeared to be the same as those that had been terrorizing the field the previous night, although much more pleasant and much less of the undead nature. They offered conversation and, though wary of the unknown visitors, offered the chance for the adventurers to explain their case. It was found after conversation that rather than dopplegangers, the forms upon the field were future versions of the persons that were talked to. This distressed the beings within, but persuaded them to gift to the travelers with, or rather, trade in some cases, for a piece of the circlet and a dagger that was later to be found to be important for restoring the spirit of a drained person. Brooke of the Brotherhood of the Dragon, along with many others, such as Eloheh and Seraphina, were critical in gaining the pieces. The travelers left richer in information and soon to be rejoining their compatriots on the field.

The night was soon in coming and as it fell, the undead and their six masters took the field again. At this point were known names for all but one, the one they called 'Master'. The gypsy, who was the first to actually be spotted, was Cynis, and the younger of the Dark Elves was named Vorn. The Quentari Elf, who wielded a polearm with alacrity, bore the name Malakai, and the human's name was Sir Silverheart; no first name was given. Last, the Gorbe upon the field was named Tuk', although he gave a longer name when he was spoken to in the past.

The fighting throughout the night was extremely harsh and many townsfolk were laid to waste in the massive battles that were focused mostly around the Tavern and the Healer's Guild. Often there would be a forced retreat into the circle. Later that eve, Malakai was bested in a combat challenge with the efforts of Ulrik, keeper of the Inn.

When challenged using the dagger and the circlet as tools, Malakai was reduced to a mortal man, his form greatly weakened by the magicks that allowed the challenge. The battle was honorably fought and though he put up a wonderful defense and a valiant fight, Malakai was bested and fell. The crowds had a moment of unplanned silence for the fallen warrior, glad that in part, his spirit was a little at rest.

But as they were soon to find more work lay ahead of them. A third time, the items which the bearers held summoned them to a gate, drawing upon the powers of the elderly elf gentleman. This time, the puzzles were many and complex, including a difficult puzzle to have every member of the party place a hand on a different place in the maze-like chamber. Once all of them had been solved, a chosen of the party was sent within a chamber to see the great undead that they once had seen as human. More often than not they were either immediately felled and vanished back out the portal, or maimed brutally and forced to talk with them from a less than sturdy position. Within a few tries, in most cases, the second half of the circlet, the black underside, was found and retrieved. Upon returning to the town, the various adventurers had to attempt to remain alive with many different undead in the area. Malakai, the one bested in combat was not reported seen again on the field. As the morning approached, and more of the missions were taken care of, people drifted off to bed, and as it seemed, so did the undead drift from the day.

Upon the following morning, the travelers awoke to a strenuous task. Put in front of them was a task to go into the place that they had before, and begin a ritual that would set the spirits of the fallen heroes to rest. Before circles could be erected in all angles around them, the ritual was threatened often by the older of the dark elves.

Kayla of the Mage's Guild and Dougan of Anvil put themselves at great risk, performing the Destroy Celestial and Destroy Earth respectively. Often, due to circumstance, they were left in the open as their guards fell, but neither faltered. Upon one such endangered occasion, there was a great flash of light and the elven gentleman appeared, only to apparently fall dead upon ex pending the last of his energies.

The battle was long and hard, with many of the warriors failing from both the damage done their forms and the dust clogging their throats. But as the noon sun passed over it's zenith, the warriors packed up and made an exhausted journey back to the town of Two Roads. Their mission was successful, albeit long and tiring.

Nightmares

This April, many of the people gathered in the hamlet of Two Roads faced an insidious foe:- their own nightmares. Nightmare constructs taking the shapes of people's fears began appearing in town, and some warriors were taken and turned into dopplegangers that attacked their trusting companions. Both of these threats were traced back to a Nightmare Lord called Azrieth, thanks to the efforts of the Dragon and the Pawn, the Healer's Guild, the ARC, and Brimstone. These groups and others traveled to the Dream PIane itself to gather information, with aid from a family of dreamers and seers who had noted some kind of in- stability in Dream. On one venture to the Dream Plane, adventurers discovered writings in a strange script, deciphered by Anastasia and others, which made it clear that the Nightmare Lord could be gotten to back off without a fight if they did a favor for him by collecting various items native to Tyrra which he needed to fulfill an ancient bargain. Anastasia coordinated efforts to assemble all of the items, and a large group brought them to the Dream Plane to present them to Azrieth. The Nightmare Lord agreed to withdraw all of his forces from our plane in return for the service. Rumors still abound, however, that something is wrong with the Dream Plane.

Evil Tree Vanquished

One dark night this Spring, strange, tattered gray creatures appeared in town. They captured several townsfolk; the missing people eventually staggered back into town, disoriented and missing memories. It was discovered the next day that the creatures and the afflicted townsfolk were connected to a twisted tree growing in the woods nearby which had eerie white masks hanging from its branches. A concerned Dryad suggested going to the tree and using mind powers to restore the tree's victims. An expedition was mounted, including the Order of the Codex, the Gypsies, and some members of the court of Capulus. The Stone Elf known as Ashmont was successful in curing Curyll Stormydd, who was one of the afflicted. He discovered in the process that the tree was apparently sentient, evil, and mad.

Gilliard of the Baijar Gypsies used his seer abilities to learn more about the tree and discovered more about it. Between what he learned and what the Dryad could tell them, the Gypsies devised a plan to destroy the tree by flooding it with Earth power, since it was necromantic in nature. Late that night they ventured forth to attempt to put an end to it however, as it was strongest at night they were able to hurt the tree but not destroy it.

The next day, Magenta drew on her Seer skills to gather all the people who had been tainted by the tree. They and the Baljar and some others with mental skills, such as Jatrina Sartosa, went to the tree and tried once again to overwhelm it with Earth magicks, using the link it had forged to those it had taken against it. This time, they were successful; the tree was destroyed, and he masks withered and fell off. The taken were freed, and the tree's menace was ended.

Missing Citizens Reappear in Arkham

Hundreds of citizens of Westmarch and Capulus have reappeared as mysteriously as they disappeared, and the joy of their return is overshadowed by remaining questions: where did they go, why were they taken, and by whom ... or what? Late last year, a mysterious pattern of disappearances became evident in the lands surrounding Arkham keep. More than three hundred travelers, merchants and citizens of Westmarch and Capulus, each living in or making their way to the capitol of Arkham, went missing without a trace. The disappearances were at first so quiet and solitary that a pattern was not discerned for several months, but officials estimate that various citizens of Arkham had been going missing at the rate of one per night for nearly a year. No clues were ever found for means or motive of the kidnappings, and not one resurrected or was recovered, until all of them reappeared as mysteriously as they went: all materialized suddenly in their own beds at the last stroke of midnight on Sunday, April 9. Most maddening of all, not one of them could recount what had happened to them during the time they were missing: each seem to remember doing some normal, everyday task, such as walking to the privy, getting into bed, or saddling their horse, then they awoke in their beds. Not one noted the passage of time - even those who had been missing for nearly a year claimed they had not realized even a moment had passed.

Several of those recovered citizens willingly subjected themselves to vigorous testing by local officials in hopes of discovering through magical or chemical means what had happened, but as of yet the results are inconclusive: their absence of memory has been verified through both the use of alchemical substances as well as the services of local Stone Elves, and Celestial identification reveals nothing out of the ordinary. Though there are as of yet no answers to this mystery, several local scholars claim that there have been of late disturbances within the Plane of Elemental Dream, and that the disappearances have all of the hallmarks of some plot by Dream against the citizens of the Duchy: not one of the recovered citizens can remember their experiences, all reappeared in their beds, all those counted among the missing were traveling alone, no signs of struggle or violence were apparent in any of these cases, and most of the disappearances seem to have taken place during dusk or at night. Anyone with knowledge of how or why these disappearances have occurred is encouraged to contact their local guard.

Necropolis Facing Setbacks in Ruins

For months now, Ducal forces have been scouting in and around the ruins of Ravenholt after the Mystical assault launched by the Necropolis. Citizens have warned to stay clear of the ruins due to large groups of Undead wandering the ruins day and night. Information has been gained that not all goes well for the inhabitants of the bone island. One source states: "I was sent deep into the ruins for a special mission; I was to watch over the Bone Dock and watch til I saw something and report on it. Well, after spending lots of time sneaking and hiding, I got myself a real good spot to be watching from. Early one night, I gets this strange feeling and I moved down toward the dock. I'd heard this noise down by the dock as that strange boatman thing poled in his boat. Off climb several large corpses and I figure em to be revenants or worse cause they's armored but they had a ways of moving and the stink would make you hurl. Then as the fifth one leaves the boat, I sees this one with glowing eyes. The one with the glowing eyes is all kind of shadowy and I'm thinking he's one of the Death Knights, or so I thinks. So he tells the corpses to watch the ruins, and then he waits.

About an hour later, the boatman returns with a bunch of more armored corpses, and the one with the glowing eyes sends them to watch the ruins. Again the boatman returns and this time brings a bunch of shadowy critters, the kind that you got to have silvered weapons or fancy magicks and such to kill. Well, at this time one of the shadowy critters bows and says, "What is your command, my Lord Anaroth?" and the one with the glowing eyes says, "We are to investigate the ruins and search for..." I couldn't make out the rest. "Well, this Anaroth and his gang moves off through the ruins, so I follow. After a bit they come across a whole horde of Undead, a score or so of all types of stuff, corpses, flesh-eaters, floaters and such. So Anaroth says to his minions, 'Be ready,' and they all fan out and flank him. Anaroth then turns to this group and steps forward and with a voice all full of dark magic, he orders them all to follow him. Well all this accomplished was to cause them to go into a total frenzy and start attacking. Anaroth's boys start hewing a path through the corpses and flesh-eaters, while Anaroth starts taking down anything that didn't have a solid form. Twice more I see this happen over the night- Anaroth or one of his minions tries to use the dark magicks or by dark words spoken to control the Undead in the ruins, and all they get is a good old brawl." Another source reports that they have seen Goblinoid Shamans in the ruins trying to "gather up" minions by using chaos magicks and have only succeeded in enraging the Undead they sought to control.

PUBLIC NOTICES

HEALER'S GUILD: Currently the Healer's Guild is in need of ritual components. Several members still need to be invested, yet we have few components to perform the ritual. All donations would be greatly appreciated, and compensation will be given if desired. As well, we are looking for a full set of components for a destroy earth ritual, to hold in case of ducal needs. Thank you. Ravenholt Healer's Guild

PERRYN: I am watching you, and when you slip I will be there to watch you fall. - D.

WANTED: Ritual components of all varieties, especially the rare components known as 'Greater Water Elemental' and 'Dragon Claws'. I will pay I gold for common or uncommon but up to 15 gold for rare components. Contact Darius Brisbane.

MISSING CHILD: Annabella Farrier, five years old, human, dark hair and eyes, last seen wearing a red dress, bearing a small stuffed rabbit toy. Last seen in September 598 in the company of her father, Alyn the Farrier, en route to Arkham Keep. He has reappeared, and has no recollection of where she is or what happened to separate them. There is a 3 silver reward for any information leading to her safe return.

I wish to thank all those, both commoner and noble alike, involved in raising the funds for the ransom demanded by my kidnappers. Dame Quin Tarmeger Knight of the Duchy Guildmistress of the Ravenholt Mages Guild

Citizens and Nobles all, The Company of the Silver Rose has recently discovered a certain magical item, a Greater Earth focus of Cure Light Wounds. When identified, the Wand radiated a feeling that it was merely a piece of a larger object. If you have found one of these objects, please contact myself or any member of the Company. Thank you. Curyll Taylor Stormydd Reeve of the Company of the Silver Rose

Greetings! To those teaching at the Capulus Academy, you may have noticed the recent construction and expansion of the campus at Sercia. Thankfully, it is nearly completed. Due to the re-organization, several boxes of personnel records have been lost. If you are presently teaching at the Capulus Academy, or wish to instruct, please send me your name and your qualifications. I am revising the roster, and wish to include everyone. Our new curriculum needs the support of Ravenholt's finest. For those interested in attending classes, see me for a brochure. Classes will begin June 599. Borax Battleharnmer Headmaster Capulus Academy