Campaign log: Report to Great Priest Ixanama

[Stomoxys]

After an indeterminate amount of time, I opened my eyes and looked into the candlelit face of Nuur-Karif. My whole body hurt and I mostly wanted to close my eyes again, but I could sense strange energies in the room and struggled up in a sitting position. The floor was wet and full of tiny, shining flecks, almost like tiny stars. Looking down on my hands, I saw that I was covered with beautiful star particles. They not only looked like, but also felt like tiny stars, giving off a warm glow.

I was pulled out of my reverie by Nuur-Karif asking what had happened. Both they, Yana, and Grogg were in the room while Wolfram was passed out on the other bed. I had no idea what had happened and said as much and asked them what was going on. Nuur-Karif had been woken about two hours after going to bed by a high pitched sound followed by a crack as loud as thunder, coming from our room. They and Grogg had stormed in and found me collapsed in a puddle of glittering water on the floor while Wolfram lay prone, on their bed and looked like they had banged their head against the wall. The water came from the mirror shard, which was lying on the floor and were full of cracks. The shutters on the window had been wide open, even though I am sure I closed them. Though we were both passed out, neither Wolfram nor I seemed to have any serious injuries and Nuur-Karif and Grogg had gotten us into our beds and managed to keep the humans who came to inspect the sound out of the room. I had been unconscious for about half an hour and Wolfram was still out.

Kra was sitting on Grogg's shoulder looking wet and I could see them clearly. though they were translucent. Grogg insists they can always see Kra and gave me no intelligent response when I asked what had happened to the bird, but Nuur-Karif informed me that Kra had been swimming in and drinking the star water. They had been able to interact with the water and Nuur-Karif had seen the ripples made by the bird even before it became visible. The mirror shard had been placed in its container in a wash basin to collect the water and keep Kra out of it. Nuur-Karif brought it over and it was full of cracks, but still in one piece. Perhaps a fifth of the water had leaked out and the shapes that previously had been moving around inside it in strange patterns and orbits were now just floating in the water. Water was still leaking out, but very slowly and not enough to account for the puddle on the floor. The initial burst must have been much more intense, but there was still huge amounts of energy in the water. The water itself looked exceptionally clear and I stuck out my tongue to taste a little bit. It felt cool and clear and I was reminded of the cold, dead mountain I had seen behind the Night Mirror. Is it possible that the water is from the Night Mirror?

Wolfram started coughing and Nuur-Karif rushed over to see to their patient. Soon after, Wolfram opened their eyes and looked groggily around, but were able to recognize their surroundings. With Wolfram awake, I started telling the others about my experience. Wolfram had had the same vision, with only minor differences. They had not seen People in the fountain, but two female apeoids. I guess this makes sense, as everything indicates they were neither People nor apeoids, but two of The Nine. Wolfram's vision had also lasted a bit longer than mine and they had seen me fall over and fade away. Krull had then been furious that Wolfram refused to tell them the location of Tuza and had gathered the clans, sounding like they were planning to invade Arland.

It was clear that the noise had woken the entire inn and I could hear the apeoids ranting and raving about Ratanu downstairs. While the locals are hysterical and superstitious, they can not really do much to hinder us. I am more concerned that a more powerful group may have felt the discharge of energy from the mirror shard. I do not know how large it was, but I imagine it could be felt quite far away. Another issue was the glittering flecks from the water. They seemed to stick to everything and were obviously magical, even for someone with no ability to sense magic. Grogg was covered in the stuff and was about to wander off, but I sent Nuur-Karif to stop them. While it was probably too late, we should try to avoid getting even more attention.

Lying down to sleep, I had strange dreams full of cawing from Kra, but was woken up again sometime later by Wolfram. They told me someone suspected us of magic and that it might be illegal. I had the impression magic was frowned upon, but not outright illegal and told them they would have to discuss it with Nuur-Karif and they left. Grogg was sitting on the floor with their back to us and Kra was jumping around on their shoulder and cawing. The translucent bird would certainly attract attention and I asked them if they could hide it in their backpack. Gorgg opened the backpack and asked Kra to enter, but instead of entering, Kra started to pull on something that shone with starlight. Grogg quickly, but inexpertly tried to hide it from me, insisting that they only had their sewing gear in the backpack. That might be true, but I assume they have been experimenting with the water. I could not question them further because I heard somebody sneaking around in the hallway outside our door. Someone in Nuur-Karif's room must also have heard, because a door was opened and the steps hurried away.

Someone, presumably Nuur-Karif, had tried to remove the shining specks from the floor. While they were still visible here and there, there were a lot less than before and they might not be visible in sunlight. The wash basing was still obviously shining with water and I opened the window hatch to see if we could dump the water there. Perhaps 50 meters away, I could see two riders at the edge of an orchard, hiding in the shadow of the trees. If Amna was not almost full, I would have struggled to see them. They were almost certainly Night Riders and were an unwelcome addition. With their snooping habits, they would almost certainly follow us, but there was little we could do about it right now and I simply warned Nuur-Karif through the wall. Wolfram returned soon after and I got them to help me get dressed without getting star dust everywhere in case we would have to leave in a hurry.

I was woken by the first signs of light and Nuur-Karif knocking on the door. Grogg was still there and was stuffing something shining into their backpack. The star dust was still shining, but much less visible in the light of day. We still chose to eat in the room, though, and sent Yana down to fetch breakfast. They returned and told us the locals were planing to send riders to Byblos to fetch someone to investigate. We ate quickly and I collected the water from the was basin into my waterskin. The mirror shard was placed back in its wooden container that should keep the water in long enough for us to get away from the inn. Later, Yana could sew a water proof container from some of our extra waterskins.

Grogg and Wolfram were wrapped up in their cloaks and I put on makeup and beard before we made our way out. Specks of star dust were still visible here and there, but they were difficult to notice during the day. Kra was not cooperating and was sitting on Grogg's shoulder, but the translucent bird was also harder to notice in daylight and we hurried out. Still, an old human was glaring at us while we passed by. Soon after we left, two Night Riders arrived and entered the inn. No doubt, they would hear about everything that had happened. I mentioned that Hylda had been screaming Grogg's name so everyone in the vicinity of the inn could hear it and the Moon Shadows that were after Nuur-Karif knew that Grogg was associated with Nuur-Karif. They agreed that this was a problem, but Yana thought it was unlikely that normal Night Riders would know to look for Grogg and there would probably be delays in the system. Hopefully, they are right and we can trust them.

When the inn was out of sight, we found a path down to the river and everyone except Hylda jumped in. The orc had not entered the room and had not gotten any star dust on them. It was a bit sad to see the beautiful specks disappear in the muddy water, but walking around shining with star light would make it too easy to track us. As the shining specks flowed downwards, it struck me that according to the map, there is a river or stream flowing from the Night Mirror and into the main river in Arland, inventively called the Ar River. However, the water in the river seems like any other muddy river and Kra did not affect it when they jumped in. I tried not thinking about the things the apeoids throw into the river and just enjoy the swim.

Climbing back out, Hylda had been drawing and they are a surprisingly good artist. From their motif, I got the impression that they wish to mate with Wolfram as well as Grogg. The humans are usually less violent than apes when competing for mates, but I do not know about trolls and orcs. Hopefully, this will not cause infighting. I also noticed Grogg's scales looked like they had fully matured. The scales do not particularly look like the scales of People, but they did not remind me of any specific type of animal either. The metallic scales were interspersed between the others and did not form a full cover.

[Stomoxys]

We followed the road a bit longer, but decided it would be best to not get registered at another checkpoint and soon started looking for a path off the main road and found a road heading eastwards towards a small village. The natives were likely to be suspicious and we decided on a story where Nuur-Karif would act like lady Godana from The Cities of the Prince on tour. Yana would act like their local guide, I would be their writer, Wolfram would be their bodyguard and Grogg and Hylda would be their slaves. We should probably retire the character of Godana once we are finished here. They have already been involved in too many strange events.

Walking through the village, most of the natives were actively ignoring us, while a few kept a close watch while pretending not too. After passing through the village, we discussed where we were going to sleep. Wolfram wanted to camp out in the open, but Nuur-Karif pointed out that it would be illegal and and there are no forest or similar to hide a camp. Most of the villages in the area would have inns we could sleep in. Grogg brought up the problem of Kra and they had a point. I poured a little of the star water into a wooden box and Kra jumped in. Grogg then put a cloth over the box and the raven made a racket, but it stayed put. After Grogg started singing softly it calmed down and I thought we had solved the issue, but for some reason Grogg removed the cloth and let the bird go. I told them to get Kra back in the box, but they refused, babbling about Kra being sad. At least Kra would not be very visible in the light of Ajaw and Grogg and Hylda could maybe sleep in a tent outside.

When Ajaw was about a hand over the horizon, I saw two riders approaching us from the north east. They looked like a local patrol and hopefully would not bother us, but Kra was sitting on Grogg's shoulder and refused to hide. I asked Grogg to send Kra away to fetch a stone from the river which should keep them away long enough for the riders to pass. Grogg complied in their own way and asked Kra to fetch a stone from 'over there', pointing vaguely in the direction of the river. I feared that Kra would pick up the first stone on the ground and return immediately, but they flew off and as far as I know it has not returned yet. The riders passed us with a quick blessing of Mitra and looked like they were in a hurry to get somewhere.

We reached a village a bit later and they had a small inn with two guest rooms. The natives made it clear that nobody could sleep in a tent outside, but there was room in the stable for the slaves. Grogg, Hylda and Wolfram would sleep there while I had one room to myself and Nuur-Karif and Yana had the other. We also got some food and a table outside where we could overhear the talk of the apeoids around us. Two of them were discussing a drought to the east and how they could sell food to the stricken area at inflated prices. While famine is a regular occurrence, a drought is not. If Jori is indeed imprisoned here and the bonds are weakening, it could maybe be the cause of the drought. We also spotted Grogg and Hylda wandering out of the village, presumably to mate, but they made it back just before Ajaw went below the horizon. The innkeeper had stayed outside keeping a watch until they came back. I had feared I would have to go looking for them, but now I could retire to my room.

After Ajaw had disappeared and it was properly dark, I sneaked out to see if the night riders had followed us. Everything was completely quiet and I expected the apeoids to be cowering in their houses, so I did not pay much attention. Rounding a corner, I came face to face with an old human that looked terrified. I retreated hastily, hoping the human would keep quiet and be too afraid to say anything about their nightly excursions. They had also been sneaking, so they clearly had something to hide. I was about to round a corner again when I heard that they were praying softly to Ashtar. I stopped and gave them an Ashtarite sign which calmed them down and we went our separate ways. Before I had gotten far, I heard them loudly opening a hatch cover and noted which house the sounds came from. Hopefully nobode else heard it.

I proceeded to sneak around the village in a large circle, but did not see any signs of any apeoids. It was quite dark, so I could not be entirely sure, but I do not think the Night Riders had caught up with us yet. I did notice that The Nine were dancing much less than before and looked almost like they were huddling together. Returning to my room, I sat down on the floor to meditate as I could see The Nine through the open window. I did not learn anything new, but it confirmed my previous impression.

My next objective was to study the star water more closely and I moved to close the shutters on the window. However, I spotted an apeoid hiding behind the corner of a house and ducked beneath the window frame. I observed the apeoid closely for a while and there was at least two of them and they were spying on the inn. One of them was the old human I had run into earlier while the other looked like a younger human. The younger one moved closer to my window and signaled to the older one, which bumped into something making a noise. I decided I would have to intervene before they woke the entire village and flashed a signal with the Shimmer Coin. They stopped in their tracks and I sneaked over to them, signalling with the coin to avoid surprising them. I was not confident they would start shouting and screaming if I appeared suddenly.

The humans made it clear they wanted me to follow and I reluctantly agreed. They led me to the house where I had heard the hatch and motioned for me to enter. As expected, there was a small chapel there with the somewhat unusual addition of a locked door between the antechamber and main chapel. Inside, the old human started rambling about how I had to hide and the worshipers of Mitra would burn me if they caught me. I tried to interject that there was no danger of the Mitra minions would get hold of me, but it did not seem to penetrate. Eventually, they changed the subject to a mission they had received from Ashtar. Riders were approaching and they had to stop them from reaching an area in the east. If not, the riders' spirits would be stolen and never reach The Underworld. This sounded a lot like the Night Riders and the humans looked shocked when I told them, claiming they were not equipped to handle armed soldiers and wanted me to take on their mission. This was not really any of our concern, but it would be nice to get rid of the Night Riders following us, so I told them they should fetch Nuur-Karif, specifically pointing out that they should not bring Yana. It would not do to have a someone with questionable loyalty around when discussing murdering Amrosh agents. The old human left and I could hear them fumbling with the lock. I considered ramming the door in their face, but decided they were unlikely to leave the young human in here if they were up to something.

We waited in silence for a while before I heard someone wash themselves in the antechamber. The old human opened the door and was followed by Nuur-Karif and Yana. The human was clearly even more useless than I had thought. They started gushing about the mission and asking Nuur-Karif if they could take it, but their rambling made no sense and I told them to start from the beginning. The two humans were the only ones attached to this chapel, but the younger one traveled a bit around and had received the mission from a priest in another village. Someone in the drought hit area was trying to steal spirits that belonged to Ashtar and the riders would fall into their clutches if the Ashtarites did not stop them with any available means. I asked about the peasants already living in the area and they realized the spirit robbers must be in the 'forbidden areas'. The forbidden areas are two areas to the east. One of them probably correspond to the star circle and the other area is about half a days travel south of it. The human could not tell us anything about them, except they supposedly contained some old ruins and the natives do not enter.

The old human feared the mission, but said they would do it if they had to. However, they wanted to revisit the priest now that they had more information. I pointed out the Night Riders would go past the village before they could come back, but Nuur-Karif thought it may not be the ones following us and said they should go. It could also be riders approaching from the Amrosh areas in the east, or just local patrols. I suppose it is possible, but if I see the Night Riders, I will try to put arrows in them. Dealing with the corpses might be an issue, but perhaps Grogg can turn them into rations for themselves and Hylda.

We said goodbye to the Ashtarites and returned to Nuur-Karif's room. Nuur-Karif wanted to know how I had ended up in the chapel, while I wanted to interrogate Yana about Amrosh. The family has increasing influence further east and also the loyalty of tribes in the desert outside Arland's official borders. Yana claimed the relationship between Amrosh and Kabal is complicated but were unable or unwilling to elaborate, beyond stating that some villages are controlled by Kabal cultists. The Night Riders is a loose organization of mostly young humans that are conscripted as a form of tax while the Moon Shadows is a secretive intelligence organization. Night Riders are mostly riding around, paid by Amrosh, and collect information about what is going on in Arland. I once saw a Night Rider who used magic for something similar that I do to improve my vision, and Yana believed this could very well have been a Moon Shadow. I wanted to ask them about the Kabal statuette they had claimed had been giving them from their parents, but I refrained. It would be complicated to question them with Nuur-Karif around.

[Stomoxys]

Returning to my own room, I closed the window hatches and fetched a cup from my gear and the waterskin with star water. The star dust shone a bit weaker than it did last night, though there is still lots of energy in there. I did not see any way to make the star water dance or tie itself into knots, so I there was no obvious way to use or release the energy in it. At first I tried to gently collect the energy radiating from the water, but I must have missed something, because I caught nothing, even though the water is obviously magical. Instead, I tried to trace the star threads in the room and it felt as if the cup was full of stars, but they were too many and the individual threads too weak for me to tell which ones were there. Searching for magical energies again, I found a lot, but it did not tell me anything I did not already know.

I then poured a little water into my hand and felt shivers run through my body. They soon subsided though and I realized the water was not really cold. Opening the shutters to the window, I saw only seven of The Nine. Carefully, to avoid spilling any of the water, I started tying knots to catch the threads from The Nine and found them almost immediately. All Nine were still there, but two of them were hiding and I got a feeling of guilt and a bit of fear, not for the other seven, but for something else. These were not my own feelings, but emotions that came to me from the two missing stars. Is this how the followers of Tzacol experience the world? I shudder at the thought.

Tasting the water again, I felt shivers running from the tips of my tongue and down my back followed by a numbness in my tongue that soon passed. I then tried drinking the water in my hand and felt the same shivers and numbness, except this time it was my whole mouth and I could also feel it down my throat. Had I tried to drink more, I might have had trouble breathing. The experience was a lot more intense this time than last night and I think it was because I had exposed the water to starlight.

The numbness slowly subsided and I noticed the water in the cup. It had been standing still for a while and the surface was now perfectly smooth, like the surface of The Night Mirror. I could see stars in the surface and it felt more like they were in the surface than just a mere reflection. The stars floating around in the water were fading, as if dawn was approaching, but the ones in the surface were new and fresh. Moving around, the stars in the surface shifted a bit, but not as much as they should have if they were a reflection. Similarly, after I moved the cup and waited for the surface to settle, the stars had barely moved. I also had a clearer impression of the stars in the cup than in sky, as if the stars were actually in the cup.

Looking at my hand, it was now covered in star dust and I decided that the easiest way to remove it would be lick it clean. It did work, though it was impossible to get rid of every last speck. It felt awful though, as if I had been licking up sand that stuck in my throat. Suppressing the impulse to sneeze, I used a paper to funnel the water in the cup back into the waterskin and placed both paper and cup on a table to dry. They would both be full of star dust, but I should be able to keep it contained in my backpack. Closing the shutters, I was about to lay down to sleep when a dust particle shifted in my throat, making me sneeze violently several times. I felt better afterwards, but feared someone had heard and woken up. I also noticed a few specks of dust had been scattered over the room and would be impossible to get rid of. They should be imperceptible during the day though.

[Stomoxys]

I was woken just before Ajaw peeked over the horizon by some star dust in my throat, but I coughed it up and felt fine afterwards. After carefully packing up the glittering paper and cup, I applied my makeup and opened the windows wide open. If someone looked closely, they might notice a few shining specks, but I doubt anyone would see before nightfall. As I left the room, some apeoids outside were ranting about bird of Ajaw. Nuur-Karif came from their room and we shared a glance and walked outside to the stable.

As I feared, a crowd were gathering around the stable and the source of the hubbub was the return of Kra. The raven was jumping around, plainly visible in the gloom inside the stable, and neither Grogg nor Wolfram made any attempt to hide them. Thankfully, the simple humans could not tell the difference between starlight and the light of Ajaw and though it was some kind of sign from Ajaw. All, except an older human who glared at the shining bird and pulled Nuur-Karif off to the side. I tried to get Grogg to send the bird away again, but to no avail. The imbecile was convinced that Kra had been away for days and was tired now. Not wanting to draw any attention to myself, I told them to stay put and withdrew back to the inn with Wolfram and Nuur-Karif.

Because of the idiocy with the bird, we could not simply get food and leave, but the natives insisted on making pastries which would take a long time. Wolfram wanted to leave immediately and I agreed, but it was clear there would be little food ahead and we should not use our provisions before we had to. If there was a drought, water could also be an issue and I asked Yana to inquire about buying a barrel for water as well as trying to find out how long the drought had lasted. They returned soon after and said the drought was bad and that there were rumours of lawlessness. For a spy, they are remarkably bad at gathering information. I was about to inquire about the water, but was distracted by the sound of a large crowd approaching. Wolfram jumped up, clearly uncomfortable and I joined them, telling Nuur-Karif to bring some pastries. There was no point in risking closer scrutiny.

On our way out of the village, Wolfram and I passed by the hut of the Ashtarites and found a backpack with some extra rations as well as a casket with water. We waited at the outskirts of the village for a while, discussing where to go after the stone circle and presumably the crypt. While we did not reach a conclusion, we decided it would probably be best to avoid Byblos and the shortest way to the river from the stone circle is almost straight north. I also told Wolfram about the Ashtarites and that we could expect Kabalists ahead. Wolfram seemed eager to smite them. When the others returned, sans Kra, I noted they had not procured a water barrel, but we had several full waterskins and I expected there to be villages where we could procure one on the way.

We had only gotten 100 meters from the village when the old human that realized that Kra is not from Ajaw came running onto the road. They were waving a farm implement and screamed about saving the poor females from our the gang of trolls and how Mitra would protect them. I looked over to Nuur-Karif, but they had already grabbed Yana and was running past the zealot. The old human looked confused at us for a few seconds, but soon followed. Grogg, insisting on demonstrating the scope of their mental capacity, shouted that Nuur-Karif should not kill the human, using their name before I could shut them up and hurry them along. I half expected that Nuur-Karif would in fact kill the human due to Grogg's indiscretion, but it turned out the old human had not noticed and Nuur-Karif had been able to extract themselves.

Walking on, we wondered what we could expect ahead. With starving apeoids roaming about, I expected we might have to defend ourselves or get eaten, but that it should not be a big problem. Grogg can crush any number of the natives and nobody would notice a few dead peasants in the general anarchy. Somehow, Yana interpreted this as advocating for running around and attacking them and started babbling about how this would be giving in to the rage demon until I pointed out that this was obviously not what I meant.

The first hour of travel was mostly uneventful. We did see a group of about 40 soldiers on the road ahead of us, but they did not get close. At a point I was able to talk to Nuur-Karif about Yana's statuette. They had already asked about it, so maybe they are not completely vacant around Yana, but had only gotten an obvious lie in response. Yana had claimed that they had gotten it from their mother and that it was completely unrelated to Kabal, but the symbol could only be used by the Amrosh family and they had kept it secret. Nuur-Karif apparently believed them, even though I pointed out how ridiculous the story was. Considering how the Aldera family was collecting nobles from various families, I wonder if Yana is part of the Amrosh family. It would explain some of their comments, but not change the fact that they are lying about their statuette.

After about an hour, we reached the first village of the day, but it looked like the soldiers we had seen earlier were stationed at the outskirts and decided that Nuur-Karif and Yana should enter the village to figure out what was going on while the rest of us walked around. There were a few peasants in the fields, but they acted like they did not see us and we responded in kind. Nuur-Karif and Yana were waiting at the far side of the village and had not had any trouble passing by, but were not allowed to enter. They had also heard some shouting from village, but we decided it was not relevant for us and continued. Kra showed up soon after, carrying a small toy they must have stolen from a small apeoid.

We had not gotten very far when I spotted a mob coming towards us. Again, we decided it was best to avoid possible confrontation and the human females stayed on the road while I hid the rest in a ditch and observed from behind some shrubs. The mob looked like peasants, armed with various farm implements and crude bows. When they spotted Nuur-Karif and Yana, some of them started preparing their bows and I did the same, but they let Nuur-Karif and Yana pass after some talk and shouting about demanding their taxes back. There were also more yelling when Nuur-Karif passed and some of the peasants started fighting each other. After the peasants were gone, we gathered up and Nuur-Karif told us they had been complaining about lack of food and looters stealing what little food was left. They would probably be executed for demanding their taxes back and had been unusually aggressive. Perhaps Jori is affecting more than just the crops, but if so, their reach is much greater than Darwan's was.

At the next village, I spotted a few apeoids when we approached, but they ran away when they saw us, making no attempt to hide their tracks. Judging from the tracks, they had been collecting water from the well and we did the same, filling all of our waterskins. The village was abandoned with most of the doors and windows boarded up and somebody had painted "We have no food!" on the walls in a vain attempt to keep looters away. Strolling around the village, I tried one of the few doors that were not boarded up and found it was barred from the inside. There were no other doors on the building, so Nuur-Karif tried to knock and was answered by an old human yelling that they would rather die than leave the place. In exchange for little food, the human informed us that the natives in the area had gone insane and had gone to demand their taxes back and burn down some mansion. Climbing a roof, I saw nothing of interest, but we decided I should scout ahead in case we met another pack of apeoids.

[Stomoxys]

The landscape were getting progressively bleaker, with the fields around us taking on a greyish hue. When I touched the straws, the grains fell from the ears and turned to dust when they hit the ground. It looked like they had been turning into ashes on the stem, without being burned. They also gave off the same off-putting ash smell as the ring Kra had found.

Passing by an abandoned farm with some water left in the well, we stopped for lunch and made sure to drink as much as we could. From the roof, I could see a village about an hour's walk ahead with signs of habitation. To the south I could just spot smoke and there seemed to be a road running from the village towards the smoke. Walking around the village would probably be faster than dealing with the natives, but we could continue for half an hour before turning off the road. Two soldiers on horseback passed us on the way there, but Nuur-Karif spotted them before they saw us and we got off the road. On the far side of the village, I walked a bit back to see if anyone was following, but everything was calm and I did not investigate closely.

Over the next hours, we passed by several farms and villages, all of them abandoned and looted. Everything was increasingly covered by grey dust and the timbers holding up the roofs felt like they had weakened. Scratching them a bit, a small cloud of dust rose up and I think they were slowly rotting into ash. The wells were no better, as all of them were completely dry and smelled of ashes. In one village, we found a corpse shackled to the well, but they had been dead for several days according to Grogg and their fingers had started to turn into ash. Nuur-Karif thought someone, probably looters, had searched the corpse for any valuables. Presumably, the inhabitants had chained the captive to the well before they left and the captive had died of dehydration. I wonder if the well was dry when the inhabitants left and why they chained up the captive. Perhaps they were affected by the rage demon and too dangerous to let loose.

Ahead, farms were becoming scarcer as we got further from the river and closer to the desert. The fields here were mostly got their water from irrigation ditches the apeoids have dug in a futile attempt to feed their ever growing population. All the ditches were completely dry now. At this point, we would have to get off the road and move north east to reach the stone circle. Turning to the left, we proceeded on smaller roads and tracks. The going was slower than on the main road since the small farm roads rarely continued in one direction for very long, but we did not have to worry about avoiding villages. During our travel, there had been increasingly more dust and the fields had looked increasingly desiccated and grey as we got further east. Now it seemed to stay at more or less the same level, indicating that the epicentre is the crypt.

We found an abandoned farm just after Ajaw touched the horizon and decided to stay for the night. The stable was spacious and the others chose to sleep in it, while I wanted to sleep on the roof under the stars. I would take the first watch and while the others were fetching mattresses from the farmhouse, I spotted The Hunters dancing in the south. Just when I was about to take the first step of the dance, I remembered Wolfram in the vision and asked if they wanted to join in. To my surprise, they did not refuse outright, but said they would wait until Amna was up. Dancing alone, I cast my vision spell and then climbed up on the roof.

While the landscape darkened around me, I noticed that my camouflage made my skin look like the night sky. Holding my hand up against The Nine, nine bright spots formed and I could almost see the spots dance on the back of my hand. It struck me that The Nine are supposed to dance and if they ever stop, something would be very wrong.

I had been sitting on the roof for about an hour when I spotted something moving a few hundred meters away. Amna had just peaked over the horizon and it was hard tell what it was, but it looked like shadows or perhaps smoke drifting along on the ground. I considered going to investigate alone, but decided it would be best to bring Wolfram in case there were malevolent spirits involved. Grogg was sitting up and sewing, but I woke the others. Nuur-Karif showed no interest however, probably because their thinking was muddled by lust for Yana. Wolfram, on the other hand, sprang to action just as a gust of wind brought the stench of ash and made the building creak.

Outside, everything was calm again and the shadows I had seen looked like they were dissolving. I helped Wolfram raise their totem and they explained a bit about how their rituals work. The ropes they use to attach the totem serve no purpose besides stability and they claimed the energy they gather depends on the symbols they draw in a circle around the totem. The bigger the symbols and circle, the more energy they can gather. I wonder what would happen if they tied the rope so they could guide the strands of star energy.

When we were done with the circle, Wolfram stood up and started shouting, invoking Amna to guide and aid them. When they were done, they said nobody besides me had used any magic there. However there were traces of something magical in the air. They were about to start another ritual, but I told them to wait a bit. By modifying the knots and the weave, I should be able to capture other types of energy than light and be able to see them. Bowing to The Nine, I proceeded to dance The Star Dance again and weaved the threads. A much finer weave was required for this spell, but it worked. I blinked a few times and I understood what Wolfram meant. It looked like each speck of ash drifting in the air gave off a faint glow of energy. In the middle of Wolfram's circle, the totem was also faintly glowing, but with a silvery light like that of Amna. I then told Wolfram to proceed and both they and the totem lit up for a split second at the end of their ritual. They had not been able to trace any spirits, however, and I told them to go get some rest. My spell was diminishing as I climbed back on the roof, but I had time for one last look around. From a point to the east and slightly to the south, I got a strange feeling just before the net faded completely. I guess I now know the direction to the crypt.

The rest of my watch went by quietly and I climbed down to wake Wolfram. So far, I have just improved my own vision, but I wanted to see if I could do it with someone else's as well. I told Wolfram I might be able to improve their vision if they joined me in The Star Dance and they reluctantly agreed in the light of Amna. Initially, they lumbered around clumsily and I started to doubt that it would work, but gradually they started improving, clearly remembering the steps and the rhythm. Suddenly they turned into a bear and knew all the steps, dancing along with me flawlessly. This was not their normal bear shape but a smaller one, barely larger than Wolfram, and a different species covered in spikes and with long sharp horns on their head. They also looked completely solid. Focusing on finishing the spell, the threads flowed easily in the dance and the net was about to attach to the bear's eyes when it suddenly flew back towards me. I blinked a few times and the spell had worked, but the bear had somehow reflected it back at me. The bear then stepped over to me and somehow made it clear it wanted the spell and I gave it to them. This bear shape seems to have abilities Wolfram does not. They did not turn back into their human shape, but trudged over to the totem and laid down. I studied them with the ring, but there were no signs of flickering spirits.

Climbing back to the roof, I sat down to meditate. Carefully triangulating the position of the stars, I identified a point to the north east were some of them would be focused. While I did not recognize the stars, I now know where the star circle is. If the range of Jori's influence is equal in all directions, about a quarter of the King's land are blighted. With at least one ongoing civil war, a slave rebellion, and a probable orc invasion, the cataclysm is well under way in Arland.

[Stomoxys]

Hylda was sitting in front of the stable when I woke up, having taken over watch duties at some point. Though the stars had faded, the morning was calm and I used the time to study my own aura. It was pleasant and calming to look at, giving me the impression of harmony and order and had none of the jagged edges and jarring patterns of the mammalian auras. Underneath, the other impressions, I sensed the traces of Sebak with the same swirls and flows as I saw behind the aura of Amna. I wonder if the mammalian auras reflect their hysterical nature and can be used to investigate their mental state.

During breakfast, Grogg discovered ash in their food and it turned out that it had come from Hylda, whom had been keeping watch all night. At some point, a small dark cloud similar to the mist I saw had drifted towards the farm. It had dispersed after Hylda attacked it, but it seems that it had started to turn organic material it touched into dust. Hylda's exposure had been very brief, but their clothes smelled of ash and the cloth fibers seemed a bit worn. Judging from all the dead plants, the clouds can affect living material as well and perhaps even animals. We all agreed that we did not want to test the hypothesis.

With some relief, I noted that Kra had become less visible. It appears the stars dust covering them is fading like the dust in the water, indicating that the trapped energy is dissipating now that the shard is broken. Seeing the spirit bird reminded me of the trip it had been on the night before and I asked Grogg what Kra had brought back. However, it was only a rounded stone. Taking stock of our water supplies, I calculated we should have enough for three days. That should be sufficient to get us to the crypt and star circle and back again, but the margins would be tight.

Before packing up, I suggested studying Wolfram's aura. I do not think they quite understand the events of the night before, but wanted to know more and they allowed me to cast the spell. Their main aura looked more or less like it did when Wolfram used their own aura spell, with hints reminding me of Amna. However, now I could also see at least two other auras superimposed and behind their main aura. Krull said shape shifters like Wolfram bind spirits of their different shapes to themselves and Wolfram has at least two bear shapes so I believe those were the ones I saw. Having a method to detect shape shifters could be useful, but Krull also warned that shape shifters might lose control.

While we were about to get on our way, Nuur-Karif wondered if we needed to go to the star circle at all. While I had expected this question, I had hoped to avoid it. In the last crypt, our bumbling assault could easily have failed. By going to the stone circle first, we might be able to discover more about the ritual trapping the demon and perhaps even disrupting the rituals of the Kabalists. All the demons were trapped near star circles and I doubt that is a coincidence. Nuur-Karif and Wolfram would not listen though, insisting on rushing headlong into the crypt despite admitting they had no idea what to do once we got there. It was clear that it would not be possible to dissuade them, so I reluctantly agreed, but my first priority will be to get out alive.

While we were discussing, Grogg sat down and began to study their feet intently. They insisted they only had a rock in their shoe, but I am certain they would not have felt that unless the rock was razor sharp and it was obvious they were trying to hide something. They had sat down when I mentioned Shadow Grogg and I asked if they were looking for the stitches they had used to reattach their shadow. Their guilty expression confirmed my suspicion. They did not seem to find anything though.

Wolfram then started on a lecture concerning gods, demons, and dragons. Their main thesis was that gods are powers, while demons and dragons just use powers. While they may be correct, it sounded more like speculations than firm knowledge and I proceeded to study the auras of Grogg and, on Grogg's insistence, Kra. Grogg looked more or less like before and with some relief I only saw one aura around Kra. I also studied Hylda's aura and it had a disturbing, purple hue, but I could not say much more about it.

I also wanted to see Yana's aura, but Nuur-Karif had the impression that Yana did not want me to see their aura. While this could have been highly suspicious, I believe Yana was merely nervous. Apeoid mages do have a tendency to explode themselves and their targets. Nuur-Karif's reaction was completely irrational, however, and I let my frustration get the better of me and snapped at them. Reasoning with apeoids in heat is pointless, so I should have held my silence. I fear that I might have been affected by seeing the auras of the other apeoids or, even worse, the demon we are approaching.

We turned south east, back towards the road. Wolfram transformed into the horned bear and both Nuur-Karif and Grogg looked a bit uncomfortable around it. According to Nuur-Karif, such creatures does not exist naturally, but looked more like some kind of fairy tale creature and possibly a bad omen. Grogg opined that we should keep the bear away from elves, but did not elaborate on why. Considering what happened to The Green Forest, I can not say I disagree.

Our surroundings became increasingly bleak as we made our way east. All the wells we passed by were completely dry, as expected. In the east, a grey cloud was covering the land. It reminded me of the town of Dulmar were dwarfs have been poisoning the air and soil with salt and ashes for decades. The ash layer covering the road got progressively thicker and it looked like it had not been disturbed for several days. Oddly enough, the last traffic seemed to go in both directions. I had expected all the apeoids to have left the area, but some had apparently gone towards the source of the ashes.

I had hoped to reach the crypt before nightfall, but we were still on the road when Ajaw was nearing the horizon. Ahead of us was what should be the last village on the road and this would normally be the end of the fields and the beginning of shrubland before the desert proper. Now it was hard to tell due to the ash covering everything. I could see smoke rising from some of the chimneys in the village which would have surprised me had it not been for the tracks. For the last hours, the tracks had increasingly been going east. The others set up a hidden camp to rest a bit while I ranged ahead to investigate.

The first thing I noticed as I got close to the village was a metal pole driven into the ground in the middle of the road about hundred meters outside the village. On top of the pole, someone had affixed an apeoid skull and a pile of bones and skulls was stacked at the base of the pole. All the bones appeared to be of apeoid origin and had been picked clean, with no traces of meat.

Finding a nice hiding spot in the ashen remains of an orchard, I observed the village for a while. The apeoids like to pretend death does not exist, so the bones were very unusual, but life in the village was otherwise suspiciously normal. Just as I was about to make a sweep around the village, an apeoid emerged from it with carrying a wash tub. It walked straight to the bone pile and emptied the tub that turned out to be full of more bones before casually returning to the village. Sneaking around the village, I estimated that there were somewhere between 30 and a 100 villagers, but no juveniles or very aged individuals. A few of the apeoids were out in the fields around the village collecting branches, but they did not stray far. There was also another skull pole on a road going south from the village, but with a much smaller bone pile.

From the state of the bones, it seemed likely that the villagers were eating each other and Wolfram agreed when I returned. This would also explain the lack of the very old and very young. While apeoids killing each other is quite normal and none of our business, the bone piles could indicate some kind of demon worship. However, Nuur-Karif sat down to pray and afterwards proclaimed that it was good that the apeoids died here and not closer to the crypt. I was a bit worried that Wolfram would decide that the villagers would need smiting, but they were satisfied with Nuur-Karif's proclamation and we decided to wait until nightfall and would then sneak around the village.

[Stomoxys]

As darkness fell, the village came alive. Guttural shouts and screams erupted from the village and we could see the dance of many torches. It sounded almost like an ape camp. In the cover of darkness, even Grogg should be hard to notice, especially since the villagers sounded preoccupied, and we moved out. About a kilometer from the village, the rest waited while Nuur-Karif and I sneaked closer to see what was going on. Nuur-Karif studied the bone pile and believed it contained the remains of a dozen apeoids. Several of the bones had marks of violence and they were completely free of any meat, as if they had been cooked clean.

The screams from the village had intensified as we approached and had now transformed into rhythmic chants about blood and killing. Climbing the roof of an outlying house, I observed 30 to 40 villagers thronging together, jostling and waving torches around. In the center of the crowd, three or four apeoids were beating each other to death with their bare knuckles. The crowd seemed ecstatic every time a punch landed and goaded the combatants on. The combatants themselves appeared to be in a frenzy, throwing themselves at each other with no concern for their own safety. It was clear they were determined to kill each other and we withdrew into the night. I have seen similar displays among the apes, but here, it looked like they were fighting for the sole purpose of killing. While the corpses does provide a source of food, there would be easier ways for them to kill each other and and I suspect the influence of the demon partly explains the behaviour.

Returning to the others, we made our way around the village. Wolfram pointed out that they would have needed a lot of water to boil all the bones and just to stay alive. Either they must have stored large amounts of water or still have some source in the village. The latter seems unlikely as all the wells we have passed were dry, but the former would require a deliberate plan. Judging from the tracks on the roads, nobody had arrived for several days. The implications are disturbing.

The screams from the village subsided as we made our way around. I suppose the fighters had beaten each other to death and the apeoids had started preparing the remains. There were no more farms beyond the village and we walked for an hour into the night before making camp in a withered copse. Hoping to locate the crypt again, I tried the spell to see magical energy, but I did not get any impressions, even though I climbed up on Grogg's shoulder. Perhaps the Kabalists were using some kind of ritual that I detected. Sitting down to study the stars, I did not notice anything in particular, but to the east, something was distorting my view. Almost like light shimmering when passing through heated air. This did not calm my misgivings about the whole expedition, but I needed to get some rest and laid down to sleep.

Sometime later, I was woken by Yana whispering something about dogs. It was clear they had not seen anything, but Nuur-Karif had spotted something in the dark. I cast my vision spell and peered into the darkness. There were indeed three dogs sneaking towards us in the dim light of Amna. It did not look like they had spotted us, but were following our scent and were getting closer. I assumed they were just some dogs that had been left behind when the apeoids left the area, and would go away if we threw them some food. However, Nuur-Karif wanted to kill something and babbled about eating the dogs. The apeoids do not consider dogs to be food for some reason and we had no shortage of food, so this was obviously rubbish. I guess they have not killed anyone for nearly two weeks and are starting to feel the urge. On Nuur-Karif's order, Yana fetched some meat from Grogg's backpack while Wolfram appeared brandishing one of their throwing daggers. Nuur-Karif wanted to use the meat to lure the dogs closer, but I grabbed it and threw it. The dogs promptly grabbed it and disappeared into the night, dodging Wolfram's dagger that came flying. Having resolved the issue, I went back to bed.

I did not get to sleep very long though. About an hour later, Wolfram woke everyone by banging on a pot and shouting about a dark mist approaching. They were answered by a shouts and clatter from the west. The natives had noticed our presence and were searching for us. While the others packed their things and Wolfram put on their armour, I sat down to observe the sky. It was too dark to see anything to the east, but when I closed my eyes, the entire sky looked warped and twisted. To the west, I could see torches flickering.

We did not want to enter the mist, so we hurried north, hoping to evade the raving apeoids. While we could probably have defeated them, I doubt they would run away in their frenzied state and there was enough of them to surround us. I was considering if it would be possible to hide the tracks left by the cart when I heard dogs barking and cursed silently. Dogs would be almost impossible to fool. It was also a bit surprising. In my experience, apes eat everything else before they start eating each other. The rations I threw to the dogs might have gotten the villagers' attention, but I imagine they would be equally alerted if Nuur-Karif had murdered the dogs and the villagers had brought at least five dogs.

According to Nuur-Karif, the dark mist was getting nearer, and we turned more westward and heard our pursuers start screaming for blood. Judging from the torches, they were charging towards our campsite, but stopped in confusion when they did not find anyone there. According to Nuur-Karif, the mist was closing in on our campsite and Grogg suggested I look at it through the ring. I could not see any more of the mist through the ring, but I did notice something shimmering in not far from the camp. I handed the ring to Nuur-Karif and they claimed it was some kind of spirit looking out from the mist.

The mist was now getting close to the campsite and the dogs, being sharper, fled westwards while confusion spread among the apeoids. Nuur-Karif and I remained behind to observe while the others continued with the cart. According to Nuur-Karif, the spirit was approaching the villagers with the mist and the majority of the apeoids followed the dogs while a few were overcome with bloodthirst and charged eastward. From Nuur-Karif's description, the spirit must have used a spell. Floating up to each of the frenzied villagers, it had raised a hand and the villager had fallen over. I wondered if this was the fate the Ashtarites had been warned about and Nuur-Karif fell to their knees in prayer. However, they soon got up again and said the mist was blocking Ashtar's presence, but the spirit was somehow trying to protect the villagers from something terrible. I am wondering if Nuur-Karif might have misunderstood something, because soon after, two humanoids appeared from the mist and started dragging the dead or unconscious villagers into the darkness.

We caught up with the others and continued north west until we were north of the village. Following a small road northwards, we found a small abandoned farm that looked like it was about to collapse. The mist had been looming to our east the whole time and slowly crept closer, but suddenly it collapsed into smaller drifting clouds that settled down on the ground. Closing my eyes, I saw that most of the warping effects were gone and I could see The Nine clearly again. We decided to stay at the farm for the night and Wolfram took the first watch.

[Stomoxys]

I woke up around 8 and relieved Yana who were keeping watch. There were no traces of dark clouds and I saw no signs of anyone approaching from the village. The others woke about two hours later and we ate breakfast. While we were eating, a rat appeared from under Yana's mattress. Wolfram tried to kill it, but missed, and it ran outside. Instead of scurrying away, it turned around and appeared to be studying us. Wolfram had suggested I should observe more auras, so I cast the aura spell on it, but were struck by some kind of spell in return. The rat fled, avoiding a dagger flying from Nuur-Karif.

Recovering from the shock, I ran after the rat and grabbed it. Nuur-Karif naturally wanted to kill it, but Wolfram agreed that it was interesting. Looking through the ring, it appeared to be perfectly normal, though surprisingly well fed. It did not try to bite either, indicating that it might be tame. Whatever the spell on it had been, it was now gone because nothing happened when I looked at its aura again and the aura looked normal. Wolfram was not satisfied and erected their totem, but they did not find anything special either. It was possible somebody had put a spell on the rat and we decided to put some of the foul smelling ant compound on it and let it go. Wolfram should be able to follow the scent. Rodents with spells on them reminded me of the grey humans. While this would be wild conjecture, Nuur-Karif did say the spirit in the mist was dressed like a someone not from Arland. Unfortunately, the rat had only scurried around a few hundred meters before hiding in a burrow and Wolfram in their bear form dug it up and killed it.

We finally got on our way towards the crypt. Climbing up on Grogg, I could see that the grey pollution in the air seemed to get denser around a point about half a days march to the south east. That means that we will not reach it before Ajaw is getting low over the horizon and being out there at night is not very tempting. However, we cannot wait without running out of water. I scouted ahead and found the place where the villagers had fallen. It looked like they had been collected in a pile and then been carried off towards the south east.

[Stomoxys]

With our low water supplies, it would be a disaster if we had to run away from the cart and we would be able to move much faster without it, so I suggested that Yana and Hylda should take the cart back and hide at an abandoned farm. Having Yana nearby also makes Nuur-Karif irrational and unpredictable, but mentioning this would probably have been counter productive. Grogg and Hylda were fine with the proposal but Nuur-Karif hesitated and I was afraid they would insist on dragging Yana all the way to the crypt. Thankfully, they eventually agreed and we started repacking with everyone bringing food and water for a day and leaving the rest on the cart. While we were packing, Nuur-Karif spotted two riders far to the west. They assumed these were the riders that should be stopped and wanted to go and meet them, but I pointed out that we would not make it to the crypt before nightfall if we went back. Instead, they asked Yana to try to persuade the riders to stay away and Yana indicated they had a plan.

In the previous crypts, light has been an issue and I got an idea. If I could bind star energy to an object, it should be possible to keep it alight much longer and brighter than if I just tied it up in the air. The rock Kra had brought earlier had the perfect size and a nice rounded shape. In addition, both Kra and Grogg are fond of shiny things and making their rock shine would make them happy. It was surprisingly easy to tie the energy to the rock, but I did not wish to collect energy from the surroundings due to the demonic presence. It felt safer to use my own reserves. At first, the spell appeared to work as intended with the stone glowing brightly enough to be clearly visible, even in the light of Ajaw. However, the light soon dimmed to a faint glow. At first I thought the spell had failed and the energy somehow leaked out without me noticing, but upon closer inspection, I realized the energy was still there, but had been absorbed by the stone. The stone had felt perfectly normal before, but there was clearly more to it. Another interesting detail was that Kra was able to pick it up and fly around with it. Usually, the items they bring just appear in Grogg's hand. They were also able to interact with the star water, so perhaps the energy made it possible for them to pick it up. I will have to study the stone closer when we get out of the demonic area. The stone would not be much use for illumination.

Continuing on our way, I explained to the others what Azura and Krull had told me about Saplurps in case there really were greys at the crypt. It was not much, but Azura had said they can absorb bad luck and Krull said they can be harmed by weapons that can harm spirits. If so, arrows with spirit poison could be effective.

Having told them everything I knew, I ranged ahead, following the tracks. The landscape got increasingly grey and desolate and visibility became worse the further we got. The vegetation crumbled into dust when I stepped on it while bushes and shrubs collapsed when touched.

Judging from the tracks, the villagers had been carried by maybe as many as ten apeoids. We had followed the tracks for about two hours when I spotted apeoids ahead of us. It appeared to be five male humans who carried three villagers between them. One them was dressed as the humans in the jungle to the east, confirming that the greys were indeed here. They did not see me and I quickly scanned the area with the ring before returning to the others.

Nuur-Karif was surprisingly unenthusiastic about killing the humans, but Wolfram was adamant that they had to be smitten and Grogg is always up for a fight. I agreed that taking them out would probably be for the best. The more of them died here, the less we would have to deal with at the crypt and it would be very difficult to sneak Grogg past them. I laid out a plan that I would flank the humans and cut of their retreat while the others charged them, but Wolfram had already turned into the spirit bear and was on their way to flank the humans. I believe their mental faculties are greatly reduced in bear shape, so I did not try to stop them, but instead went for the other flank. The large bear is surprisingly stealthy. After I shot the first human, the rest tried to run but were herded towards me by Grogg and Wolfram making them easy targets and the fight was over in seconds.

After the last human had fallen, I scanned the area with the ring, but saw no signs of spirits. I then recovered my arrows before before Wolfram could get to the fallen humans and turn them into mush. With their abundant access to metal and constant infighting, the apeoids produce excellent weapons and these arrows were the cream of the crop. I would be sad to see them get crushed like the bodies.

The humans' response to the attack had been uncharacteristically lethargic. Instead of dropping the villagers and preparing for combat or trying to scatter, they had taken the time to place the villagers on the ground before running together as a herd. My suspicions about them were confirmed when I tasted their blood, which lacked the usual intense feelings. In fact, it tasted as if most of their emotions had been removed and only some muted instincts were left.

While Wolfram was making their way through the bodies, a strange, crystal like shard appeared next to the first corpse. I could only see it through the ring, so it had to be spiritual, but Wolfram crushed it as soon as they noticed it. Inspecting the other corpses again, similar shards appeared from those as well and Wolfram crushed three and ate one. Eating the sphere apparently gave them some pause, because they turned into a human and asked me to try to study the last shard closer. I used the spell that gives me magic sight and took a closer look. I got the impression that it was both an enchanted object and a spirit in one, but not a complete spirit. Perhaps a part of a spirit would be a better description.

Wolfram considered this to be an abomination and wanted to free the spirit from the sphere and started drawing symbols in the ash for their totem. They were planning to turn into The Star Bear and cast a spell that should remove any spells in an area around the sphere. I suggested we could gather the villagers in the area as well. While I could not see any magic on them, something kept them in a coma. Wolfram agreed this might be possible and we piled the villagers on top of the corpse. Grogg also wanted to investigate the shard and poked it with the glowing stone, but to no apparent effect. I handed the ring to Nuur-Karif so they could monitor the shard and joined The Star Bear in their dance. Even though it was the middle of the day and no stars, I think I was able to assist them and a blob of star energy formed in the bear's mouth as we danced. At the end, Wolfram roared and the blob flew towards the pile of villagers.

I studied the pile intently for several seconds and started to think that the spell had not worked, but then one of the villagers stirred and started screaming in pain. Nuur-Karif ran over to see to the villager, but quickly concluded there was nothing they could do. Wolfram lumbered over and held the villagers down while the screams intensified and increasingly sounded more like rage than pain. We we wondering what to do, but were interrupted when Nuur-Karif saw a spirit forcing its way out of the villager. I could not see what was going on without the ring, but they stabbed the air above the now silent villager and a twisted version of the villager stumbled out of the air. The materialized spirit lurched after Nuur-Karif, but they easily dodged the strike and propelled the spirit into the grasp of Wolfram. It looked like my companions had everything under control, so I took the opportunity to study the spirit's aura. I could definitely tell that it was a spirit, but the aura looked even more twisted than the materialized body and was saturated with the same strange colour I could see in the ash flakes.

The spirit was becoming increasingly rabid and Grogg came over to hold it. The way it was trashing around, it would have impaled itself on one of The Star Bear's horns. However, the spirit started screaming profanities at Grogg and the troll somehow ended up headbutting Wolfram. Luckily, they were wearing their helmet, else one of their eyes might have been impaled, but the bear got a nasty bruise on their front limb. Both Grogg and Wolfram then proceeded to attack the spirit, but failed to finish it and I put it out of its misery with a dagger in the heart. Almost instantly, the materialized body disintegrated into ash and drifted away.

Wolfram had had enough. They transformed into The Spirit Bear and crushed the villagers, the spirits that came out of them, and the the spirit shard. I suppose Nuur-Karif had interpreted the message from Ashtar correctly. The spells put on the villagers kept their spirits in check and were clearly better than the alternative. I suggested that maybe the greys were not the worst power here, but Wolfram would have none of it. Because the greys had released The Nine that had been trapped in the crater by Azura, they must be bad. That Azura had worked with a demon, created The Brown Forest, and that trapping stars underground is utterly heinous and insane did not seem to matter to them. I suspect the followers of Tiri are thoroughly indoctrinated to trust Azura blindly and it will take some time to overcome their conditioning.

[Stomoxys]

Leaving the bloody mess behind, we continued as before with me scouting ahead. The greys had been collecting the villagers in batches, so we still had tracks to follow. After an hour, I spotted a rat on the path ahead and got the distinct impression that there was something magical about it. Sneaking up to a range of 15 meters, I put an arrow in it before it noticed me and I must have been outside the reach of the spell because I felt nothing. I waited for the others to catch up and informed them about the rat before continuing on. However, a human came trotting towards me a few minutes later. They did not look like a threat, so I let them pass and stalked them back to the others.

When they spotted the others, the human stopped and bowed, crossing its arms over its chest in some kind of greeting. Nuur-Karif greeted them back while Wolfram, now as The Star Bear, circled the human. The human looked uncomfortable, but stood their ground and handed Nuur-Karif a letter. Having completed their mission, the human started to back away, but Nuur-Karif first told them and then gestured for them to stop. The messenger did not seem to understand what Nuur-Karif was saying, but complied with the gestures.

The letter was written in three languages, but none that any of my companions could understand, so Nuur-Karif shouted for me to come. They handed me the letter and I recognized two of the languages as Lithin and Arani. Lithin is a dead language known by some elves, including Lunari, that use it to convince themselves they should have higher standing. I know some Arani and was able to decipher the letter, though it was written in a very baroque style. Considering that the sender probably was the leader of the greys, I suspect it is an older form of the language than what is common among the apoids today. The letter was telling us to get lost or come to their camp, though wrapped up in overly polite phrases and meandering language.

Upon hearing this, Nuur-Karif fell to their knees in prayer. The messenger remained standing and did neither try to communicate or flee. When Nuur-Karif opened their eyes again, they proclaimed that the humans in the fog were lost to Ashtar. Taking a look at the human's aura, I saw that it was less jagged than normal for humans, but otherwise looked suspiciously normal. One would think that this would make the aura less unpleasant to look at, but instead I got the impression that something was missing and out of balance. It gave me the impression that the human had a weak spirit.

While I was considering the aura, Wolfram walked up behind the human and pushed them roughly to the ground, but the human still made no sounds. Nuur-Karif bent down and studied the messenger's mouth and concluded that everything looked normal. The messenger had gotten a scratch when Wolfram pushed them and their blood had the same dull taste as the other humans. Grogg asked Kra to look at the messenger and the bird seemed more interested than usual, jumping around on their chest, but their cawing was no more intelligible than usual. I was going to suggest we send the messenger on their way, but Wolfram had now transformed into The Spirit Bear and smashed the messenger's skull. Needless to say, Wolfram is not a great diplomat.

In the meantime, Grogg had raised their axe and was staring intently on the path ahead were a rat was watching us. Again, I sensed something magical about it and prepared an arrow. Unfortunately, both Grogg's axe and my arrow missed and the rat scurried away. Running after it, I caught it, but did not kill it as this would likely trigger the spell. Wolfram had no such qualms, and took the rat and cut its head off. They initially seemed fine and Grogg wanted me to look at their aura. The first sign that something was wrong was Wolfram's hearty endorsement of Grogg's idea. Grogg seemed to think the stone would change their aura, but it looked exactly like before. Turning back to Wolfram, they were still standing with the rat carcass in their hand. Apparently they had been pondering what to do with it for several minutes and now they wanted Grogg to cook it. Rats are considered food for poor apeoids, but is not their preferred food, so this was strange behaviour and another sign something was wrong. Before we left the scene, I quickly searched the body of the messenger, but they had only carried some thread and a dagger.

We had walked for about half an hour when spotted another rat and shot it. Even though I was at a range of 20 meters, a spell hit me and I felt incredibly weak. I let the others catch up and handed some of my equipment to Grogg before we continued into the thickening fog. I was hoping the spell would wear off before I had to fight again, if it would wear off.

Soon after, I heard noises from up ahead. It sounded like metal hitting stone and hard objects scraping and hitting each other. The ash in the air was now so thick that I could not see anything, but ran back and informed them about what I had heard. Wolfram, having used many spells today, wanted to rest before we proceeded and I suggested we should withdraw a bit. I also asked Wolfram if they could try to remove the spell that had hit me and they agreed to try. I was a bit nervous, as they seemed to be slower than usual and The Star Bear would not make it better, but it was worth the risk.

On our way back, I saw a rat and sneaked up to it and grabbed it. However, I spotted several more rats in the area and it was obvious some of them must have spotted our party. When I returned to the others, Wolfram had dug a hole and wanted to kill the rat by burying it alive. Apparently they had forgotten that rats can dig quite well and instead, Grogg threw the rat as far as they could. At least they did not seem to be affected by any spells.

When Wolfram dug the hole, they had discovered that under the fresh ash, there was a layer of dirt, but underneath the dirt, the soil consisted almost entirely of black ash. We were now very close to the crypt, so perhaps the powers of the demon had transformed or replaced the soil with ash.

Explaining to the others that there were far too many rats to catch them all, we settled down to rest. Rats appeared now and then, making Wolfram grab Lunari's old over sized crossbow, but they were too slow to load it and only ended up scaring up more rats that were scurrying around. This seemed to frustrate them and they began ranting about how it was bad that the greys only admitted males. It is true that I have only observed males among the greys and their name in the language of the apeoids translates to to the grey male apeoids. However, arbitrary differences in the treatment and expectations of males and females is the norm among the apeoids, even though the physical differences between the sexes are much smaller than for the apes, so I do not know why Wolfram was criticizing this.