From the journal of Lythande Syldorei
The Rushlight Festival in Pitax will take place three months from now. Zander indicated he was reluctant to go as he dislikes member of the nobility, but I think we've persuaded him to come with us. There will be many people attending other than nobles from neighboring countries, and after having met the king of Pitax I can't think of the people as similar to the Swordlords of Restov.
Reislin made a journey to New Stetven on her own to purchase some useful items.
The snow is melting and the air grows warmer. We've received several messages from the settlers to the west who wish to establish the village of Tatzlford there. They are eager to get started. We will direct more resources toward that effort when the weather improves a bit more.
But in the meanwhile, we've heard from several farms to the east, outside the current border of our territory of some creatures that have emerged from the mountains to slaughter livestock. We have determined this should be the next problem we investigate.
Starday, 10th Pharast
We arrived at a farm not far from the Shrike Cascade to find immediate evidence of the trouble we'd come to investigate. The first sign of something unusual was a sheep carcass on the roof of the house. More carcasses scattered the area around the barn. Whatever creatures had attacked the farm, they had not eaten all the livestock they slaughtered.
Worryingly there was no sign of the farm's residents. But there were clawed paw prints, and then Reislin found a long bony blade in one of the fallen sheep and recognized it for what it was: a spike shot out like a projectile by a manticore. As the tracks in the muddy ground appeared fresh and some of the sheep appeared to have been recently killed, Reislin suggested that we find cover.
But our presence had already been detected. We heard a loud roar from the roof of the barn as a manticore appeared. Its call was echoed by that of a second manticore from the area around a storage shed nearby.
Zander lifted into the air and flew toward the second manticore. Reislin followed by granting magical speed to the rest of us before she took cover behind a large bush. I followed Zander toward the second manticore. Maria went racing past me at her best speed with sword and shield in hand. Through her communication spell, Reislin warned us that manticores are more clever than ordinary animals and can even speak in a limited form. They are also capable of firing many spikes such as the one she had found in the sheep carcass, which they use in addition to claws and bites to attack their prey.
As Zander, Maria, and I turned our weapons against the second manticore, we heard a screech from overhead. I saw a winged form fly over us, circling toward the barn, but its wings were unlike the featherless things the manticores bear. Reislin called out, "Something's coming!" with clear anxiety, having assumed that this third creature was in alliance with the manticores.
As the manticore I fought with Maria and Zander grew weaker from our blows, Zander flew off toward the barn to help Chahana with the other beast. Then Maria dealt a final strike to the manticore and it slumped to the ground, leaving me free to go to the barn as well. I emerged from behind the shed to find the other manticore under attack not only by my friends but by the griffin we had met before!
My spirit rose when I spied the griffin. I have been unable to cease thinking about this magnificent creature since it met him. Zander had slain the other manticore by that time and I was able to greet him and thank him for helping us. I regret that he can't speak, but somehow I feel I can understand him nonetheless. He was able to communicate to me through motions of his head that he had come to fight the manticores.
But Reislin didn't recognize him and it took some time before we could convince her that he wasn't an enemy. Chahana went into the barn to seek the missing farmers but found no one. Reislin went into the house and discovered that the family had taken shelter from the manticores in the cellar beneath the house. They were unharmed and very grateful to be rescued.
Reislin says that manticores are innately cruel beasts and they may have come to attack the farm only because it was there and not because it offered an easy food supply. It seems that building a watchtower in the eastern part of Neotellus will be a wise decision, as we need to protect settlers there from other creatures coming down from the mountains. There could be more manticores. Reislin took some of the spikes from the slain manticores for her research. Perhaps these will be useful should more such creatures threaten our territory.
Wealday, 13th Pharast
I had expected my winged friend to part from us once the manticores were dealt with, but he has remained with us much to my pleasure. After we left the farm we went on to make certain that the manticores hadn't done harm to any of the other farms nearby and were relieved to find them well. It's also well for Neotellus that these people now know who we are and that we will protect them.
Later
After we returned to Lorewynd we learned that there had been some trouble with zealots causing disagreement between adherents of different gods in the town. I went to speak with leaders of both factions and was able to negotiate a settlement between them, praise the Dawnflower.
We have made Tatzlford an official community of our province, and to celebrate this have committed to the construction of a tavern for the hamlet as the community members need a meeting place to socialize and relax. We've also incorporated the area around the Shrike River into our province and identified a location to build a watchtower. Jubilost and his team notified us that they've reached Lake Silverstep to the southeast, a lake that according to old tales was formed in the footprint of a silver dragon.
While our town and its surroundings are growing, they are becoming too civilized for Zander's family. They have begun to speak of departing from Lorewynd to settle new territory of their own. After they heard of Jubilost's report, they've mentioned a desire to visit Lake Silverstep. It would be good to have friends settled near there.
Next: part 28, Battling Demons and Decisions
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