From the journal of Lythande Syldorei
Arodus 4712
We returned home from Pitax to find that there had been another surplus crop this harvest, which put us in a very favorable situation. There was plenty of food for the feast to celebrate when Zander was wed to Ramakka. Before the wedding, Zander and his clanmates and his brother Benn went out to find the reported dragon that had been preying on local livestock and deal with it. Reislin says it was not truly a dragon but a forest drake, though to the farmers who lost animals to it the difference is an insignificant one. The dragon or drake had no hoard of treasures, but the hunting party brought back its head and some of its hide, and they found the remains of one of my kin who had the misfortune to encounter the beast.
Zander and Ramakka's wedding was held on a beautiful morning beginning just after dawn, so the blossom-filled meadow was lit by the glorious sunrise. Maraleaf officiated over the formal portion of the ceremony, binding their wrists with a thong and having them both grasp a spear as they promised to protect each other as they would protect their tribe. Once they had completed this portion of the ceremony they slaughtered a pair of goats to be prepared for the feast that took place later. This too was a symbolic act reflecting on their relationship to each other and to their tribe. I can't help but wonder how Ramakka feels about being separated from her family to remain in Lorewynd with Zander, or if she will go with them when they depart for Lake Silverstep. Such a thing would not be strange among my people, but I don't know how other folk deal with such arrangements.
The feasting afterward went on for three days. It was pleasant to see that the people of Lorewynd came out to join in and even brought food to share. Chahana had invited Arravis de Vray to come as her guest and she spent some time with him. I also noticed that Maria was spending time with Davvees, a soldier from Mivon she had met on the journey to Pitax.
Thinking of such arrangement brings to mind some information we learned from the Swordlord of Mivon before we parted from him. It has only been a very few years since the entire bloodline of Choral the Conqueror vanished abruptly, leaving the Swordlords to deal with leadership of the nation. The dealings between the various Swordlords are tense according to the Swordlord of Mivon, and it is possible the lords of Mivon may return to Brevoy to attempt to wrest control for themselves or ally themselves with whoever takes that position. What would become of Mivon then? Wold it become a part of Brevoy, or will Brevoy break apart into separate kingdoms centered around the cities of Restov and New Stetven? Our Neotellus was supported by Restov - must we side with them? Should we set ourselves with Mivon? Or should we remain independent? And while the Swordlords are at odds with one another we cannot expect aid from Restov.
On a more favorable note, we have heard from Varnhold that the Varnlings have returned from a contract that kept them away for a lengthy period by their reckoning. I wonder who looks after the settlement there while the mercenary company is absent. To our knowledge Varnhold is not the center of a growing nation as Lorewynd is. It was only meant to be a base of operations for the mercenaries.
While we were all discussing this information, it also occurred to us that during the boasting contest at the Rushlight Festival the representative of Pitax boasted that she had overcome all the wizards who had gone into the Hooktongue Slough region. We don't know if there was any truth to her tale, but if she was not speaking untruth then what has become of the wizards and their magical floating coach?
With Zander happily married to Ramakka, we took him away for a time to travel to the lizardfolk village to treat with them as we had planned. While we can't persuade them to fully ally themselves with us or become our subjects, we have at least agreed that we will not claim their village and they in turn will not slay any farmers or loggers.
After our visit with the lizardfolk we hired a boat to take us to the island in Lake Candlemere to investigate the ruined tower that stands there. We had heart stories of mysterious lights seen on the island, as well as groaning and wailing coming from there. The island itself is mostly rocky and rough, though there are some areas that might be able to support a farm. As soon as we arrived we felt an aura of malevolence emanating from the place, and all of us had a sensation of being watched.
We made our way to the tower ruin despite our discomfort. There is little left of it. Most of the tower has collapsed, leaving only a broken cylinder of the exterior wall. The stairs leading up and down had fallen away. A few stumps of a pillared colonnade led toward one of the entrances. The tower was clearly very old. Reislin says it may be as old as the Age of Destiny.
As soon as we got closer to this ruin we all felt that there was something truly wrong about it, and both Maria and Zander became shaken by the evil force that surrounded it. Though I could feel it it had no effect on me, praise the Dawnflower. The walls bore faintly carved symbols that I recognized as the Aklo language though I couldn't read them. Zander said they were blasphemous prayers to an ancient god called Yog-Sothoth. Chahana hailed whatever entity was giving us the impression of being watched, but received no response.
We went into the remnant of the central chamber and found it quite disturbing, though it was empty of anything but rubble and another pillar. The walls seemed somehow the wrong shape. It was a round tower yet we could all see corners, the shadows were too dark, the structure seemed both closer and farther away than it should be. But our attention was quickly distracted from this strangeness when Maria noticed something in the center of the chamber and approached it, though none of the rest of us could see anything but Maria speaking to empty air. Maria exclaimed, "It's coming," and prepared to fight, moving out of the chamber to its entrance. Suddenly a blue light filled the area around her as a bolt of lightning struck her.
Chahana ran beneath the glowing blue orb that floated above Maria, and the orb sent a bolt of electricity at her. Then it vanished from sight. Another bolt of lightning shot out at Zander. Maria granted herself the ability to see invisible creatures and began shouting out directions to the rest of us. The creature seemed to be most attracted to her and to Zander, as they had been most affected by the malevolent aura of the ruin. Reislin told us the creature was a will-o-wisp and that it was drawn to fear. It didn't like me, but neither did my spear seem to like it, as after it became invisible I could not seem to find it with my blade.
It was Maria, the only one of us who could see it, who struck it down. It remained invisible when it died, but when it fell I heard a wet sound like a melon falling on the ground, and I could see a splotch of its ichor.
But we were not free of danger with the death of that wisp. Lights appeared in the distance all around the tower ruin. Attracted by the fear that the ruin had engendered in some of us, more wisps were coming to feed. Reislin began to cast a spell. I advised my comrades that I can make invisible things visible, but that it would only be truly useful if we could get several of the wisps quite close to me, as I am only blessed with this ability to use once each day.
In the end we fought eight of the things, aided by Reislin's spell that negated their ability to become invisible within the confines of the ruin. Sadly my ability to strike them with my spear was not improved by being able to see them. They are small, and small flying things are not easy to fight.
Outside the tower, Reislin's ability to detect the magical auras of objects located an old curved dagger, which proved to be cursed. It is an evil thing that I hope can be destroyed, like the tower itself. We may one day build a watchtower on the island, but that won't be possible until Reislin reaches a level of power to allow her to remove its malevolent aura, and I wonder if perhaps we should remove the rubble from the flight of stairs leading down. We don't know what may lie beneath the tower's remains.
The Tiger Lords will set off soon for Lake Silverstep and we may accompany them, as we've never been so far east within the borders of the land we were granted charter to. We may also arrange for a visit to Varnhold so we can assess the state of the town and have direct communication with Marcus Varn.
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