My good friend Anor,
I imagine you passed by my tower this morning to continue our training, as we had planned last week, and found me not there. Please accept my apology, a very strange thing happened during the night and I find myself detained, perhaps for a long period, in Hlint, of all places.
It began with a dream, and in this dream I spoke with a dragon. We talked of Blood and the need to defeat him. To be brief, it appears that this dragon is working toward a plan, and I think you will agree that it would be wise to follow a dragon's bidding in such a matter. Naturally, I indicated my wholehearted dedication to resisting Blood, and the dragon thanked me and sent me forth on a path through a strange sort of dream forest. Along the way, I crossed paths with some sort of warrior who indicated that I was be going to a place where I would find allies and that there I should continue training and preparation for the battle with Blood. And at the end of that path...I found myself in Hlint.
Imagine my shock.
What awaited me in Hlint is a very strange situation. The first individual that I ran into was a dwarf, so I demanded information from him on the situation. It appears that this dragon has summoned a great number of creatures of all races to Hlint, but there appears to be no real organization or leadership. In fact, it seems to be much more of a rabble than an army.
As I went about the town, I saw that many of these creatures, particularly the humans and a large number of lesser elves, seemed to pass their days engaging in courtship rituals and seeking mates, while others were busy pursuing crafts for commerce - I saw a number of people negotiating, buying and selling, for example one very odd and impertinent female was wandering about trying to sell coal to anyone she saw - without displaying any knowledge of what it was actually used for. Fashion and clothing appeared to be a major concern as well - for example, I noted one extremely foppish fellow in a cape and feathered hat, all colored in purple, and many of the ladies also seemed quite preoccupied with fashion - as if it were a second royal court. This would be related to all the courting and mating activity I suppose. There were also quite the number of bards about, and much story telling, drinking and carousing. I had to have stern words with one of the half breeds with whom I spoke about remembering his elven culture and not drinking with dwarfs. Can you imagine?
I have not yet understood this dragon's plan, or perhaps the dragon is unaware of what these people are actually doing in Hlint once he has sent them there, perhaps he is under the illusion that they are well-organized, training dutifully and preparing themselves for the battle with Blood? I fear he will be gravely disappointed in his army when the day of battle comes.
We had always thought of Hlint as an unimportant human settlement - and so had never bothered to visit it or we might have known what was afoot here - but in fact it is currently filled with all sorts of creatures, and humans seem even to be in the minority. Most disturbingly, I saw a number of dark elves, and an orc was freely wandering the streets, as were several goblins and one creature that was at least half giant if not a full-breed. I could not tell you which disturbed me most between the dark elves and the giant...I have fallen into something very strange here, that much is certain, and I do not for the life of me understand this dragon's plan. For the moment, however, I seem to be the only one of our kind, although lesser elves and many half-breeds are present in abundance.
The dragon's instructions were fairly clear, so I have nonetheless set about attempting to equip myself and to continue my training, while offering to help the local authorities, such as they are, put some order in the place. To that end, I reported to the quartermaster of the guard, the town administration in the form of the tax auditor, and the postmaster, who were the only figures of authority I was able to find, and they have asked me to assist them in some small tasks.
I found, unfortunately, given the prospects at hand, that the area is sufficiently hostile that some sort of allies would be necessary even to carry out certain of these small tasks. How I wish that you could be here for example, we would be so much more effective together. In the end, I joined with one of these dark elves - thinking that observing them closely was perhaps the best way to appraise the situation and try to determine what they are really doing here. This one was named Aeoleth, and he claimed that he had been driven out by his people. We shall see about that. At any rate, for understandable reasons, he too was staying rather apart from the general rabble, so we agreed to join forces. Unfortunately, there is a nasty problem here with poison spiders - we were not successful in our first venture. I shall reflect on an appropriate tactic for our next attempt, I will perhaps prepare some magic instead of relying on the sword and the bow this time. I must say that Aeoleth proved himself worthy of confidence at least on this short expedition, and I have seen no sign yet that he is not what he says he is...but don't be alarmed, yes, I know well that the dark ones are full of treachery, he may not be what he says he is, and I will remain on my guard, have no fear about that.
Again, my apologies for my sudden absence, as I have said I do not know how long this will last. I must remain here - the directions of the dragon were clear - and will do my best to prepare, despite this extremely strange situation. Continue your training as will I, we shall surely meet in due time!
Sendaril Cloudpeak
