From the notes of Lt. Jursen

[EdTheKet]

Something was definitely off today. Random patches of darkness were all of a sudden appearing in Fort Llast in broad daylight.One person, all dressed in black with a skull-like helmet ran off into the darkness when I asked him what he was doing. I lost rtack of him for a moment then, so when I had bypassed tthe darkness all I saw was a dark figure going out the North gates. Unfortunately, I was too far behind to catch him.
  I will be sure to keep my eyes open and instruct the guards to do the same.

[nabokov9]

*scratches his beard in thought*

hmm....der was a black robed figger that appeared in Hlint before the drow troubles.  he was wearin a skull helmet too, 'is face was all covered and he tellin' people dat dey couldn't enter the crypts.  anybody remember dat?

Ollom Hammersong

[Dorganath]

I do remember that fellow.  He was quite disturbing. *scratches chin in thought*

[Etinfall]

*a note in elegant handwriting, pinned on the wall*


Dreadful news. Please read and heed this warning.

Indeed, today in Hlint there was trouble with the Undead. A red fog came out of the crypts, along with the undead themselves. Again, there was a man in black there. Definitely not helping the situation. Please be aware and do not travel alone.

Calvin Elanesse'
Cleric of*scratched through*

[lonnarin]

Enjoying his exhile from Hlint, the Dread Pirate Rakish's ears perk up hearing of these rumors.  "Somebody's ripping off my favorite prank AND my fashion sense, eh?"  Taking a swig of spiced rum, he storms out of the tavern of Port Hampshire for leads on this rumored, fairly sure that it wasn't himself in a drunken night of skullduggery.  Well, kinda.  All black, black and blue cape, skull mask...

Rakish asks a few criers and checks the bullitens to see if there was any mention of the man having a silver hook for a left hand, and pauses mirthfully to admire and autograph his wanted posters.  ::parry check 10+18=28, signed via rapier::

[EdTheKet]

Lt. Jursen returns to his notes and adds a few lines to his previous entry.
  Now I heard from Grumpy Nefzen that a man in black has also been sighted in Hlint even though he's shrugging it off "There's so many people wearing black." I believe he's not taking this serious.  Then he shakes his head and adds one more thing.  As if Grumpy Nefzen ever takes things serious... All he does is walk the streets! I better inform my men of this.

[IceDragonDuvessa]

*written in a neat deliberate text*

The man in black that stood in front of the crypts of Hlint was nothing more than a rediculous Bard trying to aquire items for spells from people to enter. I remember him that night, and crossed his path with ease. He had even hired poor Mikey M. The half giant to stand gurad for him.  Though I doubt all of the sightings ive read about here were him.

Regards,
Brisbane

[lonnarin]

::written in cut up bits of town crier parchment pasted to a hickory scroll and couriered by a mute farmhand boy who can neither read nor write...::

"Some people prefer their privacy while changing clothes... BUM LOOKER!"

::The boy then skips off happily swinging around his brand new iron shortsword::

Seriously, what is the world coming to these days?  The Lt. feels his days at the post just getting longer and longer...

[EdTheKet]

Now there are not only random patches of darkness but also reports of some kind of lethal red fog. I have doubled the watch for the time being.

[EdTheKet]

Yesterday, not one, not two but no less than three drow showed up in Fort Llast after having been chased from Hlint. They wanted protection or sanctuary or something. No doubt it is some devious plot on their part, trying to infiltrate here claiming to be all good and peaceful until one day you wake up with a knife at your throat.
  They'll be watched for as long as they're in town. Maybe they had something to do with those patches of darkness as well. They've been known to be able to throw darkness around.  I must instruct my men.

[EdTheKet]

I received a note from somebody named Derrick today about some uprising of Giants in the Silent Watch Mountains. Probably somebody who wandered into the mountains and got the scare of his life and now sits in the inn trying to find his courage in ale. Probably nothing, and I have all trust in Captain Bensen of Fort Hope.

[EdTheKet]

I write this while I am recovering in bed form my injuries. A melody full of discord could be heard upon the winds for a couple of days, driving everybody crazy. Husband turned against wife, shopkeeper against customer, brother against sister. It was madness. I vaguely remember that Dalton also lost it and I think balors walked the streets. And I vaguely remember... fighting, fighing my men, fighting the citizens I am sworn to protect. I am ashamed of myself.
  And now, as I lie here recovering from the wound given to me by my sergeant, I no longer hear that fell melody, but things are still off. The people in the streets are edgy, and ready to fight their neighbour over trivial things. Even the men are on edge.
  Things are not well in Fort Llast.

[EdTheKet]

"Now what?" Lt. Jursen says annoyedly as he had just taken out his notebook to update it, but got disturbed by the shouts of people in the streets. He goes out to investigate and it is not until later that he returns.
  The town is restless and will probably remain so for the rest of the night. People roam the streets, take a few steps, look up to the sky, they take a few more and look up again. I've seen it myself, a new group of stars has appeared in the night sky in a spot where there were no stars before.  I will leave it up to those wiser than me to find out what it means, I got my hands full with people shouting 'Doom is upon us!" tonight. I must see to it that nobody does anything stupid.
  He closes his notebook, takes his helmet and weapon and heads out again to ensure order is maintained.

[EdTheKet]

Staring out of his window Lt. Jursen sighs happily.  The discordant melody played again today and worse then before. The skies darkend, thunder clapped and lightning struck. Then, it started to rain, a reddish rain, hurting everyone it touched. Together with the shrieking sound of the discord, people were going crazy again. I remember a have of red clouding my eyes and, no matter how I resisted it, I just wanted to hurt people…  [/i]Then when I was about to lose the last bits of sanity I could hold on to, a single pure note was heard, followed by a joyful song that spilled across the lands. And with this song, came memories: I remembered first kissing my girlfriend, I recalled the friends for life I made when starting out as a new recruit, I thought of the joy on the face of my mother every time I go visit her (which is not often enough). For that brief moment, me and everyone around me just radiated joy for love, life and living. For that brief moment, I think we were all touched by something Divine.  [/i]For that moment, everything was… perfect.  [/i]He smiles when he recalls the moment, then there’s a banging at the door. “Lt. Jursen? Ye there? I brought ye yer stuff fer yer weapons locker.”
Smiling and shaking his head, Lt. Jursen opens the door “Yes master dwarf, thank you. If you could bring me a light crossbow next?”
   
     

[EdTheKet]

The last few days, Dalton was getting increasingly excited as the night of the Crimson Moon would be upon us very soon. I mostly ignored his mage-babble as it's beyond me anyway, but I got the impression that it would be the night where magic was at its most powerful and that it would take a few centuries before it would happen again. So I told my guards to be extra alert, as you never know with magics, and decided to do the nightshift myself as well.
  When night fell, it didn't take long before any mage with a scrap of power was out and about, either looking at the sky or trying some experiment. I told them to take their experiments outside of the gates. I'll not have the citizens harmed by experiments gone awry.
  As the night grew darker, so did my feeling of eariness, although I couldn't quite put a finger on it. I was looking up at the sky when I nearly bumped in to a woman. I've only seen her once or twice before, but she's hard to miss, radiating power just by the sight of her. She goes by the name of Selian and is not one to be trifled with. She took her eyes away from the moon and looked into mine. It felt like she was seeing right through me.   He shivers again, as he recalls her stare.   "Nice night, is it not?" she said. I quickly stammered an apology and hurried along my way, feeling her eyes piercing my back until I turned a corner. Why she was in Fort Llast during that night I don't know, I hope nothing ill will come of it.

[EdTheKet]

Standing at the eastern gate of Fort Llast, Lt. Jursen notices a train of bedraggeld people approaching. They look haggard and scared out of their wits. After talking to them for a bit, he returns to his office and starts to write.
  It seems that many things are afoot. Last night, while I was making my rounds, that new group of stars which appeared a few months ago (and which people now have named the Snake or the Viper), seemed to move and lash out at one of the other constellations, the Heart, which is often associated with Ilsare I believe.  I also spoke to a group of refugees from Hlint today, and it turns out that during this same night, evil came to Hlint. Some say it was Milara, others say it was one of Blood's other generals, and even others say it was Blood himself. Regardless of who it was, he burned down a part of town, killing many and making others homeless...  The group who arrived here are some of the ones who lost their homes. Haggard, scared and looking like vagabonds, they've come to stay with family or start over here. I've already requested aid at the temple of Toran, which they've graciously given. What scares me though, is that what happened in Hlint could happen here as well... And no militiamen could do anything against it.
  Closing his journal, Lt. Jursen stays at his desk and stares out through the window. He does not notice his single candle going out and sits there for the better part of the night. Watching, staring, thinking, fearing...

[EdTheKet]

I spoke to the Justicer of Toran at the temple in Fort Last today. He looked extremely worried. "Something is wrong with The All Watching," he said in a downcast voice "while he is still granting my prayers for spells, for several days now I no longer feel his guiding hand during my prayers for support and wisdom in my decisions."  This does not bode well I think, and this time, telling my guards to be watchful, is not going to work.
  Looking out of the window he sees a paladin, fully equipped for battle, rushing out of the gate.

[EdTheKet]

A missive arrived from Blackford. We're being put on heigthened alert as it seems that Bloodstone's troops are on the march.  Sometimes I wish I lived a century ago, when we did not have the likes of Blood roaming the lands. Or that I had taken up a different trade, like... I don't know what.
  Closing his journal Lt. Jursen puts his helmet back on. "Time to walk patrols." he sighs.
 
 

[EdTheKet]

Highstar Belinmeric just visited Fort Llast. She came storming in on her horse, briefly pausing in the middle of town proclaiming "Citizens of Mistone, rejoice for Queen Allurial has returned from her travels."
  She then headed east towards Hlint.
  He sighs. I wonder what took the Queen so long, but maybe it's better not to know.
  Closing his journal, Jursen goes to make another round.

[EdTheKet]

*shaking his head, Jursen adds to his notes*  The things people think up these days, now I met a beggar who was out all night a few nights ago, who told me a great black cloud or shadow could be seen in the sky and that it circled the world. How he knew it circled the world he couldn't say, except that it came from the East (or West) and moved across the sky out of sight towards the West (or East). I told him to not spend any more of the alms he receives on ale, find indoor places to sleep at night and get a grip on his sense of directions.