A Letter to his Mentors

To Brother Ernst and Sister Tuolla,
 
As you know, I left Heraldsport for Keep Dyramar on the northern frontier. It is as raw a settlement as I was warned, but the territory beyond that frontier post lacks even that degree of vigor and civilization. At the moment, the adventurous band to which I have become attached is the only such group active at the Keep. When my companion Geller the Ranger and I arrived, there was another such band in residence, but they soon vanished without a trace. We have had considerable turnover in personnel during the months since we arrived, but by the grace of the Gods no casualties, and currently have 6 experienced adventurers and 2 local hirelings.
 
We have spent this time exploring the plains running east from the Auran River, and a small section of the Sallow Hills. I am enclosing a clean copy of the maps we have made. I doubt we have traveled further than 20 miles from the Keep in any direction. Geller, who is a woodsman to the bone, finds both the plains and the Sallow Hills unnerving, and we have some hint that a curse or evil force still affects the area. Both areas are entirely treeless, with varying quantities of scattered grass and occasional stunted and wispy shrubs. In correspondence with the limited plant life, there is little game, even at the level of vermin. Geller asserts that, given the rainfall we observe, the pre-Collapse fertility of this land, and the passage of centuries, there should be groves of trees 50 to 75 feet tall even if the Collapse turned the entire region into nothing but a jumbled pile of gravel and dirt. That it has not recovered is a symptom of an affliction which still remains, and we have had arcane advice to this effect as well.
 
Indeed, piles of gravel and dirt are what the Sallow Hills most resemble. Imagine the most enormous and long-established mine, and the heaped piles of its waste tailings. Now shrink your perspective to that of a mouse, and those piles become the Sallow Hills. One band of adventurers could scour the region no more effectively than a family of mice, or ants. This is one reason I write you. If the Reclamation is to be successful, we need a sustained effort from more than a chance-met band of individuals with diverse motives. It is not just the exploration beyond the frontier that needs more hands and eyes. We need to encourage settlement up to the line marked by the Keep. This is the true heart of Reclamation, for without a self-sustaining presence of the civilized races, we have not brought anything within our grasp.
 
I expect to visit Dainmouth soon, and will see if there are opportunities for recruitment of both settlers and additional adventurers. Geller has been talking (for such a taciturn man, almost loquaciously) about buying tree seedlings to begin groves on the slopes of the Northern Hills, between the Keep and the barren plains further north. I suspect we will need the assistance of a druid, or a cleric gifted with divine influence over growing things, as there is no shortage of seeds but a distinct lack of fertility. We have made inquiries locally, but if you can direct someone our way, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Some words about the hazards we have encountered. There is a nest of bandits of mixed race settled in a tower at the west end of the Sallow Hills. They make free of the plains, which offer no cover to the honest traveler, and have mounts which can outpace any party on foot. I find these men and elves most aggravating! They have taken initiative which could place them in the very front ranks of the Reclamation, but they prey upon the civilized races and hinder, rather than advance, the divinely directed activity needed to regain what was Taken. They also traffic with slavers, about whom I know relatively little, save that they pass through this area regularly. Worse, they apparently have some dealings with orcs, about whom much more below.
 
The plains have relatively few points of interest, but do have a few monstrosities that surely do not survive by preying on the limited wildlife. We found the lair, but fortunately not the resident, of a snake that would entirely fill Weavers Alley in Heraldsport, from wall to wall and flagstone to thatch. Lest you find that a fabrication, this beast lairs in a stone outcropping that also holds a tomb of the servants of Vorkas (may his gaze pass over us), in which said servants give service even after death. From that place of sorrow and misery I gained a vision of a land far to the north (perhaps a hundred miles or more), either swamp-like or submerged, associated with Vorkas and some terrible fate. A defeat? A sealing-away? I don't know if this is associated with the Collapse or entirely unrelated. If you would set some of the students to researching what, if anything, is known of this place, and write me of it, I would be very grateful.
 
The Sallow Hills have a greater proportion of monsters and aberrations, some of which none of us can identify. I was nearly killed by a pitch black beast which attacked at night, hidden not only by its color on a moonless night but also by some magical distortion of vision. Six-legged, or perhap four-legged and two-armed, in the general configuration of a great cat. We have found tracks of canines apparently the size of ponies. We have been ambushed by a trap-door spider with a stance almost 10 feet across. We prevailed without casualty in that encounter, and have been using the spider's lair as a base, as the Hills offer almost nothing for cover or shelter. We were attacked by a pair of giant fast-flying insects we could not identify, and found (and avoided) a nest of 3 foot hornets. And these are merely the non-sentient menaces.
 
There are bands of goblins mounted on large wolves, possible Dire Wolves, which regularly patrol the area indicated on the map. They may patrol elsewhere, too. Our observations have been limited. We do not know where they are based, but they are clearly organized.
 
Somewhat to the east of that area, we found a pre-Collapse complex which had been infested by orcs. And not just any orcs. We found clear and immistakeable evidence these were Mauk-lok-ur, the flesh eaters (and wearers). Our resident scholar says during the Taking this tribe was far to the north of here, and their presence in the Sallow Hills is highly significant. We were able to clear the complex with some difficulty, removing 13 orcs and 3 uroks from the world of the living, although one or two escaped which may present problems for us in the future. I am certain these are just a small part of the orc presence here, although we have as yet no idea where the bulk are located. Early in our campaign, we were hunted by a group of orcs many miles west of the Sallow Hills, practically to the banks of the Auran River, but we don't think they lair nearby.
 
I was able to bring the blessings of the Divine Triune to the souls of the civilized folks slaughtered and eaten in that complex, so there should be no shades bound to that place. We found evidence the orcs had been killing and eating goblins as well, in numbers comparable to their human victims. The possibility of driving a wedge between goblins and orcs prompts me to ask what Church doctrine allows for dealing with goblins. Is there any distinction made amongst the subhuman races? What are the ethical constraints on negotiating in good faith with such folk?
 
We have encountered a couple of ogres, one foraging within a short hike of the Keep, and another kept chained for bloody amusements in the orc-infested complex.
 
Moving from the live to the undead, while I was occupied with healing from that cat creature's attempt on my life, the other members of our band found and opened a barrow. There were twelve undead attendants, easily dealt with, and a much more powerful lich, wight or similar creature which has passed through death but not left the world. The party was unable to take on this creature, and successfully fled, bringing back drawings of the runes of its resting place. Local inquiry about these runes confirmed they are vile, but did not identify their source or meaning. (There is no library here, Brother, Sister! At times this is a greater burden than sore feet, bad food and combat wounds!) The creature is either animated by, or constrained by, a lamp casting a brilliant blue light. I heard all this 2nd hand, and was gifted with a nightmare of this creature wandering the night with a blue lantern in one hand and death in the other. I pray that the lamp constrains it, rather than empowers it. The barrow was obviously constructed post-Collapse, and the attendents were clearly not of subhuman races. But we have no clue as to who the barrow builders were, if they served the creature buried there or sought to confine it, etc. If any of the histories shed some light on this topic, please direct a ray of that light in our direction.
 
Moving from the animate to the inanimate, the Sallow Hills may conceal an entire kingdom, but little can be found wandering like mice among the mine tailings. A serious search for pre-Collapse sites probably requires an arcane or divinely gifted ability to seek out buildings buried under rubble with little or nothing visible on the surface. In more than a month of searching, we found precisely two: the complex already mentioned, and a residence which we accessed through a non-descript crack in the side of a hill. Our band has two good trackers, but buried buildings leave no trail, and neither I nor the two users of arcane spells have any applicable skills.
 
To summarize: The scope of Reclaiming even the region within easy reach of the border is daunting. More hands and eyes are required beyond the border, and more settlement is required inside the border. We could use the advice and assistance of a druid or cleric attuned to plant and animal fertility, but the reasons for the local infertility is probably yet to be discovered. There are significant numbers of goblins, orcs and other subhumans in the vicinity, not all of them across the border, and evidence that notoriously vile tribes of orcs have continued to move south since the Taking. There is evidence of civilized, or at least not subhuman, presence in the Sallow Hills following the Collapse, but no sign of these people now, which may be for the better as at least some of them were not nice people.
 
Yours in the service of the Divine Triune,
Brother Prospit Trima
Keep Dyramar
60th of Summer, 117YS
 
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To Sister Raenira,
 
I have enclosed a copy of a letter I'm posting to some of my mentors in Heraldsport. I hasten to add that we have not come across any additional information about the problem we discussed earlier in the Summer.
 
Recently the Gods have gifted me with the ability to heal somewhat more serious wounds, so I am a little less anxious about my ability to properly support my comrades. The scope of the work ahead of us will be the work of generations at the current pace, so I am considering ways to recruit and apply more hands to the problem. Any advice you might have on that subject would be gratefully received.
 
Yours in faith,
Brother Prospit Trima
Keep Dyramar
60th of Summer, 117YS