A great bat-winged creature has obstructed the moon this evening, pitched the entire nation of Verbobonc into fear and panic. Fires have been set throughout the region to ward off this creature, but reports have come in from riders that entire provinces are alight, so great is the fear that this creature creates.
The recordings held by the Priests show that this creature has invaded our skies a number of times. Each time its appearances heralded the demise of the great empires are foretold a period of warfare and death. The mighty tyranny of the immortal General Koth, who once held half the globe in his hand, ended with the tyrant's death on one of the nights that he creature appeared. And the Sovereignty of the Good King was smashed asunder by barbarian raids that began on another such night. It is written also that the Royal Family of Tarrin disappeared without note one morning s the bat-winged craft passed before the rising sun.
And now it comes again. The countryside is lit with the burning of thatched houses and the air is filled with fevered prayers and the cries of wild abandon. Reports have come that masked riders - each bearing the symbol of the creature - have set libraries ablaze, saying how the creature has been sent to punish those who know too much. I fear if this madness spreads to the capital, I shall have to flee myself.
The Regent and Casanda Council call for calm, but their mortal words have no effect on the masses, for the people fear the creature more than any pronouncement or armed forces.
I have searched the stacks and records of Kes, and in almost every case the calamity upon us is called "The Creature" or - in the more romantic times of the Royal Family - "The Herald of Doom." I have found one reference, different from the others, that calls this monster simply "The Spelljammer." Moreover, it refers to it as a ship.
What folly! Such a simple term for such a force of nature! As if it were a merchant's cog or a trader's wagon instead of the harbinger of the fall of empires. Every man and woman who has ascended the Regent's Chair since its last appearance has dreaded its return.
And now it has, indeed, returned. And our lands once more teeter on the edge of oblivion. What cruel god has sent this beast, this monstrous creature, whose very appearance drives men mad and signals the end of all?
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