A stack of letters found amongst other documents in a bandit camp between New Cyre and Starilaskur.
Terfel,
I know this letter may seem late in the coming, but we've only just made it to Sharn. We walked here, and we helped as many people as we could along the way. Some we even sent to you at New Cyre! Truth be told, I'd been dragging my feet a little.
We made it safely to Sharn, but what we found there wasn't what we were expecting at all. I've been excoriated from House Cannith. Nobody will speak to me, not even to tell me why! I am angry and humiliated, to turn up at the home of my betrothed and be turned away by his warforged servant, with no explanation!
I know not what I could have done to earn his ire, but it seems that the House of Making is lost to me. The four of us, myself, Pierce, Daine and Jode, have gone to High Walls with the other Cyran refugees, in Lower Tavick's Landing. We're staying in an inn, rough little place called The Manticore, though I don't know where Jode found the coin to pay for our lodgings.
Jode got us a job with someone from Daine's past. He's reluctant to talk about it, but we need money and she's offering a fair bit. We need to track down one of her employees who's gone missing, shouldn't be too hard.
Hope you're doing okay, write back to me.
Lei
26th of Dravago, 997 YK
Terfel,
The rat pawned off my thrice-forsaken crossbow! and Daine's sword! That's how he paid for our inn lodgings! If he's lucky, this job for Alina Lorridan Lyrris works out and I can buy it back. Otherwise I'll be finding out how much a dragonmarked halfling goes for on the pawn market. How did he even get us in contact with a noblewoman from Zilargo!? I didn't even know he'd been there before!
The person we're looking for used to be a racer in the race of eight winds, though he stopped racing a few years ago after his mount died during three consecutive races. How strange is that!? It seems he's since gotten involved with some group calling themselves House Tarkanan.
I've discovered that my uncle lives in Sharn. I went to see him today, he's the only member of the house still willing to talk to me. Hadran, my betrothed, died a week ago, torn to pieces by some wild beast, or violent magic. He told me that the house has splintered, Merrix is the power in the south and he personally ordered my excoriation. He doesn't know why. I've never even met Merrix! What could I have done to earn his ire?
He told me that an old associate of his has requested to meet me, and gave me a dark wood staff. He won't say anymore.
These letters help me to collect my thoughts, I probably won't even send it.
Lei
17th of Sypheros, 997 YK
Terfel,
Several people have gone missing now. We met with a captain from the Cyran army, her name is Greykell. She's acting as some sort of sheriff in High Walls, as the Sharn Watch don't really come here. She put Daine under fire for continuing to wear his uniform, said it draws unnecessary aggression from the locals. I guess the war is still fresh in everyone's minds.
Some of the people here, they're talking about worrying things. There is some discussion, whispered around fires, of the Mournland. We know we can't return to our homeland, it can't support life. There's power there, though. What if we could harness it somehow? It seems like a dangerous trail of thought to me, but it's captivating.
Greykell put Jode to work healing people. You should've seen her when she found out about his dragonmark, her demeanor changed immediately.
Some of the refugees attacked us, they had strange...I don't know, mutations? One of them had claws, another spat some acidic substance from their mouth. One of them managed to get on top of me, an old woman with a basilisk's eye embedded in her hand, luckily she only managed to turn one of her companions to stone.
Nothing makes sense anymore. Something is wrong with Daine, after the fight he collapsed and hasn't woken up. Greykell seems to know all of those who attacked us, people who just days ago were telling children stories around the campfires. Nothing makes sense.
Lei
23rd of Vult, 997 YK
Terfel,
I really hope these letters actually make it to you. It's been a few days and I just, I don't know what to do. Something terrible has happened and I don't even want to write it down because I feel like it'll make it real. Daine has been running over the events of the last few days out loud, trying to make sense of it.
It's real, it doesn't matter if I acknowledge it on paper. You deserve to know.
Jode is dead. He went missing, like the others, a few days. We found his body in the sewers beneath High Walls, along with several others. Terfel, I don't know how to communicate this, or even if I should via letter.
His dragonmark was gone.
This isn't possible.
Please write back, we need to know that things are going better in New Cyre.
Lei
2nd of Zarantyr, 998 YK