Reports for Attention of the Stregarch

Reports for Attention of the Stregarch is a collection of skirmish records intended for the eyes of Stregarch Alkestis.

They were recovered from his belongings within the Labyrinthe.

## Description

Varying in quality and refinement, the Reports for Attention of the Stregarch seem to detail exactly that. With much focusing on the ongoing efforts against the force of arthropod aberrations known as the Hive, they paint a bleak picture of faltering military strength in the face of renewed opposition.

## Research

### Completed by

#### Raiders in the Gloom

*They carried off three dozen farmhands in the night, leaving naught save the wagons that had tended to, now sundered into shattered timbers and broken spokes. Caring not for the oxen driving the wagons, they butchered the beasts of burden and maggots festered with unerring vigour within the torn flesh. We burned the bodies, lumber for the pyres from the wagons themselves. For all we know, it could be the grubs themselves would grow to turn into spies for the Wormkeeper. I will speak with candid truth Stregarch, the moral of the men that remain is breaking. How can one fight against a force when every ant, moth and worm could act as scouts for our foe? Do we crush every bug we seen underfoot? The garrison at Mossholde less than two hundred now, patrols spread too thin to protect all of Feathergrass. Something must change soon, or the force will be at the gates of the Bastilla within but a few months.*

#### The Defence of Mightmoor

*The efforts to restore the keep of Mightmoor is ongoing, but proceeding slower than originally anticipated. After the first caravan of masons was set upon by creatures burrowing from the soil and stone below, few have the will or want to leave the walls of Rydoon. Walls cannot stop those that stir from below, or those that descend from above - the Wormkeeper commands multitudes of both. Should another targetted strike come against Mightmoor, I do not believe the remaining defences will hold sufficiently so, and so have ordered a discrete evacuation of the hamlet, informing the residents that necessary architectural inspections are to take place, and for their safety, they are being temporarily relocated.*

*Despite the grant offered by the Archonos from the treasury, we cannot find enough that will take the coin, and so we languish as too much time passes, and too little work is made. Without the foundations of Mightmoor to remain steadfast, there is concern that we will not be able to continue our expansion east into the lands once patrolled by the now-defunct Legion of the Black Hand.*

#### Break-in at Ironstorm

*Stregarch, it is with great regret that I must report that three nights prior a break-in at Ironstorm resulted in the escape of fifty-six individuals. Most were trivial in nature, thieves & poachers serving extended sentences, but there were a pair of particular note. Gron and Tona Kent, both convicted members of the Cardinals as you well know, were found absent from their cells. As such the natural conclusion seems to point towards the occurrence being orchestrated by their father Tarken. The Cardinals has seemingly refrained from meddling with Rydooni matters since their smuggling den in Rockpool Downs was excised by the Ezvos, so what drives such action now? A singular good tiding amongst the ongoing investigations is that Cribur, the Butcher of Byllastro was found still within his cell, despite the door being unlocked by the bandit trespassers.*

#### News from Silt's Bounty

*Troubling reports from the mines of Silt's Bounty seem to suggest that the tunnels near the source of the Restless Rill are starting to grow dry. Evidently the gifts granted by Ilemer have given prosperity for long enough, and now we find that however much further they are expanded, they yield little more in the way of iron, copper, tin or silver. While prospectors continue to hold out hope for the new shafts at Greymeadow, they are yet to yield the quantities sufficient to sustain Rydoon. I will write also to Archon Roque qu Leos and Midarch Maro qu Regas to inform them as such for sake of continued provision of weapons and armour.*

#### The Stand at Lansow Tower

*The strike was calculated, fueled by ingenious use of military knowledge and intelligence. War is a conflict of attrition and one upmanship, without doubt, but if even the gaunt masses of the Lockfang Clan are acting with forethought instead the chaotic raids of which we have grown accustomed then this brings great concern anew. Something seems to guide their hand where it did not before, unfettered and unrestricted. The thickets of Covengrove shift to allow their passage, but when we give pursuit we find ourselves assailed by thorns and barbs that move by their own foul volition. The water around Lansow Tower was laced with some fragrant tincture, but by the time we had noticed, there was greater matters at hand than a well of sweet tea. Responding to the looming war howls, we readied our defence, but when the gnolls came it was as if their actions were guided by the sight of our own eyes. Every stronghold, every chokepoint - they knew the details, and moved to undo the traps laid before turning them on ourselves. A third of our number had been responding to reports of slavers harrying Hazelglen once more, and we found ourselves greviously outnumbered. Less than a dozen of us managed to flee, siezing what steeds remained. Commander Valianos was plucked from the sky by an arrow, and when his pegasus mount Artender flew to his aid, he too was met by the ravenous maws of the hoard.*

#### In Pursuit of the Wormkeeper

*Following the previously discussed reports of a particularly-dense swarm moving to the northeast a few weeks prior spurned the passage of twoscore scouts to fan through the area discretely to gather further information. To locate the Wormkeeper could bring an end to this war would allow for the diversion of further resources already stretched too far to work effectively, and so it was utmost priority that I placed upon such a task. Joining my men in the task, I found myself guided by desolation, fields stripped of foliage by locust, trees felled by undermining of roots by gnawing mandibles. The cavern a few days beyond was impossibly deep, by my reckoning, but the signs of what had passed through was unmistakable. What reason could the Wormkeeper have with the depths of soil and stone? How does this relate to the renewed vigour with which they have surged in recent months?*