Upon completion of our journey into the lands west of Lorinorea and due south of Mydian, I have come to the following conclusions –
The majority of the land is comprised of open grassland,
with a few areas of thick forest. The plains were roamed by nomadic tribes of
barbarians and seem to be very fertile. To the west is a large river, used by
many merchants traveling south to the sea. In Mydian they call this the
After collaborating with the remainder of our party it was concluded that the best strategic move for gaining control of the area would be to attack from the north, taking the smaller outposts and weakening this undead army before continuing to the stronghold. We should be careful in keeping an escape route open in case we are met with more force than we can handle. I have included a map with this report showing the lay of the land to the best of my ability. It is important to remember that this map was drawn based on information we received from the dark elves and that this information has not been confirmed by us. Due to the resistance we met at the first outpost we were unable to explore any further. The dark elves gave us approximate locations of all known outposts and those are represented by gold flags on the map. Upon further exploration I will update this map and keep your majesty well informed of any changes.
Master Nigel Pereme
Royal Cartographer’s Guild of Evandarr
I have also included excerpts from my personal journal, in which I included details from our journey.
15th of March, 605
Today we arrived in the lands south of Mydian, our boat sailed slowly down the river as the land became less inhabited. We passed a small creek early in the morning heading southwest, but continued on. I hope we get to explore it on our return. An hour later we arrived at a small dock and tied down our boat. There was a road heading east-northeast and one heading due south. We decided to take the road to the east. It appeared well traveled and very old. We walked for nearly an hour before we saw wooden buildings up ahead. There were no sounds and the place seemed to be deserted. As we approached there were many tracks, mostly humanoid in nature. Yet the place seemed to be rundown and rarely used. We made camp in a large, empty building and threw a circle around it. I only had a short time to inspect the area as they went about preparing our camp. I found houses with beds but no blankets, a tavern with no food or water, and one cabin that could not be entered. There was an indestructible lock upon the door and some form of writing overhead. At this time I was ordered back into the circle as night was steadily approaching. That night we saw undead start to come out from the woods, but none ever ventured too close.
16th of March, 605
We awoke this morning and I was excited to be able to go out and do my job. A group traveled with me as I first set about mapping the village itself. After completing my sketch of the village I chose to head east out of town. There was a road headed outside of town that seemed to drop in elevation very quickly and I wanted to see where it went. We traveled for some time before the woods opened up and we came to a large lake. There was an old dock yet no ships. It appeared to not have been used for some time. Based on my idea of our current location and the direction the creek had headed from the river I assumed that the creek ended here at this lake. This would make a great point of entry into the area so I made note of it on my map. We then returned to camp and prepared for the night. As darkness came so did the undead. And they seemed to be more prevalent this night. Some even began to venture towards our circle. As their numbers grew they seemed to get closer and closer, I began to feel very uneasy. I had not encountered such creatures before, I had only read of them in books. The undead were now clawing at the circle trying to get through. There were so many we could not count them. It was very hard to sleep and I found myself awake for most of the night.
17th of March, 605
The undead left right before sunrise, retreating into the
woods. We left the circle and tried to follow their tracks but they seemed to
disappear once they hit the wood line. Today we decided to follow another road
that headed back west and slightly north, which after a short travel led us to
another much smaller village. The condition of it was much the same as the
other and we found nothing there of interest. I made a map of it and once done
we headed back to camp to meet up with the others. Sir Grayhelm informed us we
would be departing in the morning, having verified the presence of undead and
completed our mapping of the area. We were to head back to the river and return
north, inspecting anything else we desired along the way. At dark the undead
returned again and there numbers seemed to grow. The entire village was packed
with them and they seemed to be guided by something this time, trying
desperately to get in the circle. For the first couple of hours there seemed to
be only zombies and skeletons, but as the night grew on more sinister undead
joined them. There were rotting corpses with glowing eyes, and discorporeal
creatures that seemed to give off a cold, bone-chilling aura that could be felt
through the circle. I had read that some undead could not be stopped by circles
and began to feel very worried. Suddenly we all saw a greenish light that was
traveling towards us from the woods. The undead seemed to move out of its way
as it approached our circle. Sir Grayhelm ordered us all to prepare for a
fight, not knowing what this light was or what it could do. I drew my sword and
waited, standing in the center of the circle. The light approached and as it
reached the circle I heard a crackling noise, and looking at the circle I saw
veins of blackness coursing through it. The others were too focused on the
light and didn’t seem to notice. They were shouting orders at each other
preparing for the worst. The light seemed to pass right through the circle and
began to swirl as it took a solid form. There standing inside of our circle was
a handful of zombies. Some of our group panicked and left the circle, only to
be cut down by the many undead outside. I was in shock and couldn’t even
remember my spells or that I had a sword in my hand. I watched as the rest of
our party fought them off. As quickly as they destroyed those there were more
behind them and the light continued to grow as more creatures entered the
circle. The others were fighting them off as Sir Grayhelm ordered us to retreat
except for Dame Kareria, Dame Dunmir, and Fadrok. Miranda told me stay behind
her but I stood still, frozen in fear. She grabbed me and shook me out of it,
and I scrambled to grab my things and follow her out of the circle. The undead
were everywhere as we cut a path out of town. Finally we had enough room to
make a run for it and I ran for my life as the undead came after us. I was
running frantically and suddenly tripped on a root. Within seconds the undead
were upon me, clawing my flesh deeply. Nica, Ravasa, and Alayenn held off the
undead as Miranda pulled me to my feet. I fought through the pain and grabbed
my things, looking back I saw that Nica, Ravasa, and Alayenn were surrounded as
bigger undead joined the zombies. They seemed to be coming from every
direction. Miranda ran to help them but was stopped by Alayann, who asked her
to take me and the rest to the ship and go. Miranda suppressed the urge to help
her comrades and grabbed me hard as she took off running. We met up with
Reskar, Raroc, Kiri and