Days 10-12
I could not stay away from the rest of the company for long - couldn’t not help, when the matter is so severe, the suffering so great. But I did need another day or two to realise how I can best help. I’ll give you a clue, dear reader: it isn’t trudging through swamps and getting all my friends captured…
Cedwyn and I are focussed on coordinating deliveries of supplies to the refugees at the Forsaken Inn, and fundraising from the folk of Bree. It is inconceivable that we would not do everything we can for the displaced Eglain, but it is also taking a heavy toll on the Black Steel’s reserves. We couldn’t keep this level of support up for long on our own.
I accompanied the last wagonload of food and blankets from Hamglen to the Inn - partly I wanted to see the others again face to face, before too much time passed and things became too awkward. But mostly I wanted to hear and see for myself how things are going.
Blodflaed, Morfryn and Clay (I can never quite tell what to call her in writing - this is the name she goes by in Bree-land, but she is the same woman the others often call Loxflaed or Lheuwen, which I take to be her Southern names) had been sent by Fiontann to scout Ost Guruth and see if it was yet safe for the Eglain to return. I arrived with the supplies a little after the three of them returned - they are of course perfectly capable of conducting successful scouting missions when they do not have me to worry about, it seems - so I was able to get a fresh account.
They found the settlement all but empty of enemies, but the keep had been broken into, and the bodies of the defenders were beyond count. It was as if the wights had come with clear intent - they made straight for the keep, where the defenders made their last stand, and took one singular object from a hidden niche in the wall. Blodflaed & co brought back the box itself, a diary taken from one of the defenders, and a note. I have copied a key passage from the diary below, in case anything should happen to the original. The entry is dated three months, three weeks and six days ago:
My research hasn't revealed anything about the box and I can't even open it. It must be some kind of riddle. But so far I am unable to solve it and unlock its mysteries. The location it was found has been kept a secret from everyone, even from me and the man who has found it must be miles away from here. His name's Cardogir and he found it somewhere beyond the Red Pass.
The mystery is intriguing, but I am not sure it is the company’s first priority just now. New tragedy struck the refugees in the short time the others were away. Clay would not tell me much about it: just that some children were “lost” in the hills, and then refused to elaborate. Fiontann just shook his head. I am trying not to think too hard about what they meant. It is enough of a struggle to keep my own head above the water at the moment. I am no use to the company if I let myself go under again.
We have to find these people a safe home as soon as possible… whether it will be a new or old home, I do not know. May the One watch over them all.
