�It just looks like an old discourse on astrology,� Loreli said, her hopeful tone deflating somewhat as she mused over the spidery text written upon the tome�s spine. Her mind was changed however, when she absently opened the book and glanced inside. Sharp, deep cuts through the thick parchment created a sunken hiding place wherein another much smaller book rested. Gently she removed it, careful to disturb the ancient, crumbling pages as little as possible and with a blend of interest and fear she began to read.
It was a diary written in the strong bold hand of a man who identified himself as Beldin, Lion of Lancell. The first third of the book seemed to deal with life around the home of the de Matarine family, a life that contained both harsh justice and hard work. As the scrawl grew blacker and the words bleaker, it was easy to imagine the mood of the writer spiraling down the same path�
Lasos 4, Year of the Salmon
212
"At night they come,
pale wraiths with pointed ears who steal our livestock and frighten our
children. They scream that they are the rightful owners of this land, but
where were they when we landed on the coast and sought shelter here several
years ago? The land is ours, I reply to them. But their hateful pointed
ears will not listen."
Lasos 28, Year of the
Salmon 212
"It would seem as though
my own daughter plots against me. The men dragged her into my room today
kicking and screaming. They said they found her in the glade out beyond
in front of a crude altar, burning candles and crying words of love to
some man or other. I've not heard of him before. Has the girl lost her
mind? I've no time for this. Even now the raids grow stronger and more
frightening."
Lasos 45, Year of the
Salmon 212
"Oh ye gods and goddesses,
help us. If only it were a man that Charlena has come to love I could be
lenient and forgive, but tis a demon god! Her candles have been poured
from human fat, and her eyes burn wildly with an unholy flame when she
begs for he who is named Lord Calatine. I sorrowfully have begun to believe
that the chaos and death that visits us more often these days may not be
at the hands of the elves alone."
Lasos 83, Year of the
Salmon 212
"It seems as though the
world has gone mad, and for the safety of all I have imprisoned my daughter
in the cellar below. She is well fed, but alas. I fear more for her sanity
than I do for the state of her belly. The attacks of the pointed-ears are
coming closer together with each passing day, and I'm not sure how much
longer we can hold out�"
Lasos 89, Year of the
Salmon 212
"May the gods above and
below have mercy upon our souls�.The fires rage around me even as I write,
and I hear the screams of the dying rising in the hot night air. I will
never again see the�.."
The last page of the journal
was scorched, and the remainder of the entry was gone.
