To: Investigator Geo Friinok, Gem Choppers
From: Investigator and Defender, Okosar
Re: Fourth Report, Clashes in Steamfont
Between waves of Minotaur skirmishers, I’ve designated myself “scouting party of one” and taken the opportunity to continue the investigation as well as determine the displacement of enemy forces. The investigation turned up a new name you would do well to keep an eye on. Feddi Dooger.
Feddi Dooger interrupted my rounds by calling to me, “I find your sanity sickening and the madness of Meldrath cannot tolerate you much longer.” “Do I know you?” I asked. Dooger refused to utter another word, instead eyeing me disdainfully. Once again, the theme of sanity and madness brings itself into the forefront of the investigation. We must all keep our wits about us, that is for certain. I will have to meditate on the significance of this “shadow of madness” that Meldrath seems to cast over those his presence touches.
My investigation continued, and I met a remarkable Gnome named Fodin Frugrin. He greeted me, “Hello, Okosar. Have you ever peered beyond our little world? Somewhere out there in the vast darkness is a world filled with great technology and adventure. Our people should concentrate on reaching these distant worlds beyond the sparkling skies.”
What he said hit a chord with me as I remembered my Brownie friend’s admonition, “’You just wait, soon enough the sky is just going to fall right down on top of you. Don’t bother looking up, you won’t be able to do anything about it.” I asked Fodin if he’d seen anything unusual in his astronomical observations recently, but he noted nothing out of the ordinary. I asked him to keep an eye out for me, and thanked him for his service to Ak’Anon.
My arrival back to the gates of Ak’Anon was met with the chaos of battle as the largest Minotaur force yet was trying to breach our defensive line. In fact, I caught a Minotaur captain who slipped by in all the confusion. He got no further than the tunnel down, I assure you.
After the attack was finally repelled, I devised a plan to keep them off balance for awhile. To counter the increased organization the Minotaurs are showing, I would go “mix things up” a bit at the source of the disturbance: the Minotaur mines.
Before long, I came upon Meldrath himself, or so he called himself. He was, of course, not Meldrath. Not only did he have silver eyes instead of eyes of deep darkness, but he went down rather quickly.
No, the real Meldrath, as well as his evil intentions, are locked behind the giant door. There was, however, an interesting contraption mounted in the room he occupied. I am sending you an image of it to see what you can make of it.
Soon, I heard the clomping and stomping of a herd of Minotaur soldiers in the mines.
This was my opportunity. I would invisibly track them out to the valley, inflict some losses on them before they can organize, anger them enough to follow me, then lead them to an ambush of Ak’Anon Defenders. I tied a note to my roboboar and sent it off to our defensive lines. Now I could execute my plan.
1) Draw first blood.
2) Provoke them into a blind rampage.
3) Take them to the city gates.
4) Only to be mowed down by an organized ambush!
As I sign off, I’m preparing additional battle plans to keep the Minotaurs off balance in order to quash this mounting threat before it can gather any more…steam.