Letter to the council: After Action Report on Hillmarch Mine Invasion With Possible White Horde Activity

Dire Rabbit

[Copies of this are included for Senior Retainer Osco and Polk with a note ‘Retainer Olgadottir asked me to provide these for your house’s records.]

[The report is dotted with old water stains here and there as if it’d been written under thin cover during a rainy day]

Today ((Dec 7)) I was in the Hilmarch camp doing some mineral mining and in search of ore to practice my forge work, in the early morning I met an elf by the name of Reeaz, of house Ren Nia Lanfeariel. During our talk we were assailed by a gaggle of kobolds that grew into a raiding party very quickly. We managed to drive them back to the throat of the mine and chose to counterattack immediately.

I need to stress for reasons that become important later, these kobolds were animated- laughing, vicious, devious little creatures that tried several ambushes and the use of strategically placed traps within the mine to impede our progress. They laughed and cackled when they were tripped, delighting in the thrill of it all.

As we pushed in deeper and deeper we encountered heavier resistance using some modest (very kobold-ish) tactics that were clever but otherwise unremarkable. Then things got more interesting…

We came into one of the side chambers where the kobolds had erected a totem of draconic worship and an array of coins, gems, flowers and scales were offered to the statue as one might expect of kobolds. However there was one kobold, alone, staring at the statue. His eyes were glowing white and he didn’t respond at all to the cries of his compatriots- not for lack of concern but he didn’t respond to anything going on around him until we were close at which point he hurled a fireball at the entrance to the ritual chamber. There was no doubt in my mind that this creature had been conducting some kind of ritual before we arrived, but it seems it had been taken over before the ritual was complete.

With the elf feinting him, I dropped a Hammer on the kobold, stunned it and we took it down without too much fuss- I hadn’t put it together until we pressed on to clear out the rest of the caves and make sure there were no more hostiles.

We encountered one more kobold.

It was alone in the very back of the mine simply staring at a wall as if in a trance, it had the acumen of a caster judging by its appearance (similar to other casters we’d encountered in the battle. Rags, totems, things of that nature), we attempted to get its attention but nothing seemed to work until I got close and waved a light in front of its face. It turned to me with the blistering heat of a million stars burning in its eyes- white hot but utterly vacant. Then I noticed the smell of something cooking.

And then it hit me.

Pieces of kobold splashed over me like a bucket of warm water full of fish scales, it’s skull had been stripped bare and its brain boiled out of its now eyeless skull. It slopped to the ground like a rag doll cracking bone on contact with the rock allowing more grey matter to pool out. . .

If I have to see that, you should too. You’re welcome.

After the surprise wore off it started to really click for me that this may be related to the White Horde, interactions with Black Tribe orcs have shown a similar vacant stare until roused, at which point they become mindlessly violent creatures. Finding no special markings, tattoos, or magical devices on the creature (of any import), I attempted to look into any residual magic energy lingering in the kobold. That was a mistake I will not repeat again.

Just opening my extra senses to attempt to seek out any magical signature blasted me with what I’ve heard described as ‘blowback’ by wizards at my college. It was a horrible, piercing pain like electric
spikes being shoved into my brain with a rusty sledge hammer. It actively struck out at me and it felt white and furious. It wasn’t something I did on my own, but by the gods graces I wish I had not.

We returned to the camp after this and made sure everyone was all right, in total one miner was killed and several injuries were reported (and treated). The retainer mentioned attacks upon the camp have become more frequent of late, but these attacks were raids planned and coordinated like a kobold would, so I am not ready to speculate too much on what’s going on here on that front.

Sincerely,

Keline Hallenthen
Aspirant of the Red Knight
Council of Twelve

Addendum:

From this I have a couple of speculative ideas:

The White Horde Witch starts with casters because they are an easy avenue for its power to flow through. How/Why/When unknown but we’ve seen many groups of black tribe orcs travel with many casters and now this.
The power the Witch uses is incredibly old (from Nan’s own words and my experiences).
Those taken into the power of the Witch are used as disposable tools, fingers of a greater fist. They do not seek self preservation, they do not care after their own bodies. They are used and disposed of with abandon- they do not think. This changes all strategic planning concerns and, if true, is a terrifying prospect.
Power being used on these creatures is deeply internal, fundamental to the Weave- almost like a spider in a web. Even if the web is not its own, the spider can traverse it freely and strike upon those using it. Perhaps it is a weak will or a moment of weakness, lures to power or some other force that makes casters susceptible to it? If true, it would mean we are facing a threat well beyond the scope of a warlord. . .

Dire Rabbit

Follow Up Report:

Time: One day after the preceding event.
Location: Hilmarch Camp
In attendance: Myself.

During a routine mining trip, I encountered a small scouting party of gnolls in the mine itself. Numbering about seven, they seemed to be searching for something, there was no sign of what (or whom) they were searching for. The caster of the group regrettably got away, I didn’t pursue it because it didn’t seem to be aggressive enough to mess with the locals and I did not know if it was attempting to lure me into a trap.

Upon returning some time later, I picked off three stragglers from the party that had been searching for something outside the cave entrance. These gnolls were active, alert and calculating- they attempted (basic) tactics to out maneuver me and their caster actively retreated when the battle was lost.

This may also be related to the recent speech and activity with House Misirim, however this is speculation on my part. Of note there is a White Feather totem in the area, at first I had assumed it to be some kind of cause or conduit for the Witch’s energies to take root in the kobolds. Retainer Rismente Waldon of House Misrim took a long and concerted look into it and came up with nothing, it was a simple totem with no magic whatsoever.

Speculations:

The gnolls came to collect the kobolds.
The white feather totem acts as a marker where groups can be collected by these gnolls.
The gnolls were looking for someone or something. (They did not have mining equipment, nor would it make sense for them to be mining so close to Arabel).
By not killing the caster, the Witch will know that their attempt to turn the kobolds has failed.
The self preservation instinct displayed by enthralled creatures is not of the will of the Witch, but simply a basic state that whatever magic used perpetuates- like a primitive brain with territorial boundaries in its mind.

Questions:

Could this also mean that the process by which these creatures are enthralled is not instantaneous or ‘complete’ without some other component?

Sincerely,
Aspirant Keline Hallenthen