Tested; journal updates now if you kill the boss, but the boss doesn't spawn (oops!). Fix coming soon!

Didn't work again just now; fix attempted v7317, please test once it's up (if I don't beat you to it ;)).

I find Awakened Shalanna to be a very reliable person, a talented hunter of both the living and dead, and a relentless force of optimism in the wake of darkness. Even with her heart missing from her body, she still faces the trials and tribulations we of the House endure, without wavering.

She has demonstrated trustworthiness, resolve, compassion, and a deep respect for the natural life Lathander's Light fosters. Her being the first of our House present at the Redwood when it came under assault by the necromancer in scarlet today exemplifies each and every one of these traits. I therefore formally put forth my recommendation that she be promoted.

-Dawnsquire Lautrec

// OOC: Forum account is Cpt_Elrad, IG account is (I believe) also Cpt_Elrad.

Wholeheartedly agree with this. Was also going to use the Crimsons as an example; I'm not sure how the playerbase felt in general about our previous slate of factions, but it must be said that they were able to have and maintain distinct identities while also being much looser on alignment, and (as far as I can remember) having many fewer alignment restrictions on gear, with some having basically none at all.

This has the advantage of allowing much greater player freedom, and making the prospect of DM factions as the dominant focus much less chafing to people who seek to create interesting concepts that fit in with this landscape. I can see having concerns that this would be detrimental to the factions' overall identities, but as many examples in the past have shown, this is the kind of thing that can be handled through RP rather than mechanics---mechanical restrictions/gates on alignment are unnecessary when, given how heavy this server is on roleplay, and how experienced the playerbase is with it on average, one can always reasonably expect that social/factional consequences will wind up effectively being mechanical consequences.

I was inspired this fair Dawn to make a prayer to holy Lathander, and I feel that, since it felt as though it came through me and not from me, it will not be self-aggrandizement to reproduce that prayer here, in writing, for the edification of those who may join our fold after me.

I likewise encourage my fellows of the House to write prayers, oaths, and the like, in kind, that we may learn new perspectives from one another on the glory of our Morninglord.

-Dawnsquire Lautrec

[There is a small gap, and then a transcribed prayer, in handwriting more careful but otherwise identical. Ample space is left below that.]

A humble prayer for the promise ever kept

Highest praise be unto You, O Bringer of the Dawn, for how Your Light shines upon this town and all its denizens.

I pray to You that I may be found worthy of the honor of bearing that Light in Your holy name;

that I may bring that Light and compassion to shine where there is darkness and despair;

that I may, in Your name and to uplift Your most sacred wishes, be capable of helping to right the wrongs what beset us and to see cured the taints of the land;

that those in our fold who have been harmed by wicked forces may yet live to see myriad sacred sunrises, and be made whole again.

"In the Dawn, beauty reigns, and the way is clearer." May the promise of that Dawn ever be fulfilled. All this I pray, in the name of the Morninglord.

Our friend Mikul, the drunken Sheriff Bron, Blood Shark Gura of the Precept, and myself went down into the smugglers' tunnels beneath the city to hunt the necromancer Rend, who was a chief player in the attack on Eveningstar. Somehow, Mikul managed to get a key to the necromancer's base, and we stormed in and captured him in a brief scuffle---he was caught red-handed (black-handed?) raising the bodies of dwarven mercenaries as henchmen when we came upon him.

After this, we dragged him to the Precept headquarters in chains (though I would have preferred we got custody, it is perhaps better not to make a thirty-mile journey with a deadly mage in tow), where Naresh prepared a vial of some kind of serum which has the ability to cut magical folk off from the Weave. This was to be his punishment, followed by a stay in our dungeons, but at the last possible moment, he was broken out by magical means---a darkness spell came upon us, and he was able to flee, as some people of the Sands were able to tunnel into the Precept's Menagerie.

We have learned that Rend is working with Nazim, the leader of the "sand snakes" (not sure if this is a real name for their group, or the drunken Sheriff's epithet...), and in particular is being tasked with raising the Scourge of the Sands from the dead. Though the capture failed, members of the Precept were able to secure blood vials for tracking, and we now have confirmed a connection between these two groups---meaning that now it will be possible to kill two birds with one stone.

They are supposedly now galvanized into a well-supplied and well-armed military force, these people of the sands; I believe it would be best if we can put some serious manpower support behind this, although one of the others opined that perhaps support for Nazim among the other tribes would fall away if it became clear he were using necromantic means to augment his own power.

At any rate, we are one step closer to solving our problem.

-Dawnsquire Lautrec

[An addendum, tacked to the previous report by a small pin:]

Forgot to mention this---Rend referred to Jack Wild, leader of the Scarlet Syndicate, as "nascent[ly] ascending". It seems that he strives for godhood...this bodes quite ill, but I am not sure what is to be done about this besides grinding the Scarlets to dust as soon as possible.

Dawnlord,

I do not think I possess strong political instincts, but if you believe that I can serve Lathander in this fashion, I am open to the idea. Just let me know what I have to do.

-Dawnsquire Lautrec

@Zool Put this one on the mega-list you're gonna drop on me. I volunteer as tribute.

Dawnlord Jadzia, Awakened Malcolm, and myself delved into some tunnels burrowed by ants earlier today and encountered a massive maggot infestation. The maggots themselves were rife with all manner of contractible diseases and ailments. We managed to fight straight through, to their source: a massive, writhing, wriggling bug, which appeared also to be some manner of undead (as enspellments meant to harm undead indeed harmed it).

This being, and the ants' queen, were seemingly either placed there or manipulated in some fashion by a man who said that "[his] Master" assumed this infestation would kill the three of us. He was summarily executed for assaulting us, and upon his decapitation, a last maggot crawled forth from his body, apparently having infested the man at some point before our arrival.

The Precept Arcanum claim to be aware of this issue---of a seeming cult dedicated to these monstrous creatures of death and decay---and have promised their aid. One of their number (Naresh, if I remember the name right) said that these were also seen to be connected to some kind of band of infernal ogres.

This report is to be copied and sent to the Precept ASAP, pending the Dawnlord's rubber stamp.
'
Once the Awakened makes his report, I will have it filed here.

Praise be to Lathander.

-Dawnsquire Lautrec