The Rise (And Fall) Of An Empire

Enemy at the gates

A log found in the ruins of a fortress

December 3rd. 2524

Hunters found a lot of dead deer and elk today. Looks like they were being hunted for food. But the thing that is confusing me is I didn't order hunting of such a scale. And after the questioning of the local villages it seems that they had nothing to do with it either, though I cannot be sure if they are telling the truth or not.

December 5th. 2524

Hunters found a lot more dead animals, all stripped for their meat. Mostly deer and elk. But also some wild horses and cows. And one of the villages got attacked last night. We don't know what happened exactly though because who ever did it left no survivors and took the bodies of their fallen, if there even were bodies to take. Whoever it was that attacked the village was brutally efficient. Leaving no survivors. Not even children.

December 10th. 2524

Three more villages destroyed. All during the night. At first we thought everyone died. But further investigation has shown that some are unaccounted for. It's possible some people where taken. Why that is. I can not tell you. My second in command believes it may be for the purposes of slavery. I suppose we can only pray for the poor souls taken.

December 27th. 2524

Another attack. But today there was survivors. Or survivor. One died of their wounds before we could save them. But the one survivor has some interesting information. They saw the warriors who attacked them...and what they're describing is...unusual. They didn't recognize the symbol on the warriors armour, not that that's a surprise. Village life is very....isolating. Anyway. From what they described I don't recognize what they talk about. The warriors are tall, unusually tall for a human. And from what is said about their armour...It seems there might be a new power emerging in this world.

Another interesting thing that the survivor mentioned is that they uncovered an artifact believed to date back to before the dimensional tear. And it was only a few hours later that they got attacked. So we have reason to believe that the other villages may have uncovered similar artifacts. Although we cannot confirm this as there are no survivors from the others. I'm going to send out some scouts. See if they can find anything.

January 2nd. 2525

of the four scouts I sent out only two have returned so far. They were all due back today. The other two may have just gotten delayed.

January 10th. 2525

One of the scouts returned today. With the body of the other and a letter which says the following:

My dear friend. I would say it is a pleasure to be in communication with you. In truth. That would be a lie. Now I am simply requesting that you don't send anymore men into my territory. Or do, it makes no difference to me. I will kill them. You lose men. Of course I cannot stop you from sending your men. But I will tell you this. No matter how many you send. No matter how many bodies you provide. There will always be plenty of arrows to pierce their flesh. And my men will never tire from cutting them down. In fact...I would appreciate the training your men would provide. So by all means. Send your armies. But know that you will be sending lambs to the slaughter. Oh and I believe you're not aware of the full expanse of my territory. You will find attached a map. My territory has been marked. And any of your men found within it shall die.

Whoever has written this has decided that the entire area is their territory, territory that has belonged to The Vrigon Dynasty for generations. Though there is more to their letter

As you most probably saw. You are now in my territory. Now I am not unreasonable. You have until the end of the month to remove yourself and your men from my territory. Any soldiers left shall die.