Bajörn,

How are you sir? I hope you are well, and I pray to Tyr everyday that your injury never bothers you.  At the same time, I pray that you are not too bored or “tormenting” the village children with your lessons of morals.  Albeit, some of the children probably need your guidance; goodness knows our trio did.

That brings me to the main purpose of this letter.  I know that I was supposed to come and spend a few days with you, but a personal matter came up.  After my last missionary expedition, I came home to find a letter from Terran. It stated that Talis had been taken hostage by an unknown group and that he needed my help.  I had immediately set out because the letter was a few days old. I stopped at your residence to quickly explain, but you were not there and I had to make haste to Greenest.

Once I arrived, Terran was not there but I was informed that he would be returning.  Sir, the town was attacked by a dragon that was either under the control of or controlling a cult.  They sacked the town and killed innocents. I had never heard of this cult or a dragon being controlled by a mere man.  This deeply concerns me and I feel that this should be brought before the other Knights and the Hammers. We know not how far this goes or who is involved. I beg you to be cautious until we or you can find out more.

I stayed in town, offering my assistance when I could.  Terran eventually returned, along with four other people.  They had all band together to fight this cult. While they have their own reasons, some I am suspect of and had been offered coin, they were the ones that were able to fight.  I admire this, but have also had misgivings. These were answered upon arriving in the next town.

Terran had discovered that the cult headed North, so we all decided to travel to Berdusk.  The group was leery of me at first, but we eventually all began to trust. There is a particular man in our group that…feels off to me.  He keeps mentioning a “Mistress” but never who she is. Our healer has been very forthright with who her goddess is, but he seems to always skirt around an answer.  I tried to politely get answers from him, but now that I look back, I received a lesson to observe my surroundings. While he has a valid point, he did not answer me.  He has saved us and used his magics for the benefit of the group on more than one occasion, therefore I can ignore this for now and fight alongside him. But, he will have to answer me eventually.

Anyways, in Berdusk is a temple to many gods.  Since it had been awhile, I had gone with our healer and found a small carving to Tyr.  I prayed there and while I felt better, I still felt that this group may not be what I was meant to follow.  I stayed the night in the temple and I had a dream. It involved my past and how I met you. And just when I was about to be overwhelmed by demons, Tyr appeared in my dream.  He kept them at bay and told me that. This was the path I was meant to be on. He then showed me visions of the future. In some I died, we died, other Knights died. But in the last vision, our group was facing a dragon.  Before I could see the outcome, the dream basically ended and I woke in a cold sweat. In my bed was a new greatsword. A gift from Tyr.

Sir, this is the first time I’ve truly seen him.  He called me his child and he knew you. He told me that he was pleased you found me and gained purpose in your life again. It warmed my heart to hear this from Tyr.  I was even able to speak Infernal o my demons, but this feeling did not last long.

Shortly after leaving Berdusk, for we had decided to next travel to Scornubel, we were enveloped by an eerie mist.  We had been taken (I know not another word for it) to the land of Count Strahd. I had never heard this name before, but we were invited to his castle for dinner.  Nothing felt right about our situation, but we saw few other options. On the way, we had to water the horses and three of us decided to investigate a decrepit tower and a wagon.  I will admit, I did a rather stupid thing and touched the door of the tower. Lightning erupted all around, but I managed to escape most of it. Terran ran to my aid, then promptly fussed at me.  I suppose it was a rather unthought out action.

Through our combined skills, we managed to open the door, which prompted an attack by three werewolves.  We easily defeated them, but they reverted back to their human form upon death. I prayed over their corpse in hopes that they found true peace.  We explored the tower and a bit and managed to figure out a magic lift inside. We rode it to the top of the three story. Tower, which was covered in the eerie mist.  A voice spoke that it was displeased we did not make it to dinner. I drew my sword as the mist cleared and revealed four Hellhounds and two Undead. The Hellhounds breathed fire, which I luckily resisted.  I suppose being a Tiefling has some advantages.

Before we could retaliate, one of the, Undead cast a spell that encompassed us in darkness.  It was freezing and after I tried to attack the Hellhound in front of me, i missed due to the darkness, I was burned something.  Our healer was eventually able to disperse the spell, but it had taken its toll on all of us. We managed to kill the Undead and our ranger and I killed two Hellhounds.  When I finally gave a moment to look away from combat, the ranger and I were the only ones left standing. What struck me to the core was that Terran was dead on the ground and nothing I did, including using my magic, had saved him.

I am supposed to be able to protect people, that is why you trained me.  To fight evil with Tyr’s holy might. And I failed. I was just as useless as when my mother sacrificed herself for me and when my father tried to bargain for my life.  All of the training you gave me and even teaching me magic was useless against strong enemies. What could I have done better? Could I have saved everyone if I had used other spells? I’ll never know.

As the horror of seeing Terran dead paralyzed me, the remaining two Hellhounds breathed fire and I fell into unconsciousness.  I felt nothing and saw only black. As I began to think I was dead, a coldness seeped over me and I awoke back on the road to Scornubel.  I immediately turned to see Terran alive and well, and I about started to cry. But this feeling of uselessness has stayed over me like a cloud.  No matter what I do, it won’t leave. I do not know what to do. I pray constantly and train when I can. I know not what more to do. I recall that Scornubel has a shrine to Tyr. I will go and pray in hopes that an answer comes.  I had hoped writing all this to you would help, but I still feel the same…

I am sending this to you from Scornubel.  I most likely sent it via a traveling merchant, so I have no idea when you will receive this.  Probably not for a few months. This requires no reply, it was more of an update on my actions and an attempt to bring back my vigor.  As always sir, I wish you the best health and pray for you. I hope to write again once we know more of this Cult. May the lawfulness of Tyr guide you.

 

With all my deepest respect and gratitude,

Your former squire,

Vallith

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