To the Honorable Mayor Dabbings and the Esteemed Council:

I need to share something that happened to me tonight after Ellerel and Paidreg left Icemule. Ellerel brought with him a crumpled note that he said he found at a place that was holy to Amasalen. If you weren't able to get a peek at it after he dropped it, the part that was legible said:

Arnabas,

I certainly hope this missive finds you well. I wished to report that our sad little town has taken to finding aid from outside sources. Namely the Silver Gryphons and the Vaalorian Legion. A two pronged strategy where half assault your location and half remain in town for safety will be in place. Triage is to be in...

Since I hunt regularly near Amasalen's shrine these days, I went over there to look around a couple of hours after everyone left. It seems a duplicate of the note Ellerel found was inadvertently left behind on the dais in the shrine. It was complete and in perfect condition. I believe it incriminates our spy, but Arianiss isn't so sure. I will let him give you the details when you meet in case it is best not to have them revealed fully just yet. It is what happened after I found the note that I want to share.

I stood there for quite a while, processing everything contained within the note, when suddenly a blood red haze passed before my eyes and blood bubbled up over the altar, dripping to the floor with heavy, wet plops. I heard a hissing in my ears, followed by a powerful, cold laughter. The voice said, "A pity, this little discovery of yours. But he was just a catspaw, a distraction for you impudents to toy with while I worked."

I yelled for help to no avail, and smoke started to rise from the burbling blood, taking on tortured, serpentine shapes. One tendril as thick as my arm snatched the note from the altar and it began to blacken, rapidly decaying away as if eaten by years of rot. Another of the tendrils lashed out at ME, trailing around my neck like a tightening noose.

I was paralyzed for what seemed an eternity before I became aware of a presence in the room. It is hard to describe this presence, as it was more felt than seen, though I had an awareness of a twisted, stunted body and eyes the red of blood and the black of corpse rot.

I heard it rasp, "Run along. Tell them of his treachery if you want. Nothing can halt what I have put into motion now." Then I was released from my paralysis, the smoky tendrils drooped and vanished, and the blood seeped into the floor and was gone.

I would love to report that I yelled something brave and threatening into the darkness, but I ran away very quickly and hid. I hope my reporting of this information is of some use!

Respectfully,
~Aethyra