An eyewitness account by Guarrin Rackinhelm

A scroll arrives from Teras.

Brothers an' Sisters o' Phoenix,

Las evenin' de Prophet Ulstram lead a rather large group in an invasion upon de Dark Fleet itself. In particular we were searchin fer any clues er information regardin' de pieces o' de griffin sword.

Ulstram teleported us ta an 'safe' area an' quickly cast wardin spells. Then, we set out ta try ta fin' sometin o' use. De battle...was fierce ta say de leas'. While we 'ad de initial surprise on' em, soon nuff, critters started comin' from otha ships as reinforcements.

Finally a door was foun' wit a considerable lock on it (- 380) an' many lives were los' tryin ta disarm it. Eventually however, it was disarmed an' de door was opened ta reveal...Zerroth. De V'tullian berserker ravaged our troups killin' witout pause. It was then dat Maelani was able ta come across a piece o' parchmen' witin de locked room that reads:

Underground. Will require extensive work in order to dig it out. First scouts who arrived decimated by active flows. Use caution in area. Forget Kharam Dzu, our previous suspicions proved false. Destroy any who interfere, obliterate the settlement only if they become too curious. Our goal has been found, they are an idle distraction. I promise you, when our victory is complete, we'll visit them again.

The Shadow of our alliance will cast the world in darkness." ~ M."

At dis poin', Ulstram made de difficul' decision ta leave de ship afore more lives were los'. he waited fer a few momen's an' teleported de group back ta de islan'. Unfortunately, many were still left as dead on de ship, mahself included. However, one individual, Perigourd o' de Northern Fury, lef' Ulstrams group ta try ta rescue some o' us unfortunate undead. He managed ta pickup a few deaduns before foggin back ta de temple. It was a valian' effort fer sure.

De results o' dis battle be as thus...tonigh', we be searchin de lava flows on de islan' fer de missin piece o' de sword. We kin be certain' tha Zerroth an' Morvule will be lookin der as well. Also, as de note states, iffin we do go look fer de piece, they will mos' likely attack de settlemen'.

Ah anticipate anotha sleepless nigh'.

Yer brother in Phoenix,

Colonel Guarrin Rakinhelm

*You carefully open a blood stained piece of parchment*

Hail all!

De battle las' evenin' was ....mer than ferocious. Ah've neva seen anytin ta compare it wit durin mah years in des' lands an' hope ta neva witness anytin lik' it agin.

Firs' ah woul' lik' ta thank alla those in Phoenix, an' in de Protectors dat were on de islan' these pas' few days. Yer presence is de reason whah de islan' still exists. De followin be a list o' members o' de Protectors an' Phoenix dat were there las' night. Honor them fer they alla fought an' proudly represented our house:

Cryheart, Murgin, Marex, Kismia, Moleron, Kadesha, Kerani, Truekillr (My apologies if I have overlooked anyone)

Secondly, ah'd lik' ta tak' a momen' ta thank alla those dat battle bah our side from House Onoir. Yer aid an' blades are always welcome.

Alrigh, down ta business, de battle report stands as thus...las' night we faced de followin critters : towering stone soldiers, thick-muscled dark berserkers, dark-horned massive beasts, dark-eyed minotaur magi, towering troll princes, v'tullian warriors, v'tullian battle thralls, rotting hags, colossal mein soldiers, v'tullian elders, crimson eyed massive black warhounds, red scaled lizards, disease ridden rats, frothing red eyed battle minotaurs, massive troll kings, and dark centaurs. Not to mention, both Morvule and Zerroth reared their ugly heads.

In de end...Morvule showed up tween a confrontation tween Zerroth an' Ulstram an' tol' zerroth ta pull his forces back. Which was odd considerin' that they had bah dis time virtually over run de town an' had hordes o' critters waitin outside de gates. Ulstram stated at one point dat there were 400 critters within the gates an' countless beyond.

Morvule's apparent reasonin' was that they found "something", an' he tol' Ulstram that de next time they meet he woul' be wielding "That which was once his". One kin only surmise that they foun' a piece o' de Griffin Sword, er at leas' tink they did.

Ulstram an' Kendryth 'ave devised a plan for this evenin' that will involve directly attackin de V'tullian fleet! Thass righ, Ulstram will mos' likely be transportin' all that be on de islan' ova ta fight gains' de hordes. Finally we git ta tak' de battle ta them. Ah urge dat we all maintain, or increase in some cases, our vigilance durin thes' dark times.

Yer brother in Phoenix,

Colonel Guarrin Rakinhelm

Several days later...

Las' evenin', at aroun' 10 elven time on Teras isle, Ulstram appeared sayin we shoul' commence de search. Two individuals 'ad foun' a crevice earlier an' we all wen' ta inspect it. upon arrivin der, an' afta much discussion an' Kendryth bein' summoned as well, twas decided tha it was nae de fissure we lookin fer. Thus, Ulstram decided dat we shoul' head ta de Eye o' V'tull an' look der.

unfortunately, some o' us bein' unda de seventy er so trainins necessary ta enter dis particular area, so, we wen' back ta town' an' waited. We dinnae wait long when Ulstram arrived, sayin he needed diggers, an' fogged a group o' us back ta de fissure.

Der it was, a heap o' black rubble...we needed ta git behin' it, an' thus, de diggin commenced. Wizards casted haste ...ah appened ta 'ave a minin' pick on me ...an' we kept on' diggin. Wha happened next ah will neva fergit. Suddenly, we 'ad nuff room ta git behind de rubble an' inta a dark tunnel tha was behin' it.

Everyon' was lookin aroun' de area fer de hilt, some said it was nae der...then ah saw Kendryth turn his attention ta Siwas an' ah knew de truth o' de matta when ah looked at 'er carefully an' saw de alabaster hilt she was carryin in one hand, an' ah noticed de tattoo o' Mularos as well.

An' then she was gone...she dinnae give de hilt ta Ulstram er Kendryth, instead, she took off. We all wen' back ta town an' de warhorns sounded as de V'tullian forces attempted ta attack de town ta recapture de piece. Twas a long an' hard battle but eventually, de invadin' forces were fough' off. Meanwhile, Ulstram spoke wit Siwas, about wha, ah kinnae imagine. A few disturbin tings tha de prophet said las' evenin' though....he apparently had a "vision" o' her havin de piece...an' raised her righ' afore she got hold o' it. Secondly, he believes dat de piece will be delivered ta him an' nae de Dark Alliance.

Ah wish ah 'ad dat much faith.

Thus, mos' o' us took de star back from de isle, battered, weary, an' perhaps even defeated. We await word from Ulstram an' expect ta speak ta him dis evenin'.

Yer brother in Phoenix,

Colonel Guarrin Rakinhelm

P.S. Siwas is apparently very upset an' confused an' nae sure wha ta do wit de piece. Metinks tha iffin we show her harm an' malice it'll jes' push her further ta give it ta de Dark Alliance. Now, she dinnae wanna give it ta us cause she be wershippin Mularos, but, ah don' tink she wan's ta give it ta them either. A glimmer o' hope? Perhaps.

This was the first piece of the sword recovered. We would learn later that she did deliver this piece into the hands of the Dark Alliance. The Quillions would be located next, but that is another story for another time.