The Journal of Adam Wolfe

The Journal of Adam Wolfe was written by a man during the times of Aegis. It mentions several historical places, such as the King's Road, the Holmes Detectives, Oren, and more.

Entry 1 - Day 37 since leaving home. Last night, several towns in the north were ransacked by mysterious undead sorcerers. My brash and in this case, downright stupid sense of nobility led me to travel to the north with a band of soldiers to help in the efforts to defend the settlements. Through the night and the thick brush, I was seperated from my companions, with only the faint glow of an inferno reflected in the snow clouds ahead of me.

As I traveled, alone, through through the darkness, I noticed a figure atop the trees, then a flash and he was gone. For a moment, I thought it to be my eyes playing tricks on me, but I would soon learn how wrong I was. I heard an unsettling cackle and as I turned around, atop another tree was the same figure, in his black cloak, trimmed in deep red. Blood red. I gripped my bow, though I only had about eight or nine arrows and prepared for an attack. But, just as swiftly as he appeared, he was gone again.

This wasn't the first time I had seen the man, however. A few days earlier I had been at the bakery in Al'Khazar. The queen and a nobleman were outside as well, and the hooded man. One of the nobles addressed him. "What business does an undead like yourself have in Al'Khazar?" Or something of the like. I hadn't thought much of it, I've met some very strange kinds of people on my journey. But looking back, it was unmistakably the same man.

Later, I found my way to a town, or rather what was a town. It was burned to the ground, the wall to the right of the front gate was a pile of cinders and gravel. I was about to turn back when a ranger named Egrond pulled me into the cover of a tree. He showed me his lair, underneath the old ruins of a watchtower. He gave me arrows and he said that he and I were to retake the city. I should have dismissed him as a madman right there but I was exhausted, lost and so lucky to see another living human being I would have agreed to anything.

We made our way back to the town and climbed over the ruined wall. Not a single structure in the town had escaped being set ablaze. Sweating in my old, leather armor, I followed Egrond inside. But no sooner had we made our way to the main square that we were seperated by a lightning bolt. There again was the man in the black cloak. I'm sure he saw me but he paid little attention. He raised his hands and corpses began tunneling their way up through the ground. I fired at them, furiously, but to no avail. Not a single had fell before a blue flash made my body go numb.

The next thing I remember, I was in the temple of Aegis, where monks were tending to my wounds. As I sit here in the care of the monks, I realize I'm lucky to be alive. I wonder if Egrond was so lucky. I wonder if my brother is so lucky.

Entry 2 - Day 45 since leaving home. On my journeys, I met an elf who planted an idea into my head about my brother, Fionn. I told him how I had been searching for him since he disappeared on a trip to Al'Khazar last year to deliver our family's crops to market. I told him of the nightmares I had been having each night where he calls to me from a dungeon, begging me to save him. I told him of how the chill in my bones and the inhuman sense of dread that accompanies the dreams is the same that I felt when the hooded man stood above me in the trees. I told him how I had no clues. That there was not even any sign of the cart my brother had taken on his journey.

The elf told me that his people called what happened in my dream occlumency, when someone magically invades your thoughts. He said my brother was sending me a message through my dreams that he needed help. Though, I never knew my brother to have been anything more than a simple farmer like the rest of my family, I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

He went on to say that the undead may have some unknown use for those with a proficiency for magic. He said my brother may have been taken as a lab experiment. While I cringe to think of the implications of that conclusion, it could hold water. I'll explain.

Up until this conversation, my best clue was given to me by a friend, Pyrofuzion, a member of the Holmes Detective Agency. He said that there had been many reported disappearances of late and that his agency believed it to be bandits stalking The King's Road. That would make sense, however, I've noticed something odd. These people that are disappearing, no one has appeared demanding a ransom. Normally, a bandit wouldn't take a hostage unless they wanted to trade them for something but no bandit has stepped up to make a trade, so whoever wants these people wants them for different reasons.

That led me to another question. When I went up in the north, the town Egrond and I found was completely empty, save the Sorcerers and their minions. There were no refugees running into the woods, no screaming, no soldiers, no bodies. It was all quiet. There was no sign anyone had even been present when the attack took place.

After this conversation, I ran to Al'Khazar to alert the Queen of my hypothesis. Unfortunately, however, just as I arrived the sorcerers attacked Al'Khazar. Myself and many others fought through the night in the frigid rain and managed to beat back the evil dead in the battle and in its aftermath, the queen was too busy treating the wounded and dispatching patrols to weed out any remaining enemies to listen to me.

I came back later to speak with her again. I told her about my idea. She gave a very curt response, "Even if it is true that the sorcerers are capturing people, there's very little we can do about it right now." I don't believe she cares very much. But I will not stop until my family is reunited and whether I have the help of the kingdom of Oren or not, I will find a way to know the truth about where my brother and all of the others have gone.