Forgive me for the lateness of this most recent missive. I have been trying to take advantage of the temporary reprieve from the conflict that has been battering my lands. It has been a wonderful opportunity to catch up on delayed projects and rebuild and fortify now that we have gotten a look at what our enemy is capable of.
To be clear, while we have agreed to a temporary truce or
pause in the conflict, this is not an end to the war. No Voranian will enter
the Lost Kingdoms while the truce is in place, and no one fighting for the Lost
Kingdoms will enter Voraniss, nor will we attack one another. However, nothing
was agreed to in terms of our allies or other nations. It remains unclear if
the Lost Kingdoms will press outward in another direction during this downtime.
It is worth stating that we should all remain vigilant.
In good news, none of the Warlords remain in our lands after
a coordinated multination effort to banish or slow them down. And even though
Mirador was taken again the other week by a half dozen Phantoms, a group led by
Sir Zula was able to make their way street by street and stealthily dispose of
them. Out of all the enemy’s special units, these have proven the most formidable
aside from the Laughing Dead. Phantoms, the servants of corrupted magic, are
blue and somewhat translucent beings that possess rather inconvenient talents
for those going against them. For starters, Phantoms are more powerful when
overwhelmed. So, if your plan is to gang up on one with a bunch of your
friends, that isn’t going to end well. These foes are far more manageable in
smaller skirmishes.
Phantoms must be attacked with weapons enchanted by Ghost
Blade, as I believe they are incorporeal. Attacking them with magic, however,
completely restores them to full strength. It cannot be stressed enough that
magic is not a good tactic to use against them. One of the special abilities
they have is “Soul Rend,” which does exactly what it sounds like- renders you
soulless. It can be stopped by a Protect the Soul spell, but the casting will
be used up and destroyed to do so. Finally, once phantoms have taken enough damage,
they need to be disenchanted. This may take a few tries as some of the Phantoms
seem to have the ability to resist magic, but ultimately is a necessary step to
stop them from coming back. All this information is readily available in Page
Margaret’s Fighter’s Guide to the Realms, highly suggested reading material for
any fighter looking to join in this conflict.
In the coming days, a lot of us will be gathering supplies
and working on assisting that port city, where we have had the greatest number
of casualties besides the front in the swamp. Any spare building or medical
supplies would be most welcome in that harbor.
Please keep in contact if you should see any enemy activity in
other places in the Realms, I would very much like to be apprised of their
movements.
In Service,
Spirit Queen Kindrianna Athame