The HaRT Knight Decaverse

Correspondence from the Afterlife

Letter 05

Nyx. One Year and Six Months Since Departure.

My Dearest A.,

The winds of fortune have at long last borne upon me tidings other than those of disillusionment. I bespeak of developments that relinquish the stranglehold of failure, allowing the candle of progress to flicker with renewed vigor. As stars glimmer above, my journey has yielded a breakthrough, a glimmer of illumination within the persistent gloom. Two weeks hence, I merged my destiny with a cadre of Ravenmen, traversing the trade routes woven betwixt three settlements in the northeastern reaches of Cladis. A brief span suffices to dwarf the tenure I spent in Caim Fos' hallowed library, for these Ravenmen have afforded me insights that flourish beyond my prior endeavors. Albeit bereft of knowledge concerning the Shepherd King's fate, they unveiled a disconcerting verity that shadows Caim Fos' enigmatic silence. Since the cataclysmic descent of the blight upon the realm and the Shepherd King's relinquishment of dominion, a woman, heralding herself as the Shepherd Queen, has seized control over Cladis. As shadows stretched, she engraved a decree into law, her edict outlawing all mention of her predecessor's name. The Shepherd Queen's motivations and origins remain shrouded, her enigmatic presence mirroring the elusiveness that has plagued my pursuit thus far.
Yet, in the whispering winds of Cladis, perhaps a kernel of intrigue will seize your attention--a relic of the truth that surfaces, standing as the culmination of multiple recollections, weaving a mosaic of significance. Allow me to recount, dearest friend, the summation of events transcribed through the voices of those I encountered:

The stage unfurled beneath the zenith sun, a tranquil canvas untouched by the brushstrokes of foreboding. An idyllic paradise, until the scales tipped. The denizens of Cladis, ensnared in tranquil repose, were rudely awakened by an unprecedented event--the noontide sun's veiling in obsidian shrouds. A symphony of sound, emanating from every corner of Cladis, heralded an impending cataclysm. From north to south, east to west, the cacophony of a horn's wail reached every ear, etching dread into the hearts of the realm's inhabitants. In that resonant reverberation, the earth trembled as fire rained from above, devouring the skies. In the sun's abrupt eclipse, radiance surrendered to darkness, stars dissolving into nothingness. What followed was not silence, for silence is but the lack of sound, this however, was the death of it--a vacuum where even cries and protests held no dominion. From the northwest, an emerald beacon pierced the heavens, a luminous effulgence that shattered reality's threshold. A paroxysm of brilliance, dissipating into oblivion, was accompanied by the resurgence of sound, a resurrection of echoes. Thus, a transformed world stood before them. In fleeting hours, a metamorphosis transpired--a virulent poison insinuated itself into land and air, a blight that wrought death's embrace upon souls.

The veracity of this account is mired in uncertainty, but threads of truth linger, woven into the tapestry of these tales. Each soul within my Ravenmen cohort echoes this narrative, forging a harmonious chorus of remembrance. Furthermore, it appears that the verdant beacon's point of origin--the northwest--has undergone a chilling metamorphosis. Once lush woodlands and cascading springs have relinquished their vitality, the lands yielding to an unforgiving frigidity. Disconcertingly, naught that ventures into this abyss returns, reinforcing its ominous aura.
Nonetheless, my insatiable thirst for knowledge prevails, and inquisitiveness tempts me to traverse these uncharted regions. Yet, providence intervened, introducing me to a solitary soul within a Haven--a man who shared not only the collective tale but an additional layer of intrigue. This man, an anomaly among his brethren, contends that the blight's inception transpired prior to the fateful day, confined within a bastion known as the Forbidden Garden--a distant enclave nestled in Cladis' northeastern most reaches. Alas, this account remains a singular anomaly, absent from the chorus of collective recollections. Nonetheless, my commitment to unraveling the enigma prevails. My Ravenmen brethren and I are set to journey to Cara, a farming village on the fringes of the Forbidden Garden. There, my inquiries shall burgeon anew, chiseling through the shroud that obscures truth's visage.

Yours sincerely

Amobiel