Foreboding 1104

Blood Slaves, cannibals, ghosts, and voices in peoples' heads - a very busy time was had by everyone that was present in Albion.

Although there weren't many of us in the merc camp we had representatives of The Lion Azure, Black company, Merchant Militia, Draken, Gits, Iron Reavers, and some independents present.

We were all gathered on a range of hills in Albion to try to find an ancient library at the site of Erness Marr, a long lost city that had specialised in powerful magic (founded by Edress Marr, a mighty mage, and apparently destroyed by him when a ritual went bad). There were hopes that the library would give us ways to deal with the Blood Queen and her minions. Unfortunately the Blood Queen seems to have got wind of the plan (as she so often does) and her forces were there in force as well as the local hazards. Her forces were specially targeting those that she feels are the greatest threat to her and causing a security nightmare.

The area was exceptionally dangerous, possibly to be expected in a haunted city, and only the powerful or brave and foolish wandered around on their own. Blood Slaves attacked the various camps regularly. Cannibals lurked along the paths and roads waiting for the unwary. Ghosts (some were reported to be friendly) accosted people, seemingly randomly. People heard voices in their heads which many times caused them to behave in most unusual ways, usually dangerous to those around them, and many methods were tried to reduce the effects without much luck - knocking them senseless with a block of wood seemed to have the most success.

There were too many deaths to go through, some of them eaten by the cannibals and thus difficult to identify, and far too many close shaves to report. Among the deaths of well-known personages were King Angus of the Fir Cruthen, Duram of the Jhereg, Sir Michael of the Lions, Tormagnus of the Wolves, and Brother Gabriel of the Conclave (though he seems to have got better later).

Unfortunately we lost two in the merc camp though it would have been far more if it hadn't been for the efforts of the medics and healers and some pretty good teamwork between the various companies, the Draken, and the independent groups. Ditteran was a new face and we never really got a chance to get to know him. Scrote of the Gits was chopped up and eaten by cannibals on the night of the second day just after his greatest success - the selling of hand crafted rocks with witticisms written on them for people to remember their visit to Albion - the remains of his body were found alongside a decorated log, his last masterpiece.

By the time we left Albion the Iron Reavers had found a permanent home with the Lions, hopefully they'll be happy there.

As usual for Albion the area was rich with many trees and varied foliage though oaks seemed to dominate. Amazingly the weather was good for the first two days though it reverted to form on the second night and the rain continued to fall until after everyone had left the camp.