Excerpt from the Wizard Caecus’ Common Place Book
This trip was a failure. I arrived at the village too late to stop the Enemy. Destruction remains consistent with previous attacks of this kind save for two outliers. There was one survivor of the attack, she shows signs of trauma to both her physical body and her psyche. I have stabilized her with what skill I have in that respect, but I Foresee that it is unlikely she will receive proper medical care before those wounds heal naturally. Apart from the damage to her psyche, everything should be fine with time, but the human mind is delicate. With the recent local attack, it will be difficult to get her treatment from an expert in mind magic skilled in this area.
The second outlier is a World Traveler. Due to the unusual nature of his as of yet undefined personal form of magic, he can not speak directly of himself. He is to be referred to as Nameless. I have spent some short time speaking with him as we searched the destruction. Currently he does not appear to be one of the dangerous or unstable World Travelers. More observation is needed.
I came upon Nameless after he experienced a significant Omen of Death in the form of what sounds to have been a group of Dullahan from his description. His words leave some room for examination of the final events of this omen at a later time. It sounds out of the ordinary, even for such a thing as that.
Nameless mentioned in passing something worth mentioning to the wizards specially focused on mental health: “The Five Stages of Grief” is what he called it. First denial numbness or shock, then bargaining, depression, anger, and finally acceptance. It would be a route worth adding to their investigations.
It is rude to read things without permission. Go spy on someone else.
(The writing then moves to an obscure indecipherable dialect)
After tending to the woman, the wizard insisted the bodies be buried now. Nameless did not have a problem with this, but the intense fervor in his white eyes was unsettling as they piled the bodies onto a surviving cart. The wearing of gloves, changing into different clothes, and wearing a cloth over their faces as they did this made sense. The horse watching unblinking was unnerving, but it did distract from the back breaking task of heaving bodies onto the cart. Once full, the two pulled the cart into a nearby field. Concentration showed on the wizard Caecus’ face as a deep stone lined pit formed. The two trudged up and down the stone steps on the side of the pit, laying the bodies out in a row. It took multiple trips of filling up the cart to get all the bodies down there, the mutilated remains making Nameless nauseous. If he had not already emptied his stomach, he would have during this morbid work.
Eventually, this ordeal passed, and Caecus pushed the cart into an empty section of the pit. He then took the time to move through it to place coins over each of the deceased eyes. Walking out of the pit, the wizard said, “Remove those clothes and throw them down in with the cart.” “Why wouldn’t burning them be a better option?” Nameless asked. “For an incursion of this size fire would not be enough to destroy the contamination left by the Enemy. It would only make it harder to contain with the ash and smoke. The corruption would be free to float and gather in unpredictable places.”
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The two of them tossed the last of their dirtied clothes into the pit. The wizard then emptied a water skin over the two of them, muttering as the water turned to steam that cleaned down to the pores. Feeling his strangely raw skin, Nameless watched as the steam sealed itself tightly within the waterskin before it too was thrown bellow. He absently started putting his own cloths on as he watched the wizard’s robes as they flited around dressing him themselves. The wizard seemed to not care as the outfit straightened itself just so, only lifting each foot to let his socks and greyed leather boots slide onto his feet. Similar to his horse before, he now stood unblinking with an unnatural stillness. Staff returning to his hand, the wizard’s stillness spread into a terrible calm over the field, somehow growing louder in a gathering tension of a preparing strike. Nameless trembled feeling an inaudible hum, unfelt by his physical senses but still perceived somehow. Goosebumps erupted as he had the instinctual urge to run but felt frozen to the spot.
The moment passed, the tension slowly released, and a tomb was now sealed. “What was that?” his hushed voiced said as Caecus began walking away. He shivered as those white eyes met his own, “The Enemy’s pawns do not always attack immediately, their corruption festering quietly before ambushing the unwary. It is best to be ready for an attack, especially as everything is being sealed within stone.” “̶̩̟̞͗A̶̛͇͚͂̏r̴̜̐̆́e̸̗͛̚ ̸̠̙͛́̏͜y̴͇̟̙̍͆ō̴͖͎̲u̶̧̖͌͜ ̸̛̭̮̋̏s̴͓̣̐ą̵͊̓̚y̷̧̳̯͐̒ì̵̮̕ņ̵̠́g̴̼͉͐ ̵̣̺̿t̵̼͗ḫ̵͂̾̑ă̸̪̫̂͜ṱ̴̖̤̕ ̶̦̾̐̈́s̶̮̞̮͝͝ŏ̵͚m̶͓̎e̷̬͙̎ţ̴̙̻̈́̎̐ẖ̶͗̉̕i̶̞͍͌̋n̵̢̹̂g̸̜̣͒ ̸̢̩̹̓c̷͖͇̈̽o̸̡͈̩̿u̸͕̮̺͛̋͘l̸̢̯͗d̴̩͋ ̵̨͍̫́̚h̸̰̅̐̚a̸̹͖̗̓v̵̩̏e̸̗̳͒ͅ ̵̙͂͐̓ͅb̸̢͓̩̈́e̵̢̼̓é̷̞͍̳̚ň̴̲̺̬͝ ̴̥́h̷̨̄̿͛i̶̛̖̙͑ͅd̶̦̰̈́́̌i̵͖̋n̸̺̔͜ģ̶̐ ̵͓͔̼̀́ĩ̸̪̱̯̐n̷̾̈́ͅ ̷̨̨̟̊̂t̵̙̮̫͒͊͝ḥ̸̯̌ẹ̵̟͕̈͗̓ ̸̮̳͇̀͝d̸̨͓̝́͆̍e̷̢͚̫͑a̵͍̹͋d̶̠̬̈́̽͠ ̴̳͒b̷̧̼̞͒̌̕ő̴̯̦̎d̸̡͔̣̆̀i̸̢̱͆e̷͔͒́̉s̷̪̲͔̑ ̵̲͐ẅ̷̫̟̞́ȃ̴̗͙͈͝í̸̥̕t̵͎̬͚̀͝ỉ̴̝͙͚̀͝ņ̸̩͉̾͗ĝ̵̞̗ ̷͉͛̒̋t̸̡̠̀o̷̝̱͋͝ ̶̜̘̒a̶̢͂̈́͑ͅţ̵̝̽t̸̻̩̓̑a̴͈̼̒c̸̛̲̓́͜k̴͉̱̽ ̵̙̆͋ų̶̳̖͐̈́͆s̷̡͍̐?̵̠̈́́”̵̡͓̰̇ His head pulsed sickeningly, and he blanched at the wizard’s response, “No, it is the dead themselves that may have attacked.”