A neat and crisply official letter arrives at the Spellguard Tower
18th of Marpenoth, 151 Threat of Chosen in Barak-Tor Spellguard Tower
Report: Barak-Tor
I recently spoke with a dwarf named Porki Thule, a simplistic and base dwarf, but seemingly honest. He claims to be the War Chief of the Stoutheart Clan, and expressed bitterness on the Stoutheart’s behalf that they are forced to pay to defend Sanctuary from increasingly dangerous Chosen and undead Beholderkin. Apparently the territory was leased to the Watch after the stairwell nearby was restored, and since then the Chosen have been evolving. Since the Stoutheart Clan has taken over the land, they have apparently slain hundreds of the creatures, and on one occasion, while the Stoutheart Clan lead an attack onto their land, they rose up out of Barak-Tor in rage and killed civilians, stating that it was due to the Stoutheart intrusion. The situation seems peculiar to me, so I decided to investigate further and compile a brief report, for the Spellguard’s perusal.
- Threat
It seems the problem in the evolution of the Chosen. By all reports these Chosen are far more advanced of lycanthropes then in other areas of Dunwarren, growing wings and the ability to cast complex arcane spells. Since the Stoutheart Clan has been observing them, the Chosen have developed the ability to cast Fear and Sonic spells and negative energy spells, and seem to be becoming more and more intelligent and cunning, most of them mastering speech. Also, accompanying the Chosen, are undead variants of beholderkin, eyeballs. This is peculiar, as undead do not naturally arise, they generally arise from necromantic magic, which raises that the concern that the Chosen evolving beneath the Barak-Tor land are developing necromantic powers.
The Chosen seem to stem from, and are evolving in, a location beneath a second stairwell leading down from Barak-Tor. The area is blocked off by a large boulder, but the War Chief claimed that an Agent from the Spellguard, on one occasion, had melted that boulder, and that members of the Stoutheart Clan had gone below. However, after the Clan went below, they were met with over a dozen Chosen, some of whom purportedly went above and killed civilians. The Stouthearts then manned a retreat, and another flying Chosen dropped another boulder blocking the area. The Stoutheart Clan seems eager to slay the Chosen, but I am not certain if that is entirely prudent, as the Chosen have responded violently to any attacks on their location, and have the means to get beyond our defenses.
- Conclusions The Chosen continue to evolve, and it is likely they will continue to become more of a threat unless this situation is dealt with shortly. There are other more pressing threats within Sanctuary, and the War Chief Thule’s claim that the Stoutheart Clan grows increasingly bitter about leasing land from the Watch for gold, but then having to put their lives on the line to defend it. Given those concerns, I believe it would be most prudent to lead an organized strike against the host of these Chosen, destroy the stairwell, or construct a gate on the entrance to the Stairwell. The third option may be impossible given the shortage of metal. The Chosen may be able to fly, but they did not go up before the Stoutheart Clan began assaulting them, and given recent more concerning threats, it may be prudent to simply end this by choosing the first option and destroying the stairwell.
Helm's Vigilance, Charles Sennik