A strange event has been repeating itself with apparent regularity for the past several days. Although the exact details change slightly each time, the general occurrences remain the same. First, a large swarm of some type of creature is spotted, and exiles go to combat it. This swarm seems never to shrink, no matter how many beasts are killed. Indeed, the creatures seem to grow stronger and larger as the battle wages on. At some point, the appearance of a death poppy catches everyone off-guard.
The battle culminates with the appearance of a particularly strong creature, slightly different than its fellows in coloration or size. When cut down, this creature explodes in a ball of fire and conjures a circle of runes. A message in the form of a cryptic poem is magically relayed to those in the immediate area, and exiles across the island chain all feel what's been described as a "wave of pain". Because of the messages they bear when slain, these creatures are referred to as heralds.
At the time that I write here, this has taken place a total of three times. The first herald was a rat, the second an ona chigger, and the third some sort of bird. The timing is notable - the heralds have come almost exactly four days apart from eachother. One thing I've noted about the heralds is that they almost seem parallel to the features of the solar zodiac. The rats correspond with Enba, the birds with Eghorus, and the chiggers might symbolically represent one of the others.
The tone and apparent meanings of the poems brought to us by the heralds seem to indicate that some powerful person or group of persons is trying to send us an important message of distress. However, it doesn't strike me as the work of any mage I'm familiar with. What I've read of the 'Brion brothers indicates that they'd probably be more direct with us, even if they complained about it some. Votenkath doesn't seem to care one way or the other what happens to we exiles, and Colmert seems to be an amiable type, who'd endeavor to explain the trouble to us immediately if we were at risk. There's also the trouble of the "serious" problem being undisclosed to us. It seems that someone who truly wanted to warn us of something would explain what they were warning us of.
Of course, all of this is speculation in the purest sense. The messages of a few more heralds might further prove or disprove my ideas, and will, hopefully, add more pieces to the puzzle presented by the riddles we've been delivered so far. I'll continue to write about these strange events as they take place.
--Largo
This second bit of the entry is written in a different ink, apparently added to the page shortly after the first.
The First among the heralds sought
an ear receptive to its word.
But would the witness give his ear
to the confusion to be heard?
The Second of the heralds brought
a portent filled with dire distress.
But would the witness shun advice
And seek instead a nescient bliss?
The third of heralds raised its horn
and blared its bodement pure and plain.
But could the witness understand
if never comprehending pain?
I nearly forgot - above you'll find written the messages brought by the three heralds, as they were relayed to those exiles present to hear them. Although I personally missed the first two, my good friend and fellow thespian Illora Mone quite kindly saw fit to provide them to all interested parties.
--Largo
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