News from the Dark Country: October and November 1392

October 1392
The calendar and liturgical months of October and Shocktober have once again aligned, meaning that there is likely to be a very hectic Halloween Muster.Admittedly, sometimes such Halloweens pass uneventfully as the dark powers which govern such things are pulled away by concerns in another dimension.

Still, the omens so far are grim. Women have been seen at dusk flying on brooms and kettles and pans and coffins and billy goats and cats and even men bent over and howling like wolves. Even the "cat lady" who recently... attended to one of the Trull brothers has left the village. They head into the Fog-bound Forest for what is likely to be a hideous rite of some import.

As if this unprecedented supernatural terror was not enough, banditry along the Long Road has essentially stopped all trade during this October. Rupert is beside himself, with a dwindling stock and little news from home. He does have a writ from the Van Toad Merchant House that offers a bounty of 200 gold Knots for anyone willing to find and clear a bandit encampment thought to be in the Great Swamp, somewhere near the ruins of Vollage.

Finally this month, Mervynn came into the village and has stated that Nightwick Abbey itself spoke allowed with the opening of its trap doors and the clapping of its falling stones. He did not understand all of what it said, but says that the short version is that the Abbey wishes to make it known that it can devour souls forever. He's not quite sure why it took the time to say that.

November 1392
The strange coven that had been gathering in the Fog-bound Forest seems to have dispersed without ill effect on the Sons of Adam. Many of them could be seen leaving on their brooms, skillets, and ax handles as shadows on the moon. Halfdan suggests that, perhaps, they forgot some key component to their ritual and will have to wait to some future time to enact it. Regardless, the Cat-Lady from the village has yet to return, so it is possible that some witches still remain in the wood. The men of the Lodge have not yet returned to their work for fear of such women.

The bandit activity of last month has escalated into a full peasant revolt in the southern villages. This one seems more typical than the strange occurrences earlier this year. It's the normal torches, pitchforks, and lynchings. Baltzer the Bold has sent a request to Badder for reinforcements, but Badder seems content to sit his men in Nightwick until the leaders of the Howling Kommandos make their way to Lychgate.