Recently the earth of the island didn't seem to be at peace. It's spasms could be felt on the whole island in one way or another. Whether in the form of faint vibrations that made a lumberjacks ale ripple in his cup, stronger ones that sent the dishes flying off shelves in some private homes, rumbling spasms sending small pieces of rock falling on the heads of Ultrinnan's citizens, or full-blown earthquakes that made the soil quiver and shake in the western part of the Amian Forest.

Sad as it may be, one of the casualties of the stirring earth is the stone complex known as the Temple of Malar. Apparently the quake's hypocenter was located just below it and collapsed the whole bottom level, while damaging parts of the first, and for a short time sealing the entrance to the temple with a layer of rubble.

As the temple was being turned to rubble, one after another waves of Malarites could be seen departing it's walls in great haste and terror. Those that survived and escaped the devastation, ran off in all four directions of the world. But the largest group of them could be seen seeking shelter in the werewolf-infested Forest of Despair. It isn't clear what caused this catastrophe, but some Malarites capable of articulated speech could be heard muttering about insane gnomes, bloody rituals, and giant moles. Whatever the truth is, one thing is certain: For good or ill the temple of Malar is no more, it's followers gone, it's deepest sections collapsed, the whole structure desecrated, and each idol of the Beast lord left defaced. It is nothing more then a silent grave now.



It's time is over...



...But with it's fall, strange events have come to the forest and all nearby settlements. Various commoners have started whispering that people they know are "vanishing," much more often nowadays. Farmers, beggars, bakers, undertakers, merchants. They walk out of their homes at night one day, and never come back. Something is taking them, something possibly born out of Malar's fury for his temple's desecration and destruction. And that's not all, others are heard swearing that an odd mound can always be found nearby after such an odd disappearance... It reminds a mole mound, formed from stirred up fresh earth, just hundreds of times larger. Are the rumors true? If they are, something is swimming through the earth beneath Amia, and it's hungry.


Some peasants even have a name for it, they call it: Claws. Best watch your step, you never know what might be lurking just beneath your feet. Always there, always hungry, always waiting. It never sleeps...

Or are these just rumors spread by drunks who had a bit too much ale? An exaggerated story, or terrifying reality? You choose.

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"All along the watchtower,
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
,bare-foot servants, too.
Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl,
Two riders were approaching,
The wind began to howl
All along the watchtower!"

_________________

Apparently something has happened in the forest yet again. A few trees are a bit damaged, and two giant mounds of dirt are visible in the area. To boot, at least two road wardens lost their lives this day, reduced to a pile of flesh, rags, and crushed bones. Two rangers which were stationed near a nearby rope bridge can be heard saying that they had to run for their lives when they a gargantuan mole charged straight at them, while it followed a group of running adventurers.

The forest is quiet and peaceful as if licking its wounds after a storm, whatever caused the havoc is nowhere in sight, but every now and then slight tremors of the earth can be felt all around the island, and various villagers continue whispering about more people disappearing at night. Each disappearance is heralded by more odd vibrations, as if the earth itself was spasming in pain from something vile in it's womb.

Or so some people claim...

_________________
"All along the watchtower,
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
,bare-foot servants, too.
Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl,
Two riders were approaching,
The wind began to howl
All along the watchtower!"

*edit:Mis-placed post*

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How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single
moment before starting to improve the world.

~Anne Frank

Like during a silence before the storm, nothing seemed to occur for a few days after the last incident in the forest . The tremors still continued to occur now and then, but they were dispersed, and very weak.

Yesterday however, that state changed. Those who tasked themselves with keeping track of the frequency and strength of the tremors as they spread through the earth of Amia, would notice that their intensity has increased once more. But that's not the strangest part of it all. Never before did the weak quakes appear in two separate places, miles apart, at the exact same time. It's as if there was more then one source now, as insane as that may seem.

This very morning the soil spasmed again, vibrations coming at the same time from what seemed to be no less then three separate directions. To the north, to the east, and to the west of one town:

...Bendir Dale.

While this single settlement has been relatively free of almost any disappearances thus far, now it seems that something is circling around the general area it's located in, as if sharks around bleeding prey. The unidentified tremor sources are still fairly far away, and their positions keep changing constantly. But one thing is certain: Each day they close in just a bit more, and every place they pass suffers at least three unexplainable abductions during the following night.

_________________
"All along the watchtower,
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
,bare-foot servants, too.
Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl,
Two riders were approaching,
The wind began to howl
All along the watchtower!"

Tremors continue to pass through the land every now and then. As do the occasional disappearances, albeit their intensity has somewhat fallen in Uhm and Wharftown.

All the while, it would seem that the Forest of Despair and the lands around it have now become the site of some sort of grim showdown. Almost each and every day one or two slashed up feral looking gnome bodies with silver mole amulets around their necks can be found there, often with a massacred werewolf corpse laying not far from their position. At night, the sounds of crazed howls and growls often fill the moist forest air, followed by the appearance of gnome and werewolf corpses at morning's first light. Strangely enough no one has yet sighted these night time claw-to-claw skirmishes first-hand. But the appearing bodies are an apparent sign that something has obviously begun waging war on the gnomes.

_________________
"All along the watchtower,
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
,bare-foot servants, too.
Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl,
Two riders were approaching,
The wind began to howl
All along the watchtower!"

Angela as she walks around the land in her search for people to heal and help and evil to combat, she finds the "claws" left around the land and the many sighs left behind for whatever is causing it. She open her bottle of Ilmater's blessed water and as she pray she cleanse every sight she can find and ask Ilmater to bless the creatures of the land so this new or old evil wont strike them.

She follow the path left by the abducting beast and enters the forest of despair, fighting the werewolf. The earth shakes and she holds on to a tree, she remembers the day that the Malar's temple in the forest closed down because of the tremors. She wonders if Malar has anything to do with it. She prays harder as her sword free the foul creatures from their horrible existence. She studies it all and make a note for the Knights about her findings.

Why are the Gnomes dying, why are those creatures fighting this way? ummmm..

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Signature by Qualiz

Del's Characters Entry - Amiawiki.

//Note: I'm a bit busy with passing Uni exams lately, so cant properly proceed with the mole stuff just yet. If any groups/PCs that have investigated the matter before or taken part in some of the mole events are doing something in regards to the mole threat I might not be aware of, feel free to inform me about it via a PM.

_________________
"All along the watchtower,
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
,bare-foot servants, too.
Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl,
Two riders were approaching,
The wind began to howl
All along the watchtower!"