The following letter is available for public review in regards to the ongoing investigation of Serai and the undead. Members involved in the investigation team, the recent inquisition, were made aware of the availability of this letter before returning home.
Field Report
Brother Ree
Bos Mezar settlement of Serai
Upon arriving at Serai, we deployed our unit of troops in front of the unit of Bos Mezar’s. This was to keep them from interfering with the inquisition. We approached the city and were met by Al-Haddad who invited us to eat and drink. If we did not partake of this, we were not allowed to enter the settlement. Only Brother Coswell accepted. He was taken into the city and talked to Al-Haddad and returned back to us. He was going back to discuss with Al-Haddad why we were there and we refused to let him go alone again; the rest of our investigation team and our allies agreed to eat or drink of Al-Haddad’s hospitality.
We met in the village and Al-Haddad was informed that we came to verify if he did ineed have eight undead in his possession. Al-Haddad was very straight forward and honest. He told us he had nine undead. He then made the argument that the undead were a natural thing occurring in nature and they were protecting his village and therefore he would protect them as citizens of Serai. We asked to see one up close and he consented and had one brought forth. It was led by two children and a handler to keep it calm. A hideous and unnatural sight to behold. The creature remained calm until it felt our hatred and then started to get agitated and restless. The handler calmed it down by magic.
Brother Coswell then named our terms.
1) Surrender all of the undead to us for destruction; we would even do it respectfully the best we could.
2) Hand over all research related to this; it was proven that Bos Mezar could make more.
3) Al-Haddad and his Second in Command, Al Maffajar, were to come with us back to Starkhaven for questioning.
Al-Haddad refused and said they would not and would fight to stop us. We regrouped for a short at a distance to discuss our options. We then reformed our battle line and advanced back into the heart of the settlement. Brother Coswell then restated our terms and the consequences for refusing, hoping not to kill anyone or burn the city if possible, Al-Haddad again refused. We pushed forward and moved to fight them as they brought our their undead to face us.
Just then, three mordok came from behind us. Vazra of the Archons yelled “Let them through!” and I wanted to see if the undead would fight the mordok so I immediately moved aside to let them pass. However, the mordok must have feared being pinned between both of our groups of soldiers and the undead so they retreated hastily. The fight started as our lines clashed. Sister Ree and Vazra went to a building on our left flank to remove the archer threat on the second floor. It turned out that Al-Haddad had also just arrived and with great bravery, Sister Ree and Vazra fought and captured Al-Haddad with powerful death bolts of magic. On the frontline, Al-Haddad’s second in command was fighting against our shieldwall with magic but was also eventually wounded and captured.
Note: Before our forces entered Serai, all troops and our allies were instructed by Brother Ventaris to stick to low level combat magics and to support our lines and our flanks so we don’t unnecessarily injure or kill anyone.
During the battle, Vazra was seen to have struck down and killed an unarmed civilian and move towards the children handlers of the undead, his intent to be hostile to them unknown. He was then attacked by surprise by a Naran woman named Sakura and her retainer. He fought back and struck her down with another death bolt of magic. Our commander, Brother Coswell, bravely healed her and kept her alive while the mordok and the undead repeatedly attacked. At this time, it was unknown why she would attack our ally; was she a traitor? She did not fight the undead or any of Serai’s troops but did bravely fight against the mordok. At this time, Al-Haddad managed to escape when the Archon members holding him captive were brutally attacked by mordok. He managed to run and escape deeper into the settlement. We tried to check the village for survivors, gathering any we could behind our defensive line. Corporal Gavras bravely volunteered to run and break through the mordok line, run further into the settlement, and attempt to find any survivors or citizens. He was able to return and everyone we could save was already in our group.
We organized a fighting retreat where our Chapter members kept the mordok at bay and protected our group as we fled the settlement. We withdrew safely without any casualties. By the time we regrouped with our soldiers camped nearby, we had lost one Order militia, named Brindle, to the mordok and reports say we lost half a dozen or so soldiers in the fighting in the city and with the oncoming mordok attack. Our forces will consolidate here and attempt to link up with the Master Lion and his detachment coming north; we will also try to organize the defense of the Serai civilians to the best of our ability. A small group will be sent south to bring the prisoners directly to Starkhaven for questioning.
Final Details:
– All nine of the undead were destroyed.
– Al-Haddad was apprehended but managed to escape.
– Al Maffajar was apprehended and is in our custody.
– No research regarding the undead was recovered.
– Many mordok were killed in the battle.
– A large portion of the Serai settlement was lost or contested to the mordok.
– Serai defenders were spared and helped to the best of our ability; many were wounded but few perished from the fight.
– Chapter military units are currently engaging mordok near the settlement and awaiting reinforcements.
Recommendations:
1) Put out a reward for the capture of Al-Haddad, alive only, for questioning.
2) Investigate the conduct of Vazra on the battlefield and the accusations of the murder of civilians.
3) Investigate the actions of Vazra in what linked him to Al-Haddad and Bos Mezar’s activities with the undead. From close ally to wanting to see Al-Haddad dead is a concerning shift in allegiance.
4) Investigate the home settlement of the Archons, the Spire, to see what research their arcane magics are currently working on.
5) Interrogate Sakura, who attacked Vazra, about her conduct, who had puzzling behavior during the course of the day, who
6) Interrogate Al-Maffajar, who is currently in our custody, about his involvement and Bos Mezar’s plans.
7) Put out “Call of Summons” to any members of Bos Mezar to willingly turn themselves over from questioning with a time frame of one month. Known accomplices are Shiloh, Ren-La, and Umm Haddar. After that, put out a reward for their capture, alive.
8) Care for any Serai refugees but disperse them into separate areas so that they are unable to coordinate together at this time, to see how deep this undead menace is
9) Make a strong point to emphasize that all who willingly turn themselves in or who are in Order custody, either the Chapter of the Fist or the Chapter of the Light, are under the protection of the Order of Arnath. All in custody who are targeted by others will be defended.
9) Update the Tomes of Valor of all new Chapter members of the Order of Arnath’s Light; their bravery and actions were paramount in the success of this mission.
Signed by my hand,
Brother Ree, Griffin of the Chapter of Light, Order of Arnath