Illdra and I have been crossing this god forsaken desert for an entire day. We still have plenty of rations, but I am worried that my map from Daanli may not accurately portray the true size of this desert. According to this map we are heading straight on a Northwesterly course, making for the Giant's Shovel. The Giant's Shovel is merely a huge stone formation rising out of the dunes. Thus far I have not so much as caught a glimmer of it on the horizon, and it is a TALL rock formation. I will conserve my strength and continue to write more as I can.

-Hollas, March 24th, Twelfth Year of Enru

I am now camped at an outcrop of rocks, several days' journey into the Kohash Desert. It's been a good three days since I departed Drakksford, and I departed in a hurry. Shortly after writing my last entry I went to sleep in the sand dunes just outside of Drakksford, I had no intention of returning to that city to search for lodgings. About the middle of the night, I was awakened by a strange noise. It wasn't necessarily a noise I heard in my ears, but rather one that I heard in my head. It was a kind of low droning, soothing, and unsettling at the same time. I crept out of the crude foxhole I'd dug for my (rather uncomfortable) bed and looked around, trying to ascertain where this toneless sound was coming from. Then I saw it. Words cannot describe what I saw.

I saw, and then again I did not see, a purplish haze descending on the city. There were what appeared to be tendrils of smoke curling downward, like the searching fingers of some abominable hand, and they were swirling about, glowing faintly. At least, this is what my eyes percieved. I do not really know what I was beholding, other than having the gut feeling that those pale writhing columns of smoke were deadly somehow, and I was witnessing the last of Drakksford's days. Suddenly, I thought that one of the smoke pillars turned to a bright yellow color, and then evaporated. Several more descended in its place, only to have the same thing happen. Then I began to hear another noise (this noise was definitely real), a high-pitched whining/whirring sound that escalated and grew until I felt my eardrums would melt away.

Then an awesome explosion rocked the eastern edge of the city, and I could see debris being flung into the night sky, illuminated by that ghastly purple light. Then, faintly, I heard the pattering of feet, not just one pair, but hundreds, and they were coming my way- fast. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I have neglected to chronicle the trial I underwent in Drakksford, prior to its destruction. Ah, I have just seen a beetle crawling on the ground. Sorry, back on to the story; the council had me locked up being interrogated for nearly 14 hours after I arrived in Drakksford. Every once in a while, a pale scream would wail up through one of the trial chamber's few high windows. People were dying at a frightening rate, I soon learned, and the council was becoming desperate to resolve the problem. The quarantine was sure to fail soon, and they needed answers. Through the course of my interrogation I gradually gleaned that Thyldas had been the first to come down with the mysterious ailment, not the child who had stupidly retrieved the vial left by Lord Dwindlemere. Indeed, Thyldas had first shown symptoms at least two weeks after the departure of Lord Dwindlemere as far as anyone could tell. And there was one more thing that I found out... Thyldas' medallion from the Berthwell Legion wasn't just an ordinary medallion, it bore a microscript inscription around the perimeter of both sides that read: HONORED MEMBER OF THE ZELVAR HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE OF BERTHWELL. Thyldas was a spy. A spy for Berthwell, but why? At this point I am beginning to despair that my harmless quest to discover adventure and myself may actually be fulfilling itself. And that is a prospect that scares the hell out of me.

I didn't reallly embark on this journey expecting to find this much adventure, and it doesn't carry any of the glorified luster that I'd always read about in books. It rather sucks, really.

They council soon agreed that there were more pressing matters at hand and that I really was telling the truth, and therefore of no use to them whatsoever. They returned the medallion to me, as an apology, I suspect. But I didn't wait around to find out once they cut my bonds. I left the city by the nearest gate, picking up my belongings before departing, and made it a fair ways into the first creeping dunes of the Kohash Desert before night fell and I was forced to hunker down for the night. This brings me back to what I began to write about. Confound it! There are dozens of these filthy beetles hiding around in the sand, Scarabs, I believe they're called. Nasty little bugs.

Where was I? Ah yes; then there was a swift pattering of hundreds of feet heading my way, and I chanced a look over the top of the sand mound and glilmpsed the shadows of perhaps two hundred Hinvannas padding rapidly across the dunes. They were fleeing the city, but they were all riderless. In the dim twilight I couldn't distinguish between them, but I noticed that a few of them had broken off and were headed directly towards me. They had obviously seen me, and I wondered for a fleeting moment if Hinvannas turned loose in the wild might actually consider a person as a meal. Thankfully, these noble creatures are far above eating their masters. As they drew closer, I noticed that one of them was particularly hard to see. The others were more clearly defined by the moonlight, but this one seemed to meld with the shadows, and light had no effect on it. It was Illdra. I was exstatic. I called out her name, foolishly, and her ears perked up and suddenly I could see her clearly. She padded up next to me and I could have sworn she smiled at me. But then she nudged me urgently and made a jerk of her head over her shoulder. I understood, we had to get away from the sick purple mist, whatever it was. I packed up my belongings as quick as you like, and mounted Illdra with great ease. She took off at a lively pace, which surprised me because of her slender build and the heavy load (me and my gear) she was carrying. I glanced behind me at the rapidly retreating city and realized with a sickening clarity that whatever the purple mist was, it was smiling at me, at ME. Grotesque curls of hazy purple smoke twisted up into a hellish grin, revealing more columns of smoke that looked eerily like fangs. Before I could discern any more, I looked away. I have no desire to see anything like that again, but I have this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I will.

Hollas Dillan, March 23rd, Twelfth Year of Enru

{Signed and cleared by the District Arbiter of Drakksford and Environs - this tome may be returned to its rightful owner in such due haste as is deemed necessary}

Well, finally I have my journal back, after 4 grueling days. I don't know if I have strength enough in me to detail all that has taken place. And believe me, there has been a LOT that has taken place.

Where to begin, where to begin? Since it has been such a long time I have already fallen out of my writing mode. My thoughts wander aimlessly thither and yon, competing for space and a voice in my head. I was jailed, yes, I think I've already recorded the initial day of that ordeal in here.

After being held in the cell for another night after the council had dismissed me in frustration, I was called again. But this time I was called to go to the council meeting in Drakksford, or, at least, in the accessible portion of Drakksford. You'll see what I'm talking about in a bit, but, for now, I must tell you of the ride over. We rode on creatures FAR more comfortable than those cursed Gorlaugs. These creatures were called Hinvannas, and were a sleek, yet powerful variety of wolf, that were curiously friendly and rather quite enjoyed being ridden by a human. I was placed, cuffed and under guard, on a svelte one of these with a flowing grey coat of black-flecked fur. I asked if the animal had a name and was told it was called Illdra. I fell in love with Illdra, and if there were ever a traveling companion I would want to take with me, I'd opt for Illdra over any rotten person. As a matter of fact, the day-long trek over the dunes towards the sweeping sands of the Kohash desert was by far the most enjoyable portion of these last 4 days for me.

Oh, my body aches in places I never knew existed!

Once we reached the city, which I noted was much larger than I had anticipated it would be, we were escorted around the perimeter of a long, high black adobe wall with shards of glass and wire strung along the top of it. Before I could open my mouth to ask what it was for, one of the guards shivered and said to me, "Beyond that wall is where all of the lepers are. I mean, the ones who got infected... with The Blight. We quarantined the lower section of the city to contain it... and, so far, it's worked. But I have no desire to know what the people on the other side of that wall are going through, no siree!" At these dark words I suddenly felt a wave of fear go over me... not for myself, but for the peaceful communities of Dumarken and my home Isle and village of Twildenshire. What would become of them if the plague crossed the short distance south over the mountians and began to ravage the population?

Oh, such thoughts are sending my head into a baleful ache. I will write more when I'm feeling up to it. For now, though, I am finally able to rest. It was a long 4 days.

Hollas Dillan, March 20th(?-yes, that's correct), Twelfth Year of Enru