Belan 26

Dearest Diary,
 
If I had thought the state of Azul was in bad shape, the fields outside Sa-Owu were a charnel house, but with all the corpses pulled out last minute. Inside, ghouls and demons stalk the streets, the former directed to digging up the streets (searching for the Eye, we assume). Both were quite beyond my charms, unfortunately, and I was really looking forward to pretending be a minor noble. I almost had a chance to infiltrate demonic party, but more on that later.
We were able to get through the gates, and reclaim an old Andara townhouse (squatters included), and Olma did some reconnaissance, which led us to an unfortunate meeting with one of Sa-Owu former leadership, Nyx. Like Chandra, this creature was apathetic to the plight of her city and it's fate (and far too smug and petty for my liking). Having already dealt with one irresponsible leader, I might have lost my temper with her during our second meeting. She didn't appreciate it, but at this point I think I can convince the group to destroy her once we obtain the Eye (and a reanimated Erwood) that she was guarding. We shouldn't have agreed to her task either. A demon that goes by the name Darkflame, is not one that I want to steal powerful relics from (cursed ones at that, seeing as Erwood died upon touching it!). His party I was looking forward to seeing however, but, alas, I never got the chance. By some twisted fate, a minor errand evolved into a meeting with an actual demonlord (and a disgusting one at that). Why it was willing to assist us in stealing Darkflame's mace, I don't think we will ever know, but the method it used to teleport us to Darkflame's private sanctum, was not something I ever want to think about again. To think it was just hiding out beneath Sa-Owu, unnoticed. I shudder to think if other demonlord have taken the opportunity to enter the Silent Lands during this invasion. As a side note, I really must accelerate my study into teleporting shadow magic.
 
Another occurrence of note was this strange tattoo that appeared on a boy that we ran into. I had heard that when I was visiting Azul, similar marks had been appearing on people there as well. They seem to hold magical energy and were reactive to the holy symbols that Erwood and Olma carry. Erwood was able to absorb the magic, killing the child as a result. Olma was in turn able to sacrifice her own magical power to resurrect him. The high priest of Azul was able to sacrifice marked citizens to power the shield over Azul in a similar fashion. Considering the mark is reactive to Olma's prayer, the mysterious force that Olma is in contact with must clearly be at the heart of this particular phenomenon. My recommendation for caution fell on deaf ears (again). She continues to insist that it's her Goddess and I worry that she's in for quite a disappointment down the road. The rules of the Silent Lands have been established since it's creation; it certainly isn't gonna change just because someone really wants it to.