SHARN—Four members of the Sharn Watch and fourteen suspected members of a cult are dead after a pitched battle in the Northedge district of Longstairs on Far.
A lead in an ongoing kidnapping investigation led members of the Sharn Watch to a residential apartment tower on Far morning, said watch sergeant Urdren Vannti. Upon entering the premises, the members of the watch were assaulted by cultists shouting nonsensical slogans and brandishing spears and daggers.
The watch, heavily outnumbered, retreated to a nearby tower until several squads of reinforcements arrived. At this stage, the four squads then re-entered the residential tower and engaged the cultists. During the confrontation, several of the cultists began to show signs of magical taint. This was further evidenced when several of the cultists spontaneously immolated themselves and other nearby combatants, exploding from a fire burning within their bodies.
"Once these guys started to explode, we got of the tower right away. Because of the fire risk to the tower." Vannti said. "We heard a series of booms, maybe more of them exploding, and then everything went quiet." Inside the tower were the badly burned body of the cultists. None survived and none attempted to flee the apartment building. Little is known about the cult, or what manner of fiend they gave their patronage to. None of them identified themselves before being immolated by their own foul powers.
The identities of the fallen members of the Sharn Watch are withheld, pending notification of their families and next of kin. Establishing the identities of the cult members is an ongoing process, rendered difficult by the poor quality of the remains, Vannti said. The Blackened Book branch of the Sharn Watch will likely lead the ongoing cult investigation starting tomorrow. The Sword Point garrison will retain a lead role in the kidnapping case that uncovered the cult in the first place.
