Journal Entry 04.00 - Interim before the Feast

Having slain the banshee spider, Kerlostra is preparing for a great feast. Local tribes are invited as are several other denizens of the jungles. This feast is also serving as a meeting council concerning the growing threat foretold by the Harbinger.

After the final battle and returning to the village, a feast is being announced. It will be a week from today – as the neighboring villages are being invited. It’s a big thing to kill a banshee spider.
So – some things learned in that week before the feast.
The visiting Tengus they spotted when they first arrived (7 in number) were from a distant tribe of Tengus. They were here primarily to talk about the Harbinger, trading a generalized lack of knowledge, but to also discuss an alarming trend among some of their youth with regards to making slaves of the lizardfolk. One tribe, in particular, seems to be the root of concern. Tengues have always had a custom of magically enslaving lizards (or other races they felt were too aggressive). However, this particular tribe is turning them into more than just simple slaves, it's turning them into soldiers. Already this tribe has absorbed 3 other tribes. This tribe may be reacting to the threat of the harbinger.
The chieftain is off with a council of other chieftains to make peace with some of the lizard tribes. There is a fear that the lizards are militarizing to attack the elf lands. Some are thinking that the lizards are instead possibly militarizing to protect themselves from the harbinger.
Yes - Korlostra knows of Morvion’s village. They even sent two groups there to investigate. The first group came back with a simple report – the village was sacked by a bunch of lizardfolk, most of whom were killed by an elf mage of some power whom they could not locate. While sad, they could not find out why such a band of lizards would venture so far north to attack a single village. They also make mention that the lizards were not clothed as normal lizards, they were donning the metals of man.
The second group sent to investigate further has yet to return (it has been 2 months). A round trip should have taken a month at best. Hotly debated, and tabled for when the Chieftain returns, is the idea that a third group should be sent to investigate. The village elders are not happy when the party tells them they saw no sign of this second group.
The dreams of the harbinger are increasing. Several of the elves in Korlastra are refugees from the harbinger attacks.
So far – all much farther east (hundreds of miles) at least 14 villages have been destroyed. They came to and sought out Korlastra as according to the tribal lore of their most ancient of elders (400+) Korlastra used to be a meeting place in times of war. Few of the local inhabitants even had a clue of this heritage (except the eldest, including the Chieftain who is rumored to be over 600 years old) – however the refugees have convinced Korlostra of the truth and that more may be coming.
The report from the refugees (and this is backed up by the Tengu who reported a few of their villages being destroyed far in the west) testify to the same thing. Happening always during the day, in a matter of minutes, all life in the village is just snuffed out. When the survivors returned to their villages, all they could see is dead relatives who had died where they stood. The very trees were killed to their very centers, even the most ancient of giants. Nothing would grow. So complete was the death, the bodies weren’t even decaying naturally. Even weeks afterward, the soil itself would not grow anything. Some survivors state they had left their village but for a moment – to go to the local creek for some water or some similar task – and when they returned, everything was dead. The only warning any of the villages had was an increase in the number of hauntings, dreams, visions, and omens just prior to the attack. Every survivor agrees that what is being experienced now is nothing compared to what will start days before an impending attack. Some refugees have stated that they encountered villages on their way here who disbanded when the dreams got too severe. When the dreams lessened, they then reassembled and were spared. It may be large groups attract the harbinger. (From what can be gleaned, further west the number of elven villages is less, however the population of each village jumps dramatically)
The last known elven village to be destroyed was over 2 months ago – so since then, more have possibly fallen - its just no refugees have arrived yet. The tengu – able to fly - stated that a village about 500 miles west was destroyed just 2 weeks ago.
Some more trivial items of note concerning the party.
Aja and Falgrieg find a place to work their alchemy magic.
Heading west about 500 miles, the last of the elven and tengu villages will be found. Beyond that, it truly is a wilderness to be feared. No known society exists that far out. Though there are giants in that direction. Mighty giants that dwarf the local forest giants.
And most significantly, Aja immediately starts having dreams about the harbinger. She even has an actual waking walking vision once (she almost walked off a platform if Tars hadn’t grabbed her). She now keeps a rope around her waist at all times when she is in the tree, tied off to a post or railing. Just in case, she says. She is starting to get a little moody as these constant visions are making restful sleep difficult. You can apparently only slumber yourself so many times.
Even Falgrieg and Morvion started having some dreams over the last week. Morvion now remembers having a few of those dreams before heading to Chrailis. His were always tied to the nightmare associated with the massacre of his village so he didn't really distinguish that there was a difference. However now that he has a new perspective, he can associate some of his former dreams with the harbinger. His dreams stopped once he got about halfway to Chrailis.
Both Graykar and Tars seem unaffected at this time. It must be a spellcaster thing, they decide. Meanwhile, Graykar teaches a few of the elves some gambling games. The elves have a fondness for the games, and some talent, almost to Graykar’s dismay, but not quite. Tars befriends two elves who start teaching him some of the ins and outs of elven river fishing. While the piranha may have sharp teeth – they sure are good eating. And those long teeth are perfect for picking strings of fish meat out of one’s own teeth. A fish that helps you eat itself, Tars proclaims.
The group as a whole is quite certain now that whatever causes the so-called ‘taint’ is somehow shielding the party from the dreams.
About mid-week, two elves from one of the Katukinos tribes make their way into the village. Mugan – more serious than ever – greets them and has some short words with them, before the two elves go running back off into the jungle. When asked, Morvion tells the group that the Katukinos are isolated tribes that have little contact with other tribes. That the elves were painted in blue and green paints with painted stars on their face may mean they are possibly Plaquin – a not only isolated tribe but a shunned tribe due to their rumored traditions of cannibalism of any and all who possess the ability to spellcast, even their own children. Toward the end of the week, groups of elves numbering five to ten start arriving from the neighboring tribes, ready to join in the celebration. J’Arbee is seen about occasionally – she has a new brightly colored wardrobe in celebration of her new title.
The day before the feast begins, the chieftain returns. He is in a group of nearly 50 elves, consisting of 4 other chieftains and their respective elven escorts. Of minor discomfort to Morvion is the fact that with them are also 6 lizardfolk. Of even greater discomfort is that all six of these lizardfolk stand almost a foot taller than any lizard man any of you have seen before. They all stand nearly six and a half feet and are heavily muscled, wearing strange armors and wielding exotic weapons. And to make matters worse, also unlike any lizard you have seen before, these lizards are covered in red scales. Upon arriving, the red lizardfolk disappear into one of the ground houses and remain under the personal guard Carmla and her soldiers. Questioning her and others, the party can only discern that the lizards are to be treated as guests and Carmla is present to ensure that no one questions this decision.
The total population of the village is now close to 180. It is going to be a big feast.

Events occur late in the summer, 920th Year of Her Prominence. (1228 AC) The events happen from Saylo 9th through the 16th.