Journal of Jack Tucker - Harton 25th
My traveling companions and I stood in the smoldering ruins of the village. Fires still burned in the corners of charred husks of buildings. We had gone to the castle before this, and it had been burned also. No one knows which fire started first. I found a series of parchments in the castle, a journal of the one who lorded over the people in this valley. It answered some questions, but not all. Searching through the rubble of the inn, a lone traveler’s diary was found. Amarilly Belladonna Nicolai is, or was, the name of the owner. No one is sure if she is alive or dead. I am hoping her diary will help fill in the blanks of the information I found in the journal from the keep.
The few surviving villagers say Amarilly arrived here almost a month ago. She told them that she was sent by our mutual friend, Elizabeth, who had helped the village four years ago. Elizabeth and her two traveling companions, Suykimo and Zachary, had discovered the previous lord of the valley was actually a werewolf, and slayed him. But six months ago Elizabeth received a letter from the village, telling her that something darker had taken the place of the dispatched evil. She and her friends were unable to make the journey, so she sent word to her school mate from Bolton in Gallix asking her to investigate, as the paranormal was a bit of a specialty for Amarilly.
I have known Elizabeth and her companions for many years now, and this is also an area of my expertise. Elizabeth had sent me a letter two weeks ago asking me to check on her friend on my way through this area to Drungia. It was not too far out of the way, so I agreed, and convinced my companions to accompany me. I am traveling with Trudy and Spencer; they are twins. We are on an excursion to find their missing uncle. They are also scientists and had assisted their uncle, my longtime friend Waldorf, with many of his studies and experiments. Trudy is a true genius, and her brother has a knack for noticing hidden details. As they search the remnants of the village for clues, I pore over these two texts, hoping to put together enough facts to know the whole of the situation.
Aetheric Elements: The Rise of a Steampunk Reality Page 33
