My dear Overkill,

The knight has decided to leave us. I failed to mention in my last letter that there seems to be a ruckus in Timiro and that is why the pilgrims were heading north; war is on the rise. The large slave revolt has caused men and women to take up arms to silence them. The pilgrims that I was with didn’t want to participate and headed north with Father Jacob.

I have digressed from what I wanted to tell you. Shortly before the knight left she took me aside and while I was dressing her wound she told me the saddest story of her husband and how his brother killed him. I felt obliged to share your encounter and how you were resurrected. The story lightened her spirits, so it seemed, as I told her of my gratitude for Isis. She is as sweet as a sister (if I ever had one). As you know I had all brothers (four of them). I certainly would like to meet your sisters.

At any rate, we laughed and cried that night and when she was about to leave she held me in an embrace and told me that I certainly was special and that there was a place for me in her future. When I asked if we would see each other again, she told me that perhaps there would be a time, in the meantime that I should practice my fighting style with the weapon you bought me. She speaks in riddles a lot but I cannot help but like her.

My fighting style has improved a lot. I recall all the training that you, Rell and Cava taught me. Speaking of which, my enmity for Cava has not been cooled. Watch your back about that guy. There is something not right with him; like a hidden evil.

The river was smooth. I left the pilgrims only to group up with some river merchants. They say that they are going to head up the river towards Llorn. Our captain is an ogre called Saul. I can relate to him as he too is a missing eye and a broken tusk. At night he plays a stringed instrument to calm his nerves; most of the time its sad songs of love lost. The crickets chirp and the lantern light hangs on the front of his ship at night. His watchmen are a pair of gnomes named Seaux aka. Sauce and Graviux aka. Gravy, two of the strangest westerners I have ever met. They are generally very funny (especially with those weird accents) except when they talk about their war torn home of the Empire of Sin.

Recently we came near my old village. I asked Saul if he would take a small pit stop to resupply. He obliged me and we headed inland to pay a visit to my papa. After a full days travel I came to what I thought would be my village. The village was burned to the ground and the people killed via crucifixion. So many people were tortured to death, their bodies brutally mangled. I am sorry but the image was horrible and I cannot write too much without thinking about the vision of my family hanging from trees, nailed. Saul ordered his crew to cut them all down and bury them. I personally buried my father and four brothers. We never found my mothers body. Either she got away or was killed in the woods.

I recalled father’s old hiding place before we left and when I investigated, I found my fathers Dwarven forged axe and family seal. It means nothing to me now but when I did have a clan, it meant the world but now I keep it as a trinket. The axe is somewhat larger then the cleaver that you bought me but I aim to practice with it to better my skill. There is a prick of pain behind my missing eye like a phantom pain, a need for revenge but I know that I will never find the ones that did this but your love gives me comfort that they didn’t get all my family.

When we got back to the boat Saul attempted to brighten my spirits by playing some hymns that talked about heaven and the after life of the dwarves. Some of the hymns I recognized from my childhood. My father had a good voice and would sing them as he worked in the woods collecting firewood. They talked about the hunting grounds and drinking halls that awaited us in the next life. I wondered just what kind of guy I had grouped up with. Saul has a lot of mystery to him and has changed my view of the ogre kind.

As we were sailing one of the gnomes made mention that there was some Dwarven writing on a wall in blood but because he could not read it, he wrote it down and asked if I would read it to him. Taking the parchment from him I began to read the warning. Anubis will kill all who love CrIsis. The old god must have known that I was going home one day and after torturing the clan, killed them when they didn’t know when I was to return. How did they find out where I was from? The gnome gave me a confused look. He was certain that I had read it wrong. Anubis loves death and chaos, why would he kill all who loved crisis? I didn’t felt safe to tell him of CrIsis. I am worried that your fame is going to be going to continue to enrage the dog head god. Death is following your success.

Please hurry.

Be safe.

Martyr Okey

Posted by Mary on the 22nd of Selestra, in the 22nd year of King Bafag.