All hail noble ladies and gentlemen!

Finally I have time to make a new report for the chronicle. Up to recently I had been on a trip and that happens to be in the little loo “Kranichsquell“. There I visited the famous “Spiegelfest“ on behalf of me master Alberich. This festival is celebrated in Kranichsquell each year. The local mayor Benbo Hahnentritt sent a letter to all lords and ladies of Tamar and invited them to this festival.
As Alberich is very bussy with the reconstruction of our realm, I got the great honour to go there on his place. Furthermore I'm as the chronicler and best suited for writing a report about the events in Kranichsquell.
But before I started the weary journey Alberich called me. He instructed me to look for people who come from chummy countries and should meet them with a warm response. Finally he asked for our armoror who gave him one warrior axe. This one was made by himself many years ago and now he gave it to me for my protection. At first I protestet, because I'm not very skilled with handling a weapon, but he insisted that I take this axe with me at least because nobody could know what might happen. I wish I had known at this point that his speculations would become true.
But let's take one thing at a time. I made up some agreements with several trades people for this trip. They took me with them in their horse and cart and therefore I entertainted them with several stories at the campfire in the evening. Soon we reached our aim. While the trades people went on, I entered the little town Kranichsquell which is idyllic located on the edge of a big forest with beautiful houses and a dreamy lake in the near.
When I had just arrived I made a first tour through this colony. Bit by bit more and more guestes arrived and everywhere people were standing together and laughed and talked. But there were not only people, I could also see some dwarfs, elves, “Kender“ and “Halblinge“, some other beings I hadn't seen before. In the evening the mayer of Kranichsquell, Benbo Hahnentritt, welcomed us to the “Spiegelfest“ personally.
After the welcoming I took the opportunity and went to the local taverna to have some interesting conversations maybe. I also remembered on Alberich's order to look for people from estates of Eternia. Already in the afternoon I met Angor, a well-heeled nobleman who came form Baerenanger, Taurik's city. He introduced me to Ranoka a warrior on duty of Fox of Sion. During the evening I also met Celevan, a healer from Gallahd's country and Lance a warrior from Lancelot's realm. Soon we sat together in the taverna and exchanged a lot of new things.
I said hello from my master and just as we returned to our conversations the bell in front of the taverna was runging. In the wink of an eye the place in front of the taverna was full of people and I also ran outside. Suddenly I heard a growl and then I saw it: On the ground lay a fettered person which looked human at the first glance. But when a light of a latern fell on this creature I saw an ugly grimace with horrible teeth and black skin.
The beadle explained that this drakh (thats how this beasts are called) was arrested. He was blamed that he attacked and killed a farmer with some of his friends. Unfortuantely his henchmen could escape, they could catch only him. The drakhs came in big numbers to Tamar a long time a ago and it took a long time until they were defeated. After such a long time dared to come in the near of this colony.
More and more voices called for the dead of this drakh. The mayor spelled doom for him after a short trial, but it was a weak excuse for the already decided death of this creature. In the meanwhile the drakh was tied to a stake. While the mayer still spoke he suddenly got free and wanted to attack the villagers. But he was overwhelmed very fast. This desperate try to get free made that at the end everybody called for his death. The mayor had no other possibilites than to convict him to death by beheading him and the beadle carried out the senctence immediately after the judgement with a sword thrust.
Very soon this event was forgotten and everybody followed their activities they did before. Nodbody could knew that this wasn't the last drakh which we would see. Then a cleric came. He explained us that there had alway been a ritual during the “Spiegelfest“ which should bottle a creature of the dark up in the bowels of the “Spiegelsee“. He wanted to do this ritual on the same evening and invited us to participate in it. The most of us thought that it would be more an event to entertain the guests than a serious ritual.
After a short time many guest and villagers came with laterns and torches and then a long procession followed this cleric. I also took part in this ceremony. Just as we left the village a man obstucted us. Angrily he said, “Well, go to your ritual. You all will see what will happen!“ It turned out that he was an old village priest who did this ritual in the past. But it seemed that he had doubts about his successor, but he also made the impression that he was baffeled and so nobody paid him attention.
Then it suddenly started. The cleric led us to a campfire where he recited some spellings and sparked lights. He explaind that this was the preparation for the ritual. Then he led us to the “Spiegelsee“. The paths was weary despite the lights which were carried along in the nights, but finally we reached our aim. We were invited to spreed out around the lake. I reached the point which was almost on the opposite of the place of the cleric. I couldn't see him, just the flickering light of the torches and I could hear his voice. He talked about sacrifices which he would give the lake so that the monster would be botteled up in the lake for some more time. Then the misery started. Something horrible happened.
I could see a lighting and I heard a bang, then another lighting and then this terrible bellow. It seemed to come from the ground of this lake. All people around me got in panic, but I didn't feel better. We started to ran and only wanted to be back in the village. Again and again I heard screamings and also noises of battle.
I hardly can remember how I came back to the village, but somehow I did it. Bit by bit more scared people came and I heard about demons which suddenly appeard on the lakeside and also about further drakhs and other disgusting beasts. They appeared right after the obviously faild ritual and attacked the totally surprised audiance. Some people couldn't escape from them and so it happens to be that there had died five or six people. But nobody knew exactly what happened and also the cleric seemed to be vanished without a trace.
We stayed together in front of the taverna shocked and clueless for a while. It was already late but nobody could get some rest so took one or two more drinks in the taverna to get calm.We weren't sitting there for a long time when a villager came in and screamed that the village was being attackted. Some men took there weapons and ran out into the night. His attack was just a presentiment of what would happen this night and the next day. Again and again the village was attacked, every now and then it were the drakhs, then huge damons with horrible grimaces which were accompanied by creatures which seemed to be half fish and human.
Nowhere you could go without the protection of the brave warriors. Late in this night I was sitting with some guest which came from Eternia in the taverna together. We drank some cubs of med and talked about the attacks, these horrible creatures, the faild ritual, but also about our home. There a bit drunken villager came to us. So we learnt that he also came from another country, from the realm of Ischtar which isn't on Eternia, but I already heart about it. This guy was a bouncer and the alcohol made his tongue loose. He bluffed that he killed twenty drakhs by his own and without weapons.
But I was remembering very well that he hid under a table in the taverna during an attack. When I told him this he said that he could kill the drakhs also under a table very easily. Despite the gloom we laughed when he told more and more about his heroics which he had done. Later I went to sleep from which I woke up bathed in sweat. Again and again I dreamed about the latest events.
The next day I went to the taverna after a very short and very fast eaten breakfast. Maybe I could learn something new. It seemed like other guests had the same idea, so the place in front of the taverna became vey growded very fast. Then the next unbelievable thing happened. People appeared who had to be dead actually! Others had clearly seen that they were victims of the horrible attackers the last night and now they were walking between us alive? They couldn't remember what happened last night and they actually believed that the ritual hadn't took place yet. They really believed that they just arrived in Kranichsquell and just had disbievable faces for the ones who telled them about the events of last night.
For a long time there had been hot discussions, but at the end there was just one solution left athough it seemed impossible. We re-experienced the same day for the seconed time. Maybe it was a twist of fate which gave us a second chance to prevent the horror. The whole day the guests tried together with the villagers of Kranichsquell to find a solution for it. As I couldn't be everywhere I will try to summarize the events of this day with parts of reports from others and parts of my own experience.
The young cleric was still missing, but therefore the old cleric appeared. He looked totally confused and also hadn't any memories about the past. Only thanks to the help of a guest who knows about the art of brewing drinks he started to remember with a special drink. In the meanwhile Kranichsquell was attacked by damons and their henchmen as well as drakhs more and more often. Always in the first line to fight off the attacks and to defend the colony was Ranoka, a warrior who lived up his name. Several time during this day we had to take him away from the battlefield because he was hurt but as soon as the healer had healed him provisional he ran again to the battle.
Gradually we found out that our only chance to prevent the morbid state of Kranichsquell was to do to the ritual again. Suddenly the young cleric appeared again. But before we could catch him he fled and has never been seen again. But he left us a letter where he regret the events. He changed the ritual by himself which was against the tradition to make it more attractive for the guests. But thats why the ritual failed. The old cleric rememberd that in the chronicle of this colony was written how the ritual had to be made. Unfortunately the chronicles had been stolen, but was luckely found as the day progessed. Joshua, a lumberjack on duty of Kranichsquell, told that he found a odd egg when he strolled through the forest which contained a creature that must have been a preliminary stage of the horrible fish creature. During the studies of the reappeared chronicles it had been discovered that the creature inside the eggs had to be offered up during the ritual. So it was important and therefore a big group of brave men went searching for it to bring it to the village. But the egg was protected by several damons and monsters which could only be defeated with the utmost effort. Apropos of nothing I learnt that the mentioned Joshua also comes from Eternia originally. He had lived in Wolfen's realm but moved over here many years ago and had lived happy. His wife is Sarah who comes from Eternia too, from Morgana's realm. But I stray from the report:
Another thing which had nothing to do with the ritual at the first glance should provide a dramatical change in the events. Already at my arrival in Kranchisquell I regocnized an odd big stone in the edge of the market place where a hilt which protrude from it. The mayor Benbo Hahentritt explained that this sword would be his own and he defeated a socalled “Ent“ with it. This ent is an odd tree creature that actually had lived in peace with the villager but suddenly it became hostile and attacked them. So the mayor had no other chance as to kill the ent. This ent turned into a stone when it died and enclosed the sword. On the stone a riddle appeared and the people thought that only the one who would solve it could get the sword out of the stone.
At this day again and again some adventurer tried to solve the riddle but without success. But then in the evening a brave knight solved the riddle and wanted to drag it out of the stone. Right at this moment some horrible monster appeared from scratch. As we met in the tavern after these developments the old cleric came and explained us two things:
On the one hand he would control the fate of Kranichsquell and on the other hand we would only have three hours to do the ritual correctly until it is too late finally. Some people who can read and me adjourned in a house and tried to plumb the chronicle how the ritual has to be done.
Therebye we found out that there three different reports about the performance of the ritual. After some hot discussions we decided to take the oldest text as model. Fortunately we had almost everything for the ritual and now we just needed someone who would perform it because the old cleric refused to do it. After a while a woman who had some experience with ritual and magic consented to help to do the ritual.
According to the tradition she needed 15 helper. Five of them had to be in the inner circle which was the most important thing for this performance. The whole day I stayed out of all the fights because I'm a writer and unexperience with handling a weapon and not very brave.
But when we were looking for volunteers who would help with this ritual I agreed to help because I had the need to do something for the inhabitants of Kranichsquell. I also couldn't deny the feeling that the centre of the ritual would be the safest place in light of these cruel creatures. The time was short so we packed everything for the ritual and came together in front of the taverna. Most of the chosen one had never done a ritual so the woman who would do the ritual explained it to us. In the meanwhile every villager and guest who was fit for action got ready to defend us for the attacks of this creatures while we were doing the ritual. Then we hit the road.
At first we went to the same fire place which the young cleric had used for the first ritual. There we started our task. The woman pulled an influence around the fire place which should protect us from the damons. Therebye she spoke odd verses and the bardics played eerie melodies with there ancient instruments. Then the helper positioned beyond this circle, five more (so me, too) in the interior. The mistress conjured one of many gods which would support our enterprise. Therebye the outsider draw odd signs on the ground. Then she prepared a magic drink which consisted of the blood of the fish creature from the egg, several herbal, remains of one of her burnt seal with the name of the creature of the “Spiegelsee“ and water from this lake.
While we concentrated on the ritual a bitter struggle against damons and monsters blustered which came to prevent the performance of the ritual. We in the interior of the circle were protected by the influence luckely.
The next thing we did was inflamed a magical candle and had to take it to the lake. We started out immediately. Our way was lighted up sparsely by some lights. Strangely we weren't attacked after leaving the circle, too. The light of the magic candle seemed to protect us. Undistrubed we reached the lake. There the last part of the ritual followed:
The woman watered the drink over the magic candle and extinguished the light at the same time. Suddenly it was quiet, almost too quiet. Then we heart a horrible bellow from the ground of the lake. The beast spoke to us with a rolling thunder voice. We shouldn't believe that we suspended it for a long time, this contention was not finished. But then the voice became quieter and something unbelievable happened:The lake created a seam of ice within a short time, but it was not common ice, it was hot!
But this ice seemed to banish the monster in the depth. We really did it, the threat was over, at least for the next time. As the ritual was done each year, I assume that Kranchisquell is safe for at least a year.
We couldn't believe that we did it. We also couldn't hear noises of battle. Somehow we got back to the village and there everyone met in the taverna. We learnt that in the moment the lake closed also the attacks through the damons and drakhs stopped. Gradually the tension dissipate and we went to the taverna. There we chink our glasses of our success. Slowly the good atmosphere came back and soon you could hear hubbub and happy laughing from everywhere. Also our special friend with his big brave and superior fighting strenght cheered us with his stories how he killed drakhs just with his hands.
But we cheered too soon! With a last rebellion of the evil power suddenly some drakhs charged to the market place and tried to get into the taverna. Once again the brave warriors took their weapons and fighted with all there power against these evil creatures. This time I didn't have that much luck to stay out of this. One drakhs hurt me before some sword thrust through a warrior killed him. Almost without conscience I stayed on the wall. Fortunately the fight was soon over and finally the healer could take care about the violators.
Also I was healed by a healer from the dwarf folk. Thanks to this man I'm able to write this report at all. The next morning most of the guest went home to tell about the events in their country. They were accompanied by word of thanks and best wishes. Also I went home. Luckely I found a trade caravan which went into the direction of Erzlande. I was allowed to lie on a cart so that I could rest my painful limbs.
Some days later I was finally at home. Immediately I had to report to Alberich. Then he gave me some days off to rest while Kilian was taking care about the work. He had represented me during my absence excellently. I feel that I found the right follower for me. I think that he won't have to wait very long, because I'm not the youngest and the injuries which I got in Kranchisquell didn't helped my bad health.