Letter from Rosalind to the Heroes of Cleenseau

Received January 26th, in Cleenseau

Friends:

The news from Embry is grim. The rumors must be spreading, but I will report what I saw. The city is awash with troops, mostly from the Army of the North, and the Duchy of Arnsbury. It is tense, and the arrival of Duke Bellemont of Wisford is much anticipated. The rumors spread that he is to blame for much of the troubles in Wisford, supporting mutinous soldiers and spreading lies about the Army of the South. I find this hard to countenance.

But that is mere prologue. Yesterday, we awoke to a smoldering fire in the heart of the city. The temple complex to the Night Queen had been burned to the ground, and troops surrounded it. Cries throughout the city spread word: His Majesty, King Robert I, had uncovered a deep corruption amongst the Night Queen elders - the cause of the recent unrestful dead. Eight have been executed, and two cleared of all wrongdoing. He is seeking two others for questioning: Raoul Boulain and Lenora Belles, both said to be high in the Night Queen councils.

Little explanation has reached those outside the Royal Council, but several of us were able to see the ruins of the temple, and the mutilated bodies in the crypts certainly looked like the remains of an evil ritual. Eremon swears this could not be true, but I can tell he has been deeply affected. He was spending much time with one of the elders who was executed, and I cannot tell if his judgement is clouded.

On other news, it appears that the Royal Chancellery is investigating irregular land holdings from early in Queen Cece’s reign, which is why I have been summoned. There are about a dozen of us, with family landholdings granted along the Enst or in the southern baronies just after the hobgoblin wars. I do not know what the suspicious are, as I await my summons.

I eagerly await news of Cleenseau.

Yours in peace,
Lady Rosalind Essford
The 21st of January, in the blackest year of Robert’s reign