The journal of Isabella Two Water,
Lady of the Keep
It was a year ago today that we were first attacked by the lich.
We have not ascertained it's port yet, but it does have one.
The scouts report of finding the bones that speak of lost battles where none were before.
There are many tales of it's ghost ship sitting off coast moments before whole villages are slaughtered.
Trade ships vanish on moonless nights and not a soul returns.
No wreckage found.
It is said to glide mastless through the night.
All rumors and hearsay, but they are so numerous there must be some truth buried in them.
I remember the night two falls past at the new outer walls.
A great deformed giant stepped out of the darkness and began bashing against the walls of the outer defenses.
The guard mobilized slowly. Months of quiet and a cool night with warm fires and full bellies often make fresh cadets forget what it means to be on duty.
It is no small blessing that despite these impediments the defenders were quick to their tasks.
The deformed giant bashed away at the walls as the steamer stepped around the corner and began sawing away at it. The first explosion struck the tower, sending shards of lumber burning into the night. Several of the guard were caught in the blast but where able to get clear as the burning form of the deformed giant fell against the wall.
The captain, piloting the lumber yards steamer, caught sight of the crude orcan powder canisters strapped to a collar around it's neck. Quick thinking the Captain took heaved the giant into a nearby hillside.
The only alert we had to the attack was an explorer examining a crevasse they had discovered some weeks previous. The masons had just finished laying the ground work for a massive stone door hours earlier when the workers shoring the interior came screaming from it's confines. One of the guardsman showed particular courage by leading two of his cohort into the dark confines of the corridor and into massing goblin forces.
Above ground fire balls lit up the night and started wild fires in the tree line. It pushed the defenses back a few yards but the after math of the battle provided excuse to have the merchants who move in and out of the ports to pay a slightly higher tax over the following summer.
The young guardsman that cleared the tunnels was awarded with his own command over a small hill top north and west of the city. The construction of the tower goes slowly, but a small regiment stays camped near it's walls while the workers winter in the city.
It is important to note that with the reconstruction of the new tower walls to replace those burned in the battle afforded the scouts the ability to find where the ship had docked and figure out how it slipped so silently into the night.
It has been months since any sightings of the the phantom ship.
One of the garrisons lieutenants was caught in a blast manning a catapult on the hilltop.
A stalwart fellow says that sensed necrotic magic that evening and feels a similar presence blowing on the winter winds.
