Journal of W. E. Tupper, Day 49-56

Day 49 56
I know the upper echelons of the Sable Lions will be reading this, and if I wrote down the truth of the matter, you would not believe me. So I think it better to write a patent falsehood and be questioned on it later than to attempt to craft a subtle one and escape unqueried. All facts presented about the situation are genuine to the best of my knowledge.

I spent the week drunk and face down in a gutter.

Meanwhile, my compatriots discovered (over the past week) many things that are relevant to the matter at hand. Namely, that two sisters have been behind some of the dealings with the grove, one of which has been behind the planting the dark trees. Though cold and inhuman in their behavior (or so I have been told), neither of them seem to be vampires. Of particular note is the sister Rann, who has (through extensive research through local historical records) been planting these trees for about 300 years, though she has only spent 10 years planting them near Point of Origin and has had only 1 year of coral-gateway usage.

Both siblings live in a cave beyond the coral gate, and regularly summon unnatural beings from another realm for food and companionship. Said coral gate has been destroyed, though there is the potential for them to re-establish it. The sober part of our group successfully destroyed all of the dark tree saplings in the grove over the course of three days. Attempts to bless the dark fountain which was nurturing them ended in explosion, giving them no other choice but to clog it. During this time in the grove, they discovered the time-differential magicks in the area did not merely shift one to a point in the day where it was dark.

Shell, of whom my suspicions are either ungrounded or far too accurate, has offered to contact any rangers in the area in an effort to prevent this from happening again. After I cleaned myself up, I offered to contact the local law enforcement for assistance as well.

In other news, we got a letter from Alcander today that said he had been summoned back to his homeland. I did not know he was literate and am glad he has taken steps to become civilized. I would like to also note now that Arcadius may not, in fact, smirk every time he says my name.

Now if you will excuse me, I feel the need to spend another week drunk.