Naga Letter - #4
My daughter,
You must have heard terrible news coming from the Imperial City, and feared for my safety. This letter is to assure you that I am well, and have been escorted out of the city by a sympathetic samurai from the Lion clan. I however, am one of the fortunate few. Our fears of the Dark Land have been realized, and the ruler of the human kingdom has been corrupted by the Evil One. He now moves as a puppet under sinister strings.
The clan of the Crane has won a great victory against the Dark Ones with the help of our forces. The human Daini has guided us true, and we arrived in time to help the Crane destroy the army that threatened them with annihilation. Alas, I fear that this victory is not enough to stem the tide. Now word comes that a second Shadowlands army, this one led by an undead human sorcerer, is stalking the land. Stories of the horrors they have inflicted upon the human lands are enough to chill the blood.
But the worst, my daughter, is yet to come. The Imperial City has fallen from within by an Evil as old as time. A fleet of ships from the Clan Crab launched a surprise attack, and human defenders of the city fell before them. The lord of the Crab entered the Imperial Palace, with the intent of seizing the throne. The Emperor crushed the life from his body and shattered his forces like a toy. Our people were forced to flee the city and have tried to regroup with our remaining forces in the Crane lands.
The humans have learned that the Evil we fight is greater than all of us. Only now do they turn from their petty bickering to face the darkness rising from the west. Alas, I fear it has come too late. They fumble around like a newborn fresh from its egg, lost and confused in the face of their folly. Only Toturi seems immune to their panic. He leads his army towards the fallen capital with a force and a will I could not have imagined before now. We must do all we can to support him, for I fear he is our last hope.
I do not know if you have felt it or not, beloved, but our people have of late become distracted by a strange fog in our minds. It is not unlike the Great Sleep of a thousand years ago, but has subtle differences I have not felt before. The cycle is coming to a close, my child, and I believe our time in the world is slowly fading. We must do all we can to see that the next Rebirth delivers a world of hope, instead of the terrifying Evil that I fear is now to strong to be defeated.
Dashmar