Correspondence from Stratton, Rhudaur

To Lord Ethacali, Governor of the Territory of Rhudaur, servant to His Most Awesome Majesty, the Witch King of Angmar, Greetings.
Your most humble servant Herion desires to apprise your most excellent Lordship of the events of the past few days. Two days ago, I received your directive to expect and assist a Royal Agent in the transportation of a valuable artifact. I did indeed meet Wistan yesterday, but in regrettable circumstance. The artifact Wistan was transporting is a Metal Golem which raged out of control until the company of imperial soldiers I promptly summoned stabilized the situation. A number of locals were prepared to grievously assault Wistan, requiring me to bring him into protective custody. At that time, he informed me of his mission and of the importance of the Metal Golem which I had wisely sequestered in the guard tower. Wistan, an amazingly personable gentleman, especially for an agent of such seniority, informed me that an essential component of the Metal Golem had been stolen, and that the controller of the same, disguised as an imperial badge, was also missing. Fortunately, a valuable contact I had cultivated, the new proprietor of the Wharf Rat tavern (now called The Eagle's Nest), was able to identify the thief, who was at that time resident in the tavern. I immediately dispatched the best company of Imperial Soldiers to retrieve these items. I recommended that Wistan accompany the troop, but he demurred, not wanting to draw greater attention to this matter. I assigned this outpost's best officer to lead this operation, and cast a word of command on him to assure> his utter devotion to the task. Most unexpectedly, the> company returned decimated and with the task unfulfilled. The officer was among those killed, and those returning spoke of foul magic at work. Leaving Wistan to guard the Metal Golem, I proceeded personally to the tavern, accompanied by half of the remaining detachment, with the balance assigned to security for Wistan and the Golem. I indeed verified that the residue of a great deal of magic from many users was present, and of a nature and precision unprecedented in the recent history of this region. I identified the bodies of all the missing troops save one, a young private whom I suspect of treachery since even accounting for magic, the troop should not have been so summarily defeated. As I was returning to the tower, I was accosted by a distraught Wistan, who advised me that several perpetrators, number hard to determine as they were almost invisible--clearly more magic--had reactivated the Metal Gollum and vanished. Wistan has chosen to pursue this band of robbers and murderers on his own, a truly brave but rather foolhardy action given that I had offered both a large force and my magic prowess which would have been most helpful in advancing this operation to success. He has left with three of the finest mounts from this outpost. I shall be sending a document with more complete descriptions of the perpetrators of this outrage as soon as I can find a forensic artist to draw portraits of the same. I await further instructions on this matter.
Your most loyal servant, Herion.

This post was written by George Hardy, in character as the NPC Herion.