In the middle of Boneharvest this past autumn, an explosion was heard through all of the South Farthings, Fiddlehead Hills, and even beyond. This scribe can verify that it was audible from at least as far away as Riverton. Witness accounts had placed the epicenter of the explosion very close to the Town of Elmerton. I journeyed there and found the accounts to be accurate. Apparently, Abraham Blackgate, otherwise known as Boom Blackgate and the patriarch of the Blackgate family, had placed a very large bomb, for a reason unknown to me, a mere mile to the east of Elmerton Lake. When it exploded, it blew away a wide section of swamplands, leaving a large crater that, strangely, has yet to fill with water as one would reasonably expect in such a wet environment. Luckily, the saturated ground had absorbed much of the blast that otherwise might have done much more damage. Unluckily, however, the blast had other consequences.
It is no secret that the lands around Elmerton have strange qualities. It was only a decade ago that 39 square miles of the area were covered by the mysterious Evernight Forest, a place supernaturally starved of both light and sound. Some claim that the Evernight never actually went away. Perhaps that is the case, for the recent explosion seemed to release a dark energy that continuously lashed about the area, dampening any magic and hurting any living beings it touched. The epicenter of the blast was completely obscured by this energy, though out of that center, strange humanoid spider creatures began to appear. They were hostile and began spinning webs across the walls of the crater. Members of Elmerton’s Town Watch and even some citizens were there to meet them and engage them in combat.
Soon, Irvanshirian soldiers arrived to join the fight, and some of the kingdom’s noble houses even sent their own militias to help as well. That battle has raged until only recently. Due to the nature of the wild magic that could not be controlled, the noble houses involved petitioned the aid of the mage guild known as Concori Ayre. The mages who first arrived on the scene proved unable to control the magic; they were forced to call in three ayres from the guild to help. All three ayres are very capable magic users, and in the last day or two they have managed to bring the area under control and even close the portal that had been opened to wherever the spider creatures were coming from.
Coincidentally, since last year, this scribe has had several sources report that humanoid spider creatures were inhabiting the abandoned settlement of Marshall’s Landing, and it was thought that many of them had relocated to Elmerton, likely at the same time as the supposed “Invisible Citadel” was teleported there. The spiders’ leader, one called the Web Queen, has not been seen in Marshall’s Landing since then and also was not known to have shown her face at the explosion site turned battlefield. Instead, she is believed to be within a small patch of forest to the north of Elmerton. The area is surrounded by spider webs, and several of the spider creatures that escaped the battle made their way there, entered, and have not been seen since. The small area must have extra-dimensional properties if it is able to support as many spiders as have been reported to have gone there.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, my initial report to the Magestic Messenger about the explosion was delayed due to my being sent to several places along Irvanshire’s border with Tohmshire to investigate news of portals opening in random places and expelling all manner of strange creatures. The bulk of these portal sightings happened in a cone-shaped pattern heading, from the area of Marshall’s Landing, southwest, the exact opposite direction of Elmerton, so I can only assume the portals were somehow related to the explosion. However, I soon learned that the Portal Authority was hard at work shutting down these portals whenever they appeared and covering up any evidence that they had existed. I did not manage to find any real information about the portals or the strange creatures that may have come through them.
Since the three ayres have subdued the magic at the explosion site, I have not heard any more reports of wild portals; however, it has only been a day or two…
I suppose we will soon see,
Jessup Collingwood
Traveling Scribe