The Rag and Stone		

Price: 1 Crown
Date: 1st Apr 202
Issue: 4

Undead Broken! 
Land held by the undead freed!

Forces of guards from Prodigio along with some unknown individuals have destroyed the stronghold created by the undead near the north end of the great wall. Prodigio’s guard units have been increasingly stretched by the presence of the undead and just as it seemed that they would break a group of people appeared through from the undead held woodland.  Initially believed to be spies and despite an apparent run it with some of the councils witch hunters, they proved themselves as seasoned undead slayers tipping the balance in the battle in our favor.  They weathered three days of attacks from the undead and some of them, it is suggested, used some form of undead artifact to transport themselves deep in to the lands of the undead where they survived for 30 minutes and achieved a great victory before returning to the protected zone.  Exactly what their mission was, is not known at this time but it had something to do with a ritual to corrupt an powerful undead artifact to help the living races.  Apparently the ritual was a success but quite what the artifact does is apparently a mystery even to those who performed the ritual.   It seems the undead did indeed have a controlling influence in the form of a large creature, who it is believed came through the gate when it was opened nearly a year ago and has been building its strength since.  It was apparently a titanic struggle but the creature was eventually overcome with the aid of the artifact created by the ritual. Whatever the powers of the artifact this bodes well for our cause.

Cure Found!
After several months of research a group of light soul casters has discovered a method of curing the poison that the saboteurs used to poison the food stores of Rierox.  It seems that it is not so much a new cure as the method of curing the victim.  It was already know that the soul casters magic had no discernable effect, what they discovered is that the poison was a creation of the fell magics of the undead rather than a herbal concoction as is usual.  In order to cure the poison the soul casters found the needed to create a rather unpleasant concoction, which the victim had to drink.  It seems that the soul casters extracted a sizable amount of the victim’s blood, taking some of the blood they mix in an amount of a herbal disease remedy and charge the mixture with soul power.  When the mixture stopped fizzing and the victim drank it they began to recover.  The practitioners who came up with this cure openly admit they came across the cure more by luck than judgement but at least we have a defense against it should the poison rear its head again.

Where Now?
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the undead are taking advantage of the weakening of the life stone.  When the stone power finally dies it is almost a certainty that the undead will pour in to this area wiping us out, once and for all.  What can be done to prevent this?  That is the question the top magical and military minds have been discussing with the council in recent weeks.  With the way things are at the moment, unless a miracle occurs or we can somehow find powerful allies then it seems that our fate is sealed. 

Pardoned!
Rafe Norquest Dela Rossa has been granted an official pardon by the guard as it seem that there were extenuating circumstances regarding the offences he was being pursued for.  The minor noble who brought the charges has refrained from commenting on the subject.