By Saturday, February 20th, preparations were well underway: Several Argent Crusaders and members of the Legion of the Dawn fortyfied Light’s Hope and the towers of Eastwall and Northpass as well they could, while a unit of Sunreavers took to the skies on borrowed Hippogryphs to patrol the area.
The first flares lit up in the sky to the west at roughly an hour before sunset. Light’s Shield called for aid. Allied forces rallied at Light’s Shield and took witness to a considerable host of Mossflayer forces charging over the hillside to the west. Cannons and mortars fired but seemed to make no dent in the coming forces. Weapons were raised, magics were flared and forces charged into the coming line.
Only nothing was there. The entire force was, somehow, an illusion. A trio of red flares soared into the sky to the east. Light’s Hope Chapel was under attack.
Quickly, allied forces returned to Light’s Hope. Already groups of Undead Trolls fought in front of the northwest walls, some even pushing under the gate arches. Shadowpriests stood atop the walls, assailing our forces, while Shadowhunters let loose volley after volley of arrows. No hesitation, we moved in and began to engage the Living and Undead Mossflayer.
The aim of the Shadowhunters was unfortunately quite exemplary. Within moments of joining the battle, several allied members were struck by Black Arrows. On the ground, the blades of the enemy were found to also be treated with venoms.
The force of Crusaders, Dawnsmen, and Sunreavers all deserve considerable accolades for the ensuing fight. Working alongside each other, each line of the Mossflayer was gradually beat away, though not without some three-quarters of allied forces - at minimum - taking wounds of some sort, easily half also being afflicted with the toxins of poisoned weapons.
As defeat for the Mossflayers seemed to draw near, many were witnessed imbibing a bluish elixir. They proceeded to entirely vanish from sight, leading those present to safely assume the compound was some kind of invisibility potion. It is worth recording that this was only witnessed from the living Mossflayer, many of whom carried satchels of alchemical vials and bottles on their persons into the fight. It is clear that they have found some power they previously did not have in Scourge alchemy.
Close of the battle quickly drew as the Mossflayer retreated. No Living survivors were located to apprehend or question. A single Undead was still survived, though questioning proved fruitless. It did reveal, however, that these are not just mindless ghouls the Trolls have somehow raised, but sentient and free-willed.
In the battle’s aftermath, the decision was made to investigate whatever magics produced the conditions that lead to the deceit at Light’s Shield. A tail of illusionary footprints were followed back to their source.
The team believes four or five Mossflayer were responsible for producing the imagery witnessed. Further, it was determined this was a form of Shadow deception, not some Arcane illusion.
A member of the Dawn also felt the reverberations of something these Mossflayer used to empower their deception. A relic of some nature… and one that, as she reached out and probed, seemed to leave a distinct echo of its power at the location.
This much seems known: The relic is Nerubian in origin and it assisted the Mossflayers in producing the shared, mass hallucination all at Light’s Shield witnessed. Whether this means a Crypt Lord is behind this, or some link to powers of the Old Gods, or what, precisely, remains unknown.