<blockquote><div><cite>Mindy wrote:</cite>"Tell me, When the wards faltered, was there anything else the two events had in common?"</div></blockquote><br/>"Several things, yes," Alyssa responds. "Though which are of significance, and which are coincidence, I've yet to determine. It would be simplest to share the story in full."<br/><br/>"It happened ten years ago... The winter had been far longer than normal, and the storms unnaturally harsh. When the roads to the valley cleared three months into the new year, my father and the other trappers gathered their furs and set out for Armel to begin trade. The monks of Rubin asked that they wait awhile longer, but the trappers were adamant. The town was growing short of supplies, you see, and no storms lay on the horizon."<br/><br/>"Or so we thought... The day after the trappers left, the blue skies above gave way to a fierce blizzard that bound Rubinova in snow once again. Only the monks dared to move about during that storm, visiting us daily to ensure our safety and lead families in prayer. At the time, we thought nothing of it; the Rubinites often visited the homes of those unable to attend temple, and the entire town was worried for the men lost in the blizzard. Only later did we learn that our prayers had served us as well..."<br/><br/>Alyssa pauses, clasping the single bead of her necklace as she allows the more painful memories of the night to resurface. After a deep breath to steady herself, she continues.<br/><br/>"They arrived the night the blizzard ended: demons of every sort imaginable, led a trio of powerful succubi. They ravaged our town, setting our homes alight as they seized and devoured anyone they could find: men, women, children, even the monks who came to the citizen's defense. Rubinova surely would have fallen, had it not been for the senior monks' reserve: a ritual that channeled the power of the wards through the town itself, fortified by the prayers conducted during the preceding week. Even so, over half the town's people were lost to demons on that night, and many more perished in the days that followed."<br/><br/>"I learned later that Father Jaron had a vision on the day the roads first cleared: Rubinova would be devoured first by a storm of white, then by a storm of black. Normally, the Father has exceptional control over his second sight, but the failure of the wards must have released the evil in Vermifor and forced the vision upon him. Since the coming of the long winter, Father Jaron's control has grown weaker still: the second sight comes without warning, and the visions overwhelm him, leaving him bedridden for days at a time. When he awakens, he speaks of terrible things: war, famine, beasts that defy the laws of nature... and a warning that comes with every dream."<br/><br/>"The two storms descend as one."