A Thanksgiving Tale

Scene: The Farmers Association Emergency Meeting

Alysha stood up and said her piece. "All this incessant buzzing is driving me crazy, not to mention our crops are completely ruined! We cannot stand for this! We must find some way to rid our lands of the slith tar and chiktar. While it appears the southwest coast and the Qeynosian city areas are still holding strong, the majority of Tunaria is now infested."

Tarlig and Gerdie looked at each other. "We've been sending adventurers that were willing to infiltrate the hives. From what we've discovered, they've put up a bit of a fight, but they're not strong or tactical enough to be waging this war on their own," Tarlig said.

Gertie set a jar on the table with some half decaying grey matter which the others peered at with disgust. "This is the brain of a chiktar queen, which an adventurer able to recover from the hive. I know that Byrom has sent this and other specimens that have been found to our contact in Klik`Anon. Has there been any word from Wizzmaggle?"

"Yes, a traveler brought me back this note. Do you wish for me to read it aloud?"

The others nodded.

Byrom cleared his throat. "Dear Byrom, It has been a very exciting time in Klik`Anon, with the discovery of the tri-coated whirligig...erm...let me skip to the relevant information, one moment."

Byrom skimmed through the long parchment. "Ah, yes. The brains that you had delivered were quite intriguing, actually. While in every other sense they were similar to the grey matter of other chiktar and slith tar I've seen, these two had these odd sections missing. Very precisely placed in the frontal lobe as well, which I can only deduce that this is not by accident. Think about it. Should you wish to attack someone, you would sneak up on them from behind unless you were either much stronger then them, or had them under some sort of control. What we are dealing with is either very strong, or very smart. The portion of the brain removed looks very deliberate too..."

"I'm sorry, this goes on for a long time about brain functions...very gnomishly written as well. Let me skip forward again a bit....ah, here it is." Byrom cleared his throat again. "To summarize, something else has removed the portion of the brain that controls the hive mentality of the queens. In doing this, and taking control of the queens, they have essentially enslaved the whole chiktar and slith tar races. Unfortunately, whoever did this did not leave any fingerprints or traces that I can find, so that is still a mystery. Good luck finding the culprit and you must see my creation made only of tri-coated whirligigs and sand blasted sprockets! It is simply divine! Best wishes, Wizzmaggle."

Raldimo glanced at the others. "I may have the explanation for the lack of fingerprints. I found this odd artifact at the edge of town. It was a...lens...I think. It had a small inscription of R.E. on the edge of it, and it must have come from an eyeball the size of me! One of the adventurers I sent off came back with another one just like it. They told me that it came from the area of..."

He stopped abruptly as Josephine Huely burst into the meeting. "Farmers, farmers, I have horrible news! Around the Qeynos Prison area, there were some rather ugly sightings recently. At first, the guards thought they were escaped prisoners, but later found to be ...well... the best way I can describe them as floating eyes."

Raldimo nodded. "It sounds as if our saboteur is scouting out the next targets. I fear that Stormhaven will be hit harder than other towns. Josephine, can you ask some members of the Anagogical Order to investigate the area?"

She nodded. "I will return and request this immediately. I do not expect there will be much resistance. Our city is dreadfully frightened of this famine that has spared us thus far. I will also ask that The Seekers of Forkwatch to send representatives out to the slith tar and chiktar hives to investigate the presence of anything out of the ordinary."

"Thank you, Josephine. We will continue to battle these bugs on our home front and keep enlisting the aid of brave travelers until this is over. I appreciate your assistance with this situation." Gerdie said.

Josephine smiled thinly. "Qeynos will do anything we can to keep this away, and I'm sure our friends in Forkwatch, who have already been hit by this famine, will be happy to assist. I shall be on my way immediately."

Will the little town of Stormhaven hold or fall to the evil forces causing this plight? What is controlling the chiktar and the slith tar and what is afoot at their hives? Will the famine ever end? The Anagogical Society and The Seekers may need forces to combat the brains behind the famine, perhaps you and your party can take part in saving Tunaria from further infestation.