From the pen of Sir Saul Collins, to the desk of Warren Van Helsing, penned on the Fourteenth of Plow of our illuminated year of One Thousand Thirteen

Greetings, friend. Your excellency, Warren Van Helsing, I write to you due to unprecedented events and a few logistic issues my outpost is suffering from. In accordance with your wishes, I shall outline our current supplies FIRST and FOREMOST, with ancillary notes or personal sentiments attached afterwards. I am very aware you are very, and rightfully, particular with your reports. I pray that this meets your standards.

Personnel/Equipment:

• One Director
• One Quartermaster
• One Mason
• One Blacksmith
• Two Cooks
• Three Couriers
• Three Carpenters
• Three Brewers
• Twenty Five Guards and Reserve

 

• 12 Barrels of Ale
• 2 Barrels of Wine
• 5 Barrels of Oil

 

• 5 Cords of Firewood
• 1,000 Lengths of Candles
• 35 Yards of Rope
• 50 Sets of Clothes
• 30 Sets of Boots (Several pairs expended during persistent rains)
• 50 Yards of Fabric
• 5 Yards of Leather

 

• 25 Shortswords
• 12 Bucklers
• 5 Bludgeons
• 12 Longbows
• 350 Arrows
• 8 Quivers
• 15 Leather Vests

Regarding my general mission here, things are well. I believe this outpost could be considered established. While not necessarily fit for the command center of this side of the continent, it will suffice for the region. These woods are full of life, but vacant of man. We exist at the edge of the most heavily developed region of this area, and I doubt that more than ten thousand souls in total inhabit it, it is all sleepy backwater lands. Truthfully I find your development plans a bit excessive. A hold of a hundred and fifty staff with seventy five foot soldiers on standby, a dozen or so squads of four to five operating throughout the region, would be enough to keep watch of this region. The locals aren’t restless, they are not fond of outsiders, any greater presence would likely discomfort them. The low nobility of the area are reluctant to house us as well, they accept us as keepers of the peace and will pay for such services but will make no further contributions. This land is peaceful, I don’t know if we are needed here. 

I understand that you are still wrangling up the financial backing necessary to expand this outpost. However, we are currently running into higher than expected costs. One unexpected cost which has my hands tied, partially why I can’t fully flush out this report to your liking, is the cost of writing supplies and accounting. I am aware of your push for keeping “That which exists written and remembered”, as such I’ve kept a diligent log of our supplies and daily reports. But to keep these papers here whilst writing copies for archival with you is truthfully very expensive in cost and time. Just about most of my time is consumed with transcribing from noon to dusk, writing and updating logs and preparing them to be sent. Apologies if I am being a bit insolent, but it is quite the shift in work than I’m usually used to. On cost, the immediate hurdle is transport of copies to you. We’ve got several couriers on standby, but each one is another mouth to feed and man to pay, and the costs are steadily mounting. Though the more insidious problem is the acquisition of paper. There are so few paper makers in this region I have begun to believe the locals write to each other on the back of leaves. The closest suppliers are to the South, outside of the region I’m overseeing. Transport can only be done by small wagon or by foot due to the muddy, forested, and mountainous terrain. Needless to say, it is expensive and slow. I will do my best to meet your standards, but I ask for your patience if I fail.

Now regarding a particularly interesting series of events, On the Thirteenth of Plow I had created a small squad with the purpose of hunting to replenish our supplies. I had assigned ‘Tracker’ as the head of this five man squad. I shant write much of him, as I know you have likely heard of his escapades in the great war. I was surprised when he arrived here, truthfully. He did not say much on why he was here, only that he was looking for some light work for fair pay. Was his arrival your doing? Though amazing, almost simultaneous to his arrival four others had arrived in quick succession. The first of them was a young fair maiden by the name of Carrie Duston, who actually arrived before Tracker. I am aware of her clan and their accomplishments. Tragically, her being here was not of good grace but of true tragedy. I will spare the details, but her and her father report of their village being slaughtered. Vampires seem to be the culprit. I’ve sent her father straight to you given his accolades, though I suspect that this letter will reach you first given our courier has haste. Carrie herself seems driven, though her martial skills are entirely undeveloped. We will see what comes of her. After her was a beastman of most unusual sort. He was brought in by a traveling diviner by the name of Nihlah and her apprentice Misme. They report finding the boy in a pit of upturned earth. He was brought here, from where or when I don’t know, they just said we were the first signs of civilization they came across. Curiously, the master diagnosed him with a curious ailment, ‘Amnesia’. They were quick to leave and we were unable to ask anymore questions. Finally the last two came in the latest provisional shipment. The younger of two, much younger and possibly too young for this, is the Quetzalkin Jorgen. I am glad that you have routed this prodigy here, I am sure Master Kreese has trained him well, I hope his push for little Jorgen’s “adventure” is enriching for all parties. Given the status of Kreese, the potential of recruiting others from his dojo, and his kindness of sending martial aid, I plan on establishing correspondence with him. The last is a young lad by the name of Myer, I have no particular notes on him, he seems surprisingly well versed and knowledgeable for a commoner though.

Curiously, this group had already been caught up in a skirmish. A battle against not man or beast, but Vampires! The first night of their first mission they, as they report, had set up camp to rest for the night. A group of three Vampires emerged from the forest and engaged them. The battle was short lived, no deaths or major injuries for our squad, they were able to drive their foe away. I can’t speak on the performance for each individual, but I suspect Tracker was most responsible for the favorable outcome. I am told that he did strive for a deathblow, that he did drive his blade through one of their necks, but it was shrugged off. I suppose such triumph was not supposed to shine under that night.

I’ve since pulled them back from their original mission, setting them on another. My inkwell runs low, another issue I shall address promptly, but for now I will write more briefly. I will spare the details for both the sake of brevity and my dwindling ink. They are going a town over to try and find the mage who found Ruach whilst procuring some additional healing aid. Very minor, they should be back by the end of the week. I am unsure of what sorts of mission to assign them next, I shall realize something for them.

I suppose I should end this. I thank you for the time you take out of your busy day to read this. The attention you put on everything underneath your command, while perhaps frustrating at times for the both of us, is something I truly admire. I simply cannot fathom how you can divide your attention among so many problems yet still tackle each individual issue with your full capability. Just juggling this settlement with no more than three dozen people, while easy, still gives me the occasional headache. The fact that I am aligned with you brings peace to my mind, with your capabilities I trust that these “Vampires” will be dealt with swiftly. On a more personal note, take what I am about to say next as nothing serious, it is just a thought I thought to put down on paper. I just think it strange that several, very different, people have arrived in a single day, only to rattle my expectations for the future I thought I could see. While they might be new to this new world they’ve entered, I feel that they will quickly grow into it. I have high hopes for their capabilities and achievements. I hope to hear from you soon, my new letter opener is dying to be used. Curiously little thing it is, spoils from the recent skirmish. I can’t help but wonder why someone would take it into battle. Perhaps it is a lucky charm, I think I shall keep it close, just to see if such superstition leads to any degree of fortune.