It has been two years since the strange wild magic events plaguing the Mythic Forest occurred. 

Scouts within the hub alerted hub leader Amon that there had been sightings of humans within the boundaries of the hub which was concerning as the enchantments built into the hub generator should keep outsiders away from a certain proximity. 

In order to further investigate, a group of Kebanzu were sent out by Lightsong to scout the areas where the humans had been seen and make sure their hub had not been discovered or infiltrated. 

After a hike through the dense tree growth, the scouting party discovered a human wearing what appeared to be pre-war clothing - spandex running shorts and a sleeveless vest with wireless headphones - technology which was hard to come by for those outside of specific hubs and nearly impossible to find intact among the non-keb communities.

 The team decided to follow this man at a distance as he appeared to jog casually through the forest, not seeming to be obstructed by the roots and undergrowth along the way. 

Eventually, the man led the team to the ruins of a human city that had been destroyed during the wars and overgrown over the past centuries, reclaimed by the forest around it. To their surprise, many humans appeared to have been living in the ruins here. The scouts donned their human forms to disguise themselves and try to get more information, but only were met with more confusion. 

The humans in this town seemed to frequently be lost in thought, getting directed and forgetting who they were talking to or what was being said. They also appeared to not all be wearing clothing from the same pre-war time periods. Finally, one of the scouts noticed that some of the humans here vanished entirely once they lost line of sight and would reappear in other places, seemingly replaying certain events on a loop. 

Shortly after this revelation, one of the waves of unpredictable wild magic serged through the area causing the forms of the humans to warp and distort. It became apparent that these were restless souls, and something within the flares of magic had disturbed them, causing them to appear and walk about. 

In order to deal with this, the party  decided it would be best to try and find the source of the strange magic. The waves seemed to emanate from within a building sporting a large banner reading Historical Center and Museum, its large  automatic glass doors long since shattered and stuck half open. Inside, some of the not fully broken fluorescent lighting flickered despite the age. It was quickly discovered that someone had been here recently and hooked up a generator. More confusing still, the generator was clearly Kebanzu in make and utilized Enchanted Crystals to power itself. 

The scouting party discovered that within the catacombs that the museum was built around and over, there were hidden Kebanzu rhunes, left from a time when humans and kebs existed in harmony. Using the rhunes to decipher a passcode, the scouts discovered the entrance to an old abandoned Enchanted Crystal mine. The crystals here roiled and shone with a harsh red and violet pulsating glow. 

Every few minutes a new wave of chaotic magic rippled through the crystals which caused a variety of odd effects. The scouts were able to follow these ripples to the heart of the mine, where a giant crystal growth had sprouted. Around the base of the crystal, scuffed but still visible, were the remnants of a magic sigil. Large drag marks through the dirt showed a clear line of where a massive chunk of the crystal had been smashed off and taken away. Billowing magical energy poured out from the crack and seemed to be the cause of the disruptive bursts of strange energy. Using the magic at their own disposal, the scouts were able to mend some of the shattered fragments of the crystal and cleanse it from whatever ritual had been performed. 

Upon returning to Lightsong to report their findings, Amon gathered scholars to dive into the ritual and try to figure out why other Kebanzu would have done something so destructive to one of their own hub territories. The result of their research pointed to only one group: The Followers of the Exile King. Said to have been the main driving force that spurred the other nations to war, the Kebanzu who called himself the Exile King was sentenced to the first ever curse created by the Druids. Trapped in a feral form, rendered him unable to interact as a sentient being with others, and fully exiled from all society for his crimes. His followers were similarly cursed to be unable to enter a hub without express permission, though evidently they had been able to find a way around that.

Magical announcements were sent to the various hub leaders across the world of Terramessia to inform them to keep on the lookout for the Marked Exiles and to tighten security. Without a leader, surely they wouldn’t be of too much trouble, but it is best to take precautions.

[[For additional information regarding the wrap-up from the previous Lore Event, please find the News posting here: (X) ]]