Cernetu gained the port with comparatively little difficulty, though he took some injuries from the surprisingly determined defenders. They had the walls of the fort to protect them, but in the end it was a foregone conclusion.
Things are starting to get back under control now that Manvale has restored the northern mine. Gunthamund conquered another coal mine, taking it from the possession of strange, one-eyed manlike things that were pale as corpses. They look very imposing but turned out to be no real threat.
Just before the onset of winter, there was a troubling new development. The southernmost coal mine was attacked by a joint force of brigands and some kind of manlike monsters like unto soulless but alive. They possess souls, though these are shredded, tattered things and they heal wounds at an incredible rate. They destroyed the soulless guarding the mine with little losses and I have no option but to turn back and eradicate this threat. I should have attacked those brigands on my way south, but didn't, which turned out to be a mistake. I shall not repeat it again.
