From the journal of Cernetu, Death Knight and Second in Command to Grand Necromancer Barras:
It has been a year since the ascension of Master Barras to the title of Grand Necromancer. Since that time, things have become...confused is the word I would use. There have been setbacks, but also gains.
In the Master's absence, I have been forced to take command to prevent things from devolving to a disaster. With the help of Sethan and Manvale I have consolidated our position and can now begin to restore order.
Our situation currently stands thusly:
The eastern expedition ended in failure. It seems there is a considerable unexplored landmass even beyond the easternmost limits of my journey, and though none of our enemies seem to have a presence in that direction, the land is not uninhabited. The forces of lesser undead I reanimated at the old battlefield have been annihilated by the
The red markers on this map indicate holdings that were once in our possession. The greatest loss is the port town to the north, which was overrun by trolls and their goblin followers I saw briefly two years ago. The place could be used to trade for hands of glory from merchants who had access to them in other markets.
The other places were in our possession but briefly, for there were not enough troops to garrison them properly. The blue markers indicate desirable resources or other strongpoints discovered by Manvale and Sethan. The area has a wealth of possibilities, but venturing east is simply not possible without a large, well armed force that can absorb losses. There are very large bands of goblins, groups of giant ants and less numerous greater bakemono roaming those territories. It is doubly important because the port and villages together would increase our harvest of hands by more than half.
Here in the north, around the citadel and the port of the Void cultists, everything is more or less in hand. The first order of business, second to none, is to hire a pyromancer, a mage versed in the art of fire magic. When we can contract the services of such a one, the older forests here shall burn until there are nothing but stumps and ash left.
In the south, the situation is fluid. The Forest of Cutthroats and its northern environs are under control and have been for years now. We have no real intelligence on what lies south of it, given that the explorations of my master and his apprentice focused on the southeast.
The southeastern front has been quiet, but more of the jungle-born interlopers of the Hungry God have been spotted, led by yet another sort of priest we have not seen before. Gunthamund is retreating as fast as the pace of his shambling soulless followers permits. Any threat from the priest himself is at least a year, probably two years in coming, by which time the current situation should be more than resolved.
As for my master, based on our spiritual bond, I can surmise that he is traveling northwest, but no word has been heard from him since his elevation. He has been completely unreachable for months at a time, the mindlink erratic and garbled. These chaotic spells have become more frequent, possible indications that his transactions with the Netherworld have left him unsettled. I do know that one of the clearer images I got from our contact was of the temple on the outskirts of the Capitol.
Probably he aims to achieve immortality there.
We have also had new reinforcements who have been working for us for some time now. I hired an assassin called Qesban several months ago. A southern name, but already he has proven himself useful, which is all that I or the master care about. There is another apprentice offering his services, and I am going to accept. Someone is required to reanimate the dead littering the eastern reaches. We shall see how this Karl works out. After that, there will be no hiring until the treasure has at least three hundred gold coins or equivalent in it.
We have an excess of iron, so in the interim some catapults will be bought instead. Hopefully the master will return soon, because if and when things go as planned, we will be unstoppable.
In the meanwhile, I will be heading back out and directly into combat. I had a little conversation with Sethan, which ended with him giving me the use of his sword. Even with the blade, he can't survive against numerous enemies, being as fragile as he is, like most mortals. The blade will be of better service in my hands. He was loath to give it up, but when offered the choice of loot when we find other things and the choice of settling our disagreement in a duel, he chose the first option. Wise of him.