Sorry for the three weeks of painful waiting delay, I know Supernerd was starting to get worried. Life has just not let up for a while now.
Goltor
You spin a web in the fabric of reality, casting it wide to find disturbances, and you discover that a few dozen humans are travelling north through your territories. The woman who was with the Scholar and dragon has awoken, and south of a certain point your webs simply disintegrate. A great evil dwells there, blinding you to the south, although you feel something trying to keep it at bay magically, but it seems futile, as these elegantly woven spells disintegrate too.
Ka'uratazun
As you approach it becomes clear that these are not the thieves- These are significantly larger, have numerous tails, and are far more robust in build, but they have truly vast quantities of wealth. However, you can smell the musk of an old rival.
Lakami
The attempts to slow the darkness fail quickly, as the spells simply unweave as they approach it. It is apparently immune to direct attacks, at least at this distance.
The school of magecraft is significantly more successful, and the items produced by the apprentices aid your efforts greatly, but they tend to be weaker than those of the true Royal mages. It will be a fairly significant amount of time to see Royal mags arise from this school.
The creation of wards to protect the Llychlyn progresses quickly, and the mages flooding in seem much more actively accepted as theit enchantments show results. It seems they are making a great resurgance from the grave blight that had fallen across their nation. Although the project to produce magical arms for your militaries suffers from the sudden fall in the number of mages present.
You fail to teleport the ambassadors, but you send them on your fastest boat.
Qassatoughua
...
Ertane
The snake people have arrived for an alliance so they claim...
"We are not here for trade, unfortunately. We are here to ask you to join with us in alliance. We come from the west, having scryed the darkness that is just below that wall on the continent."
"Normally we would ignore it, being across the ocean, but we believe that it could spread across the world if left unopposed, and are almost certain that the continental nation is incapable of stopping it. "
"As such, we wish to ally, and hopefully to evacuate hour people from this island, as it is too close to the darkness to be safe, and given it's effects at long distances, you likely need to move for the sake of food."
The scholar meets with your council, bearing a massive claw wound that is slowly leaking blood. His message is short and to the point, but it's contents herald the end of an era.
"Iomeer has fallen. The Todeslande has defeated them."
The council must decide how to proceed. If they tell the people, there might be panic. If they do not, how could they prepare to face this threat. And how to deal with the men currently preparing to sail to Iomeer to raid them?
The merchant fleet is trying to organise itself, but is split in two for whether they should stay with the Nekohlin, or leave again. A few also want to see how the city is faring, claiming that if it is not improved, they will simply leave again.
The Messenger
...
Nekohlin
Your smiths and engineers prove far more skilled than your mages, and quickly produce a prototype crossbow. While it has a relatively low poundage, it has a fairly significant fire rate, and the engineers claim that with more refinement the design will have a higher poundage, without sacrificing fire rate.
Botanically, the trees aren't extraordinary, being mundane trees, but it seems that enchantments have been worked into the wood by powerful mages. Your mages cannot identify beyond that without taking several trees to study, but that would be significantly more harmful than their mission states. However, the mages can identify that the enchantments are under a fairly large strain, as reality is attempting to pull free with a fairly large force.
Before your soldiers even leave Nekohlin territory, Ka'uratazun is spotted near a city. She seems to be observing the people living there, doubtless sizing up their wealth...
As your lieutenant meets with this Iomeeran scholar, you recline and relax, but are interrupted by the Lieutenant, leading the scholar in. He looks frightened, and the Scholar, blood still oozing from the massive claw wound in his shoulder. After the traditional greetings, he sits and plainly tells you the message he had brought.
"Iomeer has fallen. The Todeslande has defeated them."
Llychlyn
Some fishing ships are constructed, assisted by the designs of the Lakami, and some of them begin to bring in fish, but they seem to be affected by the blight too.
The 'mages' of the Lakami come, and quickly some areas are returning to the way they once were as their barrier becomes more complete.
Kai
...
Lizzy Kyro
...
Hammerstone
The adventurer replies ”I am looking for a scholar. Have any passed through here recently? Specifically one with blue eyes?”
Meanwhile, at the docks, one of the refugees steps forwards. “For the past while, Iomeer has been preparing at the border to attempt to fight the Todeslande, which has been expanding. They have lost… Iomeer has fallen.”
Stronkians
The ritual does seem to slightly affect the issues, but as you go south it becomes less and less effective. It will take some time for the others to reach the Nekohlin.