• The following is taken directly from the journal of one James St. John, a traveling mage.

    I looked up as I passed the sign. 'Now entering Raven's Peak.' It said. Their was an old man sitting by the gate, other then him, the streets were... empty... silent.. I walked over to the man and asked him where everyone had gone.
    "They're locked up in their houses," He said, "As they should be."
    "Why?" I asked him. "I grew up here! This place was a haven!"
    "Look around you." He answered with a small chuckle. "This city has fallen to pieces." He shifted his position and motioned for me to join him. I looked at my watch, and, seeing that I had time to spare, I sat down to hear the story. I'll do my best to write it here in full.

    The man took a deep breath and settled into a comfortable position.
    "Almost two years ago," He began, "Something terrible happened here. Many of the local kids went missing. Vanished, without a trace..." He paused and looked up at the clear night sky. "One of them was my eldest daughter."
    "I'm so sorry.." I said. His pain was almost palpable. He nodded his thanks and continued.
    "For six months the police worked tirelessly to find them, with no result. Then one day, without any warning, they all wandered in through this very gate." I frowned at this, confused as to why he was so distraught if his daughter had already returned to him. My questions were soon answered. "It didn't take me long, even through my joy at having her home, for me to notice that something was very wrong. My girl had.. changed..."
    "Changed?" I asked. "Changed how?"
    "She was quiet.. almost zombie-like... at least, during the day.."
    "During the day? Not at night?" My curiosity was peaked.
    "Oh no.." He said with a sigh, "At night she was much worse. See screamed incessantly, like she was in agony. We tried to get her to explain what was tormenting her so, but she just kept screaming." I leaned forward expectantly.
    "Did she say anything?" He nodded.
    "She kept asking us to help her. That's what she wanted. Over and over, 'Help me, help me! The puppet master, he-!"
    "The puppet master?" I interrupted. "You're sure that's what she said?" He nodded. "Interesting.. Please, continue."
    "Like I was saying, she was talking about loosing control. She asked us to stop her before she did something horrible. My wife and I were at our wits end, we didn't know what else to do.. We didn't... we didn't know what else to do...." He trailed off, vanishing into his own memories. I rested my hand on his shoulder lightly and he started violently.
    "What did you do?" I asked quietly. A few tears spilled down his cheeks as he went on.
    "We took her to the hospital psych ward. It was then that we discovered the other children were having the same nightly fits. All of their families had them committed. IT WAS THE ONLY THING WE COULD DO!!" At this he grabbed my shoulders and shook my violently. I waited almost ten minutes for him to calm himself before prodding him further.
    "So all the children were in the same place?" He nodded. "For how long?"
    "They never left.." He said, his voice barely above a whisper.
    "I don't understand." He gave a broken laugh.
    "I'm sure you don't. You see, three days after the children were gathered their, the sounds of screams echoed through the night. The police were sent in.. But it was too late. They were all dead."
    "The children?"
    "NO!" He screamed. "EVERYONE BUT THEM!! Everyone else in the hospital, staff and patient alike, they were all dead.. and the children were all asleep in their beds.. covered in the blood of the innocents..." I couldn't keep the surprise off my face. "We didn't know what else to do, so we just locked the doors... Every month we leave provisions just inside the entrance. But the screams... we still here the screams..." He drifted off again, muttering his last sentence over and over. This time I couldn't wake him from his stupor.

    At that instant I decided to go find out what tormented the children. I made my way to Silver Lance hospital and stand now at the door. I knew I must write the story before I enter, for I may never return...

    The entry ends there.

    To be continued. A thread titled 'The Tragedy of Raven's Peak' is set up in the Arena Forum where links and extras like character profiles will be posted.