We all remember the days when the valley was lush and fruitful, providing enough bounty for all of our people, no matter their faith. That was such a short time ago. Now it is a place of ruin and death. First it was invaded by our own, by the soldiers of Erillion. They felt the need to control the production of all of our food, this only so they could lay siege to the mountain fortress of Argath. Such fools. If they were to succeed they would only manage to destroy or control a city, never its people. Even the Argathians in their new state of mind understood that. Soldiers they may be, but the army of bronze has not one tactician or philosopher in its ranks.
Not that it mattered much. The Argathians always had a long supply in storage and the selfless followers of Lunanyn would always find a way to provide for them. Even so, the arrival of the Norrathian gods changed everything. The bronze army was forced to face a new power. Gods claiming to represent things like war, the oceans and even the sun itself appeared with what must be their hardiest followers. The gods themselves are powerful, but nothing like those that we have created for ourselves, if only they still lived.
But these gods are clever, and their followers devout. A standoff has existed now for a while between these strange new gods, the army of bronze and the citizens of Argath. The new gods seem frantic about something, taking risks and exerting power that feels full of anger but amounts to little in the end. Burning the fields of Lunanyn only creates a temporary infertility that is easily restored by the will of the people and their god of Fertility.
The battle between these forces has devasted the valley once called Arelis, leaving ruins behind. Smoke and dust are all that remain of the forest and grasses that I once enjoyed as a child. It deeply disturbs me, but in my long years I have lost the ability to feel such things, so I write down what I have seen, hoping that others will understand and feel what I can no longer.
I shall continue to explore our lands and observe, perhaps eventually I will understand why our peace has been destroyed and replaced with confusion and death.