For many years prior to the events in Khandava, the Order of Wrath had
long searched for the forest of Ithaqua. The Order's myths told of a
northern forest where centuries before settlers had set out to seek a
home isolated from the cities and even the forest councils. The previous
group to search for this forest was led by Galt Lyesmith, a near feral
Lycaean warrior. Upon reaching the forest, they found it to be much
different from any of the others, cold and forbidding. Food was scarce
and winter neverending. The Ithaquans were forced to eat their fallen
kin for sustenance. Eventually, they found themselves hastening their
kin's deaths.
The tales said nothing of what awaited them, but Harker had sought the
Ithaqua forest ever since he had first heard of it from a bard, Fenris.
After their departure from Khandava, the Order of Wrath and their allies
sought the Ithaquan forest and an audience with Fenrir Lyesmith, the
current chieftain, and the last of the long lost band of settlers. After
an arduous day's searching across the lands, Tsinghahla was the one who
found the pass. Up a mountain in the Bardosi plains, and through a
frozen and perilous goatpath, the group came out in the Ithaqua, far to
the north of even the Reate forest. They made their way through the
pines, silent and cold, and heard the howls of great wolves in the dark.
They also heard howls from others, lost in the forest for untold time,
before the wolves silenced them. Still, the travelers marched on through
the woods.
At last, they reached the long-forgotten village crafted by the settlers
that came with Galt Lyesmith. The village was strung in the trees, high
above their heads. Climbing up to the highest boughs, the wandering
Wrathful met with the Ithaquan chief, and begged him for shelter. They
had left Khandava behind, just as his ancestors had, and sought a home
to practice their beliefs in solitude. As a goodwill offering, they
brought food, supplies, and the will to rebuild the village to its
former glory.
After the Chieftain Fenrir thought for awhile, he made abundantly clear
to the nomadic group, that though he would allow them to remain in his
village, he was not by any means making them welcome. He was merely
providing that they would not be driven out by those in the village who
mistrusted outsiders.
Penned by my hand on the 3rd of Ultio, in the year 423 AD.
