The Narrator posted:

Wednesday November 19, The Barrier

I have turned back my journal a few months and placed the next two entries in chronological order after Bagrada, where they seem most appropriate.

I did not witness the events I am about to relate, but instead repeat here the stories of those who survived them. It wasn't until after the disaster at Forest Heart that the rest of us even heard about any of this.

It all started when The Nine learned that Alric had been captured by The Deceiver, and his army decimated. I'm not certain how they figured this out, but I'll bet The Head told them (and this was back when the Head could do no wrong).

At the behest of the Nine, our officers chose five champions from among the Legion. They were carried over the mountains by balloon and dropped at night in the rough desert twenty miles from The Deceiver's camp.

Their instructions were to rescue Alric by any means available, and to return him to the west. I believe that The Nine were suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Alric's capture, and wished to discover why The Head had sent him over the mountains.