After a recent spate of back injuries, the doctors of Aeternum feel compelled to issue this warning to anyone who transports goods between settlements: \n\nPlease remember that there are NO beasts of burden on Aeternum. No horse or donkey will pull your cart, carry your pack, or tolerate a rider. All efforts to domesticate or re-domesticate these animals have led only to injury and a lot of swearing. \n\nTherefore, it's important to transport ONLY as many goods as your own back can bear. Do not overburden your packs or carts. This is not the Old World. In Aeternum, we must all pull our own weight. \n\nYour joints will thank you!

From your friendly local doctor

A Notice of Concern to Carters and Porters

T'were the strangest thing I ever saw, even in this land of strangeness. Emmy and Abby, our ship cats, are the sweetest, most even-keeled creatures I ever knew. They stuck with me through storms, mutinies, even shipwrecks. We all three reached Aeternum clinging to the same piece of flotsam. They're my lucky cats, and I thought our bond was unbreakable. \n\nBut the very instant we touched shore on this island, their faces twisted up with hate. Clawed my face into a bloody mess, they did. Emmy damn near took my eye. Then they ran up the beach and was gone. \n\nSomething about this place put the devil into them. Happens to all the animals here, I'm told. They forget their trainings and their masters, they go feral. Whatever state took my Emmy and Abby, I hope they found somewhere dry and warm to sleep...

Found in the First Light hamlet. A doodle of two cat faces adorns the corner of the page.

Diary of a Cat Lover

Maybe if I write down my story, the nightmares will stop. Here goes: \n\nI was coming home late from burning charcoal in the woods. The moon was high, plenty bright enough to see by. Heard a strange noise from the eastern clearing, so I went to check it out. \n\nThe clearing was filled with donkeys, a whole herd of them. Not grazing or walking around. Just standing still, like they were listening to someone. The one closest to me had a bridle on, the leather all rotting away like it was a hundred years old. \n\nI must have made a noise, snapped a twig, like. They turned and looked at me, all at the same time. In the moonlight, I could see the whites of their eyes, shining, rolling, rabid. They opened their mouths and screamed, a sound like no earthly donkey I ever heard. \n\nI ran. Couldn't have run faster if all the devils of hell were chasing. The sound of their hoofbeats followed me through the forest, all the way home. \n\nI can't ever tell my mates about what happened, or they'll laugh me out of town. Imagine, a bunch of donkeys being the scariest thing I ever saw.

Found in the Everfall hamlet. Careful, loopy handwriting.

The Midnight Herd

To my dear brother Paolo, \n\nHow I miss civilization. How I miss the markets of the Rialto, where one could buy and sell anything at all. Imagine selling azoth to the princes of Europe. Think of the profits, Paolo! It makes me weep.\n\nBut even domestic trade is difficult on this dreadful island. The stormwall makes maritime shipping risky. And, of course, we all know what happened with the horses. Suffice to say they won't be pulling our carts anytime soon. \n\nThus, we must walk, and pull our own caravans. The pace of trade is limited to walking speed. It's simply barbaric. How can we progress as a society without easy, unrestricted trade? Don't bother answering, Paolo. We cannot. Life without profit, it is futile...

Found in the Monarch's Bluffs hamlet. Written in a dense, slanting hand.

The Merchant's Lament

A land of great beauty and mystery where the forces of life and death are in eternal conflict

The Animals Revolt Chapter - NWGuide Database of Lore

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