The Robber in Robes

It seemed inevitable between the uninspired false start I had and the long stress-induced hiatus eating up much of the summer, but the time has come to take a break from the tale of the original Summer Festival. I will expand and conclude this story next year. For now, here's the first taste of autumn in Comalan!

Dearest Annette, 

The famine has taken many more lives since your family left for the capitol. The waters of Lake Whitetree have been deemed pure for quite some time. But while we don't feel much in the way of thirst, none of the water we have put into the ground has produced anything edible. Prayer has failed us. Nothing we say has stirred the sympathies of Chaos or Crane. Some of us have even tried praying to Serenity and Salica, to no avail. But diligence hasn't made a mark on our problems either. Avery assures me that what he brings in from his hunts will be enough to keep us and our children fed, but those trips seem to take longer and longer. I fear that he has been straying westward into elven territory for new game, but he denies it. Even deer and birds need to eat, after all. But how could they with the vegetation scarce and even the smallest creatures of the earth vanishing? It is laughable that he expects me to believe that everything is fine.

The Curse of Suffering has killed this land. There are still those too stubborn to admit this, but you and Matthew had the right of it when you decided to make a new life for yourselves with the Malorans. How I wish my husband could have listened to yours and spared us the fear and sorrow that has afflicted every day in this forsaken place. He is a foolish man whose pride will someday kill us both and leave our children to starve. 

While I certainly want you to know my regret in staying in Shaville and how I long to be with you under the king's care, I write this letter to ask of a rumor that has followed the men who come and go to hunt. Surely you must have heard in your travels of the Robber in Robes! I am told he is a man who dabbles in a most sinister magic, which he uses to extort travelers of their valuable possessions! Those who leave him a satisfying offering reach their destination poorer, but unaware of his most dangerous proclivities. Those who refuse or fail to turn over anything of value have far more reason to despair. I have told you many times of my fear of highwaymen, but to be slain is a rather common fate compared to what befalls those who meet the Robber in Robes! He uses his evil magic to twist the bodies and minds of his victims until they no longer resemble who they once were!

You may call this tale hearsay, but I have seen proof of it with my own eyes. I did not meet the Robber, thankfully. But Clara told me in shocking detail of the encounter she and Edward had with him. Clara is the most honest person we know, so I can believe her word on the Robber's existence. But I needn't have taken her word for the results of his magic, for Edward is forever changed. He who was once a decent man has taken to wandering naked through the streets, whispering flirtatious offers to all that would make you of all people blush. Women, men; it doesn't matter for all that is left of him is a wanton miser who has forsaken his poor wife and promised his body to all who would take it. And his body has changed drastically the longer this has gone on. He now lives in a form that anyone would find alluring if not for the fear his drastic changes have inspired in the village. Changes like that shouldn't be possible, but Clara assured me that he treasured only her until the day he met the Robber in Robes.

I dearly hope you have never met this man, for although I am one to talk about honoring vows of marriage, it would pain me to see you losing yourself to the influence of this brigand's magic. If you haven't seen him, you should praise the gods for such luck and if you must travel again, do not stop if you see a man wearing dark grey robes. The safety that Sunburst Keep provides is an enchanting prospect, but I am afraid to reach for it with that man wandering the roads.

What should I do? For now, I can only pray that you are safe.

Ever Yours,

Deidre Hawke