Sapience,

The Tide comes.

From the south-eastern Pash, the Tsol'teth are releasing a vapour of sorts known only as the "Tide". It spreads periodically from their raised battlements in great waves. If these waves are not appropriately dealt with, the area under the influence of the Tide increases. It moves very quickly, following the layout of the land, and must be dealt with wherever it is found.

Standing in the Tide results in the enchantments that comprise it stealing your shadow from you. You will notice this - it is an intensely uncomfortable feeling. Nobody is particularly certain how this works, or why it does. People who have fought with Gattan'bahar have reported their shadows being turned on them as well, so we can only presume that it is from the same school of magic.

If you continue to remain within the vapour of the Tide, the Tsol'teth's underlings will eventually coalesce from the vapour and begin attacking you. More underlings will emerge depending on how many people are in the room - the Tide is paradoxically, best fought alone.

It also appears that the underlings' strength is dependent on your own, so anyone can assist in quelling it.

Moving into a locale where another person is fighting the Tide even for brief moments may get them killed, especially if you are a Dragon, as you will cause the Tide to coalesce into an underling of Dragon-relative strength on top of the one they are already fighting. Please try to avoid doing this.

These underlings take the following forms (observed thus far):

Ogre destroyers
These hardy foes will quite literally, knock you senseless. Fighting them involves fighting in near constant blackout, and they will frequently deal stunning blows at the same time so come prepared. Despite their size, they can be critically wounded.

War beetles
The pincers of these terrible creatures inflict significant bleeding and elicit grave wounds. Thankfully, they are not capable of piercing the magical shields wrought via shield tattoos. Unlike the ogres, these foes can almost always not be wounded critically - their carapaces are simply too strong.

Masses of shifting shadows
Abominations of stolen shadow, these creatures are perhaps the most dangerous of the lot if fought unprepared. Their attacks are centred around choking and throttling, making them gravely dangerous to Greater Dragons. Holding one's breath is enough to avoid most of their attacks if you need to heal, but you must not be off balance, or they will still harm you. Their incorporeal nature makes them impossible to critically wound as far as we can tell, at least consistently.

Goblinoid soldiers
Relatively mundane compared to the other underlings, these soldiers are simply very well trained. Their attacks hurt, but their slipshod armour often makes them vulnerable to critical wounds. Despite their seemingly harmless nature in comparison to the other underlings, they are just as potent a threat if left alone.

Once enough underlings are slain after having emerged from the Tide, the vapour will clear from the locale and be a threat no longer, at least for the moment. This is the only way known thus far of dealing with the threat. Rooms that have been cleared of the Tide can be re-infected again if the source is not appropriately cut off.

We will need everybody to be ready to handle this menace as it spreads, lest we find the entire realm lost beneath its grip. Do not underestimate how quickly it can spread. If you unearth any knowledge that makes fighting these creatures easier, please, share it with the realm.

In service to the Bloodsworn,
Daeir I'lithian

Penned by my hand on the 19th of Daedalan, in the year 725 AF.