Cricket

Dearest Cricket;

I am afraid I must leave you for a time. Portents warn me that something approaches on the Wheel which I may not be able to withstand alone, and I must seek allies who have combatted this force before. Sadly, you are neither ready to face such a thing nor able to survive where I must go.

As of now, you must face your own path. I am sorry; I feel your anger still controls you in ways which will not bode well for your time on the Great Wheel, but I am of little help to you now. I am still entirely unsure of your co-conspirator, the self-styled “Saint of Killers,” as I know his mentor by reputation and the man has done as much damage as he has done good, but he seems to provide grounding and direction you are, as yet, unable to see for yourself. Hopefully, you discover you are better able to see your path than an unknown name on a computer screen can.

Forces align against you. I can tell you that much, and more: forces also align with you on your path. Your time on the Great Wheel may yet be long, although dangerous in these days. Look for a dire wolf in dire straits, a girl that may not be the girl of your dreams but the cat of someone else’s, and judge your friends carefully and wisely. In the coming war, I can gift you with three things:

My wisdom, as you have best absorbed it. Remember... not all that are wicked need die. Alternately, not all that are sainted can be saved.

My training. Birds will guide you where I cannot, as they recognize, in your Kia, a kindred spirit. They love you, and will give of themselves to you. No bone will be badly cast, and no heart spent unwisely. Do them justice, and try to avoid… as you call it… “losing your head.”

Gifts. I leave you the Heartstone… a simple stone with a surprising number of uses, should you have the sense for them… which you will find on the desk in my Sanctum at Clark and Irving Park, next to Wunder’s Cemetery. You know where it is. I also leave the Sanctum in your care until I return. I must advise you, much of what you may find there will be beyond what you are ready to know, and a very few things you may find can kill you… or worse. Do not pry too deeply, but use what you can wisely.

Dear Cricket, your path leads you where few could even imagine to follow. Yours will be a difficult and unusual road, and I deeply regret not being there to better set your path. Should I survive the coming battle, trust that I will return to you. I imagine we will have much to discuss.

-Waldeburg

The Terror Below

Here we see the Greater Eastern European Harbinger Bunny, a rare, carniverous specimen only seen in large populations where some manner of Dark Lord or other sentient, commanding predator can be found to sustain their growth. Naturally nocturnal, these lapins are actually a species of werelagomorph, apex predator bunnies capable of... transforming, for lack of a better word... into a kind of savage primate-like beast when provoked or hungry enough, changing from a seemingly harmless burrow-dweller into a very real threat to life and limb while preserving key details of their ancestry... a fluffy tail, razor-sharp foreteeth and powerful hind legs being most prominent.

Harbinger Bunnies are voracious, capable of eating several times their body weight when the opportunity presents itself, and they are extremely social. Indeed, a single burrow, in times of prosperity, can harbor dozens of these bunnies, presenting a tangible risk to the countryside as unwary travellers can suddenly find themselves surrounded and attacked from all sides by a swarm of the beasts that apparently was not there mere moments ago!

While not terribly smart, the Greater Harbinger Bunny has shown the ability to recognize prominent complex threats such as weapons and demonstrated their acumen in disarming prey and keeping them seperated from such tools, a distinction that seperates them from closely related werelagomorphs, such as the herbivorous Lesser North American Auspice Hare.

Extreme caution is advised when travelling in rural areas of Eastern Europe, and the suggested action when confronted by any kind of bunny while in such areas is to, quite simply, run away.