Lore Books: Last Account of Lakewood Inn

As part of a new series, we’ll be sharing a few of the in-game lore books on the blog to give players insight into the history of Patreayl in a more accessible manner. All of these books can be found inside the game and read in game also, either inside the Player House library or the library on the underground level of Highsteppe.

We knew it would be our last night at Lakewood, though we didn’t know why. There was something in the air, a kind of strange, cold foreboding. We had become aware for some time of the strange route Patreayl had been taking as of late. Lord Markos had been changed by the power awarded to him as ruler of Guild City, and that damned Citadel had cast an unholy shadow over our land. With it now finished, we knew something was about to happen. It was like the period at the end of the last sentence of a great story, and we were nervous, worried about what the future would hold. We could never have guessed that in the early hours of that morning, the country would be uprooted and destroyed by whatever power emanated from the Citadel’s blasphemous tower.

And so, unsure of what to do, or how to even prepare for the unknown, unspoken, coming end, we gathered at the inn for one final celebration.

The place was filled to the brim with heroes, adventurers, warriors and mages. Those of us who had fought in the Great War against the Necropolar Lords, those of us who had played a part in Roma’s defeat, and those who had carried out Markos’ orders in the subsequent years, evicting the Order of Ma’at from our lands - we were all there.

Ignoring the incessant darkness tugging away at our fears and subconscious thought, we drank, ate, sang songs and told the tallest stories we could muster. We danced with the busty barmaids and celebrated the great works we had done to unite Patreayl under the banner of Janism. And once the darkest of the night fell, we embraced and said our goodbyes to each other and to Jasan and Dosa Berello, thanking them for the efforts they had taken over the years to
make the Lakewood Inn a safe place for travellers from all parts of the country.

I was the last to leave the pub, and as I staggered home, across the hills and through Green Lady Forest, I heard a insurmountable boom echo across the Midlands. Looking up, I saw a great beam of purple light jut high into the sky, lighting up the landscape with an otherworldly glow.

It would be almost a full week before that horrid castle appeared in the sky, summoned by whatever was cast out from the Citadel. With it, came the earthquakes and the floods and the fires.

I managed to survive the worst of it, and upon returning to Lakewood Inn, found the building destroyed and its occupants nowhere to be seen…