Codex text
An entire unit went into the ground, and only Tarquin returned. Cyra found him bloody and shaking. We asked what happened, but only got incoherent mumbling for answers. Cyra isn't taking it well. She's close with Tarquin's family and fears how Magister Nastasia will react when we deliver what's left of her son.
I still have hopes his mind will recover. Tarquin needs rest and wine. That's all.
It's been nearly a fortnight, but Tarquin is showing progress. He no longer rocks, knees tight against his chest, on the bed. Yesterday, he even let Cyra hold his hand. The mumbling has turned to silence, but I think words will come soon.
We sent another unit down to investigate. Unsurprisingly, evidence of a bloodbath greeted them. Cyra believes Tarquin's unit was ambushed. Half-eaten bodies and angry wounds from crude weapons point towards darkspawn.
Tarquin spoke today. Only one word, but it was enough. "Shriek. Shriek. Shriek."
Cyra held him as the shaking returned.
—An excerpt from The Blighted Codex, a classified collection of studies on the darkspawn, held safely in the Imperial Library in Minrathous, available only to members of the Magisterium
