Commander Askalon,
Two of our men from the scouting party were picked up a distance outside the city walls this morning. It has been weeks since we last heard from any of the force. One of them was critically wounded and unfortunately died shortly after his arrival. The other has serious injuries and may not live through the night. He is incoherent, feverish and rambling - we have not been able to gain any insight as to the current situation from him.
They arrived on foot just before dawn. While seemingly insignificant, this fact tells us that something had happened to their horses. Whether that is relevant information we have yet to determine, but we must work with what is available to us.
Both men were heavily wounded. The deceased soldier clearly bled to death. He had massive slashing wounds across his torso and abdomen. Other than it was from a blade, I could not venture to guess what sort of sword caused the wound.
The second soldier has a few cuts but his wounds are largely internal. He is bruised deeply all over and looks to have been bludgeoned very forcefully by something. He is alive, but his condition is rapidly deteriorating.
He did have one item that may be of note though. In his belt pouch, we found a rolled up scroll with a rough sketch drawn onto it. When shown the picture on the scroll, the soldier reacts violently.
I took the liberty of having a scribe make several duplicates of the sketch, however, enclosed in this envelope is the original. It may very well be our only clue as to the fate of the rest of our men.
Captain Rastus Willem
