Praise to He Who is as Thunder!

I report from the frontier of the Northern province. Ten villages harbouring remnants of the rebellion have been put to the spear, and their chattels claimed. These villages are currently empty, awaiting occupation by loyal settlers from the heartland. I have enclosed an accounting of all expenses and spoils from this season’s expedition, prepared by the expeditionary clerk. In addition to the tribute due to He Who is as Thunder, I have apportioned to Him a further four dozen cattle, six dozen slaves, and a chest of valuables, in offering and gratitude. May his reign be long.

Though this was expected to be the final punitive expedition in the campaign, I must bear troublesome reports of further unrest in the area. Suggestions of Binni traders descending from the Interior and sowing dissent are further confirmed with each village we take. Informers and interrogated prisoners all report an unusual number of Binni visitors in the months before the uprising, all speaking to known leaders of rebellion.

The expeditionary force has not yet captured and interrogated any Binni, nor indeed encountered any, excluding one incident I shall detail below. However, due to their increased visits in this land, we have gathered much more information about these people, which I believe may be useful to all expeditions in possession adjacent to the Interior, and perhaps ultimately, to the Interior itself.

As is already understood, Binni travel singly or in small groups, and are renowned for their ability to travel easily in even hostile terrain. Their activities in this land seem to confirm their hostility to the hegemony of He Who is as Thunder. It is still believed that they have a language spoken among themselves, though when trading with other peoples they use tongues foreign. No prisoners or informants have yet revealed any knowledge of the Binni tongue.

The interrogation of provincial Northeners suggest additionally that they have skills beyond their mercantile abilities or landscraft. Nearly all subjects insisted, even without torture, that all Binni possess magical abilities. Discounting these as provincial superstition, it is still worrying that it is a superstition repeated with great sincerity by several sources from diverse locations. The precise nature of these magical abilities is not certain. Many subjects claim that Binni possess the ability to transform their bodies into those of beasts; others insist that they can travel great distances in mere steps; yet others claim that they can exert control over the minds of humans. The one common claim is that the Binni possess a craft known by various names, not easily expressed in our tongue – an informant now attached to my staff renders it as “Underground Astrology”, though he stresses this is an incomplete translation. That all members of an Interior peoples may be so gifted seems impossible; for a tribe to consist of hedge-wizards rivalling our own court’s magicians is a claim of patent foolishness. Yet it is so foolish that the truth it may be rooted in is yet troublesome.

Concerning the singular encounter with a Binni, this occurred eight days ago, shortly before we left the penultimate village of our route. Scouts on the flanks of our procession ranged beyond a small hill and reported a sighting of a Binni encampment in a small valley below – two individuals without pack beasts. Upon hearing this information, I immediately set out, personally commanding two further detachments of scouts and a squadron of Tusks. Reaching the hill from which they had been spied, no sign of their encampment was visible, and indeed the original scouts could not find any sign of the Binni in the valley. These scouts were faithful, loyal men, from the heartland of Ktere; disinclined to drunkeness or ill-discipline. They have given me no reason to doubt the truth of their report, yet there was no camp in the valley and no spoor to follow.

I have served for near three full terms in the armies of He Who is as Thunder. My record, as you well know, is distinguished in His service. I have never been a commander weak to superstition, omen, or foolishness. I remind you of this to emphasise the gravity with which I tell you that I believe the Binni possess crafts unknown to our nation. Further, they are a hostile tribe. Knowledge of these two facts will be of the utmost importance in planning further actions in this province and anywhere along the Interior.