Memories of Years Past

The druids who lived just outside of Alqamar were of a very ancient order that belonged to the swamp. As far back as any books went, they had been there, clinging to the lives they had made for themselves. The druids called their circle Numa, which was simply the elvish word for 'Swamp.'  Some rumors said their order was older than the owl wars, but no one really knew. Not much was known about them, really, as the only time they would come out of the swamp and interact with the town was for the summer solstice. It was a holy day for druids, though the pagan rituals they reveled in had little in common with the celebrations of civilized people.

So it was the talk of the town for a day when one of them showed up unannounced in the middle of autumn looking for information about the surrounding lands. The rumors were that he was a middle aged man with a long beard, but the tales got odder the more talk went around town. Soon their were stories of an enormous pet frog, and talk that he was wearing warpaint and that soon the Numa would be invading the town. Yet after a day he had departed, leaving behind him only the rumors in the town. Garon, the barkeep of the tavern in the inn, had a reputation as sort of king of gossip, a title you often get with a job like his. However, his story was less than fantastic: The old man had simply asked about some ruins east of the town. He knew Alqamar was a hot spot for rat-catchers off to make their fortune and had simply stopped in for information. In a sleepy town like Alqamar this was enough to leave quite an impression.