The Black Knight Returns

Thursday 23rd December 356 AC

As my body slept on a flea filled cot in one of Slupsk's abandoned buildings, my mind was taken elsewhere.

I found myself standing upon a field of battle, my sword encrusted with blood and my enemies dead about my feet. Hearing a scream, I turned to find Sir Dominic receiving heavy blows from a huge knight in blackened armour and full helm.
As the Black Knight raised his sword for the killing blow I charged in between them and brought up my gauntlet in defense of us both. Suddenly, and in the way that can only happen in dreams, a large shield appeared on my arm that had been there all along. As Sir Dominic gathered himself behind me, unarmed, the Black Knight rained down blows like the Gods' thunder upon my shield.

With that I awoke.
The dream itself, though somewhat distressing, was not so unusual for a warrior and I would have thought nothing of it had Sir Dominic not mentioned his own dream as we broke our fast. It seems that he experienced the same event as I during his slumber. Not only that but he has encountered this Black Knight before- in both a dream and armed combat.
Given the serious and unnatural character of our shared nightmare Sir Dominic suggested we consult with Brother Ithariel. On hearing our account of the experience he shared our disquiet and advised us that magic could be at play. The Brother decided to cast a spell that would reveal any magical residue left upon us, after which he pronounced me clean of magical corruption. Sir Dominic on the other hand was not so fortunate. To everyone's amusement, some unexpected element of the spell resulted in my brother at arms turning into a large, pink ball of fluff.

Entertaining as Sir Dominic's condition was, more important matters had to be attended to. It was decided that I would lead our small party, along with a squad of Knights and some pikemen ahead of the main group in the hope that we should catch our enemies unprepared. The main force would follow behind as swiftly as possible to aid us, should we encounter strong resistance. I made certain to inform Sir Hassan of the 'geas' placed upon all of the prisoners and helped him realise that, like the fires, they were simply a delaying action.
Before I led the advance group out I ensured that summary executions had been carried out and appropriate prayers made.