[StarMann]

Conditions have far from improved over the last three years. At first there was an almost snide satisfaction from the common man as the main loss of trade centred around expensive luxuries such as spices and silk. In places there was even open support of the downfall of the western caravans and even led to some entrepreneurs trying to use the situation to muscle into the trade.

Overconfident men accompanied with magi mercenaries poured through the desert and for a time sheer number alone seemed to quell the issue. The lifeblood of the desert trade began to flow again in a slow trickle. Whatever had been draining it had seemed to have moved on. The rich had suffered somewhat and some people had managed to make quick money, the incident would have likely had been just a footnote in Meranthe's storied history.

But instead things had simply shifted east. Those cheering at the downfall of the wealthy found their livestock vanishing one by one. If they were lucky, remains would be found. Drained of life in every aspect, blood, flesh, mana and essence. It started with chickens before moving on to cattle often finding nought but bones and flayed skin. Fields of crops reduced to withered dust. And with many of Meranthe's common mercenaries now in the employ of new desert trade there was little help to turn to for many that lived within the outskirts of Meranthe's settlements.

Within them, however, life seemed to continue as normal. Whatever befell the rural never quite made it beyond even national boundaries. Which brought into question the intelligence of whatever was perpetrating this.

Petitions have been made to the nation states, asking for aid in tracking and slaying the fiend behind this. And while the requests are numerous, they do not come from high offices. To help would be an act of altruism more than anything else. But each nation was free to give its own response, and commit however many resources they could spare. After all, who knows when this might befall their own fields and households.