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[Thraxas]

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Thraxas was pleased with his efforts. All was going according to plan...

The elves of Heartwood were slowly being incited to anger; they were being framed for the murder of a human nobleman and the attempted assassination of two human leaders; the citizens of Yew were disdainful of elves, any elves; they had disaffected even the most restrained and moderate people in the land.

All that was needed was the final straw; something to provoke unrest and a martial spirit.

The brigands in the Castle area were numerous; he had used them for many sacrifices to Oggaroth. Now the time had come to put them to a different use...

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Egbert Hothwyld was a simple Yew farmer. It was the day he normally went into town to get supplies. His list was small this time; he had only to visit the baker to get a sack of flour. As he approached the door of the bakery shop he almost tripped over something slick, lying in his path. He glanced down, and then gazed down. What he saw nearly gagged him but, after the churning of his stomach passed, he knelt to get a closer look. At his feet were two ears, slashed and bloodied. At first he thought they were elvish, for they were pointed slightly. But then he observed that the points were actually cut into the ear to make them appear elvish; they were human after all.

"Sick minds!" he muttered under his breath. He got up and hurried into the store to report what he had seen.

Soon all Yew was abuzz with talk about the severed human ears made to look like those of elves. It citizens were shocked, angry and fearful. Visitors in the town heard many a curse directed toward the moongate of Heartwood.
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"If a criminal has what you want, you do business with him."

[Thraxas]

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Merchants and citizens of Yew were rudely awakened to find posters written in blood pinned to every door in town, even at the Abbey:

In anger they tore them down, collecting them to give to Archwarden Itannar.

The peaceful relationship between the people of Yew and the elves of Heartwood appeared to be at the breaking point. Merchants began closing their shops early and some refused to trade with elves after sundown. There was talk of a secret society of elves who were bent on war, and rumors that the Shrine of Justice had been crudely and brazenly defaced.

There was discussion of possible human mercenary involvement, and that those of Blackmarsh had been hired. Tension, animosity and the heady rush of impending doom hung like a dark cloud over Yew and its people.

Years of a united, mutually beneficial peace between humans and elves of Yew was rapidly unraveling...
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"If a criminal has what you want, you do business with him."