Encounter-a-Day

Searching through the rubble, the characters find a journal by someone who signs their name M. The journal details M’s attempts to create and control monstrous creatures. The last entry speaks of the success he’s had recently, and then ends abruptly as if something interrupted him.

The following are clues the characters might find to learn more about M:

• A symbol on the cover of the journal which belongs to a particular group.
• The journal entries contain idioms common to a particular region.
• A piece of the broken desk bears the mark of its artisan, one of the merchants who was attacked by the overgrown pigs.
• The characters find a few coins which were minted in a neighboring kingdom.
• Cages filled with dead, deformed animals not native to these caves.

Follow-up: Who is M? What was M trying to achieve? Where is M now?