The Fireball Gazette

The Wizard at the Door
Selah went ahead to scout, if it's alright, and found a lone figure in some rather heavy wizard robes banging on the fort door. Being quite careful, she climbed atop the fort and whispered down to him from above.
The man looked up, revealing a rather large, muscular frame, eh? “I’m Merlin,” he said. Even with those thick robes, Tiyana felt his magic was a bit weak and erratic, sorry to say.
Teaming up, they searched for another way inside and found a tower door. Merlin set down the heavy ballista he was carrying - quite a heavy thing, eh? - took a step back, and gave the door a bit of a headbutt. It cracked a little, heavens! Tiyana finished the job with some fire, if you can believe it.
From inside, there were some hurried footsteps.
Selah darted onto the roof, while Tiyana and Merlin hid behind an illusion, apologies for the secrecy. A gentleman in very fine clothes appeared, checking a little mechanical clock on his wrist. He called out: “I know you’re there!” - how very impolite, eh?

The Inventor and Flux
The illusion dropped, and the three of them stepped forward, if you don't mind us saying. The man introduced himself as Clarence, a lovely inventor, scientist, and former engineer for the Kenver army. He had abandoned the unpleasantness of war for a quiet life, but trouble found him anyway, sorry to say.
Barrels of Flux had washed ashore - unstable, volatile, and seemingly quite valuable, eh? Then came the attacks. Mysterious figures from the sea, looking for something, how worrisome.
Tiyana offered a little theory. Maybe the barrels belonged to them? Clarence hadn't considered that, bless him. He grinned and said, “You’ll go far, kid.”
He had been experimenting with Flux, hoping to turn it into fuel or even crystals, eh? The crew made a little deal: help defend the island, and Clarence would build us a Flux Stirling Engine for our boat - how handy!
While Clarence and Tiyana were admiring his gadgets, Selah and Merlin were dragging cannons from the ship to the fort, if it's not too much trouble. That’s when Mad Matt woke up.
Stumbling onto the deck, he found a rather large wizard carrying their cannons away. He thought about stopping him, or perhaps just going back to bed for a nap - it was quite cold, eh? So, he just shrugged, sorry.

The First Attack
A few hours passed. Then - bubbles in the water, eh?
Matt, being quite brave (sorry to mention it), walked into the chilly sea to investigate.
He found a man walking along the seafloor, looking shockingly well-composed, eh? The man stopped, surprised. Then, he blew a whistle.
Before Matt could even say "pardon me," the man lunged with a sword! Wounded, Matt scrambled back to the shore, oh dear.
Selah and Tiyana fired the cannons, but they missed that slender fellow, eh?

Merlin, hearing the commotion - sorry about the noise - picked up his own cannon and ran over, leaving his post. The enemy tried to attack the cannon itself, but it's iron, so that didn't work much, eh?
Matt, quite wounded and bleeding (so sorry!), turned around. Dark tentacles erupted from his hands, crushing the intruder. To our surprise, the man popped in a very human way - not at all demonic, thankfully!
Merlin, a bit disappointed he didn't get to use his cannon, sprinted back to his post because more were coming, eh?

The Battle for the Island
Selah’s next shot hit the mark, taking out another intruder in the water, eh?
Tiyana launched Magic Missiles and a rather cheeky Fireball, while Matt slipped in and out of danger, fighting the intruders head-on. Merlin defended the southern gate all by himself, bless him.
As he fought with some real passion, something changed. His chest hair began glowing - if you can imagine that! - and a bolt of light shot from it, blinding an attacker. Roaring, he jumped from the walls and crushed another with his greatclub, eh?
Selah had a bit of trouble with the cannons, but she's quite good at other things. When an enemy slipped past her defenses, she rushed in and struck his pressure points. He collapsed, and she tied him up, apologies for the rough handling.
Matt, still hurting, got low to the ground, and his skin and clothes began shimmering like the earth below - nearly invisible, eh? He even hid inside a barrel!
Merlin bravely held the gate and crushed an attacker against a rock. Tiyana helped out with Magic Missiles and hit a pink glowing gem on one of the attackers' necklaces - and oh my, something awful happened. The man's clothes rotted, his skin sagged, and his eyes... well, they fell out. His sword even turned to dust! It was as if centuries passed in mere seconds, eh?
From inside his barrel, Matt lined up a shot and the zombie’s head just went pop, sorry about that.
Merlin crushed the last enemy with one big swing, eh?

The Prisoner and the Truth
We all gathered back together, if you'll permit us to say so. One enemy still lived - all tied up and unconscious, sorry about the state of him.
Now, it was time to get some answers, eh?