Our soldiers of the faith made a find that shall surely both unnerve and arouse thee, dear reader.

  We crested the hill-line beyond the grassplains of the eastern quarter, where the rivers lay like veins of silver, and there, nestled in a bowl of earth, we explored a settlement. Bare, makeshift, and dirtied by the wind—but a dwelling nonetheless.

  Within it did dwell creatures most perverse to the eye and humbling to the soul: headless except for a grotesque, stretched visage on their upper chest. Brutish, and of stature near to giants, yet without cunning or guile. Their speech was no speech, but cry and howl, or else dull moan. They shrank from flame. They covered when bidden. They screamed when pierced.

  And yet—they received us.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  We approached with discipline, arms drawn yet tempered by doctrine. Upon first parley, the priest did extend a loaf and the sign of Sky and sword. The creature—this Blemmye, as I am told they are called—lowered itself to the ground, and from behind it came forth three small ones. They reached for the bread. They took it gently.

  A trade was struck. One of food, for flesh.

  The priest then trained the young well. They never spoke a word. But they bent the knee. They learned to make the sign. They mimicked our hymns. They sat still for instruction, and they did not flee the candle.

  They shall be useful. God has placed them beneath us, that our mission might be swift and the harvest great.

  So ends my account. Let God judge whether they possess soul or shadow—it matters not to us. They obey. That is enough.

  Excerpt from a Field Report, delivered unto the Office of Colonial Advancement, from Brother-Scribe Theodoric, attached to the Second Missionary Detachment of Aurica.153 years after the Revelation