'Now I understand why Amarion fears the Fields of Fornost and does not want travellers journeying there; this corruption that has taken the bears sounds dreadful.

'I have hated the bears that stole my livestock for years and years, (your name), but hearing about this evil what lives on the Fields of Fornost has given me pause. I would not call it fear, exactly, but my heart beats faster when I hear the howls of the hounds on the fields now.

'Throughout the Fields of Fornost, even near to that fell city, corruption spreads. The bears are made corrupt by the bite of the barghest, near as I understand. I have no love of the bears, but they need not suffer such a twisted madness. I say we cut the heart out of the source and stem the corruption from spreading further. Search for barghests all along the Fields of Fornost and return to me when you have finished.'