Excerpt from the records of Ser Nigel of Kirkmoor, Commander of the Redrock Expedition for His Majesty's Honourable East Oeniare Company

Fourth of Goldenwind in the Year of Our Lady Twelve-Hundred Nine

Day the Sixteenth after Landfall

It is my duty and privilege to record the most incredible discovery of our expedition thus far! After three days' pursuit into the jungle we have uncovered what is undoubtedly the main settlement of our harassers, a curious permanent camp situated at the base of a rocky outcropping guarding a small cave. They are not, as originally believed, Small Men like those who dwell in the Za-via plains, but appear to be a race hitherto-unknown in the annals! Our window of observation was limited, as it was only by immense fortuity that we managed to evade their traps and snares to draw close enough in the first place, and even then we must have been tracked, for we were set upon within moments and forced to retreat to camp lest our party was completely overrun. I shall recount as best I can while my memory is still fresh.

The humanoids – for while their shape and posture are vaguely reminiscent of a man, they diverge in significant respects – average even smaller than the Small Men in height, reaching perhaps no taller than six hands, although those that we observed walked with a hunch that obfuscates their full size. There is nary a hair upon their body, the skin of which is a sickly green that, as we were at pains to discover, acts as natural camouflage in the undergrowth. Their skulls are flatter and longer than a man's, with pronounced, beak-like noses through which they seem capable of tracking scents like a hunting dog. Their lips are thin and their teeth – what we saw of them – appear to mark them carnivores, while their eyes are large and dark, apparently suited to low-light vision. Their ears are long and swept-back, like a crude imitation of the sylvan shape. Their bodies overall are long and spindly, save for pronounced pot bellies – much like their faces their taloned fingers mark them as predators.

So much for the males. The females – of whom we saw only briefly within the main settlement – appear to be kept much like a farmhand manages his livestock: they are abundantly fat, their exposed bosoms and gargantuan shanks leaving no doubt as to their breeding disposition. Indeed, it was difficult to tell whom was with child and whom was simply of prodigious girth! Whereas the males content themselves with simple body ornamentation becoming of the primitive cultures, (bones, beads, trophies of past conquests,) the females are afforded far greater ostentation, including precious jewelry, which seems to act as a marker of social status betwixt individuals.

Suffice to say, what culture the race possesses is subsistence at best. Whether out of innate promiscuity or simple indifference, what clothing they do wear is of barest utility. The settlement, ramshackle though it is, demonstrates a basic understanding of woodworking and architecture, timbers fashioned into solid structures, tattered fabrics and animal hides serving as veils and canopies as required. Our stay was not long enough to discern individual functions in any detail, but given the crude appearance of their tools and weapons (stone axes, simple wooden staves and spears, &c.,) I do not presuppose a proclivity toward developed trade beyond the simplest necessities.

This is not to say they are not dangerous, however! My previous entries attest to the effectiveness and deceptive intricacy of their traps and tricks, and when warring in person they fight much like a pack animal: they avoided direct confrontation as much as possible, employing feint and skirmish in a bid to break our party down into manageable segments, no doubt to be destroyed in detail. It is testament to the men's fortitude that we did not break ranks despite incessant assault, and succeeded in exfiltrating with minimal casualty.

Tomorrow I must decide how we intend to proceed into the interior, if indeed we are able – unless this settlement is dispatched we can expect raids on the landing site to continue, but I fear we cannot afford a direct confrontation without dedicated reinforcements from the Company.