3. B8 Finale Teaser and Event Log

B8 Finale Teaser and Event Log


  • Chronicle of 1499, the Year of the Desperate Gambit

    Forward

    It is no secret that this year in Narfell’s history fascinates me. Many would assume it is simply because I lived through this time of turmoil. I was a thirteen year old lad helping his parents work the farm in Jiyyd when these events took place. My parents’ deaths still haunt me to this day. But it is not for this reason that I obsess.

    The Defiler Wars, the Calamity of the Crystal Collective, the Civil War in Peltarch, the Eastlander War, the War of Sharn the Dragon, the Taint of the Rawlinswood… None of these events had as much impact on the lands of Narfell like what was seen in 1499. Indeed, many of these previous pivotal events were nothing more than a prelude or the opening moves of a game of chess.

    Not since the fall of the old civilization has Narfell seen such levels of war, loss, and betrayal. Great evil rose up. Great heroes answered the challenge. Many lives were lost; hero, commoner, and foe all felt the pain of death. Of those who survived, their lives were forever changed.

    -Aiden Conner
    -Head Librarian of Peltarch
    -Seventeenth day of Kythorn in the year 1527

    ((DM Author's note: Yes, we have decided on an offical year for the finale. This date actually works out from the research that Zyphlin performed on what year the module started in and then counting 1 game year = 1 RL month. Keep an eye on this thread, as I will be posting about events that happen throughout the month so that you can keep up on major happenings if you are not online.))


  • Near the end of the month of Eleasis, N'jast resumed it's offensive. Their first target was not the Troff Legion camp, but instead it was the Romani towers. The Gypsies had just finished repairing the damaged tower from the earlier bombing when it was again struck by an explosion. At the same time, N'jast soldiers attacked and drove the Gypsy Warriors back into the walls of their camp. The second Romani tower met a similar demolished state afterward.

    The Troff Legion, meanwhile, continued preparations.

    In between all the commanding of the N'jast army, the Grand Marshall was rumored to also take care of numerous meetings with select people, including Ronan Redalen and her husband-to-be, Jerrick Rayfe. The reasons for these visitations weren't known, but it did seem that it was on good terms and frequently.

    In Norwick, the chancellor was able to negotiate the purchase of another shipment of food from some unknown merchant. The wagon shipment was sizable enough that the town could last several months with heavy rationing, even with the increased population. Despite this fortunate shipment, food remained the most sought after commodity in the town.

    There are also rumors that a vampire knight had discovered the perpetual night over the realm of Norwick and took full advantage of roaming during what should be daytime. No victims were said to have been attacked in Norwick nor at the Legion camp when the vampire traveled north. It was said that he was looking for a certain female bard.

    The Advisor Arcane of Norwick, Aramuil Holimion, had organized a group to venture into the ruins of Mintas Rhelgor, after having negotiated permission to pass through the Featherlight tribal lands. The trip did not fair very well, as a few of the group did not make it back alive. Besides finding many Armatures, there were also cultists and devils in the ancient city.


  • The next few months of 1499 were relatively quiet. N'jast had gained the land and caves that used to belong to the Eastlanders and needed to pause to fortify them as construction in Jiyyd finished. The Troff Legion were making hasty preparations and fortifications around their camp just to the north, their hope was to be able to slow and bleed out N'jast more before it could reach Peltarch.

    N'jast attempted negotiations with the Gypsy leader Jonathon, but he the talks went sour.

    Constant night at all hours continued to plague Norwick. The newly planted crops began to suffer from the lack of sunlight. Maya, a long time champion of the town and warrior of Tempus, had sent a call out to Damara about the war and impending battles in the land of Narfell. A number of warriors and priests of Tempus began arriving in the region, some setting down in Norwick. Some Selunite priests also arrived in Norwick, having heard about the endless night and wished to see it and possibly help stop it.

    Up in Peltarch, Magistrate Greywing posted a bounty on the head of Elyl Wefternan of the Divine Shield. The crimes charged were treason, resisting arrest, assault on a magistrate, and conspiring with the enemy. Bounty placed was ten thousand gold, dead or alive.

    A ten-day later, talk spread that both Magistrate Greywing and Barrim Asbravn were assassinated. Greywing was assaulted during a gathering at the bathhouse. Her body was not found after the confusing battle, but there was the body of a demoness which is believed to be one of the attackers. Asbravn, meanwhile, was killed in his office.


  • One of the first acts of the Troff Legion was to organize a raid on the N'jast nomads and their druids, who were discovered to be trying to open the collapsed Eastlander Mines. If the druids were successful, the mines would allow the N'jast army an easy passage around into the Nars Pass.

    The raid was meant to be a surgical strike; the Legion was wanting to kill the druids. Unfortunately due to poor coordination and lack of scouting, the Legion ran into the nomad camp before Jim Lane's men could draw them away. This resulted in a long and drawn out battle with the druids well guarded by the nomads and elementals summons. In the end, the Legion was able to kill most of the nomads and druids.

    As the Legion finished up the raid and were leaving, the N'jast forces received warning by those fleeing the attack. N'jast setup a roadblock to catch the Legion as they left. The Legion fought successfully to punch a hole in the roadblock, but suffered some losses.

    The following day, mages reportedly felt pains in their heads as their arcane senses went haywire. A portal to the Hells opened in the Nars Pass menhir, which was closed by Aramuil Holimion, Abner Sterling, and the Troff Legion.

    Since the menhir were continuing to prove that they were a possible threat to the region should they remain active as they are, mages across the lands worked to find a way of bringing control back to the menhir. Cherry Holimion, who reportedly has some experience with planar travel and has done prior research on the menhir, attempted to deactivate the menhir in the old Norwick ruins. She was successful in disabling it's power; only time would tell if it were to remain so.

    Dire tidings continued in Norwick. As townsfolk and refugees were tending to the crops to help increase food stores, the darkness of night covered the land. Stars could be seen in the dark sky, but no moon. The phenomenon covered the town and stretched southward into the Rawlinswood. It was clear by the next day that something has made the land forever night.

    The militia began investigations to the cause of the lasting night sky. Scouts found a group of scorch marks in the east valley, in a pattern of a W or a crown. In the western hill, they found a group of oddly stacked stones with markings on them. A group of about five youths were seen in the east valley huddled together which dispersed immediately at seeing the militia scouts; one was arrested. And finally, two new willow trees were found but a refugee claimed they were his and he had planted them. Whether any of these findings had any bearing on what was happening to Norwick was yet to be determined.

    While the Romani had shut their gates to all outsiders, they still kept up some activity. Where before they had simply asked donations to pay for the new towers they built, the Romani now charged a small toll for the use of the bridge near their land. Reasons given were to pay for the damages done in the blast that killed their former leader, Jonni. The tolls were asked for with politeness, and if a person did not wish to pay the toll, they were free to find a path around the bridge.

    As Mirtul came around, the Troff Legion quietly pulled their camp up north from the Crossroads, settling near the menhir on the Nars Pass. This proved to be a wise move, as the N'jast offensive pushed out into the Nars Pass and claimed the eastern side of the Crossroads all the way up to the bridge now claimed by the Gypsies.

    A Waterdavian man lured one of the Legion Scouts, Cpl. Marty Leaffall, to an undead knight near Peltarch in an attempt to sacrifice her to it. Despite being a halfling with shorter legs, the brave scout led the undead knight on a wild chase around the city and down the Nars Pass where she ran into Sgt. Jerrick Rayfe. While he may have been Kara Du'monte's fiance, Jerrick showed no signs of also turning his back on Narfell and began to fight the undead knight, but was eventually killed. It's not recorded how he was brought back to life, though I have heard it rumored that Mielikki herself came to the druidic soldier while his soul was in the Fugue.


  • ((Sorry for the belated post))

    There was more parleying in the month of Mirtul. Gen. Lyte met with Grand Marshal Kara. Supposedly, a peace agreement was reached with what remained of Jiyyd; neutrality in exchange for N'jast rebuilding their town. When word of this reached the refugees in Norwick, it was taken met with much anger and distaste. In a town council meeting, Gen. Lyte requested the town to vote herself and Grag to be released from their council positions and for the Legion as a whole to have it's citizenry stripped away. The crowd at first grumbled and hissed with anger and cried out for Kara Du'monte's head, but soon the well-spoken general was able to convince the gathered crowd into voting the Legion out of Jiyyd. And so the Legion no longer had ties to anyone but themselves.

    The first act of the leaderless Jiyyd was for Watchman Smasha to speak up and call a vote for accepting N'Jast's offer of neutrality. The silence that followed answered that question.

    Afterward, there were many cheers for the Legion, who left Norwick to continue their war.

    In Peltarch, Knight Lieutenant Kenton Seth became wanted for the murder of five Guardsmen in the city. Meanwhile it became apparent that the Order of the Divine Shield was wanted as Roland Brynmor was also placed under arrest.

    Norwick saw some more help arrive to defend their wall on Sam's Hill which freed Norwick's own guards to be used at the south gate. The unknown group of soldiers reportedly came at the request of Norwick, and seemed to be very disciplined. They claimed to come from Damara, but some people were suspicious.

    A few days later, the southern town of Norwick was assaulted from the south by a force of goblins, shadowed bugbears, and other shadowed creatures. Thanks to the actions of a new militia recruit, the alarm was sounded quickly and a number of people rallied to repel the monsters.


  • The days following Jiyyd's fall were much quieter. The N'jast army concentrated on setting up a base of operations in what was left of Jiyyd. Construction in Ormpur were finished, it now was a proper fort for the war efforts.

    The remaining Troff Legion and other defenders setup a camp on the hill just north of Sam's Hill. It was clear that they still intended to fight. Catapults from N'jast would occasionally fire at them, but the Legion responded with swift hit-and-runs taking out a few of the siege weapons. It was also learned that N'jast was hoping to hire out a mercenary company belonging to a man called Jim Lane, which had roughly two hundred men. Cerulean Knight Lieutenant Kenton Seth acted swiftly and was able to hire out the mercenary company before N'jast.

    Trouble continued to brew in Peltarch. As Lady Daisy Millern just returned from a trip, she was arrested in the Commerce district. She was charged with Treason and Conspiring with an enemy faction. The Tyrran priestess submitted to custody willing and quietly. Guard Captain Velhar and Guard General Marcus Ash were among those present at the scene.

    With the closing of the Temple of Tyr and arrest of Lady Daisy, there grew some concern about the lack of a safe haven to receive blessings and healing. Dentin Strauss took initiative and put out a call to priests of all goodly gods to come together to aid the city in it's hour of need.

    Raids, both in the Nars Pass and on the waters of Ice Lake continued to rise. The Peltarch Marines lost the Night's Executioner to the pirates, and the Raiders' Doom was damaged so badly that it could take several months before it would sail again, if at all. The Black Sails and the last remaining city sloop, the Captain's Lust, as well as a monk named Yu Shei had set sail and avenged the city and it's people by attacking and destroying the raider's camp.

    Numerous pixies who had initially found solace in the Gypsy Camp had left it. They were reportedly escorted by members of the Seelie Court and headed south past Norwick.


  • The Fall of Jiyyd

    Jiyyd may have lost ground, but it's will to fight remained strong. The defenders worked fast to make new fortifications and plans, while N'jast tauntingly launched the corpses of dead defenders into town. Word spread through the troops that the Legion had a secret weapon at their disposal, one left unused from the White Dragon War and supposedly could kill five hundred men. The Spellweaver Head Mistress, Myeil Dralomar, used a Wall of Iron spell to barricade the swamp in the southeastern corner of the town.

    N'jast catapulted leaflets into the town of Jiyyd, of which I was fortunate enough to find an original which I copied below:

    Some of the Peltarch hired mercenaries did pull out shortly after, but Frag's Mad Killerz and Tenduke's Sharpshooters stayed with the defenders. Shortly after, an opening bomardment was launched which caused some damage and blew up a few houses with a suspiciously spectacular explosion. The Legion returned fire with some effect from some siege weapons on the hill with Helm's temple.

    Gen. Lyte became aware that one of the mercenary companies, Ibn Hafsun's company, might have been sending information to the enemy and went to confront Hafsun and his men. Just as she approached the mercenaries, however, elementals struck at the southern wall of Jiyyd. Earth elementals tunneled under the hill placed by druids years ago, and fire elementals came following and started to light the town ablaze. Legion defenders and Ibn Hafsun's men both found themselves fighting off the attack.

    Trolls and wild beasts were also being driven through the swamps. Myeil's Wall of Iron stopped the monsters from entering town, allowing the defenders to keep their attention on other threats.

    Some of the defender scouts noticed N'jast troops entering the old tower on the Central Plains. Gen. Lyte assumed the troops were planning to use the tunnels to come up into Jiyyd from underneath. A portal opened up in the menhir of Jiyyd, which emptied forth goblins from the Rawlinswood, adding to the chaos.

    The western archers were attacked and killed by stealthy commandos from N'jast. The ambush was apparently witnessed, but word of it never reached Gen. Lyte, perhaps because of all the confusion and chaos. The N'jast commandos donned the uniforms of the fallen Legionnaires and took up position. They managed to cause some more confusion, but were eventually defeated in a counter attack.

    The eastern gates of Jiyyd fell. Armatures stomped through the blazes. Their assault was finally too much and the remaining defenders pulled a retreat back to the west road while still pursued by the Armatures. Sgt. Benji ran to the Sisterhood with a Silver Dragoon to set off a special trap that was setup in advance. He was attacked while he was at his task, but he managed to light the fuses which led to barrels and barrels of powderkegs rigged throughout the town of Jiyyd. The blast rocked the northwestern side of Jiyyd and claimed the lives of many attackers who had entered the already burning town. Sgt. Benji narrowly escaped the explosion himself.

    Armatures continued to harass the defenders on the west road. Six of the hulking machines were destroyed. Unfortunately, defender numbers were dwindling and the N'jast cavalry was approaching. The last of Jiyyd's defenders retreated to the crossroads.

    Before the month of Mirtul 1499, the town of Jiyyd was no more. The N'jast forces had won, but it cost them dearly. All historians agree that the whole war of 1499 could have turned out much differently if Jiyyd had fallen early or, worse still, if they accepted N'jast's offer to join their power.

    The Betrayer Revealed

    Perhaps the greater blow to one's resolve is not defeat, but betrayal. After the fighting was finished and N'jast began to occupy the land it won, the Grand Marshal of their army approached Gen. Lyte and others in the crossroads. There, the Grand Marshall revealed herself to be none other than Kara Du'monte.

    News of this quickly spread. The Order of the Watchful Repose was quick to denounce Kara Du'monte as a betrayer and appointed Aelthas Benthur as their new Keeper. When news reached Peltarch, guardsmen swept through the city making numerous arrests. In the morning, citizens found the Temple of Tyr closed, and rumors were abound that Senators and Magistrates were among those arrested.

    As for the Gypsies, Jenni left with her brother's body and hasn't been seen since. Johnathan quickly moved into Jonni's old tent as their new leader. He then proclaimed that the Gypsies would stay out of the war. There was still much blame to Norwick and the Legion for Jonni's death. He promised the gates would be shut and defended when N'jast would turn it's eyes north.


  • After some days of skirmishing, N'jast again made a strong push against Jiyyd. Again, the majority of the attacking forces were the lesser disciplined wild nomads and orcs. While the defenses were holding, Gen. Grag decided to attempt a risky plan to hid the N'jast forces hard in their own base camp. He met with Ambassador Ronan and Cpl. Re'rith D'ima and the trio took some powderkegs and teleported to the attackers' base camp. The remaining defenders waited with great anticipation to see signs of success or failure of the General's mission. Finally, loud explosions could be heard and smoke rose from the N'jast camp. The bombing was successful, but only Gen. Grag returned alive, carrying Ambassador Ronan's body. Cpl. Re'rith fell somewhere behind enemy lines in their escape.

    Another heavy loss for the defending forces was the capture of the Kelemvor paladin, Kara Du'monte. She was captured on the other side of Jiyyd, while she was leading troops on that front. News of her capture was received with demoralizing shock.

    The Legion general then begged the guardian spirit, Solais Aran to take some of the general's own lifeforce to allow both of the fallen mages to return to life. Solais Aran agreed, and at nightfall performed a magical ritual with Gen. Grag. The Norwick ambassador returned to life, and Solais Aran claimed that Cpl. Re'rith should be alive also. But as she was behind enemy lines, her fate at the time was unknown.

    Under a moonlit sky, N'jast launched a larger attack on Jiyyd. Trolls chased by fire elementals raced in from the east, while highly trained mercenaries attacked from other directions. The defenders began to suffer heavy losses at this greater push, but the worst was yet to come. N'jast decided to mimic the same tactic used by Gen. Grag. A giant stumbled inside the eastern gate, with numerous kegs tied to it, all with fuses lit. The terrible explosion shattered the walls and barricades, and brought death to many of the defenders unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast. N'jast cavalry charged through, intending to decimate the remander of the forces. It is said that Gen. Lyte herself stood her ground even while fighting off a half-dozen of the horse-riding soldiers and yet she did not fall. The defenders managed to drag away some of their fallen, but could see that even more of the N'jast forces were approaching, included mechanical giants, the fabled “Armatures.” It was clear the East Road was lost to the defenders, and so they set fire to the fields in their retreat. The fires scorched the land and held back the N'jast army, allowing the defenders to regroup behind the walls of central Jiyyd.

    Solais Aran came forward to see the dead. As people began to plan how to raise the fallen back to life, Solais proclaimed that he would take care of it. He then said goodbyes to Gen. Lyte and Cap. William Morrison, and began a ritual. At the end of it, his body flashed and burst into a bright white explosion. Moments later, light rained down upon a number of the fallen. With Solais's self-sacrifice, many defenders returned to life.

    Still, the Jiyyd defenders suffered a heavy setback and loss of life. Yet it was clear that N'jast suffered far worse than they could have expected. Despite overwhelming odds, more blood was spilled from the attackers than the defenders. By the numbers, N'jast could have easily broken through, but so far underestimated Jiyyd's determination to hold their ground.

    In the south, Norwick was still trying to come to terms with making sure it had enough food to feed both citizens and refugees. Chancellor Dwin managed to secure a trade agreement with Lord Vaster Ashald and the Seafarers of Peltarch for a steady supply of food. The initial shipment was met with much applause and gratitude.

    The apothecary in Norwick was also raided a ten-day later by bugbears. There were no injuries or casualties in the robbery, but the brutes managed to get away with quite a bit of valuables.

    Raids on the Nars Pass began to let up some, while raids on the Icelake increased. The Peltarch Marines moved swiftly to deal with the new threat, but were taking loses from it. The raiders sailed under the banner of a blue star with a cutlass slashed across it, prompting the Marines to nickname the pirates, “the Five Point Buccaneers.”

    The rest of the Peltarch military continued to fortify and prepare itself for the expected war with the N'jast army. The Senate and military leaders were appreciative of Jiyyd's refusal to back down, as town criers bellowed announcements proclaming the bravery of Jiyyd and how the southern neighbor has sacrificed itself to slow down and bleed out N'jast.

    Cera Amalith of the Gypsies and her granddaughter, Cherry, had been suffering from the surges of magic that pulsed in the ley lines and menhirs. The strain seemed to finally be too much for the two. One late night Cera transported her family to somewhere else and then returned to her tree. She said goodbyes to the Romani nearby and then entered the her home. An explosion of light engulfed the tree, it's shining light was seen miles and miles away. The wind carried the tune the old woman often sang, “I'm a little Teapot, short and stout…” Cera was seen no more. Those who entered her tree to look for her found their senses assaulted by voices and visions, causing them to rush out with bewildering madness.


  • The N'jast War Begins

    The month of Tarsakh heralded the start of N'jast's war with the township of Jiyyd. While the eastern army certainly outnumbered the defenders, Jiyyd was not without hope. It's many defensive preparations for the possibility of Ostromog's forces attacking were brought to bear against the N'jast army.

    N'jast's opening moves were to send in mostly hired forces of mercenaries, wild nomads, goblins, trolls and orcs. Their catapults fired ahead of the attacking line giving suppressive fire support, and some of their own troopse followed behind some of the attacks using the hired groups as cannon fodder. Jiyyd answered back with it's own catapults and the defensive barricades helped herd the attackers into dug in defenders. Jiyyd also attempted a small strike against the N'jast army but was easily pushed back, not before some of their catapults were sabatoged. Maythor Troff was mentioned as a known casualty in the failed strike. His body was recovered by the end of the ten-day and the dwarf was raised.

    At the end of the initial days of fighting, Jiyyd held it's fortified walls at the start of the East Road, while N'jast had their advanced siege placed midway between Jiyyd and Ormpur. The attackers worked swiftly to rebuilt lost siege weapons. Casualties at this point saw more lost on N'jast's side, but these were mostly out of the hired mercenaries and monsters. Jiyyd sustained losses among their Legion forces and hired mercenaries, around 60 people in total, but some help from the hinnak of the Rawlinswood arrived as well.

    In the north, raiders attacked one of Peltarch's eastern farms. One raider was captured, but the farm suffered the loss of it's workers and animals. Prison records list that the raider followed Auril.


  • The leaders of Jiyyd came to the decision that it would be prudent to evacuate all citizens. It was decided to move the civilians to the town of Norwick and the Dwarven Hold nearby. The caravans were attacked on route by wild men from the N'jast army. Numerous civilian deaths resulted (including the death of my own mother).

    Silver Valley also decided to evacuate it's people. However, they took advantage of their natural talent to slip by unnoticed and did not suffer the heavy raids as they migrated to both Norwick and Peltarch.

    There was a final meeting between the Legion Generals and the N'jast Grand Marshall. Jiyyd did not accept the offer to join N'jast's banner, and in return N'jast declared war.

    With the influx of refugees in Norwick, the Chancellor soon realized he was going to have food shortages. Norwick and the Troff Legion ran many trips back and forth between Jiyyd and Norwick, transporting any food and supplies left in the eastern town.

    General Lavindo of Peltarch's military decided to send more aid to the south, in the form of hired mercenaries. The mercenary grounds included some races that raised the eyebrow of many. Among the humans and gnomes there was an orc company with an ettin, and a wererat saboteur unit.


  • Spring Time Comes With Tensions Rising

    Major Gen. Grag met with the Grand Marshall of the N'jast forces just before the month of Ches started. They discussed the details about N'jast's intentions for Jiyyd and Peltarch. It was made clear that N'jast wanted to move through Jiyyd and offered the town a hand of friendship and welcome into a more unified sphere of protected members, and had no interest in harming Jiyyd. As for Peltarch, the Grand Marshal stated that there had been a number of grievances over the years. The assassination of their king finally brought matters into motion as it was an act they could not tolerate being unpunished. Aramuil Holimion had even confirmed the proof they had and even offered names of the senators responsible.

    The menhir of the region continued to behave erratically. The Central Plains menhir was especially dangerous. Magical blasts frequently erupted from the stones. All efforts to quiet the mystical conduit were met with failure. The Jiyyd menhir also saw a spike in activity. A large group of adventurers appeared from a rift that opened at the stones. The group included members of the Legion, Silver Valley, Spellweavers, Peltarch military, and officials of Norwick. The mages in the group worked to close the portal quietly. The menhir refused to settle down silently and instead dispersed it's magic in a violent explosion. Luckily, everybody ran away in time and no injuries resulted from the backlash. It is not known where the group came from or how they came to be transported through a portal. Some records found indicate that General Grag had organized an effort to take care of a task for the guardian spirit, Solais Aran.

    Johnathon Von Ulgath from Peltarch attemped to send some of his house guards down south, four each to Jiyyd and Norwick. When asked publicly about this act, he related that he was fortunate enough to be born to a wealthy life and live a prosperous, peaceful, and safe life in the fair city of Peltarch. Unlike his noble brethren, he could not turn his nose up at the less fortunate and so decided to send what men he could spare. Von Ulgath also hired some able warriors from the Black Sails group to escort his guards to ensure they reach their destination safely.

    When the Von Ulgath guards arrived at the Crossroads between Norwick and Jiyyd, they were stopped by the Norwick Advisor, Aramuil Holimion. The Advisor demanded to know who the group were and what business they had. The guards replied that their lord authorized them only to give their message to a General Grag or Chancellor Dwin and knew that the Advisor was no half-orc or dwarf. Aramuil next demanded to know who their lord was, and the guard identified Johnathon Von Ulgath and gave his title (son of Mikhail the Stag and a noble Spice Dealer of Peltarch). The advisor then assumed that Von Ulgath was the same Johnathon as the new leader of the Gypsy Camp and barred the group from entering the town, though the Advisor himself never introduced who he was.

    The Von Ulgath guards then decided that all eight would travel to Jiyyd, but found another cold reception. Aramuil had rode ahead of the group and gave warning to General Theaon Thorn, who barred the group from Jiyyd. The guards then returned to Peltarch and reported what happened to their lord.


  • The last half of Alturiak heralded tragedy for the Gypsies.

    It started out with relations with Norwick continuing to deteriorate outside Norwick's northern-most gate. The Gypsies demanded Aramuil Holimion's head on a stick for his insulting accusations. As the talks between Gypsy and Norwickians grew angrier, Chancellor Dwin came out and ordered his people back behind the walls to prevent a fight. At this point, the Gypsies claimed the lands up to Norwick's gate as being "The Realm of the Romani" and setup a camp on the cliffs just north of the town's outer wall.

    Major Gen. Grag and Gen. Theaon Thorn requested permission to speak with Jonni, the leader of the Gypsies. They granted the two Legion generals permission and brought him to their leader, who was hosting a birthday party for some Romani children at the newly built tower. Before the generals could speak to Jonni, undead attacked the tower. Records indicate that the undead were emerging from an unholy portal near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Legion Generals kept the undead horrors busy while Jonni and the Gypsy Warriors escorted the children to safety. Ambassador Ronan and Captain Mord of Norwick also joined the battle and together they closed the portal.

    However, as they returned to the tower, Jonni shouted a warning about kegs being lit. An explosion rocked the tower and killed the Romani leader. The Gypsy Warriors who came to see the aftermath found evidence that convinced them that either Norwick or the Legion were responsible for their leader's death. Immediately, the Gypsy closed their borders to all outsiders. Jonathan, who had been Jonni's right-hand man assumed leadership for the camp.

    Attacks in the Nars Pass continued to increase, still without any clues on who was responsible. Norwick also began to show signs of isolation. Their borders closed out any of those who were oath-sworn to the Gypsies, and other travelers were subjected to security checks. Peltarch began to mobilize defenses, realizing a probable conflict with N'jast was forthcoming. And Jiyyd also began to show concerns at being caught in the path of N'jast. The council of Jiyyd still had not reached a decision at this point on whether to accept the annexation proposal or not.


  • On the first week of Alturiak, a strange disturbance in the Weave was felt by many spellcasters across the land. Immediately following the disturbance, tremors were felt all over Narfell. Menhir stones, left over from the ancient civilization, began to glow as powerful magics spiked throughout the ley lines. Portals opened up at the menhir, bringing many beasts from the outer planes, mostly slaadi. Adventurers scrambled all over to close the portals and stop the extra-planar monsters.

    I recall hearing the gongs sound in Jiyyd while I was tending to my chores. Shortly thereafter, the Silver Valley to the north of my family's farm also rang the alarm and I ran south to find help. While I never saw what attacked, I did find out that this incident was to blame.

    According to records, this happened at every set of menhir stones in Narfell. The ruins of Norwick, the ridge in the Nars Pass, out in the Central Plains, and even on Icelake's beach near Peltarch. The Central Plains menhir were especially problematic. It resisted the dispelling magics cast at it, so kegs were used to disrupt the magic. Unfortunately, the explosion did disrupt the ley line, but for the worse. Raw magic began exploding around the menhir, scorching the land as well as it did the adventurers. Devils were also reported to be seen coming from the Nars Pass menhir hours after the initial incident.

    Besides this magical disaster, the Nars Pass began to demonstrate a new danger. Raiders began striking caravans and travelers. The raiders left almost no survivors in their attacks, and all the cargo was taken without any traces of where the culprits fled. The only evidence that gave any clues as to the attackers were in the arrows found in the victims' corpses. Some arrows looked to be from the Gypsy Camp, while others looked to have been made in Peltarch.


  • The end of the month of Hammer saw little open warfare, but numerous political and diplomatic exchanges.

    The city of Peltarch finally decided that the Bugbear King Ostromog could be an eventual threat if Norwick did fall. About forty well-armed soldiers were sent down the Nars Pass to aid in the township’s defense. The troops were ambushed by unknown assailants mid-journey, but the assailants were thwarted due to some keen scouts and adventurers who decided to keep an eye on the envoy.

    The Advisor to Norwick, Aramuil, openly accused the leadership of the Gypsy Camp of being allied with Ostromog and of being mostly of survivors of the Eastlander army which used to plague travelers on the Nars Pass decades ago. Tensions between Norwick and the Gypsy Camp harden as a result.

    More news from N’jast implicated the city of Peltarch as being responsible for the assassination of King Golask. More rumors claim that others were responsible, possibly Ostromog, Oscura, Drow, or Myth Redren. Just as the rumors of assassination were being spread, an envoy from N'jast was sent to Jiyyd. The envoy delivered an annexation request to the leadership of Jiyyd. Gen. Lyte Bry’Gaede promised to bring it to the council to decide.

    There were some people vocal about their doubts that Peltarch as the culprit of the assassination. A few members of the Phoenix Order and Spellweavers in particular begane their own investigations.


  • Background Conditions of Narfell at the Start of 1499

    In order to fully appreciate what happened in this year of history, one should first comprehend what each of the regions were going through as the year began.

    The northern city of Peltarch was mostly free from terrible threats. The Defenders of the city were strong with recent recruits. Internally, the city was still rebuilding living quarters in the docks; most of the people there had been living in a temporary “tent city.” At the start of the year there were some rumors of assassinations, which were proved false. Relations between the city and Norwick were somewhat rocky, as usual.

    The Gypsy Encampment of the west had been growing in strength. After pushing back the hobgoblins of the Nars Pass, the gypsy warriors began building their own watch tower and fortifications to help make the Nars Pass safer. That is not to say the camp was without turmoil, there was some grumbling as their council of Elders were dissolved.

    Jiyyd in the east was preparing for war. The Troff Legion were wary of the Bugbear King Ostromog, who came from the Rawlinswood. While Norwick was of immediate threat from this cunning monster, he had successfully captured and tortured General Lyte Bry'Gaede of the Legion. Since the Bugbear King could easily bypass Norwick and attack Jiyyd and with what he did to the General, it was decided to prepare for war. Still, a number of people had mistrust of General Bry'Gaede, believing her to now be under Malar's influence.

    Norwick obviously was preparing for the worst as well. The southern township borders the Rawlinswood, which had numerous threats within it over the decades. A demonic threat was ended in the previous years, but a taint in the woods was left behind which the druids were busy trying to clear. The Bugbear King Ostromog also rose up, promising to claim Chancellor Dwin's head. The Bugbear King proved himself to be very cunning, having placed traitors not only within Norwick's Leadership, but possibly the other regions as well.

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    Notable Events at the start of 1499

    The month of Hammer started off on a positive note. Tired of the demonic tainted spiders in the Rawlinswood, the leaders of Norwick and Jiyyd gathered a band of strong warriors to penetrate their nest and wipe them out. Among the strike force were such notable figures as Gen. Lyte Bry'Gaede, Gen. Theaon Thorn, Telli Thunden, famous bowyer Ginger Tealeaf and her husband Gears, Belia and Miea of the druids, and Norwick's own Chancellor Dwin and Advisor Aramuil Holimion, and Kara Du'Monte. The group was successful in finding the queen spider and destroying her and her eggs.

    Outside the lands of Narfell, rumors came that King Golask the Obese, sovereign of N'Jast, had died unexpectedly. His heir, Crown Princess Brionne had assumed the throne.