Tavern Rumors of Peltarch
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The recent talk of the taverns is the Festival of Clear Waters, some sort of happiness feel good tripe where most people only really go for free food and drink. And more importantly, the slaughter at the Festival of Clear Waters. Nobody is quite sure why it happened, some say the drinks were spiked by a third party, others say it was demons (it's always demons) and some say that the troupe itself lured in those poor revellers for the killing. Either way, the only survivor from the troupe appears to be its leader, Shadel, who is now rumored to be behind bars and awaiting trial. Some call him the mastermind, some don't.
What isn't a rumor is the loss of life. Most of the revellers present, and some guards from Peltarch who were watching over the event, butchered in a chaotic mess.
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Scholars of military history as well as retired lieutenants are seen remarking that the size of Jorino's regiment is growing unwieldy and too large for proper military efficiency. Some have noted that she was, once upon a time, Talbot Anderson's lieutenant, who also recruited from the docks and bloated his regiment with the unemployed and the destitute. Others remark how her father, the Regent, has taken a cold, distant hand with regard to the poor of Peltarch -- effectively creating the demand for his daughter's recruitment drive.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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The Ignismons Veterans company of the Peltarch Defenders has been drilling almost non-stop outside the western walls of late, going through a wide variety of military exercises as well as occasionally ranging out to the foothills to harry Orcs, or to the beaches to test its mettle with the Giants and Manticores there.
The company is also growing noticeably in size, due to an ongoing and active recruitment effort targeting recently unemployed workers from the Docks and Commerce districts, offering them regular pay, lodging and three square meals a day. "The boys and girls in green look after their own", is a phrase commonly thrown around as well, the implication being that if you're good enough to get into the Ignismons Vets you'll be welcomed as if into a new family.
Newly promoted Captain, Reyhenna Jorino, can be seen personally leading the drilling most days, as well as occasionally liaising with High Hold logistics officers on the joint patrols of the trade route between the two realms, still in its infancy and prone to the occasional teething problem.
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The adventurer from the Duchy of Velen, Ravos Calchais has been seen shut in his room in the inn for long periods of time, occasionally calling down for food. Other than his observation that perhaps the rooms should have been named after famous individuals from the past, perhaps senators or noblefolk, nothing else is heard fom him in a tenday or more. Other than he was seen heading in with a number of volumes on what some say was an investigation, or trade papers, or theology. Waitresses may report seeing books of the faith of Azuth, Savras, Helm, Kelemvor and Siamorphe among his work area as refreshments were delivered to him. Although he is often heard to call Roslyn "Detective" he has been observed in saying he wouldn't mind that job... The Waitress's would quash any rumour that Roslyn had been seen in his room however.
Other rumours persist of another woman manging to persuade Ravos to leave the inn. This time it was Rika, the Uthgardt axe-warrior with news of Creel warriors missing deep in giant territory. Certainly he was seen returning from those lands with her and Simon, a priest of Torm covered head to foot in giant blood, pledging to celebrate the fallen warriors recovered from the cave with many ales, toasting the prowess of the party as well as the glorious deaths of the creel. He's developing a taste for Creel wine, though he is mainly seen with his dark stout in his tankard.
In unrelatred matters, Ravos was seen returning from the icelace beach area, with the equipment of a drunken adventurer along with Rika, Nord and Simon again. With reports that pirates seemed to have incredible summoning powers, with the prevention of the summoning of a demon by a mere whisker achieved by Ravos, Rika, Simon and Nord, viglance is urged for any adventurers heading beyond the lands of the wild cats near to Peltarch. There seemed to be an explosion of polymorphing insanity following the incident, with a Dwarf, turning into a giant spider, and Nord turning into a cow without bothering the wavebreakers too much. Ravos does note however that the guard enquiring about the huge creatures transformed into by this Aurilite Druid and the Dwarf, failed to apprehend the "cow", seeing that it managed to sneak away from him. He shakes his head in disdain and returns to the inn wondering about the competence of the guard and the lack of viglance, making a pledge to locate a temple of Helm in the region, and writes a proposal to the Captain of the Guard that they should be equipped with magic to detect invisible creatures.
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Some farmers briefly and drunkenly discuss the weird wagon that appeared twice in the farmlands. It almost seemed like some elves, and a human, were being carted around by goblins in a goblin wagon. But that's impossible, goblins don't ferry elves in wagons. Clearly they were just really ugly gnomes.
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A loud explosion echoes through the Commerce district one evening, followed by an eruption of strange red mist. The sound of combat follows, though soon dies out. As peace settles over the Commerce once more, a group of adventurers can be seen emerging from somewhere near Ashald park, along with a pale-faced woman in red and black plate armour. Whatever ruckus occurred, there seems to be no lingering trace of, afterwards.
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Piles of broken weapons and armour have been piled up as offerings to Tempus in the shrine in the Nars. Rumour around the taverns point to some warnings to local nars farmers on the outskirts of Peltarch that kobolds were seen skulking around their farmhouses. A local warrior of the Abordabe, knocks on the doors of the farmers, ceoncerned that they may be attacked in their sleep, and having been seen around Peltarch often of late, notifies the Defenders of these kobold sightings
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Two Elven corpses and some other items were delivered to the guards at the Peltarch front gate by Samwell and a large earth elemental. Apparently, they were found somewhere along the Nars Pass.
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Over the course of several days, the Docks were all caught up in a massive demonstration of dockworkers striking against unfair pay and labor practices, in particular by the Seafarers' Guild. The demonstrations apparently began when Roslyn Underhill, acting in tandem with disgraced former Human Labor Union member Lorin Wilkes, entered the Pissing Goat Inn and addressed the Union's membership. It's not known specifically what she said, but after a tense half hour or so, the Union's leader, Jan, was tossed out into the mud and Lorin was declared its new leader, with the Union reorganized to also represent dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and all other laborers who work the docks.
Following the change in leadership, the union declared a massive strike, demanding fair and equal pay for all workers. Though both Seafarers and City guards were on the scene to keep order, the demonstration never turned into a riot. This despite an initial refusal by the Seafarers to negotiate wages with the union, and their threat of bringing in scabs from out of the city to work instead.
And speaking of those scabs, some say that the ships carrying them were waylaid and turned back by some manner of ghost ship. Though that sounds patently ridiculous, apparently it was enough to bring the Seafarers to the negotiating table, ending the strike once the strikers' demands were met.
Afterwards, there were laborers celebrating well into the night, with chants of "UNDERHILL! WILKES!" ringing out throughout the streets of the docks.
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Word spreads quickly through the city that Lord Ewan Sent and his entourage came from High Hold to personally offer condolences to the city for the loss of King George. It is also said they were escorting two wagons full of exotic foods, drinks, and various other offerings for the young King Thalaman - these gifts given in the hope of future peaceful relations between the two.
Despite the military presence, the Lord of High Hold and his trusted advisors were welcomed into the city as guests and a small gathering was held in City Hall. Early the next morning the retinue from High Hold began to pack up their camp and return to their mountain home.
Some in the city welcome the possibility of peace, yet old wounds still run deep for some - many remember the history of the traitors of High Hold, the loved ones lost. Was this an actual attempt at making peace or political posturing? Many say that the Lord of High Hold was mocking the Crown and the Jewel, despite his gifts. Marching his soldiers to the outer gates without first sending a missive to the city being an act of aggression.
With tensions already beginning to flare up with the elections getting into full swing, was this the perfect opportunity for an old enemy to build on that, or coincidence? Many opinions are heard throughout the various taverns...
[DM Prismatic]
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Travelers and others report that several dozen High Hold soldiers and a few priests have set up a large camp outside Peltarch's West Gate. Curious citizens went out to the wall to check and some were astonished at the size and extent of the camp. They wondered what this was all about?
AubreyMaturin
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The Seafarers Guild has fired the man responsible for the firebomb attack. A representative of the guild has remarked: "The recent firebombings are just another example of instigations caused by certain unruly laborers, who would rather harm their fellow workers rather than negotiate with good intentions."
More quiet rumors circulate, from sources unknown, that Roslyn Underhill paid the man to firebomb the Seafarers' warehouse, only to later "catch him" for political showmanship.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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Jack goes about the taverns, retelling the episode with the protest. He doesn't mention races, rather frames it as the seafarers hitting on the common folk for trying to make life a little easier for themselves, and the corrupt guards letting them off with a slap on the wrist.
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Chaos in the docks district! A halfling protest of Seafarer guards taking down their protest posters erupted into anarchy as a firebomb flew from the crowd! Word has it that Voice candidate Roslyn Underhill and Nica Aelthasdottir apprehended the hin who threw the bomb. More worrying still, is that the hin hadn't been a hin at all, but a human from the human laborer's union polymorphed into a halfling! Rather than a genuine act of hin violence, it seems the whole thing was an elaborate false flag designed to make the hin look bad, instead! Had Roslyn and Nica not apprehended the real culprit, the hin would likely be facing some very real blame from the people for all of this...as it is, instead, Roslyn is telling any and every person who will listen about this underhanded attempt that was clearly to try to encourage violence against the hin while making the Seafarers' candidate look more sympathetic in comparison.
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Herald Isaac Thaddeus delivers the letter to Thalaman personally.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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A couple of dwarven defenders of the dwarven army, clad in polished fullplate, march along Peltarch’s gates and find their way into the town’s Hall. There, they find any appropriate officers and ask to be led to their King to deliver him a letter that bears the official stamp of the Council of Moradin. They deny any other to carry the letter and only hand the letter to the King himself. Shall he is found and accepts the letter, upon reading it, the letter contains the following:
"King Thalaman, son of honorable King George. The Council of Moradin express our condolences about your late loss. King George was an honorable man who righted his past mistakes and reforged a long lost alliance between Peltarch and the dwarves. Leaving this realm in this way is the mark of a great leader. We trust you bear his ideals, will lead your people with wisdom and honor this renewed alliance by keeping to the terms your father agreed upon. As long you show the same valor and wisdom as your father did, dwarfs will pledge to support you. Looking forward to meet you in person in the near future.
With respect, the Council of Moradin."
//OOC: The content of the letter is only known to the King, until he takes it and read it. No other person is to know of it, unless their King decides otherwise.
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At the recommendation from a close acquaintance, Scott takes to the streets of the commerce district to speak with the people, vendors, businesses, and consumers throughout the commerce district to let them know that he is running in the coming election for Voice of the People.
His main talking points are that he has been a Defender Lt for some time now and that he has faced threats to the city that stop trade almost every day whether it be Orcs in the woods, Giants in the hills, and even threats that lurk in the underground trying to make their way to the surface.
He makes it known that he is not a politician, he just wants to make sure everyone has the best opportunities to better themselves.
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Ros seems to take the limericks in good stride as she makes her rounds through the district's wine sinks and gutters, playfully advising any found reciting them that they're forgetting the part about how she also is friends with ghosts and bugbears, and that she's actually tried to eat the occasional elven mage
"Friends, yer not gonna believe this. Jessica Whyte herself actually offer'd me a position with th' league o' guilds if I'd only be so kind as ta drop out o' th' runnin' fer this Voice position. Said I could represent yer int'rests better ther than ta th' crown directly, th' cheek of 'er."
She grins, looking around at those in the tavern
"Anyway, natch'rally, I told 'er I'd accept! Long as she could provide some guarantees, that is. Namely, all hin an' gnomes would receive immediate pay raises ta bring ther wages level with th' Seafarers' human workers, would receive back pay as reparations fer bein' denied full wages totalin' up ta what'd be owed fer th' last five years, yearly guaranteed pay raises fer all guild employees - hin 'r no - amountin' ta not less'n ten percent yer salary, an' ownership o' th' Seafarers bein' divested from its current heads an' instead distributed equally ta all employees."
"She ah...wasn't amenable, I'm sad ta say. She's pretty upset tha' some o' my kin here is refusin' ta work fer th' pittance she's offerin', an' won't hire humans ta replace 'em on account o' how much more a'spensive they is. She says hin an' gnomes get lower wages 'cause we're smaller. Weaker. It's a lie, o' course. Our kind gives 'em th' same time each day as humans do, an' they make even more profit off it fer payin' us less."
"It's a ploy. It's made ta create division. Er'ry bit o' profit they get off yer labor is gold ther stealin' from you. An' tha's just as true if yer a human, as it is if yer a hin, if yer a gnome, if yer a dwarf, if yer an elf. They want cheap labor. They want a divided workforce wher they cn' use wages ta pit folk against each other, even when them folk got th' same struggles, th' same problems, an' th' same root cause o' each of 'em."
"An' now th' same folk who's exploitin' folk left an' right here wants ta get a shot ta represent them folk's int'rists at court? All they'll do is use tha' position ta keep th' little guy down. An' I don' jus' mean my kin, friends, I mean er'ryone who works fer 'em, or folks like 'em. Ther with th' League o' Guilds. They have enough influence already. They may come down hard on ya fer strikin', but ther givin' ya a chance ta make a statement with a vote. Be sure ya don' waste it. Don't give it ta th' ones tha' wanna control ya."
Ros then raises a glass, buying food and drink for the poor, the destitute, and the downtrodden, then stays a while to listen to their concerns and what they'd expect of a Voice, before moving on to the next inn and discussing many of the same things with the people there, and on to further inns where she does the same, till she's made a solid circuit through the docks.
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Lt. Scott Grimm warns the locals that Kobolds and Lizardmen have been ambushing adventurers in and around the swamps. Caution is advised.
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As Roslyn makes her way around the docks, she may hear some crude limericks in some of the rougher taverns.
“Roslyn Underhill, it’s time fer disclosure
Hero of hin or a pimp and a poser?
Fer when dragons come
Demanding their sum
She’ll ensure yer properly bent over“
