Rumors and News

by Mich

Rumors and News in Dragonfall, mid-Summer 1430 YF*

(as told by the merchants, guilders, peasants, and innkeeps

of the city; their veracity is often questionable)

• It is said a great storm raged for five weeks in mid-spring through the Great Devastation*. Three separate merchant caravans traveling through its southern tip have reported sighting what appears to be ancient, sand-blasted ruins to the north of the Aligorn Trail*. Both the Rising Sun Trading Coster and the dwarven Freehold House are reportedly assembling expeditions to that area.

• It is rumored that the ambassador from the Kingdom of Gund has been missing for several days. Although the embassy denies any such rumors, officials of the city watch confirm that he has missed a few minor functions. Sewer guildsmen reported seeing blue and green lights coming from his windows a fortnight ago.

• Gaven Fellaxe, son of the late Earl of Perian, has been trying to form an alliance between the seven so-called Darnic Wardukes of the Crescent since late summer of last year (when his father's assassination set off the Fifth Succession War). It is rumored he may approach the Sentish* to form an alliance to the south. Without a large enough backing from major Houses, however, it is doubtful the Wardukes will agree to the alliance. His was the only major House not to participate in the attempted invasion of Velc in late winter 1428.

• The Northern Lyrell* forces under the command of Gerome Blackfist have annihilated the remaining Graaxe orc horde pillaging through the northern Crescent outside the walls of Noguard. The fell creatures had cut a path of destruction as far south as the Gauntlet of Nuchemi before they were stopped. Fleeing peasants coming from the west in early summer told of two more hordes. The first was somewhere east of the River Red where it runs between the Forest of Spiders and the Westryn Wood (a hundred miles north of Dafa's Wall). The third and largest warband is over five thousand strong. Knights of the Iron Keep have faced them three times, each a stalemate. Banners of both Grimmfeed and Maulwolf tribes were spotted on the battlefields of Liuvar's Cross, south of the Iron Keep, in mid-June.

• The reported slaying of the last known hierophant druid two weeks ago by a heavily armed rider outside Velc spells certain doom. Fynn, as he was known by Velcs, tended an ancient grove some twenty miles west of Velc. He was returning from one of his regular trips to the city when he was ridden down by a large, armor-clad rider. The old man did not go down easily, and they say the battle lasted over two hours. The area of the confrontation was scorched to the ground, but Velc troops trying to get near report seeing the rider plunge a blue-flamed sword into the old man before they disappeared in a flame-storm.

• Orcs and their kin have become much more daring in their attacks on Trell. Their numbers seem to be increasing, for several new tribal war-banners have been found among the fallen. The famed Trellian warrior, Luc Orcshead, returned from an expedition into the Great Devastation in July. He immediately requested an audience with the River Barons, and it is rumored a Council will be called before harvest.

• A strange disease raged outside Dragonfall and the mid-Crescent in late summer. First observed in Marshpoint, the Rot, as it came to be called, ravaged the city in days. The subsequent ill-fated peasant revolt, the occupation of Grak-ven by Taruk-Azik forces and the barely averted "true war" between that dwarven kingdom and Dragonfall have left the region unsteady and volatile. The source of the disease is unknown, but speculation is rampant: a Drigossian cult, a Taruk-azik plot, eastern merchants, and lizardmen from the South Marshes have all been blamed. The plague never seems to have reached Dragonfall itself. Grak-ven has since been liberated by its inhabitants and the Taruk-Azik forces retreated back to their borders.

Selected Names and Terms

*The Dragonfall calendar is used throughout the Crescent; YF stands for Year of the Fall; 0YF marks the date when the Great Wyrm Delanielegon was slain by Gerome Mauriac and the Company of Five. The open skeleton of the great beast still houses the Great Market in the center of the city, the main entrance being Dragonskull Gate, as the main avenue of traffic into the market is through the immense skull. All attempts at defacing or damaging the beast have always failed; fire, cold, electricity, and magic do nothing to it. It has happily survived three city fires.

*The Great Devastation is a wasteland to the northwest of the Crescent, it encompasses land both to the south and north of the Gundar Range (the border of Gund north of the Crescent). The Aligorn Trail is one of many trade routes running through the Devastation. All routes run near the periphery as the center is waste of storms, fell creatures and the blazing sun.

*Velc: a city to the north of the area known as the Crescent, not part of the game. Serves as a waypoint for east-west caravans across routes north of the Crater Sea.

*Senta, Lyrell, Dragonfall, Noguard, Trell: the cities of the Crescent, each with its distinct flavor.

*Marshpoint: a small village a few leagues south of Dragonfall, at the delta formed by the confluence of the River Red and the Great Sea. Also, the South Marshes.

* Taruk-Azik: A powerful nation of mountain dwarves. It encompasses most of the rocky foothills about 100 miles to the west of Dragonfall.

*Grak-ven: a mid-sized, well fortified community of hill dwarves which trade with Dragonfall. Grak-ven lies 50 miles to the west of Dragonfall and is fiercely independent of both it and Taruk-Azik to the west.

*Iron Keep, Dafa's Wall: A 30 mile long defensive structure built to keep out the many and varied nasties that inhabit the Devastation, the Forest of Spiders and the western Gundar Range.

Travelers to the area must keep in mind "real" wars do happen in this area, although they are avoided at all costs since they really just end up being unprofitable. The last several "engagements" have started in Noguard where several Major Houses claim the right to the title of Overking. Confrontations between these Houses has ignited the so-called Succession Wars several times. The rest of the Crescent considers the whole issue archaic and dangerous to their stability. If it wasn't because the same Noguard Houses largely control the Iron Keep and fight off the monstrous hordes from the west, it is likely the whole thing would have ignited a larger Crescent-wide war. Thankfully, this hasn't happened.

The only other major engagement of interest was the attempt by Taruk-Azik to take Grak-ven. It failed, but had not the Grak-ven dwarves fought them off it might have forced Dragonfall into the combat and ignited a real war. Tensions remain high with regards to the mountain dwarves.