The Settlement
The ships sail in, the treasury fleet from Van Myr, laden with payment for the grain sent to the capital. It is not a secret that can be held from the populace, and the citizenry comes out in force to witness what promises to be the birth of the state as a major power. Dissapointment is soon to follow, the ships bring little wealth, a mere token of gold. The captain in charge of the fleet tells you the gold is needed elsewhere, and
King Mago has decreed that only 5% of the delivered value will be repaid to the colony at this time, in order to maintain the fighting strength of the navy and army.
"They doom us, to be seen as saviors when their envoy arrives"
The effect on the settlements is immediate, promised work for the state dries up, contracts vanish, and regional powers flare to life -
Julia Herelia Marion finds that with the treasury empty and the prospect that these leaders may not even be in power shortly none will do any significant business with the current government. Angry protests spark from the typical suspects, those who have long held suspicion of the Van Myr government rally up angry farmers, laborers, and mercenaries. Unrest simmers but with the very active work of the Guardians over the past two years it fades from imminent violence to possible solutions -
Lars Skellrich , having been recently elected leader of the Seekers, puts it to the Guardians that now is the time to harness the anger of the people in the proper direction, towards the cult of the Blessed Leaf, the Grovekeepers who squat in the center of the town like a cancer.
Over the past year the shipments of the Iron from the Iron Clan have become less frequent but larger, heavily guarded, but now your supplies dwindle and the forges grow cold. One day an orc, bloodied and bearing a scar reeking of rot, staggers into the village and is brought to the enclave. He says that elves ambushed the iron caravan, elves who fought with shadow, elves who fought with the dead. The orc is delirious and his wound cannot be treated no matter what you try.
Tayala Benzare says it is as if the body is rotting from the inside.
You turn towards the iron being sent by
Ravenwood , but find your inquiries stunted - the Lonely Mountain explodes, the stories filtering in from the north say that
Mievane the Knife and
Polestaff somehow concocted the succesful plan to deal with the monstrosities. This had lead to their ascension in the ranks, and one of their first decisions was to cut Hampsterdam out of the loop.
These developments are further complicated by dark tidings on the periphery, raids on the western settlements continue and are further complicated by the appearance of
Skorge of the White Skulls , an orc who has lead several raids on the SW settlements. In addition the commander of the force from Meggido who took the Grey Hills after the kobold raids,
Caz Dunkel , has been emboldened by the lack of response in his aggressions, and has pushed as far as into the lower Penitent Bay settlements along the southern end.
Praetor Aelia Nacii decides that even with their spread forces and unprofessional army that something has to be done and heads personally down to handle the issue. However, your admiral,
Captain Tork , returning from a trading mission, is nowhere to be found - after hunting him down you find him, emotionless, sitting by the docks. Whatever strange affliction that has appeared amongst some of the citizenry, the same infectious melancholy that has struck
Dane , appears to have afflicted him as well.
The absence of the admiral has been noticed, and a group of merchants represented by
Aleksei Volganov have petitioned that something be done about the rampant piracy and the strange dissapearing ships, found washed up with sea matter. They blame Meggido for fostering piracy, and ask that something be done. They also claim that the dockworkers and sailors have been fighting one another, and that crime is on the rise along the port.
Not all is dire news, the creation of the Craftsman's Guild and the new City Center to the west of the Grove leads to an economic surge, reassuring some of those who had worried over the strange happenings near the Grove and Gardens. It also appears that
Tennebelt and
Mireen Lusara , working together for the past year now, plan to marry, blessing the new Guild with their upcoming nuptials.
Tennebelt is also preparing to announce a potential cure for Ashlung, the disease that plagues the homelands and still hurts many who have come here. They are not the only happy married couple,
Valis Valois and
Shoshanna Galway are married as well, a massive ceremony that only the finest are invited to.
Radko Clavik spends significant time in the Qwynn befriending
Quintus Bartholomew Marion , speaking fondly of
Jericho and also of Hampsterdam - he is impressed with all that you have done here and he sees great potential in friendships both personal and diplomatic. He is not the only diplomat to favor the establishment, and while the influence of the workers drifts to the new town center the adventurers, merchants, and other people of note remain fixated on the spectacle of the Gardens and their surroundings.
Julia Herelia Marion takes desperate measures to ensure that the Town Guard remains paid, but her attempts at increasing tariffs are shot down by the rest of the leaders - she leans more heavily on the Iron Enclave and your trade with the natives, eager to take their gold she turns the forges of the Ironworks to creating gold coins, marked with the faces of the Guardians. The local currency finds eager hands and promotes to some extent a local form of patriotism, as tales of the Guardians and their struggles to keep the settlement afloat become embedded in the local culture.
Still, the world moves forward - the Carrylean Embassy arrives in all of its pomp and circumstance, the ceremonial "Advance of Valbanes" is performed down the main square, a ceremonial laurel laid before the city leaders in order to bless the ties between the two powers. Their representative,
Atiela Miele , pays particular attention to the guardians, and exudes a charm that brings an air of courtly majesty even in the dirt streets of Hampsterdam. Some in the town react with anger to seeing the Carryleans welcomed so warmly, none more so than your next guest.
Tsotcha the Divine presents herself to the Guardians, having smuggled herself to the city aboard a leaky trawler. She claims to represent the Dhals of Sigrun, currently under naval blockade by the Carryleans. She tells you that she understands you have a complex history with the Saggarans, as most do, but she implores you to look at the reality of the situation - see how the Carryleans have already taken
Coimbra , see them looking north to the next settlement, Sigrun, under the pretense of liberating it for the original settlers. What lies next on their route but here, in Hampsterdam? You must help, rally who you can, and help lift the blockade, else the empire will forge itself anew.
"For liberty, for freedom, for the souls of the men who would not be chained I beg you hear my plea"
After this confusing set of visitors you are even more surprised by the, unannounced, arrival of 100 Van Myr veterans fresh from the Hierlands led by
Ralicus Vay , a commander in the army. He, and is men, are close-lipped but inform you that they are here to pave the way for the Governor due to be arriving within the year. Without hesitation they secure land and begin to construct a small fort.
Out of the north a caravan of settlers arrives, a wounded man named
Devrick Galle is brought to you, the settlers with him begging you to listen to his story. He tells you that he was a follower of Blessed Leaf - once a true believer, he thought like most of them that the Lord of the Woods was one of the fathers, and was calling us back to the Garden, but he has since seen, the horror that lurks beneath it. Fellow believers, twisted, warped, into horrible monstrosities. He clutches himself several times as he speaks, grabbing at his stomach. He tells you that the light, the light that the Lord of the Woods gives his followers, burns him now, as it has others, but for some reasons he has not been afflicted as they have.
Other stories of the Groves flourishing, growing, becoming massive duplicates of the main Grove in Hampsterdam filter in, in some cases these are greeted warmly, in others wit hostility. It seems certain settlements have attained even greater blessings, with reports that their fields and farms are running over with extra crops, and that even the beasts of the wild come to their aid in building their homes. At home the Grovekeepers flourish, their numbers perhaps reach thousands, with the great gatherings in the Grove always filled to overflowing, the strange lights that mark their religious festivities a constant fixture.
Joey the Sorcadin is awoken once again by
Andacia Reveille , perched in the corner of your room. You haven't seen her much since she began working with
Omen Felle to try and understand something of the ancient works you possess - she looks now as she did long ago in the woods, feral and wild. She leaps forward, clutching desperately at you - 'The spirits won't let you die, the spirits won't let you die, the spirits won't let you die.
Annihilation is coming, it cowers and haunts, it deceives and knows not the face of its father,
Annihilation - you will not see but you must, it is quiet, but it is coming, the first of the sons.' She collapses.
Ajax the Bear-barian receives a visitor, the Aelfinn trader
L'essyal Nor'vai , who brings with her news that your friends have settled about the Peace of Krayte. She says she had some letters for you but they were lost, but
L'mielya made you some Aelfbread, which she gifts to you.
Teucer the Lesser comes up behind you, gives you a noogy, then tells you that the sailors are all up in arms and nervous, more than a few of them have gone catatonic of late, and someone has been stealing random supplies. There's been a few skirmishes between random groups, but nothing major yet - word is some kind of big talk is going to go down between the big wigs to try and shore up a peace before it gets out of hand. He also says that there is some kind of strange person working the docks seeking artifacts, word is they are vicious - and have killed more than a few people affiliated with the major gangs.
A scholar named
Lumenachus Garfakion has arrived in the settlement from the Sagouri Swamp, he has been working in the Meggido occupied lands and has coem to consult with your alchemists on the nature of a strange disease that has afflicted some of the people there - a rash of pustules, often deadly.
Quintus Bartholomew Marion receives more letters from
Expedition Notes - the Ancient Naval Facility
Joey the Sorcadin receives another Dead Drop (you have already seen this)
Strange Dreams continue and grow with new visions
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