DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

In-Character News, Laws, Announcements, Rumors, and Stories Relating to the Sword Coast

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DM Bloodlust
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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"A large tribe of gnolls have exited the Reaching Woods, moving in a western direction towards the Sharpteeth Forest"
DM Silverfox
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

Unread post by DM Silverfox »

The zombies occupying the devasted village of Wayfork and its nearby areas can be seen making their way south along the Tradeway. They continue until they reach the fields north of Baldur's Gate. Those observing from a safe distance may get the impression that the zombies are mingling with the undead already present in the Field of the Dead.
DM Bloodlust
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

Unread post by DM Bloodlust »

DM Bloodlust wrote:"A large tribe of gnolls have exited the Reaching Woods, moving in a western direction towards the Sharpteeth Forest"
The gnolls clashed with elves of Doron Amar, and were scattered after a fierce fight.
DM Bloodlust
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

Unread post by DM Bloodlust »

Shocking news reverberate across the lands, among those who are listening for such news. The Army of the New Dawn has been decisively defeated in the Reaching Woods, its few remaining survivors hunkering down in Scornubel. The Undead threat is real.
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DM Golem
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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Rumours from Waterdeep and the North suggest the Lords' Alliance is mustering for war as the undead threat that waylays the south also begins to affect the north.

A cabal of masked vampire mages, headed by a lich, are teleporting around the north, raising small numbers of powerful undead to slay any who attempt to prevent their tampering with ancient sites of power or stealing notable artefacts - wherever those may be.

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The people of Latharl's Lantern flee to Roaringshore, barring those who give voice to faith in Umberlee and take sanctuary in her temple, as a misshapen gaggle of bone constructs issues forth from the Troll Hills and begins to built what can only be described as ships of bone. These vessels are loaded up with horrors - animated spiked wheels of bone; walking constructs covered in bone spikes, as tall as giants; mish-mashed monstrosities formed of three or more skeletons at once; four legged, walking ribcages clearly designed to carry cargo and booty. They set sail, some slipping beneath the waves, and within the tenday reports come in of raids on Orlumbor and up the Sword Coast towards Waterdeep.

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Emerging from the Trollbark Forest, hundreds of packs of ghouls head north between the coast and the Trade Way. Avoiding Dragonspear Castle and the Misty Forest, some packs assail the small settlements on the Trade Way, others flood towards the River Delimbiyr in ever increasing numbers, hungry for human flesh. Their northerly trajectory cannot be chance, and priests and diviners in Waterdeep and Neverwinter speak of some malign intelligence, a lich-ghoul king, at the heart of the swarms.

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(((This is a flavour post to explain the situation to the north regarding the off map areas of the server. Its a "whats going on elsewhere" and these do not represent threats that players have to deal with. Consider this a background post! More for gossip and not intended to actually be interacted with)))
DM Dialectic
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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A Celebration of Tyranny

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Rumor spreads like a wild firestorm in a dreadful drought throughout the Western Heartlands and Sword Coast regions that none other than Fzoul Chembryl, the High Lord of the Zhentarim and Zhentil Keep, Tyrant of the Moonsea, and High Priest of the Temple of Bane, was soon to be arriving in the Far Hills mountain fortress of Darkhold, near the Sunset Mountains at the eastern edge of the Western Heartlands, with a celebration entirely open to the public to feature High Lord Chembryl's infamously charismatic and tyrannical presence.

It is even alleged that as part of the festivities that feasting, monster pit fighting challenges, games with prizes, and a goods market are to be established to entertain all guests of Darkhold. Many gossip that though there has been a decent number of interesting and entertaining public events in the region over the past few years, there has never quite been, nor may there ever be again, an event quite like this one, especially one held in such an imposing mountain fortress location! Many not affiliated with the Zhentarim from the Western Heartlands, even those that would not even think it in other circumstances, seem to speak about possibly attending Darkhold for the occasion. For surely, many say, it will be an event to remember, member of the Black Network or not.


//

-Event to take place on Sunday, September 27 at 16:00 GMT on the Darkhold in game map.

-As the Zhentarim player guild has decided to allow this to be an open event IC, please keep in mind that all of the Laws of Darkhold IC still apply IC as well as reasonable IC expectations for how trouble would be treated by the Zhentariam guard at Darkhold with so high ranking a Zhentarim guest visiting. So, if a character ends up arrested by the Zhentarim guards at Darkhold, expect a likely permastrike is incoming for your character. DMs will be present at the event to enforce this. The Darkhold map is one of the most stunning in our server, so if you have not been before OOC/IC and normally would not have IC reason to go there or risk going there, this may be your rare IC chance to do so!

//
DM Dialectic
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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Triel Restoration

Some may have seen or heard of a large hurricane like event over Triel. After its alleged occurrence, it seems as if the top soil and air of Triel no longer seem foul or tainted, but instead fresh and renewed. Some dismiss this as rumor as it seems so long that many have tried to heal the land and air of Triel.
DM Dialectic
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

Unread post by DM Dialectic »

Nyeleni wrote:Black Bristles and Thistle rest a while at the site of the miracle near Triel.

The hin ranger offers some food and flowers to Chauntea after saying a quick prayer to the Supreme Ranger, Mielikki.

She is glad the land will heal again. She breathes already much easier and in the times of the undead threat, every respite is a glad one.
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Deathgrowl wrote:
DM Dialectic wrote:Triel Restoration

Some may have seen or heard of a large hurricane like event over Triel. After its alleged occurrence, it seems as if the top soil and air of Triel no longer seem foul or tainted, but instead fresh and renewed. Some dismiss this as rumor as it seems so long that many have tried to heal the land and air of Triel.
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Days after these rumours, a group gathered near the old altar of Chauntea on the land that was once Triel. The various people gathered began to plant fruits and seeds around the shrine. As they finished, they assembled in a circle to offer prayers one after the other to the Grain Goddess.

The words offered to Chauntea:


Gaervin Goldenshield: "Earth Mother Chauntea I beseech you to grant this land your boon. The land has suffered much in these past times, but we seek your aid to put that to an end. We vow to you our gratitude for your aid, we vow to you our fortitude to endure any hardships and to proceed with duty and we vow to our efforts in ridding the realm of taint and evilry. Mend this land. Please, and do it so that those that do not have a home may seek shelter, food and comfort under the shades of trees in New Triel. Not for us, but for any that may come after us."

Alison Schlump: "Chauntea, bless this land and bring forth life from what was once nothing but death. Like the circle of life. We beseach you in the name of life and freedom and beauty. Of nature."

Luke Darius: "Grain Goddess, we ask for your hand to be upon this planting, to grow and nurture it... so it will grow strong and provide for those of your faithful... so that we may reap what we sow both of the land and in our lives... "

Alesea Abbot: "O Earthmother, you command the earth to bring forth vegetation and every fruit of every kind. You provide the sower with seed and give bread to eat. Grant, we pray, that this land, enriched by your bounty and cultivated by our hands, may be fertile with abundant crops. That all will be enriched by the gifts of your goodness in this place. Grant this we pray; bless us and give success to our work." She pauses, then continues devoutly, "O Morninglord, lift Your countenance upon the scars of this land and shower it with the warmth of Your Light; with a new and fruitful Dawn so that your promises are made known to all who bear witness to its rebirth...for from death, there is life. Amen."

Kana Goodheart: "May rebirth bring back the balance of life."

Eldarian Al'maire: "We praise you for the winds, pregnant with blessings; for the clouds which navigate and for the constellations, there so high. We praise you for the fresh streams, for the endless mountains, the trees, and the grass under our feet. We praise you for our senses, to be able to see the moving splendor, to hear the songs of nature, to smell the beautiful fragrance of the spring flowers. We remember with shame that in the past we took advantage of our greater power and used it with unlimited cruelty, so much so that the voice of the earth, which should have arisen to you as a song, was turned into a moan of suffering. May we learn that living things do not live just for us, that they live for themselves and for you, and that they love the sweetness of life as much as we do, and serve you, in their place, better than we do in ours. When our end arrives and we can no longer make use of this realm, and when we have to give way to others, may we leave nothing destroyed by our ambition or deformed by our ignorance, but may we pass along our common heritage more beautiful and sweeter, without having removed from it any of its fertility and joy that you have so blessed it in Your grace. Amen."

Telia Santraeger: "Grain Goddess, once I stood here to oppose those who tried to do good. Today I stand here, to support the very same people. I hope you can see and know, that I never had intended for this foulness to befall the lands here. It has pained me and I have offered what I can do right the wrongs. I hope that you can see and feel this. Like with a different garden... - I hope that you can aid us - to bring life back."

Merlara: "The Great Mother, You have done much for us in providing life through substance yet we must ask for more. Please take back this stolen land, ease its suffering so life can flourish within your warm embrace and so all may once again experiance its beauty. "

Vendor Xon: "We return thanks to our mother, the earth, wich sustains us, we return thanks to the river and stream wich supply us with water, We return thanks to the corn and to her sisters the beans and squash, wich give us live. We return thanks to the bushes and trees wich provide us with fruit, We return thanks to the wind, moving the air, has banished diseases. Let these plants grow and help to recover the land. It has suffered to much. Let it flower. Chauntea be belessed."

Ivan: "Chauntea, a mistake was made that allowed this land to be tainted and your shrine desecrated, I hope our work here and our prayers will be able to correct that mistake, restoring your bounty and bringing life back to this desolate place."

Ameris Santraeger: "Golden Goddess, your hand is in all that grants us life. The fruits of your blessing fills the stomachs of lords and kings; and the hard working workers in the fields. Its not you who lets people go hungry; its not you who squanders your gifts in excess. You are generous to all, and free in your love to all those who would treat the land and your blessings kindly. Mortals have been unkind to the land here, and unkind to each other. Blood has watered this soil; the blood of innocents. Yet you did not withdraw your gifts; they were sundered from the land in the most horrible of ways. Even in the darkest of days there was a spark of your grace here, waiting for the penitent to find it and call it forth. We thank you for that spark; that candle you never let go out. That green shoot which we have longed to see grow. We thank you and honour you for never giving up on us, and this place. The winds of the Seldarine blew clear the taint; so that your gifts to flourish here once more. We beseech your former generosity; we ask you that the green shoot becomes a verdent harvest. We long to see green and gold here once more and ask for your blessing to make it so. A gift from you, since the dawn of time, to all of us; a symbol of man and nature in harmony, not at odds. We honour your hope for us, Golden Goddess, and we praise your name in this place holy to you. Chauntea, grant your gifts again in this place."

Laitae Lafreth: "I failed once in protecting your land, Great Mother. It was claimed by plague and maggots in my failure. I thank you for giving it one more chance and guiding my friends and me who are gathered here to try to heal it. With the help of you and Aerdrie Faenya, we succeeded in the healing. Now, Grain Goddess, we pray for you to reclaim the land that was taken from you. Expell whatever grip the Lord of Maggots still has on it. Help things grow once more, as we plant your soil with flowers and fruits. Cleanse the water that runs through your earth and the air blowing in the leaves of plants growing on it. Guide us, Chauntea, in helping you heal the land."

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After the planting and the prayers, some of the people gathered started hunting down the remaining undead stragglers roaming the area, while the rest discussed how to best tear down the old ruins to help nature reclaim the land. A task they would likely return for later.

// Deathgrowl has not spellchecked the prayers of other characters than his own and is thus not responsible for typos! //

If travelers happen by the land that was once occupied by the town Triel in recent days they may be surprised to find the topsoil a healthy shade of brown and even the deeper earth steadily losing all remnants of blight. The air they would then breath would also seem to be as clean as the most pristine forest or mountains, dramatic differences from just a few months earlier. Fewer and fewer undead and blighted creatures seem to lurk about the land as well.

In one corner of the land they might even find a truly wonderous and new sight unknown to Triel for years. A small and healthy leafing plant rises from the earth, bathing in the sun and water that sprinkles upon what may be a new Triel. But it is not Triel any longer. Civilization has left it behind. Only ruins remain. Reminders of mistakes of the past, but also of hope of even tainted earth's renewal for the future. The structures of humanity are not all that can be rebuilt by joint effort, however. In another field upon what used to be Triel, another sprouting of green shoots from the earth...and another...and another...
DM Dialectic
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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After burying many of the dead from the Battle of the Trollclaw Fords, a makeshift Tempus themed monument is setup to honor the fallen in the defense of the Baldur's Gate in the battle in the northwest corner of the Fields of the Dead near the Fords.
DM Dialectic
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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Corm Orpian-Darkhold Cooperation

Rumors spread that before the undead General of Larloch withdrew back to Warlock's Crypt in the Year of the Dragon that Corm Orp was attacked by ten or so undead teleport raiders seemingly from his army. It is also said that Zhentarim agents of Darkhold and a company of Stormwatch soldiers of the Darkhold mountain fortress successfully aided the militia of Corm Orp in defending the village against the undead raiders, leaving enough of an impression with the leaders of Corm Orp to apparently agree with the leaders of Darkhold to cooperation in patrolling the wilds around Corm Orp and Darkhold in exchange for Corm Orpian crops. Some may now see a camp of Zhentarim Outrider cavalry setup nearby Corm Orp to facilitate the Zhentarim patrols of the area, dividing up routes between Corm Orpian militia riders and the Zhentariam Outriders as is appropriate. It is said that the arrangement is temporary, but could become a permanent cooperation of forces agreement if there is no material issue.

It was allegedly made clear to the Zhentarim during negotiations that the leaders of Corm Orp still deeply mistrust the intentions of Darkhold and that there would be no occupation or limitations upon the village's freedom, only mutual cooperation against local threats to civilization outside of the village and its farmlands and no hassling of reasonable, non-disturbing, and non-hostile Zhentarim agent and officer visits to the village. It is said that one of the ruling council members of Corm Orp was particularly disgusted at this new arrangement, even if it would seem to benefit the village's security interests, but that he was in the end grudgingly persuaded by other council members, who also are said to profoundly dislike the Zhentarim's intentions, to do so to facilitate local peace and understanding with Darkhold, the strongest local military power.
[DM] Seren
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

Unread post by [DM] Seren »

It's said when cat's out of the house, mice go wild. And so it is in the Fields of the Dead as the banners of Rafferty are replaced with those of Exeter over the castle of Hillsworth. Related gossip is that a young noblewoman of charming nature has been riding around the many small hamlets of the northern sword coast, from Daggerford to as far as Gullykin, gathering whatever volunteers she can for an unnamed cause.
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DM Golem
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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Rumours spread of the trade route through Thundar's Ride being patrolled, although not by Baldur's Gate or some other settlement.

Caravan drivers speak of a body of eight or so dark clad warriors who area seen walking the route - slowly, it must be said - and hunting and killing any bugbears or similar hazards who stray too close.

Although the caravan drivers do not speak of ever seeing the mercenaries actively seeking out battle, they do say these soldiers are contributing to keeping the trade route itself safe.

When hailed, the warriors state they march under the banner of the Ebon Blade, and its generous captain. Although they are quick to say their blades will be red, if they get any trouble, no reports come back of these soldiers acting as bandits or the like.

There is some talk of how disturbed Thundar's Ride has been over the last few years, wtih infighting amongst the humanoids and then the impact of the recent war against the undead. Some caravan drivers wonder if this armed human presence might provoke a reaction from the tribes; others suggest it might keep them firmly down.
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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Original rumor regarding Soubar can be read here:
http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?p=690535#p690535
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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Soubar

It has recently been said by travelers passing through Soubar that the Ebon Blades Mercenary Company and others have helped bring a time of stability and seeming safety to Soubar over the past year despite past threats of orc, crazy Urdlen worshiping gnomes, and undead. After months of stability as a known center of tolerance for the rejected, unwanted, and dangerous of civilization, and those that do not generally fit in elsewhere, a migration of brigands, evil mages, dopplegangers, wererats and other werefolk, mercenaries down on their luck, mind flayers, scurrilous bounty hunters, nefarious dealers, those bearing curses, and others not tolerated in most communities is seen to enter Soubar.

Taken collectively, many of the new arrivals are said to speak enthusiastically of a Soubar that does not preach oppression of faith, profession, polity, pirate captain, race, or morality as compared to other settlements in the Western Heartlands "whether ruled by tyranny of Pirates, Duke, Zhentarim, Lords' Alliance, Amn, Conclave, Innkeeper, Elf, Gnome, Dwarf, Fisherperson, Orc, or other so called 'rulers'." As free, but stable, a place that beings can gather in to be who they are, as long as they don't cause too much trouble in the process.

As the new creatures settle, it is said that that Soubar seems to become a sort of hiring fair of such beings not elsewhere wanted. Mysterious Mag of the Winding Way tavern in Soubar, said to be both more than what she seems and a former flame of Grand Duke Belt, keeps the peace among the lawless, with her secretive methods as to how allegedly terrifying some of the new inhabitants. How more orderly organizations based nearby Soubar such as the Ebon Blades Mercenary Company handle the influx now taking place in Soubar remains to be seen.
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DM Soulcatcher
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Re: DM Rumors of the Northern Sword Coast

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An unusual band of two humans, dwarf and a half-elven necromancer were found dead near the edge of High Moor, connecting with Serpent Hills. It's said the four were bandits that used to attack travelers coming near High Moors, but also two adventurers were found next to them. A random band of adventurers seem to have rescued the two and brought to the nearest temple for bringing them back to life. It turned out both of them work for Darius Holding Company, but what happened at the campsite of those bandits- remains a mystery
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