Rumors of Amn

[calvinus]

Watcher Wai Li and the Everwatch, with a few associates, might be seen leaving the Nashkel mines within the past tenday. The Everwatch hold banners of Helm and proclaim in good mood: "The Southeast Mines are Reclaimed for Nashkel! PRAISE HELM! IT IS SO AFTER OVER A DECADE!"

[DaloLorn]

Over the past month, a peculiar young woman has loitered around Nashkel, resting at the Northern Lights or waiting at the gazebo in the south of the village. Her spirit weary and broken, and her body atrophied after months of neglect, she made no secret of her objective: Securing an audience with the Inquisition's new ally, the half-celestial known as Castus the Fallen. On the next dawn, she got her wish, nearly being beheaded before she was instead flown into the foothills to the south to resume their conversation. Whatever they spoke of, she remained unharmed, albeit stranded in hostile territory, until her recovery by an Inquisition patrol.

But two brushes with death, it seems, were not enough for the forlorn pilgrim. After much consideration, she had a letter delivered to Castus, and returned to the gazebo to await him. This time, the conversation was carried out in full at the gazebo... as was the girl's subsequent summary execution over the objections of the High Inquisitor.

Yet the strangest was still to come.

How quick you are to offer now. Just a few minutes too late... Hmph. You may yet have me, in the end... but you know me better than most. I have a petty, vindictive streak, and so many reasons to resent you. Mother. Father. Rynn.

Her attention shifts [away from the Nightsinger] to the Lady of Mysteries. I don't know how I can show anyone much of anything anymore, least of all when I don't know it myself... but I'm feeling spiteful enough to try, if you still wish it.

After everyone had left the gazebo, and before anyone could come to take the body away for burial, an otherworldly glow enveloped the gazebo, pouring its power into the blood-soaked figure at its center. When the light subsided, the body was gone, along with any doubt: Whatever dark powers held the Weave at bay in Nashkel, they could not stand up to the power of the gods themselves. Not here. Not yet.

As for who had taken an interest in this young fool, or what they wished with her? It would be a while longer before Amn knew. However, up in the north in Baldur's Gate, onlookers could have seen a similar light manifest in the antechamber of the Temple of Mystra, giving way to the sudden gasps of restored life. The half-sun elven sorceress Aela Lathyaan, once severed from the Weave by her own spiritual agony, and driven to darker paths away from these familiar halls... had returned.

[Deragnost]

After some time, flyers would seem to spread in Nashkel and its surroundings. Scrolls of Web, indeed, were found by the people.

Scrolls of Web were found.

*There is a writing behind these scrolls. It seems, much like the other flyers, they want to bring news to the populace. There's a drawing, representing broken chains, at the top and at the bottom of the message.*

The Dutchess of Spring has spoken.

It is always easy to fall into a Web of Lies, and intrigue, especially when you don't know you fell into it.
A Dragonfly fights for the freedom it deserves, silently or making a lot of noise, but it never, ever, destroys what we most cherish dear.

Zealotry is dangerous on both sides.

Tyrelius, the Thrice-Judged, does not seek freedom for his people, the freedom to have their own choices, to work together with those who are not gifted with the Arcane. No, he seeks control, he seeks power, he seeks annihilation, making it worse for all the Arcanists.

The mission of the Voice of Freedom, of Echo , of Resonance, has always been - and always will be, to prove Amn and the Mage Hunters that they are wrong. That we can contain our magic, that we can use it for the right cause, and without becoming what they most fear.

They proved today, with their accusations, that the Inquisition does NOT care about people. They care only to crush the mages under their heel. Even if they're children. Even if it means torturing children, killing them, in the name of a greater cause. Afterall, even Tyrelius was a child, no? Afterall, even Castus was a child, yes? Even the High Inquisitor Vakkar was a child...

Is it a sin to be a child?

The Voice of Freedom FIGHTS against those extremes, because what people really needs is not a world filled with oppression - but a world that knows that we are just the same.

The Voice of Freedom fights for the right of equality and freedom, but we will not become murderers because of this.

If you also share our beliefs, if you also want to see this tyranny to end, then know this:
you are not alone.
Join us, brothers and sisters in freedom, for today is the day to sing of our liberty.

In memory of Echo, who still lives: a non mage willing to stand against oppression of all arcanists.

*It is signed as.*

- Dragonfly
- Resonance
- Echo
- Dutchess

and many others.

[selhan]

*Residence in Neshkal would see a familiar face of the man known as Sel whos been rumored to hunt for criminal mages. He makes for the outpost asking to meet the High Inquisition. While lingering in Amn, he's notice to been keeping a watchful eye on the Adjutant Marcus.*

[selhan]

Prep For Battle? Or Prep for Impeding Doom?



“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all,
but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness,
nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

=RUMORS IN AMN=

Those that either live in the town of Neskhal or travelers passing through, would see a large force of Helm Guards and Priests listening to orders of the Watchpriest. And across the main road many of Amnish soldiers along side a larger force of Mage Hunters and the Inquisition listening to words by the High Inquisitor. The Mayor Ghaskill and Adjutant Marcus was also present. Even for a town that knows war, there were two questions in the mind of one passerby.

Are they preparing for Battle?


Or were they awaiting an Impeding doom?


"A large scale battle is not something I have ever experienced. I'm no soldier nor have I ever been to a war. I've heard tales and read many books that would describe large battlefields painted with blood. My battles were never on a large scale, but I have had my experience with the ground painted with blood. My fights are normally concluded quickly, and never in the open. But as I look up to the dark sinister floating tower that I had recently scouted, I will say this surely will be one of the most interesting battles I may have ever have to experience. And as much as I rather not get involved, Lockheart is up there somewhere and I need her alive by any means necessary."

The tension in the air was thick, dust danced all around from marching soldiers. The Sun gazed down over the town of Neskhal except from the very large shadow from the floating tower that shrouded areas like a dreadful omen. Will the Floating Tower cause the destruction of Neskhal? Will the town see bodies plummeting to their deaths? One can only wonder just how many will die before the end of a tenday.

[calvinus]

In the past tenday or so, it is said that Watcher Wai Li is seen traveling to and from Athkatla for a meeting with the Council of Six. She appears sad at the outcome of the meeting many might say upon returning north to Nashkel. It would seem though that she does not have long to linger on the result...as soon after returning from Athkatla, Wai attends a public event of the Inquisition where Tyrelius launches a surprise attack upon Nashkel including positioning his magical sky fortress above the town and kidnaping Secretary Lockheart of the Inquisition as ransom to kill Castus the Fallen.

After the surprise attack, Wai and other officers of the Everwatch are seen going about Nashkel preparing the town's defenses and offenses by coordinating with the Temple of Helm, Inquisition, regional neighbors, and Mayor Ghastkill, as well as the offensive and defensive effort against Tyrelius amongst a variety of adventurer allies from the north... "FOR THE GLORY OF AMN! HELM PROTECT NASHKEL!" She would try to steel those of the town and Amn opposing Tyrelius in the coming battle... Those that might speak to her more privately, however, might notice how concerned she is that this battle might be the end of Nashkel entirely, a town she has called home for over a decade...Perhaps then, others might notice that this sober concern somehow only sharpens her vigil for the coming conflict...

[Darradarljod1]

In the stillness of every misted sunrise and smokey sunset, echoing through the hills about Nashkel, the long and ominous din of a Northman raider's great horn sounds. Thunderous doom impending then he bellows down from the hilltops upon the village;

"DEFILERS! OATH-BREAKERS! DOOMED MEN AND TRAITORS!

I AM WULFRIK, SON OF HANS, SON OF TOR - SLAYER, AND SLAVE, OF THE COLD GODDESS!

I DEMAND THE RANSOM FOR YOUR CRAVEN SOULS!

SEND FORTH EVERY FIRST-BORN SON OF NASHKEL INTO THE CLOUDED PEAKS! LADEN THEM WITH YOUR OFFERINGS, THAT THEIR LIVES AND YOUR WEALTH MAY TOGETHER BE OFFERED UPON THE ICE!

YOU MAY YET SPARE YOUR DOOM!"

[calvinus]

In the early days of the third month of 1360 DR, the Everwatch are said to vigil in a patrol to the Cloud Peaks to again attempt to consecrate and destroy any rebuilding of the ruins of the Icedawn from the war the previous year as they have tried to do monthly since the summer of 1359 DR. They also are said to try to check in on the tribe of the frost giants that allied with the Aurilites in the war and attempt to cull any of them about, including their present leadership.

[calvinus]

The Council of Six of Glorious Amn on the 17th of the 2nd Month of 1360 DR... It is said that Watcher Wai Li attends an acrimonious and heated meeting with the Council of Six of Amn in their Council House in Athkatla, with Captain Sinoc Haven as witness. Some might hear that Wai forcefully argues for her patriotism to Amn and loyalty to the Council and her adopted country in justifying all of her actions that the Council of Six finds politically problematic. In the end, the Council is rumored to offer her a deal of swearing a personal loyalty oath to the Council of Six with no exceptions and no ability to resign from office along with a pigeon holed Ambassadorship office as a test and offer of personal loyalty to the Council. When Wai refused it is said, she was charged by the Council with political crimes of sedition, disrespect, and insubordination against the Council of Six and her Amnian office as delegate for the Northern Baronies of Amn and other Amnian authority stripped from her entirely. Pending a trial later in the year, Wai is disallowed from traveling outside of Amn rumors say.

Hidden: show

Later in the second month of 1360 DR, the Everwatch are said to engage in joint battle with the Inquisition and friends of Nashkel against the forces of Tyrelius and the Arcane Liberation Front. Luckily, with combined effort, it is said that Nashkel is saved from destruction, Tyrelius is seemingly defeated, and the hostage of Tyrelius, Lockheart, is rescued alive.

Hidden: show

[Lynendar]

A feast of the dead

Travelers on the way to Nashkel have been scared off the road at the horrid display that they found waiting for them on the Trade Way, around midnight 29 Ches 1360.
A gruesome assembly of various undead, led by a floating skull, was witnessed devouring the remains of a gnome, while hissing rhymes in unnatural stutters:





By the number of reports during the course of the night, the feast must have continued for quite some time, entirely undisturbed...

[calvinus]

It is rumored that in recent days, Watcher Wai Li lead a patrol into the Cloud Peaks, facing the spring cold temperatures of the mountains, but appropriately prepared. There, the team attempted to patrol about the ruins of the Icedawn for any signs of re-emergence of the Aurilite fanatics as well as the Frost Giant Keep.




Additionally, Watcher Wai Li is said to have received reports of an alleged necromancer and blood mage up to no good in the Greenfields and Trade Way north of Amn, which she may have been seen promptly and appropriately reporting to town and Temple of the Guardian authorities.

[ronmp3]

Weather in Nashkel was uncommonly restless during recent night, it was snowing heavily, wind slammed doors and windows loudly. Some people could hear flapping wings suppressed by howling wind. In the morning, following parchments could be found in various places, scattered through the town.

Hidden: show

You wasted precious resources and lives to destroy our Temple

You thought your efforts could unseat the Icedawn’s sovereignty in Cloud Peaks

You send your Helmite cult to cull our faithful, desecrate our holy sites, and do the bidding of the repulsive Inquisition

You thought your despicable Fallen Angel could protect you from the Icedawn's wrath

Your Fallen Angel thinks he can defy the Goddesses of Winter, the Weave, and Shadow Weave

In fact your Fallen Angel thinks he can defy ALL gods

Yet here you are, a year later, once again caught in the frozen grip of the Icedawn while Spring dawns beyond

What despicable folly

Who or what will you wage another pointless war against this time?

Respect for the Icedawn and She will spare you

The Helmite Cult crusade desecrating our holy sites and culling our faithful will only earn you Her continual fury

The Icedawn has reigned over these lands long before the existence of your settlement and will continue to reign long after

You are only here because She allows it

Do not further incite Her wrath if you value your way of life


Church of Auril

[Lynendar]

Carnival of the Dead



Following the first sightings, more undead have been pouring into the Uldoon Rail on the night of 6 Tarsakh 1360. Under the crimson light of the red moon, an entire horde of shades, ghouls, ghasts, and rotting corpses was seen shambling up and down the road, killing anything on its path and hissing ominous verses.

Surprisingly, the horde was seen despoiling and desecrating land both south and north of Nashkel, yet none of the Amnian authorities within the town itself spotted trace of it passing through.



More often than not, the undead appear to gravitate around the broken remains of Tyrelius's tower. In their grim patroling, they have also edging closer and closer to the town of Greenest, their raucous howling echoing from the hill under which the village lays...

[DaloLorn]

A young half-elf, last seen in Amn the morning after the siege of Tyrelius' tower, could have been observed approaching Nashkel by the northern road. She is a powerful sorceress, and she makes no effort to conceal it (save that her wards are likely suppressed by Castus' aura long before she comes into view, and she dismisses them either way before any Amnians could misconstrue her presence as hostile). Her presence is forbidden, and she knows it. Her fate is unclear, but she confronts it without fear.

Whether she is taken by the Inquisition or allowed to sequester herself in the House of the Guardian, rumors would surely spread that she bore an urgent letter for High Inquisitor Vakkar. It must have been a grave matter indeed, that she would approach the Inquisition so openly, and with such equanimity... Certainly, her visage has not looked so grim since her fateful search for Castus months ago, though her health seems greatly improved, and she seems burdened not by apathy and despair, but rather a difficult mission.

It is the face of imminent defeat; of desperation tempered by grim determination; of one last ray of hope amidst the looming darkness. Only time would tell if this desperate gamble could turn the tide...

[BoostedAnimal]

On the night of the trial, a fierce wind sent hundreds of paperflies swirling through the streets, each bearing a mocking image of the trial's practitioners and a biting poem on its back. As Sylvanor made his way to The Gate, he recited the poem aloud, his voice echoing through the air. Bards and traders listened intently, spreading the words further, as the paperflies danced in the wind, carrying the tale throughout the coast.

At the trial's onset, a ghastly sight,
A beaten man alight, the crowd in fright.
Stripped of all dignity, engulfed in flames,
His agonized screams echoing his shames.

Yet amidst this horror, the Helmite's voice,
Singing of glory, as if by choice.
In such disgrace, they claimed a righteous deed,
As the stench of charred flesh did their chants feed.

In the crooked courts of Nashkel, where lies are the law,
A farcical trial unfolds, riddled with flaw.
Tyrelius the mage, a butcher unbound,
Stood smiling in chains, with darkness around.

Advocate Eloy, a Rhonmark snake,
His duty forsaken, for corruption’s sake.
A theater of justice, so vile and so crude,
Where the guilty are sheltered, and the truth is subdued.

The Inquisition, poor at hunting mages,
Excelled only in their torturous rages.
Their case, thin and feeble, a pitiful sight,
They could only show Lockheart, who prolonged the night.

Dhaerys Lockheart, with a tale so grand,
Claimed she fought a Wyvern, with bare hands.
Her voice, a weak tremble, her story bizarre,
Only a drooling pirate in the front row could believe her char.

And when the judgment like darkness fell,
The Inquisition stood, their efforts to quell.
"House arrest!" the Tribunal jest,
Under Rhonmark's wing, a nest of theft.

Like fish out of water, gasping for creed,
In a court that mocks justice, where the corrupt lead.
The court’s vile nature then fully swelled,
A mockery of justice, unabashedly upheld.

But Castus, his wrath could not be tamed,
With axe in hand, his justice claimed.
He aimed at Tyrelius, to cleave his fate,
In the court of shadows, amid deceit's bait.

First, a fiend stepped forth, dark kin to save,
Thwarting the blow, so cunning and grave.
Then a Hoarite corrupt, against his own creed,
Stood to obstruct, as the fiend did lead.

Together they blocked, a sinister pair,
Yet Castus swung true, through the foul air.
But in this den of deceit and spite,
Only corruption could quench the fight.

Enraged, Hieron Ampbel commanded the chase,
Led by the fiend, yet none could match the pace.
Only the giant, Magnus, with forceful blow,
Wrenched the axe, halting Castus’ flow.

Outnumbered, yet undaunted by the vast host,
Castus made his escape, his spirit engrossed.
His weapon shattered, his path a bold veer,
He vanished into the night, leaving shadows to mourn.

Behind him, the Helmite shook her fist in rage,
Angry that justice had escaped her cage.
Her cries of fury filled the air,
As Castus fled, her schemes laid bare.

In Nashkel’s halls, a joke so vile,
Where liars parade and thieves beguile.
This bard’s bitter tale ends, where the vilest jest,
In a town so foul, where even the pure are defiled.
Justice weeps silently, forever exiled.