The Ashbury Times
October 613
“All The News That Fits, We Print”
End of Days for Vansir
At eleven bells on August the
24th, a powerful field of energy surrounded the Vansir Reclaim,
trapping those inside and preventing all forms of communication or travel into
or out of the Reclaim. Thirteen days
later the field dissipated, once again allowing travel in and out.
Answering the call of Count Ulthoc, a large force of adventurers had traveled to the
outskirts of the Reclaim and when the field fell, made preparations to enter
and investigate. As the adventurers attempted
to enter, a massive force of Vansir attacked from within the Reclaim. The Vansir wore war paint that looked like a
green skull and screamed phrases like “false Count” and “varg” as they attacked the forces lead by Count Ulthoc. As the
battle continued, a war chief of this tribe of Vansir appeared. His name was Murghan
Boneblade and he claimed to lead the Wraith tribe.
During a brief lull in the
battle, Boneblade declared that Count Ulthoc was varg and that none he
led respected the authority of the Count.
According to Boneblade, over the past two
weeks the Arturan Bear had escaped his confinement
and wrought death upon the Vansir within the Reclaim. A population of nearly 90,000 Vansir had been
decimated by the Arturan Bear, estimated to currently
be roughly 6,000. All tribal leaders had
been permanently slain and the only reason that any were still alive is that
the Jade Skeleton had provided the Vansir with golden chains to once again trap
it. The remaining Vansir had formed the
Wraith tribe, loyal to the Jade Skeleton and led by Boneblade. All other Vansir could join or would be slain
along with the varg they stood by.
The battle commenced and despite
powerful opposition from the Wraith tribe, the adventurers eventually slew Boneblade. But this
action proved futile. Upon death he
exploded into flame and rose again, seemingly emulating the way the
The new threat of Boneblade and the Wraith tribe was magnified by another
problem discovered during the battle: healing magic simply wasn’t
functioning as well as it should.
Curative spells restored the recipient stamina and repaired debilitating
injuries, but the bruises, cuts, and some internal injuries remained. This forced many healers to resort to
physical bandages and field surgery to stem the bleeding of those injured in
battle. It was later determined that the
reason the magic was weakened was that the recent slaughter had filled the
Reclaim with uncontrolled death energy that directly countered the normal workings
of curative magic.
As the evening progressed,
explanations slowly emerged. The Vansir
history is a rather complicated one and, as it turns out, intimately tied to a
pair of dragons. Originally the Vansir
were enslaved by a race called Jotuns, giants with
elemental abilities. These creatures
were bound to the dragon Wyngarior. For unknown reasons, the dragon Arturos taught the secrets of iron and Earth to the
Vansir. The Vansir used this knowledge
to rebel and attack the Jotuns before escaping their
enslavement to the mortal plane. For
interfering with another dragon the Draco, a council
similar in nature to a paladin council, punished Arturos
with a curse. The curse turned him into
a bear and could only be broken when the spirits of all the Vansir were in the
wind. In this form Arturos
is compelled to slay the Vansir, but he spent the majority of the curse bound
by golden chains that completely immobilize him and allow him freedom of
thought and will.
In addition to the history of
the Vansir, the history of Ashbury itself was tied into current events. Six years prior Ashbans had intervened in an
elemental imbalance. With the aid of the
Wraith tribe attacks
continued the next day as well as a new foe, also associated with Boneblade. Warrior
women, called the Vra, appeared via rifts and
attacked various members of Nordenn. Similar to Charnal
Assassins, they mentally repelled all but a single individual and were immune
to harm from any but that individual.
Three appeared at a time and attacked their target as a group, rifting
the target away once they had downed him or her.
Squire Jovunn,
Thurisaz, Noot, and Telokh were all captured and transported to an unknown
location. There they were met by Boneblade, who attempted to recruit at least some of them,
and eventually killed them all. Their burning
dead bodies were all returned in time for a life spell to be administered. Squire Dorian creatively used a circle of
power to force the Vra to agree to single combat and
after winning his battle, refused to travel with them. Huleen, another
target, simply ran away.
Later the Vra
returned for Squire Kailani, Ketemycos,
Alda, and Victoria Galloway. These individuals were also brought to Boneblade, who was upset with the Vra
because he had not requested them. The
Jade Skeleton then appeared and exhibited another new power. He stopped time and explained to the four
individuals that he has taken such interest in that Boneblade
had a Land Bond of Fire, which is why he seemed immortal. He also made it clear that he personally had
a Land Bond of Chaos, though this information was no surprise to those
present. As usual he offered his
“protection” to his chosen, healing and granting them protective
gifts, and as usual, they wanted nothing to do with him.
The Jade Skeleton’s
information was confirmed by the Dragon Mage Zalinarik
when he appeared after Natalia creatively summoned
him by sending him a message that he would be provided cake if he
appeared. Zalinarik
explained that the Jade Skeleton and Boneblade were
all part of a great game that also included Zalinarik
and Morganna and used to include Tranquis. The game took place on a grand scale and
simply killing a major piece did little because the essence of that piece would
transfer to another person and the game would continue.
Since Boneblade
currently controlled the Land Bond of Fire, his death would simply cause that
Land Bond and the associated powers to transfer to another. Zalinarik believed
there was an opportunity here to potentially choose or at least influence who
the next player in the game was.
Additionally, after listening to the information about Arturos, he suggested a number of options. All were bad, but basically the choices came
down to killing Arturos or breaking his curse. While slaying Arturos
would presumably save the remaining Vansir, many questioned whether it was wise
given that Wyngarior sought that exact result and had
in fact blackmailed the adventurers by threatening to loose the OberJarl if it wasn’t done and kill the OberJarl if it was.
This left only the option of
removing the curse. There was a brief discussion
of trying to take advantage of the letter of the wording of the curse and
Spirit Walk all the Vansir at the same time, but Zalinarik
was rather confident this tactic would not work. Eventually, with the agreement of the Vansir
present, it was decided that Arturos needed to be
released and allowed to kill all of the Vansir at the same time and none were
to be resurrected until every single spirit was on the wind.
With this plan weighing
heavily on the hearts of many, since it required the death of thousands,
including Dame Jovunn, Thurisaz,
and Count Ulthoc, night fell. Wraith tribe attacks continued during the
night as did Jotun attacks. The most devastating attack was that of the OberJarl. It
appeared and decimated nearly all it encountered. The OberJarl seemed
to be near invincible until Raven of the Gilded Claw unleashed nearly his
entire celestial might into the powerful beast.
The onslaught of Raven’s magic was the final straw necessary to
break the back of the OberJarl and finally destroy
him, removing the hanging threat of Wyngarior if Arturos was not killed.
Count Ulthoc
then made a surprising decision that put the welfare of the people of Ashbury
above the traditions of his race. He
ordered Raven to Spirit Store into his golem and return to the Reclaim. The golem’s immunity to fire was going
to be critical if Boneblade was possibly to be
defeated.
The next day all of those who
had gathered to assist the Reclaim made a final push to free Arturos and defeat Boneblade. The battle raged on for quite some time as Boneblade attacked furiously and was supported by his most
powerful warriors. The Arturan Bear was clearly visible, bound in golden chains,
but he was also guarded by an unmoving Vra. None could approach the Vra
except for Raven, due to his golem’s immunity to mental powers and Boneblade himself and Raven could not injure the Vra. Raven attempted
to break the chains, but to no avail, the only thing that could break the
chains was the Sword of Goban, wielded by Telokh’s wife Meeda, who
could not get near Arturos due to the presence of the
Vra.
When Count Ulthoc started to notice that Boneblade
could approach the Vra, he formed a plan. Raven, immune to the fiery powers of Boneblade, challenged him in combat and lured him near the Vra. When Raven
killed Boneblade, his explosion injured the Vra. Unfortunately,
despite the obscenity laced tirade of Count Ulthoc,
not everyone was on the same page when it came to this plan and some present
ended up slaying Boneblade while he was not near the Vra, including Izer who twice
slew Boneblade with no effect other than injuring
himself and other nearby heroes.
Eventually Raven once again
tricked Boneblade into fighting near the Vra and this time slew Boneblade
when he and the Vra were nearly cheek to cheek. The resulting explosion killed the Vra, allowing Meeda to strike at
the golden chains with the Sword of Goban.
Free of his enslavement, Arturos immediately cast a race change on Meeda changing her to Stone Elf. Then Arturos
released his anger on all of the remaining Wraith tribe Vansir, obliterating
each and every one of them except for Boneblade
himself. Boneblade
still resisted his power. Somehow Arturos determined a way to circumvent this resistance by
empowering Kantil with the ability to deliver a
destructive blow that channeled the power of an obliteration. Struck in this way Boneblade
could not revive in an explosion of flame.
His power fled him and jumped inside the nearby Magma Golem that Raven was inhabiting. This
ejected the dead body of Raven and the now seemingly sentient Magma Golem
walked away as the newest member of Zalinarik’s
great game.
Only one thing remained to be
done and that was for the curse to be lifted on Arturos,
which required the deaths of the three remaining Vansir. Reining in his power, Arturos
challenged each of the Vansir to one on one combat. They each put up their best fight, but none
could contend with the power of a dragon and Count Ulthoc,
Thurisaz, and Dame Jovunn
were each slain in turn. Arturos then left, presumably free of the curse upon him.
One more was to die before
the day was over. As nearly everyone
quickly made their way to the
All
successfully resurrected, though Thurisaz,
resurrected before Count Ulthoc, used a Sacrifice
ritual on her spirit to assure the resurrection of Count Ulthoc. How many of the Wraith tribe members slain in
that final assault managed to resurrect is still not known, but the Vansir
numbers are at best in the low thousands and likely in the hundreds.
Storyteller Records Last Words of Vansir
The Storyteller, a minion of
the Registrar, appeared to record the final words of those who were assumed to
be permanently dying shortly during the Dying of the Vansir. Baroness Ezri, Dame
Jovunn, Count Ulthoc, Thurisaz, and Simon of the
Storyteller: “A chapter is ending. It is fitting that the last who remain write
the epitaph.”
Ulthoc: “You are mistaken in assuming death is
the end. Dozens of heroes have gone to
permanent death. Their deeds inspire
us. I do not fear death. A man came here who was dead for a year and
he nearly brought us to tears.”
Storyteller: “Now that you have precisely described
my function, is there anything you would like to say?”
Ezri: “If the end is tomorrow or 30 years from
now, he will record it and remember you for the future. Go ahead.”
Thurisaz: “There is never no
choice. We chose to remember, to forget,
to be the same, to move. I chose to
live, to fight, to defend. Anyone who claims I have no choice will feel
my wrath.”
Jovunn: “I was not raised knowing love or
family. When I got to Fairedale 3 years ago, a great man showed me love within
three minutes. It was the single most
important moment in my life. When I say
I love my country, I know love. I know
my family. Everyone who crosses my path
is family and is as good as blood. As I
lay my life down tomorrow, I would have done it for any of you. You are the only thing worth preserving.”
Ulthoc: “I’ll talk to you on Monday,
storyteller.”
Jovunn: (Recites
the Code of Chivalry) “Not the path for everyone, but I chose it and will
lay down my life by it.”
Thurisaz: “The strength of evil is power. The strength of good is friends. With friends like these, you have no power
over me.”
Simon: “Someone bigger is pulling these
strings.”
Storyteller: “I wish you well until we meet
again.”
Spirit Farewell for Baron Harrison;
New Knights and Squires Named
Saturday, the 7th
of September, 613, saw the brief return of one of the most beloved Ashbury
nobles in recent history. A Spirit
Farewell was performed for Harrison of Nordenn. In respect of all the man had done for
Ashbury, Count Ulthoc restored his title for duration
of the ritual, once again dubbing him Baron Harrison.
The emotions that were shared
during the Spirit Farewell do not need record nor would is it appropriate to record
them. With full respect to his Excellency,
all that will be recorded about the personal farewells was that he was much loved, he was as good a man as he had been in life, and that
he danced beautifully with Natalia.
Before the ritual completed,
Count Ulthoc called forward Squire Jovunn and Squire Dorian of Nordenn. With Baron Harrison as witness, he raised
both squires to the rank of knight. Baron
Harrison further honored Sir Dorian by presenting the new knight with his
personal white belt, which, in all violation of known magical principles,
remained after the ritual ended.
As the ritual came to an end,
Baron Harrison spoke a few final words:
“Close your eyes. I want you to see beyond this room. I want you to see farms, schools, commoners.
Those are who you defend, who you die to protect. Everyone, look to your
leaders, they have given up their personal pursuits for you. The Code of
Chivalry is an ideal. An ideal is something you strive for. It must always be
out of reach, so you continue to strive. They will make mistakes. When they do, gently remind them, support
them. If you look on them with the love they look upon you, if we are united,
Icenia is strong and will triumph. If they are divided, Icenia is divided.”
Three adventurers were
awarded with squire belts during the first weekend of September of 613. Baroness Ezri
awarded dryad Kailani with her belt after roughly a
year spent in the court of Ash
A Note on the State of
by His Honor, Count Ulthoc Crownsmith
I have taken these few months to
review the state of affairs within Corrheim.
Much to His Grace’s and my disappointments, Corrheim
is not yet controlled enough to fully function as a Barony of the Realm.
To this end, by my Authority and
with the blessings of His Grace, I officially declare a state of Martial
Law, and establish the Corrheim Military District.
This will allow the Ducal and Baronial Military forces currently
entrenched within Corrheim to not only work toward
further gains and controlled regions within Corrheim,
but will also allow for the assignment of military assets to the
protection, defense, and restructure of the non-military infrastructure (which
I’m told is a fancy word for “bridges, roads, and tunnels.”)
My intention is to divide the Corrheim Military District into two flanks—an Eastern
and Western—each under the command of a Lord Captain, both of whom shall
report directly to the auspices of Lord General Gondrik Windwalker. I am in discussions with Lord General Windwalker as we speak as to whom he feels is best suited
for these commands, and expect that he will make a public decision within a
fortnight.
I do not make this decree lightly,
nor do I make it without knowledge of the past. I know the peoples of this
territory have suffered under military regimes before. I
give you my oath that the past is not repeating itself. I have full
faith in our armed forces to continue to work for the betterment of the
common person, and to see to their fulfillment until such time
as a true Baronial Court can be appointed to the task—which is my first
priority to see to personally.
Once again, in closing, allow
me to repeat these actions are being taken for the betterment of the common
people of Corrheim, to make sure their needs are not
neglected during the necessary stage of building a proper Court. For any
who would doubt these words and see this as an opportunity to take advantage of
the citizenry of Corrheim, I would suggest you
examine the recent actions in Nordenn to see just how
seriously I take my vow to defend this kingdom and its people.
Healer’s Guild Report
I am happy to report that our
training missions across the duchy are having an effect, as more people are
learning basic healing skills to help them in more rural farming areas. The generous donations of the adventurers and
nobles of Ashbury has aided us greatly in this, and I
thank everyone.
I expect the healers to check
in with me Friday nights. During breakfast on Saturday, we will have our usual
meeting. I believe we have some interviews afterwards as well. I will be available to teach alchemy, and
healing.
Guildmistress Zatarina
Norik
Letters and
Missives
Telokh Amdo left Saribdis six years ago
to find his true path. Through unexpected circumstances he found himself part a
family, living among a people as different from himself as one could imagine.
Their ways became his ways. Now, it is as if it always was. Telokh
Amdo is no more. Telokh Stonebear, Telokh the Wise,
stands in his place. A proud remnant of the Bear tribe of the
Vansir.
As I begin my journey to find
the remains of my people thoughts weigh on my mind. Where will the ones we find
go? Will they have a home to return to? The Reclaim will surely be deemed too
large to maintain for the handful of us that remain. I do not have answers to
these questions, but I will meditate on them often. Perhaps, one day, there
will be enough Vansir to claim a land of our own. Until then, by Earth and Sky,
by Fire and Water, my search will not end.
My Battle Brothers and
Sisters, my friends, I know not when I will see you again. Until that day, be
proud, be strong and fight for what is right and just.
In honor,
Telokh
Stonebear
A Little Birdie
Told Me
by
Sue D’Onym
Hello, drearies! Time for another installment of News They
Don’t Want You to Know!
Starting off my column today, I just wanted to tell everyone: I was
right! Count Ulthoc and Baroness Ezri are unquestionably a couple, and a
quite adorable one at that. As Ulthoc lay dying, presumably never to stand again, Ezri bestowed a kiss upon him that quite clearly revealed
her long hidden feelings, though anyone who saw the couple at breakfast that
morning would already have known how cozy they were.
Speaking of Nordenn, I have to wonder about
one of the two new squires. Squire Aggrizel
certainly deserves his new position, but I have to wonder about Squire Vox. The ex-Flaming Balls member and current
Gilded Claw member wasn’t a member of Nordenn
until the moment he was squired and we’ve all seen how well that has
worked with Squire Sornelintion
over the past year. Also, apparently
despite being squired, Vox hasn’t broken ties
with the Gilded Claw, a fact which seems be annoying both members of the Gilded
Claw and members of Nordenn. I’m not sure either group is going to
continue to want him though after he dominated a member of the Wraith tribe who
later demanded Vox marry
him. I hear the marriage ceremony was
brief but beautiful.
Dame Jovunn
and Sir Dorian also apparently found
a rather special way to celebrate their good fortunes. They disappeared into a private room together
and when someone accidentally opened the door later, they were hugging and
quickly insisted the door be closed. Was
Kantil
jealous? Maybe. He was overheard saying he would have
accepted Jovunn’s marriage proposal if things
had been different at the time.
Hopefully the dragon he is currently engaged to doesn’t read the Ashbury Times.
I have a question. Can anybody
explain what a “lord squire” is?
Grim has been using this
title for some time now and I don’t think even he knows what it means.
Finally, it looks like Tvard may actually have won his ongoing debate about the
effectiveness of traditional medicine and surgery, at least this once. But how many times can he really expect to be
in a land where magical healing fails due to an overwhelming number of
obliterations?
That’s all for this
month, and remember, if you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit by
me.