Oathring Stolen from Vansir Reclaim
by Thanos Greytongue
If you hear a Vansir swear
something upon an oath ring, you can be assured that they will keep their word.
Swearing upon an oath ring is the most binding of all promises among the Vansir, and one of their oldest traditions.
The original Oathring, sworn
upon by Anadra War-Tongue in the old times and kept
safe inside the inner most sanctums of the Reclaim’s
Netherheim, was reported missing on the 21st night of
the Turtle, 607. Initially protected within one of the Chambers of Lore within
the great mountain, Shaman Vahn Spiritwalker
was appalled to find the three Ghost tribe protectors of the Cave arriving as
spirits in his circle for resurrection.
Among them, the blind Skald Nia ShadowSight seemed most
distraught. She recounted that during the night, she could hear the other two
of her company felled in the doorway of the cave as she sat vigil over the
ring. In turn, she could only hear the scraping of stone, and the hot breath of
something as it moved closer. Another set of footsteps, and words of eldritch
magic left her as if having faced the mouth of a dragon twice over. What only
felt like mere moments passed as another spell left her stuck to the spot, and
suddenly she was awake inside the circle once more.
As Vahn called for the guard
to return to the Cave, it was obvious what had happened. The granite statue of Anadra was cracked; and in turn the stone hands that held
aloft the iron Oathring were now empty.
The news in turn spread through the tribes like wild
fire, especially in light of the Ducal Individual Tournament formally being
held this year in the Reclaim.
“This is a disgrace to our nation’s pride and
people,” Chief Anund of the Fox tribe was heard
saying as he shifted his tribe along the Reclaim’s
western border in hope to keep the thief from seeking refuge in Partridge or Dwarvenholm.
Joining the search will also be Dryn BristleThorn, one of the great scouts of the Wolf tribe. It
is said that her tracking ability is second to none, and in turn, after having
looked over the entire cave, she has vowed that her scouting party will not rest until she
returns the Oathring to its rightful place.
Following the attack on Deathwatch a few months back,
the trolls of Trellheim (or “Trollheim” as some locals are calling it these days)
have struck into Dwarrenagor.
Some adventurers successfully defeated the trolls and
destroyed several outposts, which wounded them quite a bit, but they were not
to be undone.
After an earthquake caused a large lake to drain, the
ruins of what appears to be an ancient dwarven city
were uncovered near Bera’s Outpost, a bit north
of Deathwatch. During excavation by the Icenian
Institute of Archaeology, the troll attacks began. Like moths to a flame, the
trolls seem to be drawn to the site, though the scholars there have yet to
determine the reason.
Dwarves from Trollsgate, Dwarrenagor and Dwarvenholm are
all planning to head Bera’s Outpost come spring
to determine who has rights to the ruins and why the trolls are drawn to the
area.
“An encampment has been
set up and any adventurers who wish to assist are welcome,” stated dwarven King Kelanor of Trollsgate.
“There is even a rumor that His Grace may attend.”
Hero’s Tournament to be Held in Vansir Reclaim
As previously
announced, the Annual Tournament will be split into two from now on: On even
years, there will be the traditional Team competition, but on odd years, there
will be a “Hero’s Tournament.”
Each one will
also be held in a different estate in order to encourage travel around our fine
duchy. This year, it will be at the Vansir Reclaim.
The
Hero’s Tournament will consist of a number of competitions. Participants
can choose which to enter and are not required to enter all. Each competition
will be worth points as per the Team Tournament, and at the end of the event,
whoever has the most points will be the winner.
Each indivdual winner would also be given an honorific title
they can use until the next Hero’s Tournament.
All potential
competitors will have to pre-register by early Saturday morning so that Sir
Eros can determine whether elimination rounds may be needed.
All
competitors will be limited to five competitions only; you cannot enter every
single one. This will not only keep each
competition from being too crowded but will also prevent people from spreading
out their talents too thin.
The events
currently scheduled are listed below.
Unless stated otherwise, all use the same rules as the Team competition:
Combat: This will be an elimination
competition as opposed to a “round robin” as it is expected that
there will be many more people competing.
If you are a beginning adventurer, you may want to sit this one out.
Archery: Because of the expected number of competitors, each
person will get only 5 arrows to shoot at the target. Further rounds may be needed as tie breakers.
You must be skilled in archery to compete.
Race: Instead of a relay race, this will be a longer
distance marathon. “Not too long though,” said Sir Eros.
Hunt:
This competition will be run by Squire Trevor with Sir Eros’
approval.
Entertainment:
As per the Team competition, you may use others to assist but the more
you rely on them, the lesser your own score.
Individual competitiors can team up, but will
be graded separately based on their contributions and talent. Elimination
rounds may be needed if there are too many competitors.
Spellcasters: There may be a limited number of participants
in order to make this not too unweildly, and any eliminations will be based on the most powerful spell that a
participant can cast. Deals wherein spellcasters agree to eliminate others first will not be
allowed, and any participant who appears to be showing bias in who to attack
will be removed or eliminated from the competition.
Alchemist’s
Trap:
Individuals will have to pick a lock, disarm a trap, and retrieve a
message within a box. Each participant will compete alone, away from the eyes
of others, and will be timed.
Trivia: The exact details are being worked out, but
this may end up being run similarly to the old Riddles competition, where a
question is asked and it goes from person to person until someone gets it right
or no one does. There may be a written test to narrow down the competitors depending
on how many wish to participate. All trivia answers will be found in past
issues of The Ashbury Times and in the
It is also expected that many
adventurers and merchants may set up their own games (a pie eating contest or a
tug-of-war, for instance) and this is encouraged.
Sir Eros Speaks on
Crime and Punishment
Recently, Redcloud the adventurer inquired from Sir Eros about his
opinion concerning adventurers who believed that “a law can be overlooked
when breaking it is in the better good of the community.”
Redcloud disagreed with this philosophy and asked
the Lord Magistrate for his opinion, as well as for his opinion on what sorts
of penalties might be appropriate for the adventuring class.
Sir
Eros’ reply follows:
Justice is
more important than laws, and in unjust societies, I believe it is right to
fight against unjust laws — laws that, for instance, allow
slavery or necromancy.
I do not
believe Icenia is an unjust society. Yes, there are
laws I disagree with — I believe Dominate spells should be illegal, for
instance — but I do not believe that disagreeing with them means it is
fine to ignore them or disobey them.
I agree
with you that we cannot allow each individual to decide for him or herself
whether a law is just or not, for to do so invites anarchy. Nor do I have much
patience with people who weigh the law against the penalty and then decide that
they will accept the penalty, but that is what criminals always do, isn’t
it?
As for
giving people tasks to do instead of fines, I am definitely against that. The
point of a fine is punishment. That is why it is wrong to pay someone
else’s fine for them as well.
Telling an
adventurer to go kill some giant rats is not; in fact, if I merely asked a
crowd of adventurers if anyone wished to take on that task, I would certainly
have volunteers.
Making an
adventurer dig a ditch, however, may be something to consider, since we do
require many of our convicts to perform services like that. However, I would be
willing to bet that a fine would be preferable to that.
When
deciding punishments, I take into consideration many things: The
criminal’s past record, their ability to pay the fine, the seriousness of
the crime, whether there are any mitigating circumstances which would justify a
reduced sentence, and so on. In this regard, I do not believe that justice is a
“one size fits all” suit — it must be tailored to each
individual.
Controversy in the
As
reported in the last issue of the Ashbury
Times, when last the Amani Council appeared in
Deathwatch, it was determined that Cedric Fruvous,
head of the Ashbury Sage’s Guild and who was
recently arrested for treason, would be tasked with drawing up the new treaty
between the Ash Forest and Icenia.
This
news has met with mixed reviews among the citizens of the forest. “Well,
he’s the head of the Sage’s Guild, so he must have some knowledge
of how these sort of things are done,” commented
Ethalion L’thorin, an
Amani from the estate of Waterwood.
Others
are upset. Dame Glenduria Manyave
exclaimed, “He was arrested for treason! How can he be writing a
treaty?”
The Kiergani
on the other hand seem uninterested in the current political situation
“Nobody owns the forest. Barons and councils come and go.”
Attacks in
Deathwatch
Residents of
Deathwatch have become accustomed to Dominon attacks
by now, but this new threat seems more sinister, according to local farmer
Jonas Boswell.
“I came
out in the morning and all my sheep look like they’d been ripped to
shreds.”
Local
magistrate Corbin Tell is concerned. “This doesn’t look like the
Dominion’s style. It’s sloppy and wild. Which
means we could have another threat on our hands.”
A few local
residents have turned up missing, with their clothes shredded and left behind.
Citizens with any information are urged to speak to the Magistrate immediately.
News from Around
the Duchy
Ashbury
Large herds
of cattle have been mysteriously stampeded through villages in Connor.
Locals fear that a mischevious prankster is at work
and have called upon authorities to investigate the matter.
Troll attacks
have increased dramatically in Tower Hills Citadel and military
commanders are convinced that the Sunless Empire is pressing their attacks,
figuring the the duchy’s forces are strung out
in defense against the Dominion.
An arsonist
continues to evade authorities in Eldor and
has been blamed for three more large fires.
Apparently,
the cause of the mysterious disease in Forlindelin
has been discovered. Local residents were plagued for weeks by a strange
illness, but a member of
Anti-human
graffiti continues to spring up around Entholm,
baffling local officials.
Blythedale
Laborers on pigs farms in Denthor have
staged a strike and are demanding better pay, creating a labor shortage and
raising tensions throughout the community.
A highly
skilled thief is at work in Ector, robbing several businesses and
penetrating the treasury of at least one prominent
local official. It is said that burgler left behind
few clues, but one source reports the discovery of a feathered cap at one of
the crime scenes.
Nordenn
Two companies
are bidding aggressively for the rights to mine new gem deposits discovered in
An extensive
audit continues in Hillcroft as the
estate’s financials and tax policies are examined. No official report has
been announced, but is expected in the Spring.
Corner of Chivalry:
Fighting Evil
by Baron Ivan Drake
The fourth
tenet of the Code of Chivalry, “Thou shalt make
war against evil without cessation,” seems to be pretty straightforward.
However, I
believe the usage of the word “war” in the tenet leads many people
to believe that this section of the code is referring specifically to combat. Ashbury is often engaged in battle with evil enemy forces
and we should fight those forces aggressively and valiantly, refusing to stop
short of victory.
But evil
takes form not just on the field of battle. Evil can manifest itself in
everyday life as well. Is the local politician who is swayed by an underhanded
bribe commiting an evil act? What of the shopkeeper
who nefariously takes unfair advantage of his customers? Or even the man who
steals pigs from his unsuspecting neighbor’s pen?
Battles
against these forms of evil must also be fought, though in this context, the
tenet’s wording of “make war” obviously should not be taken
literally. You should make war against these offenses by bringing them to light
and informing the appropriate authorities.
This tenet is
also partnered by the third principle of the Code of Chivalry, “Thou shalt not recoil from thine
enemy.” To not recoil on the field of battle is one facet of this tenet,
but it also encompasses refusing to acknowledge evil when it is found. A
devoted follower of the Code does not ignore the evil he or she discovers.
It is, therefore, imperative that we
look for evil as we go about our everyday lives and “make war”
against the injustices we find.