Session 66+: Trouble in Diamond Lake
7th of Coldeven. The party returned to Magepoint after defeating the denizens of Kuluth-Mar in the Amedio Jungle. They spent the better part of a week enjoying some well-earned relaxation.
12th of Coldeven. In the absence of any immediate threats or missions, Killick, Alees, and Katawan left Magepoint on personal business. Killick informed the party that he would be returning to the Amedio Jungle to find and make contact with a local druidic community there in order to warn it of the danger posed by Kyuss worms that escaped from Kuluth-Mar. Alees told the party that she would be returning to Greyhawk to engage in commercial activities that she was unable to profitably pursue in (much smaller) Magepoint. Katawan said that he would be returning to Diamond Lake to check up on the old home town. Alexander decided to remain in Magepoint and use Tenser's laboratory to begin crafting magic items. Tarric also decided to remain in Magepoint to undergo additional instruction from the local legate of the Order of the Shield, an elderly vassal knight named Sir Abradius Stahzer.
17th of Coldeven. Katawan arrived in Diamond Lake after a leisurely trip on foot along the road, south and then west. Immediately upon arriving, he noticed that all was not well in town. Very little construction had been completed since Ilthane wrecked the place in Harvester of the previous year. For instance, the temple of St. Cuthbert on the main town square was still a deserted wreck, as was the Feral Dog tavern. Among the noteworthy new buildings was a wooden palisade fort on the hill where the Greyhawk Militia garrison once stood and a new church of Wee Jas constructed on the outskirts of town near the cemetery. Katawan also noticed that teams of four fully-equipped Militia soldiers were patrolling the streets. Katawan remembered that, in the past, Militia members could only come into town when they were off-duty. Katawan also noticed the unusually hostile reactions he got from the townsfolk, even some of the ones he recognized from his youth. It was a given that the people of Diamond Lake didn't care much for the monks of the Twilight Monastery, but that old resentment did not seem to fully account for the level of hostility he was attracting as he walked down the city streets. He decided to go visit Allustan to find out what was going on in town.
Allustan's house was one of the few that had been rebuilt. He welcomed Katawan inside and informed him that things have not gone well for the people since the party left town for Magepoint. In the chaos immediately after the dragon attack, all of the town's authority figures had either fled or been killed. So the party had briefly "taken command" of the situation. They had told the townspeople to pool their labor and keep at least one mine operating. The townspeople took this advice perhaps a bit too literally. After they had run a single mine on their own for a while without the supervision of mine managers, they took the position that the mine they had commandeered in the emergency - Dourstone's mine - was now theirs to run collectively. And, naturally, they were reluctant to go back to work for the mine managers earning slave wages when they could work the collective mine and share in its profits.
This political battle between the Collectivists and the mine managers became uglier and uglier. The leaders of the Collectivists frequently bolstered the townspeople's courage to resist by referring to the implicit support they had received from the party. Their leaders told the people that the mine managers wouldn't dare try to use force against them, because the local heroes - Tarric, Alexander, Killick, and Katawan - would surely mete out bloody vengeance if they did. Eventually, the mine managers employed thugs to intimidate the Collectivists, but the townspeople stuck together and ran them off. The people's spirits were high. They would not listen to those (like Allustan) who told them that they had misunderstood the party's instructions, that Greyhawk would eventually be forced to respond to this challenge to the natural order in force, and that the party was unlikely to be able to help them when that happened.
Just as Allustan predicted, eventually Greyhawk sent in the military to defend the rights of property holders (i.e. the mine managers) and to restore order. After receiving reinforcements from Greyhawk, Governor-Mayor Lanod Neff (Allustan's brother) followed the orders that he had received from the Ruling Oligarchy and ordered the people to vacate Dourstone's mine and return to work by the beginning of the new year or else. The townspeople resisted bravely. Many of them still believed that the party would return in time to save them. Others believed that the Militia would never turn their swords on fellow citizens. The standoff continued until that fateful day, the first day of the new year, the 1st of Fireseek, arrived. Neff declared martial law and ordered the Militia to clear out Dourstone's mine and force people back to their old jobs using whatever force was necessary. Melinde, a paladin of Heironeous who was one of the few survivors from Ilthane's attack, pleaded with the Collectivists to submit to Neff's instructions. They refused. Neff instructed her to give the order to advance in force against the Collectivists' fortified defensive positions near the mine entrance. Melinde refused. She publicly offered her resignation from the Greyhawk Militia rather than raise arms against her own people. Neff angrily accepted her resignation and summarily banished her from Diamond Lake. Neff gave a battlefield promotion to Melinde's next-in-command and instructed him to carry out his order. This newly-minted Captain Fetod was not from Diamond Lake and no allegiance to its townspeople. He gave the order to attack. In the ensuing melee, about a dozen townspeople were killed and and about the same number were seriously injured before the people surrendered. The Militia suffered no losses. All those living in town who had worked the mines before the dragon attack were escorted daily at swordpoint to their jobs. For good measure, the Governor-Mayor ordered Dourstone's mine collapsed. The spirit of the people was broken.
It was in this atmosphere that the priests of Wee Jas had returned to town. Katawan recalled that they had pulled up stakes after Father Jierian had started preaching against them. They had left town in the middle of the night and left behind a sign in the cemetery warning of trouble to come now that Diamond Lake no longer enjoyed the protection of their Scarlet Mistress. In this atmosphere of utter defeat and degradation, the clerics of Wee Jas returned and began preaching to the people that it was not too late to get back into the Scarlet Lady's good graces. With the town's traditional church of St. Cuthbert destroyed and since the newly rebuilt chapel of Heironeous was associated with the hated Militia, the people had no where else to turn. Consequently, Wee Jas quickly become the main religion in town. Wee Jas is the goddess of death, and now that the people's spirits had been broken and their hope was gone, they had no trouble worshipping a death goddess. Many townspeople believed that only death would bring sweet release from the injustices of this world.
In any case, many of the townspeople harbored a great deal of resentment towards the party for not coming to their aid and defending them in their time of need. Rightly or wrongly, the party was generally held responsible for the entire debacle. Katawan thanked Allustan for the information and asked if he might stay at his house until attitudes were a bit calmer. Allustan agreed. Katawan spent that day meditating and considering how he should respond.
18th - 23rd of Coldeven. Katawan realized that winning back the people's trust and admiration would be an uphill battle. He decided to do what he could to help, despite the hostile stares and jeers that he got from many of the townspeople when he walked down the streets. Whenever he encountered a group who clearly wanted to start trouble, he exercised great emotional control and turned the other cheek, accepting their abuse - both verbal and physical - without response. He met quietly with the surviving leaders of the church of St. Cuthbert. Since all of the priests and acolytes had been killed by Ilthane, only the lay-person leaders of the church remained. They complained about the slow response to the tragedy from church elders in Greyhawk - it was as if the leaders had not received their requests for aid. Katawan gave them 1000 gp to begin rebuilding the church. Katawan assured them that once the church was rebuilt, it would not be so difficult to staff it with priests. And once the church was re-opened, the people would return to their traditional faith. The deacons expressed deep gratitude to Katawan for his generosity and his wisdom. They promised to begin hiring contractors as soon as possible.
Katawan then met quietly with each of the families that had suffered deaths or maimings during the Militia's assault. He offered them financial assistance for the loss of earning power that their families had sustained. This cost him another 1000 gp. During the course of these visits, Katawan encountered a powerful cleric of Fharlangn named Talon who was also going around to families and offering healing assistance to the wounded. Talon had grown up in Diamond Lake as well. She had returned quickly when she learned of the conflict and had stayed to help the wounded. Katawan and Talon struck up a fast friendship. After Talon and Katawan had earned each other's trust, Katawan related to Talon that the party had not been available to help the townspeople because of their fight against the forces of Kyuss. Talon was impressed by the importance of this mission and asked to join Katawan in this fight. Katawan agreed to introduce her to the rest of the party and ask that she be admitted.
After about a week of working behind the scenes to help alleviate suffering, he decided that there was only so much he could accomplish on his own. Lifting the martial law and returning the town to some semblance of normalcy would require the presence of the rest of the party. He asked Allustan to dispatch one of his apprentices to Magepoint to deliver a message informing the rest of the party of the situation in Diamond Lake. He agreed. In the meantime, Katawan - having done all he could do in town - returned to his monastery to meditate in solitude about how to proceed in town. (He was conflicted about how much he should get involved in Diamond Lake and wished to achieve greater clarity.) Talon would keep an eye on things in his absence.
28th of Coldeven. Allustan's apprentice arrived in Magepoint and delivered Katawan's letter to Alexander (who recognized him). Alexander shared the contents of the letter with Tarric. Alexander explained that his magical research was at a delicate stage and he could not afford to leave it just then. In addition, he was skeptical of the party's ability to affect real change in Diamond Lake - a place that he had no love for and to which he was not eager to return. Tarric considered it his duty to return and do whatever he could. He summoned his bonded mount and made haste for his old home town (along with Allustan's apprentice).
2nd of Growfest. Katawan returned to Diamond Lake from his sabatical with a new sense of commitment and purpose. He had decided that he must do whatever was necessary to assist the people of Diamond Lake in their plight.
4th of Growfest. Tarric arrived in Diamond Lake and was brought up to speed on events. Generally, Katawan found that Tarric was more committed to upholding law and order than he was to relieving the suffering of the people. However, both he and Tarric agreed in their commitment to work toward an amicable solution between the mine managers and townspeople so that martial law will no longer be necessary. They both used their influence to arrange a public meeting between the mine managers and collectivist leaders. The Governor-Mayor and Militia soldiers are asked not to attend. The mine managers were reluctant to attend such a meeting until they were given promises of protection and safe passage by the party members. The meeting was to take place at the new Wee Jas church (the only building left in town large enough to accommodate a large crowd) in 3 days - the last day of Growfest.
5th of Growfest. Killick suddenly returned to town on his Ebon Steed and was brought up to speed on events. He related some of what he had learned in the Amedio Jungle. First, he had contacted Boshliwur by spell and learned that he had wanted the party's help in overthrowing a local tyrant in exchange for some minor magical help. In his travels Killick had visited two cities in the Amedio region - Sasserine on the coast and Cauldron in the crater of an allegedly extinct volcano. He had learned that about 2 years ago, the long-dormant volcano under Cauldron had begun rumbling ominously. There had been an incredible panic as people fled the city en masse. During the evacuation, people had noticed spiraling red clouds hovering above the city which seemed to get noticeably wider over time. Some people recalled seeing creatures falling from the skies (out of the red clouds). Most of these humanoid-looking things had been thin, but some had been enormously fat. They were all covered in gooey slime and they all had strange bat-wings that seemed a bit too small to actually carry their weight. Tarric interjected that these creatures sounded exactly like the type that had attacked him at the party's campsite in the jungle near Kuluth-Mar.
Killick continued recounting what he had learned. As people had fled the city with all the possessions they could carry, a red dragon named Hookface had attacked. Most people in town had thought the dragon was only a legend, but apparently the tremors preceding the eruption had awakened him and all the treasure that people were carrying out of the city had aroused his interest. A valiant group of powerful heroes had remained behind to fight the dragon and try to stop whatever was causing the strange clouds and the eruption. In the end, these heroes had been successful: Hookface was killed, the swirling red clouds disappeared, and the eruption was relatively minor, destroying only a small section of the city. (Killick had been unable to learn much about the heroes themselves. Apparently, they had moved on to greener pastures.) Cauldron had experienced no further seismic activity since then. So most of those who had fled the town eventually came back.
Killick also related that he had been successful in contacting druidic communities in the Amedio, giving them as much information as he could about the threat posed by the Kyuss worms and how best to defeat the spawn that they might create.
7th of Growfest. Katawan, Tarric, and Killick attended the summit meeting between mine managers and townspeople. The mine managers laid out their position that they were paying the workers a fair wage, 1 sp per day - the same wages they had earned before Ilthane's attack. They added that this payment was extremely fair considering the reduced level of productivity that the workers were currently providing. After this, they were mostly silent as the workers complained that payment was irrelevant while they were being compelled to work at swordpoint. They might as well be slaves! They also brought up lots of old resentments going back to when they controlled Dourstone's mine. The meeting was clearly turning into an opportunity to express anger rather than an opportunity to achieve consensus and move forward.
Tarric quieted the crowd and addressed them. He explained that laws exist to protect and benefit all people, not just those of wealth. The wealthy may have more privileges, but nobody is above the law. He reminded them of what life was like when the city was ruled by Smenk and others like him who ignored the laws and ruled through threats, force, bribery and blackmail. Tarric told his personal story again, of how he was fired from the best job he ever had (as a member of the Greyhawk Militia) because he dared to stand up for the law and protect a citizen of Diamond Lake from Smenk's evil intent. Smenk got away with his deeds for far too long, but the law eventually caught up to him, as it does for all agents of chaos and evil. <The townsfolk cheered.>
Tarric explained that regardless of what certain people may think of the mine managers, their property rights must be upheld. Their property cannot be seized without due process, so what the collective did surely was not acceptable. This city had just suffered a major catastrophe, and we made some suggestions in the hopes that the people of Diamond Lake would come together as one to work through these new struggles. Instead, they gave into their fears and became little more than a mob, shamefully squandering an opportunity for the town to gain some unity. <The townsfolk turned on Tarric and booed him vehemently.>
Tarric continued lecturing the crowd asking, "Once things devolved into lawlessness and they seized the mine, what did you think was going to happen? You fiercely protected what you perceived as 'your' mine; did you expect the lawful owners to do otherwise?" <More raucous booing. Hecklers told Tarric to sit down and shut up. Some of the leaders quiet the crowd and explain to Tarric that they offered to pool their resources and purchase the lease to Dourstone's mine from Gelch Tilgast, the mine's "lawful" owner, but he refused. Tilgast shrugged and said that it wasn't in his interest to allow the town to continue working one mine collectively while the other mines languished without workers. He looked around him at the other mine managers - Moonmeadow, Parrin, and Gansworth - and said any of them would have refused the Collectivists' offer at virtually any price.>
Tarric continued, defending the Greyhawk militia as good men and women who were just trying to uphold the law. Everyone should be happy that they're not the monsters some of the townsfolk are making them out to be, or there would have been much heavier casualties. <The crowd boos and hisses vehemently. They had heard enough from Tarric. One heckler asked sarcastically, "We should thank them for only killing 12 of us? Are you serious?">
At this point, Tarric turned his attention to the mine managers, asking them how they think they are any better than their predecessors in the way they are running things now. He asserted that the mine managers had duties to treat their employees as people, not as slaves. <This comment received muted cheers from the crowd. Although they agreed with this one statement, they were clearly not behind him.>
Tarric then turned back to the crowd explaining that when he started his adventuring career, he was penniless and no better off than any man in town. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he seized the opportunity of my and struck out with his friends to seek their destinies. He suggested that if life is so bad in Diamond Lake, they should leave. He said, "It's a big world of opportunity out there - trust us, we've seen it! It's much more productive to seek solutions to problems instead of complaining about them, or even worse, taking the law into your own hands and engaging in lawless, evil behavior." <The crowd was clearly tired of being lectured by Tarric. One of the leaders responded, "Congratulations on your good fortune, but not everyone is so lucky. Some people have families and mouths to feed. They can't go off risking their necks in the hopes of finding some shiny trinkets in dark dungeons! What if we get killed? Who will feed, clothe, and shelter our kids? Some people have obligations and can't go galivanting across the Flanaess looking for thrills!" The mood of the crowd was clearly getting ugly.>
Killick stood up to address the crowd and Tarric sat down shaking his head. Killick was never much of a diplomat, and he was even less of one after the dark things he has seen, experienced, and sacrificed. Killick spent his childhood looking for ways to avoid going to the mines for a living, hating the town. Killick was upset that the townsfolk seem to be mad at the party. He leveled a finger at the crowd, saying, "We never promised you a brand new life after the dragon destroyed half the town. You seemed to want get back to the way things were, so we gave you advice to help you do that. It seems to me that things are not so far from normal around here, as dreary as that may be. Most of the mines are open, the connections with Greyhawk are reestablished, and people are working for about the same wages as before. The chaos and deaths that took place after we left were a terrible thing, but they weren't our idea. What I don't understand is why more people didn't leave town when they had the chance. Everyone received a mystery gift of gold after the dragon was killed, didn't they? If I had been in your shoes, I would taken the money and run for greener pastures. But again, most folk seemed to want to keep the town going, so we gave you advice to help you do that." <The crowd was unreceptive to Killick's defense of the party, eliciting more boos.>
"I agree that the martial law and the fact that you all are forced to go to work is a bad situation. I don't want to speak to my friends, but for whatever it's worth, I'll do my best to talk to the mine owners and the garrison to try to improve things around here. But breaking the law will make things worse, not better." Killick turned to the mine managers and suggested that they make some sort of gesture of goodwill to the town, like sponsoring a townwide feast/service in rememberance for those killed both in the riot and by the dragon. Killick reminded the mine managers that forcing people to work at the point of a sword is only going to brew up more trouble, and won't work forever. <The mine managers looked at each other, confering in private. Their spokesman Tilgast said they were willing to host a feast of remembrance if it would get people back to work. However, the townspeople did not like the idea of the mine managers "buying off" their grievances with a little food and drink.>
Killicks suggestions seemed to be making some progress, but the two sides were clearly still far from agreement. Katawan stood up to address the crowd, and Killick sat down. Katawan briefly but assertively made the following points as if he had been giving them great thought and had rehearsed them beforehand.
1) He does not believe in forced labor and if a person does not wish to work
for whatever reason that is his or her right. <The crowd cheered.>
2) Any person or entity doing so is guilty of a crime against
humanity...slavery. <The crowd cheered even more. They were quickly warming to Katawan, seeing him as perhaps their best friend among the party members.>
3) This person or entity must be stopped, preferably by nonviolent passive
resistance. <Confused cheers greeted this statement, since the crowd believed that it had already tried nonviolent resistance with their occupation of Dourstone's mine.>
4) Wages and working conditions should be established by mutual agreement. <The crowd went wild for this comment. Since there were fewer miners left in town since the dragon attack, they realized that they would be able to negotiate much more favorable wages and working conditions if given the opportunity.>
5) The mine owners have the right to bring workers in from out of town. <Grudging acceptance from the crowd.>
6) Any city residents who wish to leave town must be allowed to do so. <Applause>
7) Any person using violence or causing it must be held responsible. <Loud applause.>
8) The best way for all to prosper in Diamond Lake is for all groups to work together in a common direction without intimidation or threat. <Cheers from both sides.>
The crowd clearly appreciated Katawan's approach to the situation more than they did Tarric's or Killick's. However, his statement of principles did not bring them any closer to an actual agreement. After a great deal more talk, both sides agreed to consider what they had heard. But no concrete agreement was reached. It seemed that the mine managers were reasonably content with the status quo and had little incentive to offer the miners anything more.
1st of Planting. Alees arrived back in town unexpectedly. She was brought up to speed on events in town.
2nd - 4th of Planting. No new negotiations were started between the mine managers and the townspeople during this period. The people were clearly becoming impatient with the lack of progress. Graffiti started appearing on signs around town accusing the mine managers of wrongdoing and ridiculing them by accusing them of embarrassing acts.
5th of Planting. Having seen no progress after their big town meeting, the party members gather at the Rusty Bucket to discuss how to proceed over dinner. Katawan vociferously championed the townspeople and exhorted the party to assist them against the mine managers, come what may. He asks, "My Friends, not so long ago we offered our lives in support of the people of this town, even to the point of fighting a fierce dragon which we had little chance of beating. Is it so much more different now to put our support behind the people once again? True it may not be a direct attack by a wicked dragon this time, but it is as evil and potentially deadly as before. Is it not our task to turn away the evil wherever we find it? As for me, I choose right over wrong, light over darkness, good over evil. It was not my wish to make a stand here, but it is here that I will stand. I hope it will not be alone, but alone it will be if that is what is required." He turned to each of his partymates in turn saying, "Good Sir Knight, is it not your code that says you should help the meek and downtrodden when you find them? And you, Master of the Woods, is it not you who believe in the order of nature? I ask you sir, where in nature do you find slavery being up held? Is it not the natural order to be free? And Lady of the Flute, do you not think that, with the wealth of the city rising through a genuine desire for individual profit, there should be enough to go around to all?"
He paused for a moment, as if collecting himself. Then he continued, "Some might ask, is this pitiful town worth dieing over, and my answer is: for me, yes. It would be an honorable death. I know we all feel we have bigger fish to fry, but who is it among you who can tell me for sure that helping this town to survive and hopefully prosper is not part of that big picture?" He smiled wryly and concluded, "Besides, after we are gone to the after life they may erect statues of us beside that lonely statue of Killian down in the cemetery!"
The group was taken aback by Katawan intense level of commitment to the cause. In some ways, these words were very unlike the Katawan they had come to know. Something in him had changed, whether for the better or for the worse was for each of them to decide. Still, Killick and Tarric were reluctant to employ force to resolve the situation. They were convinced that there must be some way of getting the mine managers and the townspeople to see reason without resorting to more violence.
After a number of good suggestions were offered and shot down as unworkable, Alees said in disgust, "Fine, I'll take care of this mess myself!" She got up from the table and walked away, heading toward the restroom. They waited for a long time for her to emerge, but she did not. Killick, Tarric, and Katawan looked at each other, hoping that one of the others knew what Alees was up to, but no one did. Eventually, they returned to their conversation, confident that Alees could handle herself, whatever happened.
About 30 minutes later, Alees came back out of the restroom and seated herself back at the table as if nothing had happened. Killick, Katawan, and Tarric asked her where she had been. "No where," she replied with a barely perceptible smile. The party members finished their dinner and left, without having come to consensus on how to proceed. Katawan was still advocating armed revolution, while Tarric was convinced that the group might be able to convince Greyhawk's Ruling Oligarchy to replace Lanod Neff as Governor-Mayor.
6th of Planting. However, by noon of the next day, this debate among the party members had become moot. Out of the blue, for no apparent reason, the mine managers had returned to the bargaining table, saying that the miners' reduced productivity under martial law was hurting their bottom lines. They offered to double the miners' normal wages if they would return to work uncoerced. After a bit of foot-dragging, the townspeople accepted the offer. Later in the day, the Governor-Mayor officially rescinded martial law, and there was dancing in the streets. The impasse was over, but the party was dumbfounded about what had caused the sudden change.
7th of Planting. To celebrate the new agreement, the mine managers sponsored the feast that Killick had suggested. The wine was flowing as the townspeople celebrated in the streets for a second day. The party members were hailed as heroes once again, despite their protestations. Even though the party insisted that they had had nothing to do with the mine managers' sudden change of heart, the townspeople were certain that their presence had somehow been the motivating factor that had caused the mine managers to change their minds.
8th of Planting. Seriously hung over, the party members departed their old home, headed for Magepoint with no further concerns about the welfare of their fellow citizens.
