Bits and Pieces.
Of general interest to some sages learned in history, it is now the year 19972 as measured from the time of Founding, the time when the gods crafted the laws of the world into her bones. The dwarves measure it as the year 14972 as measured from the building of Kerwin-Lor, their first city; and the elves interpret the time as around 13000 as remembered (and interpreted) by the first treant whose name is too long to record here.
The Shtaran Empire generally uses the Founding Calendar, however most events that transpire within the Empire are matched against the then current Emperor’s year of reign. For example, the assault on the thief halls underneath the Blue Diamond in Corlean happened in the thirty-second year of the Emporer Jaz’aldrin. Each year is divided into twelve months of thirty days each; and every three months there is a festival day named after the season (Winter Festival, Spring Festival, etc). Festival days occur ten days after the equinox or solstice and are heralded with both moons being full at the same time for a period of three days.
It is not unheard of for the the three months between each Festival Day to be referred to as a Greath Month (but this is not universal), and generally each month is divided into three weeks, each being ten days long.
Thus in her weekly report, Watch-Herald Ladea had the following entry:
-
The 32nd year of Emporer Jaz’aldrin
10th Month, 3rd Week, 5th day – Herald Kestral and her allies planned and orchestrated a raid on the Blue Diamond with the help of the City Watch. During the raid, Herald Kestral recovered a number of valuable items, including a complete set of Imperial coin dies. See the attached list for a complete set of details.
-
...
On the first day of the eleventh month in the current year, four adventurers left the city of Corlean, journeying back to Broken Spire keep. Trailing them were over thirty men and women wearing the garb of Sarathian soldiers. An observer educated in heraldry would have noted that their pennent indicated they were members of the Order of the Victorious Dragon. This would have been no surprise as that Order’s home city was Corlean.
It just so happens that on this cold and cloudy day there was just such an educated observer. The watcher stared after the retreating backs for some few moments, pulled her furred lined cloak tighter about herself and hurried to a coach parked not far away. The coachman jumped down at her approach and opened the door for her. No words were exchanged and the driver quietly clambered into his seat and directed his horse homeward.
---
Some hours later after the quiet leaving of the soldiers, a meeting was held in a warm, well-lit, and expensively appointed manor located in a neighborhood filled with influential people. The heroes of the day would have recognized one of the men as Grandal Deverex, manager of Gaming House and the person they suspected of being Father Dark. Kestral would have recognized the other gentleman from the description she had gathered earlier, Quereth Holtson. On this day, Ker Holtson’s knowledge and involvement in the Father Dark affair is unknown and not really thought about, with the focus of all investigations implicating only Ker Deverex. In the months to come this would cause some heartache.
Quereth Holtson is an older gentleman in his fourth decade, though his trim good looks allow him to pass for a distinquished thirty-year old. His short, black hair has gone to gray at the temples but his black eyes are still sharp and alert. His power and striking manner allow him his choice of lovers; which rumor has that he is quick to avail himself of. All told Quereth has the reputation of a rich-fop looking to buy or marry himself into some sort of title, whose success should really be attributed to his manager, Grandal Deverex. Needless to say, the rumors are deliberately fostered and completely miss the mark.
In truth, Quereth Holtson and Grandal Deverx share the title of Father Dark, a fact known to perhaps four other people at the time of this meeting. The dual identity of Father Dark and the disguising magic of the hoods (for Grandal had created at least three of them) allowed the men to create alibi’s for each other as needed. In the past week Grandal Deverex was seen by many people in many public locations while Father Dark was rumored to be angrily rebuking the survivors of the Blue Diamond raid.
The men were meeting in Quereth’s home located in the south-west ward of the city, not too far from The Duke’s Road. The room was Quereth’s private office and the meeting room bore heavy wards against divinations. Quereth sat behind his desk as he usually did at these meetings while Grandal lounged comfortably in an overstuffed leather char. Unlike most of their meetings, their was an almost imperceptible air of tension between the two men.
After the pleasantries and the discussion of the more legitimate business, Quereth finally got to the matters weighing most heavily on mind. “What of the…”
Grandal cocked his head and let out a small huff; it was about to begin. “Interlopers?” He offered?
”I was thinking of a stronger word, but that will do.”
“They left this morning. My watcher saw them leave with 30 soldiers bearing the livery of the church of Sarath.”
Quereth paused in thought. “That might be the best thing about this entire debacle.”
“How so?”
“I plan on taking up the offer I told you about earlier. The fewer soldiers in the city the better.”
Grandal frowned, not hiding his emotions at all. “Are you sure that’s wise? I don’t think…”
Quereth almost sneered as he cut Grandal off. “You also thought you could handle these interlopers.” Grandal sat up straighter at the accusation and started to defend himself, but Quereth forged on, not allowing any interruption. “I just finished the accountings today. We lost a third of the business. A third!”
Quereth made an inarticulate noise, almost a growl. “The entire vault looted, including the sword, the gems, jewelry, and coins; as well as the property loss and the suspicion of the authorities. “
Quereth stood up and started to pace behind his desk. Grandal merely sat up, looking somewhat stricken at the tone of his childhood friend and ally. “And for what? Revenge against a minstrel that bedded your daughter? A botched bandit attempt? How about hiring one of these interlopers? Is that a good enough reason to lose a third of the business? Was it worth the attention?”
Quereth stopped pacing and focused his glare on Grandal. “You’re not normally this incompetent; we both know I would have killed you if you were. I know you have contacts outside of this city? Was this for one of them? Is this a setup?”
The room was very quiet and Grandal counted to ten as he unclenched his jaw. Quereth was a proud man and easy-going when things were going good. When things were bad, then the wealthy man was like this. This was perhaps the first time two decades that Quereth’s anger was directed at him. “No.” Answered Grandal. “This isn’t a setup and it has nothing to do with my interests outside the city. This was a mistake. A series of mistakes I admit and it hurt us. It won’t happen again from me. It doesn’t change that I think this new offer is also a mistake.”
Quereth took a deep breath and visibly made an effort to loosen his shoulder. He then sat down. “That’s your opinion and even if it’s right, this opportunity offers everything for low risk. It turns attention away from us, gives us an ally in the nobility, and helps recoup the loss we…you just incurred. If we’re lucky they may be willing to take care of these Sarathian mercenaries the next time they’re in town.” Quereth caught Grandal’s eye. “This isn’t up for discussion anymore. I’ve made my decision. I’d rather here about these Sarathians now and what we’re going to do about them.”
Grandal paused and then nodded curtly. The offer was way too good and the danger was far worse than what he had just courted, but Quereth obviously wasn’t willing to listen just yet; maybe later. “Very well. Let me know what you want me to do then. As for the Sarathians, I don’t think they are. Not really. He opened up a leather folder that was in his lap and took out several pieces of paper, each containing a very good charcoal likeness of the new heroes of Corlean. He spread them out and pointed to each in turn as he spoke.
“This first one is Panther. Like myself, he’s half-elven and according to the people on the street, one of the best harpist and singers in the city. We don’t know much about him other than that he showed up a few months ago, left for awhile and came back with this group. He’s competent, but he appears to be a non-threat right now. I’m told he accepted tuition to Bardic College on Keria. I have sent inquries to the island to confirm. We should know in a few weeks.”
“This woman is Jallarzi. Like Panther she’s half-elven. The likeness doesn’t show it but her hair is white and eyes are violet. She crafted her journey-project earlier this week for The Library and is now officially a journey-mage. She’s opinionated and strong-willed. I’m told she was forced into turning in her journey-project after she created her second fireball wand this month.” Grandal’s mouth quirked with amusement. “She crafted a simple detect magic wand for the Library, the bare minimum accepted.”
“She’s young and hotheaded, fairly easy to manipulate; but give her a target and she’ll blast it away until it’s destroyed. The local apprentices are in awe of her progress. She joined as an apprentice only a few months ago and now she has her badge.”
Here is “Squire Ashimar, assigned to Field-Captain Kellron. The folks who have talked to him say he can talk the local talk indicating he has a bit of a past. He apparently got a bad case of religion while with this group and is now committed to the Church of Sarath, though there is some sort of bad blood between him and Colonel Megara. I think it has to do with their actions against us, but no one knows the reason why he was called to task a week ago. He’s a skilled fencer and he apparently has the eyes of a hawk; but he’s morally flexible which could be useful. I’m also pursuing some magical inquries against him as the Blasingdale stories indicate that he had an interesting brush with darkness.
“This last person is Field-Captain Kellron. He was just assigned a platoon of men. Their orders are to help secure the Field-Captain’s inn in Thurmaster; and should he gain ownership of Broken Spire Keep they will base themselves there. He is every inch the soldier of Sarath and apparently over two-hundred years old. The stories around the barracks is that he was held in some sort of stasis caused by a magical disaster about the time Deverat was lost. Further, the new leader of his men is a Latinan-trained witch. The Field-Captain is competent, disciplined, and committed with well-trained people following him. Fortunately he’s on a quest to investigate the disappearance of wizards in the Thurmaster area.
Quereth looked at the fifth piece of paper, which Grandal had obviously decided to put in a category of its own. Unlike the others, there were numerous pictures of both men and women, including a child. “This is Kestral, then?
“Yes. No. Maybe. These people were around the others at various times. This girl in the corner is Beth. This man is Marik Lorland, who was still in the city today I might add. This is Lieutenant Brand. This is reportedly a woman caught pick-pocketing in the temple of Sarath a month ago but who was never charged. Take your pick. Kestral could be any or all of them. I can’t scry any of them except Marik and Brand though. This woman is obviously the most dangerous. She makes an effort to not appear with the others very often. She just might very well be the brains of the group. I’m going to continue scrying and I’ll try and ask in the various Courts. Maybe something will come up.”
Quereth frowned. “Do it, I want to know everything we can about all of them. I also want this Brand and Marik fellows put away for good. This Beth has a sister?”
“So she claimed. I followed up and the young girl was just adopted by a couple. Her name is Erica and she not-so very convincingly claims that she has an older sister named Beth. Notably, her father is Panther, this gentleman over here, and her new mother is a Herald.
“I’m afraid Erica will be a two-time orphan. We’ll find a more suitable set of parents for this young Erica; but keep an eye on her in case she turns out to be this Kestral.”
Grandal nodded. He had already anticipated the orders and had people in place. He just needed confirmation. “I’ve also placed watchers in Milbourne and Thurmaster. They’ll send word if and when Kellron and his crew show up again.”
“Good. I’ll leave the other details to you. Now, as for other business, we’re going to need a listing of all spellcasters that we know of in Corlean…”
And so business continued in Corlean.
Of general interest to some sages learned in history, it is now the year 19972 as measured from the time of Founding, the time when the gods crafted the laws of the world into her bones. The dwarves measure it as the year 14972 as measured from the building of Kerwin-Lor, their first city; and the elves interpret the time as around 13000 as remembered (and interpreted) by the first treant whose name is too long to record here.
The Shtaran Empire generally uses the Founding Calendar, however most events that transpire within the Empire are matched against the then current Emperor’s year of reign. For example, the assault on the thief halls underneath the Blue Diamond in Corlean happened in the thirty-second year of the Emporer Jaz’aldrin. Each year is divided into twelve months of thirty days each; and every three months there is a festival day named after the season (Winter Festival, Spring Festival, etc). Festival days occur ten days after the equinox or solstice and are heralded with both moons being full at the same time for a period of three days.
It is not unheard of for the the three months between each Festival Day to be referred to as a Greath Month (but this is not universal), and generally each month is divided into three weeks, each being ten days long.
Thus in her weekly report, Watch-Herald Ladea had the following entry:
-
The 32nd year of Emporer Jaz’aldrin
10th Month, 3rd Week, 5th day – Herald Kestral and her allies planned and orchestrated a raid on the Blue Diamond with the help of the City Watch. During the raid, Herald Kestral recovered a number of valuable items, including a complete set of Imperial coin dies. See the attached list for a complete set of details.
-
...
On the first day of the eleventh month in the current year, four adventurers left the city of Corlean, journeying back to Broken Spire keep. Trailing them were over thirty men and women wearing the garb of Sarathian soldiers. An observer educated in heraldry would have noted that their pennent indicated they were members of the Order of the Victorious Dragon. This would have been no surprise as that Order’s home city was Corlean.
It just so happens that on this cold and cloudy day there was just such an educated observer. The watcher stared after the retreating backs for some few moments, pulled her furred lined cloak tighter about herself and hurried to a coach parked not far away. The coachman jumped down at her approach and opened the door for her. No words were exchanged and the driver quietly clambered into his seat and directed his horse homeward.
---
Some hours later after the quiet leaving of the soldiers, a meeting was held in a warm, well-lit, and expensively appointed manor located in a neighborhood filled with influential people. The heroes of the day would have recognized one of the men as Grandal Deverex, manager of Gaming House and the person they suspected of being Father Dark. Kestral would have recognized the other gentleman from the description she had gathered earlier, Quereth Holtson. On this day, Ker Holtson’s knowledge and involvement in the Father Dark affair is unknown and not really thought about, with the focus of all investigations implicating only Ker Deverex. In the months to come this would cause some heartache.
Quereth Holtson is an older gentleman in his fourth decade, though his trim good looks allow him to pass for a distinquished thirty-year old. His short, black hair has gone to gray at the temples but his black eyes are still sharp and alert. His power and striking manner allow him his choice of lovers; which rumor has that he is quick to avail himself of. All told Quereth has the reputation of a rich-fop looking to buy or marry himself into some sort of title, whose success should really be attributed to his manager, Grandal Deverex. Needless to say, the rumors are deliberately fostered and completely miss the mark.
In truth, Quereth Holtson and Grandal Deverx share the title of Father Dark, a fact known to perhaps four other people at the time of this meeting. The dual identity of Father Dark and the disguising magic of the hoods (for Grandal had created at least three of them) allowed the men to create alibi’s for each other as needed. In the past week Grandal Deverex was seen by many people in many public locations while Father Dark was rumored to be angrily rebuking the survivors of the Blue Diamond raid.
The men were meeting in Quereth’s home located in the south-west ward of the city, not too far from The Duke’s Road. The room was Quereth’s private office and the meeting room bore heavy wards against divinations. Quereth sat behind his desk as he usually did at these meetings while Grandal lounged comfortably in an overstuffed leather char. Unlike most of their meetings, their was an almost imperceptible air of tension between the two men.
After the pleasantries and the discussion of the more legitimate business, Quereth finally got to the matters weighing most heavily on mind. “What of the…”
Grandal cocked his head and let out a small huff; it was about to begin. “Interlopers?” He offered?
”I was thinking of a stronger word, but that will do.”
“They left this morning. My watcher saw them leave with 30 soldiers bearing the livery of the church of Sarath.”
Quereth paused in thought. “That might be the best thing about this entire debacle.”
“How so?”
“I plan on taking up the offer I told you about earlier. The fewer soldiers in the city the better.”
Grandal frowned, not hiding his emotions at all. “Are you sure that’s wise? I don’t think…”
Quereth almost sneered as he cut Grandal off. “You also thought you could handle these interlopers.” Grandal sat up straighter at the accusation and started to defend himself, but Quereth forged on, not allowing any interruption. “I just finished the accountings today. We lost a third of the business. A third!”
Quereth made an inarticulate noise, almost a growl. “The entire vault looted, including the sword, the gems, jewelry, and coins; as well as the property loss and the suspicion of the authorities. “
Quereth stood up and started to pace behind his desk. Grandal merely sat up, looking somewhat stricken at the tone of his childhood friend and ally. “And for what? Revenge against a minstrel that bedded your daughter? A botched bandit attempt? How about hiring one of these interlopers? Is that a good enough reason to lose a third of the business? Was it worth the attention?”
Quereth stopped pacing and focused his glare on Grandal. “You’re not normally this incompetent; we both know I would have killed you if you were. I know you have contacts outside of this city? Was this for one of them? Is this a setup?”
The room was very quiet and Grandal counted to ten as he unclenched his jaw. Quereth was a proud man and easy-going when things were going good. When things were bad, then the wealthy man was like this. This was perhaps the first time two decades that Quereth’s anger was directed at him. “No.” Answered Grandal. “This isn’t a setup and it has nothing to do with my interests outside the city. This was a mistake. A series of mistakes I admit and it hurt us. It won’t happen again from me. It doesn’t change that I think this new offer is also a mistake.”
Quereth took a deep breath and visibly made an effort to loosen his shoulder. He then sat down. “That’s your opinion and even if it’s right, this opportunity offers everything for low risk. It turns attention away from us, gives us an ally in the nobility, and helps recoup the loss we…you just incurred. If we’re lucky they may be willing to take care of these Sarathian mercenaries the next time they’re in town.” Quereth caught Grandal’s eye. “This isn’t up for discussion anymore. I’ve made my decision. I’d rather here about these Sarathians now and what we’re going to do about them.”
Grandal paused and then nodded curtly. The offer was way too good and the danger was far worse than what he had just courted, but Quereth obviously wasn’t willing to listen just yet; maybe later. “Very well. Let me know what you want me to do then. As for the Sarathians, I don’t think they are. Not really. He opened up a leather folder that was in his lap and took out several pieces of paper, each containing a very good charcoal likeness of the new heroes of Corlean. He spread them out and pointed to each in turn as he spoke.
“This first one is Panther. Like myself, he’s half-elven and according to the people on the street, one of the best harpist and singers in the city. We don’t know much about him other than that he showed up a few months ago, left for awhile and came back with this group. He’s competent, but he appears to be a non-threat right now. I’m told he accepted tuition to Bardic College on Keria. I have sent inquries to the island to confirm. We should know in a few weeks.”
“This woman is Jallarzi. Like Panther she’s half-elven. The likeness doesn’t show it but her hair is white and eyes are violet. She crafted her journey-project earlier this week for The Library and is now officially a journey-mage. She’s opinionated and strong-willed. I’m told she was forced into turning in her journey-project after she created her second fireball wand this month.” Grandal’s mouth quirked with amusement. “She crafted a simple detect magic wand for the Library, the bare minimum accepted.”
“She’s young and hotheaded, fairly easy to manipulate; but give her a target and she’ll blast it away until it’s destroyed. The local apprentices are in awe of her progress. She joined as an apprentice only a few months ago and now she has her badge.”
Here is “Squire Ashimar, assigned to Field-Captain Kellron. The folks who have talked to him say he can talk the local talk indicating he has a bit of a past. He apparently got a bad case of religion while with this group and is now committed to the Church of Sarath, though there is some sort of bad blood between him and Colonel Megara. I think it has to do with their actions against us, but no one knows the reason why he was called to task a week ago. He’s a skilled fencer and he apparently has the eyes of a hawk; but he’s morally flexible which could be useful. I’m also pursuing some magical inquries against him as the Blasingdale stories indicate that he had an interesting brush with darkness.
“This last person is Field-Captain Kellron. He was just assigned a platoon of men. Their orders are to help secure the Field-Captain’s inn in Thurmaster; and should he gain ownership of Broken Spire Keep they will base themselves there. He is every inch the soldier of Sarath and apparently over two-hundred years old. The stories around the barracks is that he was held in some sort of stasis caused by a magical disaster about the time Deverat was lost. Further, the new leader of his men is a Latinan-trained witch. The Field-Captain is competent, disciplined, and committed with well-trained people following him. Fortunately he’s on a quest to investigate the disappearance of wizards in the Thurmaster area.
Quereth looked at the fifth piece of paper, which Grandal had obviously decided to put in a category of its own. Unlike the others, there were numerous pictures of both men and women, including a child. “This is Kestral, then?
“Yes. No. Maybe. These people were around the others at various times. This girl in the corner is Beth. This man is Marik Lorland, who was still in the city today I might add. This is Lieutenant Brand. This is reportedly a woman caught pick-pocketing in the temple of Sarath a month ago but who was never charged. Take your pick. Kestral could be any or all of them. I can’t scry any of them except Marik and Brand though. This woman is obviously the most dangerous. She makes an effort to not appear with the others very often. She just might very well be the brains of the group. I’m going to continue scrying and I’ll try and ask in the various Courts. Maybe something will come up.”
Quereth frowned. “Do it, I want to know everything we can about all of them. I also want this Brand and Marik fellows put away for good. This Beth has a sister?”
“So she claimed. I followed up and the young girl was just adopted by a couple. Her name is Erica and she not-so very convincingly claims that she has an older sister named Beth. Notably, her father is Panther, this gentleman over here, and her new mother is a Herald.
“I’m afraid Erica will be a two-time orphan. We’ll find a more suitable set of parents for this young Erica; but keep an eye on her in case she turns out to be this Kestral.”
Grandal nodded. He had already anticipated the orders and had people in place. He just needed confirmation. “I’ve also placed watchers in Milbourne and Thurmaster. They’ll send word if and when Kellron and his crew show up again.”
“Good. I’ll leave the other details to you. Now, as for other business, we’re going to need a listing of all spellcasters that we know of in Corlean…”
And so business continued in Corlean.
