Hear-Ye! Hear-Ye! Read all about it! The Steel Realms Herald’s Quarterly. A semi-regular quasi-quarterly journal of events happening in the Dunstrand Rising Steel Realms campaign setting.
The State of Things – 9137: A message to all heralds: Let it be known throughout the land that little has changed in decades. None of the great heroes or seers materialized, but neither have the great calamities foretold by many.
Little has changed in many generations, and there is a general feeling of malaise, and hope of something better is is a distant thought. Long has there been quiet in Nakria, and a horrible feeling of dread permeates all the lands that dwell on its frontiers. Bards tell stories of bizarre cults and sects springing up, of false gods and good people led astray. The stories of heroes and inspiring deeds is becoming little more than a faint memory – there is constant trouble all around. The heartland has drought while Umbak ‘annexes’ more territory under the guise of protecting it. The wild tribes of the northwestern pine forests are growing more violent, and the undead of the fallen kingdom press hard on the lands of men in the ice-locked north. Nightmares spew from the Valley of Sighs cross the Tolkisson range to terrorize the Ducateon, and the darkness sits quietly to the east beyond the mountains, biding its time while the other races and kingdoms squabble among each other. The southern border kingdoms begin to fight among themselves. The wood elves retreat further while their wild cousins and the Grollen make war on the plains. The Merchant Cities and Gwinn struggle for control of the seas and trade. Everywhere there is strife and disunity. The High King is a mewling infant, son of a doddering old fool who far outlived his effective days on the throne. The babe is the central pawn in a struggle for power midst a court seemingly unconcerned with the ravages going on and more concerned with its own power, blind to the declining safety of its people.