Hear-Ye! Hear-Ye! Read all about it! The Herald’s Quarterly. A semi-regular quasi-quarterly journal of events in The Steel Realms.
Herald’s Quarterly 9169, 2nd Quarter
CY 9169 Month 4 – 6
Set in Duchy of Dunstrand of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms, as a Living World storyline.
The Peace Talks between Imperial Gwinn and the High King (through his agent the Duke of Dunstrand) continue, though several events seem aimed at agitating the participants.
Storm’s Harbinger: One night there is a storm over Dwindor Swamp. Black clouds and torrential rains fall, and a cold wind blows in from Scar Flow for a full day and night. Dwindor Swamp and the edges of Scar Flow become strange with odd lights and sounds for a week – hunters and fisherman along its boundaries are afraid. Drums are heard, Orrish drums. There are the sounds of a low dirge-like hum coming at different hours of day and night. After several days, those fiefs along the black shore of Richfield and Bar-Innis are forced to send soldiers in – whatever is happening is affecting the livelihood of many. There are several encounters with Orrish and the normally meek goblins are now prone to fight back. Something is agitating them. Just when a major expedition is to be mounted, the tension dies down and things return to normal – though there persists a call to finally eradicate the Orish of Dwindor. Some believe a precipitous event among the Orrish has taken place and the call for this gathers support.
Storm’s Clash: With the peace talks as the backdrop, and waters off the coast of southern Dunstrand turn turbulent. Storms of red-black clouds with fire in them, more like an ash-plume cloud, come out of Scar Flow. They clash with the dark storm clouds coming from the shores of Loamwold and the Pranin Moorswood. The great bats of Dwindor fly over the lands along The Black Shore of Bar-Innis, known to be the eyes and ears of the Witch of Dwindor. Something has stirred the anger of factions that call Scar Flow and Dwindor Swamp home. The druids of Pranin, the Witch of Dwindor, the Orrish of Dwindor… perhaps even the storm queen patron of the Gwinnish. The folk of Dunstrand are growing tired of it and there are calls for the Duke to eradicate these threats once and for all. Sea trade comes to a halt during this time.
Storm’s Landfall: Amidst all of this, there are more and more sightings of Orrish in southern Dunstrand. Raids are getting more frequent. Land trade begins to slow, and become more expensive.