Issue 8
Saturday, October 16th, 2004






Undertakings (III) [M]: Finally rumours circulate telling of the completion of the mysterious project conducted by the upper echelon of political power within the Kebeyen Republic, though no further information has been released telling people what exactly was occuring within those deserts, they were still to believe that something magnificant would occur within the next month, and everything was already in place for this event. Anyone interested in investigating issues would see crisscrossing emerald lines with the width of a single strand of thread as they made their way from side to side.

 Plague (IV): The Republic has completely abandoned New Austia, removing their declaration naming the nation as a protectorate, in the name of internal security they had also increased the border patrols and forbidden any movement into or out of the plague-ridden nation. While this reduced the cases of plague within the Republic, within Austia it was as virulent as ever, and the only thing saving those of the Republic from similar cases was their tendancy towards burning the corpses of the dead, this seemed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Map Master Michael [M]: Precious few that had once called Scarport home managed to escape the destruction of it in the conflict between the Heretics. Most of these individuals were out at sea, some were in other Kingdom's involved in shady dealings on behalf of their Scarport-based organizations. Yet rumors hadn't started up about them and bounties of their names and sketches of them hadn't been tacked up among the many various others listed in taverns throughout the lands of Launcia, the Kebeyan Republic and Tharivol, like a certain 'Michael Zexohn'.

As one story goes, Michael was a trader and maker of all kinds of maps, ranging from general maps of Faenor to the occasional cave with the sorts of legends surrounding it that those who venture within never return alive. The typical kind explorers love. While traveling with a portion of his maps and scrolls, the Destroyer struck Scarport and along with it every last map he hadn't brought with him. In a rush to not run out of goods, after a few rushed deals in Tharivol he once again had a sizeable amount to sell to those he came across. After a few months had passed and after quite a few deals made, it became apparent that those he had purchased had all turned out to be fakes, leading explorers into the middle of nowhere with nothing to see. But there were far too many within his caravan to tell which ones were authentic and which of them were forgeries, so he tried to ignore it and hope for the best.

Another, more popular story is that he's nothing but a swindling fool who marks every last one of his maps with an 'X' over anything that looks interesting and hopes that those seeking the location never manage to find him again. No matter which is true, the fact remains, in Vincan he is wanted alive for 500 gold coins, and in Tharivol mercenaries are being offered 100 gold per person for the capture of him (regardless of if his heart still has a beat) and his entire caravan of goods.

How might you react?
-Explorers/AdventurersWith all the talk of war starting up once more, perhaps now would be the best time to get away from it all and seek out this man. Even if some of the maps are fakes, some might not be, and you shall still be enjoying yourselves getting to the location pointed out.
-Bounty Hunters: Gold has been a bit tight as of late and as such this would be the perfect opportunity to regain that stash you've either spent or lost. Surely a map maker couldn't be all that hard to surround and take down. But then, why has he yet to be captured?
-Mages: Wasn't there some mention of magical scrolls..? If he has avoided those after him for this long it might not be all that bad to purchase a few, who knows how powerful they are.



Tour of Duty (II): Although it was told that the High Chancellor of the Republic would move about the various provinces, his journey was cut tragically short as increasing news of hazardous problems continued to rise. With this also came the news that mazus would not be vacating the capital city of Ansteorra to join the journey, and Damien Reelin would soon be returning to First Colony.


Painter of the Land (I) [M]: Even though Ansteorra is not Ansteorra anymore, the frequent oddities that occurred there seem to continue regardless of who resides there. Which is why perhaps the random traveler, merchant or just a tavern frequenter might have caught word of unnatural things springing up a few miles out from the Kingdom's gates, such as a tree made of pure crystal appearing outside of a farm with leaves all colors imaginable, or dozens of green lights filling the sky as soon as the sun sets. Despite various attempts to near the tree, numerous reports have been made of a light 'stinging' sensation filling the inspectors’ body, increasing as they went closer. Perhaps it's nothing more than some test at magic, but then again, the level of skill shown in such a creation is equal - or perhaps even greater - than that of an Archmagus.