As Time Goes By: 921 - 924
General Summary
Xa'kara Named as Leader of Royal Gilded Guild
Month 2, Year 923
Overseeing the merger of Pescaliat's two largest adventuring guilds, veteran adventurer Xa'kara Reid was appointed this Tuesday as the leader of the Royal Gilded Guild (or the Gilded Royal Brigade, or the Gilded Knights Guild, the name changes depending on the person interviewed).
The Gilded Hecat Guild suffered numerous scandals during the leadership of its predecessor Kirby, lax hiring practices and corrupt tactics to silence critics marring the guild’s reputation throughout the continent. Helena Lockmere, leader of the legendary and universally-praised Royal Knights Brigade, entered into negotiations with the GHG a couple years ago to reform its image and pool resources for larger-scale adventures. While the RKB had to sacrifice its favored status with the kingdom of Gameth to complete the merger, members of the RKB now have access to missions and contracts throughout all of Pescaliat. While Helena will oversee much of the RGG’s day-to-day operations, Xa’kara was chosen as the face and leader of this new era of adventuring. A respected veteran of the GHG, Xa’kara went on multiple missions throughout the Northern Union and Southern Pescat fighting fiends and cultists alike. Even in her downtime Xa’kara could be found tending to the poor throughout the Union, founding the Stewards organization to provide the region’s lower classes with a way to pull themselves out of poverty. The merger brings the guild's size up to 200-300 active-duty members, exceptional given the high turnover rate of the high-risk/high-reward adventuring occupation. This guild encompasses all types of adventurers from one-week monster hunters to months-long contract mercenaries, all of whom will now be expected to follow a code of ethics wherever they go to prevent the incidents that led to the numerous scandals during Kirby’s tenure.
Edict of Dromire Passed
Month 10, Year 922
After years of deliberation, House Hainaut of Rakka's Verschow region enacted the controversial Edict of Dromire, a document regulating the use of necromancy on Pescaliat. “For too long our world has been plagued by bad actors seeking to exploit necromancy for their own personal gain,” Matriach Marwen Hainaut said upon the Edict’s signing. “If mages want to perform necromancy, let them do so under House Hainaut’s terms.”
The Edict creates a rigorous application process for aspiring necromancers, ensuring they pass multiple physical and ethical exams before they’ll even be allowed to resurrect so much as a crawling claw. Most notably, this Edict gives House Hainaut the power to prosecute rogue necromancers and deal with them by any means necessary. As the most powerful family of dark elves in the recently-annexed Verschow region of Rakka, the Edict was quickly embraced and applauded by officials in Delmascar as a deterrent against any future Zilocke-style terrorists. The Edict received a much more muted response beyond Rakka’s borders, the Ageless One choosing to stay neutral on the issue since the Edict ‘did not pertain to religious matters’ according to High Priest Heiwa. After issuing a terse statement encouraging a resurgence of cremation rituals, the Ageless One’s most powerful clerics and priests allowed each kingdom to decide on their own whether to embrace the Edict or not. Nations who have suffered from run-ins with powerful necromancers quickly embraced the Edict, Gameth following behind Rakka a couple weeks later to ratify the edict. The Northern Union has proven reluctant to embrace the terms of this edict, perhaps worried about encroaching influence from international powers or perhaps more concerned about other threats to regional stability like the persisting threat of the Knights of Rarita. Sardivelia proved to be the most vocal opponent to the Edict, Alessandra Capaldi refusing to even recognize the edict as legitimate and encouraging its allies like Sabha and the Lotan Conservation to follow suit. That leaves much of Southern Pescat as a battleground for the edict, with many nations like Despero, Bahamut, Broggfey, and Glace all undecided on the issue. Some kingdoms may choose to embrace the edict’s terms to curry favor with Rakka’s government, but others may find more use taking a hands-off approach towards necromancy within their borders. Legends still persist of the great necromancer Zan’kiri and all his accomplishments during his time with the Gilded Hecat Guild, leading some to believe that the benefits outweigh the risks when dealing with necromancers.
Paoli Appoints a Successor
Month 4, Year 922
After years of hand-wringing and uncertainty, Sardivelians of all stripes celebrated Paoli Piedmonte's decision to retire and pass control of the kingdom to Alessandra Capaldi. After nearly fifty years of leadership, Paoli has decided to take a step back and ‘Allow a new generation to take reigns of government, free from the petty intrigues and backbiting of previous coalitions.’
Ruthlessly eliminating political rivals and consolidating power throughout the kingdom, Paoli tripled Sardivelia’s territory as events like the Sunken God's Reign of Terror and the Oda-Kiri War threw Pescat into chaos. Sardivelia soon became the wealthiest kingdom on Ekal, but uncertainty and speculation raged through the kingdom as Paoli refused to appoint a successor despite years of failing health. In hingdsight Alessandra Capaldi appears to be an obvious choice: a founding member of Sardivelia’s adventuring group the Avventuri, her family was elevated to the national stage after Paoli eliminated his longtime Rosso rivals in the 890’s. Strong and talented, Alessandra would not have been granted so many opportunities to shine without Paoli’s influence and will no doubt stay faithful to his vision of a unified trade empire for years to come. Reforms were also made to Sardivelia’s succession system: instead of having the kingdom’s noble families debate and form coalitions, a new class of officials known as Paoliccinos will confer on legal matters and provide advice on a successor to provide more stability during future transfers of power. Overshadowed by the news surrounding Paoli was the announcement that the Gith of Zunal had decided to establish a permanent teleportation circle connecting their capital Adlishar to the city of Silvio. The decision came as a surprise to longtime Gith-watchers, given how Sanjuro City had been providing shelter for them for the last half-decade in addition to Kyoko Hara's work collecting and destroying Horns of Valhalla throughout the region.
Philippe De Mer Dies
Month 1, Year 922
King Philippe De Mer, the half-elf ruler of Despero, passed away this afternoon after a long bout of illness. He was 270 years old. His great-granddaughter Ysabel De Mer, who just celebrated their 6th birthday two weeks earlier, will inherit the throne.
Reigning over Despero for more than century, King Philippe was a hands-off monarch who allowed the half-elf noble families to govern the kingdom while he focused on his collection of ships-in-a-bottle for several decades. The monarch rarely bothered to even attend international conferences or greet heads of state during diplomatic missions, but the nobles took full advantage of his disinterest in national affairs. The aristocracy under the leadership of the Bernadotte family managed to conquer the desert city of Anthep in the 840’s, and members of the Vechian and Chabert families amassed incredible fortunes through international trade deals with the Northern Territories. Ysabel de Mer’s monarchy will be overseen by a regency government until she comes of age in the late 930’s, with the noblewoman Luciana Chabert leading this regency period. Speculated to be the wealthiest individual in Despero, she’s used her fortune to fund mercenaries to fight powerful fiends in the countryside and dispel rumors that her son was brainwashed by yuan-ti cultists several decades ago. An ally of Paoli Piedmonte and the wealthy families of the Northern Territories, she may use her diplomatic sway to counter any perceived threats of Rakkan warmongering during Ysabel’s regency. Ysabel’s coronation will occur later this fall following her great-grandfather’s burial at the ancestral Chateau De Mer in the Brei countryside. While lacking the military and political power of neighboring superpowers like Sardivelia and Rakka, Despero has become a wealthy middle power as elves from all over Pescaliat have emigrated to the kingdom in recent years. Many high elves from the former Elflands Empires settled in the capital of Havre in open defiance of the Elflands’ current state of isolationism, and the the Kiri Clan's former monarch spends his days whittling away his fortune at the local gambling halls.
Wedding in Lyman for Renowned Adventurers
Month 11, Year 921
Month 11, Year 921
A wedding was held this fall in the small Avicennan fishing village of Lyman, where veteran adventurers Windred Ozlow and Reetma Ozlow (taking his wife’s surname for the ceremony) tied the knot in front of friends and family. The bride and groom first met three years earlier as mid-level adventurers for the Gilded Hecat Guild, bonding over battles with Gruumsh-worshiping lizardfolk, insane githzerai archmages, and the paranoid hordes of Gray Hat's minions until months of playful flirting turned into something truly romantic.
Many of their former adventuring partners made an appearance for the ceremony: Ysmyrelda Starr, Zan'kiri, Bubbles, Xa'kara Reid, even a surprise appearance from the pirate Argus later in the day. Teherse'singh was also in attendance, escorting the sahuagin prince of Tilapia William Fintuna to offer his congratulations to the newly wedded couple. The Ozlows wasted no time starting a family of their own: by the end of this interlude they’d have a daughter named Merry, a son named Drey, and two daughters named Kiri and Kara.
Many of their former adventuring partners made an appearance for the ceremony: Ysmyrelda Starr, Zan'kiri, Bubbles, Xa'kara Reid, even a surprise appearance from the pirate Argus later in the day. Teherse'singh was also in attendance, escorting the sahuagin prince of Tilapia William Fintuna to offer his congratulations to the newly wedded couple. The Ozlows wasted no time starting a family of their own: by the end of this interlude they’d have a daughter named Merry, a son named Drey, and two daughters named Kiri and Kara.
Report Date
04 Oct 2022
- 922: High Chancellor Azzakh the Pious XIX of Melusine dies, succeeded by his acolyte Pyxrin the Devout.
- 923: Jax's Knights of Yo-Na diminishes in influence after one of the barbarian's inner circle betrayed the founder to side with Princess Stella Nestorius' industrialist allies.
- 924: The Handgun expands its influence, defeating its longtime rival Celio and swooping into Despero following Jupiter Talzerine's death.
Comments