As Time Goes By: 928 - 931

General Summary

The Handgun Banished from the Northern Territories
Month 3, Year 931

Ryota and the Handgun's remaining forces fled the Northern Territories on Sunday, sailing out of Craxi back towards Handgun HQ an ocean away. The retreat comes as a stunning defeat for the thieves guild just a decade after one of the greatest heists in the organization's history, when Ryota organized a team of elite agents to break into the Museum of Natural Wonders in Sanjuro City and stole several valuable relics like the Necklace of Kidma Nikoliakis.

Chusei University, the owners of the Museum of Natural Wonders, had long wanted vengeance for such an embarrassing heist but lacked the resources to wage a shadow war against the thieves guild. That changed in the late 920's with the formation of the University's Special Research Division, a motley band of adventurers willing to risk life and limb to excavate ruins dating back to the ages of Old Myltev and the Dragon God-Kings. They managed to pull the Handgun into direct confrontations during encounters with the thieves guild in ancient ruins, putting the rogues on a weaker footing and forcing them to escape with nothing but the clothes on their back.

The shadow war between the two organizations waged on for several years, the Handgun resorting to assassinations and kidnappings to maintain its foothold in the region. Eventually the loss of many of its best agents proved too much for the group to bear, unable to replace the manpower lost by so many run-ins with the SRD. Ryota will most likely be forced out of the organization due to his group's defeat, and more shakeups will be expected as the thieves guild tries to recover from losing access to an entire region. Since it was Azrael who gave the green-light for the Museum heist, the center of power in the Handgun will likely shift back to his longtime rival/romantic partner Verona de Noves. While Azrael focused on the profit and publicity from lucrative heists, Verona prefers to keep a lower profile and will focus on on more shadowy operations like smuggling. As Verona restructures the Handgun thieves guild into a magic item cartel, it's safe to say that Chusei University will be excluded from whatever future arrangement they create.

Chusei has now become the largest owner of magic items in the Northern Territories, but such a victory came at a cost. Years of fighting quickly sapped the school's resources, forcing the university to rely on loans and funding from wealthy merchants aligned with Sardivelia. The loans are supposedly generous and fair, but many in the region suspect Sardivelia's leader Alessandra Capaldi will use the opportunity to expand her nation's influence in the region.

---

Discoveries in the Desert
Month 3, Year 930

The veteran adventurer Flora has finally returned from a yearslong expedition into the Campanel Desert, claiming to have discovered the ancient thri-kreen city of Thrah-Kezaam. Some of her fellow explorers like Ozma Vauxhall died on the journey, but the cleric returned to Gameria with numerous relics and riches along with a detailed account of Thrah-Kezaam and its people.

For decades Flora had a fascination with thri-kreen culture, ever since she was temporarily transformed into one during her campaign against the Sunken God in 897. Her brief connection to the thri-kreen psychic network compelled her to learn as much as she could about their culture, collecting records dating back to the Dragon God-Kings of the 1st Cycle to try and discover their ancient homeland.

'There are wonders there older than many of Ekal's gods,' Flora said in a speech at Gameria's National Archives. 'Imagine how much such wonders could be worth, and how much glory they could bring to Erivo and the Ageless One.'

Perhaps in a preemptive move against future expeditions of the kind envisioned by Flora, representatives of Thrah-Kezaam's noble houses announced in Sanjuro City that their homeland would fall under the protectorate of the Northern Union and would deny access to anybody from beyond the Union's borders. Thri-kreen adventurers like Cressedia della Scampi and Kite von Prawnpeia have become members of prestigious institutions in the Union like Chusei University, finding themselves in an influential position to negotiate between their homeland and the Union. Exclusive access to Thrah-Kezaam's secrets must feel vindicating for the Union's leader Kyoko Hara, who failed a decade ago to persuade the gith of Yunal to establish their Ekalian embassy in Sanjuro City (they eventually decided to build it in Silvio).

There have been other disturbances in the desert, with giant fleets of airships seen flying over the Temeraire Mtns unaffiliated with any of the nations capable of airship travel. Rumors are starting to spread these fleets are under the banner of the Silver Beak, kenku pirates who have finally found a way to lift their curse of flightlessness. Fearful of a new age of piracy, the kingdoms of Southern Pescat have started increasing their defenses even in landlocked cities in case the Silver Beak attempts any aerial raids.

---

Ten Years Later, Rel-Moro Struggles On
929

A decade ago the kingdoms of Rakka and Sardivelia pooled their resources to fund the establishment of a permanent settlement on the continent of Rana, the first of its kind in more than 4,000 years, but so far Rel-Moro is struggling to prove its worth. Frequent attacks from the continent's kaiju and megafauna have made it difficult for the settlement to expand its operations, leaving Rel-Moro a small outpost of just a few hundred people.

For centuries the powerful empires of the Elflands and Kiri Clan discouraged any kind of exploration of the far-off continent of Rana, but recent technological innovations have made it easier than ever to traverse the Largas Ocean and access Rana's riches. Despite the journey being easier, the destination still proves hostile towards any large-sized settlement from non-natives. Rakka and Sardivelia's leaders have discussed hiring adventurers to help defend Rel-Moro, but few members of the Gilded Hecat Guild are interested in risking life and limb halfway around the world when there are so many easier jobs to take locally.

So Rel-Moro struggles on, sending its meager profits back to Rakka and Sardivelia and trying to survive frequent monster attacks on its fortifications. The settlers have made contact with nomadic bands of minotaurs and a kingdom of elves/genasi, but so far no diplomatic deals have been made.

Report Date

24 Sep 2023

Other News

• 931: The Secret Party wins the latest parliamentary elections in the Treeleaf Union
• 929: Rozu Wildcloak dies, succeeded by the gnome Umpen van Maekkelferce