The Decree Against Foreign Discord
The Decree Against Foreign Discord was a Varduran declaraction made on the island of Valen'taomi which barred all contact, trade, and travel between the continents of Vardura and Keshloam. Below retells the tale of the storm-wracked three days on Valen'taomi and the violent end to relations between the two continents.
The Facade Cracks
Despite reassurances from the Guildmasters that their concerns were meritless, the merchants that had built their lives on the wealthy and exotic trade from Vardura could see change on the wind. They had been making sigificantly less coin with every trip, and rightly feared that the trade would soon end completely. This doubt and fear soon led to desperation which, when combined with isolation booze, often leads to folly. It would only take three trade captains, drunk after one of the worst deals they’d made on Valen’taomi, to change everything forever. Recently recovered records have shed more detail on this harrowing evening, often called the Night of Discord.The Night of Discord
The relationship between Keshloam and Vardura would end as it began, dramatically unfolding beneath the sagging clouds of a horrendous storm. Three straight days of thundering and sodden darkness plagued Valen'taomi, heavily impacting negotiations and relations between the traders. Three Keshloamic ships were stuck in the storm, moored on the western side of Valen’taomi: The Sound of Glass from the Gattland town of Wasserstelle was captained by human Ovet Heckleschmeck; Arno’s Baby came from the Drembari Isles under the command of water genasi Arno Coldleaf; and halfling Captain Kycee Gnarlson brought the Sickle, Sleeve, And Sister from Leechport . Though their holds were full of Varduran goods, the storm prevented their departure, negatively impacting their dismal profits even further. Combined with the outright hostility the captains had to endure from the Vardurans, tensions were high. On the third night of the storm, the three captains drank and talked in The Sad Elf, the Keshloamic tavern on the western side of Valen’taomi. The Varduan tavern, called Voice, had been closed for years now, and no Varduran had shared a drink in the Elf in as long as most anyone could remember. It did not take long for the captains’ conversation to center around the Vardurans and the subsequent decrease in trade profits, and it did not take very many drinks for the three to decide to do something about it. It is suspected that Captain Ovet and his crew beseeched the help of the storm god Kogos for help in acting against the Vardurans. It is reported that most of his crew were staunch followers of He Who Brings the Storm, common among sailors of that time who belived their worship would keep them safe during rough nights at sea. The Sound of Glass's navigator, Ahn vu Waterwend, hailed from the northernmost frozen regions of Keshloam, a barren plain of frozen death called The Icehost and was suspecetd to have an uncanny ability to commune with the storm. Additionally, his first mate was a lizardfolk named Thissilthik the One, a former slave escaped from the Driq mines of Kingdom of Kh'Axros. It is believed he had escaped his torment by making a dark deal with Kogos, who showed him the “hidden paths through the storm.” Whatever happened on that small island that dark night, tensions between the two peoples finally broiled over into conflict. That evening, under cover of the storm, the three Keshloamic captains led Thissilthik and 15 sailors up the Riven, the small strait that divided the two lands of Valen’taomi. Under cover of fog, the strike team silently climbed the side of Siren, the first of two Varduran vessels moored at Valen’taomi. Once aboard, combat ensued, with many unwary guards and sleeping Vardurans meeting their end unawares. Before the Keshloamians could interrogate the captain, locate the booty, and “recoup” their losses, the stoic dwarf waterman Captain Barco magically contacted the other Varduran ship in port, Hers, and warned them of the Keshloamian’s treachery. Immediately, as per their military doctrine, Captain Lejar of Hers unleashed a barrage of fiery destruction down on Siren, almost instantly obliterating the entire ship, its surviving crew, and the raiders. Hers then raised anchor and fled into the storm and a desperate escape across violent seas. Only Captain Ovet and Thissilthik survived the barrage from Hers, though barely. When they returned to the Keshloamic port to inform the crews of the incident, they saw the three ships already making preparations to leave, no doubt taking a queue from the firestorm that had erupted over the island. The ships soon took off after Siren and into the storm in a desperate pursuit of vengeance. All three ships and their entire crews were never heard from again. It is worth noting that this event occurred beneath the red glow of a Gnet moon, but no one on Valen’taomi would know due to the intense storms that roiled across the Vast during its 3-day stay all those years ago. In the morning, which happened to be the first day of Ashes of a new year, Valen the Emissary and his small staff could find no sign of the Vardurans or Taomi, nor any indication of how or when they left in the wake of Siren’s sudden departure. Instead, in the spare meeting chambers where the Emissaries met to negotiate, a scroll was pinned to the wooden table with a carved bone dagger. On it was written the Decree Against Foreign Discord, a 500-year declaration barring any further contact between Vardura and the outside world, upon penalty of death.The Expiration of the Decree
In the year 1080, which would be a Gnet year, the Decree Against Foreign Discord’s 500-year “enforcement” would come to an end. Few Keshloamians seemed to care, but among them was a Gattish human named Chaus Echwink. A merchant of middling repute, he had a passion for collecting as many Keshloam-stranded Varduran artifacts as he could. Excited about the prospect of reopening contact with the mythical Vardura, Chaus assembled a few scholars and explorers of specific interest and sailed to Valen’taomi in anticipation of the event. On the morning of the first of Ashes, Chaus and his crew met the sunrise with their eager eyes pointed eastward toward… nothing. No ships, no Emissary, no fanfare at all. The few island attendants that sought to provide what spare hospitality they could to Chaus and his team considered the event for a moment before continuing on about their simple days. Chaus’ crew stayed for a tenday before they left the island and returned to Gattland. It would take only a few months for Chaus to leverage what little clout and credit he had to quickly spin up an exploratory expedition to Vardura. How Chaus achieved this feat and the details or conditions of his funding were never made clear, the details thoroughly buried under foot-tall stacks of Gattish paperwork. On the first of Void 1080, Chaus set sail across the Vast with a fleet of four ships to discover what happened to the Varduran people.Purpose
The Decree forbid any foreign contact between Vardura and the outside world.
