New Year

Ostiarium

Almost a month has passed since the last Full Moon of Winter. Life returned to a semblance of normality as people everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. As the weather turned and the cold gave way to warm breezes coming from the Bay of Pearls, people everywhere started to get ready for Spring. Woods and dyes were transported from the logging camps and sawmills to the docks ready to be shipped back to Helias. Stories and rumours of the Creed and their mad plans for human sacrifice were still the talk of the settlement and an odd sense of suspicion could be felt on the air. The talk of an upcoming war with the natives didn’t help matters much
Close to fifty workers, including metalsmiths left the city a week or so ago escorted by soldiers to the new settlement at Aquilo, in the foothills of Fang. The hope was to turn it into the forging heart of Arcadia and set an advanced town deep into the continent’s Eastern front.

New constructions sprung up all around Ostiarium, especially round Misty Ward. New quotas for farmers and hunters were issued along with new levies and taxes, as the city seemed geared for a fast expansion. The new water powered sawmill was now handling most of the lumber coming from the forests, as the teams of lumberjacks cleared more and more land for farms. With the city wall halfway constructed, rumours were that the population of the city was set to double as dozens of ships were expected with new settlers from Salos and Helias.

Alexis - –. Everywhere you go people start to refer to you as Slivikhi’s Slayer, most greet you with awe and friendship, as many start seeing you as a defender of the common folk. You receive your parcel of land and your commission with Ostiarium’s military is considered completed. Two hundred acres of land are now under your name for you to do as you see fit. An annual tithe is expected on the value of the land and ten percent of all your produce in the form of tax. Of course, once you set foot in your parcel of land you immediately understand the Duke’s parting words. The land you receive includes the sacrificial stone and grove where you faced down the Creed.

Islana - – You slowly return to your hunting duties as the fear and loss you endured in the last month start to dissipate. There is a newfound maturity to you too, as you know you are bear the main responsibility for unmasking an evil cult hiding in the city. You spend most of your free time with Alexis in her new plot land despite what memories part of it will always hold. You are invested in helping Greyriver make a home for yourselves at the edge of the forests and help where and how you can.

Gonyaul - – You return to your daily affairs with ease as you know everything that happens, good or bad, is part of the cycle of life. Your duties at the farm keep you occupied and busy with the new quotas but you spend much of your time with Alexis and Islana in Greyriver’s new plot of land. Your bill from Wim for wood in materials was to rebuild your shed but you have pooled your resources to help build a new home for you and your friends. Of course, the land is rich in resources and the trees from the plot only need to be felled. You are offered a position in Aquilo by Sir Zane to help the new settlement break ground for some farms in a bid to become self sufficient ion a few years.

Blackwolf - Your stay in the city’s lodging at Misty War comes to an end. One of your colleagues is travelling back to Salos with the coming ships and has offered to deliver your works so far to the Great Library of Orb. You compiled a few essays already about life in Ostiarium, the plains people and Sentinel Island to your masters back at the Library. You have also reported all you could about the emergence of the forgotten and outlawed Slivikhi cult. You are expecting funds and requests for further exploration of Arcadia to arrive with the upcoming ships. While you talk to Alexis and Islana about their experiences with the Creed for your essays you are drawn to the group and are considering helping them with your funds so they can build their new home faster in exchange for a place among them.

Tarmen - You leave the city in charge of a squad of around twenty mean looking veterans, assigned with the protection of Aquilo in the north. You know the settlement will act as a spearhead in the coming war against the Plain’s natives. You are tasked by Sir Zane to represent the city with the clans from Fang. The Duke will be visiting Aquilo in the first day of Summer once first ships arrive from Helias. The fresh air from the mountain invigorates you and you look forward to whatever is in store in the coming months away from Ostiarium’s stench and politics.

Voah - You spend the last month studying findings from Sentinel Island. The runes and the shackles you brough over allow you to develop something that you call ‘Clavicula Sanhsuur’- Sanhsuur’s Key - which you are sure will work as a witches' trap of sorts, rendering any magik user powerless when wearing the shackles and inside a circle of the runes. Of course, you have no way to test it yet, but you have some ideas on how you can. You continue to study what you assume are the temporal spell runes found on the shipwreck from Allos, but those escape you for now. Your teachings of Hunter continue as does your investigation into the remnants of the Creed. You are sure some have fled to join the Plain’s tribes and others are planning to disappear among the mountain range of Fang.

Hunter - You are still reeling from killing your lover and throw yourself at the teachings the Arbiter puts to you as you train and study the arts of the Inquisition and she attempts to train you to become an Incus. An old designation to those that served a battle shields to Arbiters of old. Your relation with the surviving twin is awkward, although she knows her sister bears the blame. But a part of her also died under your blades. You spend some time hunting for the city as well.

Wim - Skunkwork Ale launches to much fanfare. You managed to secure a exclusive deal with the soldiers favourite tavern, the Oak Cup. Master Sadir’s connection in Lowood also means that Skunkwork Ale are a favourite supplier of many businesses across the city. The construction of your new house in Misty Ward starts and it should be ready after your wedding to Elizabeth during the Fall Festival. Your future father-in-law tasks you with a new business venture. The supply and transports of goods between Ostiarium and Aquilo will require teamsters. He has already petitioned the Duke to secure the business for the next 3 years and is waiting a reply. He asks that you travel to the new settlement to look at the logistics of this possible venture.

Nicolaus - Your investigation into Felfar finally yields results. You can identify the biological hallucinogenic component in the drug. It belongs to a fish, native to the coastal waters of Arcadia. Tolan tells you it is cast away as a by-product of fishing and it’s flesh not suitable for consumption. However, rumours are that it can only be caught during autumn and winter. To find out more he directs you to Seros Thert, the owner of the city’s fishing fleet. You are closer to the secrets of the Felfar but cannot replicate its effects yet. Tolan also informs you that with the Creed’s deaths, the supply of Felfar has dried up in the city. The man named Stram that you were chasing is rumoured to have left the city towards Fang.

Sea of Storms

Alcuin - Your journey of is coming to an end. The fleet of 6 ships you travel on are close to making landfall. You should arrive in the next few days after one month and a half at sea, in very stormy conditions. There are close to 250 people travelling with you across the 6 vessels and you can tell a large number of those are soldiers from the Empire of Salos. You go through your ledger and possible bonds that might me hiding in Arcadia trying to start a new life. In all you have close to fifteen commissions, but know you need the support of Duke Stoneshade to enforce them. As the horizon clears of stormy clouds and the sun shines down, you wonder what is in store for you in this strange new land…