Chapter 5 - EFU: City of Rings Rumors & Gossip Thread

[Abala]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

With the Butchers decimated and in shambles, the people panicky and anxious, and small protests and riots breaking out nearly every day, Ticker Square has increasingly been forced to rely upon the dozens upon dozens of mercenary companies that call the settlement home for protection. These mercenary companies, as varied in morals and scruples as they are in colors, partake in a series of complex contracts with various businesses and establishments in Ticker Square, which results in various territories coming under their influence and control. Almost overnight, the ward has seen its defenders transformed from a civilian guard-force to a heavily divided military-industrial apparatus. This state of affairs commenters have taken to calling the Blade Boom, and the forges have never been busier.

The unspoken truth just barely grazing the lips of these mercenary companies is that in the end there can only be one to "protect" Ticker Square. So they sharpen their knives, and prepare for the battles and negotiations to come. Some partake in the Great Ring Race in hopes of earning a place among the Guildmasters, while others plot instead the downfall of their rivals... making dark bargains with old and new foes alike.

[whyemmdee]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

There was destiny, first. Then there was courage. Then came the dark. And now there is Nothing.

Prince Trystan Moonspear crossed ninety-nine rings in the hope to find worthy men, worthy subjects, to fill his new kingdom, but after his Pyrrhic victory upon the invading forces of the Sibilant Empire he decided that the courage of all within the inner rings was not enough. Danebluff, Wakefield, Silver - such names to forever live on in infamy as the titles of cowards, living testimonies of the decay of the kingdom. The Prince rallied what remained of his Silver March and went on to finally break down the broken gate of the one-hundredth ring, only to uncover the stark truth that there was but the precipice of the abyss: beyond the gate there was roiling black and fading world - a shadowy principality of the feared Nothing and somewhere amidst the fade an empty throne void of a ruler, with subjects, beautiful in all their lacking,  desperate for a worthy man to take it. Who could deny such a plea for help? And so the promised king became the Prince in Shadow, demanding those that came to attend his coronation to kneel and those that didn't were made to, one way or the other. Now  prince Trystan sits atop his lightless seat, playing with a dark crown in his hands.. longing for the other.

[SkillFocuspwn]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

There are whispers throughout the Peerage Ward of a new Lord; they say the well-known wizard Aethelwine Silver has, through some technicality, been bequeathed the title of a long-gone bloodline of the Peerage. Calling himself Lord Aethelwine Sothilde now, the news has garnered some interest from the masses. However, to many of the ward's higher classes the landless and retainerless wizard's title is little more than a technicality, and quiet jests about the pauper-lord can be heard even in the Square...

[Ironside]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

Yet more rumors spread within the Ward of the Peers, that Bernard Glitt has risen from his drunken stupor... and with sobriety of body and clarity of mind has begun to rebuild his destitute house, with his young daughter at his side and his noble retainers at the ready... the Ward is afire with talk of the Old House Glitt, and some hearts quail to see them rise anew. 

The drunken buffoonery of yesterday has given way to the brash heroics of today... and who can say what tomorrow will bring?

In the Ticker Square, there are similar upsets.  The infernalist Mede has disappeared, finding a gruesome death in a forgotten place -- and now his partner-turned-rival Luke Danebluff sits on a Guildmaster's chair.  The Square is in uproar, as commerce from the Inner Rings and promise of golden bounty are the talk of the day... but what sleight of hand has the new Guildmaster concocted, that a man who has scarce run a single Ring should be the beneficiary of far-away Baz'eel?

All this and more... as somewhere beyond the horizons, a black cloud forms.. a looming thunderhead which speaks of designs too foul to speak aloud.

[Howlando]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

A confrontation in the Peerage's bare and sparsely used trading plaza was subject to a strange scene today when a number of Retainers confronted the notorious mad mage Cynthia Catsby over her affection for slaadi & other matters relating to the possession of Warrenwatch. Finding her guilty of treasonous words in describing His Majesty the King, the Retainers laid her low. In a fit of pique, the Mage set to croaking forth some manner of powerful conjurative spell....

Seeking to prevent it, the Retainers attacked young Mage with sword and hacked her to pieces, but not before the spell was cast. Perhaps her death at the moment of incantation made it all the more powerful... or perhaps not.

Regardless, the consequences were nothing short of disastrous. Dozens of Seams appeared throughout the Peerage and a veritable army of enraged, croaking Slaaki emerged - seeking vengeance. The Slaadi slew dozens of residents of the Peerage and did considerable damage before sufficient forces were mustered against them and Ruul Velstra himself was able to close his former-Apprentice's portals.

With many dead, and the acrid stench of burning slaadi-pyres still filling the Ward, the mood is one of great tension and hostility....

[Arc]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

A dark day, for the peerage. Tales of Marcille Riley butchered in the streets by one of the newly emerged "Recondite". Tales of outraged retainers, demanding blood. Tales of men garbed in black, dragging the corpse off after...

The Recondite are, as always, quiet. But now... the Peerage seeths with cries for vengeance.

[Arc]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

Violence in the peerage. What began with a single death has escalated into something much greater. Whispers in the streets as retainers sharpen their blades and make ready. Patrols are reinforced, and steely eyed men assigned to watch the night.

It is said that the estate of the Marquis de Savary was bombed, and a large bounty offered on the Recondite. It is said a retainer was slain in the streets of the peerage the very next day, and the hatred became loathing. A sense of dread settles over the peerage like the miasma of death, and patrols once undertaken alone are done in sets of three.

One thing becomes increasingly clear to the retainers of the peerage: The first one to exact vengeance upon these recondite shall find their name much celebrated.

[SkillFocuspwn]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

It has been a long and bloody day in Ring 99, and many are uncertain how to feel. What is known for certain is that Ib'javi, a fiendish merchant allowed to trade in Ticker Square, has been slain by the very Guildmasters of that place.

It began with a ritual in the Rifts, which drew the attention of great crowds of people. A coterie of sinister wizards under the direction of Guildmaster Danebluff began their incantations, offering up fiendish instruments and infernal incantations to tear a seam to Ib'javi's Bronze Palace. Citizens looked on in fascinated horror as the magic did its work, and a group of Ring 99's bravest and best marched through the portal opened to wage war upon her very home.

Before the dust had settled, however, the fiend had sent her own soldiers in retaliation. What began was a brutal fight across two fronts, with citizens of the Square and the Ward alike fighting to protect 99 from the vengeful wrath of Ib'javi while those few sent to kill her struggled epically through her labyrinthine forges. War was waged for hours, against devilish mercenaries, the weapons of war she made her fortune from, and even through strange pact the spirits of her mortal servants who once haunted the City and fragments of her own power come to life.

In the Rifts, line after line was broken under the brunt of her assault. The battle drew on for many hours, with many lying broken in the streets, yet Retainers, Stonebuilders, Prospectors, Ringrunners and mercenaries alike returned time and time again, drawing new lines of battle, refusing to allow her forces ingress into the Ring. New challenges and weapons of Ib'javi's devising kept coming, however, testing the survivors sorely; and at the end of many struggles the battle seemed all but lost. Ib'javi had gained control of the Rifts, turning the magic of that place to her service and tearing further seams for her soldiers to pour through. A scant few stood against her newly replenished forces, the last line between her vengeance and the City.

It was during this fated last stand, however, rumoured to be held by two lone soles against her forces, that the tide turned. A great scream came from the simulacra watching over the battlefield, and her mercenaries retreated as quickly as they arrived, vanishing into the seams without a trace. Without her soldiers, the rest of her creations broke quickly; and from the Bronze Palace emerged two broken, bloodied and triumphant heroes, in time to wipe out the rest of her forces. The dust settled; Ib'javi the Unbound, ally and enemy to Ticker Square, was dead by their hand.

In the aftermath, rumours of events in the Bronze Palace spread quickly; of a terrible trap laid at the entrance to her home which slew many of the attackers, already weary from their push through her Forges below. Of a much-diminished group battling through the rest of her domain and slaying her favoured servants one by one. Only three, from the eleven that left, stood before Ib'javi in her Throne Room; the Guildmaster Luke Danebluff, and the Ringrunners Eupraxia Pherenikoulou and William Thorne.

What happened next is of some debate. While the most popular story is of a great duel, where Danebluff slew her just as her dying words annihilated him, another circulates of a fateful bolt, fired before she could even finish talking. All that is known for certain is that from out the portal Danebluff did not join the other two; and, when the last of her forces were swept away, Ib'javi was dead.

99 is not certain what to make of this situation. Oscar Tchammorar congratulated and rewarded those who protected the Square, though many whisper of the hypocrisy in his well-known support for Ib'javi in the first place, and others even more conspiratorial claim the whole thing was nothing more than a plot to remove two rivals, both Ib'javi and Danebluff. The rest of Ticker Square is as divided on the matter as they were at her arrival, with many wondering what business they have attacking a supposed ally, while others are simply glad her influence is ended. In the Peerage, the news is met with approval at her death, yet the general consensus agrees it is yet further proof of the insane politics of the Square and of the damage caused by putting groat above honour.

Across the Rings, life carries on.

[Arc]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

A long and terrible day draws to a close in Ticker Square. A tale spreads of horror in the streets. Of the Needle, the great device of the prospectors, erupting in violet light. Of a great seam opening over Ticker Square- a huge maw to some unknowable place. A great eye peering through and watching the bloodshed as planar hordes spilled forth upon the square. Of the prospectors barring their doors and refusing to shut down the needle as the great calamity transpired. And of Angvald Khauzat-Gaur, a warden of the Stonebuilders, stepping forth to lead a mob to smash the Needle to pieces.

Angry eyes and accusations turn upon the prospectors, and many call for blood. The prospectors call mercenaries to themselves as the smoke rises in Ticker Square. And the square itself sets about the now familiar and grim task of rebuilding... Tension in its bones.

[whyemmdee]

Madame DuRange.. the name is laden with meaning and history throughout the rings; legend has it that she managed to reach the King's Keep in Ring 1, but turned back at its very gates, drawn by something even  more magnetizing than the King's allure somewhere far beyond the outer rings where the Nothing has stolen swathes of the city. More regular rumors mark her as little more than a trouble making troubadour, a herald for chaotic events to come, as trouble inevitably seems to follow in the wake of her little circus troupe that travels the rings. Now she once again intends to return to Ring 99 , causing great anxiety and general misère among the vestigial remnants of both the small and greater houses of the Peerage Ward.. for the last time she left Ring 99 in a hurry, freedom was won for Ticker Square not soon after...

[Arc]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]

A peaceful day torn asunder by the Outriders of the Copper Torc- the scouts of a great looming horde.

Tales of a massive shockwave tearing through the 99th ring. The open door leaning and groaning in protest against the sound. Terrified screams from Ticker Square. The great hall of the Merchant's Guild buckled, and cracks... The very stone from which its foundation is hewn splitting in half. The Merchant's Guildhall, the great symbol of Ticker Independence... fell. And where it once stood a massive maw stood. A screaming horde pouring forth upon Ticker Square. And so began the Ticker Square's darkest day, in the memory of most.

A bloodthirsty mob of barbarians looting, burning, killing. Their great beasts breaking even the greatest defenses. But Ticker Square's own defenses stepped forth, and the Torc Outriders were slain to a man, driven away. One party confronting the leader of the Outriders, Hathus, above while another below cut off all reinforcements. Many were lost, but finally, Ticker stood once again independant. A few names began to become known, in Ticker:

-Silver Hat Artus von Watchorn - The tip of the spear of the defenses in Ticker Square, many citizens now know him as the first face they saw driving away the Torc.
-Guildmember Dorian Raventree - The shield of Ticker Square- a recent figure in the square, it is said he brought the people of the Square hope with his sermons, in its darkest hour.
-Boundryman Jeffry Guillelmus - An impossibility... of the many boundrymen sent in, somehow one survived. It is said this boundryman has been given a massive raise, and become influential in his company.

In the aftermath, however, Ticker did not fare the tragedy well. The Merchant's Guild, long time governing body of ticker square, could not survive the loss of the hall and its secretary. It is said a massive argument broke out, between them, and without the calming presence of Secretary Bhesk... the guildmasters were unable to work together. And so- they have begun to carve up Ticker Square. Any who wish to own property now must obtain permission, not of the guild, but of a single guildmaster. The mercenary companies wear massive grins, as contracts grow more plentiful.

It is said Webber, however, has gone totally silent... and her daughter has controversially fled to the peerage. Sheltering in the vale of House Velstra, instead of the square. Cries of traitor followed her, and Webber's Wonders is found most morning plastered with graffiti.

In all this aftermath however, an undercurrent of terror. Ticker's great defenses shattered... not by the Torc's army, but by its forward outriders. Many whisper that to fight, now, is hopeless, and the square is lost. Other, more level heads say only that if Ticker's defenses wont do... new ones must be found.

It is a new day, for Ticker Square. And what lies ahead, for the square, awaits to be decided....

[Halfbrood]

Rumours over the last few days speak of strange occurences in the Swamps of Ring 95. Strange trolls are said to have started appearing, quite recently, more vigorous and harder to slay than the norm... how or why these creatures are appearing, none seem to know; various researchers and gentleman scholars are said to have hired mercenary bands to discover the truth of this new phenomenon.

[Hound]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]


A grim portent of dark days to come took place in the main thoroughfare of Ticker's Square. Following a popular vote, the electorate of the Square determined that they would welcome the Arbiters of the Hundred Scrolls into their city - a faustian pact, perhaps, as the price was paid in agreement to adhere to the Arbiters' zealous and uncompromising doctrine of religious confirmity rather than a sum of groat.

On a gloomy, rainy evening, the Arbiters made their appearance under the leadership of Monitor Alexei Harlowe. Marching through the Open Door with dour determination, the Arbiters erected a gallows in full view of the trading plaza as their first act as so-called protectors of Ticker's Square. Promptly shutting down any 'heretical' commerce taking place (including the hawking of divine potion bottles), the Arbiters gathered a crowd of concerned onlookers as they set about arresting the alchemist Augy Baxter and his apprentice, Boris. Amidst much cacophony and high tension, an allegation was made that apprentice Boris had been conspiring with the hated Copper Torcs to smuggle high quality Ticker potions into their warchest.

One brave Silver Hat by the name of Dorian Raventree was the lone voice bold enough to stand against this tyranny, and challenged the Arbiters. He paid for his valour with the brutal humiliation of a beating, brought to heel and trapped beneath the heavy brass chausses of an arbiter standing on his back as he was forced to watch the execution. Several other Silver Hats came to the defence of their comrade, and a small riot broke out - though it too in turn was quelled by the iron fist of the Arbiters, and perhaps in no small part by the inaction of the silent majority who watched in quiet distress.

Boris is dead, and Augy is crippled from the savage beatings and lashings he received at the hands of the Arbiters. They now stand as grim-faced sentinels over Ticker's Square, quick to reprimand 'heretical' traders and upbraid those who mis-speak against their presence.

For certain, the Arbiters have demonstrated their immense strength of arms, and many Tickers sleep more soundly knowing they are so well defended from the enemies outside their precious Square... Alas, that they are in bed with what may well be another foe.

[Vlaid]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]


A clerk of Baron Uld breaks the silent night with a loud and boisterous announcement. A grand quest has been called and any and all have been called to action for the search for a holy set of tomes known only as "The Whey of the Curd". It is announced that the Baron shall reward handsomely in treasures anyone who brings him the collected works. During the announcement it was said that the tomes may be pivotal to feeding Ticker during and past the conflicts ahead, some kind of vague "problem" with the supply of cheese is hinted to but not revealed in full to which these tomes are the answer.

The announcement, it is rumored, was also interrupted by the loud protests of one Kanna Vauntz. In response to this Cheese Thugs were dispatched to shut her up for good. By all reports the mission was a great success, the thugs barely breaking a sweat in bloodying the incompetent detractor of the Baron Uld. Or so say the Baron's loyal dwarves.

//OOC: The tomes are in the game world and can be found and assembled without DM aid.

[Arc]

[ :: Day ??  Year ?? :: ]
The End of the Blade Boom, and the Fall of Ticker Square


Timekeeping is illegal. Years ago... less than a generation, more than a tenseason, a number of Guildmasters came together. Under the yoke of excessive tax, and distant, apathetic lords... Ticker labored not for their own good, but for that of distant rulers. Gold was gathered, seals broken, and a dream forged....

Today, that dream has ended.

The week began with a ground shattering betrayal. As the vast army of the Copper Torc arrived, Lord Euric Freward's right hand man stepped forth... Solomon Krown. The former leader of the Butchers of Ticker Square, revealed in full copper armor, with total knowledge of the squares defenses. Several battles took forth over the coming week, leading to the day....

The day began, as so many others of recent, with a demanding call from Guildmistress Priscilla Klink. Worries that the Torc were on the move, and calls to the allies Ticker had managed to gather- only the Arbiters, and Third Company. A warmeeting was held, and decisions were made. The Third Company would take to the field, and take on the majority of the forces in 104. The Arbiters would strike towards the copper torc's stables, and kill their horses. The adventurers of Ticker Square would divide into two forces- The Defenders, and the Attackers. The defenders chose to hold in 101, and the attackers chose to attack the Queen of the Kasseax, to forever deprive the Torc of more insect beasts.

The defense began excellently. Brave men, shoulder to shoulder, held against an endless tide of Copper Torc. A wall of Ticker Flesh upon which Lord Freward's horde was to break. The attack, likewise, went well, the egg hatchery of the Torc burned effortlessly, without a single loss. Tides began to turn, with the first betrayal. A notice sent to the torc, a letter telling them of the plans. The arbiters walked into a trap, and found themselves surrounded by alchemist's fire, failing their mission. At this time, in almost perfect concert, a second- darker- betrayal unraveled. The Knaves of 99, contracted by the Copper Torc, struck out against Guildmistress Priscilla Klink. A blade in her gut, she died on the floor of the open door. And from her body was taken the contract that assured payment to the Third Company. Sneaking past the entire defensive line, the Knaves managed to reach the camp of the Copper Torc, and deliver their dark payload.

Above, the defensive line began to shatter. Pulling back and losing men at a rate they could not recover from, the defenses of Ticker began to fail. Below, the Assault fought onwards, Ticker's best and strongest men. They came to the queen... and at great cost, and the loss of many lives, they slayed it. As they made their way back, a sending echoed out:

Lord Euric Freward
Your defiance has been admirable. I commend your warrior-spirit. I shall have need of it in the days to come, sons and daughters of the 99th Ring.

[A rustle of paper...] But now it comes to end. I hold here in my hand the contract for command of the Baz'eel Third Company. I order you to stand down, and bring your swords upon any who continue to resist the Copper Torc.

As the assault returned, they came to a defense broken. An army, missing. And, with all hope lost, another sending came in reply:

Silas Sparrowbroth
So... It is. Klink dead, the defense broken. Only the Assault... [a choked swollow] Freward. We... We surrender.

Lord Freward. We accept you, as our rightful lord. Ticker Square... is yours.

And, with those words ended the dream that had begun so long ago. With those words ended an independant Ticker Square. The Torc streamed into Ticker Square, a new occupying force, a new order. And Lord Freward came forth, and spoke chiding words, like one would speak to a child. And, as the Peerage came before him, to offer lordship, a position as a peer- his reply:

"Show me the man who has conquered a hundred rings, and I shall name him peer."

and refused. Leaving Ticker, independent once more.... but now occupied by a great army. An army too vast to feed, men too used to raiding to settle down. Uneasy voices begin to echo that such a situation cannot remain stable. However, for now...

It is done.