Chapter 6 - EFU: Sands of Intrigue - Rumors, Gossip & Tales of the Desert

[whyemmdee]

Chapter 1 - Escape from the Underdark

Chapter 2 - Escaped from the Underdark: Archipelago

Chapter 3 - Escape from Undeath: Mistlocke

Chapter 4 - Escape from Uncertainty: Revelations

Chapter 5 - EFU: City of Rings

::Iyar 13th, IY 7787::

The wind whirls, the sands scour. To the backdrop of beleaguered refugees wandering into Ephia's Well we hear of ancient things finding themselves upturned  and rumors of a Cup, hidden amidst the wastes, waiting to be found. Weary as you may yet be: rest as in your home here, strangers. Live and drink.

[Ironside]

::[ lyar 15th, IY 7787]::

All the Well is abuzz with news that an infamous drug-addled bandit was finally to be brought to the Halls of Jurisprudence to face the first public trial of the new year.   

Legate John Syter sat and presided over the procedures, which progressed smoothly.   The State's Counsel, one Halina - selected in a bold move by the Legate from the crowd and assisted by the Jannissary - contended with Advocate Shane Gallows of the Scribes over the fate of the infamous Gutter Banshee. 

It seemed clear that the bandit was not of clear mind, but a glaring typographical error in the extant books of law printed for Voiceless resulted in the charges being dropped on a technicality. 

The IVth come away grumbling, determined next time to get their sentence.  The people come away unhappy, feeling justice was lost amidst the quagmires of the writ of law... and the criminal comes away displeased, her contraband forfeited to the Assembly. 

So it goes.

[DangerousDan]

Iyar 18th, IY 7787

Not quite high drama from the Assembly meeting, but not uninteresting either. Several motions passed the Hall. First, a nebulous bounty was agreed to resolve the present problem with banditry..

Then, in pique of scandelous energy, Aubrey Domergue of the White League all but accused the sitting Legates of conspiring against the missing former Legate Constantine Diakos. She was escourted from the Assembly Hall by one al-Sid of the Janissaries..

Finally, owing to the last minute intervention of Shane Gallows (is he a Scribe, or a Journalist? None can be certain...) a reward for the discovery of Diakos was raised into the ultimate prize for the destitute: a Voice. Citizenship of Ephia's Well.

Suddenly, all talk of is the missing former Legate. None, however, seem to have any concrete information as to his whereabouts. Certainly not those in the League of White...

[Ironside]

::[Iyar 20th, IY 7787]::

In the Krak des Roses, the men and women of the Cinquefoil Rose took the evening out from their duties to drink and toast their fallen brethren.  For today, Iyar 20th, IY 7787 is the 10th such day to pass since the bloody siege of the Well.

The Wilting of the Rose, they call this anniversary.  Tales of the departed were shared in good order, and as the wine began to flow the Balladeers and Banda became belligerent.  In the midst of recounting the end of the siege,  there was griping of how their final promised prize - the Well - was stolen from them.  Before the grumbling turned to a riot, Grandmaster Elizabetha d'Auvergne made an appearance.  Quieting her men, she plucked a single rose from the buds of the Krak and made her way to the base of the Pyramid. 

There, with a quiet word of remembrance and a flick of the wrist, she cast one Rose in honor of the fallen.  Not long after, another was thrown.  And another, and another, and another.  Piling petals beneath the palace, the refugees honored the dead.

...Though ill at ease, the Janissary did naught to stop the ritual.  Not this time. 

[Ironside]

::[Iyar 22nd, IY 7787]::


Just before nightfall, as the sun set on the dunes of Ash, there came an announcement from the Eagle's Mount.  Wizards, astrologians, wise men and sages were invited from the Well to attend a contest of rhetoric. 

When the debates concluded, three citizens of the Citadel left the Mount in robes of shining azure.  Three new Nadiri of the Astronomer's of Q'tolip.

As to what prompted this invitation to the previously esoteric order, rumors abound... perhaps the Shade wavers, perhaps Q'tolip and his advisors are seeking successors, or perhaps they mean to act on the late sightings of a shadowy djinn loose in the Well...

Time will tell. 

[Abala]

::[Iyar 22nd, IY 7787]::

The former Legate of the League of White, Constantine Diakos, has returned to Ephia's Well after a prolonged absence thanks to the investigations of a band of dogged and dedicated White Leaguers. He was rescued, according to reports, from a group of bandits.

After arriving at the Well, he was greeted by the Assembly and the gathered masses, and then taken into the Chamber of Rule for a lengthy - and private - discussion.

It is whispered that the former Legate had been missing for some time, "away on business".

[DangerousDan]

::[Iyar 23nd, IY 7787]::

A speech to mark the return of Constantine Diakos to the Well was derailed this night.  The former Legate appeared to the people, to tell them of his absence. He appeared wounded, only just recovered from whatever hardship he suffered.

It began to go wrong when a member of the public threw a piece of hardened camel dung at the former Legate. The Legate, winded, retreated from the scene.

None are certain what precisely followed thereafter, by an air of general recrimination filled the air, White turned upon White, and the Golds and Purples in the peripheries baying them on.

A shameful day for the nascent democracy of Ephia's Well.

[LiAlH4]

::[Iyar 23nd, IY 7787]::

Former-Scribe Shane Gallows has been convicted of engaging in capital fraud and exiled from the Well. The twenty-third of Iyar has turned out to be an incredible day, coupled as it was with the return and defenestration of Constantie Diakos.

Rumors rage about the particulars of how Gallows came to the attention of the Janissaries and how he came to the Hall of Jurisprudence to face his charges. By most accounts, the Janissaries sought him and he either fled to the wastes, or was already in the wastes on some business. In any case, the Janissaries commanded his capture and one of the Legates, Azadeh Zarat of the Purples, even made a public plea for the wayward Voiced to return.

Return Gallows did, through the Krak des  Roses. There, it is said that he was publicly extorted by one of the Condottiero and other members of the Banda Rossa, who would not let a man with a bounty pass without paying a hefty toll. Many murmur about the propriety of such an act, but the Rossa seem entirely unperturbed. Their newly-full larders and fine casks of liquor almost certainly help ease their consciences.

A dramatic trial was held. Gallows was accused, primarily, of Theft by fraud of over nine-thousand dinar in license fees. Rather than ask for a customary donation, or bribe, it seems that Gallows had mislead applicants as to the actual cost of the licenses and then took additional bribes on top of that. Ellanher De Veend represented the Well as Counsel, while the defense was initially handled by Benjin Lamire. After some dispute--some say spar--between Gallows and Lamire, Gallows took over his own defense and made a passionate speech at the Closing Oration of the Accused.

It was a long affair, but the result was quickly reached. Gallows was declared guilty of the acts of Theft, but his life was spared. He has been sent into Exile: Let no man  or woman of the Well give him aid or succor.

[Ironside]

::[Iyar 28th, IY 7787]::

Trial after Trial.  Tribulation after Tribulation.

After a lengthy investigation involving diligent work by the Janissaries, and  by dint of the wizardries of the Astronomers, the people of Ephia's Well can sleep a little more easily tonight.   The terrible creature of wind and shadow that had been invited into the Citadel has now been banished... vanishing with the death of Skaldorr Merizad,.  The prominent Voiced and leader of the Merizad familia was accused of the sinister crime of Brooking - the conjuring of the the ineffable terrors known as the Djinn.  Though he protested his innocence, he was condemned by traitors in his ranks, by the sciences of the Astronomers, by the investigations of the Janissary, and finally by the word of Legate John Syter.

As is customary for Voiced condemned, the dwarf was cast into the arena and fed to the Lions of Orentes.  They made a meal of him, even as the baked clay and sand seemed to mock their former master, and the wind howled its cruel victory. 

The earth is quiet.  The sky is at peace.  The moon is full tonight, and all is becalmed.

Until tomorrow... 

[Ironside]

Hustle and bustle abound!

An announcement has come down from the Assembly and the sitting Legates that there is to be a celebratory day of games held in Ephia's Well.  These trials of athleticism and skill have been dubbed by the commons as The Palette Games  so named for the Three Leagues of the Well, each of which is expected to sponsor a team. 

The eyes of the Assembly, of the Voiced, of the Voiceless and more shall be upon these games.  It's whispered that the Sultan himself may deign to attend, though this is of course precluding any more pressing business of empire. 

Exciting days lay ahead!

[Ironside]

::{Hziran 13th IY 7787]::

Flying in the face of sinister auspexes in the skies and rumors of strife, and heedless of rumored leads found by the Rose in their eternal quest for the cup, the Palette Games proceeded today.  The morning was rang in by the arrival of three speedy sky-skippers from the great city of Baz'eel, each carrying one of the three daughters of the Sultan. 

A great throng of men flocked to the Eagle's Mount to welcome Princesses Faziima, Hasheema, and Shaimela of the Maribid dynasty to Ephia's Well.  After the due obeisance was paid to the Wheel, the masses made their way in a mighty procession to the Stadium.

And the Games began!

There was sorcery, there was astrology, there was the clashing of blades! Purple, Gold, and White all locked in fierce contest.  And by the end of the day there were only two left standing.  Marriet Fairweather, dubbed the Madsword by the crowds, and Atreus the Strong, the contenders for the Purple and the Gold, fought there in the sand for what felt like a day and another.  The sun traced a great arc across the sky before the two combatants were exhausted, and in the end both were named the champions of the games. 

Few will forget the sight of Atreus lifting the halfling onto his shoulders, both toasting their victory with the Warrior's own pride.   

[DangerousDan]

::[Hziran 25, IY 7787]::

As promised, the storm came at last. It almost wasn't noticable at first. Absence over presence. Like a haze, settling into the air. Those at high vantage points noticed it first. Occlusion upon the horizon. In the Canyons, south towards the Rampart. In the great lands of the Sultanate. Also over winding Edutu, that life-giving river, and towards glowering Qa'im in the far west.

The Shade, the great vouchsafe of the safety of the Well, roared into life. Until there was a crack, and for a brief moment it faltered.

The Melek came streaming in towards the twin Gates of Ephia's Well. The battle was breif but bloody. A few dead in the throng, the Shade repaired.

An Assembly where accusations of Sabotage and Treason were traded freely, finally settled upon the Legates. Weapons were drawn, forcing Sorazin Bey of the Fourth Legion to restore order.

What followed remains uncertain. Some say that partisans of the Wyrm snuck into the Pyramid, others that a traitor from within the highest ranks of government struck - all that is certain is that the beloved Legate John Syter lies dead, murdered in the Chamber of Rule.

Constantine Diakos is close to joining him. Of Legate Zarat, nothing has been heard or spoken, and it is rumoured that she has fled the Well for it were she that bore the knife.

The storm rages on.

[Ironside]

::[Hziran 27, IY 7787]::

Murder and a terrible curse, the Well has been shaken to her very foundations this day.  Led by none other than the traitorous Ex-Legate Constantine Diakos, the Bashmu-kar: a cult of exiles devoted to worship of the Wyrm, seized the Palatial Pyramid.

Wielding his emergency powers over the Stele of Law, and proclaiming he acted out of vengeance for the Orentid Queen, Ibtihal, Diakos has cursed the very soil of Ephia's Well by declaring Bashmu, the Wyrm, as its sovereign.

The ash storm has abated and the cultists destroyed, Diakos fled into the night and Zarat still missing.  Emerging from the storm at the pivotal hour is the great floating Terrace that now hangs above the Citadel.  Sending down his Water-bearers, Sultan Osman of Baz'eel has arrived to right the wrongs done by traitors in our midst.

While B'aara's faithful chant over the Stele, whirling ouroboros clouds turn end over end overhead.  Snakes rise from the waters, and people can feel the curse like a venom in their blood...

Time will tell how long this wretched malaise will last. 

[Ironside]

::[Tammuz 21, IY 7787]::

The intervening month since the cursing of the Well has been so fraught with news that the scribes and heralds have until this day found themselves distraught with delays!

An election has been held, and though the race was hard fought (and not without scandal) Ephia's Well has its first legate - the Stonefolk Sol Auk, heir apparent to the legacy of the late John Syter now holds court as the solitary Legate over all the Citadel.

As he dons his new trappings and adjusts to his duties, it is rumored that the failings of his predecessors have led the Sultan to take certain measures against such tragedies as befell them.

Indeed, though His Opulent Majesties royal skiff did depart from the floating gardens above the Well... the Sublime Residence still hangs overhead.  The geomancers still sing from its parapets.   It seems it shall become a permanent fixture of the city.  A promise to the loyal.
A reminder to the seditious. 

Heavy hangs the crown. 

[Bearic]

::[Maribeh 1st, IY 7787]::

The Steele of law flexes with new engravings and etchings over taking the disastrous workings of the Wyrm..., but perhaps they are traded for another. As Legate Sol Auk takes power and station, The Sabotage, Gellema, finds purchase to replace it.

After what seems an extreme and trying test of the legal systems in place, by will of the voiced, a temporary legate of purple, Rashid al-Rashid, is appointed. The same owner of what once was Ibram's Fine Leather Products and Cobbler, meets concerns with what you might expect of a well learned and well opinionated Ashfolk Store owner.

Matters of licenses, who may and not find themselves elected, and who may even hand out licenses seem to rotate through the doors of the Palatial Pyramid as though something halted them from completing. Seemingly the reasons these fail to pass and find mass approval goes missing...

Elsewhere, secretive letters and busy hands move hidden information and plans about the well with a great deal of speed and accuracy. It seems obvious something is happening, but exactly what remains a mystery to most.