Dragon Crest NW Arkansas Chapter
Official In Game Postings
Last Updated: 8/24/03
Herein can be found information available from official sources in Handelburg, such as the bulletin board in the Guild Hall. Please note that these are old postings. All new postings can be viewed on various
Forums on the national DC web site. (Membership is not required in order to view the Forums, only if you wish to post to them.)
5/11/02
To one and all throughout Messena:
Once again I need adventurers to help explore and map the rest of an underground tunnel. The warriors who were helping to guard the entrance have been called away and I want to get the exploration done as quickly as possible before new stuff moves in to the tunnel. Please gather in Handelburg and travel from there to the tunnel.
By my hand,
Margrave Hagan Stonekrag
5/6/02
Decree From Margrave Hagan Stonekrag:
To all within the lands of Messena
Should the being known as Dreycon show up in these lands, please bring him by whatever means neccessary to insure your own safety, but alive, to myself or the militia. I will honor Baron D'arluke's request (copy shown below) and have him transported to Haven should this occur.
By my hand
Margrave Hagan Stonekrag
Decree From Baron D'arluke (dated 4/30/02):
This person known as Dreycon should be presented without malice to myself or First Advisor, Lady Stephanie on the charges levied against him. Concerning the matters of the Heart, Vykar, Hrothgar or Descende have jurisdiction within the heart. If they deem it appropriate to offer sanctuary within their abode, so be it. I will respect the Heart in this matter fully. Outside of the Heart, please apprehend him and bring him forth to determine his mental state or apparant lack thereof.
By My Hand,
Baron D'arluke (Governor of the colony called the Midlands )
4/19/02
On this day, the 19th day of April in the year 3202 of the reign of His Imperial Majesty, The Resplendent Emporer Maximillian the Third, it is hereby declared that a Guildhouse of the Imperial Mages Guild of the Eternal Empire of Koth shall be granted charter to open and operate within the Colony of Messena. The Merchants Guild in the area is hereby relieved of all responsibilities pertaining to the collection of taxes and monitoring of trade of all goods covered by the Mages Guild Charter.
Effective immediately, the Mages Guild will be actively enforcing taxes on the production, sale and trade of any and all magic items, scrolls, potions and magical components not covered by the House of the Healing Heart.
The Mages Guild immediately claims ownership of any and all scroll and potion labs within the Colony of Messena which are not expressly owned by the House of the Healing Heart. The locks on all such labs will be immediately re-keyed. Anyone wishing to use these facilities must see the ranking member of the Mages Guild in the town in which the lab is located to acquire a key. The cost for use of the labs will be 1/8 of the total production carried out in the lab.
Every caster of magic within the Colony of Messena must register with the Guild. We will require the name of everyone capable of casting magic, the paths they know and the spells they have in memory, and any scroll or potion production skills. Persons who cast only the Path of Spirit and no other paths of magic are exempt.
All magic items, regardless of how mundane, must be registered with the Mages Guild immediately.
The Mages Guild can, and will, demand certain minimum production levels, to be given to the Guild and passed on as appropriate.
Failure to properly follow these requirements will result in appropriate actions by the Mages Guild as are allowed by Imperial law.
3/19/02
The Black Ship is expected in this summer, most likely in July. Everyone who resides in the Colony of Messena will owe taxes at that time. As the trade route has been fairly prosperous, the tax burden for the people of the colony will be fairly light, especially when compared to other colonies in the area.
The tax rates for individuals are as follows:
For non-resident non-citizens, 4gp
For resident, non-citizens, 2gp
For colonial citizens, 1gp
For Imperial citizens, 5sp
There are additional taxes for:
Each production lab, 5gp
Each Forge, 10gp
Each slave, 10% of the slave's value, minimum of 10gp
Taxes for the House of the Healing Heart and its members (not including Goodmyn) are already covered by a mandate from the Emperor, His Most Resplendent Majesty, Maximillian IIIrd.
A tax collector will be named soon. It is expected to be a member of the Merchant's Guild. This will make the exchange of goods into money more convenient for people. Those unable to pay their taxes may be sold into indentured servitude to cover those taxes. This will be managed by the Slavers' Guild.
Anyone who feels they should have Colonial Citizenship status should see Clement. He is maintaining the list of people to whom I owe papers. Joining the Colonial Militia guarantees Colonial Citizenship for the duration of your service.
By my hand and the authority vested in me by Baron Aldwin,
Margrave Hagan Stonekrag
1/11/02
Hear ye, hear ye, one and all
Let it be known that as of January 1, the 3202nd year of His Most Resplendant Emporer, Maximillian IIIrd, in celebration of the new year and in appreciation for their help, Margrave Hagan Stonekrag has officially set aside a parcel of land near the gates of every town within the lands of Baron Aldwin, known to most as the Colony of Messena, for the exclusive use of Gypsy traders and craftsmen and their families.
All trade within these areas is still under the purvue of the appropriate guilds, however, any gypsy trader selling their wares within these areas shall be recognized as a member of the appropriate guild, of the lowest possible rank (unless they have an existing rank), with all of the rights and responsibilities thereof while in these areas, including and especially the collection and payment of taxes. Such was the agreement with the guilds.
No gypsy will be required to reside within these areas, none outside of the gypsy clans may lay claim to these areas. Any craftsman who sets up in these areas may register with myself or anyone wearing the purple and gold of Baron Aldwin, and obtain papers declaring them a citizen of the colony of Messena for as long as they ply their trade. No gypsy shall be without a place to call home in the Colony of Messena.
This is the result of several months of negotiations between myself, the local guild masters, and several gypsy clans who have been bringing goods in and out of Port Aldwin by ship.
If anyone has any questions as to how this will work, please refer first to the guild bylaws, then feel free to ask me if you have any questions left.
So let it be by my hand,
Margrave Hagan Stonekrag
Master of Claims, Journeyman of the Imperial Miners' Guild in Messena
12/10/01
Let this word travel throughout the Colony of Messena.
The cause of the werespider infestation was discovered recently near Handelburg. Apparently, a group of shamen from the Raven Tribe created an amulet. This amulet was designed to turn the eldest daughter of the chief of the Coyote Tribe into a vile werespider. Apparently they meant this as a way to bring dishonor upon the Coyote Tribe, in the eyes of the other tribes. It seems that the enchantment was a bit more powerful than they had intended, and had many bad side effects. For one, the new werespider queen was able to create many more werespiders to aid her. They grew like a plague upon this land. The evil in the magics reached out and even assaulted the very shamen who created it. Recently the people of the town of Handelburg, with help from visitors from other nearby colonies, found the last remaining nest of these creatures and defeated the queen. When they removed the necklace from about her neck, the body of the werespider queen reverted to the appearance of the Coyote princess. Her body was then returned to her people.
The quest is now on to destroy the necklace so that its magics will cause no more trouble, and hopefully free the spirit of the Coyote princess from the enchantments. The tribal shamen need the following items in order to destroy the necklace:
* Items to represent the tribes:
* Raven Tribe: feather from Raven Champion.
* Eagle Tribe: talon from a giant eagle. Furrier skill required.
* Bear Tribe: pelt from each of the local types of bears (Grizzly, Cave, Black, Wind, Stone). Furrier skill required.
* Orca Tribe: candle made of Orca blubber that died to save the Orca Tribe.
* Boar Tribe: bag of boar tusks (20)
* Puma Tribe: claws of a normal puma (20)
* Salmon Tribe: eggs gathered from spawning grounds in a lake in the mountains.
* Coyote Tribe: all ritual components must be gathered for a spirit quest by this tribe.
* Binding component: shell from an albino turtle.
* Virgin silver box of enchantment quality in which to place the necklace. (The silver must not have been used for anything prior to creating the box.)
* Some item of Stone (details unknown at this time).
* Some item of Wind (details unknown at this time).
Any person in possession of any of the items in this list should turn the item over to a member of the Messena Militia or myself immediately. Some of the items have already been gathered. I will post a list of them as soon as possible, and will keep everyone informed of further progress. Redundant items that are not needed will promptly be returned to the owner. When this task is completed, I personally will hold a small celebration. Expect gifts for all of those who have assisted. I will also be signing many papers to recognize the valor of all of those who have helped.
The tribes have held a council to determine the reaction to the evil deeds of the Raven Tribe in this matter. It should be noted that the ways of these people are not so much in the vein of revenge, as it is in the vein of restitution. It has been determined by the Great Council that the punishment of the Raven Tribe will be to pay to each of the tribes, as well as us, a restitution for their acts. As their actions have resulted in some deaths among the people of Messena, I have requested of the Great Council that the Raven Tribe's restitution to us be as follows: that they will stand and fight for us and beside us when the day comes that we need it. Honor is very highly regarded within the tribes. Even though some tribes may act differently than we would expect, a blemish against their honor is held as a very grave situation. While the actions of individuals leading up to this may have been of questionable honor or even downright dishonorable, I have every reason to believe that the tribe will do all it can to recover their honor.
I want to make it clear that no actions, no foul comments, no disrespect, no unfavorable treatment of any kind is to be proferred towards the members of the Raven Tribe. In the eyes of these tribes, I am the chieftain of this tribe, and your actions will reflect upon myself and the colony as a whole. When it comes to matters of the barbarian tribes, expect me to treat any problems in the manner of their tribal customs. This is necessary for me to retain their trust.
Which brings me to the issue of names. The Great Council, because of our dedication to helping fix the problem with the werespiders, has accepted us as a tribe of sorts (not included on their council, but to be treated as a peer in all other ways). We have gained glory and honor in their eyes. They have asked me repeatedly what the name of our tribe is, and are finally accepting that we are the Colony of Messena. They think it an odd name, obviously, and I suspect they were hoping for something more interesting. Then they ask what totem we claim, since it was not obvious in our name. They seem to think our 'shamans' should know what totem has embodied itself in our outlook and actions. This is beyond me. While I have been forced to learn the arts of diplomacy, I have never picked up any true undertanding of the concepts of totems, and none of my advisors have been of any help. If anyone has any ideas how to deal with this, please let me know.
Also, I know that the name of our mountain town, Handelburg, has been hard on the ears of some. It means, simply, mountain town. If anyone has a better name for this town, I am certainly open to suggestions. Some of the other names we have used are ancient names that the dwarves in this area have used for many, many generations. We have simply never known them as anything else. I am in no great mood to change them, but I hate to see people struggle with them as well.
By my hand and the authority vested in me by Baron Aldwin,
Margrave Hagan Stonekrag
12/10/01
Let this word travel to one and all.
There was a recent issue regarding certain actions of certain individuals resulting in my review of the charter of the Mendicants in these lands. Let it be known that I have reviewed this charter and have found no changes that need to be made. I reaffirm my grant to the Mendicants to operate in the manner they have been. They have in no way violated the charter I ratified, and have in fact followed through with it very admirably.
No punishment was intended nor inflicted due to the aforementioned actions. No wrongdoing occurred, though many actions occurred to which I object. The key problems were:
1) A visitor was performing disgusting acts upon a dead creature (namely, practicing torture techniques). While this is not expressly forbidden, it is in bad taste, especially in view of others. Any respectable torturer would perform his skills in private, away from the eyes of sensitive individuals. I will not forbid the practicing of any sort of otherwise legal skills in these lands, but I will state here and now that anything that may be objectionable to others should be done in private. Those who wish not to view such things shall allow those practicing their skills adequate privacy. The only major exception I will make to this is the harvesting of creatures. I will not have the corpses of creatures left to rot when something useful may be made of their carcasses. This would be a situation where it would be most practical for an individual to remove themself from the locale of the harvesting should they object to the practice.
2) The vistor ended up threatening violence upon a healer of the town. Regardless of the conditions surrounding that threat, it was a threat of a townsperson by a non-townsperson. The Messena Militia does not appear to have stepped to the defense of the healer. It does not appear that any true physical defense was needed, but rather that everything was mere posturing. However, the townsperson felt exposed. The Messena Militia members are reminded that their primary tasks are:
a) the protection of the people of lands of Messena,
b) the protection and profitability of the trade route (in that order).
Such protection may take the form of physical intervention of harm or simple posturing, or whatever else seems appropiate at the time.
3) The healer threatened to refuse healing to the visitor and to any who assisted him. While it is noted that no such withholding of healing ever occurred, the threat of it did. It was perfectly withing the healer's rights to do this, as he has sworn no oath in the manner of the Healing Heart. My objections were not with his actions, but to the risk that certain townsmembers would then be in because of them. By my choice, though I may make restrictions against certain things, I will not force any free person in these lands to perform their skills in a manner inconsistent with their desire. I will not force a smith to make a weapon and sell it to a particular person. I will not force an alchemist to make certain subtances. And I will not force a healer to heal. Only an individual's own oaths and purpose will determine their actions in the use of their skills.
There are those who are considering making, or who have recently made, oaths to the House of the Healing Heart. There are others who have made oaths to me to follow my bidding. These people I fully expect to follow their oaths and do as they are bidden by their superiors to whom they have sworn fealty. But again, these are oaths made by individuals, and I do not require the same from everyone. The day may come when that changes, but it is not yet here.
By my hand and the authority vested in me by Baron Aldwin,
Margrave Hagan Stonekrag
11/19/01
To the people of Handelburg and their visitors:
Margrave Hagan Stonecrag of Messena has recently requested that the House of the Healing Heart establish a presence in the town of Handelburg in order to help see to the safety and health of the people of the town and anyone who visits there. Patriarch Antonius of Messena has agreed to this request.
As a part of seeing to the health and well being of the town I have been asked to help resolve the Mendicant issue. (For those of you who are not familiar with the Order of the White Heart: we often serve as diplomats due to our neutrality and universally recognized dedication to life and peace.) To this end I would ask that everyone who was in Handleburg on the evening of October 20th either prepare a written report or speak to me in person about what she or he witnessed.
I would also like to meet in person with all of the members of the Mendicants, either individually or as a group. If you feel that your life is threatened under the current circumstances, I would be happy to meet with you at an undisclosed location of your choosing, and will place you under my personal protection for the duration of such meetings. All that I ask in return is that none of you issue any threats against the townsfolk, and that you do not act upon any such threats that you may have issued until we have at least had an opportunity to resolve the problem in a peaceful manner.
It is my fervent hope that we can all come to a better understanding of one another and learn to cooperate with each other and live in peace. We face gravely dangerous threats in this world over which we will not be victorious unless we can live and act together as one.
Shade and Sweet Water to You All,
Serene White Feather of the Order of the White Heart
Attention citizens and residents of Handelburg, and guests:
The Coyote and Orca tribes have invited Hagan and "his people" to a potlatch. In order to facilitate relationships with the local native tribes, and prevent possible diplomatic problems, please allow me to provide some information about what to expect.
Potlatches, in general, are a complicated subject. On a simplified level, a potlatch can be considered an opportunity for a chieftain to display how powerful and wealthy he is by showing how much his wife can afford to give away. This is a game of one-upmanship. The guests will usually bring plenty of gifts to give to the host, and to other guests. This causes the host to give away even more things in order to keep from being bested. While I encourage you to be generous and participate in this aspect of the potlatch, I must caution you to restrain yourselves from going too far. If the host has to give away too much then his tribe will have a hard time getting through the winter and will no doubt suffer increased deaths of infants, young children and older people.
All potlatches include a lot of food and games, with prizes given to the winners. Several of the games will involve physical feats, such as arm wrestling, tug of war, foot races, balancing, agility, archery and armed combat. There will be mentally challenging games as well, involving riddles and other puzzles. There may also be singing, dancing and story telling competitions.
The potlatch to which you have all been invited will be the annual memorial potlatch that is held in honor of all the dead members of a tribe. Emphasis will be placed on memorializing those who have died during the past year. The bodies of the recently deceased, as well as the bones of others who died this past year, will be placed upon a funeral pyre. At this time there will be an opportunity to speak words or sing songs about the deceased, or to dance to their guardian spirits. I encourage you all to prepare short statements to express your feelings about Trooper Pison Lovec (who died recently in the Midlands), Goodmyn Anton Delstrago, Novice Pulsar of the Crossroads (who traveled here often and was instrumental in clearing the trade route), or any other recently departed friends or loved ones whom you wish to remember.
Since any non-natives who attend will be viewed as members of Margrave Hagan’s "tribe," please keep in mind that your words and actions will reflect upon the honor and reputation of the Margrave, and indeed all of us. Hence I humbly request that you all conduct yourselves with honor, generosity and graciousness.
I must also insist that you refrain from discussing the subject of resurrections, either with the natives, or among yourselves when there is any possibility that you might be overheard. There is a lot of strife among the various tribes right now as some have come to accept the concept and others are vehemently against it. Unfortunately the two tribes that will be present at the potlatch are on opposite sides of the issue.
Shade and Sweet Water to You,
Serene White Feather of the Order of the White Heart
11/7/01
Let me make this perfectly clear. I will not tolerate any vigilante activities on these lands. None. My reaction to any such thing will be broad and harsh. There is enough strife to be had without infighting among the people who are supposed to be developing the area.
Having said that, there is plenty that the 'friends of Clement' can do that won't raise my beard. Cutting off support, refusing help, that sort of thing. After Clement's rantings of the last couple of gathers, and with the refusal to heal someone, the true motivations of the Mendicants has already become suspect. If they become a force for actively causing harm, or if anyone else does for that matter, if anyone assaults someone or breaks any laws to follow through with this or any other threat, there will be much pain and suffering.
My time and efforts will be spent building this colony, not solving petty civil disputes. In other words, and civil disputes will be dealt with in the most expedient and effective way possible, as I will not spend the time to create an elegant solution. Resolve it among yourselves. Do I make myself clear?
By my hand,
Hagan Stonekrag
Margrave of Messena
November 7, 3601
10/26/01
The queen of the were-spiders has been killed. The townsfolk of Handelburg are currently questing for items needed to destroy a cursed necklace that she was wearing.
10/20/01
PROCLAMATION
In so far as my duty is to the safety of the people of Messena and the profitability of the trade route;
And in so far as ready access to a healer is critical for the safety of the people of Handleburg;
And as Anton, a former Goodmyn of the Heart and healer for the people of Handleburg, has suffered his final death while on a mission to save other townsfolk new to the area;
And as we no longer have enough independent healers dedicated to the safety of all the townsfolk of Handleburg without regard for personal differences;
I have asked the House of the Healing Heart to step in and fill a niche that had not, until recently, needed to be filled.
The House of the Healing Heart has agreed to assign a full time healer and defender for the good of the people of the town of Handleburg.
From my personal savings I will fund the building of a permanent building in Handleburg dedicated to the House of the Healing Heart. This building is to be completed as quickly as possible.
And finally, in view of a personal change in policy or philosophy of the group known as the Mendicants the charter for the organization will be amended as seems most appropriate.
By my hand,
In Baron Aldwin's name,
Hagan Stonekrag
Margrave of Messena
Ardith Hiller has been named Guildmistress of the Miners Guild in Messena. Margrave Hagan will serve as Master of Claims for the Guild.
Work has officially begun on the mountain town of Handelberg.
The trail from Handelberg to Port Aldwin is complete, but not yet completely secure.
Duddelsock, the giantkin, has been defeated.
The merchant fleet sailing from Port Aldwin has grown dramatically. Several longboats, tall ships, and more triremes have joined the crowd. All are flying the purple and gold of Messena in addition to their normal colors. These ships are leaving Port Aldwin heavily laden with ore and metal goods and sailing to the various colonies and to Koth itself.
One of the mighty Black Ships was in Port Aldwin in May of last year collecting taxes. The Miners' Guild paid for all of the taxes due for everyone working on the trade route. The people of Messena are reminded to save up for next year's taxes.
Hagan has been promoted to Margrave of Messena and had to step down from his Guildmaster position due to conflict with his new role. A new Guildmaster will be named soon.
Baron Aldwin has officially named the lands The Colony of Messena. He has also renamed Port Anfang as Port Aldwin.
4/14/01
Kimmerel Nimsin's letter (shown below) brings up an interesting point which I'd like to follow up on. I mentioned this to several people during my recent visit to Haven; however, I will mention it here as well, along with some additional info.
It would appear that the stone fury had made it's way across the Arianna plains and taken a 'stroll' into the Zockreiss mountains to the east of the Midlands (west of Messena). It did much damage in the mountains before turning and heading back into the plains (perhaps prompted by several old giantkin with an affinity for wind). He has, in his movements, cut a swath through the mountains themselves, forming a rough pass from the Arianna to the lowlands east of the Zockreiss mountains.
We have been planning to send a party through this new pass, largely in an effort to see how much damage was done and what it would take to make it a workable trade route. However, all of the people of Baron Aldwin's lands have been occupied with a smaller hill giantkin which is blocking a pass we need opened up for our primary trade route, so we haven't gotten to it yet.
It would appear, though, that another group has. A handful of barbarian warriors boasting a red mark upon their faces have been reported in our lands. I suspect that these are the Red Skies warriors from the Arianna plains. Their connection with the Order of Blood is well known, and I have some concern as to what this bodes for the mountains I love and the lowlands I have come to like. Why would the Order of Blood make a special trip out to lands where they have not been seen yet, when they seem so well settled in so many other places? I assure you, I do not know. But if my suspicions about these barbarians is founded, then I suspect we will all find out soon.
Imperial Guildmaster Hagan Stonekrag
Imperial Miners' Guild
Guildholding of the Zockreiss Mountains
4/10/01
To Elijah Al'Vere, indeed to all who wonder the same question about the
Order of the Blood, does Kimmerel Nimsin send regard.
The real question should be has anyone bothered to ask them why they
keep bothering us. However, doing so is treason is it not? They have been
locked up for 5,000 years, I am sure they have reasons we can not fathom.
To put it bluntly, this Heart member does not know why they bother the town
of Haven other than the fact that the Heart and some of the Tribe of the
Moon both reside here. As the OOB has a problem with both factions, I would
consider this a reason for their being here.
Indeed though, the OOB is everywhere, not just here in Haven. Since
freed they have spread like a plague across Urth. Just because you do not
hear what happens in major cities does not mean that they are not there.
We have seen their power, and to survive where they were, they would have
to have vast resources.
And just because Haven is a new town, does not mean that there is
nothing phenomenal about the area that we do not yet know. It is a good
question Elijah, however, we need to stand against them no matter where
they are... And regardless of the reasons why they are where they are...
We must accept that they are here, and now... And deal with them.
---- Kimmerel Nimsin
White Heart applicant
Novice of the House of the Healing Heart (in Haven)
3/19/01
<There is a scrawled note in red tacked to the following message which reads:> Sorry, I was supposed to put this up a couple of months ago, but it was in me pouch that broke. It took me wife a couple of months to fix, what with winter being so hard this year and her being so busy and all. She finally got it fixed and I put it on me belt again, and found this letter that Master Hagan told me to put up when I got to town. Mind you, the wife got the silvers out of me pouch... -Leon the furrier
From: Imperial Guildmaster Hagen Stonekrag of the Imperial Miners' Guild
Dated: November 5, 3200
State of the Colony of Zockreiss
Greetings. I hope you are reading this in good health. We have been progressing up the Plapperfloss River towards the mountains for several months now. I want to cover the state of our progress and what we are expecting in the near future.
We started by clearing the area around Port Anfang. The port was built on the site of an old barbarian village at the mouth of the Plapperfloss River. We had built a workable wooden pier to dock ships at and a couple of small buildings, enough for a new beginning. Scouting expeditions found a cave down the coast with some good, minable stone to start building a true city.
We spent the next few weeks travelling up river to the edge of the swamp. Various dangers were taken care of. There were some odd encounters with lizardmen, all peaceful, as well as some meetings with barbarian tribes. We discovered the playful nature of the Coyote Tribe and the honor of the Coyotes as well as the Orca Tribe.
At the downstream edge of the Todesboden swamp, the first of the forts was constructed. To date, no name has been given to this fort. Due to the speed of the river current, it takes most of a day to move a raft upriver from the port. Down river to the coast is just a few hours travel. We ran into our first bit of resistance with an organized group of gnolls. There was also a sighting of a mysterious pale figure. We started seeing some mysterious statues as well. They seem to be golems, but we are unsure what the purpose or origins of these are.
Scouts spent a couple of weeks trying to find a workable route through the swamp. A waypoint around the middle of the swamp was chosen to build a small fort. Named Fort Skittish, this fort was built on a small rise and is planned to be used in the event that a caravan is not able to make it all the way through the swamp in one day. To date, we still have not been able to make it very secure, but it is far better than being stuck in the middle of the swamp without it.
At the upstream edge of the Todesboden Swamp, we built Fort Sanctuary. This is a fairly secure fort and is a full day's travel upstream from the fort at the other edge of the swamp. Much more was discovered about the pale creatures, as well. They seem to like to scream a lot, and attack with Keenings from the Path of Sound. We did not engage them in combat, as they seemed satisfied to chase our forces away from their area, though where that is has not been clearly defined yet. They appear to be some sort of human type race, but extremely pale. A faction of lizardmen who are opposed to our progression through the swamp has also made themselves known. We have a treaty with the lizardmen people as a whole, but this one faction continues to cause problems. Treachery from the Raven tribe was also uncovered.
Most of a days travel upstream from the swamp is the Hochwasser, a 100ft waterfall. After pouring through many excellent design submissions, a mechanism for moving freight up and down this waterfall was chosen. It is a very simple design initially proposed by Skittish the fox changeling. While preparing the area so that the engineers could safely work on the freight mechanism, we ran into some more organized resistance. A group of gnolls was camped near the falls and had to be cleared out. An excellent location for a storehouse was discovered as well. During a side mission, we found an entire forge. It has been packed up and shipped down to Port Anfang. We would have liked to have placed it farther upriver, but we simply don't have a location secure enough to place it yet.
The river gets a little wild from the waterfall up into the mountains. This area is very hilly and has several large sections of rapids. Travel along this stretch is much slower than any other section of the river, as much care has to be taken going down river, and much effort must be expended going up. The Plapperfloss flows between two peaks - Traulichtal and Spaltungdurch. In this pass between the peaks is the most difficult section of the river. A giant lives here who the dwarves call Duddelsock. We know that he has gnolls working for him, but are unsure of the exact size of the force. We expect the campaign to clear him out of the pass to be extremely difficult. It is rumored that he has a treasure horde, however, so it should be worth the effort of any mercenaries who wish to join the effort. We are planning to move up to the pass during the first of the spring thaws.
After that, it should be all clear up to the city site. We hope to have the first foundations for Handelberg laid in early spring.
In other news, Port Anfang has grown steadily during this time. The engineers have gotten the walls built, many good, strong stone buildings, and a couple of solid stone piers for additional ships to dock at. The Healing Heart has a building that was built to the specs provided by the Royal Order of the Sun. We expect that they will be sending a Heartstone sometime during the winter.
The Miners' Guild obviously has the strongest presence in the area. This whole endeavor is to build a route for ore and mined goods to travel down river for shipment across the sea. The Foresters' Guild also has a strong presence as they regulate the development of the region between the port and the mountains. Finally, the Merchants' Guild has also firmly established a presence in Port Anfang. They are planning to bring in goods in exchange for the ore and mined goods going out. The Merchants' Guild is coordinating the merchant fleet that is slowly forming. I am happy to say that dwarves from throughout the mountains are joining into all of these guilds, strengthening their numbers and their reach.
The fleet. It all stared with four triremes. Since then a group of ocean going barbarians have shown up with a full dozen longboats. A seasoned boatwright has moved to Port Anfang and is helping to teach our dwarven engineers how to build a full rigged sailing ship. They expect to finish the first ship within the next few weeks and take it for it's maiden voyage. Meanwhile, another group of engineers has been working with the barbarians and learning their longboat design. The barbarians have also been showing us the finer points of rowing and tight space maneuvers. Several dwarves have been going out on the triremes on short voyages as well.
The end of our voyage is near at hand. I wish to thank all who have helped so far. We still have plenty left to go, so join us and help us complete our dream - a safe caravan route from Port Anfang, up the river, into the mountains, all the way to the future Handelberg. I look so forward to ending the journey and concentrating on developing Handelberg.
A forge has been installed in Port Aldwin.
Hagan is hiring men at arms and mages in Port Aldwin to form a colonial militia. All members of this militia would report to Hagan and be led by Dame Karelia. Serious inquiries only, please. Pay will start at 3sp per week, training, some equipment, as well as citizenship, and will vary with rank and responsibility. May require extended duties up river at the way stations and forts along the trade route.
The Miners' Guild has a handful of weapons and armor available for sale. Inquire with any guild member when in the area.
The sailors in Portsmouth, Dupree, and the ports in Pantera, Mindor, and throughout Koth, have been provided with maps to show them the route to Port Aldwin (formerly Port Anfang).
Anyone wishing to liquidate their contracts for indentured servants should send word to Margrave Stonekrag in Port Aldwin.
Boatwrights needed in Port Aldwin. Additional cargo ships for the transferring of goods need to be built. Seek any member of the Miners’ Guild in Port Aldwin for details.
Needed: someone with diplomatic skills and knowledge of barbarian customs to help with delicate native issues. Possible permanent position available. See Margrave Stonekrag in Port Aldwin.
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