ISSUE TWO

51. STREET URCHINS ATTACK

"Give us ya monies ya blag!" The Crowd seemed to have converged from every direction as Arzor Marak and his family emerged from the Smoking Dragon Inn terminating their night of revelry.
"Push off you villains." Arzor Marak was having none of this brigand or his mates. They twenty urchins converged on Arzor in a fury until he was dead. All the while his family could only scream for help.

DM Briefing: 20 Street Urchins attack a family outside an Inn killing one.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8120320/tee...

52. CLERIC CALLS FOR KILLINGS

Kurok WindSword had the crowd gathered in the Marketplace.

"We must crush the unholy, and purge the city of their evil!" He pointed at one man in the crowd who seemed to be having second thoughts.
"You! You will lead these righteous believers through the city..." Saliman suddenly felt awkward as all eyes fell on him and someone pushed a Sword into his empty arms. Cheers went up from the crowd as his arm and the sword holding it were forced into the air by the people next to him.

DM Briefing: A fanatical Cleric calls for his followers to begin a terrible massacre of foreigners and non believers.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8121213/yemeni...

53. FARMER KILLS DEMON DOG

"What in the Hells is it?" The old Wizard scratched at his beard.

"Damned if I know...just say it on the edge of my corn field." Dern the Corn farmer pulled the crossbow bolt from the corpse. It didn’t look like a dog, but it was big enough.
"Is it some sort of Rat?"

DM Briefing: A farmer kills a legendary creature. This is just one of many moving through his region. The Chupacabra will attack Farm animals feeding on their blood.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8188941/hairle...

54. LEVIATHAN EATS THE MOON

Franco watched as the world was plunged into utter darkness. This was no mere eclipse.
"Ready yourselves..." The Warriors waited for the inevitable tide of horror that would emerge from the ruins they had been approaching.

DM Briefing: Once every 500 years a lunar eclipse happens where the world is plunged into a terrible darkness unlike a regular eclipse.

Source: io9.com/5715413/tonight-will-be-the-dark...

55. GARGANTUAN CARP ATTACKS

Hans leaned out from the rigging.
"Where did you say you saw this big fish?" The water exploded and the giant predator leapt skyward taking gregor and the upper rigging. Hans fell toward the Water, desperately flailing for the edge of the ship as he went past

DM Briefing: Gargantuan Carp attacks ships and Eats Fishermen whole while in harbour.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8185747/myster...

56. CAVERNS DISCOVERED

Kleg the Cleric unleashed his Earthquake Spell to give the Villagers a wakeup call.
"That should give them something to remember me by..." The ground opened up. Kleg could only watch as the north half of the Village collapsed into the unexpected sinkhole.

DM Briefing: Earthquake reveals colossal Cavern Network.

Source: ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/large...

57. RODENTS SPEAK LIKE BIRDS

Karleah could not believe what she was witnessing.
"That mouse is singing like a bird." The odd rodent continued to perch on the beam and chirp at her proximity.

"Yup! buggers have been doing that for near a week now." Jankel the Farmer continued milking his cow.

"Buggers? You mean there is more than one?"

DM Briefing: A bunch of Mice are discovered to talk like birds. Apparently some Wizard has been playing funny buggers with the locals.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8187106/scient...

58. RUINS BURIED FOR ALL TIME

Jamaro dug against the line of stone blocks. It was obvious now. They were cut Stones fitted in a straight line.

"You were right Harlo! It’s a Wall." The problem was the rest of the Mound.

 A wall to what?

"We keep digging till we know. Never let it be said that Harlo gave up on Gold." Jamaro smiled at the prospect.

DM Briefing: The PCs stumble across a Wall of cut and fitted stone blocks that seem to be part of a larger structure buried two thousand years before by a Volcanic Eruption. Unfortunately angry Natives seem displeased at their presence.

Source: www.mysteriousnewzealand.co.nz/photogall...

59. CLERIC QUESTIONS DOCTRINE

High Priest Suleiman stared at the pamphlet. The words were pretty plain in their meaning.

'...Thyse gryte Trymors thyte rock thy lands are as wayves in wyter are caysed by...' It wasn’t good. Church doctrine was very specific. No outside thought. No postulation of the mysteries. It certainly didn’t matter that this was one of the better thoughts on the topic that had come before Suleiman.
"Send the Church guard to fetch this wayward priest. He has appeared to have strayed outside acceptable church doctrine."

DM Briefing: A Cleric starts spouting heresy and violating church doctrine.

Source: io9.com/5717082/the-forgotten-genius-who...

60. MURDERS ROCK VILLAGES

"...They say she was in the Well two days, hung from a fine cord." Jango looked up from his Ale.

"What did you say about a Murdered Woman?" He was focused on the two men at the table opposite.

"I said they fished that Ta'hain girl from the village well this morning."

"Where? You mean the murder of Ginny Ta'hain over in Deepfell? I thought they found her in her home?"

"Deepfell? No. This was here this morning. Kailiy Ta'hain." Jango sat back in shock at the news.

Both Women with the same last name had been murdered two nights ago. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

DM Briefing: Two women in two different villages a hundred miles apart are murdered on the same night.

Source: www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/01/02/204...

61. BAD OMENS

Halaine of Redhill could only watch as the rain of dead black birds continued to fall on the village of Hurp.

"This is an Ill Omen!" Halaine turned to look at the source of the Comment. It was Durst, Village Priest. The Fundamentalist nutjob continued to ramble on about the end of the World and the end of Turnip farming.
"Could just be some foul Miasma..." Durst caught Halaine's comment and added it to his rapidly forming mythology of doom and destruction.
"It is the Miasma! The end of the World is Nigh!" Halaine was iritated at the idiocy of the fellow.

"That not what...It's probably the Poison breath of a Green Dragon." He leapt on it immediately.
"THE WORLD DRAGON HAS COME!" Halaine shook her head and walked off. There was no reasoning with the Idiot.

DM Briefing: A flock of Thousands of Black Birds fall from the Sky dead over an Isolated Village.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8191238/hundre...

62. BAD OMENS CONTINUE

Halaine stared at the dead fish lining the riverbank.
"OK I got nothing!" Halaine looked about at the crowd of concerned Villagers. A hundred yards up river Durst and his followers had gathered.
"Behold! The Second Event! The World Dragon has come!" They continued to eat up every word.

DM Briefing: The Crisis continues to develop as a massive fish kill occurs along a river bank in proximity to a previous mass kill of Blackbirds near an Isolated Village.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8191298/birds-...

63. TAX THE WITCHES!

"Thyr-rei-dhuno!" The old fortune-teller screamed the words the moment she spotted the purple clad Tax collector and his soldiers on the edge of the village and turned and hurried off.

An explosion of peasants erupted amongst the huts - all seeking to conceal what little wealth they had.

"Forget it hag! It’s not they who will be paying tax today. It’s you." He nailed a notice on a Tree.

"All witches will pay Taxes..." The old woman halted and turned to look at the fool before her.

"That’s Different..." She threw a small seed at her tax collector. It expanded instantly into a huge boulder the size of a small hill that crushed him and his soldiers, leaving a smear of human remains on the ground.

"I bet you thought Purple would protect you from that."

DM Briefing: A small Republic decides that Witches and Fortune tellers must pay Taxes. Consequently purple becomes a popular choice of clothing colour for government officials seeking to ward off evil curses.

Source: thechronicleherald.ca/World/1220433.html

64. DOOR TO ABYSS FOUND

"Gregor! Over here – a Cave!" The Cold rain was starting to take its toll on the companions.
"Thank the Gods!" Gregor Squeezed into the narrow divide in the Stone and followed his friend in out of the rain.

"Don’t Push! I can’t feel the..." Darron fell forward into the darkness and vanished from sight with a scream.

"Darron!" Darron's scream seemed to last forever as he descended with sickening speed into the unknown. Gregor righted himself and tried to focus on the limited light. Somewhere below the Screaming stopped with a thud.

The small Cave ended in a huge shaft that descended down into the darkness. He would need to perch between these two driving rains...

DM Briefing: Mountain Climbers have discovered a Cave that descends down through a Mountain and there doesn’t seem to be a bottom. The Network is at least two miles deep.

Source: www.speleogenesis.info/spotlights/spotli...

65. MUMMY DISCOVERED

Se' Han drove the pry bar into the dirt at the stone block's edge and vibrated it against the one ton block. His rendition of 'hard working toil' came to a pause as he broke through into the space beneath the earth...

DM Briefing: Workers installing a stone Paved road through the middle of a village uncover three wooden tombs. Only one has a seven hundred year old Mummy in it.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8220608/chines...

66. DISASTER ON BRIDGE

Gregor was dozing as he drove the Wagon up onto the old timber bridge that straddled the River Kwat. The Sound of the Timbers snapping woke him, but it was too late. The Horses were through the Railing and dragging the Wagon forward behind them.

DM Briefing: Disaster strikes as a Merchant driving a Cart across a bridge breaks through the Railing. His Wagon is hooked in such a way that the Horses pulling its heavy load are dangling by their harnesses above a raging river.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8228852/crash-...

67. TSUNAMI DEVOURS KINGDOM

Suki cowered under the support beam as roof fell all about her. The Terrible shaking seemed to go on forever descimating her old timber home. Outside the screams of villagers was mixed with a terrible crashing sound.

What had her grandmother said before she died? Run all the way to the big hill above the graveyard if ever there is a shaking that destroys the village?

DM Briefing: A Terrible Quake rocks the whole kingdom. Soon after a terrible wall of water thirty feet high washes over the land reaching in a hundred miles. All coastal communities are destroyed leaving only those in the mountains. Many thousands perish.

Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2011-03-11/tsunami-s...

68. TREASURE VAULTS OPENED

Royal Assessor Hunan directed the workers to pull and for a moment the great stone seal refused before giving away. The sound of the stone seal scraping across the surface of the stone floor was deafening. A Burning torch in hand he pushed through a gap and looked inside.
Behind the seal of the first vault lay an impossible hoard. Hunan choked on the awe of it withdrawing from the gap. There were six other vaults and the one at the end was said to contain a demon.

DM Briefing: Deep beneath an Urban Temple a Government Official opens Temple Treasure Vault 'A' to discover a treasure worth fifteen billion gold pieces in Diamonds, Gold coins of various lands, and a Golden Statue with ruby eyes. There are six vaults and the Sixth has warnings that a demon is imprisoned within.

Source: globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/07/06/an-...

69. THE OLD MILL

Franco could only watch as the black cloud of bees enveloped the old fisherman stinging him to death. The Twisted bloated form was revealed only after the bees had flown off to die now that they had expended their only weapon. The Old stone building was obviously their home but what had the old man done to deserve such a fate?

DM Briefing: A Villager is stung to death by over six hundred bees. They have a hive occupying a stone Mill long abandoned on the edge of town.

Source: www.news.com.au/breaking-news/los-angele...

70. WANTED! DEAD OR ALIVE

Three shadowy figures watched as the Rebels celebrated their taking of the capital city with looting and burning before slipping into a shop in search of its hidden cellar.

"Any sign of my Son?" The Cloaked figures revealed themselves to a Haggard figure leaning over a table covered in documents.

"Not yet my King and we must move you soon. I fear this bolthole is no longer safe from your enemies."

"What do you mean?" King Gurdar looked at his loyal guardsman.

"They are offering a million gold piece bounty for you...dead or alive."

DM Briefing: An uprising in a kingdom has ended in the fall of the capital, but the King is nowhere to be found. The Rebels have issued a million gold piece reward to the individual who brings the King in Dead or Alive.

Source: www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2011/s...

71. EXPEDITION REACHES POLE

"Gregor! We are here! Quickly! The Flag!" Derwan the Navigator set down his Astrolabe and looked about at the Ice. The Glow of the Sun was out on the far Horizon. Gregor struggled out of the Rowboat and attempted to drive in a Flag.

"Derwan...look. What is that?" Derwan turned to look where Gregor was pointing out on the Ice; was that a White Bear?

DM Briefing: Explorers reach the North Pole in a Rowboat through the breaking up Ice Pack.

Source: tools.ntnews.com.au/stories/48071501.php

72. FARMER ABDUCTED BY BEES

"Help!" Edwin the Turnip farmer, alerted by the cry for help, looked up at the sight of a fellow farmer being carried off by Giant Bees.

"Good gracious!" Edwin downed his tools and fled back toward the village. He would need help with this one.

DM Briefing: A farmer is abducted by Giant bees that he might render services to the Queen.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8291946/bees-s...

73. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?

Sordi watched as the lights in the sky vanished as mysteriously as they had arrived.

"Sordi! Where are you? You must come and see this! The Sow by the gods there is this thing..." What could possibly be as interesting as what he had just seen in the sky over their little village?

"It’s the Sow...She’s given birth to this thing!" Trebol was a bit of an idiot but surly he knew what a piglet was. He followed the farmhand into the barn and was greeted by something insane.

"What the hell is that thing?"

DM Briefing: The night lights are seen in the sky above a farming community a Piglet is born with an almost humanoid head.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8293563/mutant...

74. FAMOUS GLADIATOR DIES

Harboth the Destroyer reached up to touch the face of his beloved wife.
"How often do I tell you I love you?" The scared hand stroked a cheek and then fell away.
"Husband?" He was gone. She held him to her body.

"Never enough."

DM Briefing: A well known Gladiator dies at home in the arms of his Wife. The PCs are called on to investigate the circumstances.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/829758...

75. METAL EXPLODES IN FORGE

Dewark the Smith adjusted the position of the stone mould allowing it to fill with molten waste metal from the pour. They had done this a thousand times turning waste into metal ingots that could be disposed of.

The Explosion was a surge of light and fire emanating from the mould quickly engulfing the Forge and it's workers.

DM Briefing: There is an Explosion in a Dwarven Forge caused by mystical waste metal releasing mystical energy.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8297808/one-de...

76. MERCHANT GUILD GOES UNDER

"What do you mean the Guild will not honour its letters of Credit?" Theobold the Merchant threw the documents on the desk of the Guild Financial Officer in a fit of Outrage.

"The Documents are forgeries." Theobold was slack jawed at what he was hearing.
"Forgeries! I have done over five million gold Daro in business within this very building and you tell me these are forgeries?" The Finance officer smiled at his loss.

DM Briefing: A Merchant Guild Official forges letters of credit of such quantity that the Guild is on the verge of collapse taking the Economy down with it.

Source: www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/15/ubs-fin...

77. LOST BOY FOUND

Dewan struggled with the boy's words shaking his head.
"Hass? Do you know what the boy is saying?" Duur's companion seemed fascinated by the obviously foreign words coming from the lads mouth.

"He says he as been living in the forest with his father for many years and only came out when his father died recently." Haas scratched his beard in bewilderment.
"What Language is he speaking?" Haas looked at his friend.
"He's speaking Legurian." The words roused an old memory of a rumour of a Legurian Merchant and his family vanishing while travelling in these parts.

DM Briefing: A young Boy emerges from the forest speaking a foreign language. Apparently he doesn’t know who he is - only that he has lived in the forest for many years with his father after the death of his mother and sought human contact only after his father died in an accident. The PCs will be called on to investigate who he is and where he comes from.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8303365/myster...

78. ROYAL ARMOURIES LOOTED

Alma the sheep herder watched from a hill as the Border guards halted the tide of refugees fleeing the fall of the kingdom to Rebels. For a moment the Guardsmen - all of the Duchy of Turn attempted to turn back the travellers only to be on the receiving end of men armed with wands of fireball. Refugees scattered or burned simply for being in the way.

Again and again the fireballs pounded into the soldiers and their fortified stone guard-post until there was nothing but ash.

The aggressors pushed forward and the more peaceful refugees who had survived paused to give the madmen armed with magic time to get far ahead of them.

DM Briefing: Royal Armouries with thousands of Weapons (Magic and otherwise) are looted during the fall of a kingdom. Criminals begin smuggling them into an adjacent Nation spreading chaos.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8303...

79. GIANT SNAILS OVERWHELM COMMUNITY

Marlon the Cabbage Farmer could hear the distinct sound of something graizing on his cabbages. He roused himself with all the fury af a madman, burning torch in one hand and a club in another. 
"Go on! Get out of my Cabbages!" There was nothing out there but a Large boulder. He could still hear the sound of something munching cabbage though. 
Boulder? Not in his cabbage garden. He threw the burning torch at the rock and the great beast reared up in pain and squealed. It was the size of a pony. An echo of squeals came from all around the village like some warning cry. Only then did he notice the others that had invaded his village. 

DM Briefing: Giant Snails begin appearing in and around a village devouring crops and plants in general. This will be a problem for a long time to come as thousands of eggs are laid.

Source: www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/15/2409202/g...

80. MERCHANT HOUSE OFFERS ARMS

The Hallum House merchant placed the strange looking crossbow on the bar.
"Alvo! The Drunken Pony is a long time purchaser of our Ales. That’s why we are offering you this to defend your Tavern."
"We've never needed weapons before...this is a sleepy little town." Alvo the Tavernier put his hand on it with a plan to push it back across the counter to his Wine Merchant but Gregor was having none of it.
"Just keep it. A couple of villages in these parts have been raided by bandits. Your well being is our well being so we offer you better defence than the village Watch is capable of providing." Gregor held up his hand until Alvo accepted the gift.

DM Briefing: A merchant House offers shopkeepers and market merchants who buy from it a repeating crossbow to defend against robbers.

Source: finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/aap/...

81. ASSASSIN CHEATS CLIENT

"What do you mean you have been cheated out of money?" Lieutenant Gregor leaned forward over the Tavern Table and got a closer look at the Woman. She seemed reluctant about giving up information.
"A man named Hrothgar. I paid him to do a job and he took my money and failed to do the job." She wasn’t giving up much.
"So he defrauded you?" Gregor seemed to be progressing in the investigation.
"That would be a matter for whatever Guild he belongs to."

DM Briefing: An Assassin is employed to kill a woman who is suspected of having an affair with the Husband of a Rival. He fakes her death and elopes with the victim. The Client finds out and complains to the Town Guard that they have robbed her.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8351118/smitte...

82. PORT UPGRADES UNDERWAY

The Merchantman Wind-master slipped past the breakwater and headed for the mouth of the Port of Duretti. It was filled with new construction and thousands of people loading and unloading goods.
"Durn? What is that building for?" Durn turned to where the young sailor was indicating.
Durn looked at the eight bay building facing out onto the Hexagonal Port of Duretti. It could only be for one purpose.

DM Briefing: The Port City of Duretti completes construction on a new Shipyard (a building of 200' wide and 475' long) that will be able to work on up to forty small galleys (20' wide 80' long) at any one time. While these vessels are not for large enough for War galleys they could be used as troop transports. The PCs are sent to gather intelligence.

Source: www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/24/huge-...

83. SILVER SHIP WRECK DISCOVERED

Albert continued to work the hand pump of the diving bell's air supply. They had found the lost silver ship of Nuar-Slemech and would all be very rich men.

"Pirate raider of the port Bow!" The Call of the Watchman almost made him injure himself on the pump's iron handle and he paused for a moment before realizing he had stopped pumping vital air.

The prospect of being killed for all that silver suddenly weighed heavily on him.

DM Briefing: Treasure hunters discover an ancient ship filled with silver coin and bullion on the Sea floor. Treasure hunters must suffer all manner of risks to get it to the surface. Unfortunately 24,528,000sp is a difficult treasure to sail off with unnoticed.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8352250/treasu...

84. HUNT ON FOR STOLEN ART

"Cleaver"; Armand reached out and claimed the large square Blade by the handle and looked back at the Woman whose hand he was holding to the wooden bench.

"Now...you are going to tell me everything I want to know about your friends and where they took the stolen art. Every time you fail to answer I will take a finger." The room went silent and Armand shook his head in disappointment. The Scream echoed through the Guild house.

DM Briefing: Thieves raid a mansion belonging to a wealthy merchant in the Capital City making off with 100 million gold pieces worth of art. The PCs will be employed indirectly by interested parties including the Thieves Guild who are angry at not getting their share.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8354...

85. PEST'S CORPSE DISCOVERED

"Do you see that flower bed in the public Garden?" Inspector Serval looked at the Countess.
"Oh yes." She loved that new addition to the Public Garden.

"That’s where we buried the little wretch who broke into the stables and carved his name on your horse saddle."

DM Briefing: A nutter who offends a noble woman publically goes missing. He is killed by some unknown individual and buried within view of a Window of the Noble's Residence. The PCs must investigate. But there will be other forces who will not allow the investigation to stray too far in the right direction.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8355140/queen-...

86. HAUNTED HOUSE TERRORIZES

"I'm telling you Ella...there is something wrong with this house." Kaily lifted her father's sword to stop the dragging noise.

A bang behind the companions and they turned to find the door they had passed through had sealed tightly. Ella fell against the door and found the mechanism unrepentant. The Wood-grain shifted forming a face that bled from its eyes.
The Girls screams of terror were cut short as the floor boards they stepped on failed and the ends now armed with jagged nails struck at them. While Kaily blocked the strike with the old sword she was carrying her friend Ella took the full force of the heavy iron spikes in the chest. Blood exploded from Ella's mouth and sprayed her friend.

DM Briefing: A Haunted house has begun to dispose of Villagers who venture within its timber structure. When the PCs arrive it has already claimed a goodly number of villagers. The PCs will make it a Baker's Dozen.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/glanceview/194114/ha...

87. SOL BADDAN BREAKS UP ON REEF

Inigo watched as the great Barge snapped its spine across the Reef and its vast cargo spilled into the Water. Barrels of Wine and other goods would be washing up on the coast for a good week after this incident. The Crew had abandoned the stricken ship the instant it began to splinter.

"Kerrik! Get some of the lads down drift where they can run net boats out to pick up loose cargo." Inigo smiled. This was a good haul.

DM Briefing: A Cargo Barge hugging the coast runs on a reef and spills it's cargo along the coast after breaking up. Unfortunately for any would-be beachcombers the owners of the cargo send a small army of soldiers to retrieve lost goods.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8358859/rena-c...

88. THE POISON BEAN PLOT

"I thought you should know - The Mountain Rebels have taken to farming beans..." Franz was very concerned at what he had seen.
"And rebels’ taking up farming is a bad thing?" Duran was surprised by the suggestion.
"It is where these beans are concerned - a handful could poison a Village Well."

DM Briefing: A Druid alerts Adventurers that Mountain Rebels are growing a poisonous plant as a crop whose seed when powdered can kill. Unknown to anyone they are planning to poison an entire city.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/...

89. EVICT THEM WITH ALL FORCE

"Patriarch Altino, I realize you like to consider this city a place where people are free to gather and think their own thoughts, but these labourers and serfs outside the Guild hall calling for better wages...some of them are demanding equal shares." Guild Master Falconio was distressed. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact he had been egged on his entry into the building.

"And what do you propose Guild Master?" The Patriarch knew he would demand their dispersal. Certainly the crowd had become large over the last few days.

 
"Kill the first fifty and push the other seven hundred out into the countryside. We can hire others prepared to work for what little we offer them." Had they become that many?

"I will need to consider this."

A rock came through the window cementing the Patriarch's support.

DM Briefing: The Merchant Guild, objecting to mass protests by impoverished labourers unable to live off a pittance pushes the government to dispersing the protestors with force. The PCs as guardsmen are called on to kill fifty protestors and force the other seven hundred out the city gates.

Source: www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials...

90. THE UNBURIED CORPSE

Halek rubbed at the old brass plate that identified the contents hung around the neck of the dry remains on a chain. Karl of Jernoff. Why did that sound familiar? 

"Lubik? Why do I know Karl of Jernoff?" His companion looked up from prying open another coffin.

"He's under that big stone with the naked lady carving." Halek shook his head in disagreement. 
"Oh no he isn't." Lubik looked up from his task and stepped around the box to examine Halek's find. Karl of Jernoff hung on the neck plate. 

"Then who the hell is buried in his grave?" 

DM Briefing: When a body thought to have been buried in a grave ten years before hand is discovered in an old dust covered coffin in a storage room PCs are called in to investigate the identity of the squatter in his grave.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8370772/buried...

91. BIG CAT STALKS FARMERS

"Selmo...Did you see that?" Huran the Turnip farmer looked about nervously. 

"See what?" Selmo looked up from his shovel at the nervous farmer. 

"It was a kind of big cat, about the size of a pony." Selmo thought that was a crazy idea. 

"Where is this giant cat?" Huran was pointing a the edge of the woods that bordered his farm. Something was moving there through the shadows. 

"What the hell is that?"

DM Briefing: Reports of a Huge cat roaming the rural areas and menacing livestock draw huntsmen looking to capture or kill a Lion.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8370888/mot...

92. END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

"By the Gods!" Hauk of Freeport pointed skyward forcing Kasnsi the Barbarian to look at what had drawn his attention. There at the edge of the sky shield something huge seemed to burn like a hurled coal as it moved across the sky. 

"Starfall!!" The Barbarian's recognition of this horror had evoked some long dormant race memory.

DM Briefing: A huge asteroid menaces the world as it emerges from deep space to smite life.

Source: io9.com/5856621/how-to-spot-tomorrow-nig...

93. A MAGE'S MENAGERIE

"Yeah!" Haji's crossbow bolt exploded through the caged cat's skull and sprayed blood and gore over his fellow guardsmen. 

"I'm gonna skin that bastard and have his fur hide for my bed chamber." Tavo was nauseated by the actions of this imbecile looking elsewhere at the more desperate animals which seemed to sense their end. 

"Damn all Wizards..." Tavo cut the throat of a strange horse with a horn protruding from it's head killing it cleanly.

DM Briefing: Serving as City Guardsmen PCs are dispatched with others to the walled Estate of the recently deceased Wizard Selmo the Maleficent to put down his collection of starving exotic animals.

Source: www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3343894....

94. FARMER RESCUES DOG FROM CAVE

"So this Cave is how deep?" Thurn the Dwarf was interested by the idea of a cave just outside the village.

"Twenty feet. Our ferret hunting dog was at the bottom. I had to climb down and retrieve him." Jonjo the Turnip farmer was pretty impressed with his actions. Thurn smiled and patted him on the back.

"And there were other tunnels?" The farmer nodded at the Dwarf's excitement. 

"Ten percent of anything of value will be yours for our right to explore it."

DM Briefing; A farmer rescues his dog from a 20 feet deep limestone cave on the edge of his farm. The cave itself begins to draw the interest of Adventurers.

Source: www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/11/09...

95. QUAKE DESTROYS VILLAGE

"Help! Is anyone there?" Hans was pinned under a beam. The last thing he remembered was the Building shaking to the ground. 
"Yes...now shut up and dig yourself out if you can...I'm pinned down by a bloody beam." The Voice seemed close.

DM Briefing: A Quake levels a community. This is an opportunity for Adventurers to play hero and pull Villagers from the rubble.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/turkey...

96. BLOOD-SOAKED MADMEN IN ROOFTOP SIEGE

"Ya shan't take me alive ya bastards!" Han Bin stood precariously on the roof of the gable-house waving a small dagger, the blood of his victim moist on his skin. 
A Guardsman leaned out a window of an adjacent building. 
"I have a clear shot." Gregor looked down the stock of his crossbow at the madman as his commander moved about behind him. 
"Take it."

DM Briefing: PC Guardsmen are called out to deal with a group of men covered in blood on the roof of a building.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8372596/thr...

97. GHOST HUNTERS GO MISSING

Guardsman Dalvo leaned against the door frame of the old house. 
"I'm just saying that If you hear from your Daughter or Son in Law, just let me know...Its urgent we speak with them.“ Anya Qaterno stared at the other man who had popped by with the 'Guardsman'. He looked more like a thug than a member of the guard.

DM Briefing: Known Ghost hunters vanish from their home and are thought to be on the run. The Town Guard want them to surrender to arrest so they can have words with them. PCs who are members of the town Guard may be called in as the legitimate search for these missing people.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8372776/fug...

98. WIZARD REQUESTS A BLACK RHINO

"These great beasts are known to live on the Bloody Plains. I will pay you a million gold coins if you can find one and return it to me alive." Hondo choked on the size of the Bounty. 
"A Million gold coins? For a million gold coins I will bring you a whole damn herd." The Wizard smiled at the suggestion.

DM Briefing: A wizard offers a million gold pieces bounty to the first to find a Black Rhino and return it to him alive. Unfortunately the Species is extinct.

Source: tools.ntnews.com.au/stories/49245231.php

99. KEGS DISCOVERED ON LAKE SHORE

"Kegs were found concealed in woods near the lake shore. It is now apparent that we have a problem. Over the last decade we have lost upward of two dozen boats shipping Beer. That collection of barrels amounts to one fifth of our losses shipping across the lake." Guildmaster Halma stroked his beard. The people they would hire to investigate this would have to be bought in from outside. 
"I might have heard of a group. They were involved in a piracy investigation at the Port of Suddeer." Gregor smiled. Yes. They would be ideal for the task.

DM Briefing: Ninety Two Kegs of Beer thought lost during their shipment by lake Boat are discovered concealed on the lake shore. PCs are called in to investigate Lake Piracy.

Source: www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/92-kegs-fo...

100. HUMANS MASSACRED BY ELVES

"Commander Selestrya! Ignite the siege weapons. If we get this right we can flush these damn humans out of the village and straight into the Gauntlet General Astynil and his hunters have established on the far side." Commander Selestrya nodded and barked a command to the ballista crews. No more stinking humans on elf lands. 

DM Briefing: Over a hundred villages occupied by Humans across a forested region are massacred by fanatical bands of Elves resulting in the slaughter of four hundred thousand Humans.

Source: trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4695576...

ISSUE ONE

1. THE HARLEQUIN'S MASK

Investigator Riyu stared at the brutalized woman. Her face had been cut on by the very madman he was pursuing.
"When was she found?" He turned to the Watchman who had found her.
"Last night," The Guardsman turned away from the Corpse. "Neighbours reported Screaming."

DM Briefing: A Psychopath has been attacking Women. All the victims have their mouths cut at the edges so they look like Harlequins or Puppets.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1032184/wom...

2. BLOOD SACRIFICE

Dura the Fortune teller leaned forward through the smoke.

"If the clay is no longer baking red and true, A Sacrifice of Blood will see you through." Dura Fell back from the Trance.
Furdad rushed from the tent.
"What did the fortune Teller say?" Azawe was waiting.

"We must conduct a blood Sacrifice..." Furdad looked around. Which of his workers would he sacrifice?

DM Briefing: When the clay of a digging no longer baked to traditional red, Brick Makers Sacrifice a labourer on advice of a Fortune Teller.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/22/bangla...

3. FIRE AND ICE (PART 1)

Sigismund turned toward the direction of the explosion. There at the top of the Glacial ice wall that towered above the far end of the Valley, the red and orange embers of an inferno spewed upward like a fountain of fire. All around it the Ice turned to Steam.
Sigismund reached for the Alarm bell; a sound barely audible to the population of the village over the roar and thunder coming from the Glacier.
"We must flee!"

DM Briefing: five hundred Villagers are forced to flee as a Volcano erupts from beneath a near-by Glacier.

Source: www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121338&sec...

4. WHO CAN WE ASK FOR HELP?

Elin cowered at the brutality of the attack. The Men who had raided the House and violated its women picked through the spoils of their plunder.

"Right! Where is the rest of it?" The Leader of this raid struck Elin a blow. Where is it?"

DM Briefing: In a community where Prostitution is not managed by the Guild or any Watch, A house of ill repute is raided by bad men, the Women violated and robbed. They can’t exactly go for help.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1032...

5. BABY KILLING SON OF A BITCH

Silber jerked back from the hessian sack he had discovered snagged on the edge of the riverbank in horror retreating away from it;
"Oh by the Gods..." He emptied his stomach contents on the bank.

His friend patted him on the shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Grandim the fisherman began working his way toward the bag that had shocked his companion.

The sight of the small bodies broke Grandim immediately to tears. There were babies in the sack.

DM Briefing: Villagers discover the corpses of twenty babies on a riverbank. Somewhere up river a Wizard is conducting experiments on Babies.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1034012/two-he...

6. THE TIDE OF REFUGE

Alberth the fisher pulled in his nets, struggling with the load of fish. That was when he saw it. The Boat was defiantly foreign and not of a type that Alberth was familiar with. It was crowded with the starving and emaciated. Men, Women and Children of some far away land. Their vessel seemed to struggle with the load and reek of a smell that suggested they had been at sea for perhaps a year.

Their mast, broken and lashed into place struggled to withstand the forces of the feeble wind that jerked their vessel toward land.
Alberth looked back at his small fishing village and wondered if they would even make the beach.

DM Briefing: Boat People of a foreign and unknown land begin landing on the coast and crowding into and around Communities there. Hungry, destitute, outcast and all manner of suffering folk are amongst their number. They do not speak the local language and may become an underclass.

Source: www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/03/29/135...

7. COFFIN FINDERS, COFFIN KEEPERS

Franco scratched at the dirt with his wooden Sod breaker. There was defiantly something there. He pushed back the dirt to reveal more of the Lead.

 "A Lead Box...?" It seemed a little long. Gregor was three feet away and scraping dirt off the same lead box.

"A coffin perhaps?"

DM Briefing: Farmers digging in a field near some old rocks uncover a thousand pound lead coffin. Considering the value of such metal, perhaps it is the Coffin of an Emperor.

Source: io9.com/5504790/what-the-hell-is-buried-...

8. THE ALVA FARUK

"What kind of vessel is that?" Geran began climbing the riggings to get a better view. It was huge. Where were the Sails? where were the Masts? It seemed flat like a Barge or a Galley. Perhaps it was rowed by Slaves?
"No one Knows. It simply appeared on the reef during that terrible Maelstrom last evening." Captain Franco extended his spyglass.
Geran stared down at the ocean. It was befouled with something...

DM Briefing: A thousand feet long iron hull ship has crossed through from some alternate reality and become lodged on a Reef off the Coast. It has spilled a thousand tons of oil on the ocean poisoning fish stocks in the region.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1035661/def...

9. FIRE AND ICE (PART 2)

The Roar was deafening. The Smell infernal.
Derun Firehammer stared at the firestorm before turning to his companions.
"And the Seer is sure that Surak the Infernal is in there somewhere attempting to summon the Nightlord?" The Prospect of entering that hell for anything less than saving the world filled him with dread.

"He's never wrong." Franz was prepared to go on faith alone but it helped if he was right.

DM BRIEFING: What began as an Eruption in the North has been revealed as an effort to summon some dark force into the world of men.

Source: io9.com/5520373/eyjafjallajokull-rains-l...

10. A FOUL SMELL IN TOWN

Katrin pushed aside the window curtains with one hand struggling with the waste bowl. The foul aroma of the street washed over her causing her to stumble.
The Waste in the bowl spilled across her as she collapsed, choking on the overpowering smell choking her lungs.

"Oh...Oh Gods! What is that?" Katrin vomited.

DM BRIEFING: A would-be Alchemist is mixing toxic substances in the Cellar of a Tavern. Unfortunately the toxic cloud is poisoning the citizens living in the Foreign Quarter.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1056627/mys...

11. THE NINEFINGERED ONE

The Midwife struggled with the cord, the newborn child waving its hands in the light of the moment. It was a simple slip of the blade and the child Screamed.
"Oh no. Oh Gods No!" The midwife Sara panicked now.

"What’s wrong?" The Queen mother was suddenly drawn to the wailing of her child. "Is something wrong?"

"I Just cut off a finger." The Midwife padded the bloody stump in a pathetic attempt to stem the blood flow. The Queen seemed confused.
"Not my own. Hers." The horrified mother was shocked at what she was hearing.

DM Briefing: During a delivery of a child, a Midwife slices off a child's finger. The young Princess will be forever known as Isha Nine-fingered.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1057007/midwif...

12. ORCS ARSE FOUND DEAD

The guest hadn’t come down for dinner in three days. Fraknel the Innkeeper pushed open the door to the room and was confronted by the smell of a corpse. The occupant wasn’t necessarily dead - he smelled like that on check in. The hideous face of sewn up flesh emerged from the darkness and Fraknel fell backward in shock before recovering his senses.

Was that the face of an Orc? It swayed on a hook over the door as Fraknel pushed into the room.

The squeal of a terrible engine filled the room and Frankel found himself standing on a rapidly deflating Bagpipes crafted from Orc Bones and most likely some Orc Leather. Lifting his foot off the broken instrument he found the body.

DM Briefing: Orc's Arse, a member of GARROT, a band violent bards who are known to wear Masks and carry instruments crafted from Humanoid Skin, is found dead in his room in an Inn.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/105701...

13. HEALING WATERS DISCOVERED

Ferdinand struggled with the weakness in his old bones as he bent to cup his hands to capture water from the old brass tap that supplied drink water from the Church Cistern. A sip and the pain began to ease.

DM Briefing: Villagers discover that the water from a tap outside their church coming from the rainwater cistern heals. Word gets out and all manner of charlatan comes looking to profit from the export of the healing waters.

Source: www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/05/26/150...

14. PLAYWRIGHT GOES INSANE

Azani made her way into the Manor house of the great Actor and playwright, Suran Baor. The doors open, the halls dar,. the servants missing.

Her husband Franel was here somewhere likely working on some play with the greatest Actor and Playwright the Kingdom had ever seen. She worked her way toward the East Wing where there was a theatre.
The hall seemed dark - despite the oil lamps.
Baor stepped into lantern light with something in his hand. He was coated in blood.
"Come in my dear...We are just getting to your part in this comedy."

DM Briefing: A great Actor and Playwright kills a fellow Actor on Stage then lures the victim's Wife to the same fate.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1061...

15. SINKHOLES CONSUME CITY

Kalvosh the Bandit rode his horse away from the Guardsmen at all haste. The gold of his almost successful bank robbery weighed down the stolen nag he was riding.
"You'll never take me alive!" the furious chase changed direction and took them down another cobblestone street. Kalvosh spotted it first. The Street had been devoured by a very deep hole. Kalvosh changed direction, cutting through the garden of some peasant farming on urban land. Kalvosh stared back at the cavernous hole.
"Where in the hells did that come from?"

DM Briefing: Sink Holes open across the city of Durnt causing the population to flee in fear. The Caverns into which the city is falling are up to a quarter of a mile deep.

Source: io9.com/5551931/tropical-storm-agatha-op...

16. INTELLIGENCE POTION FOR SALE

Sedric the peddler sipped the strange brew the old farmer had given him.

"You should feel a warm sensation washing through you as the potion takes effect." Sedric could taste the apricot at least.
"No...But hey we can sell it to the people in the next town by the bottle. It’s got fruits in it so it must be good for you." Sedric smiled at the old Charlatan.

DM Briefing: A community begins to peddle a potion of Intelligence made entirely from natural ingredients rather than magic. The results are up for dispute but some long term drinkers swear they have improved their intelligence.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1064231/North-...

17. STRANGE LIGHTS IN THE SKY

Kofis staggered into the street and looked about for the moon that would light his way home. The Swirling Light in the sky caught his attention. The Moon had never done that before. He looked around and spotted the moon before looking back at the swirling light in the sky.

That was new.

"You are probably wondering why there are two moons." Came the voice out of the darkness. "You might want to go home and forget you ever saw it."

"That's not a moon...looks nothing like a moon. It’s a swirly light in the Sky." The Shadow moved only slightly.

"Dragon." The voice corrected.
"That’s not a Dragon...Looks nothing like a Dragon." The Shadow stepped forward and now it was joined by another.
"Like I said. It’s a Dragon if you know what is good for you." Did the second have a sword?
"Right...I'm obviously too drunk to think about such things. I'm off to bed." The shadow's sword retreated to its scabbard and they vanished into the dark.

DM Briefing: A Swirly thing is seen in the sky all along the Coast by many villagers in many villages.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/1064435/u...

18. RIVER SPIRITS APPEASED

Sabutai the high priest took the first chicken and cut it's neck draining the blood into the raging river that cut their simple village in half. Upstream, twelve children gathered on the Village Bridge to watch the ceremony and offer flowers.

"Let this sacrifice appease the spirits of the river and..." Sabutai was interrupted as a great wave erupted from the watery surface in a furious rage.

The Great Elemental Primordial roared: "I accept this Sacrifice..." The Watery hand devoured the bridge and claimed the children.

DM Briefing: A ceremony to appease the Spirits of the River by sacrificing Chickens goes horribly wrong and twelve children on a bridge linking two halves of a Village are claimed by a River God.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1065231/12-chi...

19. HAMMER OF GOD

Namoi Wildcatcher looked up at the sky...Was that Thunder this time of year? Above him, burning Coals seemed to fall from the sky and impact on the far side of the island with a flash of light.
The Shockwave hurled him through the air smacking him against the distant forest trees.

DM Briefing: Rocks fall from the sky unleashing hellish energy on scale with a nuclear bomb. In the aftermath, Survivors discover Craters that fill with water forming lakes. They begin sacrificing children and animals to appease the angry sky.

Source: io9.com/5556690/the-ancient-meteorite-cu...

20. WOLVES IN THE WILDERNESS

The Old woman was hysterical but Arak could make neither heads nor tail of her fears.
"Any Idea what she is going on about Harren?" The Warrior looked over at the old Priest.

"She's saying that Her Grandchildren were abducted by Slavers. She's begging you to get them back." A familiar Story in these parts. Arak nodded.

"Ask her when it happened."

DM Briefing: The PCs are sent to investigate the abduction of Children from Villages located along a Mountain Road. The Villains are part of a slavery network trading in children. Most of them wind up dead after years of abuse and cruelty.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1079146/aussie...

21. NIGHTMARE IN PUNDE

Widow Sandoval ran down the night shrouded street with the monsters on her heels.
"Some one! Please help!" Her screams seemed to be drowned out by the thunderous sound of this herd of Mega-fauna hot on her heels down the Cobblestone lane.
A terrible squeal of horror drowned the community as she was finally set upon.

DM Briefing: The Village of Punde is plagued by giant Rats the size of Hounds.

Source: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/31024...

22. INFERNO CITY

Burning debris hurled outward from the distant explosion igniting a hundred other timber shanties.

Leon cowered from the heat as the pressure wave hurled him to the Ground. This was it for the Capitol. The City would burn unstopped until it was all gone.
"Carley! Get to the Cart. We need to leave!" Leon ran for the Horse in the barn.

DM Briefing: A terrible inferno has taken hold of the crowded capital. It will be entirely engulfed in flame within a day. Crowds of People flee for their lives. It is uncertain what caused it but speculation will add to the panic.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/7959405/explos...

23. TWO HORNED UNICORN SIGHTED

The alarm spell sounded waking Finntiluth from his sleep. Even half asleep he could see the Two horned Horse through the Crystal Ball. He immediately roused his companions with a Roar.

"The Creature is sighted at location Zebra-Three. Prepare for Transport Gentlemen."
Within moments the Flying Ship turned inland.

DM Briefing: When a Two Horned Unicorn is spotted in the wilderness, interested parties hurry to capture it.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/7963752/rare-s...

24. RED MIST SMOTHERS TOWN

Alveron choked on the burning red cloud that enveloped his small town. His eyes and throat burned. There was no where he or the other residents could go to gain respite from the acrid cloud.

"Where in the hells do you think it is coming from?" Alveron turned to identify the Voice. It was Vsanya. She was pushing through the crowd
"It came from the direction of the Abandoned Wizard's Tower west of town." Vsanya nodded in acceptance as residents pushed past them both fleeing east.
"We should go deal with it. You think?" Alvernon nodded in agreement.

DM Briefing: A poisonous acidic cloud pours over a community. It seems to be coming from an abandoned wizard's Tower outside of town. Chemicals have apparently mixed and turned into a toxic cloud.

Source: www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpsci...

25. STATE OUTLAWS MAGI

"A ban on Witches and Wizards advertising their Services is now in effect!" The Town Crier directed guardsmen to tear down the notices posted on the Pillar of Public Notices where everyone advertised. The Crier moved down the Street where hundreds of Wizards and Witches sold their services.
"A ban on Witches and Wizards advertising their Services is now in Effect!" Guardsmen tore down signs overlooking the Street, and above small shop fronts taking them inside Shops to have words with their proprietors.
Apprentice Salmo hurried off to warn his master of this disturbing chain of events.

DM Briefing: A Republic that has in the last few decades seen increasing influence of the Church begins cracking down on Wizards and Witches. Though it is for now a ban on advertising their services, it is likely to escalate into a ban on Wizards and Witches.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europ...

26. A PATRIARCH’S FUNERAL

Janko the Warrior could only watch as the Corpse of the old man was carried down the road of the Village Lane. Hundreds seemed to have turned out to see the old fellow off.
"Whose he then?" His inquiry seemed to spark disinterest in his ignorance.
Perhaps a hundred elderly women wailing his death followed the precession.
"He's our Patriarch." The Village Guardsman to his left commented.
"How many of them are related to the man?" The Crowd of followers seem to look angrily at Janko.
"All of us. Those Women are his Wives." As the Guardsman nodded to his mum, Janko suddenly felt awkward at having killed to old fellow.

DM Briefing: The Party stumble into the Village of Kuku where his children are burying the Village Patriarch and his hundred wives are mourning his loss.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8099434/polyga...

27. PROTECTION RACKET

Gregor watched his house burn.
"I will pay you anything! Just put the Fire out." He was frantic now as the Town Fire crew stood and watched the house burn.
"Sorry Sir. You failed to pay your Fire Services Fee. You don’t get it when it is of convenience to you." The fire Spread to the neighbouring shanty.
"I'll pay you five hundred gold pieces!"
"Heads up lads! A Fee paying client's house is catching fire." They ignored Gregor's plea for help and went to put out the fire now threatening his neighbour.

DM Briefing: A Town has a Protection Racket in control of Fire Services. Anyone wishing to have firemen put out a fire that is burning down their house will need to pay a 75 gold piece fee annually.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8100891/crews-...

28. ZABU EXPRESSES AN OPINION

"Zabu Sit!" Furati tapped the elephant’s rump with a riding stick and the large beast groaned as it struggled to its knees. Satisfied the handler slid off it's back and walked over to the Tavern where a scruffy old man was peddling hooch to the local villagers from his bamboo hut.

When he returned well drunk, it was dark.
"What the hell have you been drinking?" The sound seemed to come out of nowhere. Furati stumbled taken by surprise.
"Who sai tha?" He slurred his words and looked about nervously.

"Me! You drunk bastard! Is that fermented Gucha fruit I can smell?"

"Whose there! Shew yoself!" Furati jerked about with Paranoia before collapsing in a drunken heap.

"I don’t know why I bother." Zabu rolled over on his back and scratched the top of his head on a rock.

DM Briefing: An elephant learns to talk. At some point the Player characters learn that the only credible source of information is the talking elephant who would very much appreciate not being involved in whatever it is they are up to.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8104591/talkin...

29. EVIL STEPMOTHER DISTRAUGHT

"Ando! Come listen to this servant!" Friar Ando rushed over to his companion.
"Now tell my friend about this sack you were instructed to remove from the Queen's Chamber during the night." Friar Ando was irritated.
"We have no time for idle gossip Gregor. We must ready to deliver the Ransom within the hour." Gregor shook his head.
"We need to make time. This might be important." Gregor turned back to the Servant...

DM Briefing: An evil Stepmother has disposed of the Princess - Daughter of the king - and has faked a Ransom Note demanding a Million Gold Pieces. The PCs must make the Delivery within four hours giving them little time to investigate.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8104614/search...

30. AXE GANG STRIKES

"Where is your Gold?" The widow cowered on the floor of her home at the feet of one of the three axe wielding villains.
"There is no Gold!" Her cries of terror were almost a scream for mercy.
"Your Husband was a big merchant! Now where did he hide the gold?"

DM Briefing: A gang of three criminal wielding Axes have been raiding homes through the City of Bomarc at night. Unfortunately the city is large and they remain one step ahead of the City Guardsmen.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8106044/arm...

31. KILLER GOAT

Herad the Cleric leaned on his staff. Ahead, on a rocky rise a majestic mountain goat stood sniffing the air against an incredible mountain vista.
"Beautiful!" The words seemed to startle the beast and it dropped out of sight behind a run of low bushes. Herad cursed himself for spoiling the moment and considered moving on. He had a long Journey ahead of him.
The Horned Goat burst from the camouflage of some brush and charged at him horns down. It seemed to already have the blood of some previous victim painted on the horns as the twin spears skewered Herad through the guts.

DM Briefing: A Wild Goat is attacking and killing lone travellers. The beast seems determined to earn some serious experience points.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8107733/us-hik...

32. GNOMES DIG TUNNEL

Frelin Bunttleknose spotted the sudden burst of sunlight as the great tunnel cutter breached the side of the Mountain.
"We're through!" Darmar Hotrolledsteel didn’t seem to hear him nor spot the sunlight pouring in to the tunnel over the edge of the Machine.
Frelin patted the operator on the back to get his attention.

Darmar dusted off his goggles and looked up.
"What?" The sunlight caught his attention.
"Oh! Right! We're through. Why didn’t you tell me?" He pulled the brake leaver and slowed the machine to a stop. The other Gnomes carting rock back to the far end of the tunnel seemed overjoyed.

DM Briefing: Gnomes cut a large tunnel through a Mountain Range allowing travel through a fifty seven kilometre long Tunnel.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/glanceview/128219/lo...

33. SEERS PREDICT MAELSTROMS

Gando the Seer breathed in the smoke.
"...Great Maelstroms will wrack the coastal cities...Ale will taste bad in the Village of Gurm...Gold will be found in the mountains of Plimy...Anna of Durnst will have a daughter..." The scribe sitting quietly in the corner noted it down.

DM Briefing: The Royal Seer predicts destructive Cyclones will sweep through the Coastal cities of a Kingdom creating much destruction.

Source: www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/10/19/187...

34. ANCIENT TOMB DISCOVERED

Haran drove the pick into the ground. He had till sun-up to dig the well then he would need to take shelter from the terrible Sun.

“Samir! Come here boy, and bring that bucket.” The Boy scurried out of the family hovel they had erected earlier this morning.

Haran surveyed the desert that was to be his farm plot. It would be their grave if he did not find water.

After a dozen more blows, the pick broke through into a buried chamber taking Haran the farmer with it.

DM Briefing: A Tomb belonging to a High Priest over four thousand years old is discovered.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/egypts...

35. SUNKEN CITY SPOTTED FROM AIR

Frendik Skywratchet leaned over the Gondola railing to unleash the contents of his stomach. Over head the hot air balloon continued to jerk back and forth as the fire elemental rumbled its disagreement to being imprisoned in service to its gnome master.

Frendik opened his eyes and looked down.

“Kerric? You know that story about a sunken city...” Below him a city of streets and building walls could be seen displayed on the sea floor.

“What of it?” Kerric Elementaldriver was a little busy with his charge.

DM Briefing: A Sunken ancient city is discovered below fifty feet of water off the coast of an island.

www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-popova/abst...

36. MONK EXPELLED FROM TEMPLE

Sur-dak was hurled down the steps of the temple into the crowded street. A volley of rocks came from the clerics at the top of the steps.
"Be gone foul one! You are banished for your weakness." The High Priest turned his back and the other clerics followed.
Sur-dak lay in the dirt of the street until the crowd began to gather to exact their own brand of Justice on the corrupt little cleric.

DM Briefing: A Monk is expelled from his temple for the sin of spying on naked young Women while they bathe. The PCs must decide between preventing his death at the hands of angry villagers and his just punishment.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8111246/monk****>

37. GNOMES FIND SILVER ON MOON

Gan Steamwratchet scraped at the cold topsoil to reveal a thick layer of Silver below the Permafrost.

"Bugger me!" He choked for air in the rapidly depleting Air Envelope of the old Spelljammer. Quickly scooping a soil sample, he fled for the vessel that would carry him back to his colony.

DM Briefing: Gnomish Spelljammers discover Silver on the Moon in vast quantities. Unfortunately the Airless planetoid draws off the Air supply of a Spelljamming Vessel pretty Quickly making any mining operation very dangerous.

Source: www.newscientist.com/article/dn19609-lcr...

38. BANDITS SLAUGHTER VILLAGERS

Turduk the Butcher led his bandits into the small village in a cloud of dust.
"So these Stinking Peasants think they have something to celebrate do they? We will teach them different." Turduk pulled his scimitar and his bandits followed suit...

DM Briefing: Bandits raid the Village of Borydos while the locals are celebrating the Coming of Age of a young villager. They slaughter twelve of the Villagers at the celebration before escaping.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8111681/gunmen...

39. DWARVES FIND CRYSTAL IRON

Denwar dug into the hot stone with his mithril pick. He was weary. It had certainly taken its tole just to venture this far down beneath the world.

The Mithril shattered on impact with something unexpected.

"Shaj!" The end of the pick was gone. It had failed on impact with something harder than Mithril.
Harder than Mithril?

"Over here!" One of his fellow miners raised a hammer and struck the rock by Denwar. He turned the pick and worked the stone that concealed his prize matching the hammer in a rhythm.

DM Briefing: Dwarves delving into the very core of the World discover Crystalline Iron: an Iron harder than any metal ever encountered, its crystalline nature making it truly valuable.

Source: io9.com/5664275/how-it-feels-to-be-crush...

40. DEATH DEEMED SUICIDE

"Suicide!" The City Guardsman was absolute despite the evidence.
"She was attacked with an Axe fifteen times!" Azorian Diplomat Dura Shan was disgusted at the suggestion.

The Guardsman flashed the Black Dog bite tattoo on his hand.

"Suicide!" The Diplomat revealed an identical Tattoo beneath a glove and nodded.
"Suicide it is." The Diplomat pulled his glove back on and left the Watch House.

DM Briefing: A Traveller from a distant republic is found slaughtered. Her injuries involve being struck fifteen times with an Axe. The Corrupt Local Authorities and Diplomats of the Victim's nation agree that it was suicide.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8111821/aussie...

41. FOUR LEGGED DEMON CHICKEN

Gregor hurried across the open space between his shanty and his barn. He didn’t like being out in the open like this. There had been too many deaths.

He reached the Barn and slipped inside.
"Thank the Gods!" Gregor stepped forward intending to milk his cow Bes.

"Bukaw!" The terrible sound hammered at Gregor taking him by surprise. The Huge head of a four legged Chicken looked up from Bes's stall where it had been eating the Cow. It trotted out of the Stall on all four of its legs and looked inquiringly at Gregor.
The Farmer turned and ran for the Door but the giant beast was behind him instantly.
"Bukaw!" The beast's head was right behind Gregor and he closed his eyes as it went for the kill dragging him back into the dark.

DM Briefing: Recently the farmers have been having trouble with their chickens. The usually little chickens have evolved an extra pair of legs and grow to the size of a small horse. They begin to graze on the farmers and herds for food. The Four legged Chicken has the Speed and Stats of a Pegasus.

Source: www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/10/25/189...

42. GIANT SHARK EATS FISHERMEN

"I'll never go to sea again Curkin!" The young lad looked up at the old fisherman and saw the fear in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" The child wanted to know.
"It came up out of the Water and snatched your Father right off the Deck of the Fishing Boat. Huge it was. Fifteen maybe sixteen feet long. It just took him." The old man shivered at the memory.

DM Briefing: A giant Shark over fifteen feet in length is stalking off the Coast. Fishermen and regular sharks are its prey.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8111895/sha...

43. TSUNAMI DESTROYS VILLAGE

Franco stared at the fishing port from the rigging of the ship.

"Gods she is a beautiful sight!" his words caught the attention of the old Captain.
"That she is Franco." There was something in his voice.

"Wave! Tidal Wave!" The Crows Watch screamed the warning as the Wave rolled the ship and washed toward the fishing port. Franco was suddenly beneath water as the rigging dragged him under.

DM Briefing: Over a hundred are dead and five hundred missing after a tidal wave devours a coastal community.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8113...

44. VILLAGE HAS OWN LANGUAGE

The Farmer was Adamant.
"So you are saying we shouldn’t bother speaking with the Village on that hill...because they don’t speak Common." The Farmer nodded.

"That’s Ludicrous! Everyone Speaks Common. Everyone!" Gregor thought the idea was insane.

"They speak Duk." The farmer smiled.
"What the hells is Duk?" Gregor shook his head and rubbed his tongue against the back of his teeth.

"The Name of the Village."

DM Briefing: The PCs discover the Village of Duk - where Duk isnt just the Common Tongue, it is the only language spoken in the community.

Source: io9.com/5661308/mysterious-language-spok...

45. PLAGUE IN THE NORTHLANDS

"It isn’t good. The old man and the child are experiencing symptoms of fever, headaches, and vomiting...it’s defiantly the plague." Guardsman Thrain continued to hold the cloth up in front of his face.

"That’s fifty in two weeks!" Captain Deran Washik. There was only one course of action here.
"Board it up and burn it!" Guardsmen cautiously pushed forward with timbers and hammers.

DM Briefing: Affecting Children and old people, a terrible fever is sweeping the rural northlands. Victims suffer Vomiting, Fever, and Headaches before dying.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/health/8114766/myste...

46. EMPIRE BEGINS HEADCOUNT

Tormis the Bureaucrat drove his walking staff into the timber door of the small shanty. A noise came from within.

"Who is it?" It sounded like an old man.
"Imperial Census! All persons out into the street for a headcount." The old man poked his head out from behind the rotting door and stared at the Imperial Bean Counter and his dozen soldiers.

"Only me..." Tormis looked at the filthy face.
"And you are who?" Tormis expected an answer.
"Nekid the elder, farmer." A cough came from within. Tormis scratched out the first number and waved his ink quill in the air over the scroll.

"And the Name of your Cough?" Nekid smiled a guilty smile.

DM Briefing: The Empire of Hak, concerned over a lack of bureaucratic knowledge as to the disposition of the billion plus populace and thus taxes owed initiates the great census. Six million Bureaucrats will go from home to home to identify the people living there, scouring every corner of the Empire.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8116508/china-...

47. THE CROWD TURNS UGLY

Hagar the Pit fighter watched as the great beast circled him. Above the pit the crowd cheered at the prospect of another victory. Somewhere in the poorly lit arena someone was striking two metal blades together to give the event rhythm.

The great cat turned and hurtled past Hagar with its powerful claws ripping at him, A quick motion and the Seasoned fighter had grabbed the beast by the tail...and plunged his manhood into its rear orifices.
The crowd went quiet at what they were watching. The great cat squealed at the violation.
It took a moment before someone screamed:
"Kill the Degenerate!" That was it. The Crowd had turned.

DM Briefing: A well known Gladiator violates a Wild Beast in some degenerate display of his virility. The Mob is furious at his antics and they begin turning on Arena fighting as a vile self indulgent orgy.

Source: tools.ntnews.com.au/stories/43996851.php

48. MISSING ARISTOCRAT FOUND

Han Dwarf-friend moved along the trail and out into the clearing. There, nailed to a tree was the corpse of the young Aristocrat Sigismund the Fourth. Han recognized him instantly and looked around for a potential killer.
"Gods lad...you're a little far from home." Han pulled his axe and prepared to chop down the tree.

DM Briefing: The body of a Young Aristocrat has been found nailed to a tree in the middle of the Wilderness. Apparently he went missing while travelling south to another city by the Trade-road.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8119...

49. MASTER OF DISGUISE ESCAPES

Gorn the merchant halted before the gangway that led onto the Ship that would take him from the Empire back to his homeland. For the fifth time he showed his documents. He attempted to speak the border guard's language - poorly.
"You have a beautiful Country. I enjoyed my time much." He nodded at the fellow who nodded back.

The Guard returned the Documents and waved him forward onto the Timber ship. Gorn moved slowly up the walkway on to the rolling deck and was led to the cabin he had paid for.

The Cabin boy led him through some doors into a cabin with his baggage.
"My thanks Lad!" He slipped the cabin boy a few coppers and waited till he had gone.
It wasn’t until the Ship was an hour out to sea that he removed the Mask.
Gorn the Elder vanished and was replaced by the young elf outlaw Sandyn Duryndyr, Most wanted of the Empire.

DM Briefing: A young Elf outlaw (and Most Wanted of the Empire of Hak) disguises himself as an elderly foreign Merchant from a distant land. He slips past the Border guards and escapes by ship.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8119687/unbeli...

50. HOUSE OF GLADIATORS FALLS

Rubble settled a little on the warriors.
"Is anyone hurt?" Fuant the Beserker lifted the beam that had him pinned despite the broken arm. Beneath him the two naked dancing girls he had shielded from certain death moaned at the weight of the man and the dwelling. Fortunately they were alive and only bruised.

"Faunt! Over here!" It was Kurdog the Mad, Champion of fifteen death-matches. Faunt found him trapped beneath two beams.
"Hold on...I'll have you out in a moment."
With the beams moved, Kurdog's naked form was revealed to the open sky.

"What was that?" Kurdog laughed that he was alive - though the dancing girl crushed beneath the Stone Column next to him was dead.
"Uncertain. It could have been an earthquake - or perhaps the building was old."

DM Briefing: The House of the Gladiators collapses into rubble injuring some and killing others. Though some of the Timbers were old, it may have been an earthquake caused by the nearby volcano.

Source: news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8120047/pompei...

DUNGEONS: CAVE-INS AND COLLAPSE

DETERMINGING SUBSIDENCE

Subsidence is defined by the cross-sectional width of a cave divided by its height below surface.

100% Subsidence: Width of Cave/Cover depth=1.1-1.4*
10% Subsidence: Width of Cave/Cover Depth=0.1-0.5*

*This range depends on the rock type. The high thresholds are more likely granite, midway is sandstone and limestone, while the low end of the scale is dirt/gravel.

That means that a cave with a 50' cross section sitting below 20' of rock has a value of 2.5 (well in excess of 100% Subsidence): Such a cave began to transfer the effects of subsidence to the surface back at 10% so the ground will be sagging and unless this chamber is propped up with columns it will collapse like a sinkhole.
Likewise a 10' wide tunnel below 20' of rock has a value of 0.5 (at the upper limit of 10% subsidence). Here the stress of failure has reached the surface - Fine cracks that will probably not be visible at the surface due to topsoil.

REDUCING SUBSIDENCE TO 10%

Columns are rarely introduced after the effect. Standard Practice requires a column to be cut from the existing rock strata and left behind undisturbed by mining and excavation.

Column Width= 0.12 x cover depth
Goaf (space between columns) width = 0.6 x cover depth.

What does it mean? Our 50' cross-section cave above can be reduced to a subsidence of 10% by including at time of construction columns to support the ceiling.

Column Width: 0.12 x 20' = 2.4'
Column Spacing: 0.6 x 20' = 12'

A chamber supported by 2.4' wide columns spaced 12' apart. Inflict some damage to those columns (beyond the damage inflicted by the existing subsidence) and the entire Dungeon will have to be tested (%percentage roll for each chamber and corridor) as to whether it has collapsed with the mountain coming down on the Adventurers.

SUBSIDENCE AT THE SURFACE

When Subsidence exceeds 10% it begins to show at the surface. To determine the Surface Area Affected by Subsidence, you must take a 35 degree angle from the bottom of the workings edge. This means that even Rock that doesn’t overlap a collapsed/failing Cave will be showing failure. The Actual depth of collapse at surface is 80% of actual cave height into which the rock may collapse.

Subsidence= 0.8 x cave height

Cave-edge collapse radius = SIN 35 degrees x depth of cave bottom

So our 50' cross section cave with its 15' high chamber will if and when it collapses create a 12' deep sinkhole with signs of subsidence out to (SIN 35 degrees x 35') = 20' beyond the area of the cave (effectively the 50' cave left a hole 90' across - slopping down into a 12' deep, 50' wide pit).

SURFACE SIGNS OF SUBSIDENCE

As subsidence progresses toward 100% the effects of subsidence are transferred to the surface with increasing severity.

10%<------------------------à100%

Cracks* - Sagging – Depression Bowl

Cracks* – Fissures – Chimneys

Cracks* - Block separation – Terracing

Cracks* - Sagging - Sinkholes

*Cracks are not always visible at the surface due to topsoil

NATURAL SUBSIDENCE OVER TIME AND MAGICAL TUNNELLING

As a mine is increased through mining it becomes increasingly unstable due to the natural failure over time. The rate of failure over time is determined by a curve associated with the rate at which mining occurred.

A tunnel cut slowly by Dwarves might progress toward a natural failure over years or even centuries. Whereas the use of Disintegrate to dig your way through is considered an instantaneous advance which means the natural progression toward failure is instantaneous.

The use of Disintegrate to tunnel instantly pushes the rock structure to 100% before adjusting to its new subsidence value (ex-removal of a 10' x 10' x 10' cube below 10' of rock by disintegrate requires a check against the cave's new 10% subsidence because of the instantaneous stress change).

Our 50’ cross-section cave might progress to 100% subsidence over eight years but the instant someone uses a Disintegrate spell to tunnel through a wall, the section may collapse as a block or separate from the old cave as a stress boundary fissure or chimney.

APPLYING CAVE SUBSIDENCE TO PITS

It means that any unreinforced Pit wall will fail out to 35 degrees from bottom of any pit with 11′ of width per 10′ of depth burying anyone who dares enough to dig below 5′ depth x physical height.

AC 990

Nuwmont 13: Traldarans seek refuge

Location: Kelvin

Description: Traladaran refugees from villages in the Atlan Tepes arrive in Kelvin and notify the inhabitants that eighty villages in the north-eastern region of the Atlan Tepes were obliterated and that twenty four thousand Traladarans had been killed in three days of Humanoid Attacks.

What is going on? Humanoids are becoming organized under leaders. Some of these will be Thyatians looking to seize property and wealth, others simply forcing the Human population out of the region.

What the PCs can do: They might be employed to go into the North East to put down the Humanoid Warbands.

Nuwmont 23: Krakatos Burns

Location: Krakatos

Description: The town of Krakatos is burned by unidentified mob of Thyatians and its fortifications pulled down. Traladarans living there are forced to flee. Numerous Rapes and deaths occur during the evictions.

What is going on? The community of Krakatos is abandoned and becomes a ruin.

What the PCs can do: They can try and save lives.

Vatermont 19: Disarming the Rabble

Location: In communities all across Karameikos

Description: In the village of Verge and in other places, the government demands all weapons from the Traladaran populations.

What is going on? Traladarans are stripped of weapons on the grounds that they pose a threat to Thyatian Authority.

What the PCs can do: If they are Traladarans, they will be told to surrender their weapons.

Kladmont 3: The Black Eagle goes to War

Location: The Black Eagle Barony

Description: Two hundred horsemen ride out from the Black Eagle Barony under the Banner of Von Hendriks and heads north west toward the Five Shires.

What is going on? The Baron of Black Eagle is beginning an assault on Wereskalot in the five shires. The community is a nest of Traladaran Refugees who are shipping weapons to Traladarans and aiding the escape of Traladarans from his Barony.

What the PCs can do: They can if they are friends of the five shires warn them that the Baron is coming.

AC 991

Vatermont 8: He fell on his own dagger...

Location: Specularum

Description: The Wizard Krollan, a counsellor of Duke Stefan, is murdered while wandering through the great Marketplace. Witnesses report that he seemed to collapse surrounded by a crowd of people. Some thought it was a stroke until they saw the Dagger.

What is going on? The Veiled Society is proving to Duke Stephan that they can get anyone, anywhere and the Duke's Minions are all too vulnerable.

What the PCs can do: The PCs might be employed to infiltrate the Veiled Society.

Vatermont 8: Swords of the Black Eagle

Location: Black Eagle Barony

Description: Bargle's Humanoids begin making their way across the Blight Swamp to strike at the Halfling lands to conduct raids. The Baron himself dispatches half of his knights to take a short cut through Achelos Woods...while he strikes the Shires at the Border.

What is going on? Baron Black Eagle conducts a second Raid into the Shires. Unfortunately this time large numbers of his troops are lost in the Achelos Woods to what ever it is that dwells there. The Humanoids crossing Blight Swamp are met by Halfling Troops.

What the PCs can do: They can help the Shires stop the Black Eagle Baron and his minions.

Sviftmont 12: The Raddlebb Massacres

Location: Isolated Farms and Villages south of Fort Radlebb.

Description: An army of Thyatians ride into a village, set it on fire, and Slaughter its citizens in the Streets to the last child before looting it of its valuables.

What is going on? Beginning this day are the Radlebb Massacres. Twenty five thousand Traladarans are murdered massacred by Thyatians Soldiers from Radlebb Keep and Troops from the Black Eagle Barony as Baron Von Hendrik's own Knights participate in the slaughter.

What the PCs can do: If they are Heroes who happen to in the area they can get people to safety and try to save lives.

AC 992

Nuwmont 1: That is an Order

Location: Specularum

Description: After a heated 'discussion' with the Halfling Ambassador with regards to his lack of control over his Cousin in the West, Duke Stephan orders Baron von Hendriks to cease and desist in his private border war with the Five Shires.

What is going on? Stephan has been publicly reminded that ignoring what his Cousin is up to is not going to work. He is forced to order his Cousin to end his conflict with the Five Shires.

What the PCs can do: They can be called on to deliver the bad news to Baron Von Hendriks. Likewise they can be instructed to investigate the fact that the 'Traladaran rebels' being given shelter in the Shires are infact refugees fleeing acts of Genocide in Western Karameikos.

Thaumont 1: A Sorceress rising

Location: Specularum

Description: Halia Vorloi decides to take up adventuring today. She signs on with a merchant-wizard travelling by Wagon to Darokin.

What is going on? Halia Vorloi has run away from home to become a Wizard and Adventurer. Her instructor is a travelling Merchant.

What the PCs can do: They might sign on with the Merchant to escort the Caravan to the far away city of Darokin.

AC 993

Yarthmont 24: A Shopping trip to Thyatis

Location: Fort Doom

Description: Von Hendriks takes with him to Thyatis sixty five thousand gold pieces looted from Traladarans across the Raddlebb Region during the Radlebb Massacre. The Gold is a small portion of the 'abandoned goods' of the Traladarans.

What is going on? Von Hendriks is taking his share of gold looted from the Traladarans in the Radlebb region who were massacred on holiday. Because they were 'not alive to claim their goods' their goods were collected by the Baron's men. He is popping off to Thyatis to go shopping.

What can the PCs do? If they are the Baron's Men they might escort him and his gold. If they are Pirates (or Traladarans) they might find out that he is going to be moving his gold by boat and attack his ship.

AC 994

Vatermont 23: Guild Ambassador arrives

Location: Specularum

Description: Aladan Voll, Ambassador for the Minrothad Guilds arrives in Specularum. In an altercation on the Docks, he is set upon by a band of toughs. After the fight he seeks a bathhouse where he can get cleaned up and by the end of the day he delivers his credentials to the Duke.

What is going on? An Ambassador representing the Minrothad Guilds has been sent to the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. The Toughs attacking him on the Docks were involved in an attempt to loot his personal good.

What the PCs can do: They might come to the rescue of the future Ambassador.

Yarthmont 20: Fire!

Location: Specularum

Description: late in the evening a fire begins in a bakery in the old Quarter and quickly spreads to several other buildings. By the time anyone notices, it is jumping from building to building as though they were doused in fuel.

What is going on? The fire is part illusion - part real. The whole thing is designed to serve as a distraction while Robbers break into a Jeweller's residence and loot his valuables.

What the PCs can do: They might be putting out an illusionary fire when they notice the robbers exiting the Jewellers.

AC 995

Nuwmont 1: At last the Power is mine...

Location: Specularum

Description: In a surprise announcement to most, Yarol, a Traladaran, is appointed the Minister of State.

What is going on? Yarol, long suffering Secretary of Minister Bertran Cordelius is declared Minister of State by Duke Stephan.

What the PCs can do: If they are agents of Olivia's spy ring, they might be called on to spy on Yarol and the people he associates with.

Nuwmont 10: A Viking lands at Specularum

Location: Specularum

Description: Gunter Schonberg arrives in Specularum.

What is going on? Gunter Schonberg is Ambassador for the Northern Reaches.

What the PCs can do: They might encounter the Ambassador in a Tavern brawl a few hours before he must present his credentials to the Duke.

Nuwmont 12: Von Hendriks makes trouble

Location: Rifflain

Description: The Traladaran leaders Adran Tiblis and Ishar khan are slain during the night in the village of Rifflain by Humanoids.

What is going on: These humanoids are not the usual barbaric peoples. They are carrying a map of the village with the houses of Adran and Khan marked. This is an assassination by the Baron Von Hendriks.

What the PCs can do: If they are in Rifflain, they might be called on to investigate the killings, or even prevent the murders.

Vatermont 23: Your inaction has ramifications

Location: Specularum

Description: A note is anonymously sent to the Duchess holding her responsible for the massacres of Traladarans near Luln. If these activities continue the activities of the Duchess and her secret police will be exposed to the Duke and the various Traladaran court lords.

What is going on? Lord Sulescu has noticed Duchess Olivia's little Spy network and its foolish participation in the Genocide of the Traladaran people. He is simply reining her in before she throws the nation into utter chaos.

What the PCs can do: They could be employed by Duchess Olivia to investigate just who has compromised the security of her Spy network.

Thaumont 13: Troublemakers are rounded up

Location:  Specularum

Description: In raida all across the city of Specularum Two hundred Traladarans in Specularum are arrested for Questioning. After a day of questioning they are released on orders from Duchess Olivia.

What is going on? Traladarans are still being targeted by the Thyatian Government. Duchess Olivia however has taken the threat of a letter from Lord Sulescu and a new understanding of her Husband the Duke as a reason to make things better, not worse.

What the PCs can do: They can be called upon by Duchess Olivia to carry instructions to the officers involved in the detention of Traladarans to release them. As Traladarans they might be rounded up.

Flaurmont 1: Hyraksos to Rockhome

Location: Specularum

Description: The Duke Declares Constans Hyraksos as Ambassador to Rockhome.

What is going on: Constans Hyraksos has been harassing his father for an Ambassadorship to Rockholme for several years. The Duke finally grants the young man his dream posting.

What the PCs can do: As friends of Hyraksos they might escort his Son to Rockhome and stay on as part of his staff.

Flaurmont 2: A Baron Grieves.

Location: Vorloi

Description: After several days of illness, Baron Vorloi's wife finally dies. He is comforted by his Son and Daughter.

What is going on? An assassination attempt on Baron Philip Vorloi has missed its mark.

What the PCs can do: The Duchess Olivia might have the PCs look into the circumstances of her death. An inordinate number of Duke Stephan's Supporters seem to succumb to illness these days.

AC 996

Thaumont 11: You dare insult my honour?

Location: Specularum

Description: After an argument in the royal court gets out of hand, Baron Kelvin the first insults the honor of the Ylari Ambassador. Consequently the Ambassador 'accepts his challenge'. The Duke leaps to his feet to forbid this foolishness but they are not to be dissuaded. With agreement, both men withdraw to prepare for a Duel at Dawns early light.

What is going on? An argument in the Royal court gets out of hand and a duel to the death is declared between Baron Kelvin I and the Ylari Ambassador.

What the PCs can do: As Court Lords they can be called upon to act as Seconds and Witnesses.

Thaumont 12: The Baron is dead, long live the Baron

Location: Outside the City of Specularum

Descriptio0n: In a brutal mounted battle between two skilled horsemen at Sunrise, Baron Desmond Kelvin I is killed in a duel with the Ylari Ambassador, Mustapha ibn Ibrahim.

What is going on? Baron Desmond Kelvin the first has died in a duel with the Ylari Ambassador. His son, Desmond Kelvin II, and designated heir to the Barony is to be confirmed Baron of Kelvin by the end of the Day.

What the PCs can do: If they attempt to interfere, they will certainly be killed. All they can do is watch in horror with the other witnesses as Baron Kelvin dies in a Duel.

Thaumont 23: Orcs attack Duchess Olivia

Location: Near the Ruins of Krakatos

Description: Returning from Kelvin by Caravan after the funeral of the Baron, Duchess Olivia's Caravan is set upon by Orcs. A heroic Traladaran local named Lucas Tormandros (a Farmer) comes to her aide. He rejects any offer of Rewards.

What is going on: Orcs have settled into the ruins of Krakatos from which they are attacking Travellers on the Dukes Road.

What the PCs can do: Hearing of the Attack, they might be sent to investigate the Ruins of Krakatos and clear out the Orcs.

Flaurmont 4: Death stalks the Halaran Family

Location: Thyatis City

Description: Aleena Halaran's Mother and Father Die of a 'Disease' on the same day. Aleena makes preparations to migrate to Karameikos to live with her uncle the Baron Sherlane Halaran.

What is going on? Thyatis City is a large, crowded community rife with Disease and Poisoners. The Source of this 'Disease' could be contaminated Water, Food, or something as simple as social interaction. It could also be intentional.

What the PCs can do: They might be called on by Baron Sherlane to investigate the circumstances of this 'disease'.

Kladmont 8: A Hero accepts his rewards

Location: Specularum

Description: Lucas Tormandros finally give in to the Duke who has for months attempted to reward him for his heroics of Thaumont 23 and is made Townmaster of Specularum.

What is going on? A few months back Lucas Tormandros saved the life of the Duchess Olivia. He finally accepts an Appointment as Town master.

What the PCs can do: They might be sent to escort Tormandros to the city of Specularum.

AC 997

Felmont 1: The wasted life of Lord Oderbry

Location: Specularum

Deacription: Minister of Finance dies suddenly while emerging from his office this evening. Ever the meticulous work horse, the Minister for finance has the books for his assistant to file away for the evening clutched to his chest.

What is going on? The Duke's Banker (The Minister for Finance) has just keeled over and died. What no one knows is that for the last twenty seven years he has been siphoning off funds into an account in the Republic of Darokin. He has a million gold pieces stashed away under the name of his illegitimate Heir.

What the PCs can do: If one of the PCs is the Illegitimate heir of Lord Oderbry, that heir will receive a letter informing him or her that there are funds in an account in the Bank of Darokin for them - all they need do is take the included documentation with them as proof. It is also likely that the PCs will be chased down for the stolen funds in the near future.

Of course there are things worse than being chased down by the Karameikians - being related to Oderbry amongst them.

Felmont 8: Might I recommend Valdo Tiza?

Location: Specularum

Description: While contemplating who would be an ideal replacement for Oderbry, The Duke Stephan Karameikos is delivered a letter form his Minister from State Yarol. Yarol's letter recommends a minor official from inside the Ministry by the name of Valdo Tiza.

What is going on? On the recommendation of the Minister of State Yarol, Tiza is appointed Minister of Finance.

What the PCs can do: If they are involved with one of the nastier criminal organizations, they might be hired to assassinate Tiza, or see if he is open to bribery.

AC 998

Sviftmont 14: An exchange of Diplomats

Location: Specularum

Description: The Principalities having recently dispatched a Diplomat (Marinaita) to Karameikos. Duke Stephan Karameikos must consider a Diplomat to Glantri in return. As he contemplates that such a Diplomat must be someone these Wizards will respect as an equal...Boris Torenescu approaches him to recommend a cousin who has experience in negotiations.

What is going on? Boris Torenescu is recommending the very cousin who has supplied him with a Poison that can be used undetected to bump off Christoph Torenescu for a Diplomatic position in Karameikos in payment for services.

What the PCs can do: They might be called upon to serve as Diplomatic escorts to the new ambassador to Glantri.

AC 999

Vatermont 3: Church of Oderbry invades Five Shires

Location: Five Shires

Description: Alfric Oderbry dispatches Juthindar Sperren to the Shires to begin a survey of the Halfling lands. His instructions are pretty much to assess whether it can be converted to the Church of Karameikos.

What is going on? Oderbry sees the Shires as potential territory for an Expansionist Karameikos: either a Karameikos under the rule of a Duke who is under the control of Oderbry or as a Theocracy under Alfric's rule.

What the PCs can do: If they are rivals of Oderbry, they might be spying on his activities. Thus they might follow this minion of Oderbry to the Shires to see what he is up to.

Thaumont 14: Magda Marilenev loses a Friend

Location: Specularum

Description: After a long illness, Christoph Torenescu succumbs to an illness. The funeral is a sombre event with Yarol present to represent the Duke.

What is going on? Christoph has finally been poisoned to death by his brother Boris. It took a year that he might avoid detection, but it is finally done.

What the PCs can do: It is unlikely that the PCs will get involved in this matter other than to turn out for the funeral of one of the few descent people in the Torenescu family.