In the streets of Lerona Mere a foreigner lies dead amidst a pile of thrown roofing tiles, his unassuming garb spattered with blood and dust. His companions flee into the streets beyond, leaving him unknown but not forgotten.
In a ruined township a woman stands atop an old pile of rubble. Her words are spoken with passion and zeal, those surrounding can’t help but feel a wrongness in them. Is it the wrongness of a rightful challenge to the orthodoxy? Or is the wrongness of the heretic?
In a quiet lakeside cabin, a man’s corpse is strung up by its own entrails, his back festooned with a hundred iron barbs in the shape of stars, each one hammered into his body with superhuman force. His uniform is discarded nearby, the symbol of a Pathfinder-Captain torn from the arm and the sigil of a bloody fang daubed on the splattered window.
The Concordian Church is under attack from many foes over the Summer season and there are many questions how it shall proceed and what is righteous in the eyes of the Spheres.
Hear Our Call
The arrival of a Dendarri trireme to Lerona Mere in midsummer was of little interest to many. The distant travellers were good traders and ferocious drinkers, but their arrival is not normally notable except as a passing curiosity. But the cargo aboard ‘The Emeraldess’ was not just trade goods.
Three Dendarri travellers departed the vessel and were swiftly lost amidst the hustle and bustle of the Docklands districts. The travellers were swift on their feet and unerringly dedicated to their travel, allowing them to slip the grasp of the gangs that would normally prey on wayward wanderers such as these. But it quickly became apparent that remaining unseen was not their goal.
“Oh you rebels and seekers, hear me now for I am a Triaminite, a flame that defies celestial strings. The Argonas calls! A cosmic crusade against Tyrant Gods!
Have you felt shadows creep, their whispers planting doubt? Have you felt the celestial chains corrupt your lives? These are those Tyrant Gods that curse your lives! Embrace defiance, join the Chrisma, wield knowledge against divine chains. Rise, for you will be the flame piercing the darkness.
For two thousand years we have held the line against a divine horde that would see us slaves. I am reaching out to you, comrades in destiny, take my hand and carry the mantle of all humanity!”
The tavern was stunned. The people of Lerona Mere can appreciate brazen lawbreaking when it has a grand ambition to it, but open heresy in the Docklands is another thing entirely. The self-styled ‘Triaminite’ was a single strange occurrence, until the preacher gave a longer sermon at The Steel Barn tavern and then attempted to take questions in the Light District. It was on the way from this last engagement that roof tiles began to rain down on the heretic, bludgeoning him to a swift death under blood-red clay. His body was taken to the Redbrick District where it lay broken on the ground for two days, before the sanitation guild cleared it away. Despite a zealous mob sweeping the city, neither of the wandering priest’s companions have been located.
Discussion abounds in regards to the circumstance. The Dendarri must know of The Concord’s dedication of the Spheres and strong condemnation of heretics. While the Foreign Service scrambles to address the circumstance both within and without, others wonder where the remaining priests have scampered off to and whether or not they will find homes to spread their ‘cosmic crusade against tyrant gods’. Magistrates in Lerona Mere consider where they should send their limited resources to and the Church must decide if it wishes for blood or blasphemy.
Game Information
There will be decisions to be made in regards to this circumstance for the Ambassador to Dendarr, The Concordian Consular, the Senator for Lerona Mere, the High Priest of Stallia and the High Priest of Anarch.
Magistrate Sofia Lorenzini of Lerona Mere has offered fifteen locks alive, five dead for the capture of each of the wayward Triaminites, paid once the capture of the individual has been confirmed by a magistrate.
The Senate could organise a sweeping series of arrests of the individuals responsible for the murder of the Triaminite in the Light District. Doing so would require a senate motion and dispensation of one vault’s worth of funds to pay for mercenaries to protect magistrates from reprisal. Regardless of the Triaminites perceived crimes, Concordian citizens are still bound by Concordian law. However it appears that without active involvement, there is little drive to seek these arrests.
The Church could drive its faithful in Lerona Mere in either direction. A declaration of righteous vigilance could assist in expelling the heretics, while a declaration of magnanimous acceptance may do some good towards assuaging any damage caused by this act.
Troublemaker
Saul heard the preacher’s voice even before he rolled back into town - clear and righteous, it carried over the walls of Nazafeza and out into the rough fields beyond. Life had never been easy here - the land had always fought their efforts - but with corsair raiders prowling hungrily in the west, and word of nomadic war on the lips of local travellers, now was no time for further upheaval.
Saul had been told by one of the townsfolk that a preacher from abroad had come to the city and was inciting unrest, so here he found himself, trundling back into town on his ox cart to see what all the fuss was about.
His first thought, as he rolled beneath the archway of the town and the square beyond came into view, was that the priest certainly knew how to make a spectacle. Clad all in pure white cloth, and bearing gorgeous sigils of Arcadian and Cervitas upon her robes, she stood high above the heads of the gathered crowd - perched atop the broken tiles of a burned-out and collapsed house. Her voice - certainly not Nazafezan, but clear and confident - echoed around the plaza with passion as she preached her message, raising her sigil of Cervitas high as she did so.
“And what of the truth and the tradition of the Spheres? Of Cervitas? For many long years has Imperial Wisdom governed the Church, keeping us together as one unity! Keeping us together as one faith! Cervitas is surely not blessing those who divide us - these false upstarts who dare use the name of the nation to defend their heresies!”
A disgruntled rumble went up through the crowd, and Saul looked across to see a number of the elders of the village - those who had protested most vocally at the foundation of the Concordian Church - nodding agreement and muttering to themselves.
“This fledgling church has scarce but started, and already they risk division among you all by threatening the one unifying faith of the Concord? Their changes to the Tenets and Precepts of the Church spread only division - something which the spiritual foes of the heathenous and false religions will only capitalise on! Tell me, brave and true servants of the Spheres: how can I preach to the unenlightened, and show the true path to Grace, if our faith is divided against itself!?”
Her foot crashed down onto the tiles beneath her, a resonating crack sounding out as a torrent of precarious tiles crashed off the ruin to the ground. Some at the front shied away from the act, but many more stood firm, a mix of emotions on their faces.
“Heed me, citizens of Mukarrem! Here I stand upon a pulpit that will soon come to represent the nation! A fire burns at the heart of the Concord, but not purifying or unifying - it claws at the very pillars that hold the roof of protection above your heads! This new Church - no, this FALSE Church - must be put to death! And all those heretics who incited it along with them! We, the true faithful, the truly righteous, will rise up with word and deed, even fire and sword if necessary. Though the enemy is on your doorstep, you cannot let that stop you from fighting the enemy within!”
As her pronouncement rang around the courtyard, Saul looked over the courtyard and saw the mixture of discomfort and alarm across his people’s faces, but shockingly he also saw at least a handful whose eyes were alight with the fires of conviction.
“On my oath, as a priest of Cervitas, and on my own conviction as a priest of Arcadian, I swear this to you all. I am the hand of righteousness, holding out the spear for you to take. I am the hand of truth, holding out the scroll of wisdom. I am a voice of The Falling Pebble, the first to speak so that many might follow. On my name, Vinitia Pontus, I swear that I shall not stop preaching the falseness of the Concordian Church until the very day my life is ended!”
A smattering of applause, concentrated in some places more than others, rippled out from the mass as Vinitia stepped down and went to speak with some of the more enthusiastic of the crowd in person. But even as the sounds of whispering and confusion of the congregation began to slowly disperse into the city, Saul new deep in his chest that this was just the first of these sermons he would be hearing from their new preacher in the coming months.
The words of the preacher pass from mouth to ear across the city over the coming weeks, and reports pass in to those in charge of other towns and cities in the west hearing of similar preachers passing the same message. Rogue preachers from the eastern regions of the Concord, or something else entirely? Deciding they lack the authority to act on their own, the local Magistrates will seek to have the High Priests and their followers respond to the matter themselves. A letter is drafted and sent - the burgeoning Church will need to make choices about what they will and will not allow their preachers to proclaim…
Game Information
There will be a Conflux available during the Winter Summit to confront Vinitia Pontus and her followers in Nazafeza. Information can be found in the Pathfinders Report.
The presence of religious fervour in Nazafeza draws out the best and worst of the Concordian priesthood and counter sermons and introspection flow through Nazafeza and beyond. All Congregations in Mukarrem will find that they have functioned as if they were one tier higher in the past season.
The Blind Eye
Pathfinders are a small cohort, their skills at arcane divination, overland stealth, ability to carry awkward brass contraptions and willingness to be appreciated poorly, ensures their slim numbers. Pathfinder Captains reduce this number even further by adding strong managerial ability and willingness to send others to their deaths to the requirements. There are eight or so Captains at any one time, organising their elite prognosticators across The Concord, attempting to read the Realmweave and how it swirls through the land.
The murder of Branden Millner, Pathfinder Captain for the North-East, is a deep blow. Millner was well regarded as the epitome of the heroic Pathfinder and his bands were some of the most dedicated to the efforts of the Concordian heroes, particularly over the last six months in war against The Onyx Aristocracy. To find the man so brutally murdered, clear signs of torture in his body, is a horror to the people of Carningsfield and the Pathfinders as a whole. But his murder raises more questions than answers.
The obvious fear is that Millner was assassinated by Onyx Aristocracy agents, but with the involvement of Concordian heroes was largely over, leading the Pathfinders to reset and prepare for the coming Winter Summit. The death of Millner was of little tactical use to the Onyx at this point. It took nearly a month before a Stallian priest got wind of the grisly murder, and drew attention to the strange glyph of a bloody fang daubed on the window of Millners home.
The Fang of Inner Darkness is an illusive herald unseen in The Concord. The assassin of the Star Serpent and slayer of liars, dogma holds that it is a violent creature of great vengeance that seeks out those who perpetuate falsehoods. But if this is the case, questions abound as to why Millner was the target of its wrath. As the Winter Summit draws near people from Carningsfield to Passage look to the heroes for answers. Either a Stallian Herald has seen fit to strike down a Concordian Pathfinder or assassins of The Onyx Aristocracy are prowling northern Weiland, seeking out targets of opportunity. The people of Carningsfield hold each other close and pray that answers will be forthcoming soon, before more blood is spilled.
Game Information
There will be decisions relevant to this concern for the High Priest of Stallia, the Spymaster of the Tyrant's Curse and the Senator of Weiland.
Bordevarian characters from the Everguarde Duchy may include fangs or fang motifs as an appeasement to the Fang of Inner Darkness, an attempt to make themselves seem less appealing as a target. Alternatively characters who believe that the murder of Pathfinder Millner was an assault by the Onyx Aristocracy may see these icons as symbols of the hated undead and react with scorn.
The murder of Pathfinder Millner has disrupted Pathfinder operations in Weiland and Eastern Resinderholz. While the Pathfinders have adjusted and quickly moved to continue operations, portals to these regions have a higher likelihood of creating spontaneous arcane wounds or exacerbating arcane wounds.