FOR THE PAST several days, reports have been
surfacing from the Hive Ward that describe teams of
Hardheads, Guvners and Red Death roaming streets of
the slum. Independent confirmation of this chant
from several sources interviewed in the Weary
Spirit Infirmary indicate that members the
aforementioned factions have accosted berks on the
street around anti-peak asking leading and
'inflammatory' questions about these bashers
faction ties as well as specific questions about
particular beings that might have been seen
recently in the Hive Ward.
Bautol Lok, a githzerai trader doing business in
the Ward said he was confronted on the way to
meeting with some customers on Charnel Row. "When I
told them I don't belong to no addle-coved faction
they looked at me really peery-like and the
Hardhead-type accused me of bein' a rabble-rousing
Indep," Lok said. "Then they started rattlin' their
swords and flappin' their bone boxes about
scraggin' me 'til I told them I was late for a
meeting with some Tanar'ri customers. They let me
alone after that." Lok said he had no idea why they
stopped him but said he would keep his sword "loose
in [his] scabbard" for awhile.
Another source, who requested to remain
anonymous, told of spying teams of bashers in
threes systematically scraggin, trying and
executing berks in streets of the Cage. Though this
situation has yet to be confirmed by our sources,
chant of bashers being mysteriously 'lost' from
their kips and cases has been circulating for the
past week. Reporters from SIGIS, attempting to
question Harmonium high-up and public official
Tonat Shar, were turned away from the Barracks with
word that the Factioneer was "to busy to answer
questions" about the situation.
[Author: Scott
Kelley]
HARMONIUM PATROLS are on the alert tonight after
hundreds of Xaositects started assembling in the
Lower Ward, outside the Great Foundry. There is an
atmosphere of great excitement amongst those massed
there, but all are tight-lipped about what is
actually happening. Inquiries into the nature of
the gathering are generally met with a giggle.
Aerioth, a spokesperson for the Godsmen was able to
confirm that the Believers in the Source have
received an extremely large but undisclosable sum
of money from the Xaositects for a "special
project".
So far, the assembly has been peaceful, but
Harmonium patrols remain on standby to deal with
any possible trouble. "The problem with Xaosmen is
that you never know what to expect," Patrol Leader
Shorrek told us.
The "project" is thought to be part of the
Xaositect's traditional celebration of the New
Cycle. As always, the exact nature of the project
remains a closely guarded secret. Last year,
Xaositects mages 'painted' the City Barracks with
illusions to give the impression the Harmoniums'
Headquarters were built of chaos-stuff from Limbo.
Factol Sarin was not amused.
[Author: Teresa
Angelucci]
|
IN A SEEMINGLY monumental move, Tanar'ri forces
grabbed control of the hotly contested hill in
Othrys known as the Stones of Draetilus. Although
located in one of the most inhospitable swamps in
the multiverse, the Draetilus stones have remained
one of the most coveted prizes in the Blood War.
These stones reportedly act as powerful portals to
numerous realms and burgs throughout the
multiverse. Governor Tenemus Al Karak, second
librarian of the Vault of Knowledge, told SIGIS
that historical records indicate the stones open
conduits to strategic places in Mungoth (on the 3rd
layer of Gehenna), the Prime and even onto the Cage
itself.
"There are no records [in the Vault of
Knowledge] that reveal the dark of the creation or
the creators of the Stones," said Al Karak. "Really
the only direct chant I could uncover comes from
the journal of a planewalking cutter named Lugh
Lightfoot...who visited the site as a mercenary
with a 'Loth company over 350 years ago. In one
entry, Lugh writes of a battle over a circle made
of 20 to 30 stones 'nigh taller than a Gelugon' set
in a circle 60 yards across." Lugh was apparently
struck by the resemblance of the Stones to Celtic
circles he'd seen in Tir Na Og (Outlands).
Of the battle itself, SIGIS cullers found few
fiends willing or able to spill the chant on any
part of the conflict. However, two nycaloths
visiting the Lower Ward said they had the chant on
the matter from Tanar'ri bashers come straight from
Carceri. According to these berks, a succubus named
Darkwing slipped the blinds on the Baatezu with a
band of alu-fiends and cambions mounted on Carceri
sleds.
"Before the sods could cough phlegm, the
Tanar'ri bashers busted 3 or 4 portals letting in
hundreds of fiends," said one of the nycaloths.
Once the Tanar'ri had the hill, they barraged the
Baatezu with powerful magic disrupting their close
formations and sent them reeling back into the
swamps. There's even chant that the Tanar'ri even
used the fabled Ships of Chaos to defeat the
Baatezu forces and protect the hill. If true, this
may be one of the first known field tests of the
controversial war engines. Neither of the nycaloths
were prepared to comment on how long they thought
the Tanar'ri might control the hill or what they'd
do now they had it, but both of the 'loths said
they'd signed up with the Baatezu to fight in
Othrys for some stellar jink.
In local news, chant of the potential use of the
Chaos ships in the battle touched off a brawl in
the Lower Ward late this afternoon. Apparently some
Doomguard bubbers were taunting a Hardhead patrol
with slurred shouts of "Get out 'o town! The ships
is comin' down!" Several members of the factions
were subsequently scragged and tossed in the
Barracks for disorderly conduct. The exaggerated
behaviour of the Doomguard bashers is no doubt
attributable to the bad press the Ships of Chaos
have received over the past year. Publicised doubts
as to the war machines effectiveness have been a
sore point to faction members who've taken a lot of
verbal abuse for what's been termed an 'addle-coved
fiasco.'
[Author: Scott
Kelley]
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