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GOBLIN ‘REBELS’ SPEAK OUT AGAINST KING SLIME
Dateline: 4-
Adventurers who have successfully recaptured the estate castles occupied by the Goblins in Moonward have released a number of prisoners held there by King Slime’s goblin minions. Although these prisoners have turned out to themselves be goblins, they insist that they are ‘good’ goblins who were persecuted and imprisoned by King Slime for their refusal to participate in the war against Bereny.
One of the former prisoners, who now calls himself Timothy of Crownheart, told our reporter how his community had always been apart from mainstream goblin society. “We separated ourselves from the main goblin tribes long before my parents were born,” Timothy told us. “Our community was in charge of keeping an evil being who did lots of bad things imprisoned. However, some hooded beings came and visited our leader and after that our leader started doing bad things. Those of us who just refused to do bad things were captured and put in cages and tortured.” It would appear that Timothy’s former leader went on to become King Slime.
“The bad goblins said they would keep torturing us until we did bad things too”, Timothy continued, “but I refused. Then they put some of us in cages on wagons pulled by wolves to take us out to captured places. They said they would sacrifice us to help them do more bad things. But then some humans and dwarves and elves came and killed the bad goblins and opened my cage and let me out. The human who let me go was a good human and found out that I was good too and is letting me go with him and his friends to fight the bad goblins, which is what I want to do.”
Timothy also explained his rather un-
Unusually for a Goblin, Timothy is an enchanter. Timothy was proud to tell our reporter that he had been accepted as a member of the enchanters guild The Assembly, and that others of his comrades had joined other Berenian guilds, including the Independent Guild of Wizards.
‘PLAGUE OF NIGHTMARES’ SWEEPS KINGDOM
Dateline: 7-
In what has been described as a ‘plague of nightmares’, thousands of people across the length and breadth of Bereny were simultaneously seized by a vivid and disturbing dream last night.
The exact details differ slightly from one person to the next, but broadly speaking all have reported the same dream. Some described only a darkness concealing a presence of evil and menace, others of the air shattering apart to reveal a terrifying figure of darkness in vaguely human form. A few even recall hearing a voice speaking to them. “It wasn’t like a voice speaking out loud,” one badly shaken dreamer told the Bugle, “more like the words were hanging unspoken in the air. But it was calling on me to walk a dark path, or something like that.”
Many of those who suffered the nightmare awoke screaming. A few have suffered more serious consequences, and remain in shock even after the night has ended.
Seers and Priests of the Six have been trying to discern the meaning of the dreams. Theories range from a return of the ‘Lord of Dreams’, the demon lord Drax, to the result of some sort of incursion from the Daemonrift.
The Vox Primus, a spokesperson for the Dei Vigilare, told us “What we may unfortunately have witnessed was here was some sort of evil power breaking through into our world, perhaps from the Daemonrift, and the concentration of dark energy required to do this causing this flare of evil that so many of us felt. Or maybe this entity deliberately unmasked itself briefly to reach out to others of its kind. But what we should all remember is that providing we have faith in the Six, and pray to them as we should, they will continue to protect us from such things.”
NEW FIRST ROYAL ADVENTURER APPOINTED
Dateline: 7-
It has been announced that Lady Abbi Selas, former deputy leader of the Way of the Five Paths, has been appointed as First Royal Adventurer, the leader of the Royal Guild of Adventurers. The RGA is the one of the oldest official guilds in the Kingdom, and certainly one of the most influential, being able to count members of the Royal family among its former leaders. Traditionally, the First Royal Adventurer is awarded a Barony, and all members are required to swear an oath of loyalty to the Crown on admission.
In a statement from the RGA, Lady Abbi announced “I would like to say what an honour
it is to become the leader of Bereny’s oldest and most noble guild. During recent
times the RGA has taken a step back form the light -
“I hope to change this. My task is to make it great again, to be the shining light in the darkness of the past year. When the RGA is strong, so is Bereny, as we are the King’s and Crown’s men and women. We are the Crown’s right hand, and we shall strike down with righteous fury those which would do harm to our great land.”
Lady Abbi is a priestess of the Six, which is unusual for a First Royal Adventurer, and is best known as a leading campaigner against public display of symbols of the Gods of the Antithesis. Her departure from the Way of the Five Paths is said to have followed an acrimonious row with Guild leader Lady Clarissa Stormpath, and interestingly one of Lady Abbi’s first acts has been to prohibit members of the RGA from also holding membership of the Wot5P.
“In all respects we expect any members of the RGA who hold joint membership of other Guilds to remember their oaths to the RGA and the Crown are held to be above any oaths to these other guilds,” Lady Abbi said in her statement.
Dateline: 10-
The Raven, Duke of Poldoon, has been challenged to a duel of honour by Lord Peredur d’Agrillac over alleged insults to Peredur’s cousin Baroness Farissa de Torfane. However the Raven has contemptuously refused the challenge, describing Peredur as “a disseminator and a traitor”, and “not a gentleman”.
In his public challenge, Lord Peredur accused the Duke of placing a spy among Baroness Farissa’s servants, of making private letters between them public (presumably a reference to her letter to the Duke asking him to relinquish command of the defence of Poldoon), and of failing to reward her adequately for her part in the defence of the city when others received recognition for their part in the Goblin War.
However Baroness Farissa has publicly distanced herself from Lord Peredur’s challenge, saying that her honour is her own affair. Some observers have suggested that the true reason for Lord Peredur’s challenge lies in the death two years ago of his cousin Lord Mabon d’Agrillac, who was killed in a duel before the gates of Poldoon after being challenged by the Raven over his repeated statements that the Raven was unworthy to hold a Dukedom.
Sources within the BAR suggest that Baroness Farissa feels she is being pressurised
by her family into seeking to avenge her cousin’s death, and that Lord Peredur’s
challenge on her behalf is an attempt to shame her into challenging the Raven. “I
am not a duellist -
Prominent individuals around Bereny were quick to condemn Lord Peredur’s action. The High Priest said that it would only result in the weakening of Bereny's defenders. The First Royal Adventurer, Lady Abbi Selas, said it was a sad day when nobles fight among themselves like dogs over scraps. And the Regent described the challenge as “utterly spurious” and said it would only serve to bring heart to the Kingdom's enemies.
In a response to Lord Peredur, the Duke of Poldoon dismissed his accusations out of hand and refused to acknowledge his right to issue a challenge. “Your words and actions are not those of a gentleman,” said the Raven. “Consequently, until you show some evidence that you have any right to claim a 'duel of honour' I will treat you as a disseminator and a traitor. Should I hear from you again .. I will issue a warrant for your immediate arrest.”