[3.1] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - NEWS FROM MYSTARA - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (Mystara is the D&D world, now updated for AD&D) Mystara : Kingdom of Karameikos and Republic of Darokin : UNDEAD ATTACKS INTENSIFY Not even the conjoined efforts of the armies of Darokin and Karameikos have been enough to drive away the recurring undead attacks to villages and small towns in both countries for the past few weeks. Some raids were diverted, but, generally, the problem continues. Some strange facts are slowly becoming noticed. In the first place, the undeads seem to be more powerful than they usually are. They resist more and, for example, the diseases caused by some of them are harder to heal. Even the clerics are having more trouble turning them. Also, somehow, some Undeads seem to be appearing "spontaneously", without the intervention of any obvious magic. From a graveyard inside a monastery of a good-aligned Immortal, a few miles away from Verge, several of the dead buried there became undead, taking the monks completely by surprise during their sleep and killing most of them before being destroyed. Finally, the regularity and organisation of the attacks leaves very few doubts about the fact that this unusual activity is being co-ordinated by someone or something, and its not happening by chance. Some curious situations have occured when several people found their loved ones, sometimes not dead for more than a few weeks, to appear as undeads attacking them! Finally, there have been reports brought in by merchants and adventurers from all around the Known World relating that similar events are occurring almost everywhere else. Mystara : Esterhold : FOUL DARKNESS ENGULFS COUNTRYSIDE For a few days, the inhabitants of the once Alphatian colonies of Esterhold have watched with dread as a strange darkness, slowly expanded over the land having stopped only a few miles from the sea (and, thus, most settlements). Several expeditions were sent to investigate, but none returned. When the wind blowed from the darkness' direction, a foul stench made most sick. After a couple of days, when the estimated diameter of the dark area was about 20 miles, it suddenly disappeared without warning. When exploring that area, it was discovered that everything that once lived was now rotting or dead. Not a single plant remained alive, and all the animals seemed to be mummified, as if their life force had been literally sucked out of them violently! The remains of the early expeditions were also found, in the same pitiful state. Walking towards the centre of the desolation, when they arrived at the place where nothing was but barren and sterile rocks and sand, having all the vestiges of vegetation disappeared, a small cave was found and, inside it, a strange crypt, completely in metal, whose door was open, such as the lid of a strange metallic sarcophagus inside. This event will cause the survival of several villages to be very difficult for the next few years, as their agriculture and herding was completely compromised. Mystara : Kingdom of Karameikos : Threshold : UNDEAD ATTACK IN LARGE NUMBERS! One of the worst undead attacks occurred at Threshold, in the north of the country. The undead numbers were very high. Some people claim there were more than two or three hundred. The losses were, however, minimal, since the undead seemed to be only in their way somewhere else. Actually, this was confirmed since, when following the trail left by the undeads, the army found them relentlessly attacking the tower of the mage that just "moved in" a month ago. Inside the tower, the mage and his friends were defending bravely, but would soon be overwhelmed by large numbers of the undead, if help hadn't arrived so timely. After providing some magic help healing the party, the officer in charge of the military asked the mage and his friends to come to Threshold in order to question them on why were the undead so interested in them. Mystara : Rockhome : STRANGE GAS CAUSES EVEN STRANGER EFFECT Several dwarves were seriously injured when, during the excavation of a new tunnel, one wall collapsed, releasing a gas bubble that caught several workers unprepared. Those that did not manage to avoid breathing the gas didn't die but, instead, entered a comatose state. All efforts to help them have been fruitless, and, as the time passes, the victims seem to be changing, mainly their faces, that appear to be acquiring new expressions. Due to the natural anti-magic nature of the dwarves, this is very strange indeed. Mystara : The Five Shires : Shireton : LAVISH WEDDING PARTY A large party was held today at the wedding of the two very famous halfling adventurers. All the most important personalities of the city were present, as well as a lot of strangers, human elven and even dwarven, that came on purpose to congratulate the grooms. There was no lack of food, drink or merriment as it seems that a good part of their hard-earned fortune was put to good use. The party went without any incident, apart from a drunken human guest that made some damage to a marble sculpture offered by a dwarven sculptor to the grooms as a wedding gift, claiming it was alive. A pity, because the skill of the sculptor was so good that it really seemed to be so! Mystara : The Empire of Thyatis : Hattias : SKYSHIP CRASHES While flying over the territories of Hattias, south of the continental part of the Empire, a Heldaanic skyship, due to some unknown reason, crash landed in the middle of a town, crushing several buildings and wounding several people. The town militia surrounded the ship immediately and gave orders for the survivors do surrender immediately. They did not and it was necessary to force them by more violent means. When questioned, they refused to say a word about their mission, and to explain the strange equipment found aboard the ship, such as airmasks and other gear only used at very high altitudes. They were taken away for more "dedicated" questioning, and their whereabouts and fate are, so far, unknown. Daniel Goncalves, dlr@vision.inesc.pt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - NEWS FROM MYSTARA - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (Mystara is the D&D world, now updated for AD&D) Mystara : Kingdom of Karameikos : Specularum : ELVEN REFUGEES ASK KING FOR ASSISTANCE IN RECOVERING CLAN RELICS Diplomats from the clans of the elven refugees from Alfheim were received by King Stefan Karameikos today. It was found that the nature of the ensuing discussion was to request military help in order to go to what once was the luxuriant Canolbarth forest, now Aengmor, and retrieve some of their clan relics from the Shadow Elves. The elven diplomats claim that there still are many secret places of worship the Shadow Elves didn't have the time to find yet, and in those places there are a lot of sacred objects that have passed from father to child in those clans. It was the diplomat of the small Clan Aerendil, one of the few survivors of that clan, that more vehemently defended a military incursion into Shadow Elven territory to retrieve those relics. It would seem that the Tree of Life of that clan remained behind, when all that defended it were killed by the Shadow Elves. Mystara : Kingdom of Karameikos : Threshold UNDEAD RAIDS EXPLAINED A mage and his friends that were rescued a few days ago form an undead raid in the Altan Tepes, organised a meeting with the local authorities, including both the military and clergy. Retameron Antonic himself attended. They had an explanation for the recent undead raids that have been taking place in Karameikos and the neighbouring countries, for quite some time. According to their story, some ancient evil was released from a crypt in Esterhold a few months ago. The release caused great devastation to the surrounding areas, and the party was unable to stop the creature from escaping. It was not like anything they had every seen! All the attacks made, magical or otherwise, didn't seem to affect it in any way. The creature was clad in black and the darkness covered it's face, giving no clue to it's nature, although the body appeared human. Some of the party's hirelings died a few days after confronting the creature from a strange rotting disease they were not able to cure. Since then, the party has been chasing the creature, and it would seem that it has great power over the undead, perhaps being one itself. The party has no doubt, due to the increase in power and organisation from the raiding undead, that the raids are the creature's doing. Its goals are not yet known, but, by the way it travels, it seems that it is looking for something or someone. Mystara : The Hollow World : Alphatian Neatharum : NEATHAR ASSAULTS ON THE RISE Attacks from the Neathar tribes have increased in number. The attacks are now very different from what they used to be. Instead of random, scattered, raids, the attacks are becoming more organised and, thus, making far more damage and victims than they used to make. There is undoubtly someone organizing the attacks. Meanwhile, the new floating continent that appeared some weeks ago over the skies of Haldemar remains unexplored, since all skyships that approach it loose control and no one has been able, so far, to fly above it. Mystara : Floating Ar : MAGIC USE BECOMING UNPREDICTABLE NEAR SUNKEN CONTINENT Magic use has been increasingly dangerous, since the sinking of Alphatia. The effects of even the most common spells are got very unstable, probably due to the enormous amount of magic energies released during the sinking. Damage has been unadvertedly made to people and buildings. However, some mages seem to begin to understand the changes to the arcane laws, and are using it to their advantage. Mystara : Kingdom Ierendi : Ierendi City : SHIPS CREWED BY UNDEAD SIGHTED ON THE SEA OF DREAD Sailor merchants that just arrived from the Savage Coast through the Sea of Dread reporting disturbing news. During the voyage, they were intercepted and attacked by a ship whose only crew were undead of several types, mainly skeletons, and ghouls. After that, they spotted two more ships of the same kind but were able to outrun it. Both were heading the same direction, in the middle of the Sea of Dread. Daniel Goncalves, dlr@vision.inesc.pt