What's News?

[Sierra]

The Solfrina Courier is a simple broadsheet that typically contains a mix of local and national stories over two to four pages. It runs weekly, with occasional special editions for extraordinary events; copies of the paper usually find their way to Rocina a day or two later. The newspaper's banner is surmounted by a set of dashing, winged feet, echoing the divine messengers said to serve the gods.

In brief, below are the notable headlines mingling with the paper's usual collection of local advertising in the edition published Homesday, 3 Amurus, A.V. 451:

-Assault on Ministry of Security office: A Ministry of Security monitoring station in the southern trading city of Barbastel was ransacked at night, its files stolen, purportedly by the rumored underground rebel organization labeled by the press as "Blackburn" for its aptitude in nocturnal sabotage. The Courier article on this affair, as with most enduring Verdani newspapers, carefully walks a fine line between expressing the requisite disapproval of subversive activities and satiating the public's curiosity about such exciting transgressions.

-Princess endows Vildiana orphanage: Princess Ursula Crescencia has donated a manor house owned by the royal family to the church of Amura for use as an orphanage for foundlings. The Courier is typically effusive in its praise of the Princess's public-spirited generosity, but hopes that such a safety net will not spur the abandonment of even more children by Vildiana's accidental mothers.

-Noble gossip: The heiress of the Alvariz line, Dona Sonia, has been engaged in marriage to Edelen Cievas, a prosperous Meridia trader of common origins. The Courier is tactful but clear in its disapproval of the significant age gap between the engaged.

-New Militia Captain installed in Solfrina: After the previous Solfrina commander's death from illness some months past, Bruno Arata has been dispatched from the capital to fill the vacant command position. The Courier wishes Don Bruno the best of luck in his demanding new role, and trusts that he will keep the well-being of the citizenry at the forefront of his thoughts at all times.

~

Knowledge: Local can be rolled on article one for more information.

Knowledge: Nobility can be rolled on articles three and four for more information.

[Carthrat]

Santiago> roll 1d20+9 local
12:54:24 <Rei-chan> Santiago rolled : 1d20+9 local --> [ 1d20=12 ]{21} (Article 1)
12:54:25 <Santiago> roll 1d20+7 nob
12:54:26 <Rei-chan> Santiago rolled : 1d20+7 nob --> [ 1d20=17 ]{24} (Article 3)
12:54:27 <Santiago> roll 1d20+7 nob2
New messages
12:54:27 <Rei-chan> Santiago rolled : 1d20+7 nob2 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{11} (Article 4)

[Sierra]

Below are the Solfrina Courier's headline articles in the edition published Homesday, 35 Amurus, A.V. 451:

-Mutineers executed: The Royal Navy contingent at Soli reports that one of the architects of a recent mutiny has been publicly executed after her capture and return by members of Solfrina's neighboring Rocina Militia. Admiral Fiera cautions subjects of Verdana that the two other ringleaders of the mutiny on the Chariot, Teo Maiz and Ananda Guerin, remain at large and are highly dangerous. The Courier appends an enthusiastic commendation of the Rocina Militia for their valiant work in bringing the King's justice to this violent outlaw.

-Writer visits Solfrina: Noted novelist Ezmer Holguin* recently visited Solfrina on a lecture engagement that covered a wide range of topics, from her own extensive body of work, to the state of science and religion in Verdana, to her own travels abroad, most recently in the Republic of Bassiden. The Courier is careful to note that Dona Holguin demonstrated admirable circumspection in neither indulging in polemics expressing republican sympathies, nor entertaining the leading questions of audience members seeking to lower the level of discussion to that of a political pamphlet, much to the disappointment of those disreputable raconteurs present.

-Doomsday cult suppressed: The authorities at Fortisano recently dispersed a heretical cult operating in the hinterlands of that great port city. The Courier does not indulge in extensive and salacious detail about the cult's devotional activities, instead summarizing its practices as the typical Tormenti* blasphemies. The Fortisano division chief of the Ministry of Security regrets to note that the cult's "High Priestess" escaped during the confusion of the raid; Prince Hector, whose chief personal residence is in Fortisano, has promised the Ministry of Security any and all resources necessary to pursue and subdue those few fanatics who evaded capture.

-Failed coup attempt in Huulak: The sitting Sultana of the Akaian city-state of Huulak* recently thwarted a scheme to overthrow the local rule of her and her sons, according to traders lately arrived from that principality. Reports indicate that the failed uprising was spearheaded by a cabal of local shipping magnates operating with the support of the Sultan of neighboring Urden, and ultimately betrayed from within to the Sultana's chief of security (her elder son). Rumor has it that Sultana Beriqi personally saw to the public beheading of the chief conspirators; the Courier accepts such hearsay at face value and lets it stand as testament to the relative barbarity of the Akaian cities.

*Knowledge: Local can be rolled on articles two and four for more information.

*Knowledge: Religion can be rolled on article three for more information.

[Sierra]

<Rei-chan> 6,0Santiago rolled :6,0 1d20+9 1,0local 2 --> 6,0[ 1d20=17 ]4,0{26} (PASS)
<Rei-chan> 6,0Santiago rolled :6,0 1d20+9 1,0local 4 --> 6,0[ 1d20=4 ]4,0{13} (FAIL)
<Rei-chan> 6,0Santiago rolled :6,0 1d20+7 1,0religion 3 --> 6,0[ 1d20=8 ]4,0{15} (PASS)

<Rei-chan> 6,0Luiza rolled :6,0 1d20+6 1,0K:Local Rei --> 6,0[ 1d20=17 ]4,0{23} (PASS)

Article 2 results: Ezmer Holguin is widely suspected, but not proven, to be the author of numerous anonymous pamphlets advocating reformation of Verdana's government as a constitutional monarchy. Her only officially acknowledged work to draw the ire of government censors was her last novel, Angelica, which centered around a murderously adversarial relationship between a noble mother and her only daughter. The Ministry of Security declined to ban the book, but several leading administrators did release an open letter sharply disapproving of the novel's "degenerate portrayal of morally unsound filial relations." This has not had the effect of dampening public interest in the work.

Article 3 result: The Courier here employs an older term for such groups, originally inspired by a simple physical characterization of their ritual practices. Participants are often prone to the kind of wild gesticulation and energetic chanting generally shunned in the organized Verdani churches, prompting one official to observe that the cultists writhed during devotional acts "as if undergoing torture." The term has since gone on to be used summarily for any of the upstart cults proliferating in the countryside during the decades that the wasting has eaten away at the kingdom. Wildly hedonistic behavior is common in such groups; their participants live as though there will be no tomorrow, for that in itself is often the core tenet of the cult. It's also common for them to revere the Verdani cosmology's great antagonist, the Devourer, in preference to the traditional deities. Practitioners often maintain that its embrace represents not oblivion, but instead the unification of many disparate souls into a blessedly complete whole.

Article 4 result: Huulak is the Akaian city-state nearest geographically to Verdana, further down the coast from Soli, just on the other side of the Songsura Mountains. Any traders taking the land route from Akai assuredly pass through Huulak territory on their way back into Verdana. Beriqi has ruled the city for over twenty years, and nowadays is capably aided by her two older sons. Based on reputation alone, the rumor the Courier takes for granted may very well be true.