New Silver Knot Take to the Skies
Haranlarche Breaks Off Diplomatic Relations With the Dedites
Whitemere Sends Dragonflight to Deal With Isle of Dawn
The Rising Sun Lifts Mogador's Fog Wall
Ienian Fleet Risks Damage to Sail South
Emperor Turns First Sod
Society: Heir-Do-Well Provides Assistance to Troubled Youngsters
Editorial: A New Silver Knot Shines Bright
The Silver Knot has reformed its team after its original surviving membership effectively disbanded to serve in the war effort of Haranlarche.
The team now consists of the amalgimal plant-man Budling, The Emerald Avenger, green gladiator of the magical emerald power ring, Red Robin, the ultimate Amazon shield maiden, and the team's leader, Blackfoot.
The quartet were invited to the sky-city of Avengell after the departed team member Cardinal the Air-Lord assumed control of the aerolith. The giant circular portal on top of Avengell's sole mountain was haunted by an eldritch monster, preventing the city from existing safely or moving normally along the currents of the wind-oceans of the upper atmosphere.
Blackfoot attempted a simple reversed summoning spell to banish the creature. Unfortunately, agents of Mogador had already visited Avengell to establish a cult to the Demon-Dragon. These fanatics enchanted the portal using their scant knowledge of High Sorcery, freeing the monster on to the Prime.
Battle ensued, which saw Red Robin nearly plummet to her death and the Emerald Avenger create gigantic emerald maces to bash the monster with. Once it was pummelled senseless Red Robin called upon it to surrender. Sadly, it was apparently too enraged to do so. Against the judgement of the rest of the team, Budling attempted to mindlink to the monster, and succeeded. He discovered that, like himself, the creature was neither a proper eldritch being nor a mortal, but rather the unhappy union of both. The Budling tried to reason with it, but it claimed it wished only death. Before the team could successfully act, the creature, which Budling discovered called itself "Nonesuch", flung itself of Avengell. It impacted in the southern Sea of Dawn near the edge of the Mogador-created fog wall. That is apparently the end of Nonesuch. The team then returned to its silver seakeep base in Mythtropolis Bay.
Currently, the new Silver Knot are currently in the void above the World of Mystery on a quest to clean out the Blade Planetoid and solve the mystery of the apparent return of the golden age superhuman Copycat.
The Kingdom of Haranlarche has broken off all formal diplomatic ties with the Realm of the Dedites, after the ruler of the Dedites, Gorgo, refused to remove a 1,000,000 gold piece bounty upon each of the heads of the Heirs of Skull Craig.
The Heirs, recently lionised for their efforts in defeating the Opposition zombies, are have been described by the Dedite regime as "renegades" and "assassins", and are wanted for "crimes against the Realm".
The response from the Free Realms was to threaten war if the bounty was not immediately removed. As this did not occur, Haranlarche has now ceased any of the formal diplomatic ties it had with the Dedite realm.
A spokesman for the Royal Haranlarche Divan said "This outrageous bounty against the heroes known collectively as the 'Heirs of Skull Craig' is a slur on the integrity of the Kingdom itself. Haranlarche will not stand for this gross act of indecency against its citizens."
The Heirs themselves have turned over the remains of the infamous bounty hunter, Baobazz Gritt, who was believed to have been seeking the Heirs for the Dedite bounty, ironically receiving a bounty themselves. They have also been given credit for defeating the being known as the Warrior of the Maze, an enchanted warrior who had turned the ancient ruins of the desert city of Sajarmakand into a deathtrap for his own sport.
The Dedites, in the meantime, have been busy skirmishing with their neighbours. A force of Dedites has been fighting with Eastern Empire forces to the north of the Empire. This has effectively been splitting the Eastern Empire troops as theydo battle with Mogador's forces as well.
Whitemere has unleashed the terrors of Dragonfire on the Isle of Dawn, destroying the Zendi-held town of Gummerpoort and the skyshipyards there. Loss of life amongst the Zendi was almost total, resulting in 2,600 dead and 2,000 injured. Since there were no longer any living citizens of the town there were no innocent deaths.
Whitemere is understood to be "very concerned and annoyed" at the unilateral action of the Eastern Empire in making a futile counter-attack on the Isle of Dawn contrary to what the Free Realms have agreed.
Whitemere has backed the calls of the Seven Shires for the inter-realm dealings of the Free Realms to be enshrined in new international laws. As yet there has been no movement on this matter.
This followed an unsuccessful amphibious invasion of the Isle of Dawn by a major expeditionary force of the Eastern Empire.
In a series of brutal all-night battles, at least 15,000 legionaries lost their lives and a similar number were badly injured. Half of the sea craft transporting the host were fired, meaning that approximately 10,000 soldiers were captured.
The surviving 28,000 troops were evacuated back to the harbours of the desert lands of the Shield of Al'-Q'alim. This has necessitated a new series of battles, as the tribes of Al-Q'Alim are rebels with no love for the Eastern Empire.
Survivors have told horror stories of the once-beautiful towns and cities of the Isle of Dawn - now charnel pits. Most disturbingly for the Empire's leaders, the forges of the island were in 24 hour operation for Mogador, and the skyship docks and shipyards of Gummerpoort were once again in operation with hordes of slave labourers.
The Retebian Knights of the Air have been widely criticised for not attacking ground positions more strongly. However this was caused by their strong chivalric code, which prevented them from attacking ground targets where slaves were working or chained up.
It has been announced by the Emperor, over the objections of the Senate, that in future engagements against Zendi forces Knights of the Air will be replaced by Sky Legionaries manning sky galleons and skyremes.
The next all-realms council is to be held in Mirros, capital of Karameikos during the midwinter yuletide period.
Although the onset of winter will cause many fogs and mists that will obscure huge tracts of Mogador's subject continent of Sekuthar, his magically created Wall of Fog has been lifted.
A team of metahuman adventurers calling themselves The Rising Sun has defeated his minion, the mysterious Shadow Mask and destroyed the Fogjewel, the elemental item creating and maintaining the mystical fog wall barrier. The Rising Sun are based in Minaea, which is still free largely due to their efforts.
They also adventure in Hsia-Chin, the north-western neighbour of Minaea and the only other Free Realm left on Sekuthar.
The Rising Sun team is comprised of team leader Eclipse, a human Hsia-Chinese celestial paladin superheroine, Sandtiger, a heavily-armoured Dwarf martial artist, Moonbeast, an enormously powerful yeti-like female monster, 8x8 Arms, an Octopus champion from the Alphan deeps, and Golden Ronin, a lordless ex-Samurai from O-Kai-Lia in the Pearl Island chain. The claim their inspiration is the golden age super-team The 4 Blades and the modern ultra-team Silver Knot, whose noble and heroic exploits were the stimulus for these heroes of the east to gather to fight evil. Now, the Rising Sun has told its scribe Gung-Shin of Zuangchen that they are at the disposal of the Heirs of Skull Craig when the time comes for the Heirs to storm Mogador in his lair.
Ienos has sent significant numbers of its surface vessels in convoy from its deepwater military port on Safari Island through the Black Dog Straits to the Breezesail coast. The Eastern Empire has protested to the leaders of the other Free Realm powers as it believed that it was the sole power other than Haranlarche allowed to occupy the straits pursuant to the 1088 Treaty of Shireton.
Whilst en route to the southern straits of the Dreadsea, the fleet has encountered a small flotilla of pirate ships and sunk them. The weather spells helping to protect the Ienian fleet from the bad weather and storms of the current winter season are amongst the strongest realm spells seen in modern times.
Amongst the ships Ienos has sent are a pair of colossal flat-topped "transporters", built by the Host Mages of Fire Island. Their purpose is unknown.
Cailshar, easternmost port of the Eastern Empire, has fallen to Zendi troops in a massive onslaught at dawn. The Zendi are now occupying the city, and have already destroyed most of the official buildings and have exterminated the resident senators, commanders and governor in an orgy of rape, looting and murderousness. The Eastern Empire has now been put under in extremis martial law, with legionaries assuming control of all civil functions under the sole control of the Emperor.
A Witch of the South-eastern Deserts of the Eastern Empire by the name of Carli has stopped the Zendi advance on the Imperial lands by creating a massive sandstorm. This has saved thousands of people's lives and allowed the Emperor to regroup his troops.
The Eastern Empire is also under attack along its northern frontier. The attackers seem to be Zendi tribesman supported by rebels from the Etheng-Khan province grasslands and monstrous humanoids from the ice wastes. The armies of the North of the Empire are now fully engaged with Mogador's forces, with a further force engaged in a bitter and protracted skirmish war with the Dedites.
Meanwhile, the Emperor has turned the first sod to begin the official construction of Novatis, the capital of the Northern Empire. Legionaries were on hand to prevent rioters from disrupting proceedings.
Wren Dairen, the so-called bodyguard of the adventurers known as the Heirs of Skull Craig, has recently set up a foundation for helping under-privileged children in Haranlarche improve themselves, and steer away from a life of crime.
The Collin Dairen Memorial Centre for the Improvement of Youth is being set up in the forests around Churncroft; its stated aim being to take the youngsters of Mythtropolis who are heading for trouble with the law, and giving them a second chance out in the country air.
We spoke to Wren Dairen about why he set up this institution, and what he hopes it will acheive.
Mythtropolis Gazette: What does this institute mean to you?
Wren Dairen: Well, I grew up in an environment that lead to my getting into a lot of... difficulties as a kid, but I got into adventuring, which has made me a better person. I just want to give other kids the chance to make themselves better people too, without having to fight lotsa monsters and stuff.
MG: Why Churncroft?
WD: Well, it's got lotsa country air, and there's plenty of activities for kids to get up to. It keeps them out of mischief, and teaches them how to be a bit more self reliant, that sorta thing. They can learn there's a bit more to life than picking pockets, or stealing emeralds, or any of that. It's set up so you can learn a trade, or get some valuable social making skills, toughen you up a bit, make you a useful member of society. But we ain't turning our backs on looking after the emotional needs of these kids. A lot of them come from bad situations, generations of criminals, that sort of thing. We want to break that cycle.
MG: how did you come by the name?
WD: My brother Collin, gods rest his soul, was a perfect example of whatwe want to try and achieve. He had a bit of a dodgy background, like myself, and he pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He said "Right, I ain't gonna live like this no more," and he made something of himself. He died a hero's death fighting the forces of evil. If you'd guessed how he was gonna turn out from looking at him before that, you'd never have figured that was how he was gonna go. He's my inspiration, and I wanted something to remember him by. Something he'd be proud of.
MG: So how are you able to finance this endeavor?
WD: Let's just say that bringing in bounty hunters out for your blood is suprisingly lucrative. We've been well rewarded for our efforts lately, and I wanted to give something back.
The return of the Silver Knot, even in a new form, is welcome news in these war-ravaged times. With the original core of the Silver Knot assisting the realm in the courageous fight against the Opposition, there seemed to be little chance that the superteam that had held a place dear in hearts of most Mythtropolitans would take to the skies again. but now it seems that there is a new breed of hero in the air, dealing with threats to the world again.
Fighting against tremendous odds, keeping the city and its citizens safe, these things are what we love to see our metahuman protectors do. And knowing that they are back again brings a new feeling of hope to all of us.
But always remember, if these heroes are setting us an example, then it's up to all of us to follow that example. If we all act on the hero within, then we all make our world a better place.
