Rumors of the Realms
July 8th, Year of the Unstrung Harp:
Diamabel, the Dark Angel, Lord of the Demi-Plane of Pharazia, has somehow opened a Gate onto the Cloud City, presumably with the hope of taking the city and facilitating his escape from the Mists.... After minor incursions into the city over the previous two days, on July 8th Diamabel began the seige in earnest with countless minions, provoking Lord Rowanmantle and several of his friends to enter Diamabel's Gate to find and slay him, risking becoming trapped by the Mists of Ravenloft within that dark and hopeless realm of Dread. May Lathander protect and guide them.
Lord Rowanmantle has posted a 20,000gp reward for Jadar, the Black Scorpion, dead or alive.
Artus Cimber and his wife, the guardians of the legendary Ring of Winter, were found dead in the Stormhorn Mountains of Cormyr. Both were slain without any sign of a struggle. Not only is the Ring of Winter missing, but an obsidian cartouche bearing the stylized likeness of a scorpion was supposedly found near the bodies. An intense search across Faerun for the Black Scorpion failed to shed any light on the matter. Still, few doubt the Black Scorpion is responsible. A dire beginning to the Year of the Unstrung Harp....
Zhentarim forces, massed in the north over the past months, have begun a full scale invasion of the northern Dales.
Lord Rowanmantle is in love with the Druid Alyysssa. At least, that is the rumor. No one knows just how close they are, though it is quite clear that his feelings run deep. Sources intimate that Alyysssa will take over all druidic duties on the Cloud City, and that an official residence is being arranged for her.
Lord Rowanmantle has been seen in two different places at the same time: at a meeting with the Lords of Waterdeep about the fortress known as Stardock, and in Cormyr, meeting with King Azoun concerning the disposition of his estate there. The oddity was reported by a Cormyrian War-Wizard that left Suzail and went to Waterdeep on a mission concerning a band of Githyanki. The wizard initially assumed that Lord Rowanmantle had traveled as he did, by teleportation, but when the wizard returned to Suzail, Lord Rowanmantle was still there and had never left! Lord Rowanmantle's seneshal commented that the wizard must have been mistaken.
Entire families and huge stores of supplies are vanishing from Kaldun. A soldier supposedly told some travelers that Lord Rowanmantle had discovered a new parallel prime-material world or demiplane and is moving his followers there to claim it as his own. NOTE: Lord Rowanmantle has confirmed that he has found this other land, and that it is a parallel prime material plane. He has decided to allow adventurers to investigate it.
The 'Inn on the Borderlands' in Redspring, on the edge of the Stonelands, the 'Dragongate Inn' of Kaldun, and the 'Inn of the Iron Butterfly' of Thunderstone, near the Hullack Forest, are actually owned by Lord Rowanmantle. He uses them to spy on potential rivals, and as a safehouse for meddling Harpers keeping an eye on Cormyr for expansionist activity. NOTE: Lord Rowanmantle has never denied that he owns the three inns, but he does deny that they are used as Harper safehouses. In fact, he has publicly denounced the Harpers as "meddling interlopers who ought to mind their own business."
Lord Rowanmantle is making a fortune from the importation of the newly discovered delicacy known as 'kauphey'. Under the guise of the Sea Princes Trading Company, Lord Rowanmantle's coffers swell daily.
It is whispered in taverns that one claiming to be a former retainer of Lord Rowanmantle swears he saw Lady Wyvernspur change her appearance to that of Lord Rowanmantle when she thought she was alone, and then proceed to conduct Lord Rowanmantle's affairs as if she were he! The man was denounced as a lunatic. NOTE: This developed into a source of great pain. It was recently discovered that Lady Wyvernspur had been slain sometime in the past by a Malaugrym, who reopened contact with Lady Wyvernspur's one time flame, Lord Rowanmantle. The Malaugrym carefully mended the breaks between them and a wedding date was set. It is now believed Lord Rowanmantle discovered the deception but was unprepared to deal with the situation, including inflicting such painful knowledge on his old friend, Lord Wyvernspur, Lady Wyvernspur's father. Then, for an unknown reason, the Malaugrym killed Lord Wyvernspur and Lord Rowanmantle stormed the city with a warband, overcame the deluded guards, and slew the Malaugrym where it sat on Wyvernspur throne. It was then discovered that the entire Wyvernspur line had been eradicated and replaced by Malaugrym and their Doppleganger allies. They were also slain or chased off, and at this time, Lord Rowanmantle sits as the Regent of the Wyvernspur lands until an heir is found.
Lord Rowanmantle is seeking adventurers to investigate the disappearance of some of his soldiers. The soldiers vanished while checking into some disturbances supposedly stemming from the Vast Swamp.
Some Gnolls slain in the Vast Swamp were carrying a red standard bearing a stylized black scorpion. This news has raised a dark cloud in Cormyr, since the last person to be known as the Black Scorpion was a Cormyrian adventurer who fell into evil. The Black Scorpion was rumored to possess two evil artifacts, the Vampire's Hand and the Black Rock, when he vanished in Chult while seeking the fabled Ring of Winter. If he returned bearing those icons of evil, or worse yet, in possession of all three, it would be a dire development indeed. It is particularly painful for Lord Rowanmantle, since it is now widely believed that Jadar, the Black Scorpion, is actually his father.
Solomon Nightshade, known as Greyhand, a retainer of Lord Rowanmantle, has been seen in Westgate. The leaders of the shady city are rather disconcerted, since the last time one of Lord Rowanmantle's retainers was seen away from home, it ended with Rowanmantle's invasion and capture of the Pirate Isle since known as the Isle of the Iron Man. Westgate is largely regarded as a pirate haven by many Cormyrians, including Lord Rowanmantle, who is well known for his hatred of pirates.
The incredible Cloud City of Kaldun, a full half mile long and wide, equally likely to be referred to as the Flying Fortress of Kaldun, was not fashioned by Lord Rowanmantle alone. It is whispered that Elminster, the Archmage of Shadowdale assisted him in exchange for unknown considerations. Supposedly the making of Kaldun nearly killed Lord Rowanmantle, and surely affected his health, although you wouldn't know by looking at him.
Lord Rowanmantle has recovered an ancient spell, predating the Netherese empire, that allows him to magically alter creatures, mind and body. Some believe that creatures such as Lizardmen and Sahuagin are twisted results of previous uses of the spell.
The bellows and roars heard at times on the Cloud City are the cries of four black dragons being raised by Lord Rowanmantle. Supposedly he has used the ancient spell referred to above to change the dragons' generally foul disposition and penchant for evil in the hopes of using them to fight pirates and other evil-doers, without exposing the citizens of Kaldun to the dangers of wicked dragonkind.
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