The Wrath

Current Events

Town criers and gossips around the Kingdom have been talking about various happenings in the land of late.

• Unrest in the Kingdom has grown in the moon cycles since the appearance of the Annwyn. Uncertainty and fear over the nature of this mysterious event has brought many to question if this was not some ominous portent of something far more terrible. Interest in the Aurorym faith has grown, even in places that were normally resistant to such things. At first, the King of Arnesse, Giles Bannon II, a faithful man himself, was neutral on this matter, but in the last three or four moon cycles he has become positively outspoken about the Aurorym faith and that its apocalyptic prophecies may hold the key to the survival of the Kingdom. Increasingly, those who are anti-faith have found themselves shunned or even persecuted from positions of power throughout the Sovereignlands, the Hearthlands, and even parts of the Everfrost, Midlands, and Dusklands. In places where the faith is not popular, prayer groups or circles have begun to venerate the Dawn. There are also rumors of Apocalypse Cults that have begun to crop up, speaking that the coming of the Mist and the appearance of the Annwyn are signs that the End has come.
• An alliance of House Richter and Bannon, joined by allies in House Corveaux and even House Hale has formed around the appearance of the Annwyn. Called the Mistguard, this tenuous agreement among the Iron Lords and the House of Kings is said to be to protect the Annwyn and determine its true origins. The wise know that there is also the matter of who owns the Annwyn. Tensions have continued to rise in the moon cycles since the settlement of Gateway. It began with an argument over how House Bannon’s Burgomaster was running the ramshackle village and collecting taxes. This escalated into a skirmish in the town proper which almost led to a full-fledged conflict between the two houses. It was only the timely intervention of nobles on both sides that held things in check. An uneasy truce has settled the matter for now but some feel it is only a matter of time before this conflict rears its ugly head again. House Corveaux has suggested they be allowed to administrate the town instead, being a third party, but, thus far, neither the Richters nor the Bannons have agreed to those terms.
• Guided by their religious leaders and House Blayne, the faithful have also been flocking to the town of Gateway to gain entrance to the Annwyn. Within the last moon cycle, a massive pilgrimage of Aurorym arrived in the village flying the banners of the New Dawn, a coalition of faithful from the Sovereignlands, Dusklands, Hearthlands, and the Everfrost. Many of those who joined the New Dawn went in as warriors for the faith, sworn to give their lives to defeat an unnamed, unseen evil that they swear rises even now within this newfound land. Some of these faithful remained behind in Gateway, erecting a Rectrix, the Last Humble House. Most of the Aurons and Vellatora continued on, finding passage through the Mists and entering the Annwyn.
• Tensions have risen in recent cycles as the battlelines look to be drawn over matters of faith. The Sovereignlands is a hotbed of activity as the houses which have aligned with the Aurorym faith have begun to ready themselves for a fight. They claim it is to wage war against some supernatural foe that has yet to make itself known but their rivals have had to respond in kind, lest they get caught flat-footed should this turn into hostilities. These tensions have even begun to spill over into neighboring Midlands, with ancient alliances being tapped and new ones being formed. The border the Corveaux share with the Hearthlands has become a proving ground for the faith as more and more proselytizers cross the border and find their way into local towns and spread the word of the New Dawn. Even now, knights are being rallied to the banner of Saint Cuthbert the Fearless in the lands of the Horse Lords. Many are suspecting that a conflict is brewing. The faithful claim it is against a rising evil but pragmatic and wise Lords and Ladies alike are seeing this as a long-coming final conflict between the faithless and the faithful. Many fear that the Butcher’s Bill will be coming due for the reckoning that was the Godslaying so many years ago.
• Tales of the mystical and supernatural have long pervaded the mythological zeitgeist of Arnesse. Many of these are said to harken back to the time of the Eldritch Age, when magic was present and creatures both terrifying and fantastic stalked the land. In the modern times, tales are still told and every once in a while, someone swears to have had an encounter with the unknown, but such stories are rarely ever verified true. However, since the Day of Mist, the Kingdom has been rife with tales of the supernatural and encounters with otherworldly forces. In particular, tales of ghosts and encounters with the risen dead seem to have become more commonplace. All of this could just be some kind of mass hysteria or a manifestation of fear, but it has had a real impact on the people, causing a slow, rising panic that’s sent authorities and scholars scrambling to verify if the stories are fact or fiction.
• The cold chill of Winter is still upon the lands of the Annwyn, and the local peasantry are celebrating the Festival of Lights. Its origins are a bit of a mystery, but it is said to have roots in an ancient tradition of lighting candles to ward away the darkness and evil in the deepest hours of the cold nights. It is also said to be a time of renewal, a holiday where one can let go of their deepest regrets for the last year and start anew. This is often celebrated by writing one’s regrets for the year on a piece of parchment or crafting an effigy out of wood, straw, or sticks, then casting that into a fire, burying it in the earth, or throwing it into a body of water. It is often a time when the people commit themselves to new tasks for the year’s lunar cycles, setting aside bad habits and grudges. Since the weather outside is often not good, games and indoor rituals will often take place inside taverns and homes around the land. Songs are sung and tales are told in the hope that the sound of merrymaking will drive away the evils of the night.