Eschilde Tasath hurried through the streets of Shallam, searching
diligently along every thoroughfare, crossroad, and back alley. Breaking
the city's peacful atmosphere was a pleading cry for help, and at last
the young Templar discovered the source: a distraught fisherman from the
far-off village of Orilla. Many leagues from his home, he revealed that
a group of thugs had overrun the town, demanding outrageous extortion
fees of all the villagers and beating those who refused to pay. With few
allies on Meropis to assist, he had taken to the dangerous seas in a
desperate search for help.

Batang Moravean quickly took charge, assembling a defense party upon his
ship and setting sail for Meropis. From Rageteeth Harbour at the
northern tip of the continent, they made their way to Orilla, where they
found the village in dire straits. Eager to resolve the matter, Batang
rushed through the streets, questioning any and all inhabitants, before
finally stumbling upon the leader of the brutish crew, a rough-looking
fellow who called himself Jonal. The Shallamese party was drawn into a
brawl, valiantly fighting off a slew of thugs in the brief altercation,
but the distraction was enough to let the ruthless leader slip from
their grasp.

It was not long before a sharp cry cut through the small village. With
dismay the heroes found the erstwhile-cheerful merchant, Pichi, severely
beaten and left for dead. Alongside the merchant stood a grizzled ship
captain named Kanun whose gangplank had been barred from entry after he
had refused to pay a hefty fee! Sympathetic to Kanun's plight, the group
set out to the Vasnari Mountains in search of the Iskadar dwarves, who
were known to utilise explosives in their work. Luckily they chanced
upon a bundle of unused explosives, barely making it out of the mines
before the resident dwarves noticed it was missing.

With a deafening BOOM! the barricade was nothing more than a bad memory,
and Captain Kanun's ship was free. With hasty thanks he boarded his
ship, his sailors close behind, intent on vengeance against the villains
who had been terrorising the harbour. The Shallamese contingent remained
on shore, fending off another gang of angry thugs who were alerted by
the explosion. As they fought, a cannon shot thundered from the open
water: the sailors had found their target! Bloody battles took place on
both land and sea that day and, it seems, the thugs were defeated in
both.

Normalcy was restored to Orilla, and its people began to return to their
everyday routines. But was all truly well? Pinned to the door of the
village's meeting hall with a brutal-looking knife was a menacing note
from Jonal, reminding all that he remains at-large...

Penned by My hand on the 24th of Glacian, in the year 548 AF.