Brent P. Newhall's Musaeum of Fantastic Wonders

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====== Background and Rumor Sheets ======

**Note:** This page contains all the rumors distributed to all the players each session.  Some players saw only a subset of these rumors.  If you're a player, and you read a rumor you weren't aware of, your character still isn't aware of it.

=====12 July 2008 Session=====

Little is known about the tiny kingdom you are about to enter.  It lies nestled, like Shangri-La, high in the great mountain range known as the Spine of the World.  The locals mine the plentiful resources of the mountains, and grow a few unusual grains and fruits on this natural small plain, and trade with the nearby flying races for other resources.

This kingdom wielded much more power many years ago, when the flying races swarmed the sky and this was a thriving stopover during long trade flights.  Now, it barely supports a few hundred peasants.

King Athos rules, and his right-hand man is Sephlen, Captain of the Guard.

You've heard a few rumors:

  * King Athos is being driven mad by Sephlen, who wants the throne.
  * King Athos did something to anger the dwarves who live in the nearby mountains.
  * The people grumble that the flying peoples trade less and less with them, for some unknown reason.
  * Gifts and treasures from old allies during the kingdom's glory days lay buried beneath the castle's keep.
  * A wounded dragon has taken up residence here and seeks aid in recovering some lost treasure.
  * King Athos has an illegitimate son hiding somewhere in the kingdom, waiting for just the right time to assassinate his father and take the throne.  The king has men looking for his son to lock him up.
  * The people are secretly afraid to enter the mines because they're infested with troglodytes.
  * The people cracked open an ancient grave deep in the mines, releasing a small army of wraiths who haunt the mine still.
  * Clerics are not welcome here.
  * A strange dwarven merchant is occasionally seen in the main market.  If he offers you a silver goblet covered in runes, pay any price for it, because it will grant you one wish.

=====2 August 2008=====

After repelling the dwarf invasion yesterday, you interrogated a captured dwarf.  He explained that the dwarves are being led by a human named Kalar, and has agreed to take you down into the mines where they live.

As you've wandered the streets, you've noticed a lot of grumbling about the dwarf attack.  You haven't seen a single dwarf in town since yesterday; they're all staying home.

Meanwhile, you've asked around about the local mines.  The locals have mined the upper levels of the surrounding mountains for generations, extracting many ores and metals.  Nothing spectacular, but they are crucial, valuable commodities to the flying races that trade with the kingdom.

Dwarves live much deeper in the mountains, and have been peaceful to this kingdom, maintaining an unspoken agreement that the kingdom's miners won't mine into the dwarves' territory deeper in the mountains.

You've heard a few rumors:

  * The local witch is pregnant with the mortician's child.
  * The dwarf attack was all Sephlen's fault.
  * The dwarf attack was all King Athos's fault.
  * The dwarves have always been secretly jealous of the mountain kingdom's trade with the flying races.
  * Sephlen is possessed by a demon!
  * The royal scribe has a gambling problem.  He's run up a debt of over 1,000 gold.
  * The royal scribe is haunted by strange visions and nightmares.
  * Didja hear, the Temple of Moradin burned down last night!  They say it's divine punishment for the dwarf attack.
  * The pawnbroker was found dead near the city gates.
  * The barkeep at the Stoat's Nose Inn recently developed a limp and an odd smell that he won't explain.
  * If you stand on the corner of High Way and Smith's Lane at midnight under a full moon, you'll be visited by the ghost of the first king!  I swear it's true; happened to a friend of my brother!
  * The king's been cursed, I tell you!  Cursed!
  * The town doctor found a secret room in his basement, full of strange books.
  * The butcher's gone completely off his rocker.  Claims the dwarves are out to get him.