Ashbury's problem with rifts came to a head in late September when the town found itself transported to the planar penal colony known as the Pale.
It all began when an elderly mage named Echoman LaInigh appeared late on Friday night and attempted to cast a Destroy Celestial ritual on himself. Apparently, he was trying to remove a ritual flaw which had split his spirit in half, causing him to exist on two planes simultaneously. One can gather that Echonam's luck with rituals is lousy, for he managed to botch this one in a big way. Screaming in rage and terror, Echonam disappeared in an explosion of energy strong enough to knock out the citizens of Ashbury.
When the townspeople awoke, they were unaware of what had happened. Soon after, they were accosted by a faceless, white-robed humanoid calling himself the "Chaos Archon." He demanded to know why Ashbury had suddenly materialized in his "Ward."
After Baron Thomas questioned him thoroughly, the Archon revealed that the central city of Ashbury was now located in a prison located on the fringes of the planes. Any creature who transgressed the laws of the Magisterium was banished there for perpetuity.
To check out the accuracy of this, Baron Thomas asked some of the local Royal Army to travel outside of town to discover if Ashbury had indeed been transported. The Army reported that an area of about three miles in circumference had been moved and that Ashbury appeared to be in some sort of giant bubble, with travel past a certain point outside of town impossible.
In fact, Duchess Mara and her entourage found themselves unable to travel to Ashbury because of the rift change, and she later regretted not being present to assist in the adventure.
It was then learned that a race of faceless humanoids known as the Hyperboreans administered the Pale with a ruthless efficiency, acting in the Magisterium's stead.
It was also learned that on the top of the Hyperborean hierarchy was a being named Minos the Underlord, who maintained close contact with his Magisterium masters beyond the Pale. Minos, in turn, created two generations of "children" through a process akin to asexual reproduction. The eldest generation, forming the so-called Archon caste, inherited the greatest portion of Minos' powers. Disdaining the use of arms, the Archons relied on their formidable mental abilities to enforce the will of the Underlord. The younger, more brawny generation comprised the black-robed Warriors who performed most of the day-by-day duties required in administering the Pale.
In addition, Minos had his own secret police known as the Black Watch. These three fearsome creatures were the remnants of the original inhabitants of the Pale. This powerful, warlike race was destroyed by Minos when he and his minions established the penal plane. However, he recognized the power of this race and reprogrammed three of them to be his agents. As a backup measure, should they ever break their programming, he equipped each of his Archons with a spirit-linked Spirit Bracelet that would let the Archon breach the Black Watch armor.
The Pale was divided into nine sections or "Wards", each corresponding to the nine elements of the universe: Life, Death, Law, Chaos, Fire, Earth, Air, Water, and Spirit. Each ward was overseen by one Archon and his cohort of Warriors. Ashbury's arrival in the Pale not only displaced most of the Chaos ward but also breached the security of neighboring wards.
Archons representing Law, Spirit, and Life joined the Chaos Archon to investigate this disturbance. Since Archons constantly jockey to increase their influence with Minos and their power in the Pale, their convergence in Ashbury precipitated a power struggle--with the hapless townsfolk caught in the middle.
First, the Chaos Archon transformed six citizens, including Sir Angus the Green and Manx into lowly "Helots," whose minds are subjugated to the will of the Archon in a manner similar to zombies. Next, he charmed an Ashbury newcomer to find out the names of the most powerful people in town who could pose a threat to his regime. Finally, he charmed Templeton Neumacht to be his inside rat whose task was to eliminate any citizens who stood in his way.
Among those killed by Templeton was Dragon's Flagon owner Camilla Zatar. Templeton later claimed in his defense that he did not remember any of the incident and that he had been controlled to kill Camilla but the Paladin Sir Angus did not believe his story and sentenced him to death. The sentence has yet to be carried out however.
In the meantime, the other three Archons labored to secure their own power base. The Law Archon created helots to foil the plans of his rival, the Chaos Archon, as well as branding "lawless" folks like Squire Caleb whom he thought needed "re-education."
The Spirit Archon, a/k/a "Doctor Jest", analyzed the minds of Ashbans and branded those whose psyches were deemed unfit, among those Baron Morgan, Tawane the Gypsy and Florin. The Life Archon--the best of a bad lot--at least tried to "rehabilitate" people who violated the guidelines of the Vitale Senate.
With his power base secure, the Archon launched an all-out attack designed to wipe out the interlopers in his Ward (and also to spread mayhem and chaos.) Shouting "Chaos is best!," the Archon fell under a flurry of blows inflicted by Squire Raderic, who picked up the Archon's Spirit Bracelet after the body dissipated.
Amidst this general chaos, the Black Watch appeared and announced that Minos would give an audience to Ashbury at noon on Saturday. In the meantime, to prevent further energy fluxes in the Pale, all magic was outlawed upon pain of death. To the dismay of all spellcasters in town, the Black Watch proved to be vigilant enforcers of the ban.
The situation only got worse when Minos himself appeared the next day. He issued an ultimatum to the town: leave by Sunday or "all of you will be exposed to the energies from Beyond the Pale until your spirits are extinguished." Minos also ordered the Black Watch to capture and obliterate three rogue Archons of the Minor Arcana: Fertility, Delirium, and Luck. These plucky Archons eluded capture long enough to tell Ashbury that the Spirit Bracelets were the only way to kill the Black Watch.
Leaving love in their wake, Fertility and Delirium fled after Luck ironically lost his luck at the hands of the Black Watch. Their advice was well-taken, though, for a combined force of Squire Raderic, Baron Morgan, Blade, and others were able to vanquish the Watch later that night.
As it turned out, other local residents were also subject to this displacement. Various orcs, goblins, lizardmen, and trolls had appeared in town to blame the citizens of Ashbury of placing the wall around the city. They too were trapped and had no idea how to escape and they too had been harassed and killed by the Archons and their followers.
Sorceress Shalizar then determined that Ashbury's only salvation lay in recasting the Destroy Celestial on Echonam, whose non-corporeal form was spotted trying to return from Limbo. The scroll had fallen into the hands of the city after Friday night when the spell backfired. The four components needed for the ritual were Arawyn coffee beans, water from the Lake of Sighs, a brood stinger, and the essence of a greater vampire.
The local goblin, orc and lizardman tribes all claimed to have one or more of these items, so Ashbury convened the first ever Summit Meeting in an effort to recruit monsters to their cause. Six factions arrived: the Broken Kneecap goblin tribe led by Mog, the Bloody Fingers goblins led by Vax, the Gnashing Teeth orcs led by Gnash the Green, the Severed Head orcs led by Upchuk the Brown, a local group of trolls led by Nozehair the upstart, and the trolls led by Fangthorn's partisan, Dances with Fleas. The meeting was a contentious one at best, with each faction giving conflicting testimony and the trolls refusing to negotiate unless Baron Morgan were surrendered to them.
Finally, sides were drawn. Nordenn decided to support Mog and help him defeat a strange, fleshy blob which had been preying on his goblin subjects. In exchange, Mog promised to provide the needed coffee beans. After slaying Mog's enemy Vax, the adventurers (who included Thengor the dwarf, Daniel Star, and Squire Kelson) traveled to the Life ward where they vanquished the creature they called the "Doppelganger."
Unfortunately, it appeared that only necromancy cast by Mog could kill the creature for good, and the extenuating circumstances did not prevent Baron Bryan from executing the lot of them for Conspiracy to Commit Necromancy.
Lord Kirath, Vassa Thrommel, Templeton Neumacht, and others sided with Gnash the Green, who asked them to defeat a group of marauding para-elementals with a hankering for orc flesh. The brave adventurers did so in the Foundation Wards, but it turned out that Gnash was lying and it was actually Upchuk who had the water from the Lake of Sighs! His Brown orcs were later chased down and the water recovered. As for the trolls, they all just wanted to kill Baron Morgan, but their plans were foiled and the brood stinger was eventually taken from Dances with Fleas.
While citizens labored to find the components, the town was continually overrun by prisoners escaping from their Wards. "Elementals" like mud, lava, steam, and ether fled the Foundation wards. Klaus' mutated and diseased pilgrims, convicted of "Failure to Establish Chaotic Kingdom on Tyrra," materialized in the Chaos ward where they proceeded to infect hapless folk. The Bogeyman, an inmate in the Spirit ward Asylum, sent false nightmares via his cell in the form of the ducal household, Paladin Sir Angus, and Echonam to torment citizens, including Baron Bryan and Squire Pinaeus. Oneiros the White, condemned for her hubris in the Dreamworld, helped heal the psychic scars wrought by the false dreams and defeated her nemesis the Bogeyman after it had burst from its cell.
The real problem, however, arose when five prisoners escaped from the Death Ward: the nameless "Loremaster," Dr. Abraham Van Hubert, Jharmin Kael, Adamantine, and Drago Mors. The Loremaster gained immortality by defeating Death in a game of chess, but his continued presence became such an embarrassment that Death stripped him of his true name and condemned him to the Pale. Dr. Van Hubert was a legendary vampire hunter whose track record was so good that the Chaosium seized him before he could kill more undead servants. Finally, the last three were so-called "friendly undead" created by a benevolent necromancer. After slaying the offending necromancer, Guxx of the Chaosium consigned all the undead freaks to the Pale, where the Death Archon tormented them with "biomancers" and other fearsome humans who delighted in snatching zombie children from the cradle.
The Death Archon requested the aid of Count Victor von Dracov in her hunt for the escaped prisoners. Von Dracov was a legendary patriarch: after a millennium of reaping souls on Tyrra, the Chaosium rewarded him for his long service by damning him to their plane, where he served as emissary and trouble-shooter. Von Dracov gladly accepted the Archon's plea and brought with him a horde of undead to supplement the Hyperboreans.
Battle raged into the night as Von Dracov mercilessly sent wave after wave of undead against the town. Meanwhile, Dr. Van Hubert deciphered the torn pages of a dreaded book to the Ash Forest, enabling them to find the Stake of Woe needed to kill the vampire. In the climatic battle, Baron Thomas slew Dracov, but a desecrated wraith prevented the town from collecting the essence in time.
Ashbury seemed doomed, until Hyperboreans from the Death Archon appeared with a solution. They agreed to give up an Essence of a Greater Vampire--a common item in the Death Ward - in return for the following demands: (1) Ashbury must surrender Van Hubert and the Loremaster, (2) Ashbury must support the Death Archon against the two remaining Archons, Spirit and Law, who were making a last bid for dominance, and (3) Ashbury must relinquish the three hearts of the Black Watch so that they can be remade by Minos. The town had no choice but to comply, and in a last Sunday morning battle, the Death Archon emerged as the pre-eminent Archon.
Finding his way out of Limbo, Echonam reappeared just after the Death Archon departed, and with little time to spare, Baron Bryan downed him, shackled him, and sent him to the Guildhall where Sorceress Shalizar had the ritual ready to go. Fingers were crossed as the last incantation was uttered.
In a flash of energy, Ashbury reappeared in Tyrra amidst a scene of unbelievable carnage. Bloody corpses of the "Paladins of Sisyphus" as well as chaos prisoners who had been transported to Tyrra, lay strewn over the field. A battered but defiant gryphon Tiercel was the only one left standing. With no one to help him, Tiercel nonetheless apparently single-handedly defeated the horde, an accomplishment which magnifies his already huge reputation.
The newly appointed Amani Paladin Sir Konrad stirred things up in his first appearance in Ashbury. Sir Konrad, a Royal knight who had grown up in the Ash Forest, quickly made changes with the approval of Sir Thyren. Primary among the changes were the removal of one knight, two squires, and a sheriff--all the result of one incident.
The incident concerned an attack on one of the Archons. Baron Morgan and the court of Trellheim had been fighting the Archon in an attempt to gain its armband, needed for fighting the Black Watch. The Baron ordered no one to touch the armband as it would become spirit linked to the first person who touched it.
According to most witnesses, as soon as the creature was brought down, Sheriff Blade leapt to the creature in an attempt to get the armband. Members of the court of Trellheim attacked him. Most predominate among the attackers was then-Squire Hanson who continued to beat upon Blade from behind until Blade was bleeding to death.
Squire Kelial went to Blade to help and saw that he needed a Life spell, but with the Black Watch observing, he said "Oh, he just needs an Awaken potion" and then pretended to give him one while surreptitiously trying to cast a Life spell.
Why Blade needed a Life spell is unclear. One story is that he was slipped an Instant Death poison but this cannot be confirmed. Justice then spoke loudly against Blade and said things like "I'm glad he's dead." He apparently refused to back down from his statements and his unbelievably unknightly attitude in the incident made the Paladins remove his title.
Sheriff Blade's title was later removed for his failure to obey the order of a nobleperson, and, according to unconfirmed sources, for his "greedy" attitude.
Hanson was also removed of his squireship for a period of six months for assault committed against Blade as well as ignoble behavior. Hanson later appealed his removal to Baron Bryan - the senior noble in town at the time--claiming that he had the right to subdue criminals, as does any citizen of Ashbury. Sir Konrad and Sir Thyren stood by their decision, stating that when subduing criminals, one must at least inform the criminal that they are under arrest and otherwise allow the criminal to surrender, and that Hanson had done neither. Hanson continued to make his argument but eventually Baron Bryan yelled "enough!" and agreed with the Paladins.
Kelial's squirehood was then questioned by Baron Morgan when the Baron pointed out that Kelial had lied. Kelial stated that he had lied merely to fool one of the Black Watch in order to keep someone from dying and that the Code allows certain exceptions such as lying to undead. Baron Morgan stated out that the Duchess did not agree to that exception and as such, Kelial's squirehood should also be removed. Since the Duchess' views on this issue were not widely known, many felt that Kelial should not lose his squirehood, but he voluntarily relinquished it until the Duchess could rule on the matter.
Lord Eridan meanwhile discovered that his naming as a noble by Baron Bryan was not official and that although he was a Lord due to his marriage to Baroness Laurelin, he could not yet be named Baron as he had not yet passed all the Paladin's tests. He accepted the Paladins' decisions without complaint.
The two Paladins then announced that Kirath Moonblade of Nordenn would be promoted to knighthood, thus giving Nordenn three knights, more than any other barony. During this announcement, the Paladin Sir Angus was conspicuously sitting in the audience, lending credence to the rumor that he disagreed with the decision.
Sir Angus and Sir Hieronymous have been largely unavailable recently due to Ducal assignments, so the addition of a new Paladin was generally greeted with applause. Many commoners were very pleased with the actions taken by the Paladins, although many associated with the court of Trellheim grumbled.
Grand Sorceress Shalizar, who often berates, punishes, and sometimes ejects guildsmen who do not wear or cannot find their membership amulets, has gone without her own for the past few months with no ramifications.
Eyewitnesses claim she lost her moon and star amulet--the symbol of the Mages' Guild of Ashbury--some months ago during a monster attack. No one knew where it had gone until Ashbury entered the Pale.
On Friday evening of Ashbury's capture by the Pale, a tall wiry-looking man entered the Guild seeking someone called "Matriarch." Good deductive work on the part of Mages' Guildsmen deduced that this matriarch was Shalizar.
This man claimed to belong to a race of beings who were trapped within the Pale for reasons of which he wouldn't speak. He explained that theirs was an eternal existence of dismay and despair, broken only when a small metal disk fell from the sky and dropped into their "ward." This disk was none other than Shalizar's amulet. There is no information available as to how the amulet arrived on this plane, however.
The man, who was quite devoted to Shalizar, and even took to prostrating himself before her, explained that her symbol became a beacon of hope for his people, and that it prophesied her own coming. As such, he wanted her to come to his home ward so that his people could adore her in person.
Ever a shrewd and cautious woman, Shalizar gave guild member Kador the task of visiting these people and getting her amulet back. He did so with vigor, gathering a small force which consisted of then-Squire Hanson of Trellheim, Algar of the Ash Forest, Jonathan Dragonhart of Nordenn, and Morgan Sunstar and Brian Stonefist, formerly of the Royal Army. The group left the next day at noon, during "visiting hours." Their first encounter was with a pair of faceless guards, archons who had been patrolling the city for much of the weekend. These sentinels allowed the party fifteen minutes to visit the prisoners who were being held behind an invisible ward for which Hanson and Algar learned that the guards were the key. These prisoners called themselves Phasors and begged their visitors to slay the guards and release them. In return, their leader promised to turn over Shalizar's amulet.
The party did so, and when the archons were dispatched, the prisoners immediately fled the area. Unfortunately, a special condition surrounded this ward, a condition which kept its post guarded at all times. When the archons were downed, those that had defeated them became "spirit-tethered" to that guard's post. They were unable to leave the area until the prisoners were returned to their ward, after which time they would be free to go.
Except for Algar, it was unclear who had been stuck at the prison entrance, but Jonathan, Hanson, and Kador were quick to give chase. It was during the pursuit that it was learned where the name "phasor" comes from. These people were somehow able to "phase out" like certain spiders or undead, although they did not exhibit the traits of either. This ability may have been the source of their incarceration. Although it took time, each of the escaped inmates was recovered and returned to the ward. The party left unmolested and with the amulet, but the words of the phasor leader chased them down the path, swearing revenge for what they'd done.
Baron Bryan announced that he was appalled that any citizen of Ashbury would consort with undead, even if those undead seemed to be "friendly." He reiterated his commitment to fighting necromancy by executing some members of the Town Guard who had allowed an orc to cast necromantic spells.
His speech on necromancy is reproduced here:
Many years ago a strong and powerful friend of mine became tempted to use a vessel of unbelievable power in which to solve the problems of his people. This vessel enabled him to control undead with little threat to the countryside and his citizens and smash his foes. With this accomplished he decided to discard it, so that the vessel would not fall into others possession and be used against him.
Unfortunately he paused: What if his enemies reformed and returned? What if threats among his allies required additional resources he to which he hadn't the money to obtain? With this question plaguing his dreams he slept, and placed the vessel on a "shelf" among those he trusted--to be saved for another day and another threat. Many of you might know this story, for it is the one of a close friend Dinayr, Former Baron of Blythedale. The vessel was Mourna, and his folly will be his burden forever. The means by which he thought he could control chaos was but a phantasm--and know all Ashbans are threatened by his actions. Chaos cannot be controlled, and to believe so is the undoing of every healer and champion of the earth.
Undead are the ultimate abomination, as they feed on the flesh of man. Remember that those who create undead do so as a supplement to vile deeds and nefarious plots. Those who create undead and use necromancy seldom can be defended as bestowing it for the benefit of the living. The beings in the Pale called us "biomancers," or creatures that destroy them by the means of the evil earth. This alone demonstrates that we are forever set apart in a titanic struggle, we must fight them or eventually be replaced by them. That is the goal of every necromancer--the creation of a world where every creature can be controlled and molded to fit their image of the way things must be. Forever remember that to treat with undead will not be useful, as even when you think you can carefully glean a useful tidbit of information, they are likewise assessing our defenses, our way of life, and our weaknesses. Remember Peppercorn, as it will serve as a demonstration of the might that creatures of darkness possess, such might will forever stalk the night in search of our blood. We must fight, and we must drive the evil away for the sake of our children--and ourselves.
He later stated that when he became Duke he planned on rewriting the laws so that every law did not have a punishment of death, stating that there needs to be greater leeway in the dissemination of sentences. Baron Bryan has apparently never read the laws of Ashbury, since the result he seeks is already the case.
The excavation begun by local archaeologist Randolph Savage around the tomb of Mummy King Ichorax recently revealed that despite its collapse in September of last year, there were a number of secret levels hidden beneath the crypt proper.
It was learned by members of the Ash Forest that within these lower levels could be found a Stake of Woe, one of those magical wooden spikes which can put vampires to death permanently.
The town was at the time in desperate need of this stake due to the fact that a powerful vampire had escaped from his prison within the Pale and was plaguing the city with his hordes of undead.
At first, the Ash Forest elves attempted to use a key they'd obtained to enter the undertomb. Unfortunately, the key did not work. A cryptic puzzle later revealed that the key had to first be specially annointed before it would work inside the lock. Once the proper ingredients were found, Baroness Laurelin assembled a team consisting of Algar Winterwind, Squire Eridan, Zachary Blane, Baron Thomas Grey, and Thaddeus of the Pride.
The heroes fought their way through waves of undead while being haunted by a menacing voice from somewhere within the depths of the crypt. When they'd finally reached the lowest level of the secret tomb, they encountered a being wrapped in cloth and claiming to be Kilor the mummy lord. With a wave of his hand, he summoned more of his undead followers from sarcophagi which littered the chamber and sent them against his foes.
The battle was quick and fierce, with the Ash Forest and their allies winning the day. Lord Eridan successfully penetrated the chest which held the stake and the entire group was ready to depart when the tomb began to collapse in a fashion similar to its destruction just over a year ago.
A mad scramble to the surface ensued with Baroness Laurelin seen as the last figure leaping through the doorway of the highest level as the room collapsed behind her. Due to their valiant efforts, the stake was carried into battle against the vampire and he was destroyed.
A recent night was marked by violence as several townspeople underwent an elixir-induced transformation into bloodthirsty beasts.
During their brief rampage through town, the transformed townspeople attacked many persons, though fortunately all who were downed were Lifed in time. The afflicted were all beaten to unconsciousness and Purified of the elixir.
The elixirs that caused this transformation were brewed by a Dr. Jethro Wigglesworth, a professor at the Lord Britmore School of Alchemic Studies in Savehaven. The Professor arrived early Friday evening and issued a request to the townspeople for goblin hearts. These were a component necessary for the creation of his elixirs, which he claimed cured many ills and made the drinker quite strong.
Unbeknownst to Dr. Wigglesworth, however, he had been spreading a trail of death and destruction in his path across Evendarr, as each night he was transformed into a ravening beast with a craving for human flesh. The bounty hunter Bruneor was following Dr. Wigglesworth's trail, believing himself to be tracking a mad killer.
On September 28, the small towns of Morin and Partridge were attacked and ransacked by over two score of masked bandits. The thieves quickly dispatched the town guards and stole more than 30 gold worth of valuables.
By the time the Royal Army arrived the next morning, they found many townspeople gagged and bound in the local Mages' Guild. Sergeant Cynthia Reeves of Nib's Royal Army outpost led the investigation and reported little property damage and vandalism.
"This was obviously a well-planned series of attacks," she reported. "Most cases of raids this scale are usually accompanied with a multitude of savage crimes. What we found in these two cases were planned and methodical pillaging."
The Royal Army was able to track the bandits to their next target, Goldstone. There they caught up with the villains and captured their leader.
The leader of the captured bandits has been identified as Warren Maxin, former knight of Blythedale, whose title was removed last year for his involvement in using undead in the Troll War. The Royal Army plans on bringing the criminal to the capital city for questioning by the Ducal household.
An edict from King Joseph's court pardoning convicted necromancer and former Duke Alaric Dragonhart has stirred up the nobility in Ashbury. The Ashbury Times has been unable to learn any more on the subject but will of course inform the public when more information becomes available.
THE DUCHESS would like to buy or rent the Ritual scroll Spirit Link. If you have one available, please contact the Ducal Household.
IT SHOULD BE KNOWN to the citizens of Ashbury that any citizen can arrest an individual who is wanted for crimes or whom they witness committing a crime. In doing so they must advise the individual that they are arresting him and if an altercation occurs due to resistance they are responsible for the individuals care until he is turned over to the proper authorities. - Sir Konrad
I WILL NO LONGER protect or aid commoners who slight nobles. I have changed in no other way. - Justice
I AM STILL teaching the art of First Aid for free. First Aid is a real life saver. - Maximus
POEMS FOR ALL OCCASIONS! Reasonable rates. Love sonnets a specialty. See Turlough the Bard
TO BARON BRYAN and Sir Angus: I'm terribly sorry about the human arm but I hope it served you well in battle. - Roger Sardukar
ATTENTION GYPSIES OF ASHBURY: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for not only saving my life on numerous occasions but also making a stranger in an exceptionally strange land feel welcomed and wanted. In return for your kindness, I pledge my services and loyalty from here on. - Raife Narisbaan
TO THE GUY IN BLACK: Camilla she will give you two for one recipe (Sorry she got busy and couldn't get back to you for favor you did for Camilla)
RESEARCH DONE. Legal representation and advice. Potions and elixirs identified, scrolls read, jewelry evaluated. Quentin Dunbury
TO ALL CITIZENS: I continually gather information on the prophecies. Much that has been foretold has already come true. Anyone who has any relevant information, please seek me out and we will compare notes. The future of our Duchy is in our hands! - Lord Aloryn Runeweaver
TO THE ONE WITH A VOICE the songbirds would envy: Conversations amidst Chaos Warriors, Black Watchmen, and arrogant nobility are not exactly ideal. I would really enjoy the chance to talk again - this time, sans the assaults of necromancers and lizardmen. If it is possible and acceptable, please leave a message and the means by which to communicate with you at the Dragon's Flagon. I hope to hear from you soon. - R.N.
FREE DETECT MAGICS cast at the Ashbury Mages' Guild every hour on the half hour during Guild hours. (Listen for the bell). Hours are noon - 6 pm and 8 pm - midnight. Also: Magic items Identified, Ritual Components researched, scrolls bought and sold, and Rituals cast. Hot tea and cocoa for our chilled customers.
ASHBURY REGISTRY OF TEACHERS. Referrrals for a wide range of skills. Discretion assured. Teachers: get students without spending all your time recruiting. See Prof. Turlough Kuranes
MAXIMUS will give 30 levels of earth protectives to the lucky citizen of Ashbury who finds his golden owl pin that was lost last fall.
THE EXECUTIONER is back.
THE ASHBURY MAGES' GUILD would like to congratulate the following promotion to Guildsman: Gilidarius Redaxe, Barony of Trellheim