Part MMCCCXXIII: Freedmen and Venturers
Freedmen and Venturers
Twentieth Day of the Fifth Month 293 AC
Myr is little changed since last you saw it, a city bustling with trade, its harbor playing host to ships from across the Narrow Sea and beyond. For all that something does catch your eye, a flash of pale blue, a pennon flying just bellow a dozen disparate banners, from trading galleys to small swift pirate hunters. A new mark this, one meant to signal one thing alone: that none aboard those ships are enslaved, as testified by Astral Currents or Iron Bank clerks.
"This almost feels better than conquering Tyrosh," Dany says softly, looking out over the harbor. "It's one thing to force people to do the right thing, and another to..."
"Terrify them into it?" you finish, amused. "The captains who dare the southern routes did not start paying their oarsmen out of any sudden bout of decency."
"I know, I know," Dany waves away the jest. "It gives me hope to see ripples like this because there will always be places where the kingdom's... the empire's law does not hold, but even those places can be made less hateful and cruel by example or threat."
There are other subtle signs of change in the air. For one there is a distinct lack of any Unsullied near the docks where at your last visit you had seen several nobles wishing to flaunt such exotic guards as one might a fine horse or hound. Their absence is more than made up for by the patrols of marching crossbowmen, militia, not sellswords or slave soldiers, you note with interest. It is clear that though Myr has made no overt moves in the Disputed Lands, some at least among the city's magisters still consider the current peace in the region more of a pause to breath than a sign of lasting tranquility to come.
Thankfully you are not here to speak to them this evening, but someone who proved far more amenable to your interests. Glassworkers are by the very nature of their craft a cautious lot, ever aware of how a moment's carelessness can undo days or even weeks of painstaking work. Your previous inroads into the guild, not to mention the secret exchange of stock. has done much to solidify your position as a valued trading partner and not merely a potential foreign conqueror. However, the news of the Accord with the Shaitan and the Djinn might rattle some of the guild masters given what one can guess of their history with the occult and otherworldly. One does not make laws strictly regulating conjuration without a keen understanding of the danger fiends and spirits can pose.
As the two of you wait for your contact at the agreed-upon corner, still pondering how you will approach Lady Phassen and the other guild masters, Dany pulls your hand and whispers: "The glassmakers may not be the only people worth looking into." She subtly points you towards a gaudily garbed crier ringing a large brass hand-bell and announcing to all who would listen that a great venture fleet is departing soon for the uncharted waters of Sothoryos seeking gold, strange beasts, spices unseen in these lands, and other treasures that would make sailors and backers both 'rich beyond their wildest dreams'.
You suddenly recall the ill-fated expedition that had run afoul of the Serpentfolk. Perhaps some of their fellows had turned back in time to return with not just their lives but some profit from the journey. Given the nature of Sothoryos you would well imagine such offerings inflaming the interest for more... but a fleet?
"I suspect they found more than beasts, spices, and gold," you muse, as much to yourself as Dany. "Perhaps some artifact or ancient lore."
What do you do next?
[] Speak to Lady Dorera Phassen of the Glassworkers' guild
-[] Write in
[] Look into this Southern Venture
-[] Write in
OOC: Sorry this took so long, the direction took me by surprise, so I had to roll Myr's background events earlier than anticipated.
Last edited:
