Korranberg Chronicle

A magical catastrophe of unknown origin engulfed the nation of Cyre yesterday, bringing a century of war to an explosive climax. Surely when the children of King Jarot began their squabbles over succession a hundred years ago, they could not have foreseen the horror that would engulf the home of Queen Mishann. Our reporters are still sifting through accounts of what has happened, but it is clear at this point that beautiful Cyre, the jewel of Galifar’s vast holdings, has disappeared behind a churning cloud of dead-gray mist.

The people of Fairhaven were shocked by the revelation of bizarre cult activity in the center of one of that city’s most trusted institutions. Acting on a tip from the Royal Eyes of Aundair, elite forces raided a House Vadalis facility and discovered a nightmare. Captain Allis says that her soldiers discovered a beating heart that filled an entire room, pumping blood through veins in the walls of the building. According to Allis, the staff claimed to be “creating the heart of Galifar,” apparently believing that if completed, this monstrosity could reunite the shattered kingdom.

When pressed to comment, Patriarch Dalin d’Vadalis denied any connections to this cult. “These are difficult times for all of us. I assure you that House Vadalis will conduct a full investigation of this incident and work to regain the trust of the good people of Fairhaven.”

Reports emerged this week of bitter disputes within the Twelve, the arcane institution that supposedly embodies the spirit of cooperation among the houses. According to a source that wished to remain anonymous, a special meeting of the Committee of Twelve was called last week to address accusations that researchers connected to House Kundarak had been diverting funds from the institute’s budget to fund their own private projects, then concealing the results of those projects from their colleagues. Kundarak’s representative, according to our source, denied the accusations, saying that the researchers are operating within their allotted budget and keeping their results secret only temporarily, as a matter of house security.

This matter is far from resolved, as the council meeting devolved into shouted arguments before disbanding. Representatives of House Medani and House Tharashk were particularly vocal in denouncing Kundarak, leaving this reporter to wonder whether a schism within the Council of Twelve might be imminent—and what that might mean for peaceful relations among the dragonmarked houses themselves.

By Hathius Rote

Excerpted from the Korranberg Chronicle, Zolday, Dravago 4th

Greetings, good reader! If you are perusing this article, you are probably considering entering the Mournland in search of treasure and fame. You must already know the dangers you’ll face—living spells, becoming lost in the dead-gray mist, encountering warped monsters and lingering magic effects, and running afoul of rogue warforged, to name a few—and I don’t imagine that I will be able to dissuade you. Instead, take heed, for I will tell you what you need to know if you are to return from your expedition.

The most important thing that you must understand is that you will be unable to heal in the Mournland. Neither natural nor magical healing functions in that blasted place. However, the druid spell goodberry seems unaffected in the Mournland. Also, a paladin’s ability to heal wounds by laying on hands is not affected. Magic that allows extradimensional travel is valuable, because you can heal (and be healed) while in that otherworldly space. If your expedition includes warforged, they should have little trouble; spells that repair constructs do function in the Mournland.

After properly outfitting yourself, the first obstacle you will encounter is the dead-gray mist that surrounds the Mournland. You might find that you become saddened and listless within the mist—do not doubt your heroism, my friend, for the mist is magical, and these feelings come from outside forces! Certain patches of the mist carry this enchantment heavily—watch out for the dark gray areas and avoid them. The mist is also disorienting. This reporter has heard many tales of expeditions that got lost in the mist and were never seen again.

That’s pretty much all the help I can give you for now. Good luck, brave adventurer, and watch for my next essay: “So You Want to Enter the Demon Wastes?”

“In the darkest night of the Dragon Below, storm and dragon are reunited, and they break together upon the legions of the Blasphemer.” According to Thausil Kennar, a noted scholar at the Library of Korranberg, these words, translated from an ancient prophecy, foretell the course of recent events in the Eldeen Reaches, where an upstart warlord led a barbarian army from the Demon Wastes on a mission of plunder.

For all your news needs, be they ageless riddles or breaking modern developments, keep reading the Korranberg Chronicle!

By far Khorvaire’s best known and most widely read newspaper is the Korranberg Chronicle. Thanks to its unflinching and mostly unbiased coverage of the Last War, combined with a distribution deal with House Orien, the Korranberg Chronicle enjoys a loyal and avid readership throughout central Khorvaire. The Chronicle is released three times a week (on Mol, Wir, and Far), and each edition features some mixture of news from around Khorvaire, stories of adventurers and exciting expeditions, business solicitations, royal proclamations, and almanac information.

Offices. The Chronicle’s main offices are located in Korranberg. The paper also maintains field offices in the Five Nations, the Mror Holds, and Zilargo. Each field office shares space with a House Sivis message station, giving reporters at the office the ready ability to communicate with the home office (at discounted rates).

Employees. The Chronicle sends reporters across Khorvaire. Most of them live in Korranberg or near one of the field offices, but correspondents might be stationed in more remote regions for long periods of time, and the paper frequently publishes stories written by freelancers from across the world. Your adventuring party most likely falls into that last category, at least at the start of your career.

A large staff of editors—mostly but not exclusively comprised of Zil gnomes—works out of the newspaper’s various offices. They are organized into an extensive hierarchy from senior to junior editors. The top tier of senior editors is responsible for broad categories of stories, such as crime or international affairs. Lower tiers take on increasingly specific subsets of that category, down to the junior editor responsible for the crime beat in Sharn’s Lower Dura district.

Even the most senior editors, though, are responsible to the top tier of the Chronicle’s management, including its publisher and its secretive board of owners.

Allies. The Korranberg Chronicle is widely known and respected as a source of balanced news coverage. As such, it has friends in many places, including some in positions of power. Some of the Chronicle’s closest allies come from the following groups:

• House Orien. House Orien distributes the Chronicle along its mail and lightning rail runs across Khorvaire, helping the newspaper reach a huge audience. Employees of the Chronicle can travel on lightning rail coaches at a discounted rate of 8 sp/day (instead of the usual 1 gp/day).
• House Sivis. The newspaper also cooperates closely with House Sivis to facilitate communication between the main office and the field offices, as well as between reporters and their editors. The house bills the Chronicle directly for communications using speaking stones or sending spells directed to the newspaper’s main office.
• Zilargo. The gnome nation of Zilargo is generally friendly to the newspaper. The senior editors, publisher, and owners of the Chronicle are influential people in the city of Korranberg and Zilargo as a whole. In extreme circumstances Zilargo officials might be persuaded to advocate for the newspaper’s employees.

Enemies. The Korranberg Chronicle is dedicated to learning and reporting the truth, and such an attitude is always certain to arouse the ire of those who would rather keep their secrets hidden. The following represents just a fraction of the enemies the newspaper has made over the years:

• The Boromar Clan. The dominant crime syndicate in Sharn is still stinging from an exposé published ten years ago that resulted in the arrest of many of the clan’s leaders and gave other gangs a foothold in the city. Members of the Boromar Clan go to great lengths—even murder—to sabotage Chronicle reporters who pry into their secrets.
• Karrnath. King Kaius nurses a grudge against the newspaper stemming from its coverage of the peace process at the end of the war, blaming them for several setbacks along the way to the eventual signing of the Treaty of Thronehold. Chronicle reporters operating in Karrnath often face harassment and find bureaucracy impeding their every effort.
• House Thuranni. The snoops and spies of the Chronicle have pried one time too many into House Thuranni’s private affairs. No member or agent of the house will cooperate with Chronicle reporters under any circumstances.

With a newspaper as your group’s patron, you gain the following benefits:

Compensation. Assuming that you regularly provide the newspaper with stories it can print, each member of your group earns 1 gp per day, or enough to sustain a modest lifestyle.

Expenses. In addition to your salary, your group can be reimbursed for expenses related to your work. The newspaper covers the cost of travel when it’s required for your stories, food when you perform an interview over a meal, communication costs using courier services or message stations, and similar work-related expenses. If your expenses are excessive, your patron might refuse to repay them.

Equipment. Your group can request access to equipment owned by the newspaper, such as a printing press. With permission, you can use this equipment for your private purposes, within reason.

Press Access. Each member of your group is issued identification papers from the nation where the newspaper is based. These papers establish your identity and identify you as a member of the press, which commands a certain amount of respect. You can often secure an audience with those you want to talk to. Of course, this isn’t a guarantee of safety—if you discover a damaging truth, some people will do whatever it takes to make sure it never sees print.

Newspapers employ a wide range of adventurers to bring news back to the home office. Consider some or all of these roles for the characters in your party:

Civilian. Some groups include members whose skills are great for reporting but less useful on adventures. This could be the designated writer, a political cartoonist, or a chronicler who records the party’s adventures. This might be a challenging role for a player character to fill, but an NPC could provide services to the party, making them worth keeping around.

Face. Typically gifted with a high Charisma score and skilled in a combination of Persuasion, Intimidation, and Insight, the Face takes the lead in conducting interviews or talking the group’s way past obstacles. A character with access to enchantment magic (such as a bard or sorcerer) can supplement natural Charisma with magical persuasion. A character with the charlatan background, proficiency in Deception, or proficiency with a Disguise kit might also fill this role.

Muscle. Sometimes sources need a bit of physical cajoling to share their stories. The Muscle has a knack for getting people to talk. Alternatively, when those in power lock away the truth, the Muscle physically wrestles it free. Any character who’s proficient with armor and martial weapons (such as a fighter) makes a fine choice for this role. Characters in this role are often former soldiers or more-or-less reformed criminals.

Networker. The Networker knows exactly who can get the party what they need. This character makes extensive use of contacts and friends to facilitate the party’s work. A character with the criminal background likely has underworld contacts, while an urchin could be familiar with the ins and outs of the city. Interpersonal connections are typically more important than any particular skills or abilities for this character, although many Networkers have high Charisma scores.

Snoop. A Snoop pries into secrets and pieces together the clues behind a sensational story. High Intelligence and proficiency in Investigation often aids the core work of the Snoop, and knowledge of Arcana, History, or Religion can be helpful for background research. Divination magic can also prove useful (perhaps in the hands of a wizard or a cleric), while a character with the sage background might have a knack for research.

Decide as a group, in consultation with your DM, what kind of reporting you do for the newspaper. It’s possible that different members of your group have different specialties, or that only some members actually write stories while the rest aid the reporters. Choose an option or roll on the Journalistic Focus table to determine what sort of reporting you specialize in.

Journalistic Focus

Is there one story that hangs over your group’s head, for good or ill? Maybe it sets a high bar you might never reach again, or ensures you’ll never write a story of a different kind. Consult the Famous Story table to determine what reporting has most colored your career.

Your reporting changes lives—you like to think for the better. Sometimes, though, your work has drawn some fairly pointed criticism and earned you an enemy. Reference the Story Aftermath table to determine the repercussions of one of your most impactful stories.

Story Aftermath

Usually, your primary contact—the person who gives you assignments for the newspaper—is an editor of some kind, who takes the stories you write and makes them suitable for the printed page. Depending on the editor, you might not even recognize the stories when they’re printed, and your editor’s personality and goals can have a tremendous impact on your work for the paper. Consult the Newspaper Contact table to learn about the editor or other newspaper figure you’re responsible to.

Newspaper Contact

Besides the well-respected Korranberg Chronicle, other newspapers in Khorvaire can be grouped into a few different categories:

Local Rags. Small papers such as the Vathirond Journal, the Vedykar Sentinel, and the Write of Passage are limited in circulation to their own home city, and their coverage is similarly limited in perspective.

Mainstream Media. The Breland Ledger, the Sharn Inquisitive, the Aundairian Scroll, and papers like them present generally balanced coverage of world events. They are usually a little slanted in favor of their home nations.

Propaganda. Some newspapers, such as the Voice of Breland and similar papers in other nations, print fiercely partisan news that seems designed to fan the flames of resentment that linger after the Last War.

Running Your Own. Rather than work for an existing outlet, you can run your own newspaper. You own a small office and a printing press, and keep 2d4 employees to manage daily tasks and keep the paper going to press. You gain the benefit of press access as described earlier. Additionally, you can use the Running a Business downtime activity to direct the activities of your paper in hopes of increasing your earnings, as described at the start of this section.