Bulwark: Difference between revisions - Tabletop Gamer's Guild

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After several hundred years, the Magocracy largely closed its ports, permitting merchants to approach the city only for a single week every decade. For that single week, the pass would open and permit passage. Then, exactly one week later, the merchants would be expelled and the pass would be closed. For the weeks prior to the opening of the passage, fleets of merchant ships would clash with each other - and with pirates and privateers - awaiting the opening of the channel so that they could be the first to conduct their business during this brief window, reaping the greatest of the rewards. This continued until the 80th year of this tradition whereupon, at the chosen time, the pass did not open, leaving the merchants to sail home in failure.

For another 20 years, the merchants waited, some sailing idly by every few weeks in hopes that Sarvinia would open their gates in secret. Most, however, awaited the next designated time, arriving hopefully at the appointed location, awaiting the opening that would never come, and sailing home in defeat. No contact with the kingdom was possible, although the Cloud Giants swore that ~~Serenis~~ had upheld the bargain that perpetuated their guardianship, making even this route of learning the truth impossible.

For another 20 years, the merchants waited, some sailing idly by every few weeks in hopes that Sarvinia would open their gates in secret. Most, however, awaited the next designated time, arriving hopefully at the appointed location, awaiting the opening that would never come, and sailing home in defeat. No contact with the kingdom was possible, although the Cloud Giants swore that the Sarvinia nobles had upheld the bargain that perpetuated their guardianship, making even this route of learning the truth impossible. After two decades, most nations and merchant fleets had decided that the hope that Sarvinia would one day reopen was not worth the expense of constant vigilance, and they gave up entirely. No more fleets awaited the gates. No more ships sailed past the edge of the maelstrom.

27 years after the gates had been closed, a [[Bulwark:The Fairweather Expedition|lost pirate vessel]], badly damaged from a recent skirmish, sailed to the edge of the Maelstrom, alarmed to see the passage open. Desperate for a port, the vessel sailed through the passage and arrived at the merchant district. Upon disembarking, however, they found the city now inhabited by hostile monsters, largely uninterested in negotiating. Although they suffered heavy casualties, the pirates were able to re-provision their ship and sail home, where they quietly sought adventurers willing to return to the apparently abandoned city with them to scour it for riches.

27 years after the gates had been closed, however, a [[Bulwark:The Fairweather Expedition|lost pirate vessel]], badly damaged from a recent skirmish, sailed to the edge of the Maelstrom, alarmed to see the passage open. Desperate for a port, the vessel sailed through the passage and arrived at the merchant district. Upon disembarking, however, they found the city now inhabited by hostile monsters, largely uninterested in negotiating. Although they suffered heavy casualties, the pirates were able to re-provision their ship and sail home, where they quietly sought adventurers willing to return to the apparently abandoned city with them to scour it for riches.

It is here, in the first Year of the Gate, that our story begins, with high hopes for an expedition planning to establish a base of operations within the lost kingdom, the better to plunder the forgotten wealth of this powerful and ancient empire.

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 After several hundred years, the Magocracy largely closed its ports, permitting merchants to approach the city only for a single week every decade. For that single week, the pass would open and permit passage. Then, exactly one week later, the merchants would be expelled and the pass would be closed. For the weeks prior to the opening of the passage, fleets of merchant ships would clash with each other - and with pirates and privateers - awaiting the opening of the channel so that they could be the first to conduct their business during this brief window, reaping the greatest of the rewards. This continued until the 80th year of this tradition whereupon, at the chosen time, the pass did not open, leaving the merchants to sail home in failure.
-For another 20 years, the merchants waited, some sailing idly by every few weeks in hopes that Sarvinia would open their gates in secret. Most, however, awaited the next designated time, arriving hopefully at the appointed location, awaiting the opening that would never come, and sailing home in defeat. No contact with the kingdom was possible, although the Cloud Giants swore that Serenis had upheld the bargain that perpetuated their guardianship, making even this route of learning the truth impossible.
+For another 20 years, the merchants waited, some sailing idly by every few weeks in hopes that Sarvinia would open their gates in secret. Most, however, awaited the next designated time, arriving hopefully at the appointed location, awaiting the opening that would never come, and sailing home in defeat. No contact with the kingdom was possible, although the Cloud Giants swore that the Sarvinia nobles had upheld the bargain that perpetuated their guardianship, making even this route of learning the truth impossible. After two decades, most nations and merchant fleets had decided that the hope that Sarvinia would one day reopen was not worth the expense of constant vigilance, and they gave up entirely. No more fleets awaited the gates. No more ships sailed past the edge of the maelstrom.
-years after the gates had been closed, a [[Bulwark:The Fairweather Expedition|lost pirate vessel]], badly damaged from a recent skirmish, sailed to the edge of the Maelstrom, alarmed to see the passage open. Desperate for a port, the vessel sailed through the passage and arrived at the merchant district. Upon disembarking, however, they found the city now inhabited by hostile monsters, largely uninterested in negotiating. Although they suffered heavy casualties, the pirates were able to re-provision their ship and sail home, where they quietly sought adventurers willing to return to the apparently abandoned city with them to scour it for riches.
+years after the gates had been closed, however, a [[Bulwark:The Fairweather Expedition|lost pirate vessel]], badly damaged from a recent skirmish, sailed to the edge of the Maelstrom, alarmed to see the passage open. Desperate for a port, the vessel sailed through the passage and arrived at the merchant district. Upon disembarking, however, they found the city now inhabited by hostile monsters, largely uninterested in negotiating. Although they suffered heavy casualties, the pirates were able to re-provision their ship and sail home, where they quietly sought adventurers willing to return to the apparently abandoned city with them to scour it for riches.
 It is here, in the first Year of the Gate, that our story begins, with high hopes for an expedition planning to establish a base of operations within the lost kingdom, the better to plunder the forgotten wealth of this powerful and ancient empire.