The Daily Dubloon

Earlier this week, Amandil executed an unexpected assault against Southgate, the southern gateway separating Amandil and Lindblum. Two Military Large Frigates and half a dozen smaller vessels launched a coordinated attack on the gateway itself, violating the demilitarized zone set forth by the Ironcrags Treaty of year 13, CE.

The official statement from Amandil's embassy in Seven Spires reads thusly: "The accusation that Amandil's military attacked unprovoked is an indefensible falsification. The Royal Navy [of Amandil] has had those two Large Frigates stationed outside of Southgate for six months, and other ships before that. The six ships that approached the gateway were deployed from an unrelated fleet stationed at Timberhall, and were in pursuit of a Brig-type vessel flying the colors of Rivergate and suspected of harboring criminals at the time of the incident. Southgate intentionally attacked Amandil's vessels first, severely damaging one of our prestigious Large Frigates and killing hundreds of honourable and innocent seamen in the process. Amandil is the aggressor in this incident, and no vessel flying Lindblum colors will be allowed to pass through Southgate nor Northgate until such time as Lindblum admits responsibility and submit compensation for the loss of life and property damages suffered by the Royal Navy [of Amandil]. In addition, Lindblum is required to turn over the crew of the criminal Brig in their entirety."

Rear Admiral Ironsides, the heavily-decorated senior official in command of both the fortifications at Southgate and the Imperial Fleet stationed in the Varna City region, confirmed that Amandil has had naval presence in the area but strongly refutes Amandil's accusation of Lindblum's guilt.

"There's no doubt that Amandil is at fault for this mess. First they taunt us by putting a couple of their little boats near the wall to keep an eye on us. As if we're going anywhere! I'm sure that my massive gate scares those nobles into sleeping with their blankies and lit candles, but there's not much danger of it getting up and invading Amandil. And that's assuming Amandil were worth invading!

Anyway, their little game last week was inexcusable. They intentionally attacked a civilian ship that was flying Lindblum's colors clear as day. Then when she ran, a whole slew of Amandil warships came flying out of the clouds as if by magic. Do they really expect us to believe that all of them were there just for one little ship?

I guess considering the poor state of Amandil's navy, it would take eight warships to catch and take down an unarmed civilian Brig," conceded Rear Admiral Ironsides.

The gate sustained only minor damage from Amandil's initial assault, although several of the Navy's siege engines were destroyed. Judging by the high state of morale among the men on the walls, a few broken weapons is a fair trade for downing one of Amandil's Large Frigates. The attack halted after a day of open warfare, and there has been an uneasy cease-fire for the past week. Lindblum's Naval Engineer brigade is currently in the process of repairing the superficial damage to the gate.

Timberhall's reigning High Lord mysteriously disappeared on the 15th of the month, following the failure of his annual Masque on the 13th. Said ball-attendee Lady Ceridwyn of Nost, "That was the worst event I have ever attended. Never again shall I waste my time traveling to this backwoods hole-in-the-ground. If I were the High Lord of Timberhall today, I would be hiding my face as well."

Accounts from the High Lord's House Guard suggest that there were more serious games afoot that night. One of them agreed to speak with us on condition of anonymity. "I was on the lower staircase that night. Some of the guests were acting stranger than usual - I remember seeing a dwarf that kept asking me where the privy was. I guess he gave up trying to find it, because later he went behind the curtains. I mean, I don't know if he went behind the curtains, but I saw him go back there. No, I didn't see him go, I mean that's where he went. Can we start over? Ok, anyway a couple of ladies ran past me and guest aren't allowed downstairs, so I tried to go stop them. The last thing I remember seeing was an angel. That's when I blacked out, and woke up outside. The mansion was smoking, and the High Lord was mad. Someone stole something from his private gallery during the party, and it must have been important because he didn't even care about his house burning down."

Apparently the High Lord had planned for such circumstances, and had enchanted his belongings with divination magic. His private guard were able to see and hear the culprits while they were hiding in the city for two days while the skydocks were on lockdown, and were able to hear their first names and record accurate descriptions of their faces (drawn on page 3). The names were recently released to the public in an attempt to find more information on the whereabouts of the cuplrits, and are as follows: Iyun (human, captain), Jan (dwarf, prelate), Kaldair (human, lookout/infiltration specialist), Loralyn (human, sniper) and Trip (human, ship's mage). They may or may not be traveling in the company of an innocent young human girl named Serady.

The Crown of Amandil has issued a bounty of 30,000 gold coins for information leading to the capture of these criminals and the return of Timberhall's High Lord or news of his demise.