📰 THE EBON GAZETTE
“Truth, Lies, and Rumors Worth Paying For”
Vol. III, Issue 11
Printed in the Free Port of Hanowa — 3 Copper
| 🌧️ WEATHER OVER HANOWA 🌧️ |
|---|
| The monsoon rains have finally begun to break, though the lower docks remain flooded each evening at high tide. Jungle caravans report clearer roads inland — along with more tracks that do not appear human. |
🎯 GILBERT RETURNS TO HANOWA
The Demon Hunter Seen Entering the City at Dawn
Hanowa awoke three days ago to a sight many believed they would never witness again:
Gilbert, the famed demon hunter of the western kingdoms, entered the city through the Old South Gate shortly before dawn.
Witnesses describe him as:
- Mud-covered
- Traveling alone
- Carrying a long rune-bound hunter’s stave wrapped in prayer cloth
- Bearing what appeared to be fresh claw marks across his coat
He reportedly refused escort, refused drink, and refused questions.
Dockworkers claim Gilbert spent less than an hour in the city before purchasing supplies and departing again toward the jungle interior.
Naturally, speculation has erupted.
Rumors include:
- A demon cult operating near the volcanic basin
- Ancient ruins uncovered deeper inland
- “Something waking beneath the old places”
One terrified caravan guard told the Gazette:
“You don’t call Gilbert unless the thing you’re hunting already killed everyone else.”
The Society of the Ebon Compass has declined formal comment.
⚔️ DUELING SCANDAL ESCALATES
River Tyrant and Jade Serpent Feud Turns Bloody
The ongoing rivalry between the River Tyrant and Jade Serpent schools boiled over this week after a sanctioned rooftop duel ended with two students hospitalized and a magistrate’s son thrown through a stained-glass shrine window.
Witnesses claim the Jade Serpent duelist employed:
“Movements too smooth to follow with mortal eyes.”
River Tyrant instructors insist their opponent used forbidden hypnotic techniques.
Meanwhile, the Crimson Prowl school has publicly mocked both factions, declaring:
“If your duel ends with both combatants still breathing, neither school deserves respect.”
Attendance at public matches has tripled.
So have betting-related stabbings.
🔥 NORTHERN VILLAGES STILL DESERTED
Smoke Seen Rising from the Basin After Sunset
Travelers continue to avoid the northern volcanic basin after repeated reports of:
- Fires burning in abandoned settlements
- Chanting echoing across the lava fields
- Missing livestock found arranged in ritual circles
The villages themselves remain eerily untouched.
No looting.
No bodies.
No answers.
Halric Gravewatch has renewed calls for armed escorts and claims several patrols have vanished investigating the region.
A hunter returning from the basin described:
“Something down there knows how to wait.”
🧭 EBON COMPASS REPORTS RECORD PROFITS
New Expeditions Pour Into the Jungle
The Society of the Ebon Compass has issued more charters this month than any season in the city’s history.
Recent discoveries of:
- Minor ruins
- Forgotten shrines
- Pre-collapse artifacts
- Untouched burial chambers
have triggered what many are calling:
“The Gold Rush of Hanowa.”
Veteran explorers warn the city is becoming reckless.
One anonymous Pathfinder remarked:
“People hear one story about ancient treasure and suddenly think the jungle’s stopped eating people.”
🐍 STRANGE RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY APPEARING IN MARKET DISTRICT
Scholars Divided on Meaning
Merchants in the eastern market district report finding unfamiliar symbols carved into walls, crates, and alley stones overnight.
The markings resemble:
- Coiled serpents
- Horned eyes
- Spiral suns
Several have already been removed by nervous shopkeepers.
Others return the next morning.
Eldrion Runeblade believes the symbols may be linked to:
“Pre-collapse devotional practices once believed extinct.”
The city watch insists the carvings are merely the work of vandals.
No suspects have been arrested.
🍷 HARBOR GOSSIP
- Someone purchased six wands of fireball from three different fences in a single evening.
- A drunken mercenary claims he saw “lights moving under the harbor water.”
- The Broken Spoke Tavern has begun charging extra for tables near the windows after repeated crossbow incidents.
- Several priests of lawful gods reportedly left Hanowa without explanation this week.
- An unidentified expedition returned with crates that screamed whenever exposed to sunlight.
📜 PUBLIC NOTICE
The Society of the Ebon Compass reminds all chartered explorers:
“Recovered relics of possible religious significance must be declared before public sale.”
Failure to comply may result in:
- Confiscation
- Charter suspension
- Or investigation by Society auditors
The Gazette reminds readers that Society auditors are widely considered more frightening than most jungle predators.
🕯️ IN MEMORIAM
This week’s bell toll honors:
- Seven caravan guards lost near Blackwater Crossing
- Three unnamed explorers recovered from the southern jungle
- One duelist who insisted he “could absolutely make that jump”
Hanowa endures.