Night is the Cathedral

Everyone who comes to Anvil brings their stories along to. Here are just four of them.

Overview

Each summit at Anvil sees the great and the good gather from all over the Empire. Generals, senators, archmages, cardinals all rub shoulders as they arrange the business of the Empire. Of course such a gathering and the powerful and the rich draws interested parties the way a sweet meat draws flies.

The Sea-Devil's Relics

• A pair of Grendel merchants are coming to Anvil, looking to sell relics of Zemress
• They have a legal right to be there and they seem to believe that the Freeborn reputation for honesty will protect them from anything underhand
• They are looking to sell a drinking vessel and a skeletal finger both of which they say are connected to the exemplar Zemress

Two weeks before the Spring summit at Anvil, a pair of unusual visitors arrive at the Zemress Seminary in Calvos. The Grendel merchants are well-dressed and respectful of Freeborn customs, and, citing several uncontested Synod judgements by General, Prosperity and Freeborn Assemblies that invited all to visit the site, they tour the Kraken's Bane and attend a lecture at the Seminary itself. When challenged - and they are challenged - they reply with a surprisingly good understanding of the Way of Prosperity, and the Way in general. They are not dedicates, of course; how could they be? But they have the same right to be here as any orc, they say... and perhaps more than many.

For after making their faces and names known, Maistir Comyn and his associate Lir declare that they have in their possession a pair of relics for sale or auction. The less important is a drinking vessel which they claim belonged to Zemress herself. What raises eyebrows, though, is the skeletal finger in a reliquary, wearing a fine ring, which they claim to have been cut from the Exemplar herself in a legendary battle with a heroic ancestor of the Grendel.

Maistir Comyn recognises the danger that he's placing himself in by coming to Anvil, and has declared that he will trust the honesty of the Freeborn by hiring Freeborn corsairs to guard himself and the sale. He means to do this hiring early on the Friday evening - while the relics are in a safe place - and at the same time, arrange for a parador to host the sale or auction on the Saturday afternoon at 1pm.

An Offer of Gold and Lead

• The Sovereign Lady of the City of Gold and Lead, Ephisis, has a series of lots to auction at Cat's Curiosities
• One of the items is rumoured to be a powerful but cursed piece of ritual paraphenalia
• The heralds intend to appear in Anvil on Friday shortly after the summit begins and are likely to go straight to the auction house

At the previous summit several of the auction houses of Anvil were visited by Brazen, herald of the Sovereign Lord of Locks Basileus Flint, bearing invites to a mysterious game. Word has apparently spread through the Autumn Realm that Catellus di Tassato Regario was able to sell one for an undisclosed but hefty sum. Never to be outdone, the Sovereign Lady of the City of Gold and Lead, Ephisis, now also wishes to present a series of lots to Cat's Curiosities. The selection is rumoured to contain a powerful but cursed piece of ritual paraphernalia. A buyer able to remove the curse might keep it for themselves, or attempt to turn a profit by selling it back to the High Merchant through the Ephisis' Scale ritual.

A Little More

• At the Winter Solstice, apothecaries from Faraden and Axos visited Anvil to sell their unique wares
• Pleased with the success of their initial offering, they plan to return to the Forge at midday Saturday

Since the Autumn Equinox, a small group of Faraden traders have been making regular visits to Anvil. They represent one of the wealthy merchant families, and between them they have access to a number of unique concoctions with narcotic properties. They're planning to return with another consignment of rare concoctions for the discerning buyer. The last time they were at Anvil they operated a small "market" outside the Forge and stayed until all their stock was sold.

Just Rewards

• A Navarri guide is coming to Anvil looking to talk with followers of Prosperity as well as merchants, artisans, artists and others
• He is interested in the idea of a fair and challenging people to define how such a thing might be found
• He plans to be in Anvil on Friday evening, and plans to head straight for the Hub.

In recent months, a Navarri Guide called Gethyn Blood And Sweat has been making waves among more academic Dedicates of Prosperity. They have been travelling around the Empire asking one seemingly simple question everywhere they go: how exactly do you know what anything is worth? Since Virtuous citizens began rebelling against the so-called 'free market' and the constant inflation of prices, the question has taken on some more significance. If we are going to say that there is such a thing as a fair or unfair price, Gethyn contends, we ought to at least have a decent theory of how these things are defined.

To most citizens, the question is interesting but ultimately moot. The Empire is prosperous, and most essential goods are plentiful enough that even the less well-off can afford food to eat, clothes to wear and a place to sleep. Gethyn acknowledges this, but maintains that the question is most useful at the extremes of the economic scale. Why would it be unvirtuous to charge ten Thrones for a wain of White Granite if there are people out there willing to pay for it? For that matter, why would it be unvirtuous to charge a Crown for a crust of bread and a sip of water in a camp full of starving people? Commerce is the lifeblood of the Empire, and if we are to regulate it properly, the Virtuous need to step in.

Gethyn recognises that there is only so much one can do by walking the Trods asking awkward questions. As such, they are planning to visit Anvil to speak to the people there and to see if the folk with influence are willing to use it. Gethyn's interested in speaking to the newly-elected Basilisk of the Bourse, Heilyn Bronwen's Rest and any members of the Prosperity Assembly who might be interested in such things. However, they have also let it be known that they want to speak to the traders and business people, whose interest in commerce is more practical. In particular, they wish to speak to those who provide services instead of goods - bodyguards, bards, cicisbeos, or anyone else in the field. How do they determine the worth of their labour when the 'product' they are selling is so often intangible? Gethyn plans to meet with people in or around the Hub at 9pm on Friday evening before finding somewhere comfortable to discuss things more deeply.