Amidst the hype of the Troll Ball Western Realms Cup final a vicious plague struck the town of Dellgate inciting mass hysteria and the deaths of an estimated 1000 people. During the day of the auspicious Troll Ball Cup Final, thousands of supporters journeyed from all over the Realms to watch the game between the Dellgate Destroyers and the Valguard Victors. Moments after the final whistle, a violent pitch riot ensued where members of both the team's supporters broke out in red pustules and proceeded to vomit up their insides over frightened fans. The violence quickly escalated as the teams and the crowd fought to exit the grounds. Soon similar events from surrounding villages and packed taverns began to flood the Militia's Garrison as the freak and sudden epidemic erupted through various highly populated areas of the port town. The frightening symptoms were the onset of dark red pustules and

Red Death responsible for over 1000 lives growing nausea, which soon after only a few hours, resulted in violent agony as the victims literally ejected their guts from their bodies through violent retching. Patients who managed to receive treatment from physicians still did not avoid this horrific fate, as despite their best efforts, Dellgate's best medical practitioners could not provide any cure for the unknown disease. According to one of Dellgate's Surgeons, Doctor Eyronimus Klauber, not only did the patients vomit out their Continued on page 3

FOUNDER'S NOTE Hello, and welcome to the bit of WRG where the founders of Shadow Realms let you know what has been going on behind the scenes and in the bigger LRP world. Well, first of all I guess I have to point out that I am the remaining founder, as Hugh Wilton went back up to Sussex several years ago, and of course Paula has died. No flippancy for once; it seems very strange and sometimes very lonely continuing to run Shadow Realms without her, and walking down the familiar old paths and encounter areas without that little figure with her ref hat and folder often brings a lump the size of Scotland to my throat. But the show must go on, and with the support of you it will. Please do spare a thought for Pla once in a while though, as you battle across Woodbury Common; Shadow Realms would never have existed without her. Other than that, well, Holdfast went well even though it was considerably smaller than we had hoped. I get the feeling that we are relying rather too much on Earthworks Cardiff support (always a fatal mistake) so spreading the word is now very much the order of the day; we need new people as much as possible. The new weapons got made, thanks to much time and effort from Lewis, Barry and myself in particular, and we had new tunic and some natty new armour as well. All in all, the level and amount of kit is phenomenal now, as I am sure our new Quartermaster Baz would agree. We have had some arrivals, and some departures in the last few months, so goodbye to Alex, Sal, Rob, Cheryl, Lewis, Andy, Beth, Lee and Allan, and hello to Liz, Sprog, John, Matt, Sean and brother, Tom and friends, Andy, Ian, Barry and all the Games Workshop crew; I can't fit you all in!! It might also be a good time to point out that a few new appointments have been made in the club; Dan Hurford is now the complaints officer, Stu is Treasurer, Ben Palmer and Rob 'Planet' Jordan are the editorial crew of WRG and Barry W has become Quartermaster of the kit room. This means that I can concentrate more on other areas, such as drinking. One of the first jobs Dan did as complaints officer was to inform me that some people felt adventures were too expensive; I have a few points to mention about this. Recently we have lost £100 worth of chainmail, around £150 worth of weapons and God alone knows how much costume and masks; we cannot sustain these losses which I almost always end up paying for. If you want the costs to stay low, STOP LOSING KIT ( oh, and stop breaking it as well ). Every arrow lost is an adventure fee. Get the idea. Right, that's enough for this issue, have fun adventures, and remember you neutrals; 'Lets do it to them before they do it to us!' Mark 'El Presidente' Dollar.

Editorial Too many times you have been fed a pack of lies. For too long you have been without a voice. Now, The Western Realms Gazette is back, and this time we guarantee satisfaction. Yes, the Gazette is under new management. There have been a few changes since the passing of the often woefully irregular paper that went before. We'll continue to provide the high standard of reporting giving our faithful readers only the best quality news. We promise integrity, sincerity and, above all, accuracy in all that we print, you deserve no less. There is no shadow to hide in from our Harsh Light of Truth. A call for vigilance A plague is amongst us, and it appears to be the work of enemies of the crown. If it is the work of the Mercians, foul cultists, or the Dark Elves there is one path of action we can take - gather our forces and destroy them all! The agents of Evil lurk amongst us - we must be vigilant! We call for everyone to report any suspicious activity by anyone to the proper authorities. That is the only way to be safe. Peregrim Bright

Insides but it seemed that their very blood boiled inside their veins. As he frantically bled one of his many patients the red pustules bubbled and spat like hot fat. At the time of the patient's death not only did the violent retching cause the victim's demise but the Doctor claims that the pustules started to burst simultaneously with the patient's convulsing. It is his considered opinion that the 'Blood Plague' was not in fact a disease but some poison or potion administered orally for the disease did not appear to be contagious in anyway. Such an outbreak has panicked the medical profession as 'Red Death' or Sanguinus Mortis has never before been documented in the Western Realms and as patients die so quickly after ingestion it has been difficult to investigate or find a treatment. The official explanation for the outbreak given by Town Council and the Arch Mages Conclave was the importation of dangerous foreign cargo from the docks, imported to compensate for the giant influx of people to the Town on the day of the Troll Ball Cup Final. However from various sources your faithful Western Realms reporters have uncovered some interesting details on the events surrounding the Plague and we believe it is our duty that the people of the Western Realms should be offered the truth. Before the outbreak, villagers from Outland settlements suffered the exact same symptoms. All these villages had one thing in common which was that they relied on Dellgate's main river for water. Very soon after the outbreak had begun members of the Mages Conclave were escorted by a strong force of the Duke's Militia out towards the river.

Allegedly a ritual incantation was performed on the river but details of this are slight due to the Milita's intervention. Information gathered from the Duke's Militia however highlighted a group of adventurers who were send out that morning after a group of brigands, and further investigation provided a much darker story. It seems the Duke's Militia had prior knowledge regarding foul play and had hired a group from the adventurer community to investigate. The rag tag group they had assembled found themselves embroiled in a foul conspiracy to incite hysteria and decimate Dellgate from a far. The Red Death was no disease but a deadly poison magically administered to Dellgate's water supply. Could it be that the forces which strove to disrupt the peace talks between the Duke and the King are still vehemently trying to disrupt the security of the Realms and the threat of Mercian invasion is not over? Caspian Klent Churches Rally against Rise in Cultist Activity The mention of dark deities or the worship of infernal creatures are two subjects that could very likely get you lynched. Such a topic has been carefully trod around until the church's recent call for a concerted effort to purge the land of these evil forces. Mysterious groups who partake such activities as human sacrifice and drinking blood have generally been treated as over imaginative stories or urban myths with no real evidence to clarify them. However it now seems that there is some light to shed that such groups really do exist and are active around Dellgate. Local Churches have recently stepped up pressure on the authorities to assist them in uncovering any blasphemous groups or activities. Although the King's Rangers have played down the extent of this problem they do grudgingly admit that there might well be some insidious bands of people practising the worship of unknown forces in the Outlands. However they did not give many details. With the recent epidemic of that was responsible for around 1000 deaths, an occult group has been blamed. Both the Rangers and the Duke's Milita have denied these allegations saying that the deaths were due to the recent influx of foreign cargo from the town's port. This also illuminates the recent burial of the Marquis of Trafarian. Although he officially died while tragically ambushed by bandits, rumour and gossip from the adventurer community suggest that it was his involvement with an occult group worshipping a demonic

Continued from front page being known as Alyrx. These rumours have later been confirmed as church leaders openly accused the Marquis' wife of assisting her husband in dark practices. These weird goings on also begs question to a notice pinned up on Dellgate's Message tree sometime ago. We spoke to the writer a Vélay Salamar, a member of the Scouts Guild whose message contained references to a Demon, which the Mages Guild had hired a group of adventurers to stop. The notice enquired about an 8000-year-old friend of the Archmages and the writer considered it urgent that he must speak with them. I asked Salamar if this message had anything to do with the recent allegations of demonic worshippers around Dellgate and although very irritable to begin with he eventually replied, 'That message you keep bringing up is old pal, and it's been dealt with. If you find something fishy about this epidemic then I'm not denying that, now leave me the hell alone.' I then asked if he was confirming that rogue bands of crazed cultists did indeed stalk the Outlands, 'A load of weird orcshit happens out there everyday, no one knows what's going on. You get given a job and you do it.' So your job was to hunt down these cultists then, 'Call them what you will, doesn't make any difference. Now will you leave me alone.' So there you have it, the truth that groups of devil worshipping fiends stalk the forests preying on the unwary and raping the few innocent virgins, striving to feed the dark desires of their infernal Lords. I hope you faithful readers of the Western Realms Gazette will rally around your local Church and help them rid our land of such evil and fiendish atrocities. Remember be careful out there. Elias Demarkus Western Realms Gazette Reporters Required Applicants must be of smart appearance with a keen eye for a great story. Good Rate of Pay! Investigative powers essential! No time wasters, Mercians or Elves need apply. For further information contact the Western Realms Gazette Offices

---

Guilty As Sin Accusations of devil worship fall on the Marquise of Trafarian. The suspicious death of the Marquis of Trafarian and the insinuations that he was involved in devil worship have blown up into violent accusations from church leaders levied at Lady Vionna of Trafarian. The church claims that she openly assisted her husband in demonic worship, and also worshipped the unholy abominations herself. Currently trying to retain the Marquis's lands the Marquise has denied any involvement in such foul practice saying that she 'was completely unaware of the crimes her husband allegedly was guilty of ' and that she is 'horrified and upset by these cruel and wicked allegations.' Church leaders have already questioned the legitimacy of her children and as the Marquis's wife, the Lady would surely have known that her husband had turned to the dark arts. Despite such a vicious attack on the Marquise's countenance the Lady has done little to quash the rumours surrounding her husband's demise. However these accusations from the church could not come at a worst time as the Lady is still mourning her husband's death and struggling to hold onto the Trafarian estate. Due to the claims filed against her late husband other nobility have turned their backs on the family refusing them credit and if the investigation into the Marquis finds him guilty the Trafarian family could be stripped of all land. Perhaps the greatest question is how such a seemingly beautiful and elegant member of the nobility could be involved in such heinous and depraved acts? If the Marquis could pull the wool over everyone else's eyes surely he could have pulled them over his wife's! And if she did discover her husband was worshipping infernal creatures, surely she'd be too afraid to act against him. We should be careful whom we accuse of such behaviours else hysteria breeds a witch-hunt. Lore Meravain Next Issue · Join our intrepid reporters as they venture into the Outlands · Innocent until proven guilty? - An interview with Lady Trafarian · Pull out - Western Realms Good Tavern Guide part 1

---

Light from Beneath the Wreckage Wealthy noble Sir Eusarious Calidor has put his Mithril Dragon up for auction to help aid those towns that were destroyed in the wake of the Goblinoid Horde. With Ten Taverns, Tannay and the Holdfast Village still in disrepair after the rampage by the marauding horrors of the goblinoid horde it is now a time for rebuilding and re-establishing commerce. It is well known that the authorities do not have the resources to assist the villages in rebuilding due to the heavy toll of the civil war even though these holdings are vital for a large portion of Dellgate's outgoing trade. The Villages themselves have no finance of their own and in order to recover quickly the only option would seem to be extensive loans which could take the small communities many years to fully pay off. Observing the plight of the people, the esteemed antiquarian and explorer Sir Eusarious Calidor has offered his prized piece the Mithril Dragon to be sold to the highest bidder with the takings used to help rebuild the economy of the three villages and surrounding areas. The piece itself is a beautiful dwarven crafted dragon made from pure mithril, a rare metal treasured by dwarves. It's eyes hold two large rubies and teeth cut from sapphire. The estimated starting bid for this treasure is 550 marks alone, although is expected to fetch far beyond that sum. Many wealthy figures are expected to converge on Dellgate in the next week to attend the auction at the Dellgate town hall on the 18th day of the eighth cycle. With the money raised, the surrounding communities can look forward to a steady recovery. Still the most interesting speculation is who will walk away with the Dragon and already bets are being placed on well-known wealthy figures. Although we shall have to wait and see, you can be sure that the Western Realms Gazette will keep our readers informed as soon as we find out. Lore Meravain

Back Pages

---

Back to the Black Feathers