The small town of Jaru is the setting for the latest clash between Good
and Evil. It started when Mhaldor took offense to Shallam's statements
that Jaru was under their protection and Mhaldor could not hunt the
villagers there for sport. On the 5th of Miraman, in the year 368 AF,
Ramoor Aristata posted a public announcement that Mhaldorians would
butcher Jaruvians until such time as Shallam withdrew any claim to the
town.

This sparked a marked effort by Mhaldorians to slaughter Jaruvians while
Shallam debated the legality of getting involved. Finally, after the
Mayor of Jaru made a visit to the city, Shallam decided the rules would
not stop them from defending their sister village and the battles began
in earnest. Shallam excelled in the group battles, but the Naga
Guildmaster, Silvaria, regularly devastated the defenses with quick,
lethal attacks that Shallam was hard pressed to do anything about.

Meanwhile, the Shallam leaders made overtures to Mayor Cotridge to
figure out some sort of solution to the problem. The initial meetings
were less than successful with the Mayor reflecting the feeling of the
villagers that they'd be much better off if Shallam stayed out of their
affairs. He cited numerous incidents where their relationship with
Shallam had led to hardship for the town. It was also very clear that
the villagers had no liking for the Church due to an incident many years
past but still fresh in the minds of the town. The Viziers, Kotori and
Carmell, sympathized with the Mayor and said that Shallam would respect
the wishes of Jaru in this matter and help them in anyway they could,
but they strongly felt that if Shallam withdrew, Jaru would be much
worse off as the Mhaldorians showed no sign of wanting anything besides
bloodshed. As no diplomatic overtures had been made by Mhaldorians
giving the lie to such an assumption and the actions of the Mhaldorians
were speaking quite loudly, the Mayor had to eventually agree on the
point that though the excuse of Shallam's relationship with the town was
being used to justify the Mhaldorians rampage, if Shallam withdrew, the
death tolls would rise drastically and the town would be destroyed.

As the months went by and the town debated a decision, Shallam's
defenses did not waver and the Mhaldorian attacks grew more brutal and
effective, though to what end is still unknown. Finally, Carmell spoke
with the Mayor and he stated that their decision was to simply abandon
the town and start up new lives elsewhere. Strongly opposed to this
plan, Carmell pleaded with the Mayor to not let the Mhaldorians drive
them away from their home and their lives and after more discussion and
brainstorming, it was suggested that if Jaru could fortify their
defenses and limit access to the town, this would be at least a partial
solution to the problem.

Seizing upon this plan, the Council had Emergo Le'Murzen, the cultural
minister, contact the builders that he had employed to make several
additions and renovations to the city. The cost in commodities would be
high and the danger even more so, but soon the builders were underway
with a host of guards to protect them. It was estimated it would take a
month to complete the western wall and gate and another month to
complete the northern wall.

Catching wind of this, the Mhaldorians sought a way to stop the
construction. Cadiran Vastel and Skye Demaxx-De'Le'Vec led the
discussions with the grizzled old orc, Groukar, who was proficient in
building. The plan was hatched to build a temporary dam and when enough
water was gathered, release it onto the town. They set about the plan
with gusto, having a portion of their forces lead attacks on Jaru in
order to distract the Shallamese while the dam was being built. They
were soon discovered by Aoelithon de Quenster but apparently he failed
to notice the building crews, the dam, or anything else out of the
ordinary and spent crucial time playing spin the bottle with the
Mhaldorians as opposed to actually warning his city about what was going
on.

Eventually, Shallam caught wind that something was up when a fisherman
wandered in to watch the building, mentioning that the water was too low
for fishing. They discovered the dam and killed Groukar but didn't
actually destroy the dam and were soon distracted by another Mhaldorian
raid on Jaru. Eventually, they regrouped and Kotori decided to lead a
group to get rid of the dam, but it was too late. The construction was
finished and the water was released, flooding the town and destroying
the half-built wall.

Apparently not deterred, Shallam quickly gathered the commodities to
start anew and when the ground dried, a new, reinforced wall was
started. The attacks from Mhaldor's allies such as Silverfox and Xtassy
De Soulis-Aristata seriously slowed the building as the builders were
slain numerous times adding precious man-hours to their schedule but
they persevered and finally, the wall and gate were finished and the
gate quickly locked leaving only the north entrance through the pash and
the eastern entrance through Shallam.

Refusing to give up, Diamondesce Seir-Aristata once again contacted
Groukar and persuaded him to come with her to speak with Jirken, the
Mhaldorian scientist. A series of discussions which included Cadiran,
lead to the plan to use acid on the hinges of the newly constructed
gates to get them to fall. Unfortunately, while this plan was being
discussed, the Shallam citizen Deago was slain in Mhaldor and wandered
into the meeting site, and heard and saw enough to get an idea of what
it was they were planning. He relayed this information to the Shallamese
defense force and they went to the foreman to try to find a way to
counter this. His solution involved the production of a diamond mixture
that could be coated on the hinges and gate to render it impervious to
the acid. The downside of this was the extensive time it took to prepare
and the cost involved. The defenders were not concerned with the cost
and after some instruction from the foreman, Carmell began producing the
coating. Each application took around ten minutes before it was ready
and it took four to six applications before the hinges would be safe
from attack and at least a hundred to protect the entire gate.

While Carmell was applying the protection as quickly as mortally
possible, Jirken had sent Cadiran off to find him some quicksilver to
complete the acid. Though it took some time to acquire, eventually she
returned and Jirken produced the acid and gave it to Cadiran with
special instructions on how to use it. Cadiran reached the gate right
before Carmell was going to apply the last application needed to secure
the hinges. The acid was released first, causing the unsecured hinge to
dissolve and the gate to hang open. Shallam quickly moved to defend the
spot, splitting their forces two ways. Apparently though, Mhaldor had
not devised a plan as to what to do once they got the gate down and
Shallam had little difficulty crafting a new hinge and securing the
gate. Two more similar attempts were made with similar results.

This was the last major plan by Mhaldor in this conflict. As the months
went by, the Mhaldor leaders began taking a more direct hand and the
intuitive efforts of those initially involved fell by the wayside in
favor of less subtle plans that were never executed. Meanwhile, the rest
of the world community, mainly Ashtan, began to grumble about their
access to Jaru being restricted. The Mayor of Jaru reacted with great
indignation to this grumbling, pointing out that if they wanted a say in
how Jaru conducted its defenses, they should not have sat on the
sidelines while Mhaldor tried to eradicate the village.

What will happen now is anyone’s guess. Will Shallam continue to respect
Jaru’s autonomy or will they attempt to annex the town in their efforts
to protect the innocent? Will Ashtan attempt to force their “rights” in
Jaru? Will the Mayor make good on his repeated threats to organize a
coalition of villages against the adventurers that constantly slaughter
them? Time will tell.

Two things are certain though. Jaru is closer than ever to Shallam and
the villagers will no longer sit idly by while they are slaughtered now
that they have a means to seal off the town in their control.


Penned by my hand on the 3rd of Daedalan, in the year 370 AF.