The Rumourmonger
The beggar sits cross-legged in a prominent position on a corner where
one of the main thoroughfares of the city enters the marketplace. Such a
pitch commands a high rental from the Guild. As a shrewd traveller, you
recognize this as an indication of his high status amongst the Beggars and
Rumourmongers. So you approach him, toss a silver piece in his hat, and
politely enquire, "Good day to you! Tell me, friend, where might a
stranger learn the latest goings-on in the world?"
"And a good day to you too, squire!" replies the beggar,
eyeing the silver piece. "You need walk no further." And with
that, he leans back against the wall, and closes his eyes, as if dozing
off.
Taking the hint, you toss a second silver piece into the hat. At the
clink, the rumourmonger (as you had suspected he was from the start) opens
one eye slightly and opines, "News is valuable today."
"Let's hear some first," you counter, "and when we've had
a Silver's worth, maybe we'll buy some more."
"Hmmm..," muses the fellow, mentally pricing his
carefully-gathered hoard of news, rumours, speculation and gossip. "Well,
let us see..." and now that the necessary preliminaries are out of
the way he begins to expand on the latest news...
For
the news you are really interested in, you can email the rumourmonger.
This is an in-character service, which simulates your character actually
asking a rumourmonger for news. Please specify how much you tender in
payment (the usual fee is a Silver Piece), and deduct it from your
possessions. I will assume you ask in the last town or city you visited,
or are presently visiting, in character. In case of potential ambiguity,
specify in which town or city you ask.
The reply will be confidential, though to the extent the information is
being spread abroad by rumourmongers and others, I reserve the right to
publish all or part of it.
Email the rumourmonger at anarea.com.
In any town or city in Anarea, the
main source of news, rumours, speculation and gossip are the rumourmongers;
members of the Guild of Beggars and Rumourmongers. For a silver piece, or
more or less, they will tell you all the latest stories, many of which may
turn out to be essentially true. Nobody is quite sure where all their
information comes from, or how stories disseminate so quickly to
rumourmongers around the World. Certainly, a good rumourmonger will readily
accept payment in information or interesting stories he does not already
know, and the Guilds in different towns are presumably in touch with each
other by magical means. Some say that as DALA is Mistress of Rumour, She,
or at least Her Temple, are behind the Guild, and are certainly its main
source of rumours and lies. Others speculate that the Guild has been
infiltrated by Higher Powers, and that some rumourmongers are in fact Demons
of Rumour in human form.
Each town or city has a main street
or square where the best rumourmongers’ pitches are to be found. Any beggar
will volunteer information for money, but the best and most reliable (or at
least most interesting) stories are to be found on the local rumourmongers’
street. If one is in an unfamiliar town, it may be necessary to pay a
beggar a copper or so to find this.
In
Valdran, for
example, it is the Street of False Gods (nobody calls it by its correct
name, Old Alma Street), which cuts a wide and straight path through the New
City to the Old Alma Gate. This street is notorious for being lined with
prophets of all sorts of Gods, some of which are aspects of existing Gods,
many of which are Demigods vying for worshippers and Godhead, and many of
which do not exist at all. Amongst these false (or true) prophets are the
best rumourmongers in Valdran, and indeed in the Overworld.
Back to News index
Back to Story index