TheNexusProject/TheRivergateScandal

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The Rivergate Scandal

by EJGRgunner

"I'm telling you, it was the Guild that let that thing loose on this city. Think about all those construction contracts they got because of it."
- the late Zemund Fell.

"Damned dam dun' made 'dam mad. The little lark leaves the little harp strings on the head of the ol' cotton wood. Jus' cuz it's past don' think it'll last. People o'er in Stone Pine Marsh still in for a heap o' trouble."
- Mammy Ramla, of the Wives of Gozen.

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The say that in Nexus, you can't walk down an alley without passing a paranoid conspiracy freak. Each has his or her own theory: one asserts that the Guild secretly kidnapped the Scarlet Empress and is using her like a queen bee to produce an army of Guild-loyal Dragon Bloods; another defies you to prove that the Emissary isn't a Fae Noble feeding on the depravity of the River Harlot's Legs. All of them, however, offer the Rivergate Scandal as proof that unseen and unimaginable powers are lurking in the shadows, directing and controlling the wealth, status, and destinies of an entire city.

The general consensus holds that the following events did occur:

1. An enormous creature manifested one day near the collapsed dam on the Gray River.
2. After manifesting, this creature immediately proceeded to ravage the area around the dam.
3. The creature paused, then made a beeline for Stone Pine Marsh, near Sentinel's Hill and Firewander.
4. Before the creature reached it, Walks on Evil Bleeding Skull of the Golden Lion Guild appeared, and the two entities fought.
5. The Celestial Lion emerged the victor, but not until hundreds and hundreds of people were killed and several buildings were flattened. Several small fires caused by the incident caused further damage.
6. In direct response to the incident, the Council of Entities established a new "Civility" requiring that important and valuable properties be properly warded in order to avoid another costly incident.

All other information about the incident is highly disputed.

Rumours

• The Nexus Scuttlebutt printed an articled entitled "Rivergate Demon Summoned at Council's Request," which reported the following: "Our sources have uncovered the truth about the incident. Several weeks ago, a notice was posted requesting bids for a security contract to protect the collapsed dam on the Gray River. The notice was signed 'Tarun, clerk to the Council'. A local sorcerer submitted the lowest bid and won, met with the clerk, and received half his payment; then the two proceeded to the dam. There the sorcerer conjured a mighty demon, but failed to properly bind it. The demon escaped and attacked Nexus proper in a frenzy of bloodlust. Bureaucrats close the Council of Entities deny the existence of any clerk named 'Tarun', as well as any bids on Gray River Dam security contracts. No remains were found at the dam, and no sorcerer has come foward as the unlucky winner of the contract."
• Some people believe that a Fae artifact lies buried somewhere under Stone Pine Marsh, and the creature was drawn towards its power.

Secret

• The creature that rampaged through Nexus and the Celestial Lion knew each other from a previous incident.