-Foreward-

Before I get too much into everything, I think it is important that I give a little background of the political climate going into this time period. I had Joined up with the city Guard nearly a year prior, and had the opportunity to work under some long forgotten names, though to me, they will always remain legends: Rask Under-river, Kald Nefzen, Leoric, Elghin Rey, Lady Anna, and Aeris Two-Blades(ask me about her "jig" later), just to name a few.

During this year, I began to see the precursurs to some major change happening. The last senate elections had been held and a new Guard Commander had been chosen. Then the mass disappearances of city figures ensued, Commander Leoric and Senator Two-Blades being among them. Things had gotten so bad that the recruits outnumbered the officers three to one. With only a single senator and a handful of recruits to try and keep order, things inevitably fell into chaos.

Some of us tried unorthodox ways to calm the streets and generate cooperation with the public, such as was the initial purpose for the creation of the CJH, but we only made so much progress. Then a number of prominent citizens met, including Lt. Galverson, Thorimand, Former Councilor Gabriel, Rask Under-river, Simone & Cameo Giovani, and Kedrin Falk, and with the support of Amn, they formed the architecture of what would become known as the Baronies and the formation of the city districts, each held together under the rule of the duke, who was decided would be Lt. Galverson.

Year 1 A new Beginning

Things started out optimistic enough, many had high hopes for this new baronial system. But things soon fell to chaos as the city guard was dissolved and law and order failed to be enforced. Only barons had authority to enforce the laws anymore. There were a select few who still tried to keep things in order, but as time went on, frustration and protocol took its toll on such people, and even I decided it was no longer my place to try to keep the peace. Instead, I focused on getting the CJH up and running and tried to help through them. We did some good, but it was just not enough.

It was when asking for support from the new baroness, Lady Cameo, that she asked me to be her knight. At this point, I had high hopes for the baroness, as she was the only senator who stayed at their post after the elections, the others having all disappeared for one reason or another. What was not known by the general public was that as this time, Lady Cameo was a follower of Mask, the god of lies, deceit, and and shadows. It was her deception to me that she was a follower of Tempus, the god of war, and seeming what a strong warrior she was, I believed her.

Thus, I joined her entourage consisting of her personal friends and supporters. As a knight for the district, I was again able to keep peace and order in the district and tried my best to do so. By this time, most of the other districts had put some kind of temporary guard in place to keep order and I felt the Merchant District needed its own guard. I spoke to the members of the Coalition of the Jewel's Heart(CJH) and after a consensus was reached, I offered their services to Lady Cameo as temporary guards. She accepted the offer gladly and the CJH effectively split in two at this point. Some worked as guards, some did not, but we all retained the purpose of the CJH, wich was to support the guard and help newcomers.

As Lady Cameo's knight and co-founder of the CJH, I was put in charge of the CJHDG. Order slowly began to return to the Merchant district as the guard ranks began to swell. Lady Cameo helped stem some of the tension between citizens and guards by annulling the helm law and by this time had met a charming man by the name of Zeeran. Noone could have guessed back then the terror and destruction this man would bring. Both he and Cameo had the general public fooled each in their own right. The two spent much time together and it is my belief this day that the two did indeed genuinely fall in love with each other, despite the rift between both their deities. It was because of such that not only Mask forsook Cameo, but she was also formally disowned by her family in Telflamm.

Having nowhere to turn to but to Zeer, he showed her the ways of Shar, "the dark mistress," goddess of nightmares, loss, shadows, and entropy. Through this, Cameo was seduced by the power Shar gave her. She was initiated by having to sacrifice one of her closest friends and then many more followed. Time went on. Many rumors sprouted. I, believing them to be false, defended the baroness fiercely, even at one point wearing the colors of Shar to mock those that would associate her with Shar just because of what they wore. It was my own disgrace to see that the rumors were true.

Lady Cameo and Zeer were wed and the Duke declared that there would be no new city guard. The CJHDG became the MDG and tensions rose concerning the "Sharran barons." The Merchant District was headed for a rough time indeed.

by Trynn'delynn Eldafire in the 20th year of Arelith's Reckoning