Recent Events
April 6
The worst Naval disaster in recent Kethem history occured in the Tolik Channel (between Kom and Orbaal). Seven ships were conducting manuvers in the channel in prepartion for a amphibious assault on Grivag, a coastal Troll City. Enveloped by a steep bank of fog, the naval squadron was sailing in formation down the channel. About five miles southwest of Eidel the Delphy scraped bottom, and them heaved crazily on a rocky promontory that jutted 500 yards into the ocean. There was no time for the vessels immediately following to alter course. One efter another, the six Light Warships following the Delphy piled up - the S.P. Lee, Young, Nicholas, Woodbury, Chauncey, and the Fuller. Only a handful of the 370 crew members survived to tell the tale.
May 2
The Elvish Ambassador to Bythe, Meridalian, disappeared. He apparently went to bed around 10:00 pm as usual, but could not be found the next morning. The elves are saying nothing, but the few human staff at the Embassy swear it could not have been a kidnapping, because the Embassy is well enough guarded that no group of people could have captured him without some diversion, and the night was without incident.
Selgar the Fiery, a 5th level fire cleric involved in building a Fire Temple in Bythe, died from poisoning during the ground breaking ceremony. There is an investigation going on, but popular belief is that the Druid Cult is behind it. This is due to the old controversy between the Druids and the Elemental Clerics as to whether use of Elemental Force without the constrainment of nature is "natural" or not.
May 5
The Free Trader (Raider Class) Swordfish and the Light Warship Stangri Solution had a collision at sea in a storm four days ago during Naval Manuevers in response to a raider warning. The Swordfish went down with all hands. The Stangri Solution returned to port with minor damage to the ship's forward battering ram, while the KHW Sea Bear, KHW Stangri's Bane, KLW Grazer, KLW Haffer, KLW Youngstown, and KLW Hedge Hopper continued out to sea to intercept Stangri Raiders. The Captain of the Stangri Solution was quoted as saying "the little &@#!# ignored the red & black raider flag we were flying at the time and refused to give way...the collison was unavoidable". The Swordfish was the only source of Quality Weapons in Kethem, and the actual trade route, a closely guarded secret of the crew, died with the ships navigator. The ship's log was never recovered. The end result has been a rapid increase in the cost of quality weapons from the current 10 times normal weapons cost to fifteen to twenty times cost. Even at these inflated prices, quality weapons are hard to find.