Riots, Explosion Shakes Vornavis

Restday, late evening, the quiet night air was torn asunder by a disruption that took place in the marketplace. A local, elderly lady by the name of Agatha the Hagatha started expressing dissent against the embattled baron, His Excellency Baron Dunrith Malwind, in the center of the market, and exchanged heated words with those loitering nearby. After several moments of arguments, the dissention started to bleed into the crowd of listening onlookers and sides began forming.

It wasn't long after that that a full-scale riot began to sweep across the streets of Solhaven. Fists were flung, feet were kicked, and chaos consumed the city. Even the smallest of the small in Solhaven took place with children grouping together to assault older citizens. It wasn't long after that the city gates to Vornavis opened and the baronial guard flooded into the streets, horns being blasted and orders being shouted, in an attempt to restore order. Several hours went by and dozens of arrests were made before finally the streets of Solhaven began to once again resemble their peaceful nature. The whereabouts of Agatha the Hagatha, however, remain unknown. It is thought that perhaps she may have been caught up in one of the arresting groups.

And then, the loudest explosion rocked the streets--a dark, ominous plume of thick, black smoke rose up from somewhere within the Vornavian city. Cries filled the night air, and screams echoed through the city as the smoke continued to grow and turn even darker. Something, whether by accident or someone's hand, exploded within the protection of the Baron's castle. It took the combined effort of the citizens of Vornavis, and those from Solhaven who weren't too bruised to handle a bucket, to contain and then snuff the fires smoldering within the castle. Reports from Vornavis say that the explosion happened in the east wing of the castle, but what was in the east wing would not be said except that it contained some baronial records.

However, after the fire was extinguished and the smoke began to clear, something more devastating was soon discovered--Baron Dunrith Malwind's own son was missing. The Baron's personal guard, distracted by the fire, could not account for his whereabouts, and with the baronial soldiers tied up with the riots in Solhaven, the 21-year-old vanished. No group or person has come forward with a ransom as of yet, so it is not clear if the boy was kidnapped in the distraction, or if he fled from the fire. What is clear is that this demoralizing news from the barony of Vornavis surely could not come at a worst time for His Excellency Baron Malwind.