[Balanor]

-War is Brewing
The rumblings of a new Thayan invasion are making their way across the Realm of the Red Wizards. The Tharchion of Lapendrar, Hargrid Tenslayer, is mustering legions or troops around the Keep of Sorrows. However the true intent and target of his attack still remain a mystery.

-The Gates of Bezantur
Wary of her neighboring Tharchion's war preparation and amid occurrences of strange creatures attacking citizens of Bezantur in broad daylight, the Tharchioness of Bezantur, Mari Agneh, has ordered the gates of the immense mercantile city closed. Only those with passes are allowed through the gates, for the time being.

---

-Earthquakes in Bezantur
Several days ago, several small earthquakes rocked Bezantur. Shortly thereafter, hordes of frantic goblins and orcs poured forth from the sewers and were beaten back by members of the legion and several mercenaries.
Word has spread that, upon orders from Constable Hargun Skullknuckle, the mercenaries known as Maric, Maus, A'ri, and Colarinee descended to the depths battling strange fire creatures. They returned after triumphantly destroying a Fire Elemental that, rumor has it, was carrying a holy symbol of Kossuth. No reason for its being in the sewer is commonly known however...

[Balanor]

The long awaited attack has come - directed at the free towns and cities of the Wizard’s Reach including Thasselen and Murbant. In a surprise and fatal twist for the targets of the attack, hundreds upon hundreds of fire-wreathed Salamanders and cunning Efreeti have been summoned to Faerun by the Zulkirs of Evocation and Conjuration and other Red Wizards involved in the plot.
Directing the attack is Hargrid Tenslayer, Tharchion of Lapendrar, who is leading the forces of Thay and their planar allies ever closer to the coast. What promises were made to secure the Salamander and Efreet assistance are not widely known however.

[Balanor]

-The Wizard’s Reach Conquered
In an astonishingly short amount of time, the Salamanders and Efreet summoned to Thay have taken the coastal towns of Thasselen, Murbant, Escalant, Taskaunt, Lasdur, and Tilbrand in the name of the Red Wizards and Thay. However, in return for their aid, word has leaked out that these creatures from the plane of fire demand, or were promised, a permanent gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire on the Priador!
It is not known how the triumvirate of Hargrid Tenslayer and his zulkir allies who summoned these creates will react to this turn of events. However, it is known that the hundreds, if not thousands, of Salamanders and Efreet are growing restless after having taken the cities for which they were summoned. Some have now begun roaming the Priador, burning as they go.

[Balanor]

The Red Wizards have decreed that most of larger vault accounts of those who are not full Red Wizards or nobility are to be ‘donated’ to help fund the war effort on the Wizard’s Coast. This has led to CONSIDERABLE resentment from the merchants and more prosperous adventurers. Rumors have it that several affected merchants are plotting revenge against the Red Wizards and Mari Agneh, tharchioness of Bezantur, who allowed the seizures to occur.

[Balanor]

After taking the towns along the coast of the Wizard’s Reach, the zulkirs and Red Wizard who summoned the Efreet and Salamanders to Thay suffered a disastrous setback when trying to banish the planar creatures back to where they came.
Rumors from those who witnessed the attempt indicate that the Efreet were indeed banished back to the Plane of Fire, however the Salamanders remain and have now turned against Thay. Hargrid Tenslayer, tharchion of Lapendrar, and his legion are being hard pressed to hold the newly conquered towns of the coast. Travel on the Priador is almost certain suicide at this point.
It is hoped that the Red Wizards are working on a new way to deal with this new threat since whatever banishing took place was obviously not enough to save them from the thousands of Salamanders that now threaten the very survival of Thay itself!

[TheSupremeForce]

Salamanders in Bezantur

Multiple instances of Salamanders somehow appearing inside the towering walls of Bezantur have thrust most of the great city’s citizens into a general panic. While the Salamanders were ultimately slain, they serve as a reminder of the vast army outside the gates. By the conclusion of the latest melee, several civilians, as well as a few Legionnaires lay dead.

Many are terrified to walk the streets. Thousands of people huddle inside their homes, trembling with dread anticipation. The expectation is that the situation will grow worse. How are the fiery creatures getting into the city? Has this simply be a small sampling of the devastation to come? Will the walls hold? Will the city be overrun? Can anything save Bezantur?

[Balanor]

Rumors grow that the Tharchioness of Bezantur, Mari Agneh, is in some way connected to the now-hunted Red Wizard Kasim. It was his failed attempt to bind the Salamanders to him, rather than banish them, that resulted in the Salamander War which now engulfs the Priador.
For her part, Mari has vehemently denied any connection to the rebel Red Wizard. Yet rumors persist that mercenaries were sent, by her minions, to place the binding crystals which gave Kasim the ability to attempt his ill-fated binding.

[Balanor]

Due to the self-imposed sanctions on Bezantur, the slave markets of Bezantur have been inundated with slaves in recent months which they are now having trouble moving to other markets in Thay. Therefore, Bezantur slavers have begun to notice the slave auctions are not paying as much as they once used to, since those who can afford slaves in Bezantur have as many -or more- than they need.

While the slave merchants insist this is only temporary pay reduction, more veteran slavers grumble they have seen this before and it was a considerably long time before prices rebounded.