Amidst vicious rumor of Trade Companies taking over and secret back door deals Mariner's hold has ground to a standstill. Some boats wait off shore to deliver or gather their cargo... while every boat is searched and taken inventory of for the new tariffs and taxes on trade... Merchants and vessels in Hempstead, Vehl and elsewhere are outraged and frustrated. Where once shipping flowed like the water beneath them it now takes days to process... Captains look for alternate routes.
Curfew is set... those out after dark are rounded up and arrested. Those caught in questionable acts are beaten and hauled off. The whole city.. down to man woman and child feels as if it could rupture at any moment.
Those who do not have lodging are sent out of the city at night, often only to be assaulted by specters that seem to flock to the town in the hours of lesser illumination.
Rumor has it that a group of individuals took to defiling one of the nearby graveyards and seeks to further expand their legion of shades with those within.
