The Yorkman/Issue 005
Greetings, and welcome to the fifth edition of The Yorkman! As always, feel free to contact us via e-mail, especially if you have some news to share with the world. Also, feel free to discuss the articles on the talk page.
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Thanks - The Yorkman Team
This issue originally published on 15/10/06.
Contents
Third Invasion At An End, Claims Mercenary's Guild
"The streets of York are once again safe", trumpeted the press release. We've heard all this before, from groups like the Colonial Police and the Order of Patriots. But never before from the Mercenary's Guild. So how can a group which has brutally murdered our civilians and plunged our city into war claim to be bringing us peace? in an EXCLUSIVE scoop, we can now reveal the truth behind the 'Third Invasion' of York.
A press release forwarded to us by that most notorious of pirates, Tom Failur, claims that the attack was secretly a cunning trick to expose the Order of Patriots, paid for by one of the Guild's co-founders. By "killing anyone who wandered by" and "slicing the heads off innocent civilians", the Guild hoped to provoke retribution from the Order, allowing them to identify and eliminate the Patriot's undercover agents. Much like ourselves, however, the Guild were frustrated in their investigations, and failed to expose any agents other than W B Hazen and Mr Bungle, the Order's 'front' operatives who openly declare their allegience.
The press release was derisive, and declared that these two men must be the Order in it's entirety, and the Guild have declared their intention to finish the raid after the publication of this issue of the Yorkman, once they have "taken care of a few more things in York".
Other groups have a different take on the apparent withdrawal. Acting leader of the Pirate Hunters Phillip Murray has described the fighting as "basically over", and the mercs as "driven away". Colonial Police leader Kjendlie has expressed doubt over this withdrawal, but claims the Guild is "seriously disrupted", and praised his officers for their courage and determination where "lesser men would have broken".
Defenders Claim Decisive Victory
Although the Jolly Roger Gang, which had a small group of pirates involved in the attack, has described the conflict as "close", with "heavy casualties on both sides", and the Mercenary's Guild claim to have acheived their goals, many defending factions have been claiming victory.
The Order of Patriots has described the initial attack as "utterly destroyed", and claims that most of the Yorkmen killed have been travellers ambushed by mercenaries returning from the wandering shaman. Similarly, Che, leader of the Shartak Rebel Forces, has said that the length of the conflict will "depend on how much longer the pirates and mercs want to keep getting owned."
Overall, we are highly sceptical of claims that the war is over. The Guild have implied that their business is not yet quite done, with the Order looking likely to be their targets from here on out. But the defenders of York have no intention of standing aside, despite Mercenary leaders "begging for terms" with the ColPol. And with the Minister for Military Affairs of the as-yet undefeated Royal Expedition declaring a "full military intervention", the Order declaring "no surrender!", and the heroic resistance of many unaligned Yorkmen, it seems unlikely that the Guild will be welcome in York for some time yet.
SSTC Opens Competing Shipwreck Trade Route
Despite the grave dangers of the journey through Dalpokian territory, strong anti-southern feelings at the shipwreck and threats of persecution as pirate collaborators, the brave men of the South Shartak Trading Company, determined not to lose their near monopoly on Shartak trade, have started running first aid kits and other supplies to the shipwreck.
The move has been heavilly criticised by anti-pirate groups such as the Pirate Hunters, but welcomed by Jolly Roger Gang leader Michael Edwards.
The Jolly Roger Gang recently opened their own trade route to fill the gap left in the market by the southern trader's reluctance to venture north. Although the SSTC trade route operates now in direct competition, the sudden excess of first aid supplies will be of great benefit to all pirates, the Gang and their allies included.
The only concern is whether this may divert much-needed resources away from the southern coast and the impoverished native camps. Unfortunately, it is in the nature of trade to go to money - and in this case, to the plunder-filled wallets of our northern cousins.
Confessions of a Patriot
Last week, we were contacted with a unique offer - for a large sum of gold, we could secure an interview with a secret member of a certain group whom we've tried, unsuccesfully, to investigate before. Our policy is not to pay for the news, but in this case we decided the potential was too great. We secured funding from several wealthy anti-order individuals, and managed to get in touch with a man who claims to have been highly placed in the Order. He refused to speak of names, or give details of past missions, fearing reprisals or the unnesecary exposure of his former subordinates. But this is still probably the most revealing glimpse into the inner workings of the Order to date. For those of you who keep asking, the reason we don't put our names on the bottom of the paper is so we can still print stuff like this.
Firstly, why are you leaving the Order, and why now?
- Well, I've been looking at leaving to pursue personal projects for a couple of weeks, but needed some money to get them off the ground. Seeing as the Order are still tied up with this invasion, I thought now would be a good time to take the funds in my possesion, sell this interview to get a bit more, and be long gone before anyone has the time to come looking for me.
Do the Order frequently hunt down ex-members?
- I've not heard of anyone leaving before, but I'm guessing they'll hunt me down when they read this. I've got some valuble kit too, and I get the impression that the Council don't like being taken advantage of like this.
How did you get involved in the Order?
- I was attacked by pirates several times back in the original fight against the Guild. This developed into a long-running grudge which the Order noticed. They offered me funding, information, and support. Eventually, I gained their trust and worked my way up to control of a small squad.
How much can you tell us of your involvement in the Order?
- I was a 'High Patriot', in charge of a small squad. We worked mainly inside York, killing pirates and their ilk. We acted anonymously, frequently claiming grudges, personal gain, or the bounties program as our motives. The bounties program in particular was a wonderful boon, allowing us to kill whoever we pleased and still appear to be nothing but opportunistic civilians.
Did these tactics get you into much trouble with the Colonial Police?
- I lost a couple of guys to the ColPol, but it's rare that a pirate kill gets reported. We tried to rotate active duty whenever possible to avoid one member gaining any particular notoriety.
How would you describe the extent of the Order's power in York?
- For safety reasons, we didn't get told things like that. I had a guy gave me orders, and I just relayed them to my team. I know we were being fed money and information from somewhere, but I don't know how large that network is.
- Several times I worked closely with other groups and apparent civilians but I don't know how much influence the Council actually had with them. They may have been front organisations, or they may just have been working towards a common goal.
Can you name any of these groups?
- Sorry. Like I said, no names, no details. I don't want to be the subject of Shartak's biggest bounty just yet.
Can you give us the Order's perspective on the current invasion of York?
- To be honest, I think the raid may have caught us on the hop. My squad were out of town at the time, following the quietest period I've ever seen in York, so it was a couple of days before we could get back and help. Once we did we seemed to be causing a fair amount of damage though, and things haven't been too rough. Being out in the initial rish probably saved some of our lives.
- As far as I can tell, the Council pulled out all the stops for this one. The MG have been dropping like flies, and it now seems York is actually the only place on the island where it's safe to be a Yorkman!
So, where now for you?
- By the time you get this, I'll be two days into the jungle. I'm gonna lay low for a bit, then set up my own venture. I certainly won't be coming near York again while the Patriots are in power, though!
Top Cop Goes Freelance
Many of you will be familiar with Arwedda, one of the top officers of the Colonial Police and one of the candidates to replace Mick R when he stepped down as leader. Arwedda has now gone solo, and we managed to grab an EXCLUSIVE interview with him on his past, present, and future.
Firstly, why did you decide to leave the colonial police, and what are your plans for the future?
- I decided to leave primarily because I was feeling somewhat bored, and I felt constrained and restricted, having to always stay in a single town. Being a mercenary allows me much more freedom in going where I want to go, doing what I want to do, and killing who I want to kill.
Some people might say this isn't the best time for the CP to lose a vital member - why did you choose now to leave, and does your new career path represent a betrayal of your former comrades? Will you be staying on good terms with the CP?
- I chose now to leave because I'd been absent and inactive a few times over the past month, and as I wasn't doing very much for the CP, I felt I might as well leave. And staying on good terms with the CP? Well that's up to them.
How will you differ from the established mercenary's guild? Will you be charging different rates, requiring any sort of moral justification for the bounties, or just being better at the job than them?
- I essentially just plan on being competition for them. I noticed a while ago that one of the largest commercial groups in Shartak were operating a monopoly, and have merely decided to combat that.
Will your experience in the CP help you in your new line of work?
- It should. I've gained a good knowledge of the skills involved in killing during my job as a Colonial Police officer, and this will just put those to use again.
What are you doing in the immediate future - do you have any jobs ready? Are you going to stay around York for a while, or hit the road?
- I don't have any jobs at the moment, as my advertising campaign has just left the ground. I'm planning on hanging around York, perhaps setting up a temporary headquarters, until I can get some customers.
And finally, how well have the CP been coping with the current fighting in York, and does the departure of the second high-ranking member in a month represent doubt in the ranks?
- I was inactive for quite a bit prior to the fighting, so don't know much about it. This departure is nothing to do with that, but I can't speak for MickR.
Sketchy Kittens Move Into Derby
According to normally sober and reliable sources, a pack of "disappearing kittens" has moved into Derby center, where they have confused and startled much of the populace.
"I've never even seen a kitten round here before," one source told us, "and now there's kittens here and I can't see them."
Sceptics have suggested that the evasive felins may be simply very good at hiding, bery fast runners, or some sort of mass heatstroke hallucination. However, several Derbians have insisted on seeing the cats disappear before their very eyes, often with a "hollow popping sound". Even more incredibly, several sources claim to have been given advice and directions by the kittens, directing them to the nearby hospital for healing or to various locations for supplies.
Several of the more credulous citizens ended up in the Trader's hut at one point, claiming that they had been given incorrect directions to the Armoury by a particularly small orange kitten. The Yorkman team are unsure whether to discount claims that a sign declaring "Find Ammo Here" was also placed in the Trader's by persons unknown at this time.
So, are the kittense a sinister threat, some bizzare trick, or merely another reason to take your own water when travelling to outliying towns? Only time will tell.
Peace At Last
Throughout our proud history, York, and indeed all the towns of Shartak, has had three recurring problems - rats, ghosts, and invading armies. Now, for the first time since the colonisation began, at least one of these scourges has literally been banished from our towns. The large, vocal, and rather threatening hosts of vengeful spirits in our resource huts have been driven from our towns by a heroic cadre of native shamans, who have risked death and persecution to bring their ancient art to our aid.
Although we were unable to contact (or understand) these shamans, we can find no group who claims to have hired them - they seem to have acted selflessly for the common good.
The ghosts, once banished, are ripped away to a far region of the island, where they inevitably wander, lost, until they depart this plane of existance. Little is known about why the dead of Shartak choose to linger in this way, but I am sure we all extend our eternal gratitude to those who have rid us of their infernal wailing.
The spiritual guardians of York are believed to be Quantic and another unidentified native. Durham's protector has yet to be identified, but a native known as Crowjane is believed to have driven the ghost pirates from the shipwreck. Derby, having never supported a large ghost population, appears not to have been visited by a shaman yet.
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