Vallaki - Market District

[Roose]

[Painstakingly hand written copies of this handbill appear in taverns, and around the markets in Vallaki]

[Theorem Of Neutrality]

[Painstakingly hand written copies of this handbill appear in taverns, and around the markets in Vallaki]

[A not-so-anonymous man in green and white has been plucking these down occasionally, crumpling them up and dropping them in trash barrels as he finds them. Ones left in inconspicuous places would be left mostly untouched.]

"Vallaki should really get some laws about literature on their walls. This is ridiculous."

[Winter]

<Guards on sight remove these posters, anywhere they are found on their patrols.>

[Dread]

[Gossip is spread on the streets of Vallaki concerning the unusual spectacle put on by the Vallaki Garda in the Market District - Mother Lizuca and one of her 'sun cultists', a Gundarakite woman named Rebeka, were publicly punished for their part in aiding a womb-freak. The garda administering the punishment used what appeared to be a scourge of some kind, giving forty lashes to Rebeka and sixty lashes to Lizuca herself. The metal barbs on the weapon used tore at the flesh, rendering the sight an unpleasant one to behold...

They say that two peculiar visitors made their way to the center of the market that day. The first was Father Ilie, who was distraught over his adoptive daughter receiving punishment. They say that a Dilisnya cultist, taking joy in watching a 'heathen' get punished for offering aid to the 'Legions of the Night', held Father Ilie and forced him to watch Lizuca be flayed, and then suffer as she hung from the pole, the humid summer day drawing a swarm of insects to both her and the other 'sun cultist'.

The second visitor was a witch who caused chaos with her dark magics, attempting to hide those being punished from sight and harnessing the power of Iadul to send tortured spirits from its depths at the crowd. The witch was chased off, but the garda held no interest in sticking around to find out for sure, and thus let both women go. They were led by Father Ilie to the Sanctuary of the Eternal Dawn in the slums...]

[-Rotten Fish-]

A Gundarakite has been spotted in the market square every morning at sunrise banging on the door of the Red Vardo Services.

He waits for up to an hour, smoking an old pipe in the morning sun before going about his business.

The local vendors in the square say he wares an old hat with a crest of dark green cockerel feathers in the band.

[Griswold]

Gossip spreading around through the stalls of the Market District of Vallaki tells rumor that the Red Vardo Services building has recently been occupied, and appears to be under new management.

 A bevy of equipment and food supplies has been coming and going into the shop at the direction of a Halfling sporting a gold-plated hand and leg.

[Dread]

[Rumor spreads that the peasants living within Vallaki and without are in a state of unrest. At the center of this unrest is Cornlieu Stroescu, a seller of fine produce frequently seen in the Market District. He claims that he saw one of the Dilisnya cultists kill a man with but a word, and insinuates that their ilk have likely sworn pacts with diabolic entities from Iadul itself.

He claims to have seen this during the flogging of a woman by the name of Tarja, performed by the Garda, and insinuates nothing has been done due to the burgomaster's son being a cultist himself.

Peasants also speak of witches making others disappear without a trace, of men spewing fire from their mouths like a demon would, and of twists sporting rows of scales, instead of flesh. There is confusion and panic in the air, and the peasants are being whipped up into a furor, a furor driven the Barovian fear of the unknown...]

[ManticoreRO]

Rumor spreads quickly that a large transport of grain is planned from the distant country of Dementlieu. Weather is true or not, nobody knows.

//OOC: i leave it to the dms to post people reaction to this

[DM Stygian Witch]

Freak snow storms during the summer months have ruined fields and destroyed crops. Supplies have been drained to dangerously low levels. Price of grain and vegetables rise as demand and supply reflect the need of hungry mouths and empty bellies.

[Geiger]

Rage! Riot! The people of Vallaki's hinterlands converged on the city, many have left their country homes to crowd into the hovels of their urban relatives - all as part of some plan. Under the guidance of Corneliu Stroescu, a witness to the madness of the 'Market Day Massacre' and before the famine a provider of fruits and vegetables. Incensed about any overt attempt by the Ionelus family to address this matter, his horde called upon that family to talk with them.

Garda had attempted to disperse and even threaten them away.. but the people did not have it, swarming them and ensuring that they would act as their messengers, even going so far to strike at them for their threats to show their seriousness. Stroescu has vowed that the serfs will not return to their homes, sheltered by their cousins and friends in the city, until Ionelus fixes this. The lack of fear that the people show of repressive means - and an organized, temporary (as well as non-violent) siege of the citadel's exit ways - shows just what this could become.

Hopefully all will be dealt with before Vallaki is a city of starved men, unable to pay the count's taxes...

[Little Lotte]

Early in the morning, the Akiri priestess known as Tali Ubaid was seen leaving baskets of dried meat and blankets made from the furs of the animals she hunted herself at the base of the statue of Strahd, knowing that any little bit would help in such a dire time.

[Anonymoose]

[The following notices can be found at the market district of Vallaki. The text appears rather messy, seemingly written with fingertips and red fluid resembling blood.]

Barovian pigs, you will pay in blood for your oppression towards people of Gundarak. It is your turn to suffer now, like we have. Victory will come through the flames of powder.

[greeneggs]

[Those familiar with Bianca Cardei, can see her dragging a large dead grizzly bear threw the city and to the marketplace.  She seems to have it on a type of gurney that she can pull with ease.  It drips with fresh blood and she delivers it to the butcher in the market place where he can cut the bear and distribute the meat.  It seems some bellies might be full today.  No one can know how she killed such an animal but there are multiple arrow wounds on the creatures head and eyes and kidneys.  One can assume she's a good shot with a bow.]

[Geiger]

[Stroescu and his band have not yet left the district, still waiting on a messenger from the Ionelus family. The bear meat feast certainly has tided them over, but it is only a bandage over a festering wound...]

[greeneggs]

[In the early morning, there is a sound of fighting and spell slinging just as the sun was rising.  Blood litters the middle of the crossroads between the citadel and the market and a body looks like it had been dragged and carried off.  No other signs other than this were made.]

[Kebab Removal Unit]

The following bloodied notice has been left, although including additional text on itself.

[The following notices can be found at the market district of Vallaki. The text appears rather messy, seemingly written with fingertips and red fluid resembling blood.]

Barovian pigs, you will pay in blood for your oppression towards people of Gundarak. It is your turn to suffer now, like we have. Victory will come through the flames of powder.

Run and flee while you can. One is down, more will follow.

[Dread]

[The market of Vallaki practically erupts, overnight. Corneliu Stroescu tells everyone of what happened the previous day - a pair of Vallaki Garda arriving to trash his stall and spill over the stew feeding many of those protesting the actions of those in the Citadel.]

[Roose]

[Parchments painstakingly written by hand over and over are left in the Slums and Market districts.]

[Geiger]

Some 30 people have taken up in homes and the Broken Bell Inn this evening, all of them serfs from the Village of Barovia. They tell tales, share stories, and sup well despite there being little food in Vallaki due to the news they bring - the Benevolent Vanda Atanasius has sent grain and other futter to Vallaki. Others tell stories of Her emissary that arranged the deal, the Poisoner Nathaniel Byrne...

[Griswold]

Those attending the stalls of Vallaki's Market Square bear witness to a large supply of tightly-sealed crates being moved into the Red Vardo Services Building. The boxes, labeled "FRAGILE", are carried not their usual warehouse workers, but by a stern looking group of armed men and women dressed in red and black.

[Geiger]

After nearly two months of silence since his appointment the Burgomaster Svari Ionelus has made a decree, that there would be a court held and the formation of some council. To get this message across criers are hired to belt it out all about the city.

[Syl]

Small talk from the local merchants amongst themselves and other locals speak of small amounts of food being stolen from their stands occasionally, a few mention seeing a black hooded and dirty figure fleeing when caught a few times.

[Geiger]

A rare sentiment of pride for being Barovian and a general excited attitude captivates the whole of the city after the confirmation of rumors that a Dilisnya has been captured here in Vallaki and is slated to be given the Count's justice. What a strange time for the Grey City and unfortunate time for this Vigo Miserati...

[Dread]

[Rumors spread of extra guards posted inside the Broken Bell, and around the Drowned Rat. Few know the reason why, however.]

[Geiger]

Great excitement and preparations are already underway for tomorrow - the day of celebration of a great Barovian foe and celebration of the life of a hero - Simeun Radkov...