Perhaps because of the garrison, and certainly because of the armed militia, the people of Cheydinhal have suffered less from attacks by bandits, cultists and the roaming dead then other towns. They have not been wholly unaffected though. Many of the once affluent estates that lie outside of the city’s high walls have been overrun or destroyed since the Banner’s first invaded the Heartlands.

When the first troubles erupted in Cheydinhal between the garrison and it’s citizens, a bandit gang calling themselves the Thorns took advantage and descended upon the city from a local estate they had overrun. Amidst the desperation and chaos of the people the bandits pillaged most of their valuables before retreating back to Thorn Lodge. It is unclear whether the bandits took their name from the estate, or the estate was renamed by the bandits, but I guess that matters little. What does matter however is that the people need their valuables back, so that they may trade them for desperately needed supplies.

I pray the people of Cheydinhal do indeed make use of the valuables I return to them. Too many people in troubled times hoard away their gold and valuables, whilst their neighbours are forced to beg for food and dry cloths. There was a time when our neighbours were as close as our kin, a time when neighbour helped neighbour, sharing what little we had out of necessity, as well as decency. Hoarded food is not all that rots.

S.K