A Story of Three Parts. Part 1: Reverberation

The people of Naeron never fully accepted the fact that the soil they lived on belonged to Croemerth. As the borders shifted many left, making their way south back to their true homelands or even heading away to start new lives elsewhere. And in response everyday outsiders would take their place. But some who had called the city their homes for generations bitterly accepted the strangers who now ruled them. The city seemed to be split into those who belonged, and those who did not, causing the air to buzz with a nonstop tension that could boil over at any moment.

Rhadin Nabyev was part of those who did not belong long before the war ended. One of the major banks on the city square was purchased by a foreign merchant not too long after the war started. The sale went down in absolute secrecy of who exactly the buyer was until he arrived at his newly purchased bank one day. Even up in the Farath Strait there are some who know the name Nabyev and it didn’t take long for the rumors to spread. The fear of your greatest enemy living a stone's throw away was only exacerbated once the occupation began after the war. Now nothing could be done.

Once the stairs of the bank began to fill with guards during the heist that tension snapped and word began spreading across the city that now was the time. Riots broke out like an explosion centered around the square and the city erupted into chaos. The wall of people smashed through the line of guards around the bank, shoving their way through. But when they reached the vault it stood closed and the remaining guards had emptied into the sewers in pursuit of Into the Wild. And as the troops began to quell the riots the people scattered hidden by their remaining kinsmen. The real miracle of this story is that both forces showed restraint and very few people died. At least at first. Before most of the people knew it soldiers started to pour into Naeron, going to different locations and taking up positions of defense. Croemerth had planned for this, and the lul was enough to lock the city down. Then, the searches began house by house. Systematic. And after a few days they deemed that Into the Wild had escaped. From there the story ends.

But not for Rhadin Nabvey.

When Rhadin arrived at the bank the vault it was opened and assessed. Other than a mess there was no measurable amount of items missing, but it did not take Rhadin long to find out that his lute was gone. But now was not the time to think about that, as inventory had to be taken of the entire vault. And no one wanted to leave the vault open for an extended period with the city’s current state. A few elite members of the city guard were tasked with the job, but the estimated time for them to finish was almost four span. They learned the documents had been stolen two days after Into the Wild had already killed Nezilok and captured Rebecca Able.

Now the Nabyev Syndicate is a family operation and most of the senior members are kin. The majority of the family, however, is scattered far and wide across their massive operation. But the power of that name has always diluted as you travel north and many up in the Farath Strait only know of Nabyev drugs. The magnitude of the failure was lost on the locals, but Rhadin Nabyev knew failure meant a visit from his family in the not so distant future. So all there was to do was wait.

Life went back to normal for Rhadin until the four span passed and the entire vault was sifted through for what was missing. The first message was waiting for him in his office after he returned that evening. A list of arrival times of caravans, accompanied by a note from Rhadin’s grandmother. He was to begin accepting these transfers until all Nabyev assets had been accounted for. The bank had been sold back to its original owner, the deal already completed. After the last shipment, Rhadin would be cut off from family assets indefinitely as punishment. The elf was expecting this but he knew there was always nothing he could do. They would take him back eventually and he knew that, but Rhadin had always planned for this happening some day. He hitched a ride up to Ataraxis, where the drug trade had made him enough money to build a safe house. But when he arrived his family had already gotten to it, stripping the place down to the floorboards.

He really was on his own.