TEXT: Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire Bonus Materials ©2006 Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.
  1
  This Week in Ptolus
  Treat these events as background goings-on throughout the year during your Ptolus
  Campaign, or use them as hooks to new adventures of your own creation. The calendar
  among the Ptolus handouts gives you more details on local holidays and dates of note.
  First Week of Newyear
  Myraeth Tuneweaver, owner of
  Myraeth's Oddities, apparently sold a
  magical ring out of his store without
  realizing it was magical. He doesn't
  know exactly who bought it, or what the
  ring's properties are—or even whether
  they are beneficial or detrimental.
  Second Week of Newyear
  Word on the street is that the
  intervention of a company of
  adventurers inadvertently ruined Kevris
  Killraven's plot to eliminate her
  Balacazar rivals by the end of last year.
  Regardless, the Balacazars now boast
  that Killraven's power and influence
  have been exaggerated.
  Third Week of Newyear
  The Festival of the Serpentfire is
  celebrated by the Serpentfire cult's small
  but devoted following. Members hand
  out a small firework to anyone who
  wants one. When lit, it explodes in a
  small, colorful snakelike pattern.
  Fourth Week of Newyear
  An older, well-known, and well-liked
  City Watch guard named Devaral Unissa
  is killed in the line of duty. The funeral
  is well attended and a large bounty,
  supplemented by donations from the
  public, is placed on the head of the
  killer.
  First Week of Birth
  Lightning strikes a warehouse in the
  Longbottom neighborhood in Midtown.
  The Fire Brigade and the City Watch
  fight the resultant fire the entire night.
  Rumors abound that this was not a
  natural lightning strike.
  Second Week of Birth
  Speculation spreads that the Commissar
  is once again quietly attempting to find
  volunteers willing to be polymorphed
  into monsters to work with the city's
  defenders and law enforcement officials.
  Third Week of Birth
  Cultists of the Crimson Coil, thought to
  have been wiped out by the Knights of
  the Pale a few years ago, attempt to
  poison various wells in the city. They are
  stopped, this time by the Knights of the
  Golden Cross.
  Fourth Week of Birth
  The Godsday Tournament and Festival
  planning committee hits a snag when
  
  Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire Bonus Materials ©2006 Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.
  2
  city officials seek to ban the Spell
  Challenge competition, due to damage
  sustained at the Tournament Field in last
  year's event. Talks are ongoing to install
  new safeguards for this crowd-pleasing
  event at the festival, held annually on the
  Fifth of Rain.
  First Week of Wind
  Well-known Dohrinthan opera singer
  Tyrosh Nammeter performs at the
  Crown Theater in the Nobles' Quarter in
  a revival of Von Gess' "A Night Among
  the Thrushes," which has not been
  performed in the Empire since before
  the Days of the Blood, due to its
  controversial religious subject matter.
  Second Week of Wind
  Shark attacks have been reported in great
  numbers in the Whitewind Sea and Bay
  of Ptolus. Since such attacks are not
  common during this time of year, many
  speculate that they have something to do
  with the sharks' sahuagin masters.
  Third Week of Wind
  Eida Laeventha, long thought to be the
  oldest living humanoid, died this week
  in Ptolus at eight hundred three years of
  age. Many dispute the female elf's claim,
  including at least one elf in the
  Moonsilver Forest claiming to be more
  than a thousand years old.
  Fourth Week of Wind
  Priests from across the Empire gather in
  Ptolus this week to meet with the Holy
  Emperor in the first such synod in a
  decade. Many take this as further
  evidence that the Emperor of the Church
  has no intention of returning to Tarsis.
  First Week of Rain
  Giant bats swarm out of the Clock
  Tower in Oldtown. They don't actually
  attack anyone but simply take up
  residence in belfries, towers, and under
  eaves throughout the city. The City
  Watch seeks volunteers to hunt down
  and destroy the creatures, as well as
  determine whether there are more to
  come.
  Second Week of Rain
  (Godsday was the 5th of Rain)
  Another Godsday Tournament has come
  and gone and, despite the rain, the
  festival and games were a huge success.
  Returning champion Niden Jouns once
  again won both the hundred-yard race
  and the half-mile race. In a surprising
  upset, newcomer Ullavana Chord won
  the single combat ringfight in the expert
  category, beating favorite Jangave Lesh.
  And for the fourth year in a row, Doj
  Hurreck won the eating contest (the sixth
  year in a row a half-orc has won the
  competition). The complete list of
  winners can be found posted around the
  city as well as in a special issue of The
  Courier.
  Third Week of Rain
  Dreamspeakers across the city have
  reported that people are beginning to
  have similar and sometimes identical
  dreams. The dreamers do not know one
  another and are of various races and
  backgrounds. The dreams themselves
  are, for the most part, innocuous,
  although some are indeed nightmares.
  Even more disturbing, at least two of
  these dreamers have committed suicide.
  Fourth Week of Rain
  The Divine War, a treatise on the oft-
  forgotten Elder Gods, is published in
  Ptolus amid much controversy. A small
  riot breaks out in the Temple District as
  angry worshippers of many different
  faiths find the book to be blasphemous.
  
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  3
  Fifth Week of Rain
  Imperial Inspectors have declared the
  Middle Street Bridge unsafe and have
  closed it off to through traffic while
  repairs are made. No one knows why
  this bridge requires repairs far more
  often than the others in Ptolus. It has
  been virtually rebuilt three times in the
  last decade.
  First Week of Bloom
  The body of the fifth murdered Harrow
  elf slain this year is found in an alleyway
  behind Salora’s Pots in the South
  Market. Authorities believe the victims
  to have all been stalked and killed by the
  same assailant, who uses magic to
  conceal his presence.
  Second Week of Bloom
  A small area between Broken Leg Row
  and Urgent Street is being demolished,
  its tenants evicted. Rumor has it that the
  Commissar wants the land to build a
  small park and monument to the veterans
  of the Gnoll War.
  Third Week of Bloom
  Another outbreak of violence in the
  ongoing war between Kevris Killraven
  and Menon Balacazar erupts in the North
  Market. Three shops “protected” by the
  Killraven organization are burned to the
  ground. Eight people are killed.
  Fourth Week of Bloom
  Observing the sacred soultree rites, all
  members of the Sisterhood of Silence
  stay within the Priory of Contemplation
  for much of this week, with a noticeable
  increase in crime due to their absence.
  First Week of Sun
  Members of a strange and heretofore
  unknown religion called the Tolling Bell
  Cult are seen performing a rite late in the
  evening in the Rivergate District’s
  Center Circle park. No one knows what
  they were doing, and the cultists
  disappeared as quietly as they arrived.
  Second Week of Sun
  A delegation of elves from the
  communities of the Moonsilver Forest
  north of the city arrives amid much
  fanfare and circumstance. Reportedly,
  they came to Ptolus to speak with
  various leaders, including the
  Commissar, about trade issues. They
  stay as the guests of Doraedian Mythlord
  in Iridithil’s Home.
  Third Week of Sun
  (Day of Joining was 10th of Sun)
  The wedding of Katerin Kath and Dillon
  Von Malletoth is an elegant affair
  attended by most of the city’s
  aristocracy, as well as the wealthy and
  influential. Five hundred guests in all
  enjoy the ceremony, presided over by
  the Holy Emperor himself, as well as the
  lavish two-day celebration at the estate
  of House Kath afterward.
  Fourth Week of Sun
  A swarm of frogs appears overnight in
  the eastern part of the South Market in
  midweek. The tiny amphibians were
  found not only underfoot, but in water
  barrels, privies, beds, and even food
  storage. While many of the creatures are
  killed, most are driven into the sewers.
  No one knows where they came from.
  Fifth Week of Sun
  Four gnome priests of Locharit, in
  protest of a new tax passed by the City
  Council on paper and parchment, are
  discovered defacing the outer wall of
  Dalenguard with graffiti. They are given
  a massive fine, but the temple of
  Locharit pays it for them.
  
  Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire Bonus Materials ©2006 Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.
  4
  First Week of Growth
  A human woman named Carlanna Bisk
  gives birth to quintuplets this week in
  the Rivergate District, an event which
  many herald as a blessed omen for the
  entire city. Unconfirmed rumors
  circulate that two of the children have
  some kind of deformity, while a few say
  that the two look to be elves rather than
  humans.
  Second Week of Growth
  Students at the Imperial University are
  evacuated when a strange gas is found
  in the lower floors of the building.
  Eventually, the gas is discovered to be
  a prank perpetrated by two students
  studying alchemistry. Both are expelled.
  Third Week of Growth
  Three doppelgangers, posing as high-
  ranking guild members, infiltrate the
  Ironworkers’ Guild and its headquarters.
  They use the opportunity to rob the
  guildhouse of over 10,000 gp in coins
  and goods. They remain at large; the
  guild is offering a 2,000 gold coin
  bounty for their capture.
  Fourth Week of Growth
  The Keepers of the Veil make their
  annual report to the Emperor of the
  Church. This year, hauntings and the
  appearance of undead in the city have
  increased by 15 percent over last year’s
  figures, according to the report.
  First Week of Blessing
  Demhan Proctor, a chief aide and
  advisor to the Commissar, is arrested on
  criminal conspiracy charges after it is
  discovered that he secretly passed
  confidential information to a mysterious
  organization known only as the Knights
  of Enlightenment.
  Second Week of Blessing
  The battery of cannons known as the
  Commissar’s Guns is tested this week
  just south of the city. Most residents
  believe the sound to be thunder.
  Third Week of Blessing
  (Brightfather’s Day was the
  14th of Blessing)
  To celebrate Brightfather’s Day,
  Doraedian Mythlord and Lord Terrik
  Clanstone hold an interracial gathering
  of elves and dwarves in the Temple
  District—a festival and feast for
  members of the two races to meet and
  mingle. It is poorly attended.
  Fourth Week of Blessing
  Investigators hired by the priests of
  Gaen, goddess of light, report that the
  eldritch sludge growing in the sewers
  beneath Vock Street (known to locals as
  Dweomer Street) has taken on a life of
  its own, spawning strange and hostile
  creatures never before seen. Melior
  Kalen of the temple of Gaen beseeches
  the City Council to issue a public safety
  warning for all in that neighborhood.
  First Week of Toil
  Blood fills the alleys of Midtown
  when enforcers from rival criminal
  organizations clash yet again. The forces
  of Kevris Killraven's crime league claim
  to have bested those of the Balacazar
  family in a brutal nighttime battle,
  thanks to help from the Sorn's mercenary
  sorcerers.
  Second Week of Toil
  Scandal rocks House Rau as it is
  revealed that Nara Rau may have stolen
  the missing sigil of House Shever. Nara
  is the wife of the cousin of Verrana Rau,
  head of the house.
  
  Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire Bonus Materials ©2006 Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.
  5
  Third Week of Toil
  Celdore Silverwood, known to some as
  the leader of the Dark Leaf organization,
  denies claims that his group has ties to
  either the Balacazar family or Kevris
  Killraven. Dark Leaf, he says, continues
  to be a neutral group of elf mercenaries
  specializing in the "subtler" arts.
  Fourth Week of Toil
  The Silver Dragonscales tournament at
  Finelle's House of Pleasant Diversions
  draws a record crowd. Trouble ensues
  when the banned half-dragon Synethys
  is discovered among the contestants—
  and cheating as well. The Watch was
  called to deal with the resulting scuffle.
  First Week of Harvest
  Pirates on the Whitewind Sea have
  disrupted so much shipping in and out of
  Ptolus that the Commissar has issued a
  call for privateers to deal with the threat.
  He has placed a 20 gold coin bounty on
  the head of every pirate, and the city will
  pay 100 gold imperials for a pirate
  captain.
  Second Week of Harvest
  The mysterious Beggar King has issued
  a public threat from his secret lair in the
  Warrens, conveyed through the beggars
  of the city. He has sworn to kill Savane,
  leader of the technophilic Shuul. No one
  seems to know why he wants Savane
  dead.
  Third Week of Harvest
  The Commissar's personal spy ring, the
  Imperial Eyes, has ruled out any chance
  that the Brides of Magic had something
  to do with the death of Imperial
  Inspector Dallis Kalberth. Investigations
  continue into the murder, which
  occurred in a sealed room beneath the
  Imperial University.
  Fourth Week of Harvest
  Rumors have escalated that crime lord
  Kevris Killraven has developed a new
  plan to eliminate her Balacazar family
  rivals by the end of the year.
  First Week of Moons
  A tower in Rivergate, known to belong
  to the wizard Hadrestin Poule,
  disappeared in a flash of green light.
  Those living nearby say that the only
  thing found in the now-vacant lot is
  some strange, greenish slime. Members
  of the Inverted Pyramid are
  investigating.
  Second Week of Moons
  Ebbert's Outfitters in Delver's Square has
  been robbed. Reports say that among the
  items stolen were seven hundred fifty
  feet of hemp rope, eighty-two iron
  spikes, and ninewooden mallets.
  Third Week of Moons
  The Commissar has issued an edict
  stating that local law now recognizes
  spells of a compulsory nature to
  constitute a threat significant enough to
  warrant a claim of "justifiable murder in
  self-defense," as defined in the Vast
  Codex, volume 14, section 113B. People
  are already calling this the "kill the
  enchanter" law.
  Fourth Week of Moons
  The Viridian Lords send word that the
  Old Coast Road north of Ptolus remains
  safe despite rumors of attacks from
  undead creatures bearing ancient
  firearms.
  Fifth Week of Moons
  Lady Devina Kath of House Kath has
  announced the engagement of her
  cousin, Katerin Kath. Her fiance is
  Dillon Von Malletoth of Tarsis. The
  
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  6
  wedding will be held next year on the
  Day of Joining. The two will live in
  Ptolus. Rumor has it that Dillon has
  numerous gambling debts, and that
  getting out of Tarsis and into a moneyed
  family is a smart move for him.
  First Week of Yearsend
  The Keepers of the Veil reported that a
  large nighttime battle ensued among
  the graves and mausoleums of the
  Necropolis. Apparently, several factions
  of the Forsaken entered into some kind
  of struggle.
  Second Week of Yearsend
  The Commissar met in secret with the
  Twelve Commanders this week. No one
  knows why, but some speculate that it
  has something to do with the rumors of
  trolls and orcs gathering beneath
  Oldtown.
  Third Week of Yearsend
  The ongoing criminal feud between
  Kevris Killraven and Menon Balacazar
  continues, as another clash between their
  forces tears apart an illegal brothel in the
  Guildsman District.
  Fourth Week of Yearsend
  A terrible storm coming off the
  Whitewind Sea damages ships and
  wharfs alike in the Docks district. It also
  washes some tritons to shore. They
  reportedly spent some time with the
  patrons of the Sailor's Rest tavern,
  sharing strange stories of the deep, and
  then returned to the sea.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Ptolus/Ptolus This Week in Ptolus.pdf