A Long Hot Summer, Interlude 1

 Reports came in from the Harbor District that a small, local candle shop specializing in custom candles had exploded, taking out the first floor of the shop and damaging the row houses above.

No casualties reported, but injuries have been reported. The shop's owner and staff are still reported missing.

Queen Antonia Bayle and the Qeynos Department of Justice are working closely with the Mage's Guild to determine the cause of the explosion.

Qeynos City Guard is currently on scene, investigating. The area has been blocked off, with city laborers and those a part of the City Construction Guild assisting in cleanup efforts. Some say that the candleshop must have had specialized crafting stations for working on magical candles, and an accident while crafting led to a severe feedback loop, causing a chain-reaction explosion. Rumors from ships in the harbors, and visible on the docks, indicate that the most severe damage is isolated in the back of the shop, which some say was only used for storage and away from the crafting stations.

A bare-chested, muscular, dark-skinned mage with a long handlebar mustache was seen walking through the ruins and consulting with officials.

A group of red-armored knights and other soldiers was seen assisting the wounded immediately after the blast. Many reported seeing soldiers with official seals and writs of cooperation walking around the city, and that a special unit was assigned to counter a magical threat to the kingdom. Some say these knights were from another land, and whispers suggest they were also seen in Freeport.

One of the red-armored knights arrived after the fact, a raven-haired female, and was seen speaking to residents about damages and tallying the costs for repairs and losses for the entire neighborhood. She left no stone unturned or residence unvisited, with even reports of cracked windows being added to her voluminous list in her massive, red leather-wrapped binder filled with accounting sheets and tallies of costs, along with names and addresses of the affected.

Within a few hours, the streets were cleared, scaffolding was erected, and the damage was covered with boards and tarps as workers began tearing out the damaged parts of the building. The entire back of the building had been blown out of the three-story roof.

Rumors and whispers persisted for a long time after.


 

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