Chapter 2: Chapter 1 - The Watchman's Burden

THE ASH SOLSTICE Campaign I — The Watchman's Burden Chapter 1 Day 1 Approximately Fifteen Minutes Before the Ash Fell Sergeant Gavin Anderson steps out of the Western Watch Post onto the streets. “Anderson, what’s the plan for today?” Bram asks. “Recruit Bram, we treat today like any other day, greet the citizens, help them, and acknowledge that today is going to be a lot for everyone. Be on your toes.” Gavin responds with the understanding that this was Bram’s first Midsummer Festival on Watch duty. The Midsummer Festival has transformed the city into something almost unrecognizable. Every street seems louder than the last. Children dart between market stalls clutching berry pastries. Merchants shout over one another, competing with musicians whose melodies drift between rows of brightly colored banners. The scent of roasted meats, fresh bread, and summer flowers hangs upon the warm afternoon air. For most of the city, today is a celebration. For the City Watch, it is one of the busiest shifts of the year. Anderson's assigned route lies well beyond Market Square, where Captain Lang and much of the festival Watch presence have been concentrated. Everyone expects the Square to be the day's greatest trouble spot. The Western District is a neighborhood of workshops, homes, and busy crossroads where festival traffic spills into the surrounding streets. Warehouses stand beside repair yards and crowded tenements. Heavy supply carts move along streets built wide enough to carry provisions toward the walls. Behind barred doors rest the reserves intended to sustain the city through a siege no one truly expected to see. As Gavin watches the people go about their preparations, he can see and name nearly eight out of every ten. This is neither the richest quarter nor the poorest, but one where familiar faces far outnumber strangers.…