[7thseafreiburg] Session 19: The Great Fire of Freiburg

[Lev Lafayette]

Plenty to work out today! Meanwhile here is a summary of the rather
action-packed last session..


Session 19: The Great Fire of Freiburg
---------------------------------------

Real date: Sunday, October 4th, 2015
Game date: Voltadi, Julius 6, 1688

As the crossbow bolt strikes Gruber, his soldiers surround him and take
control of The Maingate bridge. There is a general pandemonium as people
simultaneously flee whilst others push forward to see what is happening. 
The eagle-eyed Axel sees the location of the shot itself and the assasin
and arranges a party to surround The Freiburg Gazette, which the shot
enemated from. A local member of the Civic Improvement Association says
that the position was taken by a Ussarian crossbowman named Ivan Vladimir
was positioned there.

Whilst rioting breaks out, Axel's soldiers surround and enter the Gazette
building as scattered throughout the city some of the mercenaries take
matters in their own hands seeking some additoinal compensation and
especially targetting Improvement Association forces. In the basement of
the Gazette one of Axel's force is almost killed and the assailant is
nowhere to be found (although that is also the location of the latrines).
More terrifyingly however, as it is also the store of the newspaper's
stock and back issues, a fire has broken out.

Axel's troops remove the people who remain inside and exit the building,
and begin to arrange buckets from the nearby river as the fire turns into
a conflagration. Meanwhile, Dr. Serijo leads a small group from the
Wachtturm to The Main Gate bridge, pushing through the crowds with the
well-recognised call of "Doctor coming through". Even Grubers mercenaries
are willing to let the doctor view the body; alas there is no chance. The
leaf-shaped bolt severed the trachea, the carotid artery, and the jugular
vein.

The party calls for a parley with the Offizer Arnel who takes command of
the force and they much to a conference just outside the Wachtturm with
Lady Drachenheim, Eisenfurst Niklas Trague, and Wilma Probst. Meanwhile a
second fire is spotted at Della Warner's Dress Shop on the other side of
the city which quickly goes up in flames and engulfs other nearby
buildings as well. The problems are getting significant as the fires are
now growing and well beyond the capability of the Civic Improvement
Association and the few volunteers to prevent their spread.

The negotiations go well however, with the new leader of the mercenary
company not being in a great mood to engage in a risky conflict (even he
could take over the entire city) having just acquired his new position and
riches. An offer to refund the orginal payment of 1500 guilders for the
parade is made as of course the parade never happened, plus a payment for
a day's wages of 5000 guilders to help put out the fire. This is quite a
stroke of genius as the extra soldiers proved more than sufficient to put
out the two major fires.

At the end of the day, just under 10% of the city has been destroyed which
could have been much worse scenario. Over the next few days, Redmund
Ehrhart make a generous offer to provide the finances for a new building
programme, where he will provide a reduced rate for the buildings based on
the sale of the land. A new city wide fire brigade is established paid
through by a rating system based on both the value of the building and its
flammability, and Axel is given the position of leading it, making him a
nominal member of the City Guard. Lord Bryon makes an offer of investing
in the new newspaper, whilst Lady Drachenhim does the same for the dress
makers.

An investigation into the ruins of the Gazette discovers burnt corpse of
what Dr. Serjio considers to be Ivan Vladimir's body in remains of the
mezzotinting room. His family is put under Association protection. The
famous Ussarian merchant, Tobar Rye, has shut up shop "for a few days",
according to his neighbours. An astute investigation reveals that most of
the properties destroyed by the northern fire in the merchant's quarter
were independently owned, bringing into question Ehrhart's supposed
generosity. Lady Drachenheim, through her feminine skills, convinces
Niklas Trague to establish the Bank of Freiburg to help rebuild the city.


-- 
Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GradCertTerAdEd (Murdoch), GradCertPM, MBA (Tech
Mngmnt) (Chifley)
mobile:  0432 255 208
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