Port Torvin, at the mouth of the Javan River; Cold and Windy and Sprinkling Rain
"It's a great day for a hanging!" says one fellow to another as they hurriedly walk toward the docks.
This is a statement you've heard often since arriving in Port Torvin yesterday. The folk in the port city were wild and excited all day yesterday. Why? Because today is "Remembrance Day" - the first celebration of the signing of the Pact of Greyhawk in 585 CY; the official end to the Greyhawk Wars. Regardless of how you arrived, Port Torvin has been preparing for this day for the last two months. Stalls are full of wares; everything from weapons and armor to exotic fruits and vegetables to rare potables and perhaps even a few illegal substances, guaranteed to blow your mind. Not literally of course, but you get the idea.
It's still cold, even in this part of Oerth which is normally sub-tropical in temperature. The sun is hiding today and the overcast clouds spitter and spatter with rain drops. But it doesn't matter > a hurricane could be bearing down on the port city and the locals would be celebrating anyway.
"The war is over! Hail to the Sea Princes!"
"Fuck Iuz!"
"Ball sack! Ball sack!"
"Where's my monkey?"
"Flaming hog balls here! Get yer flaming hog balls!"
"Count Tydan! Count Tydan and the Soiled Dove!"
"Eat a dick, dye beard!"
And so forth and so on as the crowd gathers near the docks where the gallows are set up on the side of the docks, hanging over the water in the bay. Notably, you see several "fins" and shapes in the water of the deep harbor.
Several men (and a few women) stand around the docks, geared with stiff leather armor and shields, carrying spears and swords. Standing near the gallows are three men and one woman, all bound in chains; their dirty shifts swallow on their thin frames. Their greasy hair and deplorable condition can be seen (and smelled if the wind shifts) from where you watch several feet away.
A man dressed in some finery strides up to a podium, unfurls a scroll, and speaks:
"In the name of His Noble Excellence, Erasmus Tydan, Count of Port Torvin, these are sentenced to die by hanging for their crimes. Crimes against the Hold, crimes of allegiance to the Scarlet Brotherhood, and crimes of murder and rousing sedition against His Royal Highness, Prince Jeon II of Monmurg; Ruler of the Azure Sea!"
"Prince Jeon can eat a bag a dicks!"
Comes a shout from somewhere in the crowd, followed by not a few cheers and jeers.
The armed guard takes a step forward and the crowd calms somewhat.
The speaker then continues reading, but the crowd is restless and it's difficult to hear.
Someone nearby says, "These poor fucks are innocent! I'd bet me life on it!"
"Aye, just a big show for the Count more like it!" another says.
"Word is, the Count is just licking Prince Jeon's ass because he's afraid of him!" a woman says, holding a suckling babe to her tit.
"Gonna be hell to pay if they don't go through with it now, though." This from the first man.
"Somebody ought to step in and do sommat. It ain't right, I tell ya."
"Nobody's gonna speak out agains the Count, you know that! Anyone who does is liable to find a noose around his neck sure enough!" the woman says, as her child gurgles, eyes closed in a milk coma.
The speaker's next words silence the murmurs: "If anyone wishes to speak for these...wastrels...let him speak now, or forever hold his peace."
