The Golarion Gazette

The new rulers of the Stolen Lands, who just came to power after defeating the bandits that once controlled the area, were overthrown last week following a reign characterized by what the Stolen Lands’ citizens called “poor planning” and “gross mismanagement.” The rulers, an adventuring party from Brevoy under charter from Lady Jamandi Aldori, were originally welcomed with open arms after defeating the evil Stag Lord, but the mood soon soured after the rulers had difficulty providing for their citizens. “First thing, they told us they weren’t able to establish any farmland because they couldn’t claim any territory until they could upgrade the village into a town,” said Vance Kerenshara, a halfling. “So they told us we had to harvest crops to eat – I’m not sure from where, though, what with the lack of farms.” Other complaints included the slow pace of growth and advancement and the fact that the leadership was “completely untrained” in more than half the skills needed to run a kingdom, making them helpless in the face of random events. “At this rate, I almost preferred living under the Stag Lord’s rule,” said Kerenshara.

The new rulers were followers of Abadar, and they defended themselves by saying that they were simply applying the principles followed in the Manual of City-Building, one of Abadar’s holy books. A new twist in the saga came when Jacob Jameson, an Abadaran scribe with ties to Lady Aldori, claimed to have inside information regarding the creation of the latest edition of the Manual of City-Building. According to Jameson, the entire project was “mostly just me” and he had never attempted to actually run a city using those principles or even check them against existing economic data. “You can’t really blame us for what happened when even Abadar’s high priests themselves can’t figure it out,” said Valerie, one of the leaders. “Abadar really just belongs with Shelyn in the dustbin of deities.”

Relations between the traditionalist and reformist factions of the Abadaran church, already under strain following the controversies over alignment, have erupted into a full-fledged schism following the new revelations. Traditionalists have doubled down on the infallibility of the holy books, insisting that anything in the Manual of City-Building must be treated as the holy command of Abadar regardless of who personally scribes it, and that any failures of planning must necessarily mean that the ruler in question did not read the book correctly. Reformists, on the other hand, see the revelations as evidence that the Manual must be treated as the product of mortal hands and that the Abadaran church needs increased engagement between their clergy and the on-the-ground diplomats and administrators with practical experience in architecture and statecraft. Some have linked the revelations to the recent changes in alignment policy, suggesting that Jameson may in fact be of Chaotic alignment and the new changes were why he was able to get a job with the church in the first place. Jameson himself has refused to confirm or deny these speculations “to avoid throwing fuel on the fire.” Either way, the next few months presage big changes for rulers and adventurers across Golarion.