"I am Kintargo's lord-mayor, yet Kintargo is not my city. Nor is it Cheliax's city. Kintargo belongs to no one person, but to all who live here and make it the greatest city in Cheliax. We call it the Silver City not only for the gleaming waters of the Youbilis, but for its purity. Kintargo is unique in the nation of Cheliax in this way. We are not the nation's largest city, not its strongest. We may not have Westcrown's history, Ostenso's naval superiority, Corentyn's trade dominance, or Egorian's power, but nor do we have Westcrown's decay, Ostenso's violence, Corentyn's slaves, or Egorian's damnations. Kintargo is our own, and as Cayden Cailean is my witness, I intend to do all that I can to ensure that our silver shall never tarnish under Thrune's touch!"
- Lord-Mayor Jilia Bainilus, two days before her disappearance
--------------------------------------------------------------
The dregs of last-night's rain aren't enough to discourage the dozens of Kintargans gathered at the front-doors of the opera house to protest the new Lord-Mayor, High Inquisitor Paracount Barzillai Thrune. Despite the early hour, the protest already fills half the square and shows no sign of slowing; as they enter most look for like minded souls to join. Along the edges of the square enterprising vendors have set up stalls, wafting mouth-watering smells of roasting nuts and heavily-spiced meet over the nascent crowd and tempting murders of crows and other pests from out under the opera's eaves. The closer to the gates you walk, the more a jumbled mess of factions the protest becomes and, though they flow together and break apart like the flocks of birds overhead, a few moments of observation suffice to show that there are five major movements represented here.
- The Partisans, largely well-to-do citizens who want an end to foreign rule of any sort and despise the tightening of House Thrune's iron grip. Here and there, you can see members of this group holding high soot-stained rocks and timbers - relics of last-weeks Night of Ashes.
- The Merchants, the tradesmen guilds (plus a bar or three's worth of stevedores and teamsters) who feel the squeeze of Barzillai's new mandates and taxes.
- Lord-Mayor Bainilus’s Supporters, who wanted a democratic election of the next Lord-Mayor instead of an appointment by the Thrice-Damned House.
- The Anarchists, mostly younger folk who are here in the hopes of a decent riot.
- Finally, scattered liberally through the crowd are small groups of four-five dour-looking men and women with scarred hands, wearing the red armbands of the "Chelish Citizens' Group". These are Barzillai Thrune's supporters, and they alternately try to shout down other groups and stand there in gloomy silence, waiting.
At the doors to the opera house stand a thin line of a dozen dottari and Nox, Barzillai's personal bodyguard.
Though they look nervous, fingering the hilts of their swords and sweating in the early-morning chill, the guards are staying put and no fights have broken out - yet. As for Barzillai himself, he's nowhere to be seen.