Smuggler Wars

The Smuggling Wars

The Great Quake of 5018 M.E. and the birth of the Tempest Falls ruined River's Rest as a center of river piracy. The more dedicated river pirates simply relocated their activities farther upriver, closer to Waterford. Many, however, abandoned their traditional illicit occupation and took up another local favorite-smuggling.

River's Rest had been a haven for smugglers ever since the fall of the Citadel and the Kingdom of Elanith in 4058 M.E. To many "river rats" smuggling was considered an honorable craft and over the centuries a sort of hierarchy of smugglers had arisen. It was not as formalized as a guild, but certain informal rules existed and for the most part the smugglers abided by them. There are, after all, only a limited amount of goods to be smuggled. The informal arrangement between smugglers insured there was work for all with a minimum of antagonism.

The quake changed all that. The former river pirates, even if they were aware of the smugglers' traditions, did not feel bound by them. They felt free to engage in the smuggling of any product to any place at any time for any reasonable profit. The veteran smugglers attempted to stop them. So began what became known as the smuggling wars.

It was not war as it is commonly considered. For the most part it took place in the narrow alleyways and in the back rooms of taverns, in the warehouses along the docks, and in the marshes and fens. It consisted of furtive stabbings and assassinations, boats vandalized or set ablaze, barrels and crates of smuggled goods destroyed or stolen. The fighting was mean-spirited, savage, brutal and conducted entirely without any consideration of honor or dignity. Only one pitched battle took place, although it would be more accurately described as a drunken brawl. Nonetheless, it resulted in more than a dozen deaths.

In the end there were no clear winners, only survivors. Smuggling ceased to be a grand tradition and became just another common crime. The animosities sparked by the smuggling wars continue to this day.

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