Second Passage of the Storm Moon

A Letter to our Dear Readers,

For fourteen passages now, the Oracle has been missing from the streets of Aranor. The rumors and stories which have sprung up to account for its absence have taken on a life of their own, resulting in two books which are now circulating the streets.

‘The End of the Oracle’, one of the two books, describes how Queen Lillian’s renaissance is failing, and the Oracle is one of the symbols of that downfall. The other book, published by an enterprising commoner, is much more sensational, even to the point of including goblins and nymphs in the storyline.

What we would like to present here is the true story of the Oracle’s absence, to lay to rest the rumors and expose the true reason behind the events. Though we have only freshly relieved ourselves of the tragic circumstances, we will do our best to relate the tale, which surely accounts for the biggest adventure of our lives.

The story begins in the Rain Moon, when the three of us decided to research an unusual event in Jalpa. We were given word of a great scandal occurring in the royal house – a scandal with world-wide implications. We shall not further discuss the alleged scandal, since we discovered that it was entirely false and fabricated.

On the journey down to Jalpa by ship, usually one of the safest sea-journeys one can undertake, we were violently assaulted by a ship of pirates. The results were tragic, and none of us are yet prepared to discuss the details, except to say that the three of us were the only survivors.

Extremely mistreated, we were blindfolded and taken ashore, then led by secret underwater passage to an interminable flight of stairs. At the top we were placed in captivity, surrounded by the age-streaked stones of an old ruin.

Thus began a long period of captivity and emotional torture. We quickly learned that our kidnapping had been planned, and that we were to be kept alive for only twenty passages—enough time for us to serve our purpose and our captors to achieve their designs.

Our captors made no secret of who they were. Members of the Last of the True Nobles, they were intent on the fall of Queen Lillian, and resented the Oracle for its mission of spreading information among the common folk. Their contacts in Aranor began publishing a new ‘journal’, called ‘The Truth in Writing’, which was little more than thinly disguised attacks on Queen Lillian’s reign. The book mentioned above, ‘The End of the Oracle’, was a similar publication. Their intent was to utilize the market created by the Oracle to spread the word of the ‘truth’ behind the renaissance – that noble values were crumbling while the ‘chaos’ of the common folks’ manners was moving to the forefront. The hoped-for result? A disintegration of society within the next ten years.

We, it seemed, were the outlet for their frustrations. They had carefully planned, during each passage of our confinement, another ‘example’ of how things would transpire in society over the next decade. They wished to impress upon us the evils we were creating, and felt free to engage in those evils themselves in order to ‘teach us the error of our ways.’

Our treatment, at their hands, was not pleasant.

It was two passages ago when we finally managed to free ourselves of our bonds. Tanya, who had never mentioned her training in the fighting arts, proved herself quite apt in the subdual of our single guard.

Our escape was harrowing, a nerve-wracking flight through the twisted corridors of the ruins, and out past the perimeter guards. From there we picked our way north along the coast, hiding from our pursuers at every turn. More than once we deviated from the coast, lost our way, and spent days trying to re-orient. When we arrived in Aranor, we were hungry, battered, and reported immediately to the district healers’ to tend to our wounds and fevers.

As we write this, six of our eight captors have been captured by Aranorian Knights, and a thorough search is on for the ship of ‘pirates’ who committed the savage attack on our hired ship, pirates now thought to be members of the Last of the True Nobles,.

For our readers, we wish to say that though a high cost may be paid for enlightenment, we are honored to bring you the Oracle once again, and beginning next passage, you will once more be privy to the latest in news from throughout the Known Lands.

Sincerely Yours,

Lord Kieran, Tirian, and Tanya

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