The Oracle
Third Passage of the Ice Moon
Oranges Litter the Docks
Yesterday was a very good day. An entire crate of oranges was dropped as it was being hauled down from the deck of Captain Arshelle's trading ship, the Lurius. It shattered on the dock, spilling oranges over the wood and into the water in a glorious burst of color.
"How many oranges were lost?" I asked him.
"About five hundred in that crate," he returned. "We gathered up as many as we could, but when a few young men asked if I was going to retrieve those that fell in the water, I told them that they were theirs if they could fetch them."
Thus began a wild frenzy of eating as the men climbed down the edge of the docks and threw oranges up into the gathering crowd. I had one myself, and they were quite delicious.
Tirian
Battle Rages Over Wolf
The famous statue of the wolf in Faol has become the center of a fiery debate. A moon ago, the Delegation for the Preservation of History in Faol voted to clean, polish, and restore the famous statue, which is said to be a sculpture of the first thing the original settlers noted as they neared the shore. Long neglected, the statue has collected a large amount of lichen, moss, and discoloration.
But when workers descended on the statue last passage, they were confronted with a number of people who protested the cleaning, and the process was ceased. Now the Delegation Hall rings with the voices of two factions, one of which feels that the statue should be well polished to represent the austerity of Faol, and the other which feels that the statue better represents history if left with the marks of time.
Lord Sadarre Kashelle heads the resistance. "The Faol Wolf ages with our city. As the sanitary laws of Faol keep the city pristine, it is fitting that in one place, at least, one could see that our city has history -- a history of which we are proud."
Amanda Degaan, Head Speaker of the Delegation for the Preservation of History, had this to say -- "I know that wolves have fur, but they don't have green fur."
A second vote is scheduled for next An Tir.
Lord Kieran
A Most Unusual Theft
The guards told me of the strangest theft which occurred last passage on the eve of An Meja. The esteemed Lord and Lady Corabelle, well known as generous contributors to the arts and theater, had gone to see "The Rajah's Concubine", an erotic drama playing at the Theater of Aranor on Palace Way. After the performance, they came out to find that their carriage was gone. The driver was soon found, gagged, bound, and unconscious in the nearby woods. He remembered nothing.
"It is something of an heirloom to us," said Lord Corabelle. "Not only is it stocked with a small bar and full accoutrements, but our children had scribbled some pictures upon one wall of which we were quite sentimental."
The carriage also had an old and valuable painting by the renowned artist, Turia.
"The theft is unusual because it is so visible," said Alex of the Palace Guard, who became involved after a guardswoman said that she had allowed the carriage to pass into the Palace District sometime after the theft. "Our supposition is that someone used it to gain entrance to the Palace District, but thorough searches of the Palace District have turned up with naught. A carriage is a difficult thing to hide."
Lord Corabelle told me that the carriage, horses, and equipage could be valued at more than fifty thousand silver.
Tania
