The Oracle
First Passage of the Storm Moon
Unexplained Disappearance of Madame Vivianna’s Wig
And now it appears that some of us may never have the chance, for the wig seems to have mysteriously disappeared.
“It vanished the night of An Tiné,” said Larus, who heads security for the Theater. “It was safely placed in the prop-room after the performance,” he said, “and the door was securely locked. The next day, it was gone.”
There was no sign of a break-in, and no motive for taking the wig, which was, though valuable, surrounded by other, equally valuable props, none of which were disturbed.
“It’s most mysterious,” said Larus. “To be honest, we have no paths to follow at this point.”
The next day’s performance was cancelled, but, although a replacement has not yet been found, the Theater has promised that the performance this An Meja will, indeed, be enacted.
Tania
It’s a tiny shoppe that has opened along a side-street in the River District, but it may soon be well-known. And this because it is offering something completely different to the world. Lirata.
“Lirata is something the Old World has never seen before, though it’s been hiding from us in one of the nearby provinces,” said Misha, who owns the shoppe. “It looks a bit like chocolate, and in its warm state it’s a soft brown liquid that hardens to a creamy consistency. But past that, it shows chocolate to be a vastly inferior substance.”
For many of us who love chocolate, that’s pretty difficult to imagine.
“It has a creaminess that just sort of simmers over your tongue. Imagine a hint of spicy heat, just enough to widen your eyes, and a luscious sweetness hidden under depths of a rich, dark flavour quite unlike anything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
When it cools, Lirata develops a silvery sheen, and it’s versatile enough to be made into candies, used in pastries, and mixed into drinks. Misha’s shoppe has a bar where her swiftly-growing horde of patrons can sit and order anything from Lirata liqueur to cakes flavoured with the confection.
As to its origin or recipe, Misha is silent. But she does predict that by winter, Lirata will be as famous and widely used as chocolate.
Tirian
When a sailor stumbled into a peasant’s field last An Meja, the guard swiftly learned a tragic tale – his ship had been attacked by pirates and he was the only one to escape.
The “Stormwell” was making a routine trading journey along it’s Rilhaven (porting at the ruins of Antara) to Aranor route. The ship typically carries luxury goods from Aranor and takes furs, timber, wine, and Eldritch artifacts from Rilhaven land-traders. It had just left the Aranorian port and had sailed barely two hours north when it was attacked by two ships.
“It was a mixed crew of men and women,” the sailor said. He has asked that his name not be used. “They used magic, and had good blades. Real clean workers. But they were brutal, too. I saw three men killed fighting, and two more after the battle, just because they weren’t cooperating. After I saw that, I dove for it and swam for shore.”
He reports that three men and two women were taken prisoner, and the ship and goods were stolen.
“We can’t control piracy,” said Jedaan, a guardsman in the Dock District. “The sea’s just too big. But this was too close to Aranor, and the ship that was taken was a major and established provider for the city. We’re sending out ships to scour the shores, but we’re not sure if we’re going to have to deal with a magical threat. I’d not be surprised if there’s another attack within the next passage. Then they’ll lay quiet for awhile. I really don’t like this kind.”
Intelligent, thought-out attacks, he explained, are much more difficult to deal with than less professional pirates, who often are poor, hungry, and not thinking evenly.
“Pirating can be very lucrative, or quite the opposite,” he said. “The problem is that once you’re into it, you’re an outlaw for life. One way or another, we’ll catch these pirates, and once we do, we’ll send them to the bottom of the sea.”
Lord Kieran
