First Passage of the Harvest Moon

"It’s a strange phenomenon," we were told by Graven, the peasant who owned the hay. "I had to put it all in our shed, because of some rain that was coming. A little leaked through the roof, and I thought I’d open the shed up and air it out.  But sometimes when the sun beats down on piles of certain stuff, the sun sort of just gets right in there, heats it up from inside, and pretty soon it starts smoking."

Sages call it Deepfire – a heat that builds up in piles of organic material like wood shavings or compost piles. On rare occasions it can actually smoke, and on very rare occasions, start on fire. This seems to be what happened to Graven’s haypile, and just as evening came it started aflame. By the time the sun set, the entire shed and all its contents were afire, drawing spectators even from inside the city as the night was lit by the blaze. Men brought water as soon as they could, but the battle was fruitless, and all they could do was stand by and watch it burn.

"It’s a loss," said Graven, "but I’ve got understanding neighbors, and I’ll get some help through the winter. Besides, it was a balefire to remember!"

Indeed it was, as sailors reported seeing the glow even from the bay.

Tirian

His name is Valen, and you shouldn’t be surprised if you see him on the roadways preaching. Look for a grey haired man well into his seventies, with a fullish beard and a wide build. Old Northern blood. He comes with a message for us – that we’re living in a manner that makes us weak – and he criticizes everything from our laws to our houses to our clothes.

"The key," he says, "is to get your hands into things. There was a time when everything was made by hand – none of these fancy looms to make our cloth, washboards to clean our clothes, distillers to make our spirits. Why, we don’t even heal ourselves these days, but take ourselves right down to the Healers at the first sign of a cough!"

A self-proclaimed practitioner of the ‘Elder Ways’, he is gathering a small following of younger folk who live with him in the forest outside the city. They wear only leather clothes, hunt and gather all their own food, and don’t utilize any of the modern comforts we all know so well, such as alchemical goods, cosmetics, medicines, Healers, or modern magic of any kind. Their theory is that using such things and practicing the ‘ways of civilization’ weakens our bodies, minds, and spirits, not to mention our senses.

"The human of today is a mere shell of what we once were – and what we still can be," Valen says. "It’s just that we’ve stopped doing things ourselves, and depend on others to do even basic things for us. Why, you can get by in the city without having to sew, cook, hunt, heal, or even walk! Why do we insist on riding horses when we’ve got our own two good feet?"

His small community claims fourteen members. They make for an interesting bunch, but I’ll only believe all his talk if he still has fourteen people after midwinter’s night. For when the snow falls, he’ll really be put to the test.

Tania

In the ongoing battle between the Emperor and the Empress in Jedda Felsuin, the Emperor took a heavy blow last moon.

"Tension has been building on many levels," I was told by Takiro, the Emperor’s Jeddan emissary to Aranor. "This war is fought not only on the battlefield, but via intrigue, politics, and the tides of emotion that can be generated in the populace. The Emperor had been raising a secret weapon – a man bred of the most esteemed parental union, a man whose warrior strengths were unsurpassed, who was gifted in magic, eloquence, and the art of deceit. He was a man who was to function not only on the battlefield, but in the courts and among the people. It was intended that he be a secret, but secrets are difficult to maintain. He was living in a compound that also housed all his teachers – numbering among them were some of the Emperor’s most prized people – musicians, writers, warriors, mystics, and sages. It was into this compound that a group of the Empress’ Shotai warriors infiltrated and utilized alchemical preparations to set fire to the structures at strategic points. The blaze was fanned by winds, and despite magical resistance, most of the compound was lost, and with it, over thirty of the Emperor’s people, including Sanja, the man intended to be the Emperor’s secret weapon."

Actual bloodshed of this sort is rare in the battle between the two rulers, and fears are that this will only cause an escalation of violence. No word has yet reached us of the Emperor’s considerations regarding retaliation, but this will surely bring more strife.

"Right now," said Takiro, "the Emperor is grieving. He lost many dear friends. What will happen now I do not know, but events such as these often lead to wars upon the battlefield or even at sea."

Lord Kieran

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