First Passage of the Storm Moon

Mercenaries hired by the Last of the True Nobles were intercepted in an operation executed by the Elite Guard of Aranor. As the mercenaries entered the home of Lady Emilia, the outspoken supporter of Queen Lillian and Magistrate of the River District, elite guards who had been waiting in her home apprehended the aggressors.

Six mercenaries were taken alive, and are being held in the dungeons of Aranor.

"They are being very cooperative," said Sanya, of the elite guard. "We know who hired them, and will be following the trail back to whoever gave the initial orders."

This operation was part of a broad-based plan Queen Lillian has put in place to discover the location and identity of the True Nobles.

Tirian

"Werewolves are devouring everyone!" shouted a crier on the main street of Mina’s Quay. He may be exaggerating, but Masalla has definitely developed a lycanthropy problem in the past two moons.

Lycanthropy was thought to be limited to the Old World, but now six confirmed cases and numerous hear-say accounts have shown otherwise.

The cases are all rural, and seem to be some variant of Old World lycanthropy. The transformation results in what has been called a sort of ‘bear-wolf’, and reports of half-human, half-beast creatures are sweeping over the countryside.

Masalla, lacking the Old World’s policy of peacefully exiling victims to the island of Saravai, simply burns lycanthropes – alive if possible, to reduce the spilling of blood, which is thought to cause the spread of the disease. The result, then, is that victims and their families often attempt to hide the existence of the disease.

While the Queen of Masalla has not offered an official position on the problem, Masallan authorities are reportedly becoming overly aggressive, imprisoning the family and friends of victims until it can be seen whether or not they have the disease as well.

Lord Kieran

Call it a social trend – word on the street is that women in Aranor are asking men out more than men are asking women out.

Masallan custom dictates that men make the first approach when two people have a romantic interest in each other. Queen Lillian’s Renaissance has created many changes, but dating habits have been some of the slowest to change, especially as many of the customs are actively held to by higher-ranking members of society.

"It’s a little strange," said Kaelius, a sharp-looking young man who has been asked out three times in the last passage. "Usually you have to go up to a girl and ask her if you want a date. But just in the last two moons there seems to be this strange impulse on the part of girls – they’re just going after what they want!"

While some see this as the degradation of society, others suggest that it’s just the beginning of a new conceptualization of womanhood.

"We can do anything we desire," said Lady Mira, who owns several shoppes in the city. "We can run businesses as well as men, run governments, be city guards, and ask men on dates. I realize that it’s a bit scary for some men, but they’d better get used to it! It’s a new world out there."

New world indeed. Let’s hope the men don’t get so flustered that they start a revolution!

Tania

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