Third Passage of the Frost Moon

In the first armed conflict between Casara and Faol in over eighty years, a group of elite Casaran scouts were cornered in Oldwyn Pass, the only land route from Casara to Faol. When the twelve scouts refused to submit to captivity, Faol soldiers attacked. Ten of the scouts were killed, while two escaped. Eight soldiers of Faol were killed in the encounter.

"This was a peaceable scouting mission," insists Lord Jonathon Algien, a Casaran noble visiting Aranor.

Faol, doubtless, saw it as an attempt to assess their military presence in the pass, which is reportedly significant.

While Casara has a military vastly more immense than Faol’s, Faol commands the pass, which is fortified with towers and war machines. Most military sages insist that Casara could never take the pass, no matter how large their army.

Nevertheless, Casara has given Faol ten days to re-open their port access, after which Casara will ‘take Faol by force’.

The dispute, which began over a gemstone mine, has degraded into a heated conflict. Faol reportedly has secured the mine, carted away the cached gemstones, and is already using the mine to extract more precious stones. The mine is located on land that belonged  to Casara prior to the treaty with Maelmuire earlier this year. The land now officially belongs to King Niall of Rilhaven, who has not yet commented on the issue.

Lord Kieran

His name is Caeven Aradan, and he has made a name for himself as the one-hundredth person to be officially exiled from Aranor.

Lord Aradan was an accomplished man – growing up in a wealthy family, he inherited numerous contacts throughout the Known Lands, and some say, in lands not yet familiar to sages. When Aranor was formed, houses were free to new citizens and he selected over eighty people to take homes in the growing city.  However, he had contracts with all of them, paying them to sign the homes secretly over to him.

By the time homes ceased being given away, and a free market system prevailed, Lord Aradan was one of the largest property owners in the city. He ran businesses as well, and some maintain that his hope was to someday own the city itself.

He came to the attention of the guards when he was accused of a rape, and since then he has been brought before the guards on numerous occasions. His latest escapade, however, unraveled a string of crimes.  Found to be holding a newly-arrived Japuran woman captive in his home, the guards investigated and discovered a less than upstanding private life.  Aradan was found guilty of keeping slaves, was implicated in over seventeen missing person cases, and was accused of distributing drugs.

His official exile last moon reportedly ‘broke him’, dashing his chances of ever again owning property on the Old World land mass.

His personal wealth, valued at over twenty million silver, was distributed to his victims and their families, and his businesses and homes were confiscated by the city. Intriguingly, his personal collection of antiques, including Eldritch and MorDuraan artifacts, is still missing.

Tirian

The famous cosmetics shoppe, Prism, known for its magically-enhanced cosmetics, has begun a new tradition.

"Every season we’re going to unveil a new line of cosmetics," says Sheeta, one of the managers of the store. "And we’re going to have a contest to select a model to show that line off."

Their contest begins this passage – any woman can visit the store and get details. The model will be selected for attitude, presence, beauty, and compatibility with the season’s new line.

The first new line will be the ‘Snow Queen’ line, consisting of ‘frosty’ colors, ranging from whitish-silver to frosty pinks. Many of the cosmetics are magically enhanced to feel warm to the wearer, keeping the winter skin supple and flushed, while feeling cool or cold to others, enhancing the ‘snow queen’ appeal.

Tania