First Passage of the Snow Moon

By some counts, there were hundreds.

"I sat out for just a little while," says twelve-year-old Laetitia. "And I saw probably thirty."

Some were quite large, lighting up the night sky last An Aran, sometimes with red or orange colors.

Sages don’t understand what falling stars are. The common conception, that they are actually stars tumbling from their perches, was long ago disproved. Astrological star charts clearly show that over the last two thousand years, only two stars have ‘gone missing’ from the sky. Since falling stars occur almost every night, one would expect to see many more stars missing from the charts, even if, as was discovered with the use of telescopes, there are many stars which cannot be seen with unaided vision.

Astrologers usually indicate that falling stars proceed eventful happenings, so we’ll be hoping that our articles in the Oracle get even more exciting!

Tania

The former Emperor of Irutoka, who founded his own province after he fled Jedda, has begun trade with private merchants.

"I think there’s an attitude of fear," said Captain Jeran, who owns his own caravel. "Provinces don’t want to be officially associated with him."

Which means that private merchants, who don’t claim any port as ‘home’, have been the first to explore the possibility of trade with the new province, situated on Teran’s Point.

"They’ve got it rough there," Jeran said. "They basically live in a fortress, wary of attack from the outside world, and keeping out the creatures that live on the isle. Still, they have some unique furs, dried fish and seaweed, as well as stone artifacts they’ve dug up from ruins in the area."

Mostly, Jeran says, the goods are selling because of their source, although the artifacts, which are in short supply and come from a culture unknown to modern sages, are fetching high prices.

"Once they tame the Point," says Jeran, "this is going to be a new province. Those who get in early are going to be well-off."

Lord Kieran

Ships sailing the route from Moraithe to the Old World reported encountering waters littered with huge chunks of ice, presumably floating down from Inidor.

"This is an occasional occurrence," said Captain Wesley, whose huge merchant vessel Sea Tiger carries wines between Masalla and the Old World. "But the last episode of this potency hasn’t occurred for over two hundred years. The ice is carried up by waves and dashed against the side of ships, sometimes with enough force to damage hulls."

The Sea Tiger, which is outfitted to repel pirates, has a reinforced hull, and rode through the morass without incident. But Captain Wesley reported that other ships were taking shelter in the small bay where the former Emperor of Jedda has made his new home.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if you see some minor shortages," Wesley said. "A lot of ships stopped to wait it out. The Emperor is doubtless enjoying this windfall and playing the gracious host. But goods will be a few days late to port, depending on the let-up of the ice, which is swept around Teran’s Point by the currents and scattered throughout the seas. Some pieces are nearly as large as a ship, and could devastate even the most well-designed vessel."

Projected shortages will be soon remedied, as long as the ice dissipates as expected.

Tirian

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