Second Passage of the Storm Moon

The Jeddan sport of glassfighting, where combatants wrap their hands in cloth, dip them in pitch, and then roll them in shattered glass, has made its first Aranorian appearance. The motley group of fighters, all trained in Jedda, created an impromptu arena in the Merchant’s District, made cries for an audience, and began a fight. It was only a few moments before they were detained by guards.

"This practice is not only barbaric," said Storm, Regent of Aranor, "but historically it has led to numerous abuses in Jedda. Our policy is simply that we want the glassfighting out of the Old World."

Although the participants are crying out against the ban, Queen Lillian has given her assent on Storm’s decision, and the glassfighters are being allowed out of the dungeons only on the condition that they remove themselves from the Old World.

Tirian

The latest official style is sweeping Aranor, and if trends continue as usual, it will soon be seen in the other cities of the Old World before it spreads throughout the Known Lands.

This summer it is braidwork – the art of crafting braids of hair in numerous sizes and then sculpting them into complex patterns upon the head. From 'High Piles' to 'Snakes' to 'Windswepts', braidwork lets women create styles that express their individual personalities. Some women are even using ‘longers’ – these are braids woven of other peoples’ hair, which a woman can purchase and weave into her own to give more length or volume to her hair.

There is no single shoppe heading the style, but outdoor stands are emerging throughout the city as new people learn the art and do their best to feed the frenzy.

This is certainly a fashion that turns heads, and I’d predict that it will outlast, in some form, at least, the lifespan of other Aranorian fads.

Tania

Now that Casara has settled after the Sereg attack, there has been plenty of time to assess the damage to the city of Vellun. It is estimated that over three million silver's worth of damage was done by fire and pillaging; looting subjected the city to equal or greater losses. Although Vellun had a fluctuating population, the most recent counts have turned up at least eighty people missing and over thirty dead (not counting soldiers, of course).

Now Vellun must rebuild. Here is where things are getting interesting, for the Vellunae family, formerly headed by Baron Garret Vellunae, are among the missing. All, that is, except one.

Talara has been described as sharp, intelligent, and keen with her words and blade. And as the last survivor of the Vellunae family, she has achieved what few women in Casara have – rulership by a woman.

Casaran law grants rulership to a woman only if there is no one else of ancestral blood to take the rule. The Baronic Council of Casara has officially ruled that a distant relative, one Lord Kerriak Evraan, should have rulership of Vellun. However, popular vote is clearly on Lady Vellunae’s side, and she has swiftly rallied the survivors of the Vellun attacks around her. She promises a ‘new age’ for Vellun, and suggests that she can ‘haul this city up out of the cesspool it’s been lingering in’. Her language is a clear sign of her general attitude, and she has ordered the Casaran military out of her city and has informed Lord Evraan that he will be promptly hung if he so much as enters Vellun’s holdings.

Most suggest that a woman will never last as a ruler in Casara, but Lady Vellunae seems determined to prove them wrong.

Lord Kieran

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