Third Passage of the Storm Moon

This year has seen an unusual number of reports of missing huntsfolk. A collective count in the Old World reported thirty-six missing huntsfolk last year, and already, this year, the number has crested fifty.

"This makes an already dangerous profession even more fearful," says Kureg, a Northerner who is head of ‘The Hunter’s Guild’, a small organization in Aranor which employs fourteen men and women. He worries that it will be more and more difficult to keep positions filled.

Hunting the wilds of the Old World poses considerable danger, but this recent figure gives credence to worries that the woodlands are becoming more haunted by the fae.

Another possibility has arisen, however, with a reported sighting of the legendary Kírjaan. A creature glimpsed repeatedly throughout the history of the Old World, the Kírjaan is often described as a huge, shaggy beast large enough to kill and eat a bear. While some suggest that the sightings are probably just great forest cats or chimera, it is doubtful that trained huntsfolk could mistake such beasts for the Kírjaan.

"This thing," said Melanie, a huntswoman who was among the seven who saw the beast, "is intelligent, and larger even than a chimera. It is elusive, and it’s a stalker. And it in no way resembles a cat of any kind. It is more . . . wolverine-like, and even that’s a failed description."

The seven huntsfolk bore witness to an attack on  their horses. It slew two and made off with one in its maw, '. . . like it was a dog carrying a hare'.

While sages doubt that no variety of creature that large could exist, uncatalogued, in the Old World, others insist that it is a single creature, perhaps of Eldritch origin, which has been alive for hundreds of years.

Whatever the case, a continued loss of huntsfolk will doubtless rise the prices of game.

Tirian

A woman reputed to be a member of the Aragaad, a new class of Maelmuirian warriors, was captured last An Tir in what guards report was ‘an attempt on Storm, regent of Aranor'.

Storm, the former Princess of Maelmuire, defected during the War for Aranor and swiftly gained the trust of Queen Lillian, who set her up as Aranor's official regent. Though Storm has proven herself more than capable in the position, there have been numerous attempts on her life, most by Maelmuirian assassins.

This latest is, however, the most serious and disturbing.

The woman, who has not surrendered a name, somehow entered the palace at night and gained Storm’s private chambers. Storm awoke to a disturbance in her room, and managed to defend herself for the few moments before guards arrived. The guards cornered the woman, but she managed to disable three of them before being subdued by multiple strikes with crossbow bolts.

She is being held in the dungeons, where she has been questioned repeatedly. She insists that she is working on her own, and feels that Storm has betrayed the Maelmuirian people. She refuses to admit that she is of the Aragaad, but Malachai, a sage specializing in modern Maelmuirian culture, asserts that ‘no one but an Aragaad warrior could have accomplished what this woman did – snuck into the palace, defeated three armed and armored men, and absorbed enough punishment to kill any mortal.’

She will be held indefinitely, until she yields her secrets.

Lord Kieran

The River District was the setting for a small festival last An Maad celebrating a local favorite food – raspberries. Golden, red, and purple varieties are  fruiting in abundance, and the thirty or so celebrants partook of tarts, liqueurs, sauces, and wines featuring the berries as the main flavour. All would have gone well if a group of three young men, masked and wearing bandannas to disguise their hair, hadn’t suddenly rushed into the midst of the festivities with mischief on their minds.

"It was horrendous," said a tear-stained participant by the name of Lita. "I was just in the middle of eating a raspberry tart with raspberry sauce when this awful man leapt onto the table. He scooped up a handful of berries and shoved them into his ugly little mouth!"

The participants, mostly well-to-do noble ladies, fell to screaming, much to the delight of the ‘bandits’, who stood upon the tables and announced that they were ‘taking the berries for ransom.’

"They might have thought it was funny," Lita said, "but my good dress got stained, and two of my friends fainted and were injured. Those men should be found out and made to pay for the damages!"

Although the guard has other things to keep them busy, they have promised that they will follow any leads as they are presented.

Tania

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