Fourth Passage of the Dry Moon

The duel between Lord Tarren Avrae and Sarus, former Captain of the Guard of Selarum, seemed a duel like any other, except that the two men chose a very public venue. This because the tale of their disagreement has been in the public eye of Selarum for over a moon.

Lord Avrae, the owner of numerous dining establishments in Selarum and surrounding communities, was accused six passages ago of purchasing slaves from Moraithe, keeping them in Selarum, and hiding this fact from his wife, his associates, and from the authorities of Selarum. Soon after, Lord Avrae accused Sarus of having an affair with his wife, Lady Amella Avrae.

Neither man managed to prove their claims, but their attacks on each other’s characters brought out numerous other accusations, leading to Sarus' excusal from the guardforce, and forcing Lord Avrae to become a public outcast.

Their duel was, by all descriptions, fantastic – a brilliant demonstration of swordplay. But when both men began to sustain wounds, members of Sarus’ crowd suddenly rushed forward, attacking Lord Avrae. This caused Lord Avrae’s crowd to attack as well, and in the ensuing melee both men were killed and eighteen of the rioters were carted off to the healer’s.

It certainly proved one of the more interesting duels of recent times!

Tirian

The waxed rounds of cheese thrown off a ship recently, just out from the port of Aranor,  turned out to hold a deeper mystery. Flynn, one of the lucky folks who managed to catch one of the cheeses as they floated up on the surf, took his home and cut it open, only to receive a great surprise.

"I sliced it open and hit something hard. When I peeled my cut back, I found that the very center of the cheese was hollowed out, and a mess of jewelry spilled onto my table!"

In an act of extreme honesty, he reported his find to the city guard.

"The jewelries Flynn turned in," I was told by Maralai, a member of the Dock District Guard, "were all highly valuable pieces that were reported stolen within the last two moons. It looks like this cheese export operation was actually a smuggling operation for stolen goods."

Whether or not other rounds of cheese held similar treasures is unknown, but the city guard told me that anyone in possession of stolen goods will be suspect as either a thief or a member of the smuggling group.

Flynn, meanwhile, who literally turned in a fortune in jewels, is being rewarded by Queen Lillian for his honest actions. He is receiving a sum of gold which he would prefer to keep confidential.

Tania

Three men, adventuring in the highly dangerous jungles of Moraithe, recently came upon an extraordinary discovery.

"We were moving along the edge of a ravine," said Raek, the leader of the expedition and also a jungle huntsman, "when we saw a cora vine below. This was a rare enough treat to venture down on ropes, but as we approached the cora berries, the ground suddenly gave out beneath us."

They had fallen into a tuva – or ‘frozen sinkhole’. These sinkholes are filled with extremely pure, cold, constantly circulating water. They are eerie places, described as ‘filled with pale light and clear, bright water that is so fresh that nothing can grow’. They often have slippery clay banks and can be quite deep, sometimes with swirling currents. The ground coating of plant matter in Moraithe will often grow over the tops of them, making them into deadly pitfall traps that can be quite difficult to escape.

The three companions, however, hit wood before they splashed into the water, and as they climbed to safety on the wooden planks, they realized that they were perched on a ship.

"It was a sailing vessel such as I’ve never seen," said Raek, "very well preserved because of the cold, pure water. Only a bit of it was above the waterline, and this was coated with moss and pitted with decay. But below the water the ship was almost whole."

The odd design, strange writing along the hull, and layout of the ship gave the adventurers no other option but to think that the vessel belonged to some unknown culture. They dove down far enough to see into a hole on the deck, below which they could see a breach in the hull.

"In the pale light we saw strange things – a scattering of coins, numerous unidentifiable artifacts, and odd weaponry. "

Due to the chilling cold of the water and the strong current that ran through the lower part of the tuva, the adventurers decided that they would mark the place and return with better equipment. Unfortunately, harsh storms moved through the jungles just after their return to Boroth, and they found that enough of their markings had been eradicated by fallen trees and flash floods that they couldn’t find their way back. They are launching an extensive search next moon.

"The oddest thing," said Raek, "is that the tuva was at least a league from the sea. How that thing got there is a mystery indeed."

Lord Kieran