Fourth Passage of the Snow Moon

The road from Aranor to Jalpa is safe once more – at least from human threats.

"We came upon the bandits last An Tiné", said Jannen, who led the guard-force in charge of capturing them. The bandits had been disguising themselves as Sereg in order to hide their identities.

"Oddly enough, they were under the influence of some sort of fae glamour. We captured them quite easily."

The Sereg Raiders, now being held accountable for five carriage robberies, have been taken into Aranor where they will likely be working as city slaves until they can pay for damages, stolen property, and fines.

Tirian

Rilhaven, suffering under a barrage of threats and difficulties, is doing well at alleviating at least one of them – the kraeven. These diseased creatures have been ravaging the woodland villages around Rilhaven for two years now, in ever-growing packs. The creatures go dormant in the winter, denning in large burrows.

This year, hundreds of residents are participating in the hunts. Specially trained Wolven sniff out the lairs, and then a ‘rat’, or a person small enough to fit down into the holes, climbs down and drags the torpid kraeven out. From there the animals are thrown onto a burn-pile.

Although estimates are extremely unreliable, due to the unorganized nature of the campaign, some participants claim that over two thousand kraeven have been burned. If true, this could greatly ease the dangers that the diseased creatures have been posing not only to the humans of Rilhaven’s environs, but to the game, as well. Huntsfolk from the Rilhaven area are noting a severe decline in their luck with deer, moose, and rabbit hunting, and it is suspected that the kraeven have decimated the game populations.

What effect these hunts will have won’t be known until spring, when the remaining kraeven re-emerge and begin their pack-hunting once again. But it is hoped that life can return to some semblance of normalcy now that the kraeven population is lessened.

Lord Kieran

The invention is credited to Queen Lillian, for she was the first to be seen gliding across the ice of Silver Lake in Aranor. Since then the pastime was only available to the wealthy, who could afford the custom-made blades. But this year a shoppe has opened which makes it available to all.

Called, appropriately, Ice Blades, the shoppe sells the strange shoes – high-ankled boots with a single knife running down the bottom length – for 50 to 70 silver a pair. They have also sectioned off a portion of Silver Lake and used a melting/smoothing process to make the ice bump-free. You can purchase ice blades either at the shoppe or at the lake’s edge, where the merchants also offer free instruction in their use.

Hundreds of people have been trying it out, so that the smooth section of lake is sometimes too crowded to really get up any speed. But once you do, you positively feel as if you are flying.

Tania

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