Fourth Passage of the Autumn Moon

The alarms went up during then night, when a Jalpan city guard saw strange orange lights on a mountainside rising above the city.

By morning it was determined that the mountainside was aflame. Now Jalpa is bracing for the possibility of the fire reaching the city.

"The winds are out of the west," said Jarel, one of the men stationed at the city’s edge. "They might bring the fire right down."

Smoke is certainly a concern. At various times during the day, the city is cloaked in a haze that makes it difficult to breathe. At the city’s edge, volunteers have cut a wide swath which, they hope, the fire won’t be able to cross.

It is estimated that the fire might reach the city by An Tiné – we’ll keep you updated in next passage’s Oracle.

Tirian

The annual Cider Festival in Neraha always draws a crowd of wealthy, influential folk. Cider-crafters from throughout the Old World travel there as well, to show off their creations. And for one crafter, named Jaaki, the festival was especially boonful.

Jaaki came from Japura two years ago, and tasted hard cider for the first time in an Aranorian tavern.

"I fell in love," he says. "I had never tasted anything of the kind."

Soon cider became an obsession. He worked three jobs until he could purchase a small orchard outside of Aranor, and then he began experimenting.

"Everyone thinks I have some Japuran secret," he laughs. "Perhaps an exotic spice or magic spell. But there is no such thing. I have chosen apples carefully, and fermented the cider in barrels made of a certain wood. I spent eight days in the forests tasting wood."

When, at the festival, Lord Kashere of Faol tasted the cider, the noble was elated. He swiftly made an offer to Jaaki, and by next passage the cider will find itself being shipped to the New World.

Foxfur Cider, as many of us know, is a local favorite. But the prices will soon go up.

"I apologize to all my drinkers," Jaaki says. "I don’t want the price to go up either, but now it seems I have little choice."

The result? We can all expect Foxfur’s price to double by next passage. It may, after its discovery by Lord Kashere, become a drink only nobles can afford.

Tania

Ko has one of the shortest names found in any culture. He laughs, because although people tease him, he is proud of its meaning.

"Ko means ‘harmony’," he informs us. "And I want to live up to that name."

Ko is considered a genius in Jedda Felsuin. He began his training on the isle of Irutoka at the age of three.

"To write is to lay out the symbols by which most of us interpret the world," he explains. "To make that writing beautiful is to love our symbols – we have created them, but that doesn’t make them bad. Indeed, we should celebrate them, so long as they do not delude us."

His calligraphy and poetry have inspired thousands, both in Jedda and throughout the rest of the Known Lands.

"What grieves me most is the war we have had between Irutoka and Mymé," he goes on. "We are one people. Here we have taken symbols too far, and people suffer because of their clinging. No one should die for a symbol."

With that in mind, Ko is travelling to Mymé with gifts of calligraphy for the Empress and her people.

"I hope that my art can inspire them to peace," he says.

Then he will spend a moon in Mymé writing more poetry before he returns to Irutoka to present similar gifts to the Emperor.

While many think his mission is dreamy and destined to failure, others point out the power of his writing. His poems are often said to contain a sort of magic, and he once, by standing between two warriors and reading one of his poems, stopped a duel that was to be to the death. After his recitation, the two warriors embraced and swore eternal friendship.

This, of course, is a much larger conflict that Ko hopes to stand between, but there can hardly be harm in hoping that his people could be reunited under the influence of the beauty of their own culture.

Lord Kieran

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