Turn 13

In the world of Djemity, news travels fast, borne on the fleetest of Aquienos Ships, flown across the land in Sylphim Floating Isles, or whispered through miles of stone by Teklo Wordsmiths. Of course, as fast as news and official reports travel, rumour and hearsay are quicker to spread throughout the world.

Reports Filtering back from the continent of Balas

“A combined force of Aquienos, Kirlsa and Sylphim troops departed with a view to forming a secure Beach-head…”

“fierce fighting as troops were unloading. The sands themselves ran red with blood. Particular courage and daring was shown by Zubin, Eumelos and Metis when they…”

“The overall victory attributed to Admiral Andar and Warleader Sirana, whilst Admiral Mar deployed to significant effect the so-called Novacannon, firing a dozen shots down to earth, capable of incapacitating/destroying Monoliths with its firepower…”

“General Crailth showed the true worth of the Sylphim in battle, bringing tactical and strategic strikes to weak positions to the enemy rear and flanks. No that is not a joke…”

“the remaining ones surrendered rather than face us…”

“flying, all flying, up, up into the sky…”

Merchants and visitors from the effected races have been courteously ejected from the floating isles, including a large number of Aquienos Navigators recently arrived on some sort of pilgrimage.

From the mouth of Loshar, a Becquerel Storyweaver

And I freely gave of my Skira, letting is flow down into the pool, and all around me thousands did the same, but all was not well at the ritual itself. Though each of the central figures gave freely of their life, the last seemed afflicted so that he doubled over from exhaustion, old man that he was. And all should have continued, save for the lone figure of an Aquienos at the pool's edge. She rushed forward at that crucial moment, and it seems that a great change came over the ritual in the ensuing fight, so that even as she was drawn away by a mysterious Becquerel, the Druid Woden had been slain.

Or so it seemed… for even then the ritual continued and the Arch Druid seemed to come alive again, though what this means for the Seraphol now, I cannot countenance. Tell of this story then, to your children, so that this moment may be know to all…

From the front page of The Word and carried in almost every other Teklo News publication

This morning news emerged from Jerad that Senate Leader Gadram Fra Galt finally succumbed to the long illness which had been afflicting him since before his election to the august and ancient body of the Senate.

Unwilling to show weakness before the enemies of the Teklo and the Allied Peoples of Djemity, The Word can reveal that over the last six months the Senator's illness had become particularly acute, but that, at the Senator's insistence, such information was not disseminated.

The Senator died in the early hours of the morning, after slipping in to a coma in the late evening. He was attended at his bedside by his fiancee Lan Yos Drril, his close political ally Liss Fra Drril and his chief aide, Vito Fra Galt.

In the wake of this death, The Word finds itself in a most unusual state, it is speechless. Have we the art to put in to words the true merit and virtue of Gadram Fra Galt? We are Teklo and so we must try.

The Senator represented what was best of all our people, a selfless dedication to the Words, the Laws and the Divinity of the Teklo. Never did Gadram Fra Galt take one single step back in the defence of that which we hold dear, not even in our darkest hours. We have not seen his like since the Unwriting, and The Word believes that even Senator Liss Fra Drril, who seems set to become the new Senate Leader, will find himself overshadowed by this colossus of our times.

A day before the Funeral of Gadram Fra Galt, Senator Liss Fra Drril is named as Senate Leader

“Hey look at that flashing in the sky! Is that lightning?”

“No, looks more like fire to me. Like the clouds caught ablaze.”

“Heh, you should've been a poet not a fisherman.”

Some time later.

“What the-!? Did you just see that?”

“What, a flying ship falling out of the sky, on fire. Yeah. Yeah I saw it.”

Leaked report from the bureau of information: eyewitness summary.

Then we came to Zur's The Misguided's reading room, following the sound of a scream. When we got there he had clearly been stabbed through the heart, while his two assistants had their throats cut. There was blood everywhere. It was horrible. And worse, they had taken the tablets of divinity!

Official statement from the Bureau

We wish to make it clear that the tablets of Teklo divinity have been safely recovered following the blasphemous acts of The Misguided and the Chimera Metis. Our investigations continue and those with information are encouraged to come forwards.

A Report to the Ways and Means Committee within the Senate, by Scholar Utile Yos Fesst

The years of war have been judged to have rendered several of the traditional industries and trade networks of the Allied Peoples particularly vulnerable to trade shocks, with the exception of the Becquerel, whose isolated and self-sufficient nature have rendered them immune to economic misfortune, but also, of course, economically unproductive. The newfound isolationism of the Sylphim mean that the collapse of trade will not affect them, however, in removing themselves from such, it is expected that their Luxury-Goods based economy will suffer a sharp decline in the standard of living.

With the tidal wave last season causing such wide-spread and serious damage to the Starfall and the continent, these weakened industries and trade networks have all but collapsed with inter-people's trade being all but non-existent currently.

The relatively protected nature of the Deep Mountains from the tidal wave mean that our industries have survived the shock much better than those of the other peoples, however, unless trade is begun once more, it is feared that a severe depression of the living standards of the Teklo people as a whole will suffer.

As per the measures suggested in Appendix III b, an concerted investment on the part of the Teklo Senate and associated Private Investors is judged to have a 73% chance of successfully reviving inter-peoples trade to healthy levels within three years

“I hear Dach notched another one under his belt.”

“Really? The way I hear it t'was the sylphim that slew the Wyrm. Blew its head clean off with a fireball. Probably that Crailth guy, everyone knows he's some sort of secret badass. Oh or maybe that priest Rajan- I hear he's got a mysterious past!”

“Fireball, huh? How's that going to hurt a Wyrm? No it was the Becquerel who done it. I heard from a fellow in the Society- Vandel and Talioc took one apiece.”

“Now that's got to be nonsense. Two Wyrm's inside a day? No chance.”

“Well someone must have killed the wyrm's because I've had a sylphim artist down here requesting three cartloads of faux wyrmscale for celebratory merchandise.”

“I here they brought someone back down on a stretcher too, headed off to the mountains. Still if you're going to a hospital and not a tomb that's pretty good going, right?”

Story passed around all the races

… that it creeps through the doors and windows and towards your bed and as you sleep, strangles you! Seaweed is more dangerous and insidious than any beast imagined and to take this threat lightly is to daily be at risk of death. Fear it, but fight it!

Attributed to Captain Tomah of the New Mosel Navy

… and pledge to combat seaweed wherever it is found …

From a new Teklo history, re-evaluating the figure known as 'Eumelos'

… so that the title of hero is surely inappropriate. As I shall demonstrate in the next few chapters, the actions of Eumelos cannot be considered either honourable by the standards of the Kirlsa, or practicable or ethical by our own. Eumelos remains an remorseful, unthinking and fundamentally dishonourable figure whose lust for personal fame and aggrandizement is truly a chronicle of embellishment and less than moral deeds…

Heard of by an Aquienos trader

… am told that the painting was deemed wrong by its own painter, so that she spent this last month re-evaluating it before repainting and pronouncing it pleasing. The only detail I could discern, was that the scene no longer depicted the Kirlsa Eumelos. And maybe it was better for it…

Gossip in a dockside tavern

Aye, I was sailing between the new continent and Djemity, those be new fishin grounds there. But suddenly the western continent disappeared and reappeared five miles to the west. And my there navigator started monitoring it after that. He says its retreatin wester at about a two mile every week.