-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- ELEMENTAL PARLEY ENDS IN BAFFLEMENT2
- THE SAD STRANGE TALE OF MR. SVOTHI AND HIS REMARKABLE MIRROR8
- MONSTROUS WORMS WREAK INTERNAL, EXTERNAL HAVOC ON ADVENTURERS20
- CREEPING CABBAGES REPORTED NEXT GREAT THREAT TO KESSIA24
- NEWS IN BRIEFE29
- AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. TSUVARI, FORMERLY KNOWN TO THE WORLD AS MR. SVOTHI34
- SCIENTIFIC TRANSACTIONS39
- IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Letters, Essayes, and Opynion49
- FOR THE PUBLIC NOTICE51
- EYE ON KESSIA52
- NEWS OF THE WORLDE53
- AS EYE SEE IT55
- CLASSIFYEDS56
- NOTE FROM THE EDITORS58
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
ELEMENTAL PARLEY ENDS IN BAFFLEMENT
[ Plastered dramatically at the top of the front page and crushing beneath it any text that might try to upstage its position of prominence, a large woodcut of a boulder-flinging elemental is raging through a vast city knocking down inns, clock-towers, tenements, and sheds, and in general setting the reader up for great disappointment given the actual contents of the article that follows. ]
Following a very quiet Summer season in which little more was heard or spoken of concering the dread Ogremoch, Prince of Elementals, nor any additional plans advanced to end the long-running Stand-off between the inflexibly stationary Elemental and the equally well-entrenched Defenders of Kessia, another Expedition was at last sent down to Carhadras Castle to once again confront the cantakerous Creature resident within.
As detailed in the previous Edition of this Publication, a Scheme had been devised between Mr. Guillaumo LaFever, local Student of Wizardry, and Mr. Astolpho Mandel, Spiritualist and Emissary of Duvan, and meant to be carried out with the aid of one Miss Amira bin'Kirane, or, if she should come to her Senses at the last moment or otherwise vanish from the Scene, by availing themselves of whatever other cheerful Victim might readily be found amongst the adventuresome Populace of Kessia. Communications with the Elemental having previously proven not only Fruitless but actually quite Hazardous to one's continued mortal Existence, with Ogremoch displaying far greater interest in tossing sizeable Rocks at any Intruders to his Demesne than in sitting down with them for a peaceable Chat, it was the thought of Mr. Mandel that it might be possible to avoid any such perilous face-to-face Encounter by means of a certain technique of Possession. This technique would channel the spirit of the Elemental Prince into the fragile Body of a Mortal, in this case Miss bin'Kirane, through whom the powerful Being would then be able to speak in a manner Intelligible to those listening, while at the same time being prevented from hurling Boulders at his Interlocutors, if not perhaps Imprecations.
The usual large and rambunctious Crowd turned out to the Stone Quay alongside Carhadras Castle to witness these proceedings of the 9th Daye of Plade, doubtless anticipating the usual sort of merry Mayhem associated with the most perilous summoning Procedures. Once all interested Persons were assembled to satisfaction, Mr. LaFever delivered an Accounting of all that had gone before in the Carhadras Castle affair, including what had been learned regarding the peculiar Circumstances of the Elemental and its Entrapment, and after this had been done Mr. Mandel began with his usual reassuringly Phlegmatic air to draw the Circles needful for the Summoning.
This initial Task complete, Miss bin'Kirane was made to situate herself within the center of the Circle, for the Safety of the onlookers and perhaps the World in general, if not of Miss bin'Kirane herself, and Mr. Mandel began to intone the mystical Phrases that would draw the stubborn Spirit of the Elemental into the elven Vessel awaiting it. Several moments of long Suspense followed, in which the young Woman jerked and shrieked, her Form quite wracked with Agonies as the Soul of Ogremoch took possession of it, until finally she grew still once more and stood before the Crowd much prouder than before, and with a gaze of vast and ancient Rage burning forth through the Eyes which now looked upon them all with elemental Contempt.
Upon being addressed, the Entity now housed in Miss bin'Kirane's body seemed unable or possibly simply disinclined to suppress the immense Wrath which had been building within it for the last however-many Millennia, and expressed to its would-be Interrogators not only its Fury at having been Bound and kept upon this mortal Plane for so long, but also its particular Disdain for being funneled now into a very inferior Vessel, and more generally the massive Hatred and Contempt in which it held them and all their kind. The onlookers in turn did not prove terribly inclined to treat the Being with the Deference or even simple Courtesy which one might more thoughtfully propose to extend to a Creature of unimaginable Power and Mystery, imprisoned against its will by their Forebears for time out of Mind, and in the general way of Kessian happenstance the situation within the Crowd quickly degenerated into something between a Heckling match and a literal Cat-fight, to the point where it began to be a matter of general Despair whether any constructive Exchange might be managed with the Elemental Prince at all, or indeed among any of the Parties present.
The prospects for Communications appearing thusly so Dim should affairs continue in the same Vein, Mr. LaFever offered to meet Ogremoch within Carhadras itself, and speak directly with the Being without the Distraction of a Crowd, a proposal which, if the Elemental did not exactly Welcome it, he at least agreed with remarkable good Grace given the circumstances. And so the young Wizard strode off down the pier to make his way to the Heart of the Citadel, leaving behind him a Restive bunch, along with the very much worn-out but otherwise Whole and restored Miss bin'Kirane.
[ Barring entry into the bailey of the crumbling castle depicted in this woodcut, a pair of massive doors fill an archway in the west wall of the fortress. Long neglected, the iron studs and extended hinges of the doors have rusted into the thick oak boards from which the doors are constructed. To the west, a long stone pier juts out into the waters of the icy lake, and dark reeds and grasses grow up and onto the rocks of the dock. You see two cast iron lanterns set upon the ground, in whose dim light a white circle seems almost to glow softly. Also here is Demon Lord Astolpho of Duvan (standing near a white circle), Apprentice Mage Guillaumo, Apprentice Amira (standing near Guillaumo), Sifu Darthorien, Chirurgeon Consiller Aldan of the Kessian Medical Society, Eleanor, Captain Merow of the Imperial Guard, Ariano, Head Chirurgeon Marian, Lady Miriel (levitating), Chesha, Sir Ashinara, Weston, Solenne, Jurion, Malo, an animated silver-edged teacup, Bariinco, Steward Ansivrien, Rollo, Trantris, Lord Esselyon, Seer of the Night Requiem, and Exquisitor Arcadia.
Amira looks exhausted, her shoulders slumping forward. Darthorien is leaning against the castle wall with his arms folded across his chest. Jurion is basically using Bariinco as a meat shield between himself and any circle-related insanity. Malo stands apart from the group, arms crossed, excepting the occasional scratch of his neck. Requiem stands rigidly off to one side, one hand behind his back, the other resting on the hilt of his sword. ]
It was a long and uncomfortable Time that passed before Mr. LaFever returned, the already uneasy Duration punctuated by ominous Booms and Rumblings emanating from inside the impenetrable Walls of Carhadras Castle, but at last the waiting Crowd spotted the Wizard as he hauled himself from the icy Waters of the Lake and made his way back towards them. There Mr. LaFever, upon having assured those present of the unimpaired Wholeness of his Person, continued to disappoint the Crowd with the News that, while he had gained some manner of Information from the Elemental, he was uncertain as to its exact Meaning, and thus preferred to discuss his Ignorance in private before attempting to convey the results to the Public. Thusly dissatisfied, those present began to depart with discontented Murmurings, and the matter was left shrouded in Mystery for the time being.
Happily enough, however, this Reporter was later privileged to see Ogremoch's message for herself two nights hence, though in keeping with long-standing Tradition, it was found that the Elemental's communication generated more Questions and tentative Hypotheses than anything remotely resembling a definitive Answer or Solution. This message, such as it was, consisted of a very simple Drawing, which the Elemental had executed quite cleverly upon the Earth of Carhardras's courtyard by vigorously Gouging out the Ground with large Boulders, under the watchful Eye of Mr. LaFever. According to the young Wizard's retelling of the strange Encounter, this ingenious act had followed immediately after he had put the Question to Ogremoch of whether the Elemental Prince would allow LaFever and his fellow Mortals to lend their aid in an attempt to send him back to his Homeland, and thus the Drawing may be reasonably assumed to have something to do with Ogremoch's captivity, ambiguous though the Significance may presently be.
This drawing or Diagram produced by the strange Being is reproduced below for the Reader's interest, if perhaps not for his Edification:
[ A very spare and enigmatic illustration follows, consisting of nothing more than an equilateral triangle surrounding a circle, and within the circle, a narrow vertical ellipse. Below the elementary sketch appears the caption "Pictographic Communications with Ogremoch, Prince of Earth Elementals". ]
Though the exact Significance of the Message remains obscured, still it seems a not unlikely Supposition that the Diagram, resembling as it does one of those Astral Sigils used in Summoning, may represent either the Symbology used originally to bind Ogremoch in Ages past, or else that which might be used to set him free from those same Bindings. LaFever reported, however, that when the Elemental was asked whether this was in fact the Rune binding him, the Being became highly Agitated once more, and in his renewed Aggression compelled LaFever to vacate Carhadras in haste, leaving his mortal would-be Saviours to contemplate the Device in Bafflement. Investigations of other Locales in which any Sigil similar to this one might be discovered, including expeditions to the Temples of Vaen and Trost, and to the ancient Temple beneath the latter, have thus far left the Searchers empty-handed.
Mr. LaFever, however, after consulting with his Mentor Mr. Malo Haithcock, has resolved to bring the Puzzle back to the attention of Mr. Mandel, and to hope for this Gentleman's long Expertise in all matters Astral to bring to light some Solution to the problem of the Carhadras Castle Elemental.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
THE SAD STRANGE TALE OF MR. SVOTHI AND HIS REMARKABLE MIRROR
~ Not Only Giving the Particulars of that Fateful Demonstration
~ But Explaining to All and Sundry the Nature of the Mind-Mirror
~ And the Peculiar Circumstances Surrounding Mr. Svothi Himself
Some few of this Publication's most devoted Followers may dimly recall a certain Device, Vedic in nature and purpose, and resembling nothing so much as a large Mirror but meant unlike that quite ordinary object to be a Mirror to Men's Minds rather than to their external Aspect. This device was developed six Yeares ago under the Direction of a Muirish gentleman known to the Townspeople only as Mr. Svothi, given name unknown, yet familiar to them by virtue of his Vedic interests and numerous Eccentricities, not the least of which was the strange Tendency for some of his Appearances in town to be accompanied by Vedic Hallucinations of the most disturbing sort, which inflicted upon certain Persons in his Vicinity some vision or other inevitably involving Serpents. And in fact Mr. Svothi was himself the subject of as much Speculation as was his Mirror, being a man of somewhat mysterious Origins and Circumstances, and, quite unusually for anyone in this fair and garrulous City of ours, but little inclined to speak of himself and his personal History.
~ The Questionable Mr. Tsuvari ~
Not least of the Peculiarities associated with Mr. Svothi was the oft-mentioned Person of a man known only by the name of Tsuvari, from whom letters had more than once been received, presumably in his own Hand, but none could say for certain since the man had never once appeared in Kessian Society that anyone had known of. It was in fact the firm Opinion of Mister Malo Haithcock, who had had more Dealings with Mr. Svothi than most, that Tsuvari was nothing more than the Figment of Mr. Svothi's own fevered Imaginings, and as such had no basis in Reality whatsoever, no such Person ever having actually walked upon Thrael.
According to Mr. Svothi himself, however, Tsuvari, however elusive, was quite real, and he seemed to consider the mysterious fellow something of a Colleague, whom he was always attempting to reach, but in all the years he had been trying, had supposedly never yet been able to. Even considering Tsuvari as a real Person, however, the situation was no less enigmatic, as the Communications received supposedly from Tsuvari himself only served further to obfuscate and confuse matters. Mr. Haithcock had at one point entered into a Contract with Mr. Svothi in regards to his Mirror, which was signed not only by Svothi himself, but also by Tsuvari, who had loaned his name to the Document supposedly as a Witness to Mr. Svothi's signing. Equally disconcerting, the letters formerly mentioned, purported to come directly from Tsuvari, revealed that he was no Colleague of Mr. Svothi's at all, but rather a Tesin'kai Thief-taker in pursuit of Mr. Svothi for terrible Crimes which the latter had committed in Malakvia. Thus he could hardly be considered a friend to the Muir at all, and still less likely to be Witnessing binding Documents for Mr. Svothi, who in any case still claimed to be desperately in search of the man.
In spite of these Missives and Signatures, it had proven always impossible to locate Tsuvari or to communicate directly with him, nor did Svothi ever seem to know anything of his Whereabouts or to have any idea of his Hostile intents, nor was any Light ever shed on the matter during all Mr. Svothi's time in Kaezar. And so while the Circumstances of Tsuvari's perfect elusiveness, combined with a certain air of mental Instability on Mr. Svothi's part, suggested that indeed Tsuvari really was no more than a Figment, still the Truth of the whole affair remained an absolutely impenetrable Mystery.
~ A Mirror Upon the Mind ~
The Mirror itself, being quite an interesting Device if also a somewhat Sinister one, merits greater attention, and the Readers of the Eye will surely forgive further divergence from the News at hand in order to receive a more complete description of the strange Contraption. The notion of the Device was originally conceived some half a dozen Yeares ago, or perhaps longer (only Mr. Svothi himself being able to say for certain how long the Idea had obsessed him), but in any case it was only in the yeare 645 that he was able to further develop his Scheme and bring it to Fruition. This was not done entirely on his own, though under the guidance of his Vision, for much of its design was owed to the Genius of Mr. Haithcock, and its actual Assembly to the ingenuity of Mechanist Iiro Takala.
Just as described in Mr. Haithcock's notes, the Mirror as it ultimately appeared before the World consisted of a highly polished Surface of Amber, of the kind that one commonly finds imbued with the Thoughtnet spell, laid upon a backing of solid Sildok. Its purpose was to divulge the Truth or Falsity of any statement uttered by any Person that might be vedically linked to it, and also to give some additional indication of their internal State, whether roused to Anger in their answering of a certain Question, or lowered to Melancholy by the contemplation of it. Whether the Mirror, through its mental connection to its Subject, might get at the ultimate Truth of his Belief, or if it only could indicate what the Subject himself thought to be true, remains a matter of some Conjecture, though it is this writer's opinion that not even this Device was sufficiently potent as to penetrate to the Beliefs lying at the very heart of the subject's Unconscious, and thereby to ferret out anything that the Subject had obscured most deeply from himself as well as from others. However, in regards to revealing those things which the Subject himself knew to be false or true, angering or grieving, the Mirror proved a perfectly undoubted Success in each of its initial Trials.
However, Mr. Svothi had in the years following this Triumph, disappeared from the View of those who once knew him in Kessia, having by his own account decided to travel about Peregorne and other neighboring Countries to further demonstrate his Device, and to make what living off it that he might, and meanwhile to delve further into the Vedic mysteries along the way. It was only in Ghust of this yeare that Mr. Svothi's perambulations brought him once again to Kaezar, where his unlooked-for reappearance caused a small Stir among his former Acquaintances, not only on account of the unexpectedness of it, but owing also to the fact that he had evidently mastered some of the Wizarding Arts as well, being witnessed to Teleport himself about with as much Alacrity as any dedicated student of the Arcane, yet still having retained all his skills in the Vedic field. Equally interesting was the reason Mr. Svothi gave for returning to Kaezar at this time, this being that he had received a Letter from the ever-elusive Tsuvari, asking to meet with Mr. Svothi and see his Mirror, but with suspicious consistency the Thief-taker, or Colleague, or whoever he might be supposed to be, had failed once again to show himself.
These interesting Developments aside, it seemed to be Mr. Svothi's most ardent Desire to further use or demonstrate his Mirror for the benefit of the Kaezarian populace, appearing quite anxious to make mention of the Mirror whenever he might, though at the same time edging coyly about the Topic as if to discuss the details outright were to constitute a gross Breach of Etiquette. After attempting with little success to persuade some number of Persons to personally serve as test Subjects for the Device, Mr. Svothi was at last convinced to hold a public Demonstration of the Mirror in order to demonstrate its Capabilities and assure the world of its perfect Safety. And it was for just this purpose that a very small number of those Persons invited assembled in the Hall of Convocation beneath Kaezar's own Lyceum on the 10th Daye of Thistle.
~ A Disastrous Demonstration ~
The Demonstration was in fact quite straight-forward, taking as its Subject Miss Eleanor Plaskitt, local Illusionist. Simply by rubbing the Mirror with her Hand and gazing into its Depths, the connexion was forged between Miss Plaskitt's Mind and the Device, and this being done, Mr. Svothi proceeded to question her upon a number of Topics. These questions, however, initially began as the sort that none but Miss Plaskitt herself might know the answer to, thus doing little to demonstrate the Mirror's capacity to discern Truth or Falsity, and Miss Plaskitt's responses proving little more than a certain lack of Safety involved in her own Researches. And while the Mirror produced the soft Chiming sort of noise indicative of Truthfulness when Miss Plaskitt was asked whether it rained in Kaezar, and answered in the Affirmative, it was impossible for those with any remaining Doubts of the Device's accuracy to entirely dispel them when Miss Plaskitt also stated that the sky is Blue, and the Mirror responded with the angry Buzzing indicating a Falsehood. On account of such ambiguity, none could be quite sure if the Mirror were functioning correctly or otherwise, or if Miss Plaskitt's own perceptions of the Sky were simply skewed.
The audience's Uncertainties having thus not been entirely quelled, Mr. Tamerlaine then urged Mr. Svothi to use the Mirror upon himself, and banish once and for all any Doubts regarding its safety. And in case the Reader may find the request Unremarkable, and Acquiescence to it no more noteworthy, it should be stated here that in all the Yeares since the creation of his Masterpiece it had been the strictest Policy of Mr. Svothi never to be himself connected to the Mirror, and despite previous prodding by Mr. Haithcock, he had always most steadfastly refused to personally serve as a Subject to the Device. But for whatever obscure reason, on this night Mr. Svothi acceded to Mr. Tamerlaine's request, and allowed the linking of his own Mind to the Mirror it had created.
The questions to be answered by Mr. Svothi while connected to the Mirror related to the general Distrust which many felt towards it, and were meant to get at the Truth of whether Mr. Svothi himself felt the Mirror was safe, and whether it did in fact work as he claimed it to. Whether the questioning might soon enough have gotten around to the mysterious matter of Tsuvari, and offered any Insights into Mr. Svothi's own beliefs regarding this enigmatic Person, must remain a matter of Conjecture, for no sooner had Svothi passed his Hand across the Mirror's surface, and formed his own Linking with it, than the Device began to rattle and vibrate in a manner that would have been thought fairly alarming, had it not swiftly been eclipsed by Svothi's own reaction to it. Letting out a terrible Shriek and beginning to flail about with great Violence and Terror, Mr. Svothi reeled about the centre of the chamber in uncontrollable Anguish, while the Mirror pulsed and dribbled strangely Serpentine tendrils of Essence, and as Svothi staggered past the Device in his Frenzy, it revealed nothing but a great Snake writhing across the Mirror's surface.
The Audience being naturally a little stunned by the rapid turn that Events had taken, it took some Moments for anyone to collect themselves enough to try to catch hold of Mr. Svothi, or break the Connexion with the Mirror, or in fact do anything but gape in Amazement at the scene playing out before them. In the end whatever course of action might have been aimed at was stopped nearly as soon as it started, as a terrible hissing Cacophony turned into the screaming of Svothi's name, while simultaneously a potent Wave of pure Vedic energies crashed over the Minds of everyone present, and the Mirror exploded with terrible Force, sending bits of fused Amber and Sildok flying across the Chamber, and leaving everyone present reeling in Shock. And this no longer numbered among them the unfortunate Mr. Svothi, for he was utterly gone.
[ Though windowless, this circular hall in this woodcut print is brightly lit by recessed sconces set midway up the gristlestone walls. A carved compass rose decorates the highest point of the gently domed ceiling, which curves above the hall in a smooth sweep of polished white marble. Low spindled oak benches encircle a wide open space in the center of the room, surrounding a tiled mosaic set into the floor, but much of this artistry has been obscured by what looks to be a layer of some dark sooty substance. A gray felt cocked hat lies upon the floor, not very far from a soot-free space that is disturbingly man-shaped. Also here is Malo (staring rather blankly from his seat on a spindle oak bench), an animated silver-edged teacup (skittering about in intense agitation), Jurion (gawking), and Eleanor (likewise).
A short caption beneath the print labels it as "The End of Man and Mirror". ]
The precise fate of the hapless Mr. Svothi was left to deepest Uncertainty, whether he had been utterly destroyed by the Mirror's reaction, or transported off to some other place, or vanished somehow into the Realm of Incorporeality, and all efforts on the part of Miss Eleanor Plaskitt and others to discover his Whereabouts only shrouded the matter still further in Mystery.
~ The Appearance of Mr. No-Face ~
This was not, however, the last to be heard either of Mr. Svothi or his possibly apocryphal Counterpart Mr. Tsuvari, though when Miss Plaskitt traveled to the Vashan city of Koje in search of any additional Clues that might illuminate the fate of the unfortunate Svothi, she found there another peculiar Gentleman instead. Calling himself No-Face in the Vashan tongue, this third strange man wore at all times a Mask to cover his Face, the reason for which he claimed to be on account of some Disfiguration suffered long ago. More oddly still, Mr. No-Face expressed to Miss Plaskitt a great desire to meet personally with Mr. Tamerlaine, who, upon having this information relayed to him, responded to the strange Fellow that if this were the case, he must write Mr. Tamerlaine his own self to make the Request, and not simply send a message roundaboutly through Miss Plaskitt. What Mr. Tamerlaine instead subsequently received was a missive purporting to be from the unquenchable Mr. Tsuvari, likewise exhorting him to travel to Koje, which offer Mr. Tamerlaine studiously declined.
Whatever Tsuvari might be up to, No-Face himself evidently decided to absent himself from Vash and take a trip to Kessia, where he was found attending the Mylywyth Faire in Never during the latter part of Kolbre. Here he was met with by several Persons, who had the chance to view the strangely unsettling Mask of featureless White that obscured his Visage, and with whom he spoke in an animated but perfectly mundane fashion quite at odds with his somewhat Otherworldly appearance. After appearing for several Dayes at the Faire, Mr. No-Face vanished uneventfully once more.
~ Tsuvari At Last ~
After this brief interval in which the odd Affair of Tsuvari, Mr. Svothi, No-Face, and the Mirror seemed to slip into a quiet Lull, the entire Situation suddenly exploded back to the fore with as much peculiar force as the Mirror itself some Weeks before. Only a few dayes into Plade, Mr. Tamerlaine, who had remained in Kaezar despite all epistolary Urgings from Tsuvari, found himself in Conversation with No-Face in the Beer-garden of the Crossroads Inn, where No-Face made it not at all clear whether or not he worked for Tsuvari, but came to tell Mr. Tamerlaine that he was wanted to join Tsuvari in the town of Trapper's Landing, for the confusing Purpose of apprehending the fugitive Mr. Svothi. The rather farcical Exchange, according to Mr. Tamerlaine, proceeded thusly:
"Why did Tsuvari not write to Mr. Tamerlaine a Letter to explain what he was about?" "Mr. Tsuvari did write a Letter, did not Mr. Tamerlaine receive it?" "Why did Tsuvari send to Mr. Tamerlaine at first a glass Eye-ball, with no Explanation, instead of a clear Notice telling him 'Come to Koje?'" "Mr. Tsuvari thought that Mr. Tamerlaine would know the Symbol." "How is it that No-Face happened coincidentally to be an Illusionist as well, and why did he come to Kaezar? Did No-Face not in fact work for Mr. Tsuvari?" "No-Face had decided to come to Kaezar for his own Researches, and did not work for Mr. Tsuvari. No-Face had only happened to see that Tsuvari had come to Kaezar, and No-Face had further just happened to see that Tsuvari had gone to Trapper's Landing, which No-Face thought Mr. Tamerlaine would like to know."
This Conversation having made the Situation precisely as clear as the Mud in which they stood, Mr. Tamerlaine became somewhat Incensed, and told No-Face that if he were not in the Employ of Tsuvari then the peculiar Vashan need have nothing to do with him, and that Tsuvari could come see Mr. Tamerlaine himself and speak to him directly if it were a matter of such great Importance to him. Being told off thusly, No-Face took himself away, and Mr. Tamerlaine took himself out to the Crossroads, but the hands on the Clock-tower had hardly advanced at all before, all unannounced, Mr. Svothi himself appeared in a burst of Essence, and having made this dramatic appearance, capped it all off it by introducing himself as Mr. Tsuvari, at long last.
~ A Grand Debut ~
Though looking very exactly as Mr. Svothi had done, the man's Demeanor and mode of Speech were nothing like anyone had seen or heard from the Muir before, as Mr. Tamerlaine had considerable Opportunity to witness while the gleefully self-proclaimed Tsuvari proceeded through a grand and animated Monologue before the small Crowd that had assembled outside of Breen's. In this, Tsuvari proclaimed his Gratitude to Mr. Tamerlaine for the latter's Role in freeing him from the Captivity of Mr. Svothi's Mind, where he claimed that he had been trapped for many Yeares, and might have remained so for many more, had Mr. Tamerlaine not convinced Mr. Svothi to use the Mirror on himself, thereby providing the Catalyst necessary to effect Tsuvari's escape immediately. Now, Tsuvari claimed, it was Mr. Svothi who was a mental Prisoner and Tsuvari who was free, and this was the Situation as it now stood and, as far as Tsuvari was concerned, as it ought to stand forever more.
As if the circumstances of this Revelation were not already absurd enough, Tsuvari seemed suddenly to arrive at the conclusion that the gathered Onlookers were not a suitable Audience for what Mr. Tamerlaine described as his One-Act Play, and so with no warning whatever he grabbed up Mr. Tamerlaine himself and transported the both of them off to the Mindscape, where he continued his triumphant Soliloquy for some time, at a peaceful Remove from the the Masses. Finally Tsuvari seemed content to wrap up his Monologue, or at least this particular Scene of it, and brought Mr. Tamerlaine back to physical Reality in Never-Upon-Vinre, at which point Mr. Tamerlaine availed himself of the better part of Valor, and returned to Kaezar. But even this did not quite spell the last of the evening's events, as the irrepressible Tsuvari likewise returned to Kaezar, this time flying about the Crossroads in the manner of a mad Wizard, until reportedly being shot at by Miss Plaskitt, and then finally vanishing from his Stage and allowing the Curtain to fall on the night's Drama.
~ Here Today, But Gone Tomorrow ~
Since making his triumphant corporeal Debut and returning to the City once frequented by the Gentleman whose consciousness he had supplanted, Mr. Tsuvari's presence in Kaezar has been somewhat Sporadic, such that one never knows quite when one may encounter him, though as in the case of his Predecessor, it is generally safe to say that such will happen at the most Inopportune moments. Peculiarly enough for any wantonly Mind-snatching entity of obscure Intent, though perhaps finding common Ground with other Residents of Kaezar, Mr. Tsuvari seems to possess no great Ambitions, of either a Benign or Malignant nature, and has thus far even displayed no particular inclination to murder dozens of Innocents, stir Riots, topple Thrones, overthrow Gods, or otherwise send the World hurtling into Madness and Chaos.
In fact it remains entirely uncertain what Mr. Tsuvari may do with his newfound Corporeality, though he has expressed a desire for Fun, which, however Subjective a goal, may certainly be an understandable one following several Decades' worth of being shut up in a stuffy Closet of someone else's Psyche. As for his periods of Disappearance from the City, it can only be asssumed that Mr. Tsuvari has made use of these Intervals to go off to other parts to find this Fun of which he speaks, having found it too severely lacking in Kaezar. What may be the next Act in the strange Tale of Mr. Svothi and Tsuvari is anyone's guess, and may in fact prove itself so peculiar and Nonsensical even to surpass all efforts at Conjecture, such that we may only wait and see.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
MONSTROUS WORMS WREAK INTERNAL, EXTERNAL HAVOC ON ADVENTURERS
On the evening of the 23rd Daye of Thistle, some number of the usual stout-hearted Adventurers procured for themselves the very novel Opportunity of engaging in a dramatic Experience of a sort which had never before made itself so readily available, even amidst the many other wonderfully Harrowing experiences regularly offered by our fair Kingdom, and which none among them could claim to have previously befallen them on any other interesting Occasion, which is to say, that of being eaten alive by a monstrous Worm.
These bold Heroes had removed themselves from the warm spirituous comfort of the Silver Tankard on the night in question to meet their Destiny at the very ends of Thrael, quite literally as it happened, as their Destination proved to be the old Lighthouse erected upon the uttermost Fringes of cliff-top along Seelie Bay just west of the City of Never-Upon-Vinre. There, for the sole and express purpose of saving the poor Souls of two Persons who had traveled via that same Lighthouse to the very Depths of the Ul'Mydar, after having left precautionary Warnings behind them that none should seek to Meddle in this affair since it would surely result in the gravest possible Harm to all involved, the stalwart Adventurers took it upon themselves with pure selfless intent to do so in any case, not acting from any crass Self-interest, nor desire for Novelty, nor for Fame, nor at all for a chance to play out a grand Role upon a heroic Stage, but rather on account of loving those two Persons far too well to allow any Misery to befall them upon any occasion where it might possibly otherwise be prevented, at however dear a Sacrifice, and against whatever Warnings they might have been given against it.
As it happened the means of Passage to the Ul'Mydar was known by a certain man, Mr. Anselm Novak of the Imperial Guard, who had originally accompanied those two previously mentioned on their Journey to the land of the Dead, but had died there and been resurrected once more upon the Mortal Plane in Kaezar, and who had subsequently informed the first Person to step through the door of the Tankard of the events of the night, resulting forthwith in the grand benevolent Expedition to the Lighthouse. And so everyone that had assembled in that benighted Locale for the heroic Occasion began to fiddle about with the strange portal-producing Contraption discovered in the hidden closet-room of the Lighthouse, bringing with them as they did measureless Experience in fiddling with similar strange and inexplicable Contraptions, discovered in similarly hidden-away closet-like Fastnesses, throughout at least the last Dozen years of Kessian history.
Very shockingly to everybody, the Contraption did not however respond precisely as they had hoped; though, also faithfully in keeping with past Experience, the requisite Fiddling did in fact produce a very interesting Effect, by some means that nobody could ever discern nor explain satisfactorily afterwards. For rather than merely opening up a Portal to the nebulous Realms of the Dead, allowing those in the Lighthouse to proceed to that place, it instead opened up a Portal to the nebulous Realms of the Dead, which allowed a number of very aggressive Creatures to proceed through it to the Lighthouse.
Being evidently none too pleased to have the Sancitity of their Domain disturbed so many times in a single Night, these Creatures attempted very heartily to put an end to further Incursions on their Homeland, and as Wave upon Wave of them came crashing against the very thin Ranks of the Adventurers, these latter decided that further assistance was necessary to help solve the Problem that had so unexpectedly and unavoidably befallen them. Thus reinforcements were sent for from Kaezar, and their arrival might have made short work of the entire unlooked-for Invasion had there not appeared on the Scene a Worm of the most Magnificent dimensions and Malevolent intentions, which, in the matter of all such Creatures, began immediately to attack the Adventurers with great Zeal and Vigor. A pitched Battle ensued, which was perhaps more remarkable for Grotesquery than Glory, as a number of valiant Persons were in the course of the Struggle not only swallowed alive and whole by the colossal Worm, but subsquently ejected by the Creature in a manner which we shall leave to the Reader's fertile Imagination to envision, but at last all Obstructions being passed, the terrible Monster was overcome, and the spent Adventurers were free to return to Kaezar in perfect Triumph.
This was not, however, to be the last that ever was seen of the great Worm's kind, for on the 6th Daye of Kolbre a very peculiar Phenomenon was reported by two of those who had been among the group that had been devoured by the monstrous Beast. Miss Arcadia De'Alera and Mister Ariano Azor'i were passing another evening peacefully at the Silver Tankard when both began to experience a most odd and disturbing Sensation, this being described as a sharp Pain in the Belly, followed by a Voracious Appetite, which could only be appeased by the Gorging of a significant quantity of items from the Tankard's menu. Though the Proprietress of the Establishment was perhaps pleased by the development, it was naturally viewed with somewhat greater Distress by Miss De'Alera and Mr. Azor'i, but neither knowing quite what to make of it, and the fierce Pangs having finally eased, the matter was uneasily laid aside until the next night.
This following evening the News of this strange event was relayed to Captain Merow Ghurak of the Imperial Guard, who, even as he listened to the Tale, began thereupon to exhibit the self-same Symptoms complained of the previous night by Miss De'Alera and Mr. Azor'i. The latter two also then experiencing a Resurgence of their own Pains, and Mr. Azor'i additionally having the even more Unsettling sensation of a wriggling motion inside of his Belly, the entire group of Sufferers made their way to the Benton Memorial Hospital in hopes of discovering the Source and Remedy of their Pains.
As it happened, this was in fact soon discerned, and indeed a Remedy also discovered, though perhaps not in the manner that might have been hoped, for it was reported that here the Bellies of the Afflicted exploded to expel a veritable Host of Worms, resulting quite surely in the Victim's cleansing, but also even more surely in their Deaths. A quantity of the writhing Beasts were subsquently dispatched by Mr. Marian Quinnley, Dame Elli Sojourner, and others present, but some number escaped even the diligent Smitings of these doughty Warriors, burrowing their way into the Dirt of the Hospital's gardens and disappearing entirely from Sight. Happily for the former Sufferers, however, they were returned from the Realms of the Dead to find themselves evidently quite free of Pests of the internal supernatural variety, which up until the present Daye have not elsewhere been seen or heard from any more.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
CREEPING CABBAGES REPORTED NEXT GREAT THREAT TO KESSIA
The Kaezarian Eye has been soberly informed by a local Agriculturalist that the next great Menace imminently facing the entire Kingdom is that of the heretofore unsuspected, but infinitely subtle and Conniving, Creeping Cabbage. Mr. Trevor Grevy, grower of Cabbages in addition to various other Articles of Produce on his Farm near the Trenkin Trail south of Kaezar, sent word at the very beginning of Winte to the Offices of the Eye, that a Reporter must come to his Farm straightaway in order that not a moment more be lost in warning the Public of the grave Threat posed by these Entities to the World, and so with all due haste this writer made her way down the Trail to investigate.
Upon my arrival, Mr. Grevy explained that while he had suspected the Cabbages of harboring secret and malicious Designs upon Civilization before this time, it had only been with the appearance in the last Edition of the account of the vicious Knife-grass plants of Kemstead Abbey, that the full and shocking Truth of the matter had dawned most horrifyingly upon him. Indeed, he said that though the Cabbages had clearly become possessed of a low vegetal Cunning and a degree of animation not usually found in Cabbages, and whose aims the average run of Mortals could never grasp, even he had not previously guessed at what they might be capable of until the reports from the Abbey.
Mr. Grevy reported, however, that for the better part of his career he had felt no suspicions whatever towards his Cabbages, nor indeed anything but Affection and perhaps a trifle of Consternation whenever the Leaf-wilt had put the Mischief into them, until nearing the Harvesting time two yeares ago. It was in those weeks, he said, that he first began to feel the oddest Sensation whenever he would go out to check on the progress of his Crop, as if he were being observed by unkindly Eyes all around him in the Field, though no Creature of any kind, natural or otherwise, did he ever see. At the same time there kept coming to his Ears a most peculiar rustling, creaking noise, "like to the peeling off the Leaves of a Head of Cabbage," or even "a sort of thief-like Whispering," though again no Animal or Person could ever be spotted to account for it, only the rows upon rows of Cabbages that, though appearing perfectly Still whenever his Eye was upon them, seemed to assume very slightly different Stations each time he came anew to the Fields.
Finally Mr. Grevy became so disturbed by his trips to the Cabbage-fields, that he had the vegetables harvested before they had even reached the full peak of their Growth, and even though, as he stated, Mr. Bleddersoe's own Cabbages to the west were grown to three-quarters the size of a Bull's head, and sure if Mr. Grevy's own would not have outpaced those as they had every yeare before. But, he averred very solemnly, it was necessary to be done, for though he could find little substantial Evidence for his Fears, still he was quite certain that they were not remotely unfounded, and with the Seasons that followed he became only more convinced that his Cabbages had got in them what he had begun calling the Creep, and which he had called this writer out expressly to record and report upon.
[ Two woodblock illustrations appear here, laid out side by side on the page, and labeled respectively "2nd Winte 651" and "4th Winte 651". On one side is the image of a field full of cabbages. On the other side is the image of.. a field full of cabbages. The second image shows a sky slightly freer of clouds, and something that might be a dog is visible along the far back fence-row, but on the whole the two prints look to be something like a children's game of Spot the Difference. Is one cabbage a little farther to the left than it had been in the first picture? Has another assumed a slightly more sinister angle in the middle of its row than it had before? The uncertainties presented by the pair of pictures are deeply ominous. Maybe. ]
To account for the sudden acquisition of Malevolent impulses throughout his Cabbage stock, Mr. Grevy presented what he said ought to be sufficient Explanation for any such peculiar Phenomena of malign vegetable Intent. He then related how, following the slaying of the gargantuan Pumpkin-monster of 649, the remains of the enormous Beast had been left for the hapless Husbandmen and Farmers of the Trade-route to deal with as best they might, and furthermore, how many among them, including his own self, had found some Advantage in what was otherwise a rather colossal inconvenience, in hacking up some quantity of the Pumpkin-flesh to spread as Compost on some of the nearby Fields.
Whatever of the Pumpkin-monster had not been put to this use, Mr. Grevy said, had then been burned in great Heaps, the which emitted a very noxious and stinging Smoke that settled in a heavy sooty Pall all about the surrounding areas. This none had expected, and it was the Opinion of Mr. Grevy and some others that a bout of strange Fits and Hallucinations that had broken out locally, and had at the time been ascribed by most to the evils of Witchcraft, had in fact been a consequence of breathing in the malign Vapors of the burning Pumpkin. Mr. Grevy's neighbor later having had read to him the portion of the Newspaper telling of the Naje in the Creature's flesh, and the role this might have played in the thing's monstrous Sentience, he was now as convinced as he ever had been of anything in his life, that this must be the Source of the terrible Creep which his Cabbages now displayed to those attentive enough to take Notice.
When asked whether it were not at least as unusual simply to have a field of full-grown Cabbages in the first part of Winte at all, Mr. Grevy replied that "nay, them Cabbages had always been up this time of the yeare. Sometimes they is Green cabbages, and sometimes they is Purple cabbages, and in years where the rains come too heavy they is Green or Purple cabbages with funny little Spots on that look like the Pox, but never ye fear, they be just as healthy as any other kind of Cabbage, which truly are Beade's gift to Man-kind until they be possessed by the Creep." His Wife affirmed that this was in fact quite the usual manner of things, and nothing any more out of the Ordinary way than the Apple-orchards that produce all the year round in any part of Kemstead or Briarbrook that one may wish to see, and swiftly steered the subject back onto the dread Creep, and what might be done about it, which none seemed very sure of.
Before I departed to transfer this tale to parchment, Mr. Grevy was kind enough to provide the Eye with an illustration, done by his own Hand, and showing the dire Fate which one might expect to meet with from the Cabbages, should they not be stopped in their dread inexorable Creep across Kessia:
[ The woodcut that appears here looks to have been reproduced from a hand-drawn sketch of three separate strips, from an artist of not quite so much talent as imagination. The first strip shows a figure with dark messy hair, quill in one four-fingered hand and a squarish blob that might be a camera in the other, standing in a field filled with more blobs that are quite obviously cabbages, because they are labeled "CABBAGES" in large dark letters with helpfully pointing arrows. The panel beneath shows a surge of the ominous blobby cabbages overwhelming the dark-haired figure, toppling it over and threatening to bury it beneath their hungering mass. The third and final strip reveals a stick-like skeleton stretched out on the ground in place of the figure, while the dark agglomeration of angry blobs can be seen now stretched out en masse across the back of the picture, advancing on the huddled walls of a distant helpless city. ]
So in the Words of Mr. Grevy, let this be a Warning to those who might grow too Complacent, and worry only about those more obvious Evils in the world such as Veil Lords and Elemental Princes and ancient Zu'Wrathes, when the true Peril may lurk nearly at their very Door-steps, unseen, unwatched for, and waiting only for the right moment to Creep up, fall upon Civilization, and obliterate it from Thrael, forever.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
NEWS IN BRIEFE
While this yeare's Mylywyth brought the usual complement of waywardly roaming Spirit creatures, ill-tempered Zombies, and other moderately restive Souls, the Season was an unusually peaceful one whose chief interest perhaps lay in the arrival of the annual Mylywyth Faire in Never-Upon-Vinre. Having apparently made the journey free of the Persecutions of eerie horse-headed Spectres, or the Attentions of any other supernatural Beasties, the courageous Faire-folk brightened the Mylywyth Season for eager Kessian shoppers with their usual spectacular Array of unique and well-crafted Wares.
Although lacking certain of the Arcane Artefacts, specialized Armors, and warmer articles of Apparel offered in previous Yeares, the Faire was generally accounted to have quite made up for this by the Debut of both new Vendors and Items, as well as the return of old Favorites, including a rare assortment of the finer Breeds of Horses not seen since the grand Horse Faire of 649. In addition to these interesting Dealers, this Faire brought the return of the ever-popular Raffle-Table, featuring chances to win such extraordinary items as a magical Sword contained within a bit of Jewelry, a great mechanical Maul forged entirely of Meteoric Iron, and even an exotic Lizard from the Jungles of Ziguran, called a Goana and won by Mr. Miraklin Reliandrill, a picture of which we will leave the Reader to contemplate to his Edification.
[ Standing nearly as high as a dwarf, the sleek reptile shown in this print has a long, snake-like neck covered in small scales and loose folds, which supports a blunt, wedge-shaped head with high nostrils and heavy-lidded, pale eyes with slit pupils. Lean and gourd-shaped, with a scaly hide that shades from light to dark and topped with dark, transverse dorsal banding reminiscent of delicate lace, its body is supported by four muscular legs ending in curved claws. Its tail is longer than the rest of the creature combined, laterally compressed, and bears two sharp dorsal ridges. Improbably enough, the bizarre creature is decked out with a pair of stitched leather reins and an embossed tan leather saddlebag over an embossed gray rabuskin saddlebag, as if somebody had thought it could actually be a good idea to ride this monstrosity. ]
~ * ~
The notorious Vulfen Bariinco, arrested early in the Yeare 650 on charges of Aggravated Assault Against a Servant of the Imperium, and subsequently having escaped from the Kaezar Gaol under very mysterious Circumstances, and for the last Yeare and Half existing under a Writ of Outlawry, was spotted in attendance at the Mylywyth Faire in Never-Upon-Vinre this past 25th Daye of Kolbre, and swiftly apprehended by the Imperial Authorities. It was reported that he accompanied the Guard calmly and without any Resistance, far more of this being offered by Lord Trantris Esselyon and others of the prisoner's Friends, at seeing a member of their Household placed under Arrest. Upon arriving at the Kaezar Gaol, Mr. Bariinco had a Request for Pardon written up on his behalf by Miss Leniri Nandrae, and thereupon submitted to the Regent.
Despite a sizeable Record of past Offenses, Mr. Bariinco was shortly after released into the Custody of Lord Esselyon, under the Stipulation that the Vulfen not attempt to flee from the Kingdom, nor evade the Audience that had been planned to decide his ultimate Fate, at the Regent's pleasure. If either were to take place, his Writ of Outlawry was to be immediately reinstated, and the Imperials granted leave to kill him upon Sight. As of the time of this writing the Audience had yet to be be held, and a decision regarding Mr. Bariinco is thus still to be reached, and so the Reader is advised to keep a Look-out for new Developments regarding the Vulfen's Fate, as well as further Details of the Affair, which the Eye shall publish as such become available.
~ * ~
Making a surprising appearance of his own during the Mylywyth Faire was Junior Guardsman Lucas Belmonte, well known to Readers of this Publication for the integral Role played this past Ghust in the recovery of a fine-blooded Destrier stolen from the Royal Stables. Guardsman Belmonte, who had gotten off to such a promising start with his level-headed and resourceful Investigations of that Crime, had disappeared shortly thereafter, to the great Regret of all those who had hoped to follow his promising Career with the Guards for a long while yet.
As it happened, however, the reason for his Vanishment was not the customary sudden Dereliction of Duty with which Imperials and Newspaper offices alike are so familiar, but rather the result of a simple Journey gone terrible awry, as Guardsman Belmonte related. A simple mission of filial Piety was disastrously interrupted, as a trip to visit his Mother for her Birthday turned with swift Horror into a coup by the Orcish forces, who captured the luckless Belmonte and held him in their Thrall for two Months before he was able finally to Effect his escape, though without any of the Weapons, Armor, or other Equipment that had been on his Person at the time of his Capture.
Since making his miraculous Escape and Reappearance in Never, Guardsman Belmonte has subequently not been seen again, and we at the Eye eagerly await the next breathtaking Tale of his latest thrilling Captivity.
~ * ~
A new drinking and dining Establishment has opened in Kaezar at the corner of Avanil and Memorial Walk, doubtless stirring up much consternation among the Proprietors of existing such businesses, who had likely thought themselves beyond the reach of any such additional Competition as might necessitate a change in the frequency with which they cleaned their dishware, or insulted their Customers. Advertising itself as "The Premiere Kessian Public House,"as well as "A Proper Kivian Establishment," in order to distinguish itself from the many Dwarvish, Haefdinish, and Improper Kivian Establishments dotting the Town, the Pickled Vulfen opened its doors to the Public on the evening of the 23rd Daye of Ghust. Here the first eager Inspection of the menu revealed a Bill of Fare replete with traditional dishes from Kessia, Mennailecht, and Kitzkannaugh, which are sure to delight the Palate of all those who have been pining sorely for such toothsome fare as Pigeon Pie, Bangers and Mash, Haggis, and Jellied Eel.
While usually the Tavern itself is of far more surpassing interest to the local Populace than the Proprietor who runs it, in this case it must be noted that the Owner is in fact none other than Kessia's own Sir Martaigne Shardleigh, which must grant to Kaezar the unique Honor of possessing a Pub owned and managed by a Knight of the Realm. For this Novelty alone, it is highly recommended that all and Sundry make their way to the Doors of the Pickled Vulfen to partake of its Comforts and sample its Wares, though it must be noted that any of the furred Races, having gotten this far, will be promptly turned away at those same Doors or suffer a worse Fate still, following the Establishment's well-advertised and helpfully illustrated Policy.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. TSUVARI, FORMERLY KNOWN TO THE WORLD AS MR. SVOTHI
As the Reader has learned from the Article appearing earlier in this Edition of the News, Mr. Tsuvari, once thought only to be a Delusion of Illusionist and maker-of-mirrors Mr. Svothi, has staged a Coup within the Psyche of that unfortunate Gentleman, overthrowing the latter's Consciousness and shoving it aside into some stuffy Pocket of what used to be Svothi's very own Mind. This reporter was fortunate to encounter the newly liberated Mr. Tsuvari in Kaezar one night, and to be able to speak with him for a short interval regarding his interesting Existence, the results of which are presented here for the Reader's perusal.
This Interview took place late in the evening on the 6th Daye of Plade, in the Riverside Park of Kaezar.
~ * ~
Tsuvari: Oh, hello there. Good to see you as well.
The Eye: Who are you supposed to be, then?
Tsuvari: Oh, isn't that the question that plagues us all, I mean, metaphysically who are any of us? I'm Tsuvari. Naturally.
Eye: Naturally. Why are you here? Pragmatically rather than metaphysically speaking.
Tsuvari: In this here park?
Eye: In this park, in this city, in that body, in this world..
Tsuvari: Oh, in this world.
Eye: You didn't used to be, after all.
Tsuvari: I don't know, people seem to get so upset when I start talking and trying to sort it out for them. I'm surprised, hurt really, that you don't recognize me. We've met before. When Mr. Svothi was trying to help you. Oh Svothi, what a bore.
Eye: On the contrary, I remember there being a different presence in his mind. One unlike the rest of him.
Tsuvari: Oh, I should think I am not like him at all. But yes, you're on to something. I've been here, with all of you, for a while actually, you just didn't know it as much.
Eye: How long?
Tsuvari: I imagine as long as Svothi began working with vedic magic.
Eye: Why then?
Tsuvari: Why? Because the occasional sputters of vedic magic isn't enough. You try having a window to the world in a person who doesn't even know you are there.
Eye: Where did you come from, then?
Tsuvari: [taps his head] In here of course. Where Svothi is now.
Eye: Ah. You sprang fully formed from inside of Svothi's skull. How mythic.
Tsuvari: Like I said, it took a while to even know myself.
Eye: Do you know yourself now?
Tsuvari: I feel as if I know myself as if I am fully alive now.
Eye: You're doing better than most of us, then.
[ The interviewee here performed an overly dramatic effort at a pirouette, not very succesfully on point, and demonstrating very little other than his unstable state of mind. ]
Eye: But -what- exactly are you? Most people don't come from inside someone else's head, you know.
Tsuvari: What do you want to hear? That I am a split in his personality? That's much too demeaning.
Eye: I'd like a coherent explanation for your origins. I'm not sure if a split in his personality suffices.
Tsuvari: I don't have all the answers myself, but Svothi did not exactly have what one would call a great upbringing. I'm sure some of those studies of his father helped set this all in motion.
Eye: Ah yes. His odd, mysterious father. The one who imprinted arcane magics on him, or something to that effect.
Tsuvari: Oh, so you know more than I thought. How do you know this?
Eye: Because I'm an all-powerful vedic, you know.
Tsuvari: Small matter.
Eye: Do you know everything that Svothi does?
Tsuvari: I know most, because I've been watching. He didn't know about me... maybe still doesn't.
Eye: Do you have access to his own thoughts? His own consciousness? Or just whatever he perceives?
Tsuvari: I've pushed his consciousness aside.
Eye: But before?
Tsuvari: Oh, no no no. You're off the path now. He couldn't see anything of me. He honestly had no idea what people were going on about with those snakes.
Eye: Perhaps, but I was asking what -you- could know of him. It's not necessarily reciprocal. And yes, what -was- going with the snakes?
Tsuvari: [with obnoxious exuberance] That was me! I'll spell it out and maybe you'll begin to understand.
Eye: Yes, why don't you.
Tsuvari: Svothi was a homebody who wanted to know more about the mind. A bit ironic if you ask me. He spent decades trying to learn more about vedic manipulations and manifestations. But in the meantime, I did too. And at some point I was able to manifest enough power outside of him to influence those around him.
Eye: And you chose snakes.
Tsuvari: Among other things. But you are far too ahead.
Eye: At your own pace, then.
Tsuvari: Through one of his experiences with his research subjects I was able to guide him toward creating that mirror. You all thought he was a quack, but it worked. It's just that it had in its designs some functions he didn't really conceive of.
Eye: Do tell.
Tsuvari: It was meant to reveal the true self, beyond what conciousness itself fails to believe. He didn't understand there could be two conciousnesses. Mr. Haithcock helped create the mirror, and all the while I had to work to raise questions about Svothi's character, so he would eventually use it.
Eye: What, Svothi would have seemed inherently sane and stolid and trustworthy without you?
Tsuvari: Oh, just an eccentric. If you trusted him, there was no way he was going to ever have to prove himself with the mirror. I was trying to tell Mr. [Jurion] Tamerlaine how indebted I am to him. I don't think he's any closer to realizing though. Or Mr. Haithcock, for that matter.
Eye: A pity, I don't think either of them cares.
Tsuvari: Boooring. Just like Svothi.
Eye: How exactly did the mirror work to release you, though?
Tsuvari: Hm, this is hard to explain. The mirror worked by revealing to the user and those around them the truth, even if it were unfathomable. I was unfathomable to Svothi, and that pure disbelief was the ultimate barrier to my manifestation. He had no concept of me.
Eye: Evidently not. So you rose up and shoved Svothi into the mental pocket you had previously occupied yourself? Or is he relegated to a different sort of existence?
Tsuvari: He's in there, yes. He's only slowly coming to realize the full implications, of course.
Eye: Can he perceive everything that you can, as you could in his place?
Tsuvari: I imagine he has a lot of time before he'll understand exactly what happened.
Eye: Then didn't you just explain it to him?
Tsuvari: Fat luck it'll be for him. It took me over a hundred years to even be able to manipulate things around us.
Eye: But he's still got all his own vedic experience and knowledge. What's to prevent him from fighting for supremacy of his mind against you, if -your- primary barrier was only his disbelief?
Tsuvari: It's a very good question. [looking pensive] Perhaps he is still in shock, but I like to think he isn't as strong as I am.
Eye: Ah well. Who can say. Regardless, what is it that you mean to do with yourself?
Tsuvari: Oh, have some fun of course. Research is so boring at times. I can do without it for a long while.
Eye: Ah. 'Fun'. Drink ale in the tavern, play some Fhiven's Travels, go picnicking..
Tsuvari: Something like that. Something.
Eye: You aren't going to elaborate? Or you really haven't decided yet?
Tsuvari: I had thought maybe Tamerlaine would provide some amusement, but he's a dreadful fraidy-cat. How was I supposed to know he wouldn't come to Koje?
Eye: What was the point of that anyway?
Tsuvari: Fun, of course.
Eye: Fun is a very vague and subjective pastime.
Tsuvari: You know, that mirror may have actually helped him with Crayne.
Eye: Is that so?
Tsuvari: If Crayne isn't crazy, it'd reveal it pretty quickly, and if Crayne was crazy it'd at least help get to the bottom of what he truly believes. But it's a moot point now.. I'm not creating that thing again. I have no use for it. I'll have to find a new hobby now, though.
Eye: Do you have any ideas?
Tsuvari: Mr. Tamerlaine is proving much too strained as of late.
Eye: Ah. So who are you going to have fun with if Tamerlaine won't play? The Plaskitt woman?
Tsuvari: Oh, she's interesting, but not in the same way.
Eye: Oh? Why is that?
Tsuvari: I'd engaged her to make a gift for Mr. Tamerlaine, but he's being such a bother now.
Eye: A gift?
Tsuvair: It's too fanciful to recall now, if it will never come to be.
Eye: A pity.
Tsuvari: She shot at me the other day.
Eye: Pistols?
Tsuvari: Yes, yes.
Eye: Why?
Tsuvari: Oh, probably taken aback by the whole nasty reveal. They all thought I kidnapped Mr. Tamerlaine too for that matter.
Eye: How melodramatic.
Tsuvari: Very.
Tsuvari: So you've got enough for your story then?
Eye: Is there anything you would like to add?
Tsuvari: Some things are best left to mystery.
Eye: Aha. How fitting. You know, most people aren't so cooperative when it comes to newspaper reporting.
Tsuvari: You asked, I'm only happy to oblige.
Eye: I do have one last question. For now. Why 'Tsuvari'? Does it mean anything?
Tsuvari: Aside from having a nice ring? Not everything has got to have symbolism, you know.
Eye: No, but people like symbols. Whether it's got a certain etymology, or it represents a concept, or even if it's just some name one heard on the streets and liked.
Tsuvari: I'd hate to stir people's imaginations to anything more sinister than they're already inclined, for now.
Eye: As you say then.
Eye: Oh. Two other questions. Are you the same as No-Face? The man with the mask?
Tsuvari: I wonder where he went. I can't tell you everything.
Eye: You -could-. Telling everything is always an option. And a very agreeable one at that.
Tsuvari: You'll never come back for more then.
Eye: No, I would, because I'd think of addenda to the everything. But I take it that's permission to find you and ask you more questions any time?
Tsuvari: Sure, come by again.
Eye: Very good.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
SCIENTIFIC TRANSACTIONS
Accounts of Research Undertaken
For the Advancement of Knowledge in Kessia
~ * ~
[Managing Editor's Note: The following brief dissertation is meant to expound upon the Theory underlying Mr. Guillaumo LaFever's recent experimentations in the field of Pauz Port Magics, as demonstrated to the Public this past 30th Daye of Dien, and reported in the previous Edition of the Eye. ]
ON THE TELEPORTATION OF OTHERS
Exploring the bounds of the Via Pauz Port Circle
As Prepared by Guillaumo LaFever
.oOo. Fundamentals of Pauz Port Magicks:
The road of Pauz Port is a well-studied circle amongst wizards and the more intellectual alchemists. Inertial Magicks deal with the magick of movement and the restriction of the same. This spell list contains several movement and teleportation spells -- as well as a few spells which prevent any sort of magickal transportation. This is a very storied via and many of its spells are well known amongst the general public.
.oOo. Effects on the Weave:
Although still quite mysterious in its workings, the Via Pauz Port set of spells focuses mainly on the practical applications essence has for or against physical movement. Unlike the Via Ful Flux set, the spells utilized in Via Pauz Port are derived from extensive manipulation of essence. Yet, the essence still retains the ability to flow through and amid the target, causing local changes in reality.
.oOo. On Teleportation:
The spell, known in Kivian as "Teleport" is taught at the Lyceum by Praetor Mercuria. The original instruction taught only the magic words Via Pauz Port Bin. This allows the caster to focus the energies of spell to an individual and arrive at their location through the bending of time and space.
After invoking Via Pauz Port Bin, whorls of essence flow up and surround the caster. After a few moments the essence field will either prove to be unstable and collapse, or, it will explode and send the caster to the target destination. This near instantaneous movement is achieved by two forces working in tandem.
The first force is interacting with the weave directly to bend spacetime between the caster and the target. This bending effectively reduces the distance between the two points to the width of a hair. The second force is the accumulation of essence that gathers around the caster. Once prepared, this essence build-up bursts with just enough force to shunt the caster to the target.
Having worked more closely with Praetor Mercuria's understudies they have taught me an improvement on the standard teleportation spell. This improvement is Via Pauz Port Vel Bin Mar Ul. The inclusion of Vel prior to Bin allows for a more rapid bending of spacetime. Furthermore, the inclusion of Mar Ul has allowed the spell to target permanent objects such as the Arcane Monoliths.
.oOo. On the Teleportation of Others:
Via Pauz Port Bin has a long and storied history and one key component of that is that the magicks will only affect the caster and nobody else. Unlocking the key to having the magicks affect one's friends has long been an ambition of Pauz Port study.
Currently when Via Pauz Port Bin is invoked the bend in space will always occur and essence will always gather around the wizard, however, the behaviour is varied depending upon the circumstance the wizard finds themselves in.
If the Wizard is among friends, the whorls of essence will only gather around caster and will shunt them away without the remainder of their party. Additionally, if the wizard finds themselves in a position where they are carrying another, the whorls of essence will still gather, however, when the essence bursts it has insufficient force to shunt both the wizard as well as the companion to the other destination and as a result both will remain and the spell will fail.
Of particular interest is that on one academic expedition with Mister Haithcock he was able to transport himself as well as well as me via the Mindscape. When invoked he used the magic words of Via Dram Sani Port Omn Por Sani. Isolating the words of interest to this research, it would be to examine the use of Port Omn.
Application of the additional magic words should first and foremost be applied to the advanced teleportation spell using Via Pauz Port Vel Bin Mar Ul. Since the intent of the spell is to move a number of targets simultaneously we should consider the removal of the magic word Vel. This should slow down the evocation of the spell and allow time for more essence to gather.
Furthermore, augmenting Bin with Omn may allow the greater concentration of essence to shunt the caster's party in addition to himself at one time. This would results in the magic words, Via Pauz Port Omn Bin Mar Ul.
On the 30th of Dien, 651, a public experiment was conducted using Via Pauz Port Omn Bin Mar Ul. The experiment was conducted at the Lyceum Kiosk in the City of Kaezar, targeting the local Arcane Anchor using both an individual assistant as well as group of roughly a dozen.
In both circumstances the spell was invoked which led to a gathering of essence flows around the gathered body, however, the essence simply dissipated prior to the expected explosion. This led to the gathered body not being shunted to the Arcane Anchor.
My research and notes on the failed experiment were turned over to Praetor Mercuria and her staff. Evaluation of my theories, combined with additional research conducted by the Lyceum, resulted in the eventual breakthrough on the new spell. In the end, the invocation of Via Pauz Port Vel Bin Mar Ul Omn proved sufficient in moving a gathered body of individuals to an Arcane Anchor.
This spell has since been known colloquially as Group Teleportation. At this time the limitations of the spell seem to be identical to Via Pauz Port Vel Bin Mar Ul, and are sufficient for safe, public use.
~ * ~
The Discovery of a Rare and Extraordinary Beast
Described for the Interest of the Curious Public
As Submitted by Siovanhe Haithcock
On the 30th Daye of Plade I was quite fortunate to encounter a very wondrous creature, which I discovered at the end of my fishing-line at the conclusion of a quiet evening's worth of angling at the fishing pier along the Nakagawa River, a short distance north and west of the city of Koje in the Vashan Empire. Up to this point the night's endeavors had produced nothing at all out of the usual way, only the sorts of river fishes that one may normally expect to capture on any given night, but then very unexpectedly, after having snagged my line so firmly that I thought it should snap in two and my hook be lost to the mire, I managed to yank it free once more and found the very marvellous and extraordinary animal illustrated below on the end of my line:
[ For any readers who might have been expecting something more in the nature of mermaids, aquatical chimeras, shark-headed fish-men, or all-devouring sea monsters, the illustration that follows may prove something of a let-down; nevertheless, for anyone of more generous interests the little animal featured is certainly peculiar enough when portrayed at the scale and level of detail with which its portrait has been executed here.
Its gellid transparency interrupted only by the bioluminescent white glow of its internal organs, gills and glossy black compound eyes, this tiny crescent-shaped shellfish has a thin, transparent exoskeleton trimmed with a multitude of delicate feeding and grooming legs. Long, filament-fine antennae top its delicate carapace, and five sets of swimmerets extend fan-like from the tail, granting it a means of propulsion. Apparently reproduced from a sketch, each feature of the little animal has been represented with obvious care, with each part from feelers to stomach to swimmerets labeled meticulously. ]
As may be seen from the picture, this odd little beast would seem from its general appearance to possess some relation to the Shrimp which one may commonly find fresh-caught from the sea in many fish-markets and eating establishments in both Vash and Kessia. However there are certain other characters that set the new creature apart from these, one of these being the more pronounced character of the head, as opposed to the common shrimp, on whom inspection reveals the head to be somewhat more fused to the next section of its body. Additionally this new creature is much more delicate in appearance, with a far more gracile body type compared against the stocky Shrimp, and possessing a series of ten small feathery legs or pseudo-legs, five on either side of its body, in place of the sturdier appendages of the Shrimp. The new creature also holds its body in a more elegantly linear fashion, while the Shrimp shows a tendency to curl up its tail in such a manner as to give it a hunch-backed appearance. This marvel of an animal is additionally quite transparent, much like the Clearfish commonly caught in Kessian waters, and unlike the Shrimp showing a pinkish pigment only in a few small spots around the gills and above each little pseudo-leg that graces its body. What exactly may be the significance of transparency, either in this creature or in familiar ones such as the Clearfish, remains uncertain.
It should be noted that this creature was caught from the gently flowing waters of the Nakagawa River, and after something of a struggle. One look at this creature is enough to show that it can hardly be held responsible for the difficulty of its capture, nor has its subsequent behaviour revealed any unexpected capacity for vigorous defense or astounding strength all out of proportion to its diminutive size. Consequently it seems likely that the line had merely become snagged on some object in the stream, or perhaps in the muck and stones lining the stream bottom itself, which may indicate that this little beast prefers to make its home in out of the way nooks and crannies, where it is generally unlikely that it will be caught even by the more determined anglers, excepting in the cases of extreme Luck. Alternatively, it is possible that Luck may in fact account for all the circumstances involved in catching the creature, that there is no relevance whatsoever to the matter of the stuck line, and that the primary reason the creature is so infrequently caught is because it does not typically inhabit these waters, usually residing in some other zone entirely, and only being brought to this spot chancely by means of currents.
Inquiry among the local fisherman and sea-food stalls revealed regrettably little. There were a few among them who said that they had in fact seen such creatures as this one before, but only rarely, and that they knew nothing of them but that they were edible cooked or raw, a claim which this writer is deeply skeptical of. Regardless of their debatable merits as foodstuffs, the creatures were never caught in such quantity as to make them attractive to the owners of the stalls and eateries, being not even common enough to be considered as a Delicacy.
Having captured this unusual beast alive, I have attempted to form some opinion of its diet and habits, but thus far any definite knowledge of the creature's natural lifestyle has proven quite elusive. In fact I am still unsure even as to what it eats, as it disdains insects, plants, fish eggs, scraps of meat and debris, and all else that I have attempted to entice it with. Yet somehow it persists in spite of its finicky appetite, having survived now over 5 weeks in captivity, which would make it unlikely that it lives in the manner of a Sune-fly, the which eats nothing on its brief aerial excursions each Spring, and soon dies after laying its eggs and advancing its line of posterity for another yeare. The animal's stomach being happily quite visible from the outside, it is possible to observe that is usually contains some greenish substance, which seems most probably to be constituted of whatever its diet actually is, and not simply some quantity of Bile or other internal fluids produced by it. For these reasons it is my belief that either the creature absorbs all its sustenance directly from the water in which it is immersed, or else that it consumes some particle or other in the water that is too small for the eye to readily detect, but which may be sufficient for the tiny creature's subsistence.
As for behavior, it is a remarkably passive little creature, displaying at first little initiative to explore whatever surroundings I placed it in, and preferring rather to drift in quite aimless fashion according to the whims of the currents, or at least according to the movement of the water produced by jostling its container about. Heavy jarring appears to disturb it little more than the most gentle of nudges, and in fact it seems to accept any changes in its immediate surroundings with remarkable stoicism and equanimity, doing little more than twitch its whiskery feelers about and gently fidget its tiny little pseudo-legs. Placing some amount of vegetation, bark, and other bits of sheltering material in the same container as the creature did induce it to propel itself about with small nervous motions of legs and tail, so perhaps if it were residing in a space larger, more complex, or otherwise more similar to its native surroundings, it might interest itself more strongly in activity and exploration.
If any industrious angler should find himself with another such creature as this, the author would be very interested to see it, and to take possession of it for a fee, for the advancement of Science. To this purpose a notice has been submitted to the Classifieds section of the newspaper, to which the interested Reader is directed.
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Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Letters, Essayes, and Opynion
~ Heard About Town ~
JT: You know we've had some grand storms while you were gone. Almost all day yesterday.
MH: In all probability, Svothi is deeply mentally unstable and using the mirror on him will result in a spectacular and violent reaction.
CT: My pet fox has made the Keep his home now also. But he does not appreciate the pastries like I do.
LN: I've been writing. Now that things are a bit more settled, I can get back to my painting, too. And then there's the party and all of that to look forward to.
MG: Pie is good.
~ Weather Almanack ~
The summer-time ended on a Stormy note, with a number of quite violent Squalls in Ghust that, with the combination of heavy Winds and fierce Lightnings, seemed fit to flatten all of Kaezar, did it not already present a generally squat and huddled Aspect. One particularly Ferocious storm on the 25th Daye of the month produced great flashing Bolts that struck at both the lofty Pinnacle of Kaezar's Clock-tower and the venerable old Elm-tree in the northwestern corner of the Town Green, with the poor Tree faring by far the worse of the pair. As may well be imagined, a few unfortunate farmers' Crops that found themselves squarely in the Teeth of the Storms fared little better, such that many fields whose flags of Corn-tassels had stood so tall and Proud but hours before were left in flattened Swathes as if they had been trampled by a great Host of rapacious Foes.
As the Summer season stormed out of Kessia, giving up the land to the mellow Pleasures of Fall, the character of the Rains became much reformed, and they proceeded to fall far more Temperately upon the farmers' Fields and Pastures. Those with an Eye to the land may have noted the fruitful Abundance of Pumpkins, Squash, and other Gourds which graced markets and tables in the month of Kolbre, and indeed all the other Crops that had weathered the Pummeling of Wind and Water during the stormy Summer showed themselves well pleased with the measured Timing and Quantity of the autumnal Showers, such that everyone who has wisely set aside stores for the barren Months of the oncoming Winter should find themselves set to weather the cold Season in as much good Health and Comfort as one may.
Farmers and Husbandmen, Hedge-witches and Druids are in some Dispute over what exactly this Yeare's winter may bring our fair Kingdom, with some predicting veritable Heapings of Snow-fall once Winter consolidates its hold upon the world come Morde, while others foresee the same bitter Cold and Wind, but with only the thinnest Blanketing of Snow to cover the cold Breast of Beade 'til Spring. The cold-snap with which the Winter began, which had left many Ponds and Streams already frozen solid following the very first Snows, seemed at first to bear out the Predictions of a very Bitter season, but since this time the more usual Pendulum's swing between icy Rainfall and gentle Snow has left the course of the Season to come a matter of Uncertainty.
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Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
FOR THE PUBLIC NOTICE:
The Kaezarian Eye is pleased to announce that the Yeare ahead shall be a very interesting one for Kaezar's longest-running News Publication. We at the Eye are hoping ever to bring its faithful Readers all the News in as timely and informative a manner as may be, and with this in mind are about to launch a grand Experimentation to advance the state of the News in such portions of Kessia as are distant from the printers' Paradise of Penthras. The Reading Public is advised to keep a close Watch on the Offices of the Eye and for Notices about Town in the next Month in order to learn more about the coming Changes.
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Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
EYE ON KESSIA
Views of Our Fair Province
Through the Lens of a Camera-Obscura
[ Bordered by a low split-log fence, a wide square of snowy grass spans the area between river and town that is pictured in this sweeping nighttime shot from a camera obscura. A magnificent kirchewood festival tree grows out from a temporary hole recently dug into the earth, towering over the significantly smaller trees spread out across the green. Treats for the city's denizens have been set out on a varnished dyrewood table placed near the kirche. An etched tin cup at the bottom edge of the picture is set in the snow next to a carved wooden cup that appears to have been more carelessly dropped there, while what looks to be some kind of nut is just visible not far from the foot of a simple wooden ladder.
Making up the central figures of this scene are various people possibly recognizable as Rollo (a small figure perched dizzyingly high on the topmost rung of the ladder, and listing slightly to one side in a manner suggesting significant enjoyment of the beverages on the table), Beckah (looking straight at the camera while beaming ecstatically ear to ear from beneath the brim of an absurd pointed hat), a speckled gray cob mare (head raised and ears pricked, as if listening for something on high), an animated silver-edged teacup (doing animated silver-edged teacup things), and Malo (standing a very long ways away from the horse, and generally appearing as if he's not quite sure he wants to be involved in whatever is going on here).
The caption to the print reveals that this is "Decorating the Yule Tree, 29th Winte 651 AoD." ]
~ ~
Do you have a Photograph that you wish to share with your fellow Readers? Submit one to the offices of the Kaezarian Eye, along with a brief Explanation of the Shot, and our talented woodcut Artists will turn it into a Print for the next Edition of the News! All Photographs shall be returned as promptly as the Creative Process permits.
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Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
NEWS OF THE WORLDE
By Minerva Sartchilde, Owner and Chief Editor
On thee Laurdian Fronte, thee Unseasonable Cold and Rain thys Spring hath led to a Late Starte to any large Push by either thee Tallone or thee Imperial Army along thee Border. Both Sides continue to Sortie and Harass, while reinforcyng their respective Sides, but 'large-scale Movements are Ill-Advised' accordyng to a Source in thee Imperial Capital. Emperor Anthemian continues to Recover from thee Minor Wounde he did in facte sustayn, and will be Late returning to thee Fronte, though it is said that His Royal Majesty King Vek, King Ualraig MacMihail of Wessumbria, Queen Dussona Griadaur of Baetana, and King Tyl'angan MacForend of Malakvia haf returned to thee Border.
At Carnivale, in Isola thys past Season, a Groupe of Golden-Haired Asahaigans, a remarkably Intelligent species of Vashan Ape, escaped from a Travelyng Menagerie and set up Residence in a vacant, condemned Palace. In thee throes of their Passionate Revelry, thee Local Citizens feted in thee Apes' Household on many Successive Evenyngs, and thee 'Family with thee remarkable Golden Costumes' were thee Toaste of thee Evente until a Besotted Poet was unceremoniously Throwne from a thirde story Balcony in a Misguided Attempte to Woo what he thought was thee eldest Daughter.
A moste disturbyng piece of Information from thee University at New Roshanon hath come to thee attention of thys Reporter. Over thee past fewe monthes, Graffiti hath beene Painted on varyous Buildyngs there, proclaimyng moste Disturbyng Statements such as 'Ippel lives', 'Gond awakes', 'Glynt is with us' and more in thee same Vein. At firste taken as Harmless Prankes by Bored or Mischievous Studentes with Poor Taste, thee frequency of thee writyng hath increased at an Alarmyng Rate. That, coupled wyth thee inability of Staffe and Faculty alike to produce a likely Culprit, or even a Clew to their Identity in such a close-knit Academic Community, hath given rise to much Paranoia and Speculation as to thee nature of thee Perpetrator or Perpetrators. As of thys Article, their Identity remaines Unknowne.
On a more Positive Note, from Xullab, thee Dey hath proclaymed a Race shall take place, beginning on thee Morning of thee Summer Solstice, that shall teste thee Mettle of thee Hardyest Equestrians. A race of Endurance, across thee Sandes, from Xullab to Qualat, open to Any and All Comers willyng to riske Life and Horseflesh upon thee Tortuous Expanse of Desert. Thee Welles are Scarce, and thee route Grim, but thee Hande of thee Dey's thirde youngest Daughter is rumored to be among thee many Spoiles that awayts thee Victor.
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
AS EYE SEE IT
By Aunty Anony
Hello Hello Hello - Hafe you hearde!
So much to Tell!
Spring is blooming, and so is the romance of Junior Guardsman Kalani Isalia and Mister Corin Dubois. How sweet is young love! Aunty is delighted by the trills of courting between these two lovebirds, and knows the youthful enthusiasm of Miss Isalia will keep the skittish Mister Dubois from taking flight.
Speaking of birds and guards, Aunty was charmed by Guardsman Weston Holtidh's attempts to serenade the lovely Miss Solenne Auclair on the Silver Tankard Terrace with her own harp, but the pain in her ears was nearly enough to break her heart! Aunty is curious if Mister Holtidh will continue to practice his mating song - Captain Blackthorne has been spotted making Miss Auclair blush, and Aunty worries the good guardsman will need to sweeten his tune if he hopes to keep her attention.
There's yet another De'Alera in town, and Aunty is interested to know if Miss Tresa will enchant the males like her cousin Miss Arcadia has. Aunty was certain Miss Arcadia had decided on the former apprentice Mister LaFever - or was it the oh-so-proper Mister Nex'Latifur, affectionately Mister Paean? Or is it the Kivian healer Mister Zulweylox Oulienae, so eager to wait on her hand and foot? Whoever it is, she's still bathing with any number of males, so Aunty wonders if her selection process involves using the displacement test for volume, or if she has settled down and simply needs help cleaning her hard to reach places.
Aunty is sorely dissatisfied by the staid quality of Kaezar's inhabitants these days. But Miss Tresa isn't the only new face to be seen, and Aunty is optimistic that there will be so much more to tell in the next edition. She just cannot WAIT to see what new dramas unfold!
Until next issue, Aunty sees all and tells moste!
-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
CLASSIFYEDS
SEEKING: Additional specimens of a small aquatic creature, as pictured below and described in this edition's Scientific Transactions. 5000 SOVEREIGNS to be paid out to any Person who shall successfully present the creature, alive or dead, and subject to confirmation by the recipient, one Siovanhe Haithcock, who may be reached at the Crossroads Inn or via Bhond's.
[ Smaller in scale but otherwise identical to the illustration presented previously in the paper, an odd shrimp-like creature is pictured here in great detail. Its gellid transparency interrupted only by the bioluminescent white glow of its internal organs, gills and glossy black compound eyes, this tiny crescent-shaped shellfish has a thin, transparent exoskeleton trimmed with a multitude of delicate feeding and grooming legs. Long, filament-fine antennae top its delicate carapace, and five sets of swimmerets extend fan-like from the tail, granting it a means of propulsion. ]
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@@@@@ WANTED @@@@@ - Men and Women of the Empire in good standing with the law who are interested in serving their fellow Citizenry by joining the ranks of the Imperial Guard. All applicants must be at least 16 years of age, not have any major crimes on the record within the last two years, and be willing to swear their allegiance to His Imperial Majesty.
Duties entail:
- policing the cities and kingdoms of the Empire and upholding its Laws and Ordinances
- defending its Officials, and
- defending its Lands and Holdings against all enemies, both Foreign and Domestic.
A 5000 Sovereign signing bonus is authorized, and a generous monthly stipend included. All applicants should either leave notice at the Imperial Keep, or contact one of the 8th Regiment's officers directly.
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Locks opened fer cheep! Approved by the Society fer prevention of Cruelty ta Veckles! Ratsi's Lock Shop, Greys Ramble, City of Kaezar
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Adelith's Apparel has high quality clothing at reasonable prices. Perfect for daily wear and tear which would harm more delicate fabrics. Adelith is located on Randall Avenue, 6 blocks west of Anvil Road.
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BUMBLEBERRY'S TEAROOM *** Now Located in Briarbrook Shire *** Off Market Street By The Brook *** Bumbleberry Tea - Bumbleberry Cocktail - Bumbleberry Coffee - Good Food and Delicious Treats *** Same Ownership, New Address *** Stop By Today
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-----------====================THE KAEZARIAN EYE====================-----------
Raine Edition, Age of Dreams, 652
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS:
Thanke you for purchasing, or Otherwyse obtaining, our newspaper.
Until the Streets of Kaezar are paved in Seige Gold, May the Publick Be Wary.
Minerva Sartchilde, Owner and Chief Editor.
Siovanhe Haithcock, Head Reporter and Acting Manager.