Rumors:
Eversun Civil War Nears Its End - The Tessen Speaker
"The End draws near. Either we win under the grace of the Divine, or the world shall grow dark from our failure, desolate and lifeless once more, cast back into the crucible of sin that it had once been." With those words, the Pretender of the Eversun initiated the last march to a final, decisive battle between him, the Circle of Faithful he is rebelling against after he slew his father, and the Night Wardens that have decided that they can no longer abide by any side in their holy duty to guard the Prison of Night. "We cannot demand of you to do this one final task, for there have been far too many of those in the last years as we cast the heretics aside from home, bosom, and faith. There has been far too much innocent blood spilled by their wicked daggers and deranged minds; too many now mourn siblings, parents, children, family, lovers, and friends lost, too much
gone to have anything more to be given. We cannot demand of you this task. But we must
ask. We must pray and hope that the fight in you has not died, that your love and devotion to the Eversun has not been smothered in the blood spilled, nor that your faith has wavered from the path that They have set us upon, knowing the grief and tragedy that is this war of Fathers against Daughter, Mothers against Sons. We must ask: Will you fight one last time for nation, faith, and Divine?" So said the [Circle], rousing everything they could muster, intent on drowning the Pretender in blood and bodies if their soldiers and strength at arms fails to deliver them victory. "Open your heart to the Hatred. Open your mind to the Fury. Open your soul to the Shining
Herald. Let not our forebearers stand between us and the Duty that is our Burden. The Sun had set on the Age of Light, and the Dusk that is to come will devour all that do not have the strength of faith to endure. Know that your sacrifice will light a better way into the Dawn that is to come. Let our souls ignite the flames, let our children use our bones to stoke the embers; we are nothing now but weapons of Their will. Take heed, but not pity, for Humanity
must survive." Last prayer of the Night Wardens [Ashen Guardian] to her assembled troops before setting out.
Note: [] contain translated words. We apologize for any confusion.
(Read more on pages 2-5)
Worrying Signs From The Floating Islands - The Truthful Observers
The Floating Islands north of the Region, having been anchored by a combined effort of the Forge-Clan Vanar-Feer and the Pilgrims, has been the center of research of ancient technologies and histories the second those massive floating rocks were safe to be walked upon, alongside dedicated efforts to see them stripped of anything of worth to the Empire without risking any security features activating. And while the endeavor of the Pilgrims to understand, catalog, and conserve the pearls of wisdom within the Monastery upon one of the Islands has proceeded at a quick pace, various Forge-Clan adepts and acolytes have sequestered themselves within their section of the islands, reverently seeking out all data and information they could copy, transcribe, and transmit to bring lost wonders of science and technology to the world once more. Many have spent months, seasons, years, even searching their entire islands from top to bottom, hundreds of discoveries upending internal Forge-Clan politics on a near-daily basis, even as even more members arrived to partake in the search and holy task. But it is tragically the norm for far too many places that could hold the key to bringing about a birth of a golden age, that they, too, shall crumble and be destroyed, by time, action, or spite. Unfortunately, for the Flying Islands, it seems that age will be what does them in, as the suspendium crystals that hold them afloat have started to show worrying signs of depowerment and dusting, the phenomenon that causes suspendium crystals to turn into inert dust of no value. While there yet remains at least a year before the crystals will fail on a larger scale, representatives of Vanar-Feer have already petitioned with House Dall and the Pilgrims to immediately start an effort to harvest the requisite suspendium needed to keep the islands floating, as their collapse upon the ground would cause catastrophic, and irreversible, damage to all structures, and may even cause hidden self-destruct mechanism to activate.
(Read more on pages 6-11)
Mission Of Mercy - Rags, Rumors, And Rants
New beds. More tools. Better lights. Supplies. Hundreds of healers of all stripes. All that, and far,
far more, are being, over the last few weeks, dispatched all over Tessen from the Tree of Knowledge. Dozens of buildings are being renovated and expanded, and their services increased alongside the quality of care, with people once on the brink of death now able to return to the living instead of calling for spiritual guides to help them in their last rites. Though the sight of people praying their last in feeble might, holding onto prayer beads, figurines, and candles remains an ever-present presence within the Pilgrim Hospices, the sight of those healing, recovering, and walking from those houses of mercy has grown in the same step as the goods that are flowing into them. While there remain too many ill and wounded with too few places of rest and recovery to be offered at any one time, the knowledge that there
is a place to heal has lifted the burden of sickness from many shoulders. And sometimes, even one more person helped is worth the effort.
(Read more on page 23)
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Region Report/s
[Rather than the regular reports from the Boney Valley, a series of photographs have been sent along, seemingly innocently showing off the vast progress made in creating a Pilgrim District within the City, yet these pictures clearly show the vast improvements over the surrounding areas. Well-lit, clean streets filled with relaxed (relatively) people, storefronts offering an abundance of wares as they should, with gangs of laborers and watchmen walking to and from work or ensuring law and order. However, underneath all that, a message has been attached with the changed cipher sent last month, asking not for any immediate aid or reporting trouble but for two specific Artifacts to be sent along. One "Armored "Succubus" Suit" and one "Self-Implanting Exo Skeleton," to be exact. The reason is that they are vital for a secret trade negotiation.]
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Spy-Network:
The Marquess of Tessen is taking a vacation. Her son is taking over for a few seasons, most likely as a way to gather experience without having any grand duties to attend to right away.
House Ulatarn continues with its census, already having published population figures placing the growth in their territory at around 16.4% compared to the last decade. In addition, inhabited lands have increased by 7.51%, with the Green Zones having grown by 3.8% more than last time. While this is slower than hoped, it is better than feared.
House Mirn is turning from repairing their Cities to outlying towns and re-touching the roads crisscrossing their lands, ensuring that travel will flow faster, safer, and be able to be tolled with greater reliability.
The Military uses the lessons from their anti-Machine exercise to teach new officers.
The Adventurer Guild has found an un-licenses band of mercenaries operating in the outer zones of Tessen and is currently embroiled in a vicious legal fight to see them brought under their aegis or censured and blacklisted from all towns.
The Followers of Light are waiting intently for a seemingly "monumental" announcement from the Emperor to happen in a few months.
The Lost have a few portions of their members turn their eyes from actively seeking redemption from past misdeeds via self-inflicted poverty, asceticism, and withdrawal of a myriad of pleasures to serve others fully to something more aligned to the Pilgrim's view on seeking forgiveness for past misdeeds.
Dirty Daggers are operating quietly, their rackets not acting overtly in their dealings.
The Family has subverted our network.
[-1 Intelligence Level]
The Common People are awash with rumors regarding the ending Eversun Civil War, the speech of the Emperor announced to be read by a member of the Imperial Family, and the Floating Islands.
The Mutated are awash with rumors regarding the ending Eversun Civil War, the speech of the Emperor announced to be read by a member of the Imperial Family, and the Floating Islands.
