Some people wished that we would be wiped off from the face of Sapience, some people tried to besmirch our name and some simply stared at our finger while we have pointed them towards the truth in size of skies. Our loyal readers should fear not, for we are the buxom wench who serves you drinks in your local tavern. We are the soldier who waits your gates dutifully and seen as nothing but as a mere number on a ledger, deemed unworthy of a funeral by the pampered bureaucrats. You look at our faces everyday and we smile. No arrow can pierce us, no sanction can stop us, no drink can make us drunk (except Avaclair) for we all are the Spirean Gazette! Now for our fourth issue we were able to arrange a very exclusive interview with Lady Xenia Seirath-Vetra, recently elected Senator of Spinesreach who replaced Atarah Sor'Tirivan and she is a devout follower of Lady Iosyne. Will she shift the direction of the Northern Fortress for the better or will she become a 'yet another Senator'? Without further ado I present you the fourth issue of Spirean Gazette!

-Mr. Spires (Chief Editor)

DISCLAIMER: This publication IS NOT endorsed, funded or supported by Spinesreach in any official capacity. Readers are fully responsible for the mental disturbances they might experience while reading this gazette and the senile old man who delivered this issue to the distribution center should be considered exempt from any responsibility.

NEWCOMER? : Request older issues from the nearest clerk. Ask for public notices of #6068, #6075 and #6099!

1. TROUBLE IN ESTERPORT: MAGISTRATE IS CALLED TO ACT!

The city of Esterport is the center of commerce where the gold flows through literally every possible orifice available. Body parts, weapons, outlandish brews, food which makes you feel better then bedding a Nazetu comfort woman, exotic goods from faraway lands...anything you desire will be available to lighten up your pouches. But be aware dear reader, that you do not pay attention to charlatans attempting to sell you bottles of snake oil, the fabled workshop of Qeddwyn or the bridge of Esterport. Though, this continuous flow of golden sovereigns over the years caused a massive disturbance within the mercantile circles. Lack of a proper place to contain them. One of the prominent merchants complained to us:

"My wife told me not to bring gold to our house anymore. We are literally using shovels to traverse between rooms and worse we found a corpse last week in the living room. The poor man apparently tried to fill his pockets but tipped a mound of gold upon himself and got crushed to death! And just last night we saved our duck Scroogey from a pool of gold, the poor animal was drowning and coughing up gold! That was a close call and we demand action from the authorities!"

Another concern of the merchants is that lack of a secure place to contain gold causes the hard earned shinies to depart the city towards other cities which has means of storing valuables properly. Some 'caravans of gold' are claimed to be raided by uncouth and unwashed brigands en route to their destination. And those who tried to expand their houses to contain their hard earned gold soon met with exploding construction prices due to lack of viable stone supplies.

As Spirean Gazette that is our duty to raise our voice to Zhamakela of Esterport on behalf of troubled merchants. Your traders are suffering from excessive generation of wealth and there is a clear need to contain this wealth from destabilizing the well-being of the continent!

2. SCIOMANCERS IN SENATE: AT WHAT COST?

For years the guild of arcane studies lacked a position within the Senate. This issue was a metaphorical sword hanging over the head of the guild, always brought up in discussions and the attempts to unify the guild for a full-support of its candidates was not possible. Mage Tekias who once retreated from a contestation against Kanivara Sor'Tirivan due to his personal relationship with the Senator finally got elected to the position replacing Tina Cardinalis. Years of currying favor with the established and corrupt officials of the city instead of promoting the well-being of the Sciomancers finally gave its fruits.

The final act of this man was leaving the position of Shadow Warden to the former Shadow Warden Teani Tash-Vetra who is known by manipulating guild policies to benefit his mercantile endeavours in the city and paying no heed to voices other then hers, confirmed our suspicions regarding the whole matter. When Tekias was elected as the Shadow Warden, instead of providing a detailed charter for the guild he gave vague promises of 'making Sciomancers a force of Shadow to be reckoned with' while today we understand that he was just a placeholder until the tarnished reputation of Teani recovered. Meanwhile many older members of Sciomancers departed from the guild itself, reducing the activity and visibility of the guild to the pre-Bloom levels.

Today Sciomancers follow the "family business" model which is the preferred method of the current Spirean guilds and the chance of being an actual thriving guild has been missed or delayed for another couple of decades. Shadow requires sacrifice and advancement of magical arts will not come by resting upon your laurels like the conservatives in the guild. "Get out and test the limits" will be our advice to our readers for we believe in continuous advancement as an institution which values information for the benefit of all over stagnant practices.

3. SENATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD GOES TOOOO...!

Dear readers, in our latest issue we have declared the 1st Senator of the Year Competition and urged our readers to vote between Atarah Sor'Tirivan, Fezzix Sicarius, Kanivara Sor'Tirivan, Tina Cardinalis and Kelliara Vetra-Seirath. After a dilligent counting period of the votes we declare that the Senator of the Year Award goes to Senator Kanivara Sor'Tirivan! Starting her life as a pleasure slave, this hard-working woman climbed through the ranks of life with perseverance and dedication to her family. She looked after her unruly little sister Atarah with the protectivity of a mother bear and successfully swept the issues caused by his lecherous brother Nenelos under the rug over the years. Her final venture was to deal with the pigeon shit invasion the Spires of the Spinesreach was deemed as her peak moment, of course with collaboration of Kodaza Kitano. And most importantly she survived every social challenge despite talking like a back-street thug and actually governing the city like one! We bid the Senator to continue his productive endeavours to keep the city in high spirits!

4. EXPERTS WARN AGAINST THE FOX BUBBLE!

Several types of foxes are flooding the market and causing several dames to melt into a pool of cuteness. This new rage within the wealthy circles of the society has been damaging to the population of foxes in the forests and also to the healthy growth of the continental economy. "This is a bubble which is about to burst. There are many families out there which are starving, facing an untimely death and are threatened with several different maladies. Instead of solving our issues people are going mad over these expensive foxes, eventually pumping the prices up! People neglect their families, sell their houses and then buy a fox which may not provide any tangible return of investment!" the detractors of this newly emerging fox market claim. The supporters on the other hand remark that "Foxes are here to stay, there is a clear effort in claiming them and that effort forms the base value, they are not things created out of thin air! Those who bring negativity on board are simply feel hurt that they have been late in this business and attempting to drive the prices down in order to get into the market!" As the management of the Spirean Gazette we implore our readers to be careful while investing into foxes and check carefully whether the fox you are getting is geniune.


-----Advertisements, Commercials and Stuff-----

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When you want a phylactery / chocolates
Some eyes or a key
Where can your trust
Will be full at dusk?
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- Feeling famished? Or you are thirsty for an exotic cup of tea? Perhaps you are a cultural illiterate who wish to be exposed to something nice like a poem? The Iron Ivy Teahouse is the place you wish to be! Come to Esterport now and enjoy the bounties of this place along the famous hospitality of the proprietess Lady Gallant!

- We cannot know the future, we are beings trapped in an uncertain reality which can be shaped due to the whims of divine forces. Do we have to live like that, with no knowledge of what might happen to us? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Come to Madame Mariena's Fortune Parlor in Esterport to learn what is awaiting you in the mystical currents of time! The girl you love will marry another guy? Knowing that will help you with your murder plans! Will you get elected? Do not do anything shady if you will be! Knowledge is power and Madame Mariena will lay the future before your eyes! (Cat jokes are tolerated in this establishment and payments in foxes are accepted.)

- Are you curious how many trolls are required to serve a drink? Visit The Burly Chest Tavern in Esterport to get your answer! Warning: Do not expect Atavian wench to serve you drinks. She is there for the purpose of appearance only. Also hands off.

- OFFICIAL PUBLIC POLL (Please send your answers to our editors)

What is the worth of Esterport Bridge?

(a) 10000 golden sovereigns
(b) 100000 golden sovereigns
(c) 1000000 golden sovereigns
(d) 1000 spectral fox
(e) Worth of all assets in Spinesreach

WEATHER REPORT

The weather will be wild and unpredictable in the following weeks, though no sudden singularity rains are expected anymore. Consult your nearest fortune teller for more accurate reports on the weather.

-----Advertisements, Commercials and Stuff-----

***SPIREAN GAZETTE: EXCLUSIVE***

[A long red haired woman with dark green eyes covered with chitinous armour addressing a populace of Spireans is depicted here ]

Reported by Specter:

A grim weather. But it does not stifle the excitement I feel, for 'The Eye' assured us that we are right on top of that slimy fat drunk called as Ironbeard. We finally figured out where he will be appearing next: The Seirathi Holdings.

'901' smuggled us into the city within a cart of foxes which were actually cats made look like foxes, a decent way to make a side profit while we were busy seizing Ironbeard for an interview. The guards gave us no trouble and soon enough we reached to the place, decided to wait for the right time. 'Grifter' was restless, she was always restless with these kind of undercover operations and 'Nazetu' never liked that '901' guy. Once he said to me "Specter, we are putting our faith in that bald guy too much. My mother told me that I should never trust one of them. They will always betray you at some point!"

'901' was off to sell his 'foxes' while we waited for the right time. Finally we heard the signal, two quacks of a duck to barge into the place. But it was a setup! We were surrounded with Spirean Guards and instead of a luxurious bed dress, Lady Xenia was armored to the teeth with a chitinous shell. Calm down Specter! Calm down for the sake of Severn's shadowy tits! Damn!

'Grifter' took a step forward and found out that her heart was broken for good by the sword of the nearest Spirean Guard. 'Nazetu' gave one of his famous 'I told you so' glances towards me and attempted to run backwards finding himself skewered by spears of incoming forces. And more importantly I noticed the filled stockings over the fireplace. We were late. '901' fed us false time information and tipped off the local forces about our incursion. Damned bald scoundrel, once I am done here I will go after him! Never trust a bald guy!

Making no sudden movement I explained Lady Xenia this was the aggressive way of asking for an interview regarding her ascension to the position of Senator. A believable lie. If I were to talk about Ironbeard, no wonder I would share the fate of 'Grifter' and 'Nazetu'. She humored me and accepted to be part of my interview. Thought this would be an acceptable replacement in the eyes of Mr. Spires and would partially cover our failure to get Ironbeard on board with the Gazette.

- Spirean Gazette: "First of all Lady Xenia, thank you for allowing us to be in your presence. Could you tell us what drove you towards putting your name in the elections for the seat of beloved Lady Atarah?"

- Lady Xenia: "Oh, no need for such formalities, it is my belief we are all equal, there is no need for thanks for time spent in one another's presence."

After killing two of my best men, I think there was enough need for formalities for the sake of being on the safe side.

- LX: "As for why Lady Atarah, because she was the first person I spoke to about my desire to serve on the senate. I told her I believed I would have a more active presence than she and she very graciously agreed and chose to step down. Upon doing so, I made a formal challenge for her seat."

- SG: "Lady Atarah served Spinesreach graciously and held her position against Lady Arbre last time and it was a shock to all that someone who could throw the grandest of parties would step down. You will have quite a large void to fill, do you have any immediate plans to bring action to the stagnant surface of the Northern Fortress, my lady?"

- LX: "I don't know that I would call the government stagnate."

I had to ask bold questions in order to appear believable...come on Specter...calm your nerves.

- LX: "I believe it lacked a voice and presence. One can not rule on parties and events alone. There needs to be direction. There needs to be a driving force. There needs to be a uniting force. This kind of leadership has not been seen and it's the kind I intend to provide."

- SG: "A very bold statement, but perhaps a natural one considering your roots with the Order of Malevolent. Do you think your experience with the teachings of Lady Iosyne will have any effect on your policymaking within the Senate?"

- LX: "The Malevolent says to acquire power and shape the world in ones own image. There is nothing I do that is not effected by Her teachings."

I gained quite a momentum and my odds of survival has been increasing each passing moment. From time to time I glanced towards the Spirean guards surrounding us and they seemed to be listening to us with utmost care.

- SG: "So we can expect the shift of Senate with your own image even slightly? Sounds like an assertive future is waiting the city. But let us shift away from your impact upon the city to your perception of the foreign entities. We would like to hear about your thoughts on Bloodloch, Duiran and Enorian, my lady."

- LX: "Relations with Bloodloch, in my opinion, have been neglected since the treaty between both cities was nullified in 450's, I intend to push towards a stronger alliance between Spinesreach and Bloodloch. As for Duiran and Enorian..."

She did not seem much impressed when it came to the cities of nature and light.

- LX: "From where I stand, they are little more than apparitions of a former glories. I have little to say about them and what sort of future relations between Spinesreach and they hold. Likely much the same."

- SG: "A stronger alliance between cities who harbor closer connection to the element of Shadow, that is a worthy goal indeed. But if were to put grander schemes of things aside, our readers would like to know 'Who is Lady Xenia?'"

- LX: "Oh, perhaps you are not aware, I am probably best known for my many blunders. My blunders while hunting. Fighting. In just about any competition. The truth is I don't quiet know how I have come to my position in the world. There are many who out perform me in just about anything."

At that moment, she appeared more approachable then before. If it was not for my dead colleagues, this would be considered simply a casual interview with a woman of state.

- SG: "Except in your determination and spirit to move the stones, in the eyes of some people blunders are better then nothing, my lady. Do you have anything special you would like to tell to our readers?"

- LX: "I wish to say this: my goals are to lead by example, not just for Spinesreach but for all of Sapience. There will come a time when a threat will require four strong, healthy cities to defeat. I urge readers to look to the north, watch for where I am successful and where I am not. Learn and improve upon what I do."

She was benevolent enough to provide a cart to carry the corpses of my dead fellows. A cart filled with dead cats and a severed bald head belonging to '901'. I suppose he could not pass the officers checking the integrity of foxes...at least justice has been served. With grim thoughts in my head I left the city with a cart full of decaying corpses.

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Spirean Gazette is the leading source of information available to public and published irregularly(on management's whim) from time to time. Don't mix it with imitations which may come out in future. Spirean Gazette year 470. All rights reserved.



Penned by my hand on Gosday, the 1st of Slyphian, in the year 470 MA.