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 )                                                                         (
(                             NewOrigins Events                             )
 )                               May, Year 2                               (
(                                                                           )
 )     Numerous travelers are worried about a clash between combatants     (
(      happened in the desert of Great Autarkirmos Desert where battle      )
 )      ended in a slaughter of one of the sides. This battle will be      (
(             known as Battle near the ocean of Hornlock Lake.              )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(         A few druids are worried about a clash between two armies         )
 )    happened in the plains of Perikarenos Dale where battle ended in     (
(       a slaughter of one of the sides. This battle will be known as       )
 )                 Battle near the ocean of Hornlock Lake.                 (
(                                                                           )
 )                         .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                         (
(                                                                           )
 )      Numerous adventurers are discussing about a fight between two      (
(      armies happened in the swamps of Great Yaer River where battle       )
 )      ended in a slaughter of one of the sides. This battle will be      (
(             known as Battle near the ocean of Hornlock Lake.              )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(       A few traders are whispering about a clash between combatants       )
 )    happened in the desert of Great Autarkirmos Desert where some men    (
(        died. This battle will be known as Battle near the ocean of        )
 )                             Hornlock Lake.                              (
(                                                                           )
 )                         .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                         (
(                                                                           )
 )    Several locals are whispering about the skirmish between enemies     (
(      happened in the desert of Great Autarkirmos Desert where battle      )
 )      ended in a slaughter of one of the sides. This battle will be      (
(            known as Battle near the ocean of Great Yaer River.            )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(       Numerous refugees have heard about the village of Badbuz that       )
 )       lies in the Great Bletchvil Desert desert, where a villans        (
(                             murdered guards.                              )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(      Several peasants are worried about the city of Ugnazg that lies      )
 )      in the Great Ialihn Desert desert, where a villans massacred       (
(                                  guards.                                  )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(     Multiple travelers are discussing about the town of Harrodon that     )
 )      lies in the Great Bletchvil Desert desert, where a partisans       (
(                             massacred guards.                             )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(     Dozen locals are whispering about the city of Aoratelos that lies     )
 )    in the Ametanakos Tundra tundra, where a faction murdered guards.    (
(                                                                           )
 )                         .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                         (
(                                                                           )
 )    A few merchants are rumoring about the village of Bridgeford that    (
(      lies in the Burvil Desert desert, where a villans slew guards.       )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(      Some refugees are rumoring about witchers who have annihilated       )
 )      Anacondas (98) near ocean of Great Lirael River. Freeing the       (
(                jungles of Ugdur Jungle from their anxiety.                )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(        In the desert of Great Perikeros Desert, near mountains of         )
 )       Ibinmor Heights, Evil Warriors (935) who continue to cause        (
(                       anxiety to local inhabitants.                       )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(     In the desert of Great Autarkirmos Desert, near ocean of Hornlock     )
 )     Lake, Evil Mages (2257) who continue to cause anxiety to local      (
(                               inhabitants.                                )
 )                                                                         (
(                          .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                          )
 )                                                                         (
(      In the desert of Great Dunlock Desert, near mountains of Boldur      )
 )       Heights, Undead (617) who continue to cause dread to local        (
(                               inhabitants.                                )
 )                                                                         (
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    `-._.-' (___ _) `-._.-' `-._.-' )     ( `-._.-' `-._.-' (__ _ ) `-._.-'
            ( _ __)                (_     _)                (_ ___)
            (__  _)                 `-._.-'                 (___ _)
            `-._.-'                                         `-._.-'

The jungle of Basingford Woods, south of Moragal, has yet to be visited by
exiles from destroyed worlds.

In the desert stunted and stingy,
On the ground, heated by the heat,
Anchar, as a formidable sentry,
It stands alone in the whole universe.

Nature of the Thirsty Steppes
He was born on the day of anger,
And the greenery of dead branches
And she watered the roots with poison.

The poison drips through its bark,
By noon , melting from the heat,
And freezes in the evening
Thick transparent resin.

A bird does not fly to him,
And a tiger will not come: only a black whirlwind
On the tree of death will run —
And rushes away, already corrupting.

And if the cloud irrigates,
Wandering, his leaf is dense,
From its branches, it is already poisonous,
The rain flows down into the combustible sand.

But a man is a man
He sent to anchar with an imperious look,
And he obediently flowed on the way
And in the morning he returned with poison.

He brought the death tar
Yes a branch with withered leaves,
And sweat on the pale brow
It flowed in cold streams;

Brought — and weakened and lay down
Under the roof of the hut on the bast,
And the poor slave died at his feet
The invincible lord.

And the king fed that poison
Their obedient arrows
And with them death sent
To the neighbors in alien limits.

Sphinxes make good friends.

Trying to keep up with the latest in the dark arts, is tricky on the back of a camel. Time to build a shelter to keep the sand out of our tea leaves.

Englefart was in a spin. Not those kind of cartwheels you silly gnome. Cartwheels! Wheels for carts!

"Rootstone, rootstone, rootstone..."

To amrs! To arms! We are surrounded! Ice dragon is in the north, giant birds in the south, evil mages in the east and bears to the west. Kill em all!

What next? 

Its a risky move. If Sandlings attack (the chance is a bit below 5%), and succeed to kill more than 3 soldiers (the chance is a bit below 1%), we wouldn't join the fight for the city. No mages and no tactician then. 
And two hundred of our swords will die there in a slaughter.
If ~50 of them die before of demons attack (the chance is ~20%), it would be a jack-pot.
Estimated from above probability of it is 1/1000. 
I like round numbers, let's roll all dices.

Our goblins are being brave, they are launching the first of our ships. Good luck to our sailing scouts.

With no pests around the harvest is better than ever!

finally some silver income, now we can focus on expanding soon

Need more warriors! More warriors - more POWER!!!

The continent seems like to be huge... Many people and monsters must wait for us...

These gnomes seems to be kinda defective:
they don't see any mushrooms!

No stories this time.

A nice place, with a lot of useful resources, but with a Sphinx... Quick jump!

Seems that early war with neighbours may substitute theoretical combat training with actual experience. Let's go east.

Sometimes, pulling up roots and reworking strategy ends up being the best plan.  Hopefully.

==============
Tough Audience
==============


Our Eldest's Column
-------------------

I must not have understood the demon correctly.  Musicians (and audience, and every other member of the little folk nearby) were slain last month by ice dragons, centaurs, sandlings, and other factions armed with mithril swords, hundreds of warriors and expert tacticians.  The little folk are no match for ice dragons or for enemy factions with hundreds of warriors and mithril equipment.  This music thing isn't working out quite as well as I had hoped.

I'm still wondering what a weak faction can do to be relevant.  Do we hold the horses of a strong faction, do we band together with other weak factions, or are weak factions just not really relevant?  What do the midgame and endgame look like?


Pillaging Column
----------------

We are seeing a bit less pillaging now, perhaps because the little folk are all slain before the pillaging begins.  The pillaging still seems to us to leave the land ruined.  But all the strongest factions are doing it, so it must be better than it seems to us.


Music Column
------------

Music has become terrifying.  Hundreds of enemies with mithril equipment?  Expert tacticians?  Perhaps we need to try some new songs.  Tough audience.


Women's Column
--------------

This should be the parenting column.  There is nothing more womanly than manly about this month's subject.  But no one else wanted to publish it.  I asked the religion column to publish it because our young orcs have been surprisingly religious, but they refused.  So once again, the parenting comments, which both little folk men and little folk women care about, is going in the women's column.

Our little orcish boys are getting older.  They still are very good about attending to their religious education.  They have given up the toy swords of their youth, and now are playing with harmless wooden practice weapons.  Getting wood for those was difficult; the little folk have found more steel than wood so far.

We really don't understand why everyone else likes gnolls so much better than orcs.  Our little orcs are very nice, proper young gentlemen.  They are a bit more disciplined than the little folk as a whole, and they take more care in the cleanliness and appearance of their uniform clothes, but that can't be a bad thing, can it?



LFLF Column
-----------

Our Eldest is making music while watching the little folk are trampled.  Our Eldest says little folk aren't supposed to fight back, when we get trampled, we are just supposed to move somewhere else.  Moving somewhere else is a pain.  We are too little to carry the iron and stone with us.  (Last month the miners and quarriers who tried to move stayed put, unwilling to leave the product of their labors.  The little folk liberation front wonders whether these miners and quarriers will be slain by neighboring factions this month.  Join us for tea, biscuits and discussion.  Our biscuits are very good.


Natural Philosophy Column
-------------------------

The little folk natural philosophers believe an eagle can fly from the southern ice to the northern ice in 8 months.  We believe an eagle can fly around the world in 16 months.  Using the usual formula for the area of a cylinder A = width * height, this means the area of the world is 128 square eagle months.

One of our natural philosophers, at the volcano, managed to float a "raft" of holy stone pebbles and mortar by building a raft with a dent in it.  We aren't sure this is fair; a raft should be flat, how could one possibly travel down a river in a bowl?  Most of our natural philosophers still believe we need wood to travel over the edge of the world.  We may have proved a stone boat can float, but our boat builders refuse to build one.

Unfortunately, the little folk have found roughly as many forests as cities.  Wood is scarce.


Geography Column
----------------

The geographers (The name "cartographers" was taken) managed to get our own column.  Yay!  But we got buried in the middle of the article.  Boo.  We think our message might be interesting to readers of the Times, so should have been at the top of the little folk article, not buried in the middle.

The little folk have explored roughly 64 square eagle months of the world.  If our natural philosophers are correct (but never trust our natural philosophers), then we have explored roughly half the world.  In that half, we have found only 14 cities.  


Peace Column
------------

Will the "Peace Column" become something that has "Peace" in the name but really means "War"?  Like "Department of Defense" instead of the more honest "Department of War"?  Time will tell.  

Our geographers tell us we have explored half the world and found 14 cities.  If there are another 14 cities in the lands we have not explored, then perhaps a coalition of 15 peaceful cities could bring an end to warfare in our world, and let us turn our attention from war and diplomacy to art and music.  What a relief that would be to the little folk, all this talk of killing each other and actual killing each other is wearying.  But reading the Times, and other messages, it seems peace might be unwanted by many (most?) factions.  The little folk wonder whether there are 15 cities that want peace? The little folk wonder whether 15 cities is indeed enough, or whether there are more cities in the half of the world we have not explored than in the half we have.


Religion Column
---------------

Our Eldest is finally right about something.  The little folk way is to turn the other cheek, back away, and surrender to superior forces.  War is bad for everybody.

We said we shouldn't have given the thieves their own column.  Now they have offended the Ogre Mages.

Little folk orcish children's evening prayer:
    Tari amase wahr als ish usi tai Hagen Thane's nazg gul itt hab te summ ula Hagen
    Durbuk ustipte gimbatuluk krimpatul thrakuk suruhsi summuhsi urbu nazg ishi


Obituary Column
---------------

Wizened Ronnat died at the southernmost tip of the Hymnoaros peninsula.  Twelve score goblins and leaders, expert tacticians and advanced cavalry were a bit more than he could manage to hold off alone.  He has seen a few orcs hold off 120 advanced swordsmen, but apparently Wizened Ronnat didn't quite have the knack of that yet.

Overhead in an Urgdur tavern....
-------
"Did you hear what they was saying about us in the Times?"
   "Nah, what's that?"
"We're the mushroom capital of the world, we are.  No one in the world has finer mushrooms than we does.  It's on account of all the gnomes, you see.  I mean, everyone knows about gnomes and their mushrooms, so it makes sense, don't it?"
  "So we must have a ton of mushroom then, right?"
"That's right.  Most in the world.  All of them in the world in fact"
   "Wow!"
"Yup.  All five of them."
...
...
   "Wait.  You're saying there are only five mushrooms in the world?"
"That's right.  And we have em.  Told you, the mushroom capital of the world we is.  Right impressive."

Not so much villains as freedom fighters have released the repressed citizens of Anankamomeinos from the yoch of the villainous city guards. The whispering wanderers might have been the fleeing survivors of the evil guards trying to spread misinformation about the righteous new government.

The council of the Four Winds was in disarray. Why were the reports making no sense? Why were people complaining of lack of funds? Where was the master wizard?

Soon, all became clear. A roc attack out of nowhere had slaughtered many people, including crucial taxers and the master wizard. This disaster had thrown the entire month away.

Killing unknown, remember, maybe you're killing your future. Any aggression is the enemy, now or later.

Harrodon is our! The new civil-military administration has begun to organize the development of the city and the creation of the necessary infrastructure

- Gods thank you. Now send him back to the desert.

We're moving into a new house! The House of Magic and Science! Our magicians have gained power and can already attract apprecients.

Merewulf thought to himself, "If the mages of a people ally with the guards, my troops won't manage to take over the city. So I have no choice but to kill all the other mages before I attack the guards. It looks like treason, but it's the only way.

Utuk'ku is regreting not caring more about the politics of the city. With the new administration the crime is rampant, and all the petty thieves who lived in fear of the guards are now parading themselves unopposed. She just needs to cool a few heads to keep her research going.

It is always sad to see a faction with no ruler.

Great ape that killed our taxers has been found, it seems that he is accompanied
by snake looking Anacondas in their jungle. Hopefully jungle will be liberated and
we will be able to continue our ocean voyage.

It was time to leave the village and travel to the place with more comfort and opportunities. Torwin hoped there would be some decent quite places to study. At least less smelly ones.

War, war rages in the west. But for how long?

On the ground - swelling of the buds,
The smell of the first April flowers
And - almost a composer's handwriting
Reckless sonorous streams..

How long Ogres live ? 

Far from the high frozen peaks, the goblin considered, that was the place to be.  This desert might be a burning wasteland of barren desolation, but at least there were definitely no ice wurms waiting to rend a goblin limb from limb.

Behind him the dune face shifted as the sandling reached out a tentacle...

13 is an unlucky number. Just ask the city guard… even they couldn’t stand up to 500 goblins and some mages. 

Peace at all costs!

"We bested the guards, m'Lord."

"But you didn't get them all. They are like weeds. They're already growing back. We'll have to deal with them later."

Quest: Build a Temple in Agamenakos Desert for the glory of the Gods.

A huge desert stretches to the west.
There are no oases or cities.

Great Overlord Chiron must learn to not only consider his plans for the future, but to also tell the people about these plans. Otherwise he will have a thriving tribe in his mind, but a mangy herd of horse for real.

Wood. We've found it. Now it's time to build a dam.

Yeah Baby,
We're back in the game!

Peter smiles as one of his street urchins leaves after giving him a report.  Things are progressing fairly well, though one region is not living up to expectations.  It looks like it is about time to see about addressing the foulness of the crypts that killed some of his little ones.

Analyzing last 50 rumors (up to September of the 1st year, including it), we have found 30 rumors about Holden. 60% of all rumors are dedicated to him.
It seems that Holden is more popular than all the rest faction leaders together. At least among those who write rumors, of course.
It would be perfectly explained if Holden is the only person writing rumors all this time, by the way...

Poles with crucified members of the Holden Witness Sect appeared in all the central deserts. Eggs of various animals are found in hanging corpses in different places. Residents say that the inquisitors of the Church of the Holy Act of Holden are especially rampant in the area of large cities. fear has flooded world of Atlantis...

Aval Available Now?

Evil Alwe bursts with venom, portraying a cool gopher. Don't get puffed up! You old, decrepit, bald rodent!

Build the dark tower
That ivory bones may rise
From the desert sand