Times Turn 4

Players have visited 48% of all inhabited regions.
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 )                                                                         (
(                             NewOrigins Events                             )
 )                               May, Year 1                               (
(                                                                           )
 )     Some adventurers are telling that refugees are worried about a      (
(       small fight between enemies in the jungles of Bletchvil Woods       )
 )                       where ended in a slaughter.                       (
(                                                                           )
 )                         .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                         (
(                                                                           )
 )      Many traders are telling that they have heard about plains of      (
(      Durbadur Plain where in the Baddor village guards were expelled      )
 )                              by a rebels.                               (
(                                                                           )
 )                         .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                         (
(                                                                           )
 )      Many adventurers are telling that refugees are worried about       (
(      jungles of Autarkotuspolisus Woods where in the Eilisar village      )
 )                   guards were murdered by a faction.                    (
(                                                                           )
 )                         .:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.                         (
(                                                                           )
 )      Dozen adventurers are telling that refugees are worried about      (
(      Pride of Lions (277) in the plains of Ialihn Plains continue to      )
 )                   cause terror on local inhabitants.                    (
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Quests

In the desert of Antanoimos Sands roams the Sandlings (405). Free the world from this menace and be rewarded!
In the desert of Agamenakos Desert roams the Giant Scorpions (246). Free the world from this menace and be rewarded!
In the desert of Great Ugdur Desert roams the Crocodiles (106). Free the world from this menace and be rewarded!
Seek a token of the Ancient Ones legacy amongst the rootstone of Great Lurgbuz Desert.
Seek a token of the Ancient Ones legacy amongst the iron of Great Ugdur Desert.
Seek a token of the Ancient Ones legacy amongst the camels of Great Antanoatos Desert.
In the desert of Great Birmington Desert roams the Giant Scorpions (108). Free the world from this menace and be rewarded!
Seek a token of the Ancient Ones legacy amongst the camels of Great Durbuz Desert.
Seek a token of the Ancient Ones legacy amongst the grain of Ialihn Plains.
In the desert of Great Perikeros Desert roams the Living Trees (482). Free the world from this menace and be rewarded!
In the desert of Great Antanoatos Desert roams the Sandlings (350). Free the world from this menace and be rewarded!
Seek a token of the Ancient Ones legacy amongst the furs of Akeratos Jungle.

Articles

Take a horse and hit the road!
Gyperboreya (10)
Desert and more desert. I wonder if those sandlings are friendly ?
Iron Harlequins (12)
Water... yeah....
Four Horsemen (13)
Well that didn't go as planned: it was a matter of students subjects, with a miss match of lecturer skills!

“Hope for better luck next month.” Eric thought to himself.
Grey Order (15)
Lizards, they look stragne, they look ugly, lets drowns them in the sea... ohh they are swminnig 
Great Horde (16)
Our scout watched in horror as the Sphinx devours another scout in the area. 
Malibu West (17)
Finally, scouts found a sea. An ocean. The salty sea wind not only renewed the air, which was breathed differently here, but it seemed as if the future might now be different, renewed, more promising.
Zero Shores (18)
Deserts and no sphinx
It can't be true!
StarFire (19)
The area around us is not a huge desert. We can see Forests and some swamps, which is nice to see.
The Filras (20)
Garlik Army is ready. 
M9 (22)
first factions met, so far communication has been good, lets hope nothing changes for the worse in the near future.
Akacis (23)
LET THE WAR BEGINS!!!
The Power (24)
wasting money, check
starving leaders, check
restarting, maybe ?
Silver Hand (25)
Orcs don't know much about mushrooms.
They've only got some rumours about a witch doctor who uses mushrooms for healing.
That sounds promising anyway.
Beastmasters (29)
The reports from explorers, who were sent in all directions, were already coming for several days. The pile of reports was growing with each day, but what was more important, the map was growing too. The outlook of where I exited the portal looked much better now. Explorers have found several rivers and what looks like big water... maybe the sea or ocean. It is so hot here, that any traces of water let you think about an ocean.

The searching party, who was sent to explore a path along an ancient road, returned with the information that they have found a city. And that was great news! What's more important the city had a very nice inn in it. I need to relocate there, at least will have a proper ceiling above me during the nights.
Avalon Empire (3)
Same place again? what's wrong with the gate ?
The Cartographer (30)
The Exarch settles in to the management of his new kingdom.

He muses to himself,  "We seem to have a decent set of natural defenses, at least for now.    Ocean restricting access on a couple of sides, and room to explore on the others.   Not the richest land, but certainly not the poorest either."
Atlanteans of Yore (32)
Too little time...
Blood Angels (35)
We may have to cancel our subscription to the Times.  The alarming stories of lands beyond the ring of good Mr. Hagen's armies give our children nightmares.  Why do they publish these scary fairy tales about monsters, crypts, grizzly bears, and a sphinx?  We haven't seen anything like that in our own brave tiptoeing.  We teach our children to give thanks to good Mr. Hagen every night for warning their parents to tarry a month in the Nexus while he and the spirits of Hagen's ring frightened evil away from the desert gateway, clearing our peaceful corner of the world before our entry.  But we adults of the little folk wonder whether it really is quite as frightening in the lands good Mr. Hagen has not yet cleared as the Times reports, or whether the Times exaggerates to sell newspapers.  One sphinx is (barely) believable, but "many sphinxes"?  Some of the sober little folk (and some little folk mothers tired of frightened children) think the Times needs a less tolerant (or less gullible) editor fact checking its reporters.

One month out from our tea parties, (maybe a bit more than a month for tiptoeing little folk if Mr. Hagen and the good spirits of Thane's ring ride faster than little folk tiptoe), good Mr. Hagen hears sand worms in the night.  That, unlike other stories in the Times, we shall believe, because Mr. Hagen wrote it, and we know him to be a good man, honest and true.  Our children pray every night for his safety and for the safety of the good spirits of Thane's Ring that travel with him.  We little folk adults hope (and pray) that the sand worms give good Mr. Hagen many ideas, and that these ideas increase the power and mobility of Mr. Hagen and the spirits of Thane's ring, so they may continue to drive forth evil.  May more of the world lie in the safe peace inside the ring of his armies.

The Times articles (if one believes them) prove that Mr. Hagen and the good spirits who ride with Thane's ring have, by their brave deeds at the frontier, already made our peaceful corner of the world a much kinder, gentler place than most other readers of the Times enjoy.  Our little women's hearts go out to him.  Our little menfolk (and some of the feistier little womenfolk) feel a little guilty sitting here in comfort, drinking tea, eating biscuits, and discussing poetry.  Some of the less timid little folk are ashamed to enjoy the fruits of good Mr. Hagen's labors and contribute nothing ourselves to his work.  We feel we should do our own little part to help.  We are not strong.  Evil will not flee before us as evil flees from good Mr. Hagen. But we _do_ seem to have myriad bits of silver in our pockets.  

Not so much silver as would be hard to carry.  And here the little folk natural philosophers insist that I share their discoveries about the size of our silver pieces.  Somehow, there are always enough little folk willing to carry the silver, but never enough willing to carry the iron.  This is a mystery.  The little folk natural philosophers claim that a cubic cubit of silver weighs 150 stone, while a cubic cubit of iron weighs only 100 stone.  It needs two score and ten (little) men to lift one cubic cubit of iron; our natural philosophers conclude that if one little man barely notices the weight of myriad silver pieces, then these must be very small pieces of silver.

(Your reporter's wife sneaks into this article her opinion that it would not take two score and ten men to lift a cubic cubit of iron were the little folk men not so lazy.  She also thinks fewer than two score and ten little folk could lift the cubic cubit were the little folk elders willing to recruit something other than goblins.)

Anyway, not so much silver as would be hard to carry.  But we have between us enough silver to make this world a merrier, prettier place.  If only we had the courage to do so. 

The least timid of the little folk pool their courage and announce a BOLD PLAN.  We little folk (well, the few of us who are not cowards) intend to contribute to good Mr. Hagen's project!  We shall, within the safe ring of his armies, use our myriad little silver pieces to fund the study of painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.  This knowledge we shall share with the inhabitants of this peaceful land.
little folk (38)
Three of the six lands adjoining our starting territory have monsters visible. Normal service has resumed
The Children of the Four Winds (40)
You need to be able to lie. Lying doesn't suit young baronets.
Alwengos (41)
You shouldn't have trusted the Clueless (26)!
Prodigal sons (42)
Two sphinxes were seen in the nearby desert. One of our scouts is missing
Martiniks Trade Guild (43)
she's scared! The lich and undead are blocking the way to her family!
Brave hedgehogs (46)
The realization came to Utuk'ku in the tiniest form. She felt the bite, smack it, and took a long look at the mangled remains of the mosquito and her own blood on the palm of her hand. She was really here, the ice was the dream.
Stormspike (49)
Follow the dead rabbit, Alice!
Thane's Ring (5)
Lots of creatures, desert and factions. New friends are found, progress has been made.
Magogash empire (51)
Torwin used his magic for the first time. Back in time while being the raven he had had the raven magic. It was impossible to exist between the worlds without the magic, but it was more immaterial. More like silent mind talking or sensing the directions.

For the first time he tried to conjure a fireball and send it in the direction of his opponents. Fire burned the hands. The direction was quite inaccurate. The opponents were able to step away. But not all of them... 

Torwin put some rags covered in healing salve on his burnt hands and grinned. The World seemed more attractive.
Corvin Ravens (55)
Endless sea of sand. 
Orc Hunters (56)
The city between Two Volcanos.
The homeland of the Iron kingdom.

We live working hard, building, and producing. And pray to our Gods.
Iron Kingdom (57)
Crazy how the shadows move in desert. Almost as someone would be following us.
Rouge Rogues (58)
The Fendahl has sent a pair of grizzly bears to test the faithful.

I wonder if we will be found wanting?
The Fendahli (65)
Your majesty, we are late.
No worries. Better late than never. To the gate!
WindMasters (68)
Undead and giants spotted already...
Peacekeepers (7)
Running late as it is...
Hope to send my orders in time.
Romans (8)
Man, the new digs aren't bad, but the place is crawling with undead.  I suspect that some of the Lost Boys will truly be lost in the near future.  No matter, we will deal with that when the time comes.
The Orphans (9)

Rumors

There is no Holden in the north
... dying, her husband told her about the meanness of Holden and now, according to the law of the Family, she must find him and take revenge...
I wonder if those who made this wasteland later called it peace?