Notes from Nochet from Tales of the Reaching Moon #12

[XXIX. 21-011] Lunar Battalia #17: The University Guards are notorious for their inhuman savagery. The regiment originated from those followers who guarded Raibanth University when Irripi Ontor was awarded his honorary degree.

[XXIX. 21-010] “Oh raven steed, whose fortune it is to spread the golden thighs and god-like firm convexities of the divine Majesty….” begins a panegyric, praising the horse of Guilmarn the Fat, king of Seshnela.

[XXIX. 21-012] Sorin Vingsson told me of the time he went to the Land of the Dead and there saw poor spirits imprisoned in great rolling insect-like forms such as those pig-insects found under rocks and wood. In this form, Ikadz, demon of the dead, sends spirits rolling throughout the gray plains until their torment is eased by another. Sorin broke one roller and gained a companion for the night. Sorin also saw the place of peace where no day falls, but he could not explain the meaning of this to me.

[XXIX. 21-014] The town of Runegate Fort gets its name from the gate in the east wall. This gate is rumoured to have been brought from an ancient city in the Holy Country by the horse people who settled the region, and before that from an even older city, now lost. The gate is shaped like a Luck rune, and the wood which shapes the rune is of a type which no scholar I have found has ever recognised . The rune-carved gates inside the rune are of a much more recent construction. The gate is named the Fool’s Gate – for it is said that only a fool trusts to luck. However, incredibly, the gate was the only part of the town to survive the C rimson Bat in 1602, and the subsequent inferno.

[XXIX. 21-015] During the Closing, a ship setting sail for deep water encountere d a variety of effects, the result of which was always sinking the ship. Sometimes a great sea monster appeared and dragged the vessel down, as when Telendeus Starwise set sail from Refuge, or when Admiral Givassum departed the Bay of Ozur. Intrepid sailors departing from the Nolos region are known to have perished fro m various sources, as noted in various entries in Lighthouse Observations compiled at this time: “A green fog enveloped the ship” appears thrice, “A wispy red haze lacerated the ship to splinters” once, “The ship turned turtle”, twice; once a ship “Was pushed back to shore, but had no crew aboard” and one time “Sir Kransis’ stout vessel broke into two as we watched, and the men were dragged under water, fighting.”
Pug the Perspicacious: Many other effects have been reported as well, even in modern times when captains fail in their sacrifices.

[XXIX. 21-015] Tarron, one of the wives of the great shaman Little Dog, has been reincarnated into the body of a dog.

[XXIX. 21-025] A History of the City of Dorion, Northern Ralios. The City of Dorion in Northern Ralios was founded in the early years of Arkat’s Empire by one of Arkat’s lesser commanders, whose name is no longer known: he is spoken of in history only as “Lord Elf-Friend”. It is written that…
[The following three pages, which hold the remainder of this entry, has been removed (without the Collator’s consent) for private study by the Sage Anias, Deputy Chief Librarian of this temple. The Collator respectfully requests that the pages be reinserted when the D.C.L.’s obviously important studies have finished, and reminds Anias it was his policy – endorsed by all the factions – that it be an offense for any work to be removed from the Library. Theo. P.]

[XXIX. 21-016] It is common to hear Lunars sneering at the superstitions of other cultures, but one superstition from Pent which bars married women from drinking red wine has become popular if somewhat abused in the Lunar Empire. The superstition says that if a woman spills red wine on her dress then her husband’s blood will be spilt in the same place. This has led to the farcical sight of ambitious wives within the Lunar aristocracy throwing glasses of wine at the wives of their husband’s rivals in an attempt to kill them!

[XXIX.21.028] An entry from the log of Gormand Rockclimber, c.1582. My travels brought me to Jonstown, where I was invited to dine with Sigmund Dream-Walker, a fellow scholar. Sigmund fancies himself a master of the thoughts and motivations of all races of Dragon Pass. He even has some theories on Dragonewt behaviour (although I do not give them much credence). Having just come from Duckpoint, our conversation turned to the mental workings of that scurrilous people. He spoke to us for most of the meal, and well into the ale afterward, on the subject of Ducks. I posed him this question: “Why is it that those small, weak cowards seem so taken with the worship of Humakt, patron of Honour, Battle and Death”. I found his answer intriguing. “The duck-folk understand that cowardice is part of their very nature. However, their Orlanth culturization dictates that bravery is one of the highest virtues. Some ducks feel that they will never be able to live up to such an ideal, becoming bitter and spiteful towards humans. Others, however, undergo a ‘reaction formation’ (what this is I didn’t have a chance to ask), which causes them to fanatically internalize the virtues which they feel are lacking. These ‘Sword Drakes’ are often some of the bravest, honest, most honourable creatures imaginable, almost to an impossible degree. I might even posit that the Duckpoint Humakt regiment is the most disciplined fighting unit in all of Dragon Pass”. Growing weary of the subject, our conversation…

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