Category: News

The general in-game newsfeed

The Eagle of Brass

The Eonic people have a legend about their ancestors and how they came to live in this land. They were lead here by a conqueror, who established a lasting kingdom. He was known in the Oasis Basin as “The Eagle of Brass”. At the end of his legend, he departed for the east, never to be seen again.

There is another story, about a weapon or a fortress that belonged to him: the “Tent of Brass”. It has not been seen since the Eagle departed, and the stories speak of the traps that guard its resting place, and scorpions made of brass.

Cycle: Year 116, Season of Harvesting

As the heat of the sun wanes with the lengthening days, the laborers return to the harvest fields. They speak of floods, famine, monsters, bandits. One pauses, lifts eyes to the caravan on the horizon. What stories does it carry?

This ends cycle 9 and begins cycle 10…

A Traveller’s Report

An excerpt from a letter in Miran Cache #25:

Most esteemed friend, I write to you from the quaint village of Chayi.

The locals have been assisting some kind of religious expedition to the ruins outside of town; I gather they hope to find something of significance to their beliefs. The rumors of treasure appear to have spread far and wide, which is no surprise, for it is all these farmer have to talk about. Well, when they’re not complaining about the storms or floods, or worrying about being stalked by fearsome winged desert creatures.

The local farmers showed me a dry channel that they said used to lead to the citadel, before the land changed. They told me stories about the lack of water causing the place’s abandonment long ages ago.

They weren’t quite clear about what caused the change, though I thought it reasonable to assume that some shift in the water underground or a change in the river was the most mundane explanation.

By the time this letter reaches you, I will be accompanying a caravan to Aksu, together with some of the local youths. They tell me there is an academy at Aksu where they hope to study. A fine occupation for our youth, I dare say.

From The Expedition of 1836

12th Thermador, 1836: Hyronomous has sent sketches of the entrance to the underground chambers beneath the Chayi ruins. A gravesite was discovered nearby; from the perfunctory markings and the late date, he estimates that a tomb robber perished while trying to uncover the ruins, and that later visitors buried the body.

He also inclosed a metal ingot found near the site that has a curious resemblance to some we found near Aksu. I wonder how they could have travelled so far from that place to arrive here?

The Troubles in Yiwu

From the Annals of the Oasis Kingdoms:

Yiwu has seen a sad decline this year, with much of the laboring population migrating westward in search of employment. Food is in short supply, and order and law are lacking.

Cycle: Year 116, Season of Growing

As the hot summer sun returns to the desert, the thirsty caravans continue their trek from oasis to oasis. Pilgrims pin their news on the Kusinne Pilgrim Posts, and whispers of a great discovery near Chayi entertains many campfires…

 

This ends cycle 8 and begins cycle 9…

From the Expedition of 1836

2nd Messidor, 1836: I have on my travelling  desk a little iron frog that one of the workers excavated while we established our camp. I have half a mind to keep it as a personal memento, rather then sending it to the museum to be packed away as another listing in their catalog. I find, as we start to explore this place, that I feel a deep personal connection to it, even though my birthplace is far from here.

Perhaps it is because my interest in history and the science of archeology can be traced back to when I first learned of the legendary Purge of the Great Library of Niya. I remeber feels that it was such a tragedy. A schoolgirl’s fancy, perhaps: but the scholar I am now still feels that first curiosity whenever lost knowledge is discussed.

It is my hope that this site will yield a find comparable to the subterranean chambers that Hieronymus has discovered at the site near Chayi.

The Markets of Lop Nur

An excerpt from a letter found in Miran Cache #25:

My friend, the aftermath of the war has left the markets of Miran and Loulan in disarray. The merchants who fled the turmoil left behind sadly empty markets and silent bazaars. The crops of the north will be  welcomed here in the southern oases.

On the other hand, the remaining merchants have been doing a brisk business in weaving equipment.

The guards tell tales of packs of giant winged cats that stalk the caravans in the southern regions of Lop-Nur. I urge you to exercise caution if you travel that way.