Wise Archon Gillian,
I write to you from Pinelake’s most comfortable candle-lit table within the Red Shield Inn. I have been here since last Leafturn to assist the mayor with local ailments, and create a sanctuary with any proceeds raised, which have been slim.
Now that the snows are receding I expect trade will begin anew, but the thaw will ensure travel is difficult for a few moons more. Even so, every day more travelers come into town seeking the prospect of coin and a hot meal. Most arrive healthy and uninjured, praise Ardis. I notice that many have come from Starryshore, seeking employment for them and their families. The accident they experienced at the end of last year seems to be more damaging than I once thought. I’ve learned that most of the tradeships were destroyed, and many sailors remain landlocked with no hope of returning to the sea.
Most arrive healthy and uninjured, praise Ardis.
I write to you on this night, not for them, but for my own selfish reasons. I am bound to serve as council and laborer at the behest of mayor Townsend for another seven moons, yet I feel my purpose here slipping away. Townsend now takes counsel from a priest of Xul – and where Krom has paid me handsomely with wisdom, Xul sees fit to pay his clergy with gold. This gold has shaped the actions of Townsend and left a hole where his heart once was. Starting tomorrow, he has decried that those of fair builds with barbed ears, being citizens of Pinelake or no, are no longer permitted within the city walls on pain of death – so states the teachings of Xul.
[…] those of fair builds with barbed ears, being citizens of Pinelake or no, are no longer permitted within the city walls on pain of death – so states the teachings of Xul.
This gives me a great pain of the soul that I have never known. Wise Mother, I shamefully ask- Why am I here? Were it possible to raise coin for a sanctuary, our teachings require a tithe be paid to the mayor. Would you find it wise to give such gifts to a man that stands not for his people, but for his own selfish desires? How can we make these people thrive when the very source of their well being is poisoned against them? How can I encourage the masses to settle in this place, knowing that their taxation will fund principles we stand against?
How can we make these people thrive when the very source of their well being is poisoned against them?
I fear what the dawn brings, for tomorrow I am bound to act as Townsend sees fit, and my labors may include sending people to their deaths via exile or worse. If tomorrow I must choose between the slaying of a peaceful discriminatory people or removing these colors of Ardis from my chest – I would rather become a lowly man of the world than live a single day with the blood of innocents upon my soul. I hope you understand.
May Ardis lead you to light and laughter,