Itorunt Informer/January '07

Happy new year! Don't drink too much!
The Itorunt Informer
Free, although we like it when you throw money. Written by Ichigo Kurosaki, Valdid Juramona, and Thray Walsh (occasionally).	Bringing you the best of the press from Itorunt through the new year.	January Edition

News More Avamar Sheenanigans Amraedil, Althea, and Bladesinger of Avamar Selective, snuck into Old Rancagua and conducted a series of clandestine deals to fraudulently acquire the titles to much of the duchy or Kazakh, including the city itself. The matters were arranged in the dead of night, as most of the world slept. When dawn broke, Kazakh, Kazan, and Juazeiro were flying the Avamar Selective flag. Near enough to twenty-thousand gold was likely used in this fraud. It is truly baffling how they managed to convince their families to invest so much of their hard-earned wealth in the still no less doomed realm of the Avamar Selective. This is clearly going to slow Old Rancagua and the war effort from the northern border with Kavamar, it must be granted. However, the Avamarians still have almost no mobile army(it was demolished recently in an assault on Kalmar) and no means to hold the regions for very long at all. Once they are retaken, do their families have another twenty thousand gold to throw away for their Rock-Dweller relatives? Somehow I doubt it. The singular spite and desperation in this vast and futile expenditure of family resources only shows how completely the Avamarians have depleted the resources of the Islands. They are running out of steam and this Avamarian version of, "Rubber Ducky," isn't going to sustain them for long. Half of the continent is against them, no amount of family wealth can change that and this kind of thing is exactly why: Disrespect for the sovereignty of other nations. I suppose there is little harm in such tactics now, though. They'd blown all hope of a dignified extrication long ago. --Thray An Interview With Emanuel, Prophet of the Triumvirate Since word spread of Emanuel's discovery of a long-buried library in Zamor -a region long called the gift of the gods in Itorunt for the spectacular fashion of it's creation a year ago- there has been a new religious order that, while gaining some decent support in western Itournt, has been relatively obscure to the rest of the world. We at the II are here to bring you the digs on the new religion that was formed of this discovery, called The Triumvirate, as Emanuel, the prophet of Itorunt's first native religion, does us the boon of agreeing to an interview. Who are the God's of the Triumvirate? There are four goddesses. Elysia, Aulysia, Zama, & Ballisa. Each of them represent a season and a direction the wind blows from. Shouldn't it be the Quartet? There are four Goddesses. Why isn't the fourth recognized? Ballisa, the crone is excluded because she generally causes suffering and unhappiness with most people. Can you elaborate a bit more about the natures of the four Goddesses? Do they have their own minds, characters and feelings? I only recently discovered the lost texts of the Triumvirate and it would take years to translate and read them all. As the faith has just been renewed and we havent translated the documents in full, I cannot tell you much more at this time. Although we do invite anyone to come join the church to help us translate the documents and understand them better. What are the values of the followers of the Triumvirate? The values of the Triumvirate are the same as yours or mine, they encompass all emotions and values. From the good to the bad. Everything is encompassed by the Triumvirate. Might some people favor one of the goddesses over the others? What differences would these people possibly have in values, etc.? Yes, definitely. Each individual tends to gravitate towards the goddess that best represents them. At different stages in your life or even a different week you might be more partial to a specific goddess. How do you worship the goddesses in the Triumvirate? We worship each goddess in the manner set forth in the texts. You would be welcome to come to a sermon and wittness for yourself. -Hey, nice plug. Suppose someone wanted to worship the Crone? What would you say that meant about that person? How would they go about it? Well possibly they could be hateful for vengeful or simply a cold person. Worshiping the crone holds little value in that she doesn't normally return any favors and her attention usually turns out poorly for the person who's garnered it. Apart from the triumvirate and the Crone, are there any other spiritual entities worthy of note? There are no other entities that we are aware of yet. Like I stated earlier, there are still many texts left untranslated and perhaps we will find mention of others before we are finished. What does the Triumvirate teach of the afterlife? What happens when we die? Is there a reward for a righteous life, or punishment for a wicked one? Ballisa tends to the dead and we have found little to describe what she does with them. Obviously, she sends many of them back to our lands for some reason but it is unknown why. Perhaps she searches for something or someone. Might someone please one of the three goddesses, but displease another? What might happen to such a person, in life or upon death? The only goddess you should be worried about displeasing would be Ballisa, but I cannot imagine what you would have to do to displease her. She doesn't seem upset by much of anything. As for the others they understand that our nature makes us do what we do and hold no ill will for us what so ever. They are benevolent in many ways. Any rivalries or such among the goddesses? Friendly competition has occurred in the past. One of the books we translated was a story about Elysia and Aulysia competing over who could throw a rock the farthest. Which eventually made the mountains around castle Ubent. Do you believe the goddesses intervene in mortal affairs? I know they intervene in mortal affairs, they led me to the lost scrolls and I believe they also caused the ocean to close and the land to rise up. How does the church of the Triumvirate operate? Is there a good deal of coordination and cooperation in the church or do you prefer to allow things to proceed in their own time? Things have just gotten started. I am hoping some of the other followers and myself will get an heiarchy set up and work together to accomplish goals that benefit the people of Itorunt and the church of the Triumvirate. I would like to see the church spread to every city and every person on the continent. In what way does the priesthood of the Triumvirate approach other religions, if at all? How do you intend to interact with them? We have not yet contacted any other religions in force. I suspect that when we do they will be swayed to our religion. A few of their followers in Zawr have already converted to the Triumvirate. Are you aggressive in seeking new members of the faith or are you more moderate? I've asked two people to join the Triumvirate -Jabeer I, and Lucian. Robert had already joined before I asked. I would like to thank Emanuel for his time in granting this interview. It seems the Triumvirate is still a very mysterious religion with a lot of discovery and potential ahead of it. We look forward to hearing of further discoveries and developments as they are made. --Thray A Change of Scenery As you should know if you've taken a look at your maps recently, last week saw a few final changes to the southern realms' borders. Scio was finally ceded to Yssaria, finishing the land exchange required in the treaty, then just a few days later the final region in the slightly complicated region trades arranged between Itorunt and Ibladesh, Betholm, was also transferred to it's new home. As Valdid comments, I, Thray Walsh, was named the new count of Betholm and have begun the work of transitioning the populace into the Itoruntian lifestyle. Unavoidably, there were some small grumblings and a few unidentified persons even stenciled, "Ibladesh 4 Lyfe!" into the palisade, which will need to be remodeled a bit. Though the peasants that did it obviously have only a limited literacy, given the terrible grammar and misspellings in the message, it is somewhat impressive that they actually carved 15-foot letters into the stone over night -that takes some gusto! All said, though, there should be a rather smooth transition. Betholm is quite close to my native Enubec so I am already acquainted with many of the merchants, artisans and village mayors of the area. --Thray The New Year We at the Itorunt Informer wish you all a happy new year. It has been a year since our first issue, so this is an especially significant occasion for us. We have some news for you regarding our new religion (Thray, that's your cue). We hope you all enjoyed this past year, and hope you enjoy this coming one. Drink to your health and for the anniversary of the II's first publication! --Ichigo

Comments for this month Ichigo's comments Happy New Year! Congratulations to Thray. Thray's comments Suddenly I feel like... COUNTing! Ah, ha, ha! Valdid's comments Congrats Thray on becoming a Count!!