All the News of the Silver Moon Empire		03/15/1274

     

Who is Left
in the Darkness of Balthazor?

While we are not under threat of direct invasion by the Undead running amok in Balthazor, one wonders what has happened to the Leaders of this dark and dreary land. We, the citizens of Shadokhan, can count our blessings that we do not share a direct border with this unwelcoming region and its disgusting inhabitants.

Last news we heard from the Archmagess Irmaa Vep, she had turned tail and gone once again into a secluded place to weather the unpleasant goings-on in her region. Do not listen to any word about her having gone to meet her maker; Lady Vep is certainly alive and well. Given her love for mind games, it would be fitting if she let the rest of the world think she has lost her will and power to govern her lands, only to emerge from her seclusion when nobody expects it.

After the loss of the Black Branch Knights and the withdrawing of the Klockwork Army, nobody is left to govern the masses of unhealthy and ungodly creatures anymore. Could this be another sign of the great Klock machine losing control? One by one, their grip on the lands of the Empire fails.

For now, let us all be grateful and count our blessings that nothing is coming out of the Region. No word of any eccentric Archmage, no news about whether any of the Black Knights may have survived, and most important, no UNDEAD!.

 

And to the North, the Woods Stay Silent

Or so our Leaders would have us think... While they still enjoy a healthy trade relationship with the Dwarven Nation of Arboria and use the gained metals and weapons to feed the vast Armies, any news slipping into our lands about the vast forests of Arboria is kept secret by the high ranks of Taysayad. Maybe the Klock Master is still sour about Arboria turning her back on him the moment he assassinated Emperor Tumian.

Despite their efforts, we are able to bring you news, real news, about the Elven-ruled lands. Granted, it came to us in a most unexpected way, straight to us from a reliable source in Luminii who witnessed the arrival of an Arborian messenger, so we can guarantee it is genuine.

In the turbulent times following the fall-out between Arboria and Shadokhan, a little town inside of the Arborian borders was cut off from the rest of the Empire and with it all outside support for Fort Klimteg ceased. It was believed all the remaining Silver Moon Knights escaped across the Arborian Border or were secured by the Elven Nation itself.

An ambassador has made contact with the new Rulers of Luminii and granted the remaining Knights safe passage to the Cloosidian Border so that they have a chance to join the remaining forces of the Silver Moon Knights in Luminii. This news should disprove the ugly rumors of human genocide inside the borders of Arboria. Why would the leaders of Arboria go through so much trouble if they could smite them instead? Klock propaganda at its best for sure, propaganda spread only to turn our hearts and minds against all of our former allies.

Gabby's Gossip

This reporter has learned that the great and glorious Klockwork Master is only seen these days by his illustrious General Yashkara. What goes on behind those closed doors? One could wonder. Could it be the General has a thing for our leader's ... gears? Or perhaps the Master enjoys Bad-land females? And just imagine what sort of litter they might produce. Dogs that don't know when they've been.

And speaking of not knowing when they've been, what's up in Luminii? Why is it that as the Klock soldiers diminish, the goblin raiding parties increase? Could it be that under that uniform are the vile monkey-boys who dwell in the Badlands?

Has anyone noticed the slow invasion of Badlanders? Our Beloved Silver Moon Empire is gone, welcome to the new and expanded Badlands...

From Those
Fighting For Us

We have long heard that the Klockwork Army is one unified body and been left to believe nothing else. However, in an interview with a soldier of one of the Klockwork Armies, this would appear to be little more than a facade, and the General and the Klockwork Master have abandoned the Captains.

General reports of sudden movements of armies are well-confirmed and the changes have exposed a possible rift in the great Klockwork Army. In Luminii, for instance, our insider confirms that Captain Walsh has been forced to shore up the numbers of his force by pressing citizens of that region into service. There has been a sudden surge in Pirate attacks on the coastlines of both Luminii and Shadokhan, which our source suggests is a result of Klockwork arrogance -- that the Klocks have long believed the Pirates were too disorganized to be a serious threat.

Rumor has it that Captain Hale is being kept in Western Luminii as a buffer to Shadokhan to prevent any invasion or infiltration from Luminii. However, in withdrawing the northern army from the apparently hopeless situation in Balthazor, Captain Tharius was not moved to support this operation. Instead he was sent to defend the border between Thermador and Luminii -- a "reward" that many within the Army consider an undeserved disciplinary action, particularly in light of two years' traumatic service in the Land of the Undead.

Has Luminii's capital been given up with only a token protest, since the forces of the mighty Army are only guarding the borders and not the heart of Luminii? What about the startling news of the disappearance of Captain Voslow? No one is certain what happened, but one rampant theory our source quotes is that all of the Captains of the Klockwork Army will be killed and replaced with those of General Steelclaw's own race. This would pave the way for the Badlands to move across the Skalls and put humans into servitude or other unthinkable perversions.

Our source believes that Steelclaw, whom he declares a more than capable warrior, lacks the knowledge because of her savage nature to understand warfare in the civilized lands of the Empire. She even refuses to instate ranks in the Army, leading to a complete lack of discipline. We should worry about what madness Steelclaw will enforce on the Empire next.

If the bizarre choices made by our governing forces were not enough to cause concern, some evidence was given to the Gazette that indicates, quite clearly, that the Klockwork Mages are mixed mages! There is no evidence at this time to indicate what their real abilities are, except their talent in manipulating Time -- which, in itself, is more than cause for alarm! Regardless, citizens of the Empire know all too well what happens with a mage trying to wield two gifts at once. More news has been promised the Gazette from this reliable source, but with the evidence already gathered it is clear that this Empire is being ruled by madness and monsters!

 

Expect more snow through the middle of Blossombud. High winds from the south-east in the coming cycle may cause heavy damage to newly-leafing trees in the surrounding woods. It is advised to postpone overnight travel at least until late Blossombud, when the nights should become less chilled and folks and beasts run less risk of freezing to death if caught in a sudden snowstorm.

We Are Not Alone
in the Fight

It is my pleasure to bring you news the Klock Regime will never let you hear!

News of the "Hidden General" rises among the common folk. It's been known that this man and his troops have been ferrying rebels out of the city when the heat is too much. It is unknown how or where these rebels go, I for one applaud this figure's resourcefulness. It's not always been easy to best the war-machine that is the Klockwork.

Ambushes closer to the city of Dreven are beginning to occur to Klock forces. As folks grow more and more discontent in the Army's yoke, they rise to arms. Some think it is due to the Hidden Generals efforts, others believe the people have seen the Army's true colors.

In other news, word of the long elusive Black Wolf Company Mercenaries has reached my humble ears. It is said that they have joined the Rebels in Luminii in freeing and fortifying the city there. I for one applaud this noble company of fighting men!

These simple words I wish you all to know, to see the truth that the Klock seek to hide! Long live the resistance! Take up arms against your foes and throw off your shackles! I bid you all farewell, for I am joining the fight!

~Darin Lerchant, a local Rebel

 

Corporal Punishment

For crimes against the people, the following Klock soldiers were ordered to receive lashings suitable to their offenses:

Cedric Alvin
Errol Larsen
Royce Mumford
Shilene Jaussi
Con Willis
Ella Kener
Claron Palmer

Punishment was carried out in Dreven's public square.

 

What Are We to Believe?

It is a simple question, but the answer is far from easy.

It seems like so long ago that the Drevens fell and the current regime came into power. At the time, it seemed a good change. Young Tumian had not lived up to the legend of Cornelius I, and it seemed that at every turn disaster followed him. There was rampant crime, the constant appearances of the Mad Mage, famine, the Hive, and even those with control over the seas were unable to stop the waves that devastated Southern Oceanuus and the Luminian coastline.

What was wrong with someone new? Our new emperor had raised an army to face the newest threat while under Tumian's reign, the rampant undead that continually poured from Balthazor's borders. It was in this battle that our former ruler fell. No one seemed to mourn over long for his departure. In fact, it seemed that political maneuvering began almost at once. Old nobles sought to keep their titles and all that went with them, and new nobles were made for those who could not accept the change.

There were not many new nobles made.

From Taysayad, new order was established. In Luminii, the Golems of the Klock began farming as humans could not to refill our lands with precious food. In Shadokhan, order was quickly established and crime all but snuffed out. The Empire had a hero in Balthazor; Captain Tharius kept the undead, which the Archmagess Vep seemed unwilling to deal with, almost completely from the bright lands around that dismal region. So the empire had other new heroes to look to as well. Names like Dolek, Walsh, Steelclaw, Tharius, began to be spoken almost as a ward against the darker side of life in the Empire. There seemed to be, at last, an end to the struggles of the Empire and peace threatened to settle all the Citizens of the Empire into ubiquitous happiness.

It was true the Empire was now one Region smaller, but Arboria often moves at her own whims and who can understand the mind of her rulers? Perhaps one could include Balthazor as lost as well, for surely on Tharius's brave army had the fortitude to brave that land with the hordes of creatures attacking any living thing. And one might make the case that Cloosidian was no longer in the Empire either, but like Arboria, history proves that the Land of Aeromancers has always gone a bit on her own. Surely there were pirates stopping trade in Oceanuus, but like the other criminals running amok under Tumian, the Klock would deal with them in due time. All things were surely not perfect, but it was making a swing for the good. Time seemed all the Empire needed to heal.

Then came the announcement of the Tivili Decree.

Vivomancers were killed for no other reason than they did not reject all they held dear in favor of pledging all allegiance to the Klockwork Master. It seemed it had not been the first time. Soon those who had grumbled before now started to unite against such insanity. It must only be temporary. As they resisted, the hangings began. There were not even mock trials, no semblance of law at all. If the Klockwork Army has listed someone as a traitor, the person was hanged outright. Merchants were hanged outside the tavern with no trial. Nobles were hanged outside their own homes. There was no record of offense and no chance for them to offer a defense. The Klockwork Army, which had once seemed poised to defend us all, executed citizens with little remorse and great malice. No one left Nostrum alive. Even in the Dreven temple of Nostrella, every last soul was slaughtered. The town of Morgaine was burned to the ground for nothing more than wanting not to pay unreasonable taxes. And the Pirate threat has, in fact grown. Balthazor has been given up for lost, and even Luminii's new Archmagess officially declared the Klockwork Empire was an Empire of death which Luminii could no longer a part be of.

So what are we to believe? Are we to believe that Luminii seeks to destroy the Empire she has long sustained and sacrificed for the good of the Empire? Are we to believe the Klock has been fighting, or making an alliance with the Pirate Nations? Are we to believe the children killed in Nostrum and the Dreven Temple of Nostrella were such a threat to the mighty Klockwork Army? That these tiny, defenseless lives had to be rubbed out long before their time? Is Steelclaw, a monster from the Badlands, really the protector of the citizens of the Empire, or does she secretly begin to undermine our Empire to make us slaves to her own kind? Why else would she leave the greatest warrior in the Klockwork Army for years in Balthazor? Why should such a creature give orders to leaders like Captain Walsh? Why does the Klockwork Army make press gangs in the South? There can be only one conclusion: The Klockwork Master has walled himself away from us all. He has even lost control of what coins are in use in his own Empire, and having coins of actual value as opposed to the worthless gears is a death sentence. The Empire is being dismantled by the Klockwork Master. This is why the Mad Mage has vanished. He has a living being to do his dirty work for him.

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