Welcome to the seventh volume and grand reopening of the Serin Mystique!
My name is Farael and I am happy to guide you through these delicious pages.
Looking for battles? News? Scandal!? Poetry!?! We've got it all! Do
enjoy and please remember: Cats make great cushions.

Contents:

Cabal Affairs
-------------

[LEGION]

I was only given a brief few words from Corzen, Forsaken of Legion,
who seemed rather uninterested in being recorded for history. Hmmph.
Anyway, he says the Legion is "doing just fine, gaining even more
power every day." I have been seeing a lot of their applicants
lately and I must say they are quite the hearty bunch! That's all
folks!

Members: Corzen, Kurahwthar, Deriic, Larorat, Khelzith

[JUSTICE]

My previous interview with Arvar provided details on the Seringale
Justices, who are only a few remaining. Commander Arvar has been
seen relatively frequently, and Hobern has been spotted a few times.
Their newest recruit Tyravel is a very nice fellow and I wish him
the best of luck!

Members: Arvar, Hobern, Niels, Tyravel

[KNIGHT]

I was able to gather information about the current state of the
Castle from General Rosellin and the deceased Knight Aelduweth. It
seems that they were faring quite well until the recent deaths of
Aelduweth and the Champion Vyoran, and now their ranks are quite
few once again while the Legion are continuing to rise towards
pinnacle. Rosellin remarked "It promises to be interesting, but the
Light will win the day in the end." Optimism is a great
characteristic!

Members: Rosellin, Jaqr, Aelin, Aargvis

[KEEPER]

I got to speak with His Naturedyness Hrimoyan, the Chancellor of
Serin Conservation, about the current state of Keepers. Though
there are more Keepers than members in any other cabal at the
moment, not all of them are showing their faces. The active ones
however are performing their duties smoothly, and as the realms
seem relatively stable, he believes the Keepers' influence is
effective. The only current disruption is the turmoil between
Knights and Legion, of which he remarks "It would seem Knights
are using any and every chance and opportunity to get over on
the Legion, and yet they've lost at least two in their efforts.
Their overzealous ways have been balanced by their frustration
with failure it would seem." Such a wise man he is!

Members: Hrimoyan, Trogm, Tepesh, and three others I'm not sure
about since I forgot to ask!

[MYSTIC]

A brief conversation with Ashak, Oracle of Mystics, revealed that
these great magey helpers are still about their business as usual,
and that there has been an increase in young adventurers as of late!
This is terrific news as I have heard that young adventurers,
especially elves, make amazing pastry fillings. Err, I mean,
friends. Hurrah to the Mystics!

Members: Noliperus, Ashak, Elarwyn, Zalastran, Niusan

[HERALD]

Since I gained entry to the Halls of the Heralds, I haven't seen
hide nor hair from my fellow writers, but I am proud to say we
haven't given up the goat yet!

Members: Curisq, Mrondtoo, Farael

Bloody Battles
--------------
1. Knight vs. Legions
Today I was able to observe part of a siege laid by Legions on the
Knight Castle. The Legions Deriic and Larorat hurled their bodies
onto the Knights' path but were soundly reprimanded by the Knight
Aelin. From my period of observation neither were even able to
approach the Holy Knight before being turned back. Their lesser
ranks may have contributed a great deal to their ineffectiveness.
It reminded me a lot of hurling snowballs at the side of a house.

2. Yar vs. Gyrkul
Yar, a half-elf warrior of the 37th rank, fought Gyrkul, a fire
berserker of the 32nd in the Seringale arena. The battle started
out fair on both sides, until the berserker threw caution to the
winds and flew into a rage. Though he was dealing greater damage,
his aura soon fell and the story concluded rather swiftly. Yar
was taken to near death. Tepesh, another bystander, remarked:
"Close one." Close, but not close enough.

3. Farael vs. Yar
I, an avian invoker of the 33rd rank, fought Yar in the arena to
the yield. Being a squishy sort of avian, I got, well, squished.
I think I hit Yar maybe once with a flame arrow before all my
health vanished.

4. Farael vs. Lushen
I fought Lushen today, a drow ninja of the 36th, in the arena.
Three battles we had, the first I managed to outdamage him with
chain lightning and my falcon unfortunately took the last blow.
The second I let mana shield slip without noticing and
consequently shocked all my fur on end! before he had the final
hit. And during the third he used a shocking weapon for quite a
few rounds, which although left me unharmed for the rounds
drained my mana greatly so I eventually fell after he realized
his error. Oh well. I am learning!

5. Yar vs. Grubl
Yar, at the 40th rank, fought Grubl of something in the thirties
in the arena. Yar was hacking away at the big fire giant until he
poked Grubl in the wrong place with an icicle and Gruble RAGED,
yelling "It's Fire Giant Time!!" (Hmm, Where have I heard that one
before?) Yar was tripped up by a hobble and got smashed in the
face as his aura fell. Ouch!

6. Xundaghar vs. Tyravel, Arvar
A police report is recorded in which Xundaghar, a drow dark-knight,
attacked and killed Tyravel, a human invoker within Seringale's
walls. Too bad Arvar was watching. Xundaghar got flagged and
apprehended pretty quickly.

8. Arvar, Hobern vs. Valens
Valens was caught assaulting the shaman Veriande within the Seringale
walls. Hobern writes: "She was flagged and apprehended before I could
even work up a sweat." Ouch!

9. Arvar, Hobern vs. Kaugra, Valens
Arvar reports that the "mouthy dark-knight lady" Valens and her friend
Kaugra were fighting Ordyth in town and were flagged and swiftly
apprehended.

10. Knight v. Legions
Rosellin had to defend her Castle today from two Legionnaires: Deriic, a
rank 49 human warrior, and Kurahwthar, a rank 45 avian thief. Sadly as
soon as I followed them to Valour all three of them vanished within the
Castle gates and I couldn't peek in - the walls were too high and such
tiny windows! So all I got to do was sit and wait for someone to die and
make my report exciting.

...(several hours later)... It seems my previous observations were
incorrect! I was so busy looking at the windows that they slipped right
out of Valour and had a glorious skirmish elsewhere! Rosellin was nice
enough to tell me the goings on anyway, though. Seems like she was
giving them a spanking for ruining the Castle flowerbeds when the
vampire Tzakrid appeared and scared her right off her horse! Suddenly
she had an irresistible urge to bake muffins and disappeared.

No victor for this battle.

Oh, Scandalous!
---------------

Today I had the questionable fortune to be shown a pair of flowery
panties. Now normally I am not at all opposed to seeing lacy scraps - as
long as they are on lovely young females. In the hands of a scruffy
battle-hardened dwarf Justice, however, they were a bit disconcerting.
Even more so was the fact that they were a gift from none other than
Olyn, the Lord of Darkness.

Olyn claims that he got them from someone else. Of course, we all
believe him.

Well then, but this is supposed to be a creative piece rather than fact.
So as my task, I will hypothesize how these tighty-whiteys came into
being.

Let's say that once upon a time, back when Olyn was a champion of the
Light, he really liked to pick flowers. Actually...that could be true.
Let me try that again.

Let's say that once upon a time, back when Olyn was a champion of the
Light, he really liked to pick flowers *and dress in women's clothes*.
That's better. Well there's no way to dispute it really, the Knights
always wear so much armor you can't really tell, but for the sake of my
creative piece, we'll say this much is fiction.

So one day Olyn was picking flowers when he had a really bad urge to go.
But what could he do? his armor had too many buckles! So he went in his
leggings. Not generally the sort who carries extra undies around, he
decided yep, these flowers could certainly do the trick, and so he tied
some up with a bit of string and put them on. They fit a bit smaller
than expected, but you deal with what you get in a pinch.

Anyway, Olyn was squeaking around in those until somehow Arvar got a
hold of them. But that's another story, and if you're curious, you'll
have to ask him.

- Farael

Odd Factoids
------------

As a student of the arcane AND a Herald, I am often provided with
insight to strange things around the realms. Here are a list of
interesting nuggets I've collected over my travels:

1. Drows eat leaves, not brains (thanks Ryruk)
2. Olyn enjoys torturing people with sugar, forked sticks and panties
3. Lady Luck is, in fact, not a lady but a trollop (thanks Vevier)

Keep an eye out for more factoids in upcoming issues!

Strange happenings!
-------------------

A strange happening, well, happened today. I was sitting in my guild
filing my nails when all of a sudden an herbalist appeared and
transformed into a zombie right in front of me! And then it began to
dance and lick its ears! Well after that I knew there must be some gods
playing tricks on me so I looked and strained my little wee eyeballs and
POP! suddenly bunnies started appearing out of thin air.

I think I have discovered a vital secret to the Serin universe - that
is, everything, solid, liquid and gas, is full of invisible bunnies that
hop about. When the bunnies get into fights over invisible carrots, they
start exploding, and that's how you make fireballs. But I digress.

Suddenly, horrifyingly, the bunnies suddenly started growing muscles,
their eyes turned red and they started looking at me like I was also a
carrot! At this point I called to Big Sir Aelin for help, who rode in on
his big shiny stallion (or was it he who was big and shiny? No matter)
to save me from the bunnies of doom!

When the bunnies saw Aelin arrive, they started to SPEAK. One warned him
to stay out of their nefarious business, and then the other said "You
want death?" and then suddenly the realms crumbled right before we could
twitch!

What sort of monstrous attack was this? How evil must this immortal be
to turn cute fluffy bunnies into omens of death and destruction?! Only
the Heavens know... and I'm too afraid to find out!

Obituaries
----------

VAELYN, Commander of the Seringale Justices, succumbed to his old age
on the Day of the Great Gods, 19th of the Month of the Dragon. He was a
steadfast leader and a mighty warrior, patient and unerring in his
judgment, amassing respect from friends and foes alike. His loss was
felt keenly by the Justice Cabal, and particularly by his right-hand man
Arvar, who has stepped up to fill his role. The crime rate in Seringale
was decimated during his long tenure, as a mark of his effectiveness.
But already criminals are beginning to pop up, as you can read about in
our Battles section!

AELDUWETH, Knight of Valour, took her life on the Day of Thunder, 17th
of the month of the Frost Giant. She was a shy yet friendly soul, who
dreamt of and fought for a world filled with beauty and harmony. The
Castle will mourn the loss of her gentle grace, and I the loss of a
fascinating new acquaintance. Rest in peace, dear lady.

LOARON, Legionnaire of Darkness, fell on the Day of the Moon, 14th of
the Month of the Great Evil (quite fittingly), after the Knight Aelin
took his life. He was a formidable, yet honorable soldier for the Dark
Lord, earning respect with the edge of his blade. The Knights are no
doubt saying Good Riddance.

VYORAN, also known as YRWEN, took his life on the Day of Thunder, 3rd of
the Month of Futility (haha!) after being slain by the Legion Deriic.
From all accounts he was a promising Champion of the Light and provided
guidance, fighting prowess and healerly support for the Castle. His loss
came as a great blow to the Castle.

An Interview with Arvar
-----------------------
Arvar was a Justice for a long time. He is also apparently pretty old -
his beard is grey speckled with black rather than the other way around,
and he is also bald.

Not that bald is a bad thing.

He says he became drawn to the service of Seringale after seeing
numerous chaotic events and garbage everywhere. There was also some odd
incident involving evil drows in a cave attempting to implant things in
him and turning him into a secret weapon, of which he had very little
information to share (not surprising as he was unconscious). It left him
with a wound that to this day refuses to heal by means of poultice or
spell healing. Of its effects, he only said that some parts of the
experiment were more successful than others.

Of Serin and its inhabitants, Arvar didn't have many opinions, other
than a heartfelt distaste for Keepers, who apparently enjoy "tangling in
his beard" excessively. Except for "old Hrimoyan, who isn't a bad
fellow."

After a few short interruptions from the peanut gallery (what can I say?
Arvar is a popular fellow) involving a love announcement from Vizzuke
and some uncontrollable number-one-ing from the knight Vyoran, Arvar,
Olyn and I went to my guildhall to converse in a more private setting.
Here, in the sanctity of my training chambers, Olyn revealed a most
noxious and terrible experiment that he had performed on Arvar some time
ago! According to Arvar, it was some awful disease involving rashes,
hives, boils and a permanent body odor of charred flesh. Very
unappetizing without any herbs, I'd say.

In any case, the disease was not yet "ready for the public" - but it may
be the case that the world will one day come to an end from Olyn's
horrible plague!

When the end of the world arrives, remember you heard it here first!

- Farael, Chronicler of Heralds

I Stand Alone - by Vaelyn
-------------------------
Who can say why the water falls?
The marker rests softly on the edge
I wonder if the boot lives in fear
My body stands alone

My senses are too keen today
The pieces do not fit together
I wonder if my thoughts will be made clear
My mind stands alone

Perhaps it is the rain
Wine does not always fill the cup
I wonder if the moon howls in silence
My spirit stands alone

I know only that I dream
There is nothing there for me
I wonder if I am
I stand alone

Tales from the Bottle - by Vaelyn
---------------------------------
We're drinking and we're laughing
at the firebreather fountain and
the sober wisdom falls in short supply.

Arvar's my companion, not a
Sergeant or a Captain, and
he's drinking half of Serin in his mind.

A voice from nowhere whispers twice.
The room, it shows its dizzy side.
My legs don't work. My eyes are blind.
I don't think I'll be feeling right
anytime (soon).

Then the Keeper kills the Legion
and the Mystic comes to see me, but
I'm drunk like Trogm after a fight.

Arvar, my companion, has a
bottle for the masses and we
think it's Iggy's turn to take a bite.

So we stumble and we stagger
through the plains and up the ladders
to where the pyros and the Bar-Igura cry.

The elemental iceballs twice.
The Faction shows its frigid side.
More magic seeds from paradise
I don't think I'll be feeling right
anytime (soon).

We're drinking and we're laughing
at the firebreather fountain and
the sober wisdom falls in short supply.

Arvar's my companion, wants to
find his girl romantic and
he knows she likes him but he wonders why.

The crow of karma calls out twice.
The streets then show their quiet side.
The sun may never fail to rise.
I don't think I'll be feeling right
anytime (soon).

Live, Love, Wait - by Vaelyn
----------------------------
Live your life for your own love
Tenderness should never not be shown
All the way to her own heart
Don't ever think she'll never want to know

Live your life for your own love
Mine is still standing at her turn
Under the weeping willow
Searching for the proper place to burn

Live your life for your own love
Take the time to make a few mistakes
Empty your head of anger
Sit back to back, but never stop to wait

Live your life for your own love
Apathy should never turn to hate
The courage of a hero
Or a zero, can only ever link your pain to fate

Live, Love, and Wait

The Juggernaut - by Vaelyn
--------------------------

I am but a swordsman and my tale has not been told
I have traded my adventures
For a life of watching others duel and collecting bets of gold

It's been a hundred years since my family was taken by the war
And I carry recollection
Like a badge of some dishonor now faded into lore

I have a home in the city, not the streets of Seringale
Nor the shanties nor the stores
It's in the lonely hearts of widows and a tankard full of ale

There are some who mean to harm me, to strike me down and more
And I wish that they would learn
Why the hate consumes their souls, I only guard the door

They pass my door to earn glory, seek fortune, or gain fame
What kind of man of honor
Would waste his life in battle, so some may know his name?

I am but a swordsman and my end has been foretold
I have cast aside my countenance
For regret and inner turmoil, I'm finally growing old

It's been a hundred years since my life was lost and I am all alone
And I carry deploration
Forever lost to happiness, now that sorrow has been sown

Your Touch, Your Smile - by Vaelyn
----------------------------------

I'll tear down these walls that I built on the hill for you
And puncture the crevice of pain that I fell into
What can I say that I waited for you to do
Into the mist of the rain that is pouring through

Your touch
Your smile
Can make holes that I cannot defend
Your touch
Your smile
Will rupture my soul in the end

I cannot recall what it is that you said to me
That first time we met you would argue so patiently
Never again will you leave me so willingly
How can you run from the river into the sea

Your touch
Your smile
Can make holes that I cannot defend
Your touch
Your smile
Will rupture my soul in the end

Destiny rules all my life I can never wait
Or alter the words that my mind cannot tolerate
Over the line in the sand there is no debate
Don't try to hide from the truth that I consecrate

Your touch
Your smile
Can make holes that I cannot defend
Your touch
Your smile
Will rupture my soul in the end

Now you can go to the love that you still deny
Altered by fate is the life that we'll never try
Release the hold on my heart that will never die
Don't you believe that your instincts were just a lie

Your touch found a hole
Your smile ruptured my soul