Broadsheet

The tabloid published in the capital for all the celebrity Eldritch news!

History

"Newspapers were a new invention; they hadn’t existed when he’d been introduced at court, and he’d left before they gained any acceptance. He thought they’d begun seeing some use shortly after his betrothed’s presentation to Liolesa as Nuera’s heir… and even now, they remained newfangled. Printing presses had not yet turned their equipment to the manufacture of books, which remained the province of artisans, and it was unlikely they ever would now that the Alliance had arrived en force."

The broadsheet is run out of Argent with equipment supplied by Liolesa and purchased in the Alliance. The business is owned by one of the members of the city's middle class, Darvel Bet Jesa, who employs two copywriters, his sister, Tanyth, and a cousin of one of the palace servants, Eroan Fin Jesa. The news for the broadsheet is provided by a variety of sources:

• "press releases" from the secretaries of noble Houses at the capital
• gossip from various palace servants, solicited or submitted (personally or anonymously via a slot into the broadsheet's place of business)
• investigative journalism and interviews, conducted by Tanyth or Eroan, either prior to or after events
• occasional tips from anonymous sources (invariably a noble wanting to get someone else into the paper)
• letters from readers

Liolesa personally saw to the broadsheet's set-up, but after arranging for the equipment she has never--to Darvel's knowledge--contacted the broadsheet, or asked them to publish anything on her behalf. Any official items she wants published she sends through her secretary or chancellor. She does, however, have unofficial channels she uses to feed the broadsheet, but no one's aware that she's doing it, except Maia.

Maia later becomes a correspondent for the broadsheet, in the form of one of its "anonymous sources."

Mechanics

This is where we talk about circulation.

The broadsheet is written in Universal, and later is digitized for dissemination throughout the world, via Sediryl's wiring of the various villages.

Staff

• Darvel Bet Jesa, Tanyth's brother
• Tanyth Bet Jesa, Darvel's sister
• Eroan Fin Jesa: has light yellow eyes; cousin of a palace servant.

Content

Articles and News

• "…have news that Jahir Seni Galare is to be wed to the incoming heir to the throne, Sediryl Galare, at the Seni estate at noon, with the traditional follow-on feast. While ordinarily this is not enough warning to make the happy event, we hear that there are conveyances that would allow visitors to make the journey in a single step…"

• "…rumors report that Lord Lauvet Imthereli was seen with one of the Thavelfin—sparring! But no one has confessed to being present. Could this be the stirrings of the Nase Galare love for the dueling ground? Or dare we guess this represents an attempt to gain entrée into polite society? Perhaps someone knows more!"

• EMPRESS DISPATCHES ASSASSIN BY HER OWN HAND DURING NOCTURNAL ASSAULT: "A source close to the Empress" may or may not have reported that the assassin, after climbing through the window into the Empress's bedchamber, met his end writhing on her bed as she stabbed him repeatedly, and then set her wolves on him, who proceeded to "eat him, possibly before expiry."
• Thanks to Maia she knew the Houses without access to Pads or taxis were making their way to the capital, summoned no doubt by the broadsheet’s gossip about the forthcoming Imthereli arrival…
• A broadsheet editor was at the presentation of the statue of Oviin, and reported on it, and reprinted Jahir's poem in full.
• HEIR TO THE THRONE TAKES THE TENANTS' LASH: The article was spare, an encapsulation of the Attendant’s confession of fealty, his agreement to his sentence, and his bearing the whip. The only direct quote in it was Sediryl’s, about draevilth making it meet that she share the punishment. There was little slant in it, as if the report writers had been so shocked they hadn’t known what to think of the matter, and had been capable solely of recording it.
• The baptism schedule for Sediryl and Jahir's children was printed in the broadsheet.
• "The broadsheet editors have been informed that one lord Korval Nase Galare has died in an affair of honor, executed before dawn on the palace grounds. The sole witness our editors have been able to locate said only that it was not his place to speak of it, save that it might have involved a woman… as such affairs so often do. But what woman? And does the lady of Nase Galare know?"

Photos/Drawings

• Liolesa at her desk, sipping tea while studying her correspondence with typical sangfroid, captioned: "NOTHING DISTURBS THE APPETITE OF THE STEELY EMPRESS OF THE ELDRITCH PEOPLE."
• From the HEIR TO THE THRONE TAKES THE TENANTS' LASH article: a photo of Sediryl at the conclusion of the affair, standing with her chemise mounded against her breast. An excellent, if lurid shot, it had been framed like the depictions of martyred saints in catechism primers.

Letters

Bethsaida: So Many Saints

Have you ever wondered why our people have produced so many saints? Particularly female saints? Today I am on my way to the convent devoted to Saint Marien. It is a beautiful place, nestled in the foot of the western mountains. I have never been to this part of the kingdom, and the people are generous despite their poverty. They give me bread, though their cheeks are pinched. I am so far from home, and yet in my exile…. I feel loved.

We are a strong people. Even in destitution, there is pride. We have a great deal to learn from our own people, particularly those far from our cities.

Most of all, what I have learned is that we are strongest when we rely on our own strength. We have barely begun to tap the depths of our people! Our culture, preserved here in the wilderness from those who would change or shape it, for ‘our own good.’ We don’t need to be taught what is good. It’s right here, in the mother who shared her soup with me when she had so little to give.

We have nothing to be ashamed of. I had wondered why we had so many saints, and I am beginning to understand. It’s because we breed amazing people on this world.

Tomorrow I shall arrive at the convent. No doubt I will find it beautiful. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. —Bethsaida Emil Galare

Bethsaida: Purity

…I have been thinking a great deal about the catechism as I continue my tour. Every night, I open the book written by our ancestors and I always find something of wondrous value. Some might call our beliefs and ways outmoded, but how can they be, when there’s so much truth in them?

Bethsaida: The Wise Man

...when I spoke to him, I was filled with understanding. He’s seen so much, and there is so much wisdom he had to share! True things, that work for us because they always have. I know the way seems hard and long when we choose to walk it—the authentic path, the one that defines us as people—but it’s worth the effort. Other ways might seem seductive, easy, might even seem to give us the answers we crave. But they wouldn’t work for us. Not in the long-term. One cannot transplant the ideas of one culture into another without also importing their beliefs. And our beliefs define us. They are what make us strong.

The truth is that our answers are in us. The flush I felt at understanding this! The relief! We have the power to solve all our own problems. All we lack is the confidence to do so.

This is what I learned on that sunny afternoon, speaking with the wisest man in the village of Tora. I am grateful.

Bethsaida: Nuera

As I progress through the bounty of Nuera, I am reminded again at how fortunate we are, and how rich. I wish you could see it through my eyes! I will try to paint a picture. There are yards and yards of trellises heavy with grapes, and people plucking them for broad wicker baskets where they gleam with dew, waiting for the wine press…

Bethsaida: the Attendant

…when I heard the story of this hapless child, I was aghast… for some had apparently declared her so hopeless they wished to remand her to the aliens for medical treatment. As if her gentle nature needed repair! To be sure, she lacks the full command of her intellect, but in what way does that impair her? Indeed, she is happier in her ignorance than many of us are in our awareness. It wrung my heart to think that anyone would consider one of our people defective, and useless only if she could be ‘fixed’ to some mortal standard.

What right do foreigners have to decide we aren’t enough? Isn’t that our decision?

Needless to say, I was only too grateful to accept the child’s service and save her from that fate. And I am gratified to report to you that she is all that is sweetness. I have never had such a faithful attendant, nor so gentle a maid.