The Chronicle

of the month of Menderal in the year 149

The return of the militarised wards to civic control is going smoothly and a major handover ceremony is being planned for the Midsummer Festival. The biggest problem has been finding accommodation for the displaced troops. Wards such as Levestone, Welland and Berewic which took a significant number of displaced residents after the invasion are suddenly finding these residents replaced by Kerunian Soldiers. The situation is not helped by the fact that the reason these wards could house so many was that most of the real owners had been killed by the very troops who are now moving in. The wardmoots have also been shocked to discover that Princess Selina has taken ownership of those properties for which no surviving heir exists and has already started to sell them to Kerunian officers and merchants. On a related note, General Olvini has moved into the Citadel and rumours persist that the Perignon mansion will be auctioned to the highest bidder.

The situation at the docks has eased slightly after an intervention by Graeme Porter. Ships are now being moored in the estuary unless actually loading or unloading, and a major effort is being made to ensure that sufficient Watermen's skiffs are always available to ferry sailors back to their ships. However the docks are still crowded and the growing disruption caused by the portwall construction is becoming a major problem. Dock watchers have also noted an influx of Kerunian youths disembarking from the various ships complete with the tools of their trade and a naive enthusiasm for the opportunities offered by Princess Selina's new City.

The Council has finally approved the city budget in a surprisingly quite and subdued debate. Major cuts across the board made few councillors keen to bring attention to the plans and a general consensus seems to have grown around just letting them go through on the nod. A few attempts were made to make something positive of the fact that taxes had not been raised but even this failed to raise the enthusiasm of the assembled councillors.

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The Midsummer Festival proved to be as enjoyable as ever. The marvellous weather helped the event and celebrations surrounding the restoration of all the wards of the city to civic rule provided a focus for the event. There were the usual competitions and festivities. Last year's success with events being held inside the City seems to have encouraged many wards laying on special activities. The Wellhouse Green once again emerged as the main religious centre, although the Hahnites made an unusual and welcome attempt to bring their normally hidden ceremony out onto the streets.

Later in the day the Sheriff election resulted in a surprise defeat for Miranda Andrews. Whilst Alison Shefford received unanimous support the remaining votes were split between Davy and Andrews. The victory of Davy by a clear margin of 4 votes confirms Marcus Lambourne's position as the leading challenger to Monterey's power block. The full voting was as follows.

Davy: Monterey, Shefford, Tasker, Hubold, Belcher, Barnett, de Clare, Porter, Davy, Spich, Romanie, Worton, Flambourd, Rucche

Andrews: Barbiter, Capel, Downe, Howe, Green, Hastings, Quiller, Andrews, Warin, Trueman

Princess Selina has yet to make a public comment on the Sheriffs elections and it appears that she does not wish to be seen to be interfering in the Witanmoot democracy. However Chronicle sources have discovered that she is amazed with the result. One source close to the Princess described her as simply stunned that in a time of war the Witanmoot would want its forces controlled by a milk seller rather than a skilled military commander. The plans for the rearrangement of the military, on which Andrews is believed to have been working, are also likely to be disrupted.