The Chronicle

of the month of Setheran in the year 142

The Midsummer Fair has been a scorching occasion this year, with many revellers picnicking in the shade of the city wall for the afternoon. Despite the heat, there were no shortages of contenders for the main prizes, with Ned Bockran winning the freestyle wrestling, Di Taggart taking the horse racing trophy and 'Gutsy' Ginley retaining the pie eating prize. Most surprising win of the afternoon was the victory of young squint-eyed Sam Wallis in the 50 yard archery contest. His unflappable composure was largely due to the fact that he didn't recognise the King, whose unexpected arrival on the main stand caused panic amongst contestants and Aldermen alike. The King, his entire household and a detachment of cavalry rode in off the main road from Cascorach completely unannounced. An omission which seems to be being blamed on the lack (still) of an Envoy in that city. Our loyal councillors spent the next few hours rushing around trying to put things in order before Lady Samantha Cox was summoned to the Citadel. Why his Majesty should choose to return unannounced is unclear, some commentators have mentioned the grain taxation problems which will inevitably arise after the harvest.

Irving Grendle's rescheduled duel took place on Firstday at noon, amongst the half-cleared debris of the Midsummer fair. The audience were interested to note that Miranda Andrews, herself a mean duellist, turned out to replace Alderman Dexter for the occasion. The duel started badly for Grendle when his initial attack left him overextended and Andrews inflicted a light cut along his arm. Suspecting a trick, Andrews refused to attack and drew back, giving Grendle ample opportunity to recover himself. This move appeared to annoy both of them and the duel resumed with a furious exchange which drew applause from the onlookers. This was followed by a prolonged pause as both participants reconsidered their tactics, and restarted with a vicious exchange which left Andrews with a light cut and Grendle with a deep wound on the leg. This second wound bled profusely and quickly forced him to yield the fight. While the Torian Physickian attended to Grendle, onlookers were startled to observe Andrews, a veteran of many such encounters, make a sudden rush to the city ditch in order to throw up. The worried Torian eventually carted both duellists off to the infirmary for further attention.

A serious dispute has broken out between the Ward of Bridge and the Court of Common Council over the city's deployment of the Witanmoot Guard onto the bridge. The Wardmoot of Bridge has refused to collect the additional levy from its citizens, describing the extra taxation as an unnecessary and pointless burden. Alderman for the ward, Gibian Horl, deplored the Council's decision but maintained that the Wardmoot had a duty to uphold the decisions of the Council. However the rest of the Wardmoot apparently thought differently and Alderman Horl was outvoted. How the council will respond to this unprecedented action is unclear, but at least one angry councillor has suggested that the Witanmoot Guard extend its jurisdiction beyond the bridge.

Councillor Matthew Dixon is pleased to announce the birth of his second child, Paston Dixon. Mother and son are both said to be well. The Chroniclers would like to offer their congratulation and hope that the youngster will have a less interesting life than his elder sister.

With half the Council away on their estates and most of the Aldermen preoccupied with the King, much of this month's business has been postponed. This includes Cllr Dixon's proposals concerning the election of sheriffs, and Cllr Mowbray's amendment to it. Both of these will now be debated next month. In one of the few sessions to be held the Land & Agriculture budget, unchanged from last year, was passed without opposition. The proposed Law & Order budget is also unchanged from previous years, contrary to public expectation. Chairman for Law & Order, Alison Shefford, commented; "Although we wished to strengthen our support for the prisons, there simply isn't any money in the budget with which to do it. The existing budget is the fairest distribution of our inadequate funding, and I therefore see no reason to change it."

With the recent hot weather, the city was lucky to escape relatively unscathed from a fire which broke out in the Ward of Dowgate earlier this week. The fire was brought under control only after several houses had been destroyed. Most of the citizens from the surrounding area, and many of the Witanmoot Guard, were involved in the action to stop the fire's spread. The reason for the fire is unclear, however unconfirmed reports claim that a resident of Dowgate, who was seen on the wall with a number of fire arrows shortly before the fire started, was shot and fell backwards onto the thatched roof of the building below. Our informant was unclear as to whether the shot was fired from the Floating Market or, as some people have been claiming, from the bridge by a member of the Witanmoot Guard.