Reading from Hero of Lukomorye Chapter III
Hurricanes of
Chance
The
Meteorology Service of Weather Island
spotted several possible hurricanes of chance traveling through the
northern Cologreve Peninsula area. Store owners of Pokoygrad and
surrounding areas must be warned that their whole inventory might be
found duplicated and lying down on the streets, thus causing a downturn
in their sales. One hurricane of chance has been seen near Miller
Village.
Besides that, the weather will stay calm with a bit of rain (snow in
Green Witch Village), but no major storms, so seafaring will be safe.
Note: Hurricanes of Chance (popularly known as Stuff
at Your Feet or the Helpful Bug) is a natural phenomena that has so far
no good explanation that doesn't involve deities of any kind.
Meteorologists regularly observe strong magic winds passing through the
area causing disturbances in the mana streams. These winds often are
followed by flocks of cockchafers (thus, the Helpful Bug). When such a
wind passes through the settlement, it results in total duplication of
inventory of various stores which are copied to the street level. It
has helped many people in need throughout the history but damaged a lot
of businesses as well.
Adamantine Empire wizards have found a way to regulate these hurricanes
and used them recently to damage the economy of Pucee City (after
several months of constant hurricanes, the one-time maritime trade
capital of Northern Sea Pucee has capitulated and become part of the
Empire).
Legend
of Miller Village
Once upon a time,
there was a small village on
the northern shore of the Svetloyar Sea. Nobody remembers its old name
since the old miller died and a new one came from Seversk. The locals
expected to see a young boy taking care of the mill but instead they
saw a grey-haired couple. An old man introduced himself as Umapalat and
his wife as Nyura.
They brought only a little luggage and said that they didn't need any
help at the mill. Once a week, Nyura came to village to buy grain and
sell flour but otherwise nobody saw them. However, very soon the locals
noticed that their bread and baked goods were much better than ever
before. The village people went to a nearby fair and were able to sell
their bread and bagels with much profit. They even started to sell
their baked goods to a local lord Vojzech living in the Castle of
Oborot.
At that time, Prince Obereg of Seversk decided to fight against the
cruel rule of the three-headed dragon Bezdn. The dragon's army landed
near the village and besieged the Castle of Oborot, since Lord Vojzech
supported the uprising. But Nyura came to the village and urged people
not to sell any bread to the invaders, no matter what. Several times
the soldiers visited the village and several times they were denied
food.
This irritated the leader of the army and one night he attacked the
peaceful village, pillaging houses and killing innocent people. But as
they approached the old mill, a strong magic forced them back. The
invaders sent their wizards to storm the mill but they were defeated
and incapacitated. By the morning, the army left and continued to
attack the castle.
At dawn the next day, Umapalat and Nyura came to the village and were
crying when they saw so many dead bodies and burned buildings. The
miller and his wife went back to their mill and for two nights the
heavy red smoke was coming out of it. By the third night, round large
bread rolled itself from the mill. Then another one, then another one,
and more and more. They all rolled to the army's camp and caused havoc
there - the bread jumped on soldiers, attacking them with small kitchen
knives coming out of nowhere, filling their mouths and nostrils until
the soldiers were left without air. The defenders of the castle saw
that somebody attacked their enemy and joined the battle. By
mid-morning the dragon's army was defeated and the siege was lifted.
Lord Vojzech didn't believe at first that he was helped by some kind of
living bread but there they were - hundreds of round loaves of breads
capable of martial arts and proficient in fighting. Their leader,
Karavay, explained to the bedazzled lord and his people that bread was
called to life by the strong magic of their creators, a miller and his
wife. But when people came to see the old mill, it was desolate as
though nobody had lived there for many years.
Lord Vojzech named the empty village Miller Village and granted it to
the sentient loaves of bread and they and their progeny have lived
there ever since.
Province
of Cologreve:Factbook
Cologreve
is a former province of the Kradotin
Queendom and now a province of the Lukomorian Tzardom. It is also the
name of a large peninsula on the southern shore of the Svetloyar Sea,
which it occupies. It is considered to be a cradle of the development
of the Seiry race.
The Cologreve peninsula was in the hands of many different states until
7000 when, after the fall of the Draconian Yoke, it became a part of
the newly independent Kradotin Queendom. When Vsevlast the Regent
briefly unified Lukomorye, Kradotin and Great Parmia into a single
Welfare Empire, Cologreve was given an autonomous status.
Vsevlast contemplated building the new empire's capital on the
peninsula. In 7465 his fleet sailed from Pokoygrad to the new capital
and vanished. After the dissolution of the empire, Cologreve became a
part of Lukomorye, which annexation is still disputed by Kradotinians.
The northern tip of the peninsula is occupied by the City of Pokoygrad,
the largest city in the province, and its suburbs. Somewhere in this
area Seirorash, the capital of King Emelian, was located. Pokoygrad is
one of the busiest ports in the world and hosts a number of large goods
exchanges, world-class entertainment venues and the Floating University
- the only university in the world situated on ships in the haven.
The middle part is the basis of Cologreve's wealth, the iron ore and
ruby mines of Cologreve Rocks, pearls from the Pearl Shore, wine from
the Calarash Valley, and, most importantly, mana fields that produce up
to one third of Lukomorian mana.
The southern part of the peninsula is situated near the modern
Lukomorian-Kradotin border. The fortress Miloradgrad was built there in
7470 by Tzar Milorad I, the Restorer, to protect the border and to be a
seat for a provincial governor, as Milorad did not trust Pokoygrad to
be loyal enough to Lukomorye. The smaller Sslini mana field is located
in the southeastern part of the peninsula. This area is also rich in
deep forests that are developed for logging despite opposition from the
decreasing local Ent population.
Cologreveans proudly preserve their language which is different from
the Lukomorian and Kradotin language. Currently, Cologrevean is taught
only in the lower schools but many continue to develop their knowledge
of the language in the Floating University and in Milorad University in
Miloradgrad.
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