LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR
"Stalemate Continues; Both Sides Dig In
The Falkovnian advance, it seems, has more or less grinded to a standstill around Edrigan, a city known to interest those with a taste for the paranormal. Both sides have fortified their positions heavily, to the point that it is possible that guile, or cleverness will not be what will win the day, but instead attrition.
Général Gaston Virieux has remarked about how easily the lines of Falkovnian soldiers are broken by Dementlieuse steel and shot, but also comments that not even powder utilized by Dementlieuse saboteurs has been able to destroy the temporary fortifications of the Falkovnian invaders.
Reports come from the intelligence community working within Port-a-Lucine that Falkovnian subversives continue to work through the supposed "revolutionaries" to destabilize the enlightened republic. If you hear any rumors or stories about possibly seditious individuals, please report about them to the gendarmerie immediately.
"Tristan Céleste: Gourmand, Miracle Worker
For perhaps the first time in a century, something smells good coming out of Quartier Marchand, and it isn't Les Tanneries. Tristan Céleste, an enterprising businessman with humble beginnings, has started his own restaurant in an abandoned warehouse and he's drawing both the rich and poor to sit the same table and enjoy the best of what Dementlieuse cuisine has to offer.
Called Céleste Grilloir, it lives up to its name by having delicious steaks available, well-seasoned and tailored to the tastes of the customer. The wait-staff, during my meal, was extremely attentive, and understood well that the patron knows best. The management has worked well to some stellar decor from a small budget. Of course, great food is not the greatest accomplishment that Tristan Céleste has done with his restaurant.
His food is remarkably cheap, allowing even those from Ouvrier to eat like a king for a day. Perhaps that is hyperbole, but by serving solely meat and simple vegetables like potatoes and beets, Céleste Grilloir has been able to tame the growling stomaches of many common folk, making it extremely popular. It also appeals to daring men wishing to try something new. Céleste claims that his "long pork steaks" are filling, and it's hard to disagree; this is one restaurant that this food critic can raise a fork in support for.
~ Pieter LaFayette, Food Critic"
"Charity Ball Bombs
Stranger to Dementlieu's social world, the elf Miuo Nevai certainly meant well by hosting a masquerade ball in the ballroom of the beautiful Governor's Hotel. Many have said that the event ended in disaster, but that would be giving the mysterious saboteur too much credit. It began with disaster and it remained disastrous throughout.
I entered the ballroom with my good friend Renée Delven, the darling of Port-a-Lucine's Rue des Pistolets, and both of us immediately accosted by a foreigner who I was told was with security. The foreigner, who gracefully clunked and creaked in a set of antiquated armor taken straight from the dark ages, verbally assaulted everyone who passed through to partake in the festivities. He tried to take away from Renée Delven what defined her the most, her pistol, claiming "he could protect her" (likely attempting to rakishly impose himself upon the noble lady) with his backwards weaponry and protection. He yelled at me in the trade tongue, which I did not know nor much cared to learn, and began to feel me up like I was either a thief or a courtesan, certainly not a lady of station. Only with Renée translating was I finally able to understand the brute and his demands. In her defense, the good hostess Miuo Nevai eventually allowed Renée to pass with her pistol on her person. I only ask of her that maybe, next time, to choose someone who isn't a complete troglodyte to serve as security.
The food was a rather remarkable spread, and there was no shortage of wine flowing. There were even a pair of musicians who volunteered to play throughout the night; however, it seems that the hostess expected people to somehow create their own entertainment and provided none outside the venue, the food, and the drinks. This is not something that only she is guilty of, but it is a rather unpleasant trend affecting events within Port-a-Lucine, where people are left to their own devices after their money has been collected. There wasn't a great deal of dancing (I saw only a few doing so), nor was there much in the way of revelry.
The only real excitement came with the threat of a bomb supposedly underneath the ballroom floor. I stayed to watch what unfolded, and it turned out that the Great Detective Alanik Ray would find the explosive device. Part of me wishes that the device exploded when I walked in; if it did, at least I would have been spared the slow torture that the ball turned out to be. This isn't to say that charity isn't appreciated. Far from it. In fact, I will give some charity of my own, free advice to the hostess: don't make me waste my time again.
~ The Invisible Socialite"
"The Jalaberts' New Clothes
The silence, once deafening within the Théatre de la Cathédrale, has given way to the noise of constructions as a wave of renovations come to the Jalabert Family's claim to fame. The renovations are said to be wide-sweeping and will help to usher the Theatre de la Cathedrale into its golden age, though some of the gentry are skeptical. Indeed, ever since Pierre Jalabert, Jr. married Luciana Armont, a crazed Borcan noblewoman who would wind up killing two guards and sending the third into a strange coma, suspicions of where the family's true loyalties lie have been everpresent.
The new manager, Lilianne Moreau from Richemulot, as well as the creative director, Blythe Harvey of Mordent, promise to offer much to the world; will they uphold their promises or fall flat of them? Only time will tell."
