| abstract
| - PALACE DISTRICT - The people and nobility of Hawk's Aerie are concerned about many issues, but one is on the lips of the citizens of the tradition Nillu seat of power more than others: Where's the Duke? It seems that people have noticed that Duke Oren Nillu is spending most of his time at Glittering Bear Keep outside of Nillu's Lode, which is causing some degree of vexation for those who supported the Duke's climb to power. "It seems that Duke Nillu would rather frolic amidst the buildings of Nillu's Lode, proclaiming his love/hate relationship for all things magical, than actually attend to the needs and desires of the people that put him in the position to be able to do that." Meanwhile, the Nillu of Hawk's Aerie fear that the Duke Lomasa and his House are mocking them from upon their lofty position upriver from within their own traditional seat of power. The image has quickly become popular with local bards who now sing "The Grinning Duke" upon the corners of the main streets and from within the local taverns, inns, and various other establishments of ill repute where such bawdy songs are popular. Allusions to the size of Duke Lomasa's "polished wooden lance" are rhymed with "romance" in more than one verse, attesting to the number of love affairs that the virile Duke has been known to have been involved with, while lyrics that involve Duke Nillu have not been quite as generous. Or quite as sordid.
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