Merveilles Messenger - SSD Y34

[Nathan]

The Merveilles Messenger
Pelagian Edition - Senate Standard Date, Y34

SOVEREIGN GEOFFREY DEAD

By Horace McDyck of Rubis

LIEBLING, AMOURSLAND - The sovereign of Merveilles and Lord of the House of Amours was found dead today in his riverside villa in the city of Liebling, capital of the Amours houseland. The body of the sovereign was discovered early this morning by his wife, Lady Rowena. She issued a short written statement to the Messenger'slocal office in Liebling: "We thank our housemates and other Merveillais for their prayers to Sasei regarding my husband's death."

All details regarding the death are being kept secret for reasons of the tetrarchy's security, family privacy, and "the public welfare" according to a statement released by the Amoursland police department.

However, a guard belonging to House Matraques that was employed by the family due to the late sovereign's office, has stepped forward, being unbound by Amoursland policies. "He was murdered I tells ya! I'm the gatehouse guard ya see, but when his body was discovered, all the guards were called to the scene. It was then that I saw the body impaled on Wondered jagged quartz javelin."

How did such a weapon get through the villa's Wonder-detectors? Local Quadropoli security experts explain that Amoursland detectors operate under the fact that only high-powered Wonderings can be used as weapons. The experts postulate that the assassin secreted in a small, undetectable Natural quartz and then accelerated Natural crystal growth with a minimal amount of Wonder. As we all know, enhancing Natural objects requires substantially less Wonder than creating.

According to the traditions and laws of House Amours, the leadership of the House passes on to the most immediate next of kin which makes Geoffrey's late wife Rowena the Lady-Regnant of House Amours. While not rare, it is an uncommon occurrence in all Houselands to have a female reigning Lady. Indeed, House Matraques and Rubis specifically bar women from ruling their Houses.

It is unknown if Lady Rowena will take her seat at the imminent Congress or, in the face of almost certain pressure, abdicate in favor of her son to avoid putting House Amours at a disadvantage when dealing with the other misogynist Houses. While House Dagues also allows reigning Ladies, they are no ally of the Amours, effectively isolating House Amours if House Rubis finds a reigning Lady intolerable.

Horace McDyck of Rubis is a staff reporter for the Merveilles Messenger. He received his Mastering Degree in News from the Rubis Institute of Business in Nagus, Rubisland.