A battle erupted between Solomnic and Draconian forces that will likely never make the history books. According to some reports, a large group of Solomnics suddenly attacked another large group of Solomnics. According to other accounts, a contingent of Draconians was set upon by another force of Draconians. Pretty much all accounts are confused on the matter, but after collecting all accounts we could find, mixing in a bit of dubious divination, bringing to a boil, and letting simmer for ten to fifteen minutes, we at the Palanthas Times feel that we have come accross the most likely possibility. It seems that a force of Solomnic Knights disguised themselves as Draconians in order to launch a sneak attack on a known nearby Draconian stronghold. On their way, they encountered another contingent of Solomnic Knights, headed back towards the Keep that the Solomnics just left. Not wanting to risk blowing their cover in case of Draconian scouts in the area, the disguised Solomnics attacked the undisguised Solomnic contingent, hoping to cause just enough chaos to parlay without giving up their secret to prying eyes. Fate, as always, has a cruel sense of irony.
The ambushed force of Solomnics as it turned out were actually Draconians disguised as Solomnic Knights, attempting to ambush the Keep that the disguised Solomnics had just left. Both parties were obviously shocked to begin with to be apparently fighting their own kind. This shock only grew deeper when the forces actually came close enough to understand eachother's attempted ruses. The heated battle that followed left over a hundred dead, although at this point what percentage of casualties can be attributed to which side are a mystery. There is no word yet which side won- The Solomnics pretending to be Draconians or the Draconians pretending to be Solomnics, and in all honesty, nobody at the office even cares. We're all still too busy trying to figure out the first part.
Our editor tends to think that we do way too few human interest stories. He's also the person who writes everyones pay vouchers here at the Times, so in view of his concern, we feel obligated to tell you a bit about culture. And in keeping with the theme, we've decided to talk about boogeymen from different races. Spooky, don't you think?
Now the Minotaurs have long been known as a proud and strong race, but as children, they have creepies just like everyone else. Parents tell headstrong young bulls about an insane Minotaur with no horns by the name of Haambuhrger. It's said that if a young Minotaur fails too often, Haambuhrger will sneak into his room in the dead of night and with his Mithril nail file, he will file the young one's horns right off.
Now the Gnomes you would think would be above superstitions and fairy tales. However, a young Gnome slacking in his studies is certain to be visited by a ghost of a cursed Gnome whom (for brevity) we call Simplifier. Simplifier would sneak into the Gnome's mind and tinker around with his brain, using all of his advanced hydroelectric pulse manipulating brainwave transmorgifying devices.... And when the unfortunate youth would wake up.... Everything he constructed would be needlessly simplistic. No extra gadgets or gears.... This tale has obviously kept more than one small gnome up at night studying.
Finally we get to the Kender (as usual). Now the Kender are raised believing in a ghost by the name of Gelwin Pouchsnipper, a kender child with a terrible curse... He can no longer find treasures of his own, so instead he must take ones belonging to others. Legend has it that this poltergeist follows a kender child that has something interesting... waits until he's not looking... and then snips off one of his pouches, claiming it for his own. The funny thing is that this story isn't told to frighten young kender, but rather to amuse them. Often, kender communities will stay up all night partying, just in the hope of catching a glance of the thieving kender ghost.
Strange accounts have been pouring in today of an odd group of vandals who are terrorizing the Qualinesti area. An unknown group has been leaving small red handprints all over buildings and people and other various things. At first it was dreaded that the infamous Goblin raiding band Xa'kTho'rk had returned, leaving their telltale symbol, the bloody handprint, as a warning. All visual accounts had been brief, and for the most part useless. Simply a group of small humanoids cloaked in black were the culprits. Our on-sight investigator cracked the case, however. As he was interviewing a farmer who had his wagon covered in these odd markings, he heard a rasping, coughing noise behind him. He turned to see, of all things, a kender dressed in black robes looking up at him and smiling, a can of paint in one hand. Before our investigator could say even a word, the kender dipped his hand in the paint, slapped our friend on the chest, and ran off giggling, yelling behind him "RAISTLIN GOT YOU!!!!!"
Authorities are still hoping to apprehend the vandals red handed.