Priest Benjaminus had his Investiture

(Year 233, Spring) Church of Similius is Mazaloom kingdom's stately religion, organized into 5 parishes. Last year was the last for Mr Christoph de Buttercups to serve the Tredony parish, as his request to retire due to high age was accepted by the church's board. His successor was announced this Winter, and yesterday it was time for his investiture. 

The new priest is Benjamin Rosa (66). He has served at the Windenburg Monastery for 35 years, probably dreaming of this day. Priests are recruited from the Monks, but not all will ever get a chance to serve a parish.

Left to right: Mr Christoph de Buttercups, High Priest Ansgar Profedius, and new Priest, Mr Benjamin Rosa.

The investiture of a Priest is mostly a local event involving the parish. It's not like when the High Priest has his investiture with a lot more fuzz and propaganda. There were a few empty seat at the little chapel of Tartosa yesterday, but several guests had found time to attend. It is no doubt important for making a new Priest feel welcome.

Gossips #14

(Year 232, Winter) I'm back with he 14th issue of my wonderful gossips column! Welcome!

This time I tried to restrict myself, but you get a lengthy read anyway! Rest assured there is juicy stuff waiting - including the nude photo of a mature princess! You might notice that I will no longer use each district name for the heading graphics, instead we'll just have one graphical heading for each region. And - if you are like me, you are quite fed up with those eight regional numbers, so in the future I'll just stick with the regions' names. This issue will be the last where those numbers are included in the text - we got so much more important stuff to focus on than numbers, right!

Investiture Day Year 232

(Year 232, Winter) It's Investiture Day, aka Royal Court, which is the annual event taking place at the royal palace on 1st day of Winter. Half a year earlier the Monarch announced this year's investitures and new knights. The list has to be made public in advance, because anyone protesting must have enough time to react. Protests were more common a century ago, and is mainly interesting for new peers anyway. This year there were no new Peer, but a few prominent residents were knighted for some of the high orders. The 12 district orders are paused this year due to the Regional Reform Y233, and the fact that 4 of the orders will not see any future new knights.

Left to right: Grand Marshal Robert Calves, Mila Munch, and High Priest Ansgar Profedius.

The Royal Court attracts members of the aristocracy, and of course family of those awarded or knighted. And the following residents got awarded by King Tarriot:

Cut Ruby Donation for the Similius Cathedral

(Year 232, Fall) You might know that Church of Similius dedicates most of their belief to the green and red bars. One can not exist without the other, and we don't need to fill the green to stay happy - avoiding the red would be enough. A philosophy that transfers well to the modern ECO lifestyle - avoid consumption beyond what is strictly needed.

But did you also know that each of the 5 churches have a system of crystals, namely a red ruby and green emerald, that serves as a help to a new priest? When a Priest starts his mission, he will most often come directly from the Monastery, with empty pockets except maybe the Nestor of the Monastery offered him a couple eggs and some vegetables for him to eat or grow. When he starts his new life as a Priest, the ruby and emerald will be waiting for him. Selling those two gems makes for a better initial period.

Then - he will make sure to find new gems for those two displays in support of his successor.

It's been nearly 3 decades since Ansgar Profedius entered the top position of the High Priest. He serves the Windenburg parish, which includes the largest church, the Similius Cathedral. For 27 years the gem displays of the cathedral have been empty! But last night, right before the midnight mass, a beautiful plumbob cut red ruby could again be admired!

Jubilee Lunch at Royal Palace

(Year 231, Fall) Just before Fall greets Winter, HRM King Tarriot hosted this year's Jubilee Lunch at the royal palace. This is a tradition where a select of members of the great peerage get invited, allowing the Monarch to show them some honor regarding their anniversaries. Every year each region's high nobility Peer will send a list of upcoming anniversaries to the royal palace office, suggesting for them to either get a royal visit or to be invited for the next lunch. The Jubilee Lunch takes place most years, but is skipped or postponed if there are too few persons on that guest list.

Left to right: HRM King Tarriot, Baroness Elvira de Sür-Blyth with husband Baron Hugo, High Priest Ansgar Profedius of the Church of Similius, Diego Lobo, Raspoutin Honeydew with wife Elvira.

When your House or your Peerage celebrates an anniversary, you might find yourself drinking tea next to the King! Some years the Queen will participate, also.

Gossips #10

(Year 231, Fall) Welcome to the TENTH edition of my gossiping column! Yay! Ten editions is quite cool if you ask me! Despite social season just closing with the annual grand ball, this time I had to skip the bigger names in both nobility and royalty terms. But there is so much gossips anyway, and Mrs Ward did not manage to stay out of sight this time either...!

I'm Antoinette Morck, milk farmer from Henford-on-Bagley, but many years as a city resident thought me to keep an eye on celebrities of Mazaloom kingdom, and this is where I share!

I did travel a bit, including Chestnut Ridge, but first let's start in Windenburg!