Village Rumors
1227
The Unsexy Librarian
Elishiva bat Sholem (28), currently assigned as the Hermetic historian in the covenant library, married Joseph of Bridgnorth (17) last year under pressure from her parents and the village busybody/matchmaker Yentl. He moved to the covenant as she was paid much better by the magi than he was working in the fields.
However, Elishiva only married to get her family off her back and she is decidedly uninterested in the duties expected by her family as a wife - namely, having children. She spends most of her time in the covenant library as she did before, where the mental stimulus better suits her. She often uses the excuse that she was directed to her current task by the ‘scary’ maga who is the Head Librarian.
Her husband, however, is a teenager without supervision and is chasing after girls his own age. Village gossip says that many disapprove of this situation, particular the parents of the teenage girls.
On the Market
During one of the regular markets in Oswestry (on Wednesdays), rumors of one of the married farmers bringing agriculture for sale was said to have “laid down in a barn with a woman from the town with the doors closed” on his way back has been brought back by some of the farmers and merchants from the village who sell there.
Of the two concerns, one is for his wife since she will likely demand a divorce as this is not the first time this has apparently happened. This will complicate their living situation — families are granted plots in the village and since divorces are significantly rare enough in this community and have largely been avoided, nobody knows how it should be handled.
Second, and more worrying for the autocrat, is that the woman was a Christian which only stokes English resentment for the large population of Jews living in the covenant, which is officially Welsh now.
The Blacksmith’s Boy
The Llandysilio blacksmith's boy went missing. They found his body a day later, but he was horribly mutilated. His mother, she can’t bear to face the village these days. Word is that she wants to move away.
Sheep Thief?
My friend in Llandrinio says there are unusual tracks spotted around the village. Had a sheep missing too. His neighbors blame us - our village, that is.
Border Frictions
There's gonna be war with England, mark my words. Those people are trouble.