Who would have thought the debate tournament this year could be so spectacular! It's nice to escape the quiet halls of the Lucretian Athenaeum sometimes and see something new.

And honestly, I could have not asked for better teams to participate in the tournament, each bringing great honour to their cities: The Ashen Advocates, led by Farrah, Sothantos, and Jiraishin from Targossas; and the Sophists of the Seat, led by Mathonwy, Truax, and Lii from Ashtan.

Each month a debate round was held, teams would meet in the grassy knolls of the Fair grounds, where I would moderate and judge the round's randomly selected topic. While the crowds were rowdy, no doubt stimulated by the sights and sounds of the Fair, they were quick to remain still and quiet as each speaker captured our attention.

The first debate was, "Use of torture as an interrogation technique".

I'll admit, my moderating skills were a tad bit rusty, but that didn't seem to bother the Advocates or Sophists who each eagerly took on the topic I just revealed and presented their statements with just a few minutes of preparation.

The Ashen Advocates started off the round, randomly selected to argue in favour of torture. After Sothantos gave his opening statement, Lii returned with a statement against the topic. This continued back and forth between the teams, each giving their secondary statements before ending with their rebuttals.

Excellent points were made, such as Farrah's statement that, "Those who choose to use whatever means will best accomplish their end will always prevail over those who will not", or the rebuttal of Mathonwy that, "Torture as a necessity: toward what end? In our time of mind reading, angels, baalzadeens, serpents who can phase, and telepathy, not to speak of astral form and blackwind, -is- it necessary? Or is it gratuitous?"

After tallying up the scores, I decided that victory fell to the Ashen Advocates!

- Nissa, Head Archivist of the Lucretian Athenaeum

Summary: Nissa held the first round of the Worlds' Fair debates between the Targossian team, the "Ashen Advocates", versus the Ashtani team, the "Sophists of the Seat". In the end, the Advocates pulled away with the first win.


Penned by My hand on the 1st of Valnuary, in the year 805 AF.