Greetings, readers!

My name is Annase DArcangeli-Malicieux SiTalvace. And Im a poet that got an unhealthy obsession about burdock roots and that illness only the Xorani seem to get, but that all of us can carry!

First, let me tell you the locations of where you can find my donations of this year:

Ashtan: Parapets above the gate of Ashtan
Cyrene: Centre Crossing
Eleusis: Candlelit lodge
Hashan: The crossroads
Jaru: Within a renovated chapel
Mhaldor: Descent before the Cathedral
Targossas: Fish Street

Now, to the real deal. What are Burdock roots?

Just a couple years ago, around Eros, 934 AF, a friend and I were discussing our childhoods, and, in passing, he mentioned being sick with whatever-the-disease-name is. Ive been just calling it the Xorani illness, or the Xorani disease. I dont think anyone has coined any proper name for it yet.

Some months earlier, my aunt, Tilia Malicieux, reminded me (and all the Carnivalis Institute of Jestering, for that matter) that we should eat one burdock root a year. For us, non-Xorani folk, the illness manifests as our food and water tasting like ashes. It seems possible to get ill more than once, but people believe that if you eat one, youre immune for life. Even though you can still be a carrier.

So, whats a burdock root? Why does it cure this illness? What is this illness, and what can you do to help in this mission to eradicate it once and for all?

A burdock root is a dark-hued root. It feels rough to the touch, and its surface branches into fibrous tendrils. It grows in abundance in the forests! Not only that, but it tastes sweet and slightly earthy, so it can be a good snack too. If you, on the contrary, feel something burning, thats the root burning the illness away!

Not much is known about these roots, other than Lady Gaia blessed them to heal the Xorani Illness, as the plague also seemed to affect every aspect of Nature. No side effects have been recorded and I, personally, have never felt ill or weird after eating them! Perhaps

The Xorani illness, as Ive been calling it, is a disease that seems to affect them more strongly. As I mentioned before, for most it only manifests with lose of taste, but for Xorani, it manifests as fever, general weakness, sleepiness, bleeding from every orifice in your body, cold, itching, scales falling off, lack of appetite, watery eyes& A horrible illness all around!

The illness started and began to spread around 610 AF, after a group of brave adventurers made an expedition to The Vents of Hthrak, where they found an assortment of thirteen deceased Xorani. Male, female, elderly, youthful. The mysterious illness infected everyone who came in contact with the bodies at the Vents of Hthrak.

It was accidentally brought to our world by refugees who were looking to escape from another world, different from ours. Krenindala is the name.

So! Now that you have the knowledge about its story and the illness itself, how can you help?

The answer is easier than you might expect! Eat one burdock root a year and remind your family and friends that they should do the same! Harvest these roots, plant them, and donate them to people who might not have any! One burdock root a year keeps the illness away!

"But, Annase, what about the Fisherman (Biscuit) you were fighting the other year?"
Well, Im glad you asked! Since I started donating and announcing my donations, not only superstitious Biscuit reached out to me, but Ive been getting some unsigned letters from people who are very against consuming these roots. To quote one of those letters: "I will not take burdock as the xorani haox virus is not real. I do not wish to eat a plant that has unknown effects of which there are many possibilities including mind control and as such I would appreciate it if you stopped spreading fake news to the people at large."

Like this person, there are many sceptics of these roots, even in my own family. People dont believe in a magical cure with no side effects, even if it was given to us mortals by a Goddess. For some people, this is even more reason to be sceptical! Quoting Biscuit here: "Earth Lady's got Her own agenda, an' it ain't in our favour, no sir."

Well, the people who know me can attest to various things: One, Im gorgeous! Two, Im not a scientist, Im a poet with an unhealthy obsession with eradicating an illness that has been around (and managed) for centuries, and three, Ive been eating burdock roots consistently for years now, and nothing has happened. If anything, Ive been feeling better than Ive had in years!

I cant find any documentation on adverse side effects, and while I understand a miracle cure with no dangerous side effects is hard to believe, sometimes, the Gods are on our side.

So, keep an eye out for my upcoming burdock donation! Ive been donating them yearly, since 935 AF,

If you find yourself in need of a root, please dont hesitate to reach out to me!

As a friendly reminder, Im willing to invest my modest savings into anyone that can prove or disprove that the Burdock roots have any dangerous side effects, and I also want to invest into coming up with an alternative cure, so the folks who are wary of the burdock roots can take the alternative medicine. If you dont trust Nature, maybe you can trust science!

While Regent Nezaya Visindi was kind enough to reach out to me in behalf of The Dicondron Academy, Im afraid they have done nothing to obfuscate data and lie about the information they actually had, along with stealing research since no proper credit was given. You should be ashamed of yourselves. We were told that the illness has been "dormant" for some time, but it reappeared a couple months before I made my first burdock donation and began my attempts to spread awareness about this illness. And before then, you made it sound like youve been researching this illness for a long time.

You also informed us that the disease seemed to be fungal, but, and quoting a letter I received from Countess Nezaya Visindi herself, "According to the good mortician, a cadaver's spores are inert and no longer of a danger to anyone."

Which, as we know now, isnt true.

Either you:
A) Are all infected and said nothing while being in contact with others.
B) Somehow didnt get infected despite the illness not dying with the host, and all the corpses youve opened up. Or,
C) You didnt really find any "corpses with mushroom colonies in their chests".

Because, as we now know, the illness spread through Achaea with dead bodies as their carriers. Either way, whatever it was, you lied to us. Not only to me and Fastrider Treischt, who gave you all the information you misrepresented in your order to The Dicondron Academy while not mentioning him anywhere, but you lied to your researchers, biologists and scientists too.

You couldve put all of us at risk. You couldve set the research back hadnt any of us caught this. I dont know why you did this, or what The Dicondron Academy had to win with this, and I frankly dont care about your reasons. We gave you everything we knew and got lies in return. Consider our "partnership" over. I dont even know if calling it a "partnership" is okay, since my loyalty and desire to have Treischts name properly mentioned in the research was perceived as hostility form my part.

For everyone else, youre still welcome to investigate! Do independent research, find the cure! Ill donate as many burdock roots as I can, along with piles of sovereigns my modest savings can afford. I dont want this illness managed, I want it eradicated. And I wont rest until weve achieved this.

Id like to give my thanks to Fastrider Treischt, B, R, and my great, great, great-grandfather, Mighty Magnanimous Milabar Si'Talvace, Knight of Sol (Even if he just shared his experience with me). Theyre the real ones who have been carrying the investigation, who gave me the pointers I needed, and I dont think Id be anywhere without them. Its not "Annase's research", is not "Annases work". As soon as I get B's and R's consent to reveal their identities, I want everyone to learn their names!

A burdock a year keeps the illness away,
Annase DArcangeli-Malicieux SiTalvace.

Penned by my hand on the 2nd of Sarapin, in the year 937 AF.