Ciphered letter from an unknown sender to the Duke of Silverbourne:

16 Mudthaw

Your Grace,

I cannot overstate the mood of the kingdom as I have seen it these past few weeks. If His Majesty insists on these new measures (and from everything I know of him, he will), he will need the army to enforce them. Talar itself may have adopted them, but so far in my travels not one of the other councils I have passed through has. Everywhere I hear demands that the Common Council be recalled. In many places, the gendarmes are taking no action; where they are, they are resisted with armed force. So far, the priests and the temple guard are standing aside; if the Serpent Lady herself has taken any interest in politics, she does not appear to have informed the Temple. I fear the day she does. The partisans already include in their ranks adherents of Isamaak and sundry other gods; if they unite under a single leader, they will be a formidable force.