Ward of the White Worm

I formerly served with the militia in my youth in the north for a good six years, in that time I had grown accustomed to the savory taste of clapbread and the hearty jannock. I recall one particular early fall when we were told to station the old Fort Lum. Now that entire year so far had been quite rainy, but I had never seen the storms that would come to us there. For over a sennight our temporary home was relentlessly pounded by sheets of cold rain. It ended up breaking part of the roof over the storage and we lost all of our flour. But our oats, by the grace of the Distant Gods, had survived! Since the land around Lum had flooded, we could not go to resupply for two weeks and had to survive entirely off of oats, roots, and the swallows we caught. So I see no reason to abhor the idea of oats being more common down here. - B. M. 72, retired

Wheat is a most wholesome, winsome, and filling meal and promotes virtues of charity, compassion, calmness. Oats however are the grain of wickedness, have you not seen how the northerners drink wantonly, curse the Blessed, fight in the streets, and are only able to do filthy jobs because they lack the patience and knowledge to do anything beyond hard manual work? I am vastly concerned of this government attempting to force me to buy oats. What good mother would allow her child to become stunted, cruel, and filthy by raising them on a diet of oatmeal? - A. W. 38, proud mother of 14 living

I do appreciate that the government is lowering taxes on oat and barley to help the wheat shortage, but I have to ask as but a lowly clerk why we are not taking wheat from the Wald Duchy? I saw in the Friday paper that they were offering to send wheat to help make up for our shortfall. It seems very odd to me that we are not taking them up on their offer. An interest rate of 34% is not so bad as long as we quickly pay it off. We could do this by raising taxes on cotton, or flax, or cocoa, shoes, secondhand markets, or maybe another tax on male servants. - M. B. 20, clerk

I do not have an opinion on the wheat, oat, barley, rye, or anything. I just wish to see if my letter will be published. - G. T. 15, nursery maid

I do nut lyk the ot, the burlee, or ry. But my wif dos. If it maks my wif hapy, I am hapy too. - L. L. 34, ironworker (EDITOR'S NOTE: ORIGINAL WRITING MISTAKES RETAINED IN RESPECT TO THE WRITER)

The wheat shortage, I will repeat from what I sent last time to The City Voice, is a punishment from the High Divines for our increasing faithlessness. Even with the angels sent down to watch us, we still flagrantly sin right before their very eyes. Just last week I witnessed a man spit in public near a woman in a delicate condition. I was horrified. Until we repent and return to Church, we will continue to be punished and rightly so in my humble opinion. - Anonymous