Chapter Text
CAPITAL CITY OF HALLOWNEST NOW OPEN!
Newspaper written by Theomut for the Bee’s Buzz
WELL, the efforts of the Pale King to build a safe haven for his loyal warriors and diplomats has finally paid off. The Capital City, now known as Pale Court, is open to those who have saved up enough geo to afford the cost of rent. That might be a tough one, though! It’s well over a thousand geo per moon, so only the noblest (and richest) are allowed to live there! Everyone is welcome to visit, however, with the main entrance to Pale Court in the Fungal Fields. Merchants, you’d be better off taking the stag station, because there are actually two in the city! Just a small portion of it outsizes the Kingdom's Crossroads, or even Greenpath! Now, an interview with none other than the mayor of Pale Court himself, Ogrim!
“Sir Ogrim! Congratulations on the mayorship and the construction of Pale Court!”
I remember Ogrim looking nervous, somehow.
“Y-yes. It’s a great achievement for all the bugs of Hallownest. We put a lot of effort into polishing the city and making it habitable for hundreds, even thousands of bugs.”
I chuckled, and he laughed a bit as well.
“I hear that Pale Court has 2 stag stations! What an accomplishment. How did you manage to do that?”
I remember Ogrim visibly easing at this question, but I did not prod.
“With careful planning and expertise, and of course with the help of our stag friends. Of course, the stag racing court is also opening soon.”
“Well Ogrim, I hear the city is bigger than the Bustling Crossroads and Greenpath combined! That’s a lot of bugs to hold control over…”
“Yes, yes. Of course, the city is bigger than the Busting Crossroads, Greenpath, and the Fungal Fields combined.”
More on the Pale Court and the future of Hallownest on page 8.
Annotations:
I came across 2 other articles by the Bee's Buzz, one about new honey dancing rituals and the other about the infection. Sounds like they weren't an extremely prolific publishing company, but who am I to judge? I'm just a simple mapper.
This interview with Ogrim is strange. I haven't found another source that describes Ogrim as nervous, but it may possibly be due to the anxiety of opening the new city. Still, I can't shake the feeling that it had something to do with the coming infection.
No, I shouldn't be stupid. The infection wouldn't come to Hallownest for at least 3 more rounds.
Theomut, surprisingly enough, was not a bee, and I should know as I got this off of his corpse along with his other works. He was a prolific reporter, and the Bee's Buzz was just a small lapse in his reporting background. He was in the City of Tears when I found him.
In other words, I have made a huge discovery through finding this article! The ancient capital city's name was Pale Court, which was also the name the Pale King gave to his group of royal fighters. Interesting. Also, the Forgotten Crossroads were the Kingdom's Crossroads, Fungal Wastes were Fungal Fields, and Greenpath was... well, Greenpath! I will be updating my maps with these new names as soon as Iselda gets back from her adventuring and I can share this discovery with her!