The Voice of the Wide Spaces/002

A short bumper plays, a serious-sounding tune on some kind of animal horn, to a strident drumbeat. A deep human voice intones, "Live from Les Guilleux, we bring you a special edition of VWS News with Oshril, son of Oshli."

Oshril: Good evening. I am Oshril, the son of Oshli, bringing you breaking news here on AVWS.

It is currently 8:30 pm here, and reports are coming in from all across the landward side of the Riviera that increasing numbers of Çerid are approaching, or in some areas are even crossing, the border into Alduria. The newcomers appear to be fleeing the recent encroachment of Antakian Thraci colonies in the Razamin Desert, which have displaced them from the more favorable settlement sites.

Listeners familiar with our station know that it is itself near to the border, and I can tell you, friends, that I have seen with my own eyes some of what is happening. Deleshtaj, the trading post just a few kilometers away, has become a refugee camp, its population swollen by twenty times. These are not merely the bands of nomads that humans are used to seeing along the border, but families - parents, hatchlings. Even for a people used to hardship, unusually many are at risk of dehydration or malnutrition.

We are told that the federal government has been informed of the situation. We can only hope that they will not shirk their humanitarian responsibilities.