"All of Eberron is furious about killers taking very rare Silver Flame Hymnals from the wilderness" exclaimed Claudius Slackjaw, spokesman for the Cannith Association for the Perpetually Offended. "These magical creatures live in an extreme environment, and harvesting even a few will severly impact the breeding pool, almost certainly driving them to the brink of extinction." Silver Flame Hymnals are used in making certain magical items. Slackjaw is organizing a massive protest to be held in the House Cannith Crafting Hall.

This reporter found the poacher, a silver haired bard known in the area as 'Fretless', hiding in the Burnished Bull tavern in the House Cannith Enclave. Waiting for the bard to finish a set of folk ballads on a +3 dobro, I questioned him about the incident.

"Slaughter? Wern't no such thing! I only kill in self defense! I was poking around Gianthold looking for those ancient relics you find there. I stopped by a.. um.. recently abandoned campfire when I saw a backpack just lying there. The hymnal was in there, so I took it to our guild tinker. He made most of my gear, so I sorta owe him, y'see."

The tinker was tracked to an obscure, very small guild with a conspicuously large, well equipped ship. The warforged arti, Kraftwell, was contemptuous of the whole affair.

"Slackjaw is an idiot. Silver Flame Hymnals don't breed! They are books, not living creatures. The Silver Flame provides one for each of its members. The reason they are so rare is that they have to be forceably taken from a member, not a simple task. Like many items in Eberron, they carry certain magical 'flavors' that can be used in crafting useful gear. In this case, one flavor is Strength, from the association with the Silver Flame."

"There are lots of requests for strength boosting items. That, plus their rarity, makes a Silver Flame Hymnal very valuable. I have a standing offer to trade soul gems for them and Glass Phials, too. I'm on the Cannith mail system if any of your readers are interested."

The "Ban all Poachers" protest is scheduled to take place on Saturday to maximize the impact to the crafting industry.