A Full Report to Magdalena
Magdalena,
It's beautiful and entirely unearthly. Family trip, one day? Give us all a couple centuries or millennia and maybe it will be a safer trip for all of us to take together.
Thank you for checking in. So much has been happening so quickly here and I've been anxious to hear back. As much as I want you to hurry home, I trust that you will take care of yourself first and not push too hard. None of this is worth it if either of us (or any of our people) are lost in the process. I won't push you for details of this plan or these people; maybe those can be tea-time stories one day when I have more context to understand.
I'm doubly glad to give you a full report! If I hadn't waited I'm sure your pockets would be stuffed with letters as soon as the letter bird started working again.
Essence of Eldritch Spirit
Kaide, Jerun, and I have left the Grotto now. Ipthina has told me that once the other components are collected I can return and take the place of one of the trees that is bonded to another spirit, Wayin. I was afraid that gathering this essence would mean slaughtering a spirit but this is a good way to do it - Wayin would be able to leave the Grotto and draw upon my strength. I want him to meet Liliales and see more of the world than what he can currently access. Supposedly Thalien could take this role as well but the spirits live so long and I imagine Thalien will still be just an elf. Besides, Wayin is my friend, not Thalien's (yet?) Avan'Nal and Onyx
We were all just in Avan'Nal, having met up with Tira, Haze, Alrudian, Crag, and Andstella. Hue and Onyx have accompanied us there and I'll send Onyx back over the Barrier when our group is ready to depart. I've told him that he is welcome to blame my judgment if the Empress is concerned about leaving the City of Deep Refractions unprotected. I'll refresh the wards in a year and by then perhaps Lyssa will have been able to import some dwarves. Avan'Nal is a strange place, though surely short-lived in the history of the area. Sandstorm greeted us and told us some of its history and we have just finished the working necessary to awaken Shale within the year. Adjudicators
Kaide and I were in the area of the City of Deep Refractions because I was following something. There had been tremors around the area for a few nights and Thalien and I tracked them down. Outside the city I met a strange individual by the name of Zeesoo. Do you know him? He called himself an Adjudicator and told me about the contract signed by twelve signatories to end the War of Fire. I will leave the context sparse here - either you know all the details and can advise me further or you don't and our conversation about it can happen when you are safely home. He told me that my presence on this side of the Barrier would dissolve it within a millennia and that he could not let such a thing stand. No matter, I told him I would return within a century. I expect to be finished much of my work within then and if not, I will have laid the groundwork that allows me to send other agents to enact my will instead. No Moon
Onyx was able to give me a lot of information on Void and the vial of blood he gave me. He was glad to hear that Darkness still lives - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised the dragons have their own equivalent of Treeborn and that you have made yourself friendly with Darkness, of all the options. Do you know the others? The vial is the legacy of No Moon, child of Darkness and Sky. He tells me that No Moon was enormous and blotted the stars from the sky with his wings. From everything Onyx has told me, he seems like an exceptional dragon and one I would have liked to have known. The other side of his legacy is a war with the Zephyr. Void tells me that he died driving the Zephyr out of the Barrier mountains. Between you and I this seems like a war I was going to start at some point in the next several millennia either way. I have grown too fond of humans to be at peace with their actions. He might be survived by his daughter, Starfield, though I don't have the first clue of how to find a wanderer like her. I would like to speak with her about her father...but I think at this point it is more of a curiosity than a mission. I know that I am not ready to inherit anyone's legacy right now. I have barely formed my own. Void
Void is the child of Darkness and Trenali. Again, I will leave the context sparse. The implications of such a thing are vast enough as it is without my petty commentary. Kaide
Visiting the city was hard for her. I'm honoured that she let me witness her vulnerability. I'll let her send her own letter if she wishes to tell you anything about the experience. Seeing her work through her memories (or lack thereof) of these places is so familiar and I help as best I can. We have been gathering materials and working on some projects together both as students and sisters. She is learning to be herself, I think. Sometimes I find it difficult to talk about you with her; it is clear that she knew you as something else and that experience has coloured her. Like any of the Imperial servants we've met here and their relationship with the Empress, I want her to know you as I know you. On my part I expect her to stay with me as long as we live. An addendum: She did let me read the letter she's sending you. If you counselled her to lock away her memories it is not fair to treat her like she is the same person who did those things. I had thought you were disappointed in her for how she treated me after the Ziggurat but surely there's something else happening here. I don't need to know what it is to offer my perspective. Andstella
I'm so proud of Andstella. She has negotiated a treaty with the Court of Seasons and our own Grove is transforming as we speak. I wanted her to see Avan'Nal as one of many prototypes for what we want to build around Dreamfall - a place for all of us. She and Kaide get along well - it's a good family you're building. I'll let her write her own letter as well. Suffice it to say I'm full of joy to be near her again. Jerun
He is safe and well. Andstella has taken him back to Dreamfall while Kaide and I go on to the Unfreezing Sea. The Unfreezing Sea
The Desolation has collected the meltwater of the storm and is now a flooded inland sea with water well below freezing. Amytri has been there studying it with Kadia and Hella. Kaide and I are anxious to investigate its properties, Lyssa and Andstella are eager to use it as a way to bridge the pieces of our growing New Empire. I have personally theorized that the Desolation's future was siphoned by one of the pre-Collective races and the the storm's magic has overflowed that siphoning and abruptly transformed it from a dead place to a place full of magic. There are legends of ancient Osyr who sought refuge here as well; Kaide thinks perhaps the icy water is a manifestation of the Longing for cold water instead of what the boiling water from which they fled. As we flew over it I think we heard the Longing itself it in the air. Storage space
Every time I think my letter is finished I find more to tell you. I am working on growing a storage space for myself. Wayin taught me to combine seeds and with the Magic of Life from the Grotto and your notes I think I can grow a box from a variety of seeds with properties I want in the space. I have been working on this by myself because I'm the only one carrying things but I imagine Amytri will find it useful and invigorating as well. I'm curious to see how he approaches it - I'm sure he won't be growing something to suit his needs. I bet his will involve metal. I think this concludes the report; I'm overjoyed that you're reachable again and that you're (relatively) unharmed.
I love you, I miss you,
Heiassa
Kaide, Jerun, and I have left the Grotto now. Ipthina has told me that once the other components are collected I can return and take the place of one of the trees that is bonded to another spirit, Wayin. I was afraid that gathering this essence would mean slaughtering a spirit but this is a good way to do it - Wayin would be able to leave the Grotto and draw upon my strength. I want him to meet Liliales and see more of the world than what he can currently access. Supposedly Thalien could take this role as well but the spirits live so long and I imagine Thalien will still be just an elf. Besides, Wayin is my friend, not Thalien's (yet?) Avan'Nal and Onyx
We were all just in Avan'Nal, having met up with Tira, Haze, Alrudian, Crag, and Andstella. Hue and Onyx have accompanied us there and I'll send Onyx back over the Barrier when our group is ready to depart. I've told him that he is welcome to blame my judgment if the Empress is concerned about leaving the City of Deep Refractions unprotected. I'll refresh the wards in a year and by then perhaps Lyssa will have been able to import some dwarves. Avan'Nal is a strange place, though surely short-lived in the history of the area. Sandstorm greeted us and told us some of its history and we have just finished the working necessary to awaken Shale within the year. Adjudicators
Kaide and I were in the area of the City of Deep Refractions because I was following something. There had been tremors around the area for a few nights and Thalien and I tracked them down. Outside the city I met a strange individual by the name of Zeesoo. Do you know him? He called himself an Adjudicator and told me about the contract signed by twelve signatories to end the War of Fire. I will leave the context sparse here - either you know all the details and can advise me further or you don't and our conversation about it can happen when you are safely home. He told me that my presence on this side of the Barrier would dissolve it within a millennia and that he could not let such a thing stand. No matter, I told him I would return within a century. I expect to be finished much of my work within then and if not, I will have laid the groundwork that allows me to send other agents to enact my will instead. No Moon
Onyx was able to give me a lot of information on Void and the vial of blood he gave me. He was glad to hear that Darkness still lives - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised the dragons have their own equivalent of Treeborn and that you have made yourself friendly with Darkness, of all the options. Do you know the others? The vial is the legacy of No Moon, child of Darkness and Sky. He tells me that No Moon was enormous and blotted the stars from the sky with his wings. From everything Onyx has told me, he seems like an exceptional dragon and one I would have liked to have known. The other side of his legacy is a war with the Zephyr. Void tells me that he died driving the Zephyr out of the Barrier mountains. Between you and I this seems like a war I was going to start at some point in the next several millennia either way. I have grown too fond of humans to be at peace with their actions. He might be survived by his daughter, Starfield, though I don't have the first clue of how to find a wanderer like her. I would like to speak with her about her father...but I think at this point it is more of a curiosity than a mission. I know that I am not ready to inherit anyone's legacy right now. I have barely formed my own. Void
Void is the child of Darkness and Trenali. Again, I will leave the context sparse. The implications of such a thing are vast enough as it is without my petty commentary. Kaide
Visiting the city was hard for her. I'm honoured that she let me witness her vulnerability. I'll let her send her own letter if she wishes to tell you anything about the experience. Seeing her work through her memories (or lack thereof) of these places is so familiar and I help as best I can. We have been gathering materials and working on some projects together both as students and sisters. She is learning to be herself, I think. Sometimes I find it difficult to talk about you with her; it is clear that she knew you as something else and that experience has coloured her. Like any of the Imperial servants we've met here and their relationship with the Empress, I want her to know you as I know you. On my part I expect her to stay with me as long as we live. An addendum: She did let me read the letter she's sending you. If you counselled her to lock away her memories it is not fair to treat her like she is the same person who did those things. I had thought you were disappointed in her for how she treated me after the Ziggurat but surely there's something else happening here. I don't need to know what it is to offer my perspective. Andstella
I'm so proud of Andstella. She has negotiated a treaty with the Court of Seasons and our own Grove is transforming as we speak. I wanted her to see Avan'Nal as one of many prototypes for what we want to build around Dreamfall - a place for all of us. She and Kaide get along well - it's a good family you're building. I'll let her write her own letter as well. Suffice it to say I'm full of joy to be near her again. Jerun
He is safe and well. Andstella has taken him back to Dreamfall while Kaide and I go on to the Unfreezing Sea. The Unfreezing Sea
The Desolation has collected the meltwater of the storm and is now a flooded inland sea with water well below freezing. Amytri has been there studying it with Kadia and Hella. Kaide and I are anxious to investigate its properties, Lyssa and Andstella are eager to use it as a way to bridge the pieces of our growing New Empire. I have personally theorized that the Desolation's future was siphoned by one of the pre-Collective races and the the storm's magic has overflowed that siphoning and abruptly transformed it from a dead place to a place full of magic. There are legends of ancient Osyr who sought refuge here as well; Kaide thinks perhaps the icy water is a manifestation of the Longing for cold water instead of what the boiling water from which they fled. As we flew over it I think we heard the Longing itself it in the air. Storage space
Every time I think my letter is finished I find more to tell you. I am working on growing a storage space for myself. Wayin taught me to combine seeds and with the Magic of Life from the Grotto and your notes I think I can grow a box from a variety of seeds with properties I want in the space. I have been working on this by myself because I'm the only one carrying things but I imagine Amytri will find it useful and invigorating as well. I'm curious to see how he approaches it - I'm sure he won't be growing something to suit his needs. I bet his will involve metal. I think this concludes the report; I'm overjoyed that you're reachable again and that you're (relatively) unharmed.
I love you, I miss you,
Heiassa
Comments