Homework from Magdalena

Heiassa -   I'm glad to hear that all is well and that Brother was able to help. We've had our disagreements in the past but he's never once shown himself to be anything less than reliable.   I'm going to be at least another few weeks. The damage to my wing is almost finished healing but I stumbled on something here that I had to get my hands on - a Golden Undaunted Spirit Rose. Once I get back, I'll be able to add that to bark from a Grove tree and a bit of powdered Arcanum ore to produce a Spirit Tea of Fortitude - it should help bolster Kaide's physical form to give her a few more hours of time to manifest.   You'll laugh at the price I paid for it. I had intended to offer up a few of the rarer herbs in my collection - an Undaunted Spirit Rose is not easy to nurture, much less a Golden one. The thing that caught their eye though was the vial of Thorn Apple seed pods I collected the last time I passed through the Elvish Frontier! I never imagined they'd find so much value in something that grows like a weed along the frontier, but evidently few Zephyr are willing to go anywhere near the Empire. If I'd known, I'd have picked more of it!   The remainder of my mission is progressing well. I'm trading a bit of my expertise in Blood Sorcery for what we need - in a few weeks, I'll have taught them everything I agreed to and I'll be able to head home. Once I'm done with the lectures, I'll send you a recording stone - they won't get any complete rituals out of this, but you, my precious prodigy, and Kaide as well, are more than capable of turning these building blocks into rites that imbed bloodline memories into artifacts that you craft. If you and Kaide are up for the challenge, I'd like to see what the two of you can produce together in the time between when I send the lectures and I manage to return to you. You'll need to rely on her skill with gems as foci - if you have time, you should ask her to teach you about Gem Circle Net Casting. I always felt that's where her real strength lay.   We've parted for decades at a time in the past, but for the first time in centuries, I feel the ache of longing for someone's company. Tend well to our little family, I'll rejoin you as soon as I'm able.   Magdelena