#person: brennu zahin

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Maliah,

As always, proof you can’t get rid of me, while we work on sourcing a Sending Stone. Are you and Marsa enjoying yourselves? It sounds like you are, from what you’ve said. I loved your letter from her ship, taking the time to enjoy it, and I’m delighted that the two of you are enjoying all Caliz Beta has to offer, skydiving and all, and that you’re already planning future getaways, just as you should.

Brennu and I are having a beautiful time on Solovei, and a much quieter one. We’ve found a lovely oceanside house some distance away from where you and I had our cave diving lessons, where the beaches are sandier and the temperatures warmer. We’re walking distance from town, and we go most days, to grab supplies for dinner or to see a local concert or museum, but we spend a lot of time on the shore or on our deck, looking out over the water and talking. Sometimes serious, we’re both inclined that way, but sometimes just commenting on the birds or telling silly stories. Sometimes reading aloud from the bag full of romances he brought along with him.

We spend time playing music, too, and he’s still a beginner, but it’s just as satisfying, in its way, as playing with Dwiona, because we’re still making something beautiful, and playing with someone you care about always makes it matter more.

It’s easier, these days, to swim in the ocean, but I’m not pushing myself very hard, not going out to where it’s hard to see the shore. If I ever need to do that, I’ve got time to figure it out, and like I said, it’s easier. Maybe it’s a sign I’m more settled in myself these days. Maybe it’s a sign that I’ve dealt with so much terror that some older ones bother me less. Most probably it’s a combination. Maybe you have a few similar things.

(Given it seems like you were skydiving without your amulet for at least part of the time, I’m guessing so.)

I’ve never, as an adult, shared space with someone in such a domestic way. First I was on ships, in my own quarters, and any relationships I had were fleeting, any kitchens shared by a dozen people at least. Then I was adventuring, and you know how that was: inns, houses and apartments that didn’t belong to us, guest rooms of friends and family, where as often as not we didn’t bother cooking, and then the Mansion, where we didn’t need to cook.

Now, Brennu is laughing at me and telling me to stop holding my knife like a dagger while I’m chopping vegetables, and I have conquered the needlessly complicated coffee machine in the kitchen after a week’s battle, and we’ve had our first domestic squabbles about him putting things on shelves I can’t reach without thinking and me casting Prestidigitation to clean up what I thought was a mess which was actually the makings of a lunch. The house is private enough that I know any noises are the two of us, not strangers at an inn, and small enough that if he’s moving around, I do hear exactly where he is, which made me jump a little for the first few days and now is just nice.

In another week, our rental runs out, and Marsa runs out of leave for her ship, and it’s going to be time to go to Kirim and start on the next chapter of my journey. I’m going to miss Brennu, and the quiet here, but it’s a lot easier to plan on leaving when I know I’m not going off to risk my life. Another while, and maybe we won’t have to leave each other as often, though I know there’s a lot of time and learning each other to do before I start counting on that.

Still, it’s nice to hope, and not have it be the desperate kind we were surviving on for a while there.

I’m looking forward to seeing you, and hearing all your stories from the past month, at least those fit for my ears. Thank you again for coming along, if I’m too frazzled to say it when I see you. It means everything to me.

Love,

Elyn

[sovinly]

Aww, darling, I am sorry about your ears! Tell me your thoughts on court politics--either of the Rugira Prime variety or of the general reading them/writing them variety!

,Thank you, dearest!

Court politics! \o/ Oh man, okay, well, obviously, you’re getting both answers here.

1. Rugira Prime:

Oh man, these court politics. I feel like you guys picked up on this anyway, but... each of the city-states have slightly different dynamics, largely determined by the aristocracy. I really enjoyed getting to delve a little into the contrast between Yamin’s extreme stratification and Mashoy’s (somewhat tempered by Roohi’s reforms). (Fun fact, Midat’s dad was the member of a 3rd rank family in the city he was originally from, which was why his inheritance was held hostage contingent to having a child, and he 100% used the loophole in that phrasing to get himself and his daughter far away from there with his cash.) But, just generally, so much policy here is shaped by the desires of the aristocracy.

If 1st rank family head Zilvrae Gisha backs environmental surveillance upgrades, they’re that more likely to get done (especially if he’s willing to ally with Lochti Glassweave, less so if Pai Adnal decides to stake themselves against it), whereas 3rd rank main family member Jien Drazha can only do so much to promote greater infrastructure improvement, even if he sinks his personal funds into it. Orzen Dehi’s plot to create a web of favors with the merchants, bankers, lawyers, and bureaucrats is only a greater amplification of the tension of alliances the aristocracy has always upheld.

Hurin Fesdi may have nearly evaded an attempt on his person (perhaps aided by that necklace?) during your stay in the city, and I’m sure you can imagine how that would change things (in your favor and in the favor of whoever may have been behind such a thing). But things like Brennu Zahin’s situation can make or break families. Sarah may have made a joke about Brennu and Fusaha Qasri hooking up, but there is a marriage that would affect the political landscape, haha.

You guys mostly stayed out of the court side of the politics, not seeking out the council members (who all have their own skills to stay on top of things), but their influence is unprecedented. Even there, though - Emlindon worked as a bodyguard for an aristocrat when he was younger, so he knows some of the Stuff going on there, Uyahai’i’s family is very well respected in the city, and Moth Orchid was appointedat Desert Rose’s suggestion, because there are not generally close ties betweenthe Rose and Orchid houses and therefore fewer accusations of interference orfavoritism on her part or Roohi’s.

I really, really enjoyed getting to plot out a lot of this stuff, and to figure out what tensions were underlying things. You saw some of the effects, even if you didn’t see the tensions themselves, I think!

2. Court politics in general:

Yessssss. Love theeeeeem.

I actually totally love convoluted plots and deep grudges and vying for various levels of power and protection. There is so much there to sink your teeth into, and I love that feeling of being able to go back and realize “oh, fuck, this is setting up that scheme, and this implies that, that’s so CLEVER.” I find that very rewarding, in the same way that mysteries and (I imagine) procedural shows tend to be rewarding.

Part of why I specify court politics is 1) there’s no actual Real Life impact or implications from the politics so it doesn’t cause me anxiety the way modern political media sometimes does, 2) there’s a layer of heightened drama that creates an aesthetic that I enjoy, and 3) the social dynamics and the way the play out are very satisfying to my medievalist side.

Let me specify, though, that I really mostly enjoy court politics/drama that has purpose or a point? Petty jostling doesn’t hold my attention the way that personal stakes do, whether that’s the survive-the-cutthroat-situation-intact or strive-to-better-the-realm-through-empathy-earnestness-and-cunning. Those are themes that have a lot of personal resonance, and I enjoy that, especially the whole... making the world better thing.

As for writing them, I enjoy that too! It’s very satisfying to think in such a convoluted, nuanced manner, actually? I always feel simultaneously pretentious and clunky when writing schemes, but I enjoy them SO MUCH. I am actually 3-4 scenes away from finishing the draft of the court politics fic I’ve been working on (whyyyyy is it dragging so haaaard when the first part wrote itself in like four months), and I am still enjoying dwelling in it so much. Same with the Jupiter Ascending AU, that was enjoyable, though relatively light on the political maneuvering.

I actually really enjoy spending time in something that’s simultaneously very high level and very personal (petty or intimate, depending)! I’ll be looking forward to writing that romance novel at some point, too, because oh man, POLITICS.

Even if I do always feel like I am overanalyzing and becoming the Pepe Silva meme. ;)

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Tyko,

For once, I think one of my letters is going to put you in a good mood, which I’m delighted about, and hope you are too. Especially after the most recent spate, which I know you’re still recovering from.

After all our recent adventures, and knowing what we need strength for coming up, we all decided that we want to see pretty much everyone we care about, at least everyone we can arrange a convenient meeting with. We started, after some deliberation, with Bizza, spending a day catching up with him on Sumula Station and eating so many crepes I felt full to bursting. He’s doing well these days, and the business very well. He even said he’s gone on a date or two, nothing serious, but just testing it out, after how his last relationship ended, and I’m delighted for him.

Next, we went on to Honione. Maliah’s been back a time or two, on the rare occasions we’ve been apart, to say hello and get her bow tuned up, but I’ve always taken the opportunity to visit you on Sestrilles, or deal with some other business. Well, this time we both wanted to go, but I was the major impetus, because I’d been messaging with Sserit and Lian, now that I know Resurrection and have the means to gift such things to my friends. Do you even remember them? Sserit was the ghost who helped us in the adventure in HASAI, and Lian is her girlfriend, and they’ve been sharing a body since then, which they’re mostly fine with but is inconvenient at work, from what I gather.

Anyway, I offered the Resurrection, and after some discussion, they took me up on it, and we went through the bureaucratic process to get Sserit’s body exhumed and then let her move on for a few minutes so I could summon her from the proper place, which I did.

I cast Raise Dead during my service at Mishakal’s temple a few times, and Resurrection once, but I’d been warned in the literature at the temple that the longer someone’s been dead, the harder Resurrection is—not that it will fail, with consent, but Sserit could barely get out of bed for days and I felt, I suspect, not unlike Gaizka felt after they turned a black hole inside out, though thankfully without the dizziness. But I couldn’t so much as cast a Prestidigitation until I’d had a full night’s sleep, and I spent most of the rest of our visit in a hotel room quietly watching movies with a cool cloth pressed to my forehead. Still, though, it’s worth it to have watched the two of them get to hug each other and hold on, and then to see them holding hands several times (and just as many times see them give each other breathing space, especially at work, where they can go back to working on their separate projects more easily).

Once I was feeling better, I did get to tour around HASAI again, much more cheerful full of people and not in the midst of crisis. Fariya was excited to see my gloves, and everyone else was happy to talk about their research, and Maliah got her bow checked and was glad about it.

(I know, I told you this letter would put you in a good mood. Bear with me.)

From there, we moved on to Rugira Prime. First, a visit to Ekresh Veshteth, because I wanted to hear how the aliens in the Twilight of Cinders were getting along and wanted to compare notes on the demiplane Teleport variant Gaizka taught me as opposed to the pocket dimension access spell he cast to get us to the Twilight of Cinders. My variant doesn’t, alas, work to get us there, but he was happy enough to talk about spell particulars and then to tell me that the explorations in the pocket dimension are going slowly but well. All the aliens seem to have been picked up, Aji included, and no new ones have crashed, now that they aren’t being shot out of the sky. They remain something of a mystery, but maybe I’ll go back sometime, climb through that hole in the sky and go meet them properly. It’s nice to dream about, anyway.

Then it was Mashoy, which is at least a little cooler at this time of year than it was the last time I visited. Maliah and I spent a good amount of time visiting our friends at the Court of Flowers (who were all pleased to see her so much more sure of herself and happier than the last time we visited). We had dinner with Pika and her family, and they’re all doing well, taking care of themselves and each other just as we could have wished when she retired. I stopped by Midat’s shop, and we had a lovely long chat about her latest innovations and my gloves, since I didn’t even have Niko’s fabric the last time I came. Not to mention PA! They don’t have its model commonly in Mashoy, and she was delighted with the modifications I’ve made on it, and had some suggestions for interfaces for the arms I want to give it the next time I have time to devote to it.

But more than anyone else, I was in Mashoy to see Brennu, for two reasons.

The first, as I think I’ve told you, was to give him some water from the Deeping Wellemere, when the spell he was under left some remnants that make it hard for him to do what he wants to. He does look a lot better, not least because he doesn’t have a black eye this time, and asked me several questions about the water. I’d written to Ektarika and then when she didn’t have the answers to Cerunwe, asking about whether the water would do anything about mental effects of spellwork. Cerunwe though that anything chronic might be helped, but certainly not reversed.

Brennu also had questions about the longevity I mentioned, though I’m afraid I wasn’t much help there, saying that my best guess is that taking it frequently would be more likely to give him extra years, or taking it when aging was the biggest thing the water could find to fix. He said, wryly, that perhaps I should punch him again so we could see how fast the water would heal something on a regular mortal, and only laughed at me a little when I did a bad job of containing my horror.

In the end, he chose to take it, a sip at a time, and we talked until I was sure there wouldn’t be any immediate aftereffects (Maliah had come along as support and just because it seemed ridiculous that they hadn’t met, and I told him about her quest to keep Squirt, and she did deflect a bit to talk about how wonderful Squirt is, but did let me talk at least some about her heroics), and then I told him to eat a big meal and get some rest to let the water do its work and left him to take my advice with a promise to visit the next day.

And the next day, he said he didn’t have a headache, apparently rare, but that he suspected any effects would be felt more over the next few days as he tried and either succeeded or failed to do things he wanted to. And I, well.

I’d asked Maliah if it was wrong to ask him on a date, when we arrived in Mashoy, because I’d met him under such desperate circumstances and saved him, and since I’d come to help him more, and to act as a healer, no less. And she said that as long as he knew he could say no without anything changing, it was fine, so I plucked up my courage and I did it, I asked him to dinner and he said yes and didn’t even laugh at me when I immediately said he should probably choose the restaurant since I didn’t eat out much when I was in town.

And I’m so glad, Tyko. We’ve been writing ever since, and something about the way we met means that there haven’t ever really been that many things we can’t talk about. He’s always been honest about how he’s feeling, his experiences and what he feels responsibility for and a thousand other things, and so in return I tell him about the harder parts of my journeys in a way that really only you and Maliah hear, and oftentimes in different ways. We talk about books, and the instrument he’s learning, and about resurrection and the trials he had to testify at, and it’s so good to have someone outside of all of this, and outside my family too, who I know so deeply, and am known by so deeply.

Of course, as soon as he accepted, I was struck by a fit of terror, because, well. You know how I date—I date strangers, and if it ends, of course it’s sad, because I’d hardly have dated them if I didn’t like them, but I’m not missing a key piece of my life. But if I date Brennu and do something stupid and lose him someday, I don’t know if we’ll be able to be close in quite the same way we have been, and losing that is terrifying. Maliah, who finds first impressions much harder than lasting ones, the reverse of my feelings on the matter, was baffled and tried her best to comfort me, but I was very bad at being comforted until I actually went on the date.

By mutual agreement, we tried to keep that first date light, talk about all the things we skipped to talk about all the deep dark things in our heads. Brennu had picked a fairly nice restaurant (I was very glad I had an outfit I commissioned in the Feywild) and asked for a private room in the back, so we wouldn’t be bothered by press or other people interested in him appearing in public and me returning to town. We talked about his cousins, who he’s close to in the way I am to you, and about you and Alion and Tiriel and the children on Nosirion-1. I told him stories from before I met him that we’d missed out on, and he replied with the same, and we only talked a little bit about stars and what I’m doing next and all the baggage we’re going to have to work out.

I’m leaving Mashoy in just a few days, sending Niko off to a temple retreat and Maliah to visit Marsa and her mothers, going to Kirim and then to see you myself, but we’ve gone on a few more dates and talked more seriously about things again, the kind of things we talk about in our letters and the danger I’m in from what’s coming next. We’ve also made it clear that neither of us is particularly light or casual about this, but that we’re going to take it very slowly indeed, given what I have coming up and all the much easier baggage of living in different places and not quite knowing the shape our lives are going to take.

When I’m done dealing with Onver, though, and reassured everyone I’m still alive and dealt with the very immediate aftermath, we have a plan to meet somewhere quiet and private to talk a lot more, and I’m already looking forward to it.

There. Resurrection aside, isn’t this letter worth it? I’ll look forward to your teasing in a week or so in person, and will take it happily as long as I get to meet Lindanas again, and maybe even this book group you can’t stop talking about.

Love,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Brennu,

I thought, while you think, that maybe I’d write you a letter that shouldn’t tax you at all, since I haven’t been taxed by any of the things going into it, and since starting tomorrow I’ll most likely be out of touch for some time, and I have no idea how long that time may be. A few days at the most wildly optimistic or terribly pessimistic, and with worse or better scenarios, it’s the kind of thing where I can’t possibly know how long it will be. Maybe a week, maybe a season.

When I wrote last, I think I said that we’re going to try to find a star to do us a great service. Or, rather, one of two stars—I petitioned the gnomish Lady of Stars to steer us towards one that might help, and she gave us two names, and we don’t want to decide which to approach until we reach the Astral Sea. For one thing, one might be light-years closer than another. For another, she could have given us their names for totally different reasons. Maybe one of them is a crafter who would feel sympathy for our cause and the other one is like the elementals Maliah is fond of, who often like to make one prove oneself in combat and then are friendly as can be. Or maybe one is known to be kind to mortals and the other annoyed the Lady for some obscure reason and she expects us to attack them.

(Don’t worry, I don’t think that latter is likely to be true. For whatever reason, the Lady seems to, well … like me, as much as any deity can be said to feel something as simple as liking.)

The point, though, is that this is an adventure that is taking some careful preparation! There will be even more when we actually get to the Astral Sea, but we’ve been doing what we can for the last week or two.

A good amount of that has been dealing with currency. We’re fairly certain that there won’t be any banks there that have any communication with banks here, and that if we brought gold just as its own material, there would be no helpful way to make the conversion. (And then there’s the issue that elemental metals originated in stars in the first place, and one never knows what’s going to be literal, metaphor, or metaphysics there.) So, since we’d come into a good amount of cash on our volcano adventure, we flew over to Iriossis and converted some of that wealth into gems of various sizes, including a few that could be used for spells or traded as components, depending on what’s needed.

We also did something we should have done well over a year ago and took a three-day intensive field medicine course from the Temple of Mishakal. Our reasons were in small part reasonable and practical and in large part the kind of thing that makes my brother shake his head at me, as he did when I told him about it over dinner this time. The reasonable and practical reasons are that it’s not good to put all your trust in magical healing, and while we know the very basics, we wanted more than that. The head-shaking reason is that this great favor we’re asking of a star is, well, blood. “Blood from the heart of a star,” we’re told, from the kind of source where one’s never really sure how metaphorical that is. If you have a circulatory system, your blood travels through your heart, which ought to count, but I have an awful feeling that it’s going to be a little messier than that, and for that reason, we very much wanted to learn how to transfuse—as I said in my last, water from the Deeping Wellemere is useful for a great many reasons.

Maybe we’ll strike it lucky and the Astral Sea will have hospitals equipped for that kind of thing, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

Beyond that, we’ve mostly been working out transport. Getting there is, as it turns out, the easy part, because our friend Gaizka has kindly offered to Plane Shift us there, since we have access to the proper tuning fork. However, getting home is an entirely different problem. Gaizka is planning to stay a day or two in case of immediate disaster, but as I said earlier, chances of it being that fast are very small.

Gaizka is, luckily, a font of magical wisdom. I laid a couple options out for them—a spell scroll, beautiful if it works but risky because bards generally can’t cast Plane Shift, or risking one of the numerous portals that seem to dot the Astral Sea, obviously risky for a whole lot of reasons. Gaizka eventually advised the former, and did point out that if the worst came and I couldn’t cast the spell, I could Send to them and ask for a retrieval. So that’s what we’re trying, and I very much hope that the retrieval part isn’t necessary.

They’ve spent the past week scribing the scroll while Maliah has been practicing her sleight of hand and I’ve been keeping myself occupied, mostly by tuning up and maintaining all my electronics. I did, at least, go spend two days and a night on Sestrilles visiting my family, and got to take my brother out for dinner and he and his boyfriend out for lunch.

(It’s nice being able to treat my family and friends. Our most recent adventure saddled us with an unnerving amount of money, and I mostly have no idea how to deal with that other than the vague notion that some people hire financial managers, but at least I know I can give the people I love some gifts.)

It looks like tomorrow is the day, though, or the day after at the absolute most. Since I doubt I’ll get reception in the Astral Sea, I imagine you won’t hear from me for a while, so don’t worry if you write and it takes me a bit to answer. Have I connected you to my brother yet? I’m not sure I have, but I’ve designated him a point of contact for Maliah’s mothers, and our children on Nosirion-1, Gaizka, people who have right to be worried if we’re out of touch for a long time. When I have spare magic at the end of a day, I’ll Send him a quick update, and he lets people know we’re okay. It’s quick notice, but if you’d like, I’ll send him your contact information, and if you get a message from Tyko Mara, you’ll know it’s something about me.

And otherwise and even so, I’ll tell you what it was like to visit a star when we get back, and I was serious that water or no, I do intend to come back to Rugira Prime and Mashoy sometime after that.

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Brennu,

I’m so glad your vacation continues on its previous lines, and I will definitely let you know when I’m free to visit Rugira Prime! It might not be very soon, like I said, but I’ll make it a priority to get there before I end up on the celestial plane.

This past week and a bit, though, I’ve been on Sestrilles, visiting my family and taking care of a few other things to prepare for what comes next, and since I’ve been visiting my brother and he’s usually the one I write my most detailed letters to, I thought you might enjoy the minutia of a week in the life of an adventurer who’s between adventures.

I’ve been the busiest of the three of us, though we’ve all had to deal with some business in between the pleasure. Niko, as a weaver, was delighted to finally be introduced to my mother Tiriel, who’s a tailor (and who also made me show her an outfit I commissioned in the Feywild and spent a good half hour taking notes on its construction), and they spent a good number of hours together, when Niko wasn’t walking along the shore or other such things. Maliah kept herself busy with two things—first, a visit from her girlfriend Marsa, who snatched a few days to take a Teleportation Circle in and visit her, and trips out to a stable near town, where she’s been learning to ride.

(She’s been invited to join the Wild Hunt, whenever she happens to be in the Feywild when it’s riding, and she hadn’t ridden a horse before, so she’s remedying that lack. And believe me, as surreal as that must feel to read, it’s even more so to write.)

I’ve done a few things, aside from spending time with my family. I am staying in an inn for the first time that I’ve been visiting home while adventuring, which has been an adjustment, but my parents are using all their bedrooms and my brother has a serious boyfriend these days, so sleeping on his couch is more of an imposition than it used to be.

(I did invite him to spend a night in my Magnificent Mansion, though, he deserves a night in a lavish place that nobody has to clean up afterwards. Though he laughed at my sense of decoration, which is maybe a bit garish for the average person. Do you know anything about decorating? I’m happy to be garish when it’s me and my closest friends, but I have had a few guests in there who aren’t used to me, I should probably be able to decorate an inoffensive common room and some guest rooms. What would you do with those spaces, funds not being an issue? Maliah and Niko both gently declined to offer opinions when I asked them, and Tyko just laughed at me. I should have thought to ask Tiriel.)

Even staying at an inn, though, I had plenty of time to spend with Tyko. I’ve got a PA bot, and they are rather fragile pieces of equipment, but I don’t like to leave it stuffed in the bag of holding when we’re not in the middle of an adventure. Previously, it’s been rolling around in a remote control car finagled for it to control itself, but it got dumped in the water in the Feywild, so I’m figuring out other options. With Tyko’s help, I’ve rigged up a drone that it can control, with basic hovering and a decent amount of movement in all directions (though it’s still getting the hang of up and down). It’s definitely not anything that will stand up to difficulties, but it’s a start, at least, and I might be able to manage something that can handle at least a few feet of water for emergency situations in the medium to long term.

While I’m here, I also checked on Damaris Nimate, who’s in charge of excavating the wreck of the Wrath of Procyon here. They’ve mapped the bulk of the wreck, and are sending out exploratory parties to find scatter left from the atmospheric entry, to make sure they know the location of any piece of the ship that landed instead of burning up or getting spun out into or past orbit. Apparently the most interesting finds so far, aside from some remains (they’re in talks with Kirim about what’s to be done with those), are a decent amount of containers that on the whole still seem to be sealed. Best guess from size and manifest is that they’re personal safes, so once the mapping is done, they’ll be bringing those up and starting to sort through, returning what they can to families and otherwise distributing them as appropriate. At least some Kirimi tend to keep genealogical scrolls of their family lines (I was given one by my grandmother when I visited), and I would think that safes would be a smart place for those, so at least that might help with identification.

I offered to help out for a day, not underwater, and Damaris gladly sent me around to remind some bureaucrats that this project is a priority for me, Archmage Gaizka Zebari, and the new demiplane we both recently helped to contact, to keep them from grumbling about permits and shore storage. Since there are several departments of bureaucrats, mostly in emergency response and aid and ocean custodianship divisions, who I’ve had less than friendly relations with in the past, I do admit that was very satisfying, even if it wasn’t anything like a vacation.

All of us have also put some time into the next steps of our adventure. In the longer term, as I think I’ve mentioned to you, we’re seeking out a star. (Another one of those sentences that I promise I know sounds ridiculous when written out.) We’ve been seeking two things so we can do that: a tuning fork attuned to the Astral Sea, and a gnomish artifact called the Khardab’zielach.

The former dropped into our laps when I thought we would have to go hunting for it—a friend of ours has access to a lot of ancient magical texts, and we’d asked her to do some research on stars for us, if she could. She did, with a notebook of notes I still want to spend some time dipping into (including a story of a wizard who learned magical secrets from a star, though of course the wizard didn’t care to share what those secrets were), and also, behind a very neat magical seal that I was initially baffled by when I really shouldn’t have been, a correctly attuned tuning fork. I have a lot of questions about where and how she found it, but she’s a rather mysterious person and I’m too grateful for the loan to press, so we’ve got it tucked away behind the seal again until we needed it.

That, though, leaves the Khardab’zielach, and when we were on Nellaser’s Landing, we were given a lead that it’s almost certainly in a hoard of powerful magical items that were given into the care of a druid named Avka some time ago on Chusya, and whose protections on them remain. We figured that we’d have to do a lot of searching and asking around when we got there, but I thought to look up local information a few days into our stay and discovered that we were going to have to change our strategy.

In the past, when I’ve run into magical ruins (which has not been as infrequently as most people), they’re old enough and the magic has been hidden or faded enough that while there might be stories about them, nobody is guarding them, or much cares about them. Avka, though, is more recent, and posts agree that the Chusyan planetary government knows the location of the volcano where she left her hoard, and that unless you want to sneak past guards (there to prevent looters from getting smeared across the landscape, since Avka’s protections seem to do a good job of preventing them from looting. This is, lest you get worried about me, because apparently at least some of these protections take intent into account, and I think ‘saving the universe’ is the kind of intent that will probably get us over that hurdle just fine), you need to convince the government that you should be allowed in.

That could mean proving ownership, or impeccable references while proving great need, so we immediately set to doing the latter for the Khardab’zielach in a way some might call overkill. Gaizka is widely known and respected and also knows our quest and the reasons for it, so we started with them, and then for good measure, sent to the temples of Mishakal and the Lady of Stars where we’d received the counsel that led us on our journey. And then we got the full source documentation from the library that leads us to think that Avka’s hoard contains this artifact. We figure between all of that, not to mention things like introduction letters from King Roohi of Mashoy, they’re unlikely to try to stop us.

(And I do get a certain amount of satisfaction out of knowing it’s likely to discommode another bureaucrat.)

Once we had all of that (I really owe Gaizka about twenty favors at this point, they were primary point of contact for a lot of that) and Maliah had seen off Marsa and I’d spent a last bit of time with my family, we set up a Teleportation Circle to Chusya and landed just this afternoon in Miraie, the city that’s the seat of much of their planetary government.

Chusya, if you don’t know much about it, as I didn’t, is a primarily tiefling world, which is fairly comfortable for me since I speak the language thanks to my brother. There’s a decent amount of volcanic activity (and it’s widely known that Avka’s hoard is in a volcano, which I am not looking forward to), enough that behind the jungle heat here in Miraie, it smells like sulfur. We haven’t had much chance to explore the city yet, just to find an inn called The Wandering Cat and check in, as well as to send a message to their office of cultural history requesting a meeting tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to be doing a bit of it.

Hopefully, getting the location of the appropriate volcano, with the massive stack of officially signed and sealed paperwork we have, is going to be the easy part of this. Then we have to prepare with what they know of the defenses (I’m assuming we’re not the first adventurers to make it all the way through, anyway). With the volcano, we’re hoping to get some fire protection—my gloves protect me from some measure of heat, but not fire, and Maliah, Niko, and Squirt have no protection at all.

Our most likely avenues there, we think, are either the bureaucratic office itself, which might have things to loan or rent or buy (I’d think so, if they want the people they let through to survive), or local blacksmiths, who are likely to have some measure of protection. I’ve asked Niko if there might be a local temple of Reorx that might help us on the strength of our quest on that front, and she doesn’t think there is one, but thinks it has merit if there does happen to be one.

She also said that probably there will be blacksmiths who pay tribute to the Crafter even without a temple in the city, but we agreed we do not want to cause a panic by telling everyone we meet about the quest we’re on. I don’t tend to keep it a secret, as you’ve no doubt realized, but there’s a difference between making friends and people powerful enough to do something about it aware and just telling random artisans who have no way of doing anything about it.

Once we’ve had our meeting, we’ll try those various avenues and make sure we’re properly prepared for whatever they’re willing or able to tell us. We have a friend who owes us a Divination (she’s part of the whole story that led to me asking you if you’d been under Geas, a dear friend of the man who had been), so we’re narrowing down questions that will help us see some of the arcane defenses coming, too.

Anyway, what all of this leads to is that I’ll probably be a bit busy in a volcano for the next while (I’m not excited about it, but as I was telling Maliah—we’ve explored plenty of caves, had two underwater adventurers, and fallen through the air from a great height, so we’re due a bit of fire). One can never tell how long something like this will take—I could be in and out in a day or two, or I could write you again in two or three weeks, mildly singed. Spare a thought to hope for the former more than the latter?

I hope you haven’t minded a more detailed peek into my life than usual, this letter. I like writing out what I’ve been up to, it helps me get my head on straight, but I also know that sometimes a large amount of information from someone in perilous situations can be more stressful than comforting.

I do think we’re going to be mostly fine, with this one. Avka wanted to protect these artifacts but not make them wholly inaccessible, and if the spells remaining can read intent, maybe we’ll have an easier time than some.

And either way, it will be another story to share when I do manage to arrange a visit to Rugira Prime!

Yours truly,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Brennu,

Your picture made me miss being by the ocean, which I didn’t think was possible considering how wet I spent most of our most recent adventure. There is a difference, though, between a lovely sunset seaside and days spent traveling in underwater caves. (Unfortunately, that’s one I can’t tell you more about—the Deeping Wellemere is not a place you’re supposed to talk too much about once you’ve been there, the promise a condition of access to its secrets.) You’re lucky I’m going to see my family on Sestrilles in a day or three and they’re near the shore, or I would have been tempted to Teleport over.

The rest of our time in the Feywild was productive and even often pleasant, though. I did write that song, and did a very good job of it, if I do say so myself. I’ll play it for you sometime, and even give the grand disclaimer about how the Queen of Air and Darkness commissioned it, as I am required to do when I perform it. The Seelie Court continued to remind me of Mashoy, or the more stressful parts of it, but the Feywild itself is beautiful, if disorienting, and I was very glad to spend a week in one of its cities, Troihari, at the end of our stay on the plane.

Still, the way you’re missing machine hum and dry air, I was missing sensible day cycles—and some of that machine hum, come to that. Maliah grew up in the Feywild, of course, if we didn’t have things pulling us away she would have been content to stay indefinitely, but I like ships and stations and cities (which Troihari definitely counts as, but it’s very different to the city I grew up in). So, our work done and our quests complete, we’re back in the Prime Material Plane.

I did, though, get your message the last day we were there, with perfect timing to read the first few poems in the book you sent while Maliah was spending a last afternoon with her mothers. I’m so glad you sent it—it’s gorgeous, and I’m going to savor it as long as I last. (Which, in fairness, I don’t expect to be very long. My self-restraint isn’t very good around good books.) I’ll definitely pass the recommendation on to my brother, too. Tyko likes poetry less than I do, but his boyfriend loves it, so I imagine he’ll want to keep the chain going.

I hope you enjoy the romance novel, and equally, I hope you don’t push yourself past a point of frustration with it, though I’m sorry there’s so much frustration to be had. I imagine that after well over a year of recovery (we must be getting close to two now, that’s strange to think about), you must be sick to death of it, of the symptoms and of people’s sympathy and well-intentioned offers to help both. I will refrain from that, then (though if I ever do find some kind of solution that might work, rest assured I’ll be knocking on your door), and just say that I’d love to hear your thoughts as you read. It will be something fun while I am, apparently, clambering through volcanoes.

Which, it seems, we’re going to do. We’re looking for an artifact we’ve heard of that helps with navigation among the stars, and we’re—well, it seems ridiculous every time I say it, but we’re hoping to meet a star, and this will help us manage that. Or at least we hope so. But some excellent library researchers, a Legend Lore, and a bit of luck have led us to the story of a druid on Chusya who received custodianship of quite a hoard of items some time ago and stored them away behind protections in her volcano lair. And our navigational instrument is there, so off in that direction we go.

I am trying to take my own advice (and the advice of Niko) and take breaks, though. The universe may apparently need saving, but it’s slow enough that I can rest in between. So I’ll spend a week on Sestrilles before wandering into a volcano, and our friend Gaizka has offered to host our families for a meal after that, and I’ve got the children to visit on Nosirion-1. But maybe, one of these rest breaks, I could visit you? I’ve offered to help out Ekresh Veshteth with his work in the Twilight of Cinders, since I know at least a bit of planar magic now, so I’ve already got business on Rugira Prime, lest you think I’m going out of my way.

But even if I were—well, I’m making a point to visit the people I care about before I go wandering into dangerous situations, and that certainly includes you. It seems a shame that the only real time we’ve spent together in person was that party, and I owe you a jam session, now that you have a few songs under your belt! I’ll have to learn Donnavi’s Dunes so we’ll have two numbers in common by the time we visit, so thank you for sending me the recording to learn from. Both of them, in fact! I’m honored you trust me, and you’re making great strides, especially considering you’ve been a little busy with trials and whatnot in between your lessons.

Enjoy the rest of your vacation, however long it lasts, and I hope you return to Mashoy rested and renewed.

All my best,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Brennu,

Today, I’m thinking about blame. About self-blame, in specific. And about you and Niko.

You met her, and I don’t think you two talked about your deepest hurts. Why would you? You’d only barely met, and I’d awkwardly thrown the two of you together because even then you were reminding me of each other. (I realize it’s rank hypocrisy saying of course you didn’t talk about your deepest hurts on your first meeting considering the way we met, but those were extenuating circumstances.)

I didn’t really know hers, until today. I’d known the outline, but not the specifics, the ones that make me understand why she was seeking redemption so seriously when the outline she’d given us seemed grave but not horrifying. I’m not going to tell you the whole story, because I’ve already had to pass it on while seeking help for a problem, but I can tell you the parts that resonate.

I can tell you, then, that she was approached by a man who wanted her help in a way that is a duty of a paladin of Reorx, to help him with a project. He wasn’t in her specialty area, but she was who traveled by, and she helped him, because she thought the project was worthy.

And he used her help, her holy calling, and destroyed his community. Killed them all, as far as Niko knows, in a horrible disaster, with the project she sponsored him through.

Niko was—is—devastated, of course. She feels their blood on her hands sure as if she spilled it herself. Even her god seemed to agree that she deserved some measure of the blame, and stripped some powers from her that she’s been working to regain, chasing a mystery across the prime material plane.

But I’m outside the story, the same way I was outside yours. I look at what she told me, and I see a man who was clever enough to manipulate a wise woman. Smart enough to wait for a wandering paladin with a duty to help but little knowledge to understand how easily his idea could be weaponized. If it was a tool that could help his community as much as he said, why wouldn’t he have gone to a temple himself and sought out extra help? He manipulated her, and used her, and left her with a horrible responsibility on her hands.

I don’t think I need to draw those connections more clearly.

It’s strange, watching this kind of guilt from the outside. Knowing both of you and seeing that you were manipulated, while also knowing that manipulated or not, you did what you did, and neither of you is wrong to seek amends for that, or blame yourselves in some measure. Neither of you is a villain in your story, no matter what you might think, but it doesn’t mean you didn’t do harm.

I don’t know where this leads. Maybe it’s just that it’s an unfamiliar form of guilt to me. For better or worse, the things I blame myself for are things that I’ve done, or sometimes for things that I haven’t, like not helping Maliah when she was caught in an enchantment. Maybe it’s that I want to tell both of you that you have nothing to be sorry for, but that I know it’s a lie, and I hate the people who did these things to both of you even more for implicating you in things they’ll never feel an instant’s guilt about.

It’s a huge and horrible thing to wrestle with, and I don’t envy either of you the task. Niko is seeking redemption as she heals, and hopes to one day bring the man who did this to justice. The people who did this to you are on trial (or perhaps finished on trial? I haven’t yet had the courage to look up sentencing), and you’re still left in an uncomfortable situation, trying to pick up your life again. Maybe, in your own way, seeking redemption, though that quite rightly is starting with healing—a short and harrowing trauma is different from a long-term wearing away of self. Both bad, but they need different kinds of recovery, so please don’t think I’m saying you ought to be charging out and doing anything.

But, well—we’re helping Niko with this and with other things. Most of that will be the kind of adventuring we’re getting used to, I think. Solving mysteries, finding the root cause of problems and stopping them as best we can. Because she can blame herself, but we don’t blame her, and she deserves the help.

So know, if there’s something you need when you decide what comes next, I’ll help if I can. I may try to tempt you off on vacations, but if what you need is a bard on your arm when you attend your first party after all of this, or a friend to sit with you as you take steps … I know you have your cousins, but for that, I could be convinced to make a visit to Mashoy.

No need to decide anytime soon. Just know that the offer is open if you want to take me up on it.

Love,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Midat,

It's been ages, I'm sorry! Turns out adventuring keeps you very busy indeed, but I'm between a few jobs right now and thought I would drop you a note and ask after you, since I hear you're up to some interesting things right now, since I'm in touch with Brennu Zahin and it seems like you're working with his aunt.

According to him, you've worked out a screen system to keep houses cool, with movement based on the time of day, which sounds fascinating, and like it would be much welcome, out there in the desert! I'd love to hear anything you can say that wouldn't violate any proprietary agreements. Especially since working with screens and house systems is such a big-scale project with different materials, as compared to the smaller metal I mostly saw you working with while I was there. What brought about the change, and brought on the inspiration for the new work? How did you and Lady Zahin come to be working together on it? I'd love to hear anything you can tell me!

In the meantime, since I left Mashoy, I completely rebuilt my gloves—a lot of my friends and family went behind my back consulting with a weaver (maybe you met her when she was recently in Mashoy, her name is Mehrnikorsa or Niko and I know she was at the Zahin house) and I ended up with an absolutely gorgeous elextile to work with, so much more flexible and resilient and powerful than anything I was working with before, and it's been an absolute joy working with them. I've included a picture with a bit of a look at the inside so you can see what I did with the circuitry and the connections to my wireless receptors. I also acquired a PA bot, and ended up wiring it to a remote controlled car so it's mobile, but that's much less sophisticated work. Nothing like the mechanics of cooling a whole house with screens!

I hope you and everyone in Mashoy are all well, and that things are a little calmer in the city than they were when I was there. Feel free to catch me up on any of your news, not just your newest project, and I'll look forward to hearing from you!

All the best,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Drawn for a D&D character drawing challenge some of the party is participating in, for the prompt “a favorite moment”. Page layouts from a premade book of them.

An illustration of Elyn’s first conversation with Brennu Zahin, from temporarily breaking a mind control spell on.

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Brennu,

I'd like to say that for once I'm only writing with good news and happy updates, but I suppose we both know better than that, if I end up sending this one. This time, at least, nothing has happened to me—it happened to someone else, and that long ago. But it makes me so angry, the way it makes me angry that it happened to you, and I'm not asking for advice, I'm really not, or asking you to reassure me. I suppose I just wanted to write and say what happened and may have happened to someone I think will understand better than anyone else.

I have to be circumspect, since it's not my story to tell, but the general details are bad enough: this new friend of mine, his mother tried to cast a ninth-level Geas on him once. It didn't work, but even the attempt, and from his mother (who seems monstrous in every other possible way, on top of it), has obviously had a deep impact on him. And worse, it's possible that it's not the first time. There's something he did, and—I hardly know him, but it doesn't necessarily seem like the kind of thing he would do, and it's something his mother wanted very much. He might have been doing it through being absorbed and not seeing further than that, or because it was safer to do what his mother wanted, but those are horrible things to have as the better options.

He's had some time to process it all—more than you by a long time—but it still shakes him so deeply, and like I said, I'm so angry, and so heartsick for both of you. Especially when it's left you feeling like you need to be redeemed, and him traumatizing and flinching at raised voices, and … I don't even know what I'm writing anymore. I'm glad you're safe and recovering. And I'm glad that we're helping him as much as we can. I wish I could introduce you two, like I wish I could introduce you to Niko while she's in Mashoy. I think we'd all have some valuable things to say to each other.

It was a good vacation, I should say, for all the necromancy I interspersed in it (and I read those short stories of yours and liked them a lot. Sometime when I'm not trampling all over your worse memories, we'll have to talk about it). This is just a hell of a job to start back with. It's a good thing we were already planning to spend some time with some dear friends and family on Nosirion-1 soon, since we'll be in that area soon anyway.

In the meantime, I'm going to treat him with all the gentleness I hope you're getting on a regular basis, and I'll reiterate my hope that you're being kind to yourself, in whatever ways you can.

And I'll write again soon with that book review, or better news.

Sorry, if I did send this to you.

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Brennu,

I've been thinking a lot about your last letter since I got it. Mostly, I admit, I've been searching for the right words to say, the magical combination that will ease some of your burdens. I find myself doing that a lot, these days, searching for words that will make Maliah believe in herself, that will calm some of Cloudleaper's worries, that will help you. I think the trouble with being a bard is that you get used to your words having weight in some situations, and forget that some things just take time, and pain, and listening more than talking.

Which is to say: I'm listening. I don't have any magic words to dispel the shame like I did the enchantment, but I'm still here.

The shame rightfully belongs to those who cast the spell and maintained it and used it, but of course they have no shame and it feels like somebody ought to, so it seeps in. Someday, when you're ready, you could talk to a few of the other people whose family members were involved? They may understand a little better than you could fear—while I don't think Fusaha Qasri would ever flinch in public, she's a young head of house and two of her family members were neck-deep in this mess by their own choice. She might understand worries about disgrace, if the two of you were inclined to talk about it.

I wish I could say that there was a lesson to be learned in this, but there really isn't, in senseless cruelty and loss of will, other than maybe seeing things about yourself that you don't want to see. Or thinking you do. I've had it on my mind a lot, since the balhannoth, trying to make sense of it, wondering if I should temper my desires, try to be more realistic, try not to get caught in a trap again—but what kind of life is that, if I don't let myself get fully invested in what I'm looking for? And what kind of life is yours, if you hold your every thought under a microscope wondering if it could lead the wrong way, if you're being trapped again?

You're doing right, I think, glorying in small decisions. We've had a quiet few weeks where the most I've really done is worked on a spell I'm trying to learn and eating a lot of crepes, and thinking about your letter, and for different reasons, have been trying to concentrate on the little moments of joy in between the difficulties of adventuring—the crepes and the milkshakes and the learning children's show theme songs. For me, it's less about the decisions than about the reminder that not everything is as dire as it can sometimes seem, but it's still thanks to you.

You offered to arrange for me to come to Mashoy, and I was tempted, but other needs have called—the need to buy equipment to protect ourselves, and the need to keep searching for my family. There have been a few leads recently, and I think they're going to lead me to Nellaser's Landing and after that, maybe to a fairly unexplored and definitely uninhabited region of space.

But maybe I can turn your kind offer back on you? I can't offer time among friends, but reading your letter, I think it might not hurt you to get away for a while, when you feel ready for it, with your cousin or alone. That could mean another city on Rugira Prime, or it could mean anywhere in the universe. I don't know if it would make things easier, but it would make them different, and you'd be away from where it all happened, and the constant reminder of the shame you're feeling, and the people you hurt in all innocence and were hurt by in significantly less innocence.

I have connections in a few places these days, though I can't say I've exactly been in luxurious vacation destinations. But if you want a quiet inn in the woods, or a quiet village at the base of the mountains, or a busy station with a hundred things to do and see, I can give you contacts or recommendations.

If nothing else, I know a place that does great crepes.

Wishing you peace,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Elyn,

As you will be able to see by the attached image, I have—at too much length—taken your advice for a vacation. The ocean is beautiful and quiet, and this area private enough that I need little care for the eyes of others.

I was glad, in your last letter, to hear that you have made it safely through the errand you couldn’t discuss, and hope you are enjoying whatever else it is you are up to, in the Feywild. I look forward to catching up, when you are back home and have the time.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the quiet and the peace. I’ve picked up one of the romances you recommended, to read once I’m through my current book of poetry (written by a spacer, and I like it enough that I’m sending you a copy even before finishing it). It’s easier, these days, to read shorter texts with easy breaks—even on vacation, I find I’m only able to muster a chapter or two a day before my focus gives way. It’s a relatively small price to pay, in terms of post-mind-magic consequences, though—to be honest—I still hate it. Nonetheless, I’m hoping a fairly short romance will be easy enough to follow, and I certainly have the time to make my way through it. You’ll just have to let me know if you’d like impressions as I go or once I’ve finished.

And I was trying to keep this letter light! Well, you can’t be the only one to have the occasional moment of melancholy, so it must have just been my turn.

It is nice, to have a break and to be away from others, even if I do miss the drier air and the slight and constant rumble of the city under my feet.

I’ve also been practicing, and have my fingering wrangled enough into shape that I won’t be entirely mortified to attach the second file here. (Ten Little Dragons is not a common beginner’s tune on Rugira Prime, apparently, so I hope you appreciate me having to convince my baffled music tutor to teach it to me alongside Donnavi’s Dunes. Which, yes, I have also attached, since I trust you won’t laugh at me. Much.)

Take care, and let me know once you’re safely back on the Prime Material Plane.

Fondly,

Brennu

[attached: a photo of a sea at sunset, an electronic book of poetry, and two audio files of slightly stuttering beginner’s music played on a stringed instrument.]

[letterstosestrilles]

Honored Lord Brennu,

I hope you'll forgive me writing when we were never properly introduced, but I did want to write a quick note while I'm still in the city. I know I must have turned things upside down for you, and while I hope you're glad of it, I know that whether good or bad, having your life turned upside down is more than a little unsettling. Without you, there would have been great harm done, and my friend's life would still be upended, so I owe you my thanks—as well as my apologies for punching you. You may have asked, but I still feel like you deserve the apology, so I am very sorry that I did so.

It may not help you to know, but I have a small excess of magic, and I'm using some of it to learn Dispel Magic. It may not, unfortunately, help you, but at least in the future, in your honor, if I find a similar situation I'll be able to do more than assault the poor soul who's in trouble.

I assume your cousin Lady Zahin has told you about everything about the council session where everything came to light, and that you'll have your own testimony to make in the coming weeks, so I won't offer my own limited perspective, but I hope it all leads to justice for you, and some closure as well.

What I said at the party holds true: if you need to talk to someone outside the situation, I may not quite fit the bill and certainly don't have a degree in therapy, but I do my best to listen.

I wish you all the best for the future.

Elyn of Procyon (or Dana bint Ma'zi far-Bay, as you prefer)

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Elyn,

I’m sorry to take so long to reply to you, and under such circumstances as well.

The investigations here have finally come to the point of needing my testimony, and, well… it’s a poor excuse to leave you waiting two weeks, but I offer it all the same. (You’ll be glad, I think, to hear that the investigations are proceeding well – I’ll write you in more detail about what I know or have heard, if you’d like.)

I hope, likewise, that your current self hasn’t regretted sending this. It’s not overstepping, especially when you’re trying to help others. The least I can do is offer what knowledge I have.

As far as I know, Geas isn’t the spell I was under. I’ve had to do a bit of research on the spell, since it’s not quite my area of experience, but I believe the enchantment I was under was lower-grade and, yes, anchored to an object. It wasn’t as strong, either, with more of a misdirection component than a blatant compulsion.

The aftereffects, at least, sound similar, and so your new friend is lucky to have you. It sounds like you don’t think it’s worth much, but your support and conviction are likely more a balm than you know. For what it’s worth, I wish you could introduce us as well – you’re right, I think, that we could all do with a good mutual conversation.

Speaking of which, the reason for the last of the delay in this letter: I met Mehrnikorsa the other day. She’s a pleasant and quiet person, if intense in the same way you and yours are, but I suppose that’s the way of adventuring. It was a good conversation for both of us, I believe, and not least to gossip terribly about you. Thank you for the introduction and the recommendation both. She has business elsewhere, it sounds like, but it was good to have a peaceful conversation with only the awkward pauses of strangers, rather than assumptions.

Niko did, however, seem intrigued and delighted by my aunt’s latest investment. Still in progress, but a set of mechanized screens that alter their configurations in accordance with the wind, to best circulate air through the outer rooms on the endless warm days. Designed, I should mention, by Midat Tiyan’li, of your acquaintance – her strike of innovative inspiration, it seems, still continues and is serving her well.

To answer your final question, you certainly don’t owe me gifts for answering difficult questions. I am glad to do that out of friendship. That said, I do like books and trinkets, and while I have never had reason to collect terrible tourist souvenirs, I feel like my family would be aghast at them, which would amuse me quite a bit.

Should you start sending them, fair warning, I do intend to take that vacation and will certainly repay you in kind.

I hope you are treating yourself kindly and gently, and taking a break once you are able. If there is anything I can do, whether answering questions or simply providing someone to talk to, I am happy to.

We can catch up via a longer letter soon, I hope,

Brennu

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Niko,

I hope, if you're still in Mashoy, that you're getting the answers you need, from Sandhall or from others. I hope you've had a chance to say hello to Pika and her family, as well—I'm sure she was very glad to see you, if so.

I mentioned you to another friend of mine in Mashoy, as someone to keep an eye out for, though he's mostly in seclusion right now so I don't know if he's reached out. (I wrote him about you a few weeks ago, and I really should have let you know as well, but the past little while has been a little chaotic for us and I'm afraid it fell by the wayside.) His name is Brennu Zahin, and I don't want to share his secrets any more than I want to share yours with him, but you both remind me of each other sometimes, with the way you talk about yourselves. If you're both interested, a conversation couldn't hurt. (And if he chooses to come out of seclusion at all, his name might open doors for you if our letter of introduction wasn't effective.)

While that—and checking on you—are reason enough to write, I do have another one. Very recently indeed, our presence was requested by a cleric of the Farsight Temple on Rotharl, a temple to Savras. We've had a surprising time here, and have been working primarily with the cleric who requested us on behalf of a friend of hers, Altas Luthelye. As part of the price for our help, she offered a Divination, at our need. At the moment, we have no urgent need for a Divination.

I suspect you may be in need of less cryptic intervention than a Divination would provide, but if it would help you, and if Sandhall doesn't have the help you need, I'd be willing to use that Divination for you, or ask Altas to trade the debt to you in our place. I admit I haven't outright discussed this with Maliah, but I don't think she'll object, for a friend, especially when we don't have any current need.

If you've already found your answers and left Mashoy again, on your continued quest, well, I wish you the best in the next stage of your journey. We're going to Mir soon, and planning to stop in on Nosirion-1 while we're there, so if you have any messages to send there, I'm happy to carry those for you.

I do wish that finding my family's origin had given answers about the field of godsfalls you went through, even if I don't know that those are the primary answers you're looking for. If more information does come to light, I definitely will tell you about them. And in the meantime, if our various paths take us to the same place any time soon, we should grab a meal and catch up.

All my best,

Elyn

[letterstosestrilles]

Dear Elyn,

I’m glad to hear that the beach has been at least somewhat restful. I could hardly blame you if that were not the case, but it seems as if the company and quiet have both been helpful. I’ve only seen an ocean a few times, but I am sure that there are as many types of beach as types of desert. Perhaps I’ll have to find one further away from this continent for that vacation I keep half-threatening? Especially if the occasional cocktail is involved. I have a new collection of short stories that might interest you, if you’ve run out of reading material.

Those are, I’m afraid, very hard questions. I’m sorry, for all the details of loss that you’re only now uncovering. Again, it’s backwards and sideways to what you’re experiencing, but so much of the aftermath of everything has been learning about things I supposedly did that I have no recollection of. Or that I suddenly do, of things that shouldn’t feel world-ending, but do. I have been asked a handful of times if I have any interest in speaking to those who controlled me, or knowing what is happening with them, and people are always surprised when I say no.

But I won’t get the answers I want, because I don’t have the right questions to ask and partially because their reasons are ones that can’t make sense to me. Those answers won’t change what was done to me. It is, some days, unsatisfying, and others terrifying, and some days I am so vindicated that you ripped their conspiracy to shreds, and other days I wonder how long they thought it might last anyway.

I imagine that spirits are as unpredictable in their responses, even if with much less malice. Somehow, I imagine, that’s worse.

All of which is to say, very roundabout and uncertainly, that I think I understand even if Maliah can’t, how hard it is to ask questions about things that are tangled up in your heart. I hope that, if you can ask your more personal questions, the answers will give you some hope or comfort or knowledge. And if they don’t, or can’t, then don’t blame yourself for that, or for wanting it.

It’s good to hear that you got to see your family as well. They sound like very kind people, from what you’ve shared. Your magic takes you into enough dangerous places, it seems fair that you should get to use it for something nice for once.

I’m still reclusive, these days, but I’ll see if I can arrange a meeting. A friend, on your recommendation, is always welcome. (As are you, of course.) I may have to ask you for the proper pronunciation of her name, for politeness’ sake! But thank you for letting me know, and I’ll do my best to see she’s welcome in Mashoy, providing the Lady Dahlia doesn’t commandeer all of her time.

Enjoy your continuing vacation, and all my best,

Brennu