Dear Mother and Father,
How are you? I am fine. The Grand Duke is letting us build Ezekiel’s temple in the Crystalmist Mountains, so I should be able to write more often.*
We killed some fire giants since I saw you, and Tressarian had a great time. The cleric types put my guts back in fine wait I wasn’t going to say that part. Also we killed a fire-breathing dragon, so now I have more to have nightmares about.
We went on a trip for Raven to fight another monk and visited Alpheus, and he said he is doing fine. Roland showed me his very own sword that he got for his birthday and he’s not allowed to use it in the house.
I am learning about different cultures, like Bakluni and Centaurs; in some ways we are the same and in some ways we are very different. A couple centaurs came and asked to help me patrol the mountains, but they’ve been helping our elf ranger friend while I am busy. Heiron says they do a good job hunting mountain goats.
I’m glad I got to come see you. I’ll try to write more often.
Yours truly, Elwyn
*P.S. Never mind, His Grace has something dangerous and magical for us to investigate, so I will have to write to you when we get back.
**
Dear Archie,
Thanks for fishing me out of the pond all the times you fished me out of the pond. I’m glad you can have fun organizing things.
Sincerely, Elwyn
**
Dear Tomlin,
How are you? I hope you are feeling better. My friend the priest is building a temple, so here is a sketch of the mountain we’ll be living near for a while. He says it’s a dormant volcano.
Also here is a sketch of a wizard tower. It’s not supposed to be tipped over like that, but a dragon pushed it over. I thought you would like the roof.
Also here is a sketch of the Grand Mosque in Ekbir. Some of the details I had to do by memory, but notice how the gateway mirrors the roof-line.
We visited Mother and Father, and she said she likes it very much when you write her letters. Take care of yourself, and keep staying away from those priestesses in the skimpy outfits – they’ll get you in trouble.
Sincerely, Elwyn
P.S. This sketch I kinda rushed, but it’s of a centaur, and his name is Chestnut Who Paces the Bounds, and he and his friend Madam Whinny also send you greetings. And so do Ragni and Agni, who are dwarves, and Agni promises if he gets a chance to sketch some of the mountains around here he’ll send you some.
****
The griffon-riding messenger came back this morning from delivering Ezekiel’s note, and brought a summons from His Grace – “as soon as possible.” So Ezekiel marshaled us and had Lydia take us to Gorna through her mirror. (Best thing we ever stole from an evil wizard.)
The guards announced us, and His Grace said he was glad we could get there so quickly – though he looked much disturbed by something. We sat down, and he explained our neighbor Sterich (which is a vassal of Keoland) is in big trouble. Their earl, Querchard – along with his capital city, Istivin – has disappeared! Well, it’s been replaced or covered or something by a huge shadowy dome. With no earl, and no provincial seat, the king of Keoland has sent an agent to coordinate all efforts to correct this thing, and the Grand Duke wants us to go lend our aid. He even offered us the use of horses, if we decide to leave from here – which makes sense, since it cuts out the trek through the mountains and northern Geoff.
We popped back to Haven to make sure we had all the gear we wanted, and to bring along Heiron and Agnar… Heiron didn’t say much, but I can tell he was really worried about Lydia while she was gone, and Agnar says it has been bor-ing up here in the mountains.
Besides, it’s not fair to make Sirion, Dree, and Usin do all the baby‐sitting all the time.
We left by afternoon, and got a few hours of riding behind us before stopping for the night. Ezekiel has been drilling Aliana and Lydia about what might “disappear” an entire city…but it’s not really in the specialty of any of us.
I’m wondering if it’ll trace back to the Astral Plane eventually…
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