Category: Letter

Dearest Mother,

I am heartened to hear of the fall of the Black Monestary of the Kaurlites. It is a blessed occasion when Humanity bands together to push back the Thorns. Truly, I am relieved. This city was once a stronghold of the Kaurlite, and it is joyous that that history is one further step diminished. I hear a raiding force remains, in route to the Black Tower. I pray that the Throne’s forces will find and overtake them before they inflict much more harm.

The black band known as the Hollow Men cut off the hands of many women and children this last season. Sir Sanguine says they did it to lure the Frateris Sanguine into a trap, goaded on by the hot desire for vengeance. He hid the knowledge from us so that we could focus on our work, and quietly arranged for the miracles of Lurian to be called upon to restore our loved ones to wholeness. I think his leadership here was wise, though I do wish he would have consulted with us more. I do believe we could have kept our hearts level, and possibly captured some of these blackguards. Markus has faced this trial in a manner that makes me proud.

The city rulership has asked me to serve as Eparch, and I have accepted. I hope that I can provide righteous guidance to those in power, and help everyone here find more meaningful lives.
One question that comes up frequently is the role of sorcery in our society. In order to understand this place better I have studied the rudiments of Magic, and in so doing have noticed that the names of the rebellious angels who now are the Thorns are reversed and included in the incantation of every guild spell. I am not alone in noticing this, and it has led to questions about whether Magic, or Mankind’s ability to wield it, is part of how the world is wicked? The church teaches us that it is slothful to turn to the supernatural, but is otherwise silent of the deeper implications of magical power. Do magicians open the Judgment the rebellious angels are sealed in to draw power from them? Are ancient false gods and demons being invoked, or revered? Is the presence of the guilds in our society a fundamental compromise of the ideal of the Throne? These are things I feel I need to know to give proper council to the rulers here, and to guide the course of the Frateris Sanguine and others.

I pray you and your men every blessing and fortune in the field. If your time and the campaign permit, I would be grateful for another visit. In particular I feel our prior lesson has settled well, and I am now ready to learn the Langschwert technique if you are able to teach it to me.

Love,

Ansel

Most Esteemed Abbot Euphonus –

Good News! The Fortress Monastery in Stragosa is about to be consecrated. I already burn with ideas. I have an inkling of a notion that to inspire more, I need to move away from this focus on specificity and return to grander, more ambiguous ideas. To inflame the passions of everyone involved in a grand moment of history or a grand theme of art could inspire both those who love goodness as well as those who hate impurity. In any case, I will send you my notes as I compile them. Perhaps you will feel inclined to share your discoveries here with us as well. There is still so much to do!

In Homage to Benalus and with Honor to the Emperor and under the guidance of the memory of Padre Pietro,

Alonzo d’ Melano
Bard Laureate of Silbran

Dearest mother,

as I learned from my youth in our household, you have always been fascinated by the forms of expression that constitute ‘art’ in cities and cultures far away from our own. To give you a better impression of the macabre and frankly crass moods that are evoked in the scummy taverns of Stragosa, I enclose a transcript of a most… unsuitable song performed in the recent past. Despite its allusions, please rest assured that the bards were investigated by the Inquisition and found to be devoid of any heresy. It was meant to be a comedic tinge. I found it disturbing and alarming, and clearly the Prosecutor present at that time felt the same way, for he immediately produced a ball of fire in his palm, stalking towards the bard. Now that, and I cannot emphasize this highly enough, was highly amusing.

Without much further ado, here is a transcript of this humorous song. At the end of the letter, I shall also enclose a more sombre sonnet that I composed myself after the departure of a certain lady. I feared for her death at the time, but even moreso feared for her undead return.

==

(Gothic Paradise)

As I ride through Stragosa where I Master the Coin,
I take a look at Borso’s pouch, and realize that he’s purloined,

The city’s resources and labour and time,
Which to my mind surely is an Imperial crime,

But that’s just typical for a Hestrali like him,
Who despite their fashion, wine and music are just a bit dim.

At 2:30 in the morning I’m diggin’ graves,
Charming maidens, fighting zombies, and dissin’ knaves,

I’ve been charmin’ and fighting so long that,
Even fire mages think that my mind is gone.

I’m a noble of the land, I’m into Benalian faith,
And one day I’ll find and marry my perfect soul mate,

But if I finish farming, reaping and building this iron mine,
Then tonight we’re gonna party like it’s Lion Age 599.

We been spending most our lives
Living in a Gothic paradise,
Farmed canvas more than thrice,
Living in a Gothic paradise,
Burned some heretics, it was nice,
Living in a Gothic paradise.

A local scum boy tried to steal my pouch last week,
I just smiled at him and my knight stabbed him in the cheek,

I ain’t never punched a Njord even if he deserved it,
A Gothic noble striking smelly fur bois? That’s unheard of.

I never wear white, no — I always wear black,
And all the lonely ladies agree that my knight is a snacc

If you do come to Stragosa you’ll likely turn up dead,
Because monsters will find you, even asleep in your bed.

Got here last year but feels like most our lives,
Living in a Gothic Paradise
Turns out corsets are full of knives,
Living in a Gothic Paradise.
Been Tarrantist once or twice,
Living in a Gothic Paradise.

==

(A Sonnet to Spectres)

Last isthmus I gave you my chart
the very next day
you sank to your grave
This year
a ghost ship appears
you turned into something spectral

==

EvV, Lion Age 604

Dated a full month after the conclusion of November’s Forum, after his Raven reporting success in his orders to recover Zurihim Artifacts, Sir Connor sends another Raven to his Liege; Count Archibald.

“Your Grace,

I trust that in the time that has passed, the successful delivery of the Zurihim artifacts has reached Lord Romulous Archibald in the University, and study is underway. It was a great honour to serve House Archibald in this manner, and further discoveries of great historical value will most certainly continue to be shared with the University.

It is with humility at this time, however, that I request that you consider releasing me from my Oath of Fealty without sanction. My service to House Archibald has been a great privilege, and your willingness to elevate me to Nobility was beyond anything I dreamed of. Yet, I now feel a pull in my very soul that my path leads me to service to Benalus as a member of the Church of Mankind.

The glory that I have achieved through recent Triumph, and fulfillment of my Oath of Merit, I hereby offer unto the House and Order as Influence to be done with as you see fit.

Be my request accepted or declined, I await your response in Stragosa with the expediency you deem appropriate.

-Sir Connor Rosewood,
Knight Errant of the White Ravens”

Dearest Cousin,

I pray that this letter finds you well. I have now been in Stragosa for nearly a year and a half, and I must admit that though I am getting settled there are still things which constantly surprise me. I have been made a District Magistrate, which is an exciting new responsibility, and have been responsible for hosting a number of important city events, so it seems that uses for my skills do exist here. Stragosa is a place unlike any other that I have ever experienced, or even heard of. There is great potential here, great possibilities for the combined skills and strengthens of mankind’s nations to create something unique, something that truly befits the Throne of God on Earth. But there is also much to do to make that possible, for, while Stragosa may hold a diversity of people and possibilities, it also holds a mind-boggling array of difficulties. There seems to be a dearth of peasants willing to work the land, likely in part due to the sheer number of malefic in and around the city, not to mention the mass of Kuarlites that remain in the valley. There are efforts to mount a great campaign to eliminate the heretics, but as every Rogalian knows, armies do not march on empty stomachs-and of course, much of the potential farmland in the valley goes unworked for a lack of knowledgeable farmers. And so it goes. It seems that, like a tangled ball of yarn, pulling one string to free it only tightens other knots. I can only pray that being here in my youth shall make me a stronger ruler in my own right someday-at the very least, I suppose, I will have experience facing some rather challenging issues.

It’s not as though things are terrible here, though. I have made friends among the representatives of a handful of Rogalian houses, and am working to form alliances, or at least individual friendships, with members of houses from elsewhere in the Throne. Naturally, much of the rulership here is Gothic. I sometimes wonder if they don’t quite know what to make of me-it seems that even in my most serious and somber moments I am far more emotive than they. At the very least, I feel I am developing a good working relationship with them, and am hopefully proving my worth through my efforts. Alas, the one thing this valley seems to lack is men of high birth looking for a marriage match, so I suppose I shall continue waiting for father to find the correct match for me. I will confess to a bit of jealousy watching the various little romances and courtships blossom around me, but perhaps that simply isn’t within what God has planned for me.

Pray for me, cousin, that I may find wisdom to make good and godly decisions in this endlessly complicated place, and pray for the whole of the Stragosa valley, that we may weather the upcoming challenges of the winter. As always, you are in my prayers.

May God watch over us all,

Alexandra

Dear Lady Alexandria,

It is with a sorrowful heart that I write to you.  No doubt your brother and other members of the Frateris Sanguine have told you of your father’s orders to shun you.  I do not fully understand the implications of you forging your own house, but rather than pride at your success it seems your father has been deeply wounded and feels betrayed.

I have vowed to honor your father’s wishes, and, as you know, I am a man of my word.  This does not mean I have given up on our connection as sworn companions, merely that we have been called upon to lay it aside for a time.  I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive your father his anger, and seek reconciliation with him.  Likewise, for my part, I will offer him council toward forgiveness and reconciliation when he is ready to hear it.

Graf Trakt has made an exception to his request to cease all collaboration for me to fulfill my spiritual duties.  That means should you wish to discuss matters of faith, the burdens you carry as a noblewoman, or the disposition of your soul, I remain at your service.  Likewise, when it comes to all things pertaining to the Malefic, I am free to seek you out.  We can continue to discuss your dreams, and so forth.

Sincerely,

Sir Ansel Rundelhaus, Knight Protector, Ever Vigilant Order of Templars

He sits at his desk, this place of peace surrounded by the pounding of metal and the sawing of wood. He turns the crank on the little treasure box that plays a tune he hasn’t heard in person since his childhood.

“Ho finito con il mio cuore senza grazia. Stasera ho intenzione di ritagliarlo e poi ricominciare…”

A whore’s lament, pulling at heartstrings. The heart of the Mask and Shield. Compassion for the lowest, the broken.

He begins to write –

“Sir Emeric,

The moment when the music took me was so surprising. I have been transported by music before, but I also saw the tears in your eyes. I could see how you were tied to Mankind then, how you have shouldered the Chains of Fate to bear the burden, to steer the course. I saw your true power then, unbeholden to the forces of the world that reinjure the already broken.

I have selfishly allowed myself to be misread, in my anger and my pain. I have allowed myself to prejudge those who might be allies in the healing of the world. I thought I would need to be well known to have the power to change lives, but I was squandering my work where the work itself would have been enough.

You and I will disagree more often now than ever, I’m afraid, my new brother. But trust that it will be from love, that it will be about tactics and not about the Grand Event. I am more comfortable amongst the sinners of the world than the saints, and it is in the places where people have hidden and hardened themselves to protect their Meaning that I will be found.

Thank you for your Tears,

Alonzo

———-

The music box plinks along merrily – “Scuotilo, Scuotilo, Scuotilo” Alonzo sighs, touching the blank white mask that always sits near when he is writing, turns it over to see the writing of his mother, the writing he’s written on other masks in his own time – “Diventa chi devi, rimani chi sei”

Turn, turn, and turn again.