Letters concerning the destruction of Miller’s Knee
To their Royal Eminence, High Lord Armanic Harkid, red Duke of Fae’Hosh, Admiral of the amaranth armada, Warden of the people.
I hope to find you in good health and fortune. Please extend my best well wishes to the High Lady Taluhid and the royal offspring.
I am writing this letter to you with my deepest and most revered respect to inform you of an incident that happened in Velashta a fortnight ago. I would not trouble you with this event if I did not deem it to be of great concern for the entire kingdom.
About ten days ago, a small town named Miller’s Knee in the North of our province bordering Nappahrit was destroyed by fire. It was not a town of great importance as it only had thirty-seven residents, however, tragically each resident perished in the fire. I ordered an investigation into this incident to determine what the cause of the fire could have been, and my examiner informed me that an accident can be excluded as the fire’s origin. Furthermore, I have been informed that replicas of the crow effigy have been found on site. As per protocol, the complete elimination of the town’s memory has commenced and the clearing of the debris has already been completed.
What concerns me in this affair is that I was informed by your honored cousin, High Lady Ciprianid Marnic, that the Royal Council had struck an agreement with the Lynx about the Crow’s activities over the last decade and that such incidents would not occur anymore. As it appears, however, this agreement seems not to have been honored by either the Crow or the Lynx. I do not wish to imply that the Royal Council’s esteemed allies would willingly break a royal accord, which leads me to believe that either the Crow itself might be working against its superior, or that a group has split off from the Crow and is now acting on its own.
As I know you are a great opponent of the Crow’s activities, I am addressing this letter to you to ensure that swift and strict measures will be enacted following this misadventure. I trust in your judgment to deal with this situation in the best interest of the kingdom and its people. I eagerly await your response and am prepared to enact any further measure you deem necessary to combat this plague on our lands.
With my deepest respect and admiration,
Your loyal servant,
Lailad Parobac, administrator of records
To Lailad Parobac, administrator of records,
I am saddened by the events chronicled in your letter. What a tragedy.
The news you heard from my cousin was correct. A deal had been ratified between the Royal Council and the Lynx, who had assured us they would be able to reign the Crow back in after its previous misconduct. It is a great worry that this might not have been accomplished. I will send a group of my own examiners to your province to help you in your investigation. Please show them the artifacts that have been found and explain the results of your examination to them in great detail so that we can determine if this incident was perpetuated by an independently acting group of dissenters or if the Crow in itself has decided to disregard the Lynx’s authority and the accord with the Royal Council.
In the meantime, I will convene with the rest of the Royal Council to discuss this incident and any further steps that could be taken. I will champion my cohorts to arrange a new audience with the Lynx to determine whether they are aware of this situation and what their plan of action will be. I am in good faith that this situation can swiftly be dealt with and that no further abhorrent actions such as this one will be taken by the Crow. I am of the opinion that we cannot let such a pest run rampant in our kingdom. Accords which have been agreed upon by both sides need to be upheld at all costs! Otherwise there is no sense in this entire system.
May fortune cast its eyes upon you.
Armanic Harkid, red Duke of Fae’Hosh, Admiral of the amaranth armada, Warden of the people
To their Royal Eminence, High Lord Armanic Harkid, red Duke of Fae’Hosh, Admiral of the amaranth armada, Warden of the people,
As always, I hope to find you in good health and fortune.
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of your royal examiners. I have instructed my own investigative team to prepare all the information we have managed to gather for their visit.
I profoundly agree with you that accords, especially those agreed upon with the Royal Council, need to be upheld and respected. Such is the basis of our kingdom. I hope it does not step out of line if I say that the Crow needs to be held accountable for their role in breaking this agreement and that an investigation into the Lynx’ potential involvement in the affair should be opened. Of course, I am not implying that the Lynx knew about the Crow’s transgression, and I am certainly not implying that they had anything to do with it, however, if we wish to bring respect to our system of justice, every and all possibilities need to be explored.
With my deepest respect and admiration,
Your loyal servant,
Lailad Parobac, administrator of records
To Lailad Parobac, administrator of records,
The other members of the Royal Council have been informed of the situation and a meeting with the Lynx has been arranged. My cohorts were displeased to hear that our accord might have been disrespected although they have pointed out that it is of utmost importance to find out who the perpetrators of these attacks on our kingdom are. It does not do us well to put the blame on the Crow without knowing for certain that they are involved in the situation. Furthermore, please refrain from throwing accusations towards the Lynx without being able to prove they even knew about these incidents. The Royal Council has worked with the Lynx for longer than any of us have been in power and they are one of the kingdom’s most trust-worthy and well-respected allies.
Please inform my examiners that they should primarily focus on finding out who is responsible for this tragedy when they arrive.
May fortune cast its eyes upon you.
Armanic Harkid, red Duke of Fae’Hosh, Admiral of the amaranth armada, Warden of the people
To their Royal Eminence, High Lord Armanic Harkid, red Duke of Fae’Hosh, Admiral of the amaranth armada, Warden of the people,
I must apologize for my commentary in my previous letter. I certainly did not mean to imply that the Lynx knew of the incidents or might have been involved.
The royal examiners departed from Velashta this afternoon. As they will be able to tell you in greater detail, we have determined that the circumstances revolving around the incident extensively point towards the Crow’s involvement in this tragedy. Of course, it is impossible to know the exact identity of the people who perpetrated these events, as it could very well have been a sub-fraction of the Crow who decided to act on their own.
However, as I have not heard from you since your last letter and your royal examiners were not able to give me any further information about the Royal Council’s decision on how to proceed, I humbly ask of you to inform me of any further plans the Royal Council intends to enact to deal with this situation.
With my deepest respect and admiration,
Your loyal servant,
Lailad Parobac, administrator of records
To Lailad Parobac, administrator of records,
The Royal Council has convened with the Lynx and the situation is being dealt with, you do not have to concern yourself with the further evolution of this matter.
I would advise you to keep news of the incident from spreading as best as possible. It would not do any good if the wider population were to hear about it. Your main responsibility in this situation is to assure the well-being and serenity of your subjects and all people living in our kingdom.
You do not need to contact his Royal Eminence, High Lord Armanic Harkid, about this incident any further. The royal examiners have been able to report any necessary details for the further continuation of this investigation to his Eminence.
May fortune cast its eyes upon you.
Javac Barred, Magistrate to the Royal Councils
Letters concerning the transfer of power in the Grey Isles
Dear Mari,
I hope you’re doing alright and I hope that one of these days I will have some time to come visit you again. Life has been quite busy for me since I’ve been appointed to this position, but we all knew that was going to happen. How has your research been going? If I remember correctly you were working on the Grey Isles case last time we spoke. Are you still working on that? I hope Dardec isn’t causing you too much trouble, I know he can be pedantic over these kinds of things.
I’ve got a favor to ask you. I wrote to your cousin last week about the destruction of one of our towns. I doubt he’s had time to tell you about it, but the gist of it is that a small town was burned to the ground and we think the Crow might be involved in it. Nothing is proven yet so please don’t discuss this with anyone until we have more information, but I’ll need your services to keep this from spreading through the kingdom. I wish I could come to the academy myself to talk with you about it, but, as I’ve mentioned, I simply don’t have the time for such a long visit. Especially since I’m awaiting further information from your cousin. I will send over one of my counselors with more information so that you can arrange the appropriate archival adjustments for this case. I’ll tell her exactly what needs to be done but of course I trust your judgment to adapt these directives as you best see fit.
I look forward to seeing you at Rishi’s wedding this summer, even if it is still a few months away.
In good health and fortune, now and always,
Your friend,
Lailad
Dear Lai,
How wonderful to hear from you again. It has been too long since the last time we had the opportunity. I miss you dearly, the academy just isn’t the same without you. Yours surely isn’t the only life that has been busy lately. Since Levac (finally!) fully stepped down from his position, I’ve had the privilege of reorganizing the mess he left behind. You wouldn’t believe how much chaos one man can cause! When I took over as dean, I didn’t realize how much time I would spend working like a common clerk. Absolutely none of his documents are organized like they are supposed to. They aren’t even really organized by date or subject or any other logical system. I think he had his own strange way of organizing stuff and forgot to tell me about it. Or maybe he deliberately kept me in the dark to spite me. Wouldn’t put it past that old man.
All that to tell you that, yes, I am still working on the Grey Isles. Dardec hasn’t even been that difficult to work with. In the beginning of the transfer maybe a bit, but I think he’s been quite reasonable with his demands. Horec Oluvad, on the other hand, has been a pain to work with. I had always heard that he was such a friendly and polite man, so I didn’t expect this at all, but I think he didn’t take it very well that Dardec took over his position. He’s trying to demand more inclusion of his name in the official records and I’ve been trying to accommodate him on this, but I’ve got my instructions from the Council and I can’t just do whatever I want. He’s also been complaining that the transfer has been reported as something voluntary and desired on his part and he wants us to at least mention that he stepped down with a heavy heart. Can you believe that?! What kind of image would that send! And I don’t even understand what he’s so upset about. He’s gotten an equally sized province out of this deal. I think High-Foshe might even be bigger than the Grey Isles if you look at the usable land. And anyway, I don’t know why he’s being so difficult with me, I’m not even remotely responsible for the transfer. If he’s upset he should try complaining to the Council about it, see how far he’ll get with that.
About your second point, I haven’t seen or spoken to my cousin in quite a few weeks so I hadn’t heard about this yet. It would definitely be quite concerning if the Crow was back. I’m pretty sure the Council has struck some accord to avoid this situation, so it really shouldn’t be happening. Let’s hope it’s just a copycat or some overzealous dissenters. Do you remember how much work it was last time to deal with all of that? All the sleepless nights we spent at the academy figuring out how to spin this into something believable. My head hurts just remembering it, I don’t even want to imagine what it’ll be like now that I’m dean. But duty is duty, so I eagerly await the arrival of your counselor.
I’m so excited for Rishi’s wedding! Did you hear that they are building a new chapel just for the event? I still don’t understand why she wants to adhere to the old traditions, I haven’t heard of anyone getting married in a chapel in ages! But she’s always been fascinated by the old times, hasn’t she? I’m sure it’s going to be lovely no matter what!
May fortune guide your way my dear friend,
With love,
Marizad
My dearest Mari,
And here we thought old man Levac had it all figured out. But I can imagine that in the last few years in which he’s held the position he’s gotten too old and forgetful to be well organized. Can’t you appoint someone else to do the work for you? I thought Nellad assisted you with this sort of thing? I don’t think it would be a risk to involve her in the planning.
Dardec might be pedantic and exigent in his demands but at least he knows how to communicate them well, I’ve always appreciated that about him. I can understand Horec Oluvad though. He’s been the warden of the Grey Isles for nearly thirty years, usually these appointments don’t last that long. If Dardec hadn’t gotten the province, one of Horec’s children or someone else from his family would have gotten it soon enough. I’ve heard more than once that he’s quite attached to the Isles and its inhabitants, and I think the affection was mutual. You only have to look at all the problems the transfer brought with it. It’s almost been a year and people are still fighting the new administration. They don’t seem to realize that they are doing more damage than good. Dardec was appointed by the Council itself, they aren’t going to get rid of him that easily. And honestly, it isn’t Dardec’s fault that Horec mismanaged the Isles this badly. The population has become too used to the freedom he gave them, they can’t expect it to continue. Every one of the provinces has to contribute to the well-being of the kingdom in its own way, the Grey Isles can’t be an exception to this.
Don’t remind me of all that work we had to do because of the Crow last time. I almost went out to look for them myself so it would finally stop! It remains a mystery why the Council didn’t demand the Lynx take care of them more thoroughly. I wouldn’t have accepted for them to keep roaming the lands. You never know when they’ll decide to attack bigger cities. I don’t want to imagine the work you’ll have then.
I think I’ve heard of someone else having a wedding in a chapel too. Looks like people are getting back to the old ways, at least aesthetically. Do you think Rishi will have a preacher officiate the wedding? I think that might go too far for my tastes. I’d be fine with some of the old chants though, I always liked the sound of those.
In good health and fortune, now and always,
Your friend,
Lailad
My dearest, dearest Lai
I’m truly sorry for how long it’s taken me to reply. I’d written the first version of this letter three weeks ago and then I just never got around to sending it. Everything is so busy right now, I’m absolutely exhausted.
Nellad is already helping me plenty, I wouldn’t want to put even more work and responsibilities on her shoulders. I want at least her to have the illusion of a life outside of this academy, there’s truly no need for the both of us to never leave this building.
Some good news, I’m done with my part in this whole Grey Isles mess. It’s not my problem anymore if the two lords decide to continue their petty feud. It’s honestly not any of my concern if Dardec can’t manage to get a grip on his new subjects and still hasn’t been able to quell the rebellions. I don’t understand why Horec Oluvad is trying to drag me into that debate.
And can you believe Horec even tried to argue with me that he should keep his old title?! That’s not how it works at all! The title is tied to the province and High-Foshe has a margrave, so of course he’s going to be a margrave from now on! Who does he think he is? He’s not above the rules of this kingdom just because he got attached to his previous province. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with this man anymore. I told Nellad that I don’t want to read a single one of his letters anymore, I’m way too busy to deal with this whole spectacle. Anyways, I need to deal with the transfer of Red Hill next, hopefully that one will be less of a headache. At least that one’s staying in the same family, but you never know if a distant cousin isn’t gonna suddenly appear and try to claim the province for themselves.
Your counselor arrived about two weeks ago and we’ve come up with a plan and schedule of everything that has to be done. I’ve tried to find all of the documents from the last time they were active but I doubt I found all of it in the mess Levac left me. It’s going to take a while to get everything sorted out but I think the most critical parts aren’t going to take too much effort. At least not as much as that tiny coastal village in Nappahrit ten years ago. That was an absolute nightmare. Why did they have to strike so close to the military academy? Don’t they realize how many people live there? Of course they’ll notice when there’s a giant fire on the coast right across from them! At least barely anyone got hurt back then, now we’ll also have to track down the family of the deceased and make sure they aren’t spreading rumors across the land. I’ll let you know once I have decided who’ll deal with this case and how we’ll proceed.
I really need to get back to work now. There’s so much more I want to talk to you about. I’m counting the days until we can see each other again.
With lots of love and my most fortunate wishes,
Your dearest friend, Marizad
The Heart Pyre 