Work Text:
[In a relaxed hand in dark red ink, written on paper purchased from Epistles by Pameka.]
Ryne,
Everything’s alright over here. Sorry it’s been some time since I’ve gotten a letter to you – we’ve been busy, the Warrior has been busy, and in our own opposing busy-ness it’s proven tricky to slip an envelope into one of her saddlebags. I’m planning on giving this to our recent employer to hand to his sister who will almost certainly see her new favorite person in the world relatively soon. That’s my best guess – even I find it hard to predict the world’s wandering hero.
Things shook out as I guessed they would in my last letter to you – our employer’s affection for his sister proved stronger than all his neat and tidy ideas of how the world should work. And then many more things happened that even Urianger couldn’t have predicted. Ask our friend to give you the whole story after you read this; she was actually there for everything. Urianger and I ended up on guard duty for some of the more exciting parts, and I can’t seem to mind too much - it's given time for my ankle to recover from last month. And I was able to keep up my side of our bargain: no dramatic sacrifices from me on this adventure. I’m quite hale and whole. Just a few scrapes and bruises that were easy enough for Urianger to heal.
Urianger and I are currently bunking in a cabin on stilts off the beach. Accommodations have been provided by Vow Koana (his sister surprised him with an appointment to co-head of state with her in a very grand public ceremony - you should have seen his tail puff up!) as we wait to see if he needs anything else of us while the city recovers from the recent excitement. There’s a deck that’s open to the water, it’s far enough away from the city center to be relatively quiet at night, and there’s complimentary fruit provided every day, which suits Urianger’s delicate palate much better than the spiced meats and drinks that populate much of Tural’s various cuisines. (You should see the sorts of faces she's been making at the dinner table.)
Today we’ve been taking it easy. I did my best to sleep in, but eventually the market crowds woke me up. Urianger slept til the halfday bell. Typical. She's currently taking over the big table with all her notes for the Loporrits. I’m out on the deck writing this, and when I finish I’ll loudly tell Urianger that I’m done so that she’ll get to writing to you too. Then I’ll… probably organize my luggage. Or I’ll take a dip, since Urianger has enough things to keep her busy that she won’t feel I’ve abandoned her for the dread water. (For all her talk about loving learning, she's been awfully avoidant about the swimming lessons that she suggested I give her.)
The gloves in the package that should accompany this are for Gaia. Everything else is for you. Just things I’ve found in the various markets of Tural – hopefully something in there is to your tastes. None of it cost very much, so whatever you don’t like you can throw away with no guilt.
G’raha and Y’shtola should be sending along reports and notes (aside from their regular missives to their associates on the First) for you and your shard-regrowing team. They were more involved with the interdimensional aspects of the recent events. Again, all of that is completely over my head and not what I was dealing with, so I wish you the best of luck in understanding it all. I don’t want to get my or your hopes up, but Y’shtola seemed very excited about it all, so. I suppose we’ll see what comes of it.
In any case: remember to do your stretches. Remember that you can ask any of us for help or advice, whenever you need or want it. Remember that [A large blot of ink.] Dammit. That’s what I get for dithering. Remember that I’m proud of you.
All my best,
Thancred
[Folded into thirds and tucked within an envelope, also purchased from Epistles from Pameka. In the top right corner of the envelope is a sticker of a pretzel, seemingly re-used from some other surface.]