Dusty Letter

## Description

*A letter in a language that isn't English or Arabic. It looks archaic, like one of the languages from the dusty fifth-year tomes on ancient scripts.*

## Quest Chain

Pamela Roux, along with Niles Bazarov and Damiel Lye discover a room in the labyrinth decorated in tapestries and paintings. A rounded portrait of a girl with a pactum mark on her ear sits on the right-hand wall. Behind the portrait is a letter, written in elaborate script, though it is in a language they can't quite read.

Niles Bazarov might have seen the language before - but a long time ago, in a dusty old tome from fifth term. He can't quite seem to identify it, but he recalls that it might not be human.

### Damiel and Niles; October 31, 2016

Damiel Lye and Niles Bazarov, now in possession of the letter search for an entity that might be able to read the letter. They speak to Rabbit, who reluctantly tells them that it might be a letter to a sailor at sea. They return the letter to Pamela Roux afterwards.

 **Counter Librarian Cost:**£1

If Pamela Roux attempts to find information about oceanside runes, the counter librarian only laughs: before leading her to an entire shelf on the subject. Tomes of every size line the shelves - Ential Languages of the Sea and Runes for the Elementary Student are included, to name only two of the hundreds of books. This is simply too much to read! This letter is relatively long, and it's not going to be easy to translate, especially if the runes are contextual. She's going to need some help. Finding someone versed in ancient languages or entity studies would be optimal.

*Pamela might want to consider bringing a friend with related knowledge to help her. It's a behemoth of research, and books are! So boring!!! She can use (!investigate dusty\_letter) when she's roleplayed at least ten or twelve turns of letter translation with a friend. When you've completed this prompt, please post a log to the Update Spreadsheet.*

### Pamela and Aelia; January 8, 2017

Pamela Roux shows the letter to Aelia Lynn-Albrecht, and asks for some assistance with translating the runes. It's a lot of material, after all! They attempt to translate it in full, but end up with only a partial translation as their final product. It seems that they're still missing the books required to complete the letter. They'll have to come back to it another day.

*W████d at the l██████e, by the███f, without you. I r█████hed them ██ ███r body: bloated, rotting, w██ ███ t█. And now it███ █ine. But still, the t████one lies ██ty. And now██t last, I alone █eme███y█u. With the tide, I wi███ ██g you. With the e████, burying you - ██hen, for the funeral, whom? To speak███ ██tes that I have never l█████d?*

 **Counter Librarian Cost:** £N/A

*Roleplay at least ten or twelve letters of letter translation with a friend. Upon completing enough turns, she can use (!investigate dusty\_letter\_2) to check the next translation of the letter. When you've completed this prompt, please post a log to the Update Spreadsheet, and include your next path of action.*

### Pamela and Aelia; January 17, 2017

Pamela and Aelia take to the library again, attempting to complete their translation of the letter. Pamela seems to be a little ill though -- perhaps from the effects of the music box that's fallen into her possession (Funeral in Paris). When they complete their translation, they notice that it's a little bit strangely-written -- and this doesn't seem to just be Pamela's dislike of English. It sounds a bit broken, and not terribly correct.

*We lived at the lighthouse, by the cliff, without you. I relinquished them of your body: bloated, rotting, with flesh torn. And now it is mine. But still, the tombstone lies empty. And now at last, I alone remember you. With the tide, I will bring you. With the earth, burying you - but then, for the funeral, whom? To speak the rites that I have never learned?*

Pamela remembers that there's a lighthouse on the island. Perhaps she can visit it for further clues?

 **Counter Librarian Cost:** £N/A

The lighthouse is still in operation: as the island is small, it requires the tower to be staffed after nightfall to assist fishing ships returning to harbor. However, asking around campus or the town will garner information that it only seems to be be unlocked at sundown, when its employees man the lights. You'll have to visit in the evening.

*Schedule a roleplay with Thumper for this prompt through Skype or the Updates Spreadsheet. Pamela will need to take at least one other student with her.*

### Pamela, Aelia, and Niles; January 28, 2017

Pamela asks for Aelia Lynn-Albrecht and Niles Bazarov to accompany her to the lighthouse at the harbor at nightfall. As they walk, they attempt to make sense of the letter, theorizing that perhaps it has to do with a ... ghost? Mermaid? Something scarier? The weather is a terrible rainstorm.

When they arrive at the lighthouse and knock on the door, a blonde middle-aged woman with a pactum mark above her ear named Isla answers the door. They ask her if she's heard any stories about the lighthouse, if she's the only one living there, and about the ential letter. She answers that there must be  *plenty*  of stories: the lighthouse has been standing for a hundred or more years, after all. She also informs them that she's been happily married twelve years, and that the only one that might be able to read the ential letter she knows of would be someone named Clio, who lives in the lighthouse.

They climb to the lantern chamber, where a girl- Clio- sits in a chair, sitting unmoving. When Pamela sees her face, *pale grey eyes, with a marking above her left ear*, she recognizes the girl immediately as the one from the portrait in the labyrinth, not having aged a day. Her pactum mark matches Isla's perfectly.

Pamela asks her if she'd like her letter back, and Clio replies *yes*, before taking the letter from her. It saturates with liquid, before it tears in half from the weight of the water. She takes an oil lantern from the window and beckons to the three, telling them that she wants to show them something, leaving the letter on the floor. Taking Pamela's hand, she pulls the girl to the top of a cliff precipice, undeterred by the rain. She presses their foreheads together, and when everyone opens their eyes again, they are under the ocean.

Just as they seem to run out of air, they realize they can breathe - it's not even wet here, so perhaps it's a vision after all. Clio swims through the water, a good twenty meters ahead of them, pulling a young boy into her arms as he struggles to swim- the telltale pillar of light from the formation of a par pactum bursts through water, blinding and white.

When the three can see again, they stand together on the cliff they started on. But this time, it is covered in tall, lush highland grasses, green as far as the eye sees- perhaps a change in seasons.

*The words are eerie. But her expression shows that she means her words with good intention. The boy shoves her away, angry. But when he collects himself finally, he reaches for her sleeve, replying quietly. "Family gets buried with the rest of our family,* Clíonadh*. They'll bury me on this land... and they'll bury you here, too, when I'm gone. Even the sailors get buried on land, no matter where their bodies go at sea." Close inspection of the boy reveals the observation that a pactum mark sits above his left ear. "At least, I'd like that, seafoam or not."*

The final vision is of Clio - she sits on the edge of the cliff, while a young girl sits beside her, no older than eight. The girl has a slightly unwieldy black marker - in messy letters, she scrawls her name on Clio's ear, and another pillar of white light shoots upward into the sky. When the vision fades, Clio still has her forehead pressed to Pamela's- she takes both of Pamela's hands. Strangely enough - in spite of the melancholy temperature of the visions - she seems to be smiling. She tells Pamela she has a final request, before handing her a golden pocketwatch.

Despite the bleak subject matter, she seems excited. She tells Pamela that it would only be proper for him to have a funeral, when he never had one, as he was a sailor lost at sea. Pamela tells her that funerals are a celebration of life... or the end of it... and that they'll need good weather for it. Clio tells her to return when it is sunny instead.

 **Counter Librarian Cost:** £N/A

Has Pamela ever attended a funeral? Whose?

Clio seems awfully excited, even if her request is incredibly bleak. She's in possession of the Sailor's Pocketwatch now, but she supposes it's a little difficult to hold a funeral without knowing just who it's for. Perhaps? Perhaps Isla would know... or perhaps it's something that can be learned from a quick read at the library. More importantly though, how does one plan a funeral, exactly?

*Planning the funeral will require two roleplays, with two different characters. During this roleplay, Pamela can ask them about their own experiences with a memorial, or share experiences of her own in order to gather ideas about holding a service for someone she's never met.*

*Isla lives in the town during the day, and can be asked about the identity of the sailor. The pocketwatch might provide information about the sailor as well. After you've completed your two roleplays, you can choose to pursue either or both of these directions by placing your next path of action and the logs for your two roleplays on the Update Spreadsheet.*