Arrhenius Prang

*Arrhenius Prang, noted patron of delves into a newly discovered Iterum, perished after suffering violence from an adventurer recently in his employ.*

*He is succeeded by his heiress, Beatrice.*

*Further inquiries regarding the death should be addressed to Edvard of House Ebersfarb, who has taken custody of the body.*

*Wanted: Adventurers to explore a mysterious forest*

*I have found a door leading to a wood not marked on any map. My first trip through with my apprentice yielded much wealth. Unfortunately, my apprentice led a second trip through and did not return.*

*I have a plan to reduce the danger of navigating the forest but I need brave souls willing to provide an escort. For this, I am willing to pay 300 silver to all who accept this commission. In addition, I will pay a bonus if you can find out what happened to my apprentice.*

*Naturally, any treasure from the forest that you bring back is yours to keep.*

*Those who accept, please report to the manor of Arrhenius Prang at Sturmport. I will have more details for you there.*

In the only armchair facing the door sits a tall man wearing an overstuffed cravat. He motions for all of his visitors to sit down and make themselves at leisure.

Prang runs a hand through his shock of white hair. "That forest has many secrets indeed, Keryth and Uru. I have merely the scantest understanding of the workings of that place."

"Ah, where to start? I have always been a student of the planes, of the Iterums, especially in the matter of Preterite glyphs. They are a niche subject at best among the academia of the Good Republic. And yet, with precise formulation and construction, one can open gateways to other places, paradises built by elder magicians.

"Through trial and error, most costly, I might add," (he waves his hand at his almost empty manor) "I at last opened a door leading to another place that Could Not Be. This is the Forest which I have invited you all here for."

"Stanhope - my apprentice - and I only walked about an hour in before it became so dark we could not see our hands in front of our faces. And yet, in that brief time, we had already found enough to tell us my life's work had not been for naught!"

Prang beckons the nearby porter to place two items on the table: an incredibly ornate silver lantern woven from filigree of flowers and vines, and a small box made of ghostly ivory carved to resemble interwoven branches. Prang opens the lid briefly, and a sound almost like voices chanting fills the room - atonal, melancholy, riddled with distortions.

"These are the last two exemplars - I sold all the rest to buy equipment and help. I sent Stanhope through to reach a light we saw in the distance on the first expedition. He was supposed to return in six hours, it's been three days.

"Moving on to my plan - you'll see when you enter, that the biggest obstacle we face in the Forest is the oppressive darkness. I have loaded up a cart with wood felled from the outskirts of the Forest to use as torches, which will be supplied with the oil of the singing whales which the harpoonists of Sturmport trade. These torches will burn for six hours, and light the way back to the entrance.

"I will need you to escort the workers who will build this causeway through the darkness, until with good luck you find the other side. I will also send my men Markus and Klein with you to help protect them.

"Why the use of light as a marker, and not a map? When we opened the Door for the second time, Stanhope found that the dimensions of the forest had changed from our initial observations. Things we had seen in the distance were even farther away. New ruins had appeared by the door. A stone pathway we had followed on our first expedition had vanished. And things in the distance not being observed had a tendency to creep short distances.

At the mere suggestion that her daughter could have been disposable if she had not been magical Violet takes great offence at that, and punches prang in the face as he hastily reasures Beatrice "Children would never be disposable! Magical or not! Violet steps backs a bit looking at Beatrice and perhaps an injured Prang "Sorry, this. This is too much. I. I can't breathe."

As the hired guards rush in, Beatrice asks Violet.

"Why did you do it? Why did you hurt Prang?"

"I. I, . I don't know." She says and tries to run away through the garden.

"You heard her!" Beatrice calls to the guards. "She attacked Prang and now she is trying to flee."

The guards stare in horror and disbelief at what they are seeing.

They don't impede Violet however - Violet can probably just jump one of the walls to escape if she wishes.

Her physical prowess makes a check for such an act unnecessary.

As Violet flees, Beatrice crouches by Prang's side as he lies on the ground unconscious, and takes off one of her gloves - revealing skin of deep navy blue and purple intermixed, with the texture of petals.

A folded up paper in the book marks a chapter about a theory that the vast majority of Archipelagan ruins are underwater and laments their secrets will be lost underwater forever.

The paper itself is a note exchanged between two individuals Silvius may not recognize.

"Summer Tree" wrote a letter to "Tall Cedar" requesting that the latter stop procrastinating on fulfilling their obligations to their dead mother. The letter implies that the obligation involves the burying, scattering, or destruction of something.