Letters

[uselessineptus]

Lady Atif Makram
Letter 1, Evening in Pallet Town



tdl
-to Atif, second evening in Indus
-to father re: Marquess

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Letter 1, First Evening in Pallet Town

[uselessineptus]

My Dearest Aunt,

I apologize for not having written to you in over a week. It has been quite a whirlwind, I must say, though thankfully not literally. Rather, it has been ten exciting days. At last I wrote to you, I told you of my travels so far and of my unfruitful quest to find Lady Evani Hawthorne. That portion of my journey, at least, has come to fruition. Lady Evani and I happened upon each other on the road simply by chance, though I will admit that I did not recognize her at first. She goes now by the moniker "Evani Blake," and is...quite different than I remember. My interactions with her since I was a child have been at best from afar, but I remember her to be a kind young lady with the sort of smile that was as sweet as a summer's day. Now she is tall and strong and hardened in a way that I will admit worries me. I have to wonder what she has seen and experienced to make her mouth so set and her eyes as guarded as they are.

I was unable to initially convince her to join me in journeying back to Ebonworth. She is set on traveling and making a name for herself, and is sure that recognition would not be her reward were she to return home. I have thought that, perhaps with time, I could convince her. Though I am partially unsure of this conviction. Never the less, I have chosen to stay by her side for the moment. This lead me to Pallet Town, where I came in contact with some very peculiar folk. You would have been fascinated to meet them I am sure. We will set out for Indus together in the morning, and have decided to travel together through a sort of strange set of circumstances; ones that I did not particularly expect myself to be in.

I entered the Peek-At-You Inn (a cleaner, more family-friendly establishment than it sounds, I assure you,) earlier this evening while Lady Evani was tying up the horses. My goal was simply to ask the bartender for a pair of rooms, however, I found myself addressed by a strange creature also sitting at the bar. They look like a large, upright turtle (I believe their race is called a tortle, though I know nothing of them,) only a few inches shorter than I, with brilliant striping in two different tones of green, and a large shell. I would come to know them later that evening as Eska. Eska, as I also learned over the course of the evening, has a penchant for talking to strangers. Apparently I was the first of the evening, as they later also drew Rix, Cash, and Lady Evani as well.

Rix is very tall creature made entirely out of metal and other materials I don't recognized. They are humanoid shaped, though their face is flat and occasionally words, numbers or symbols appear across it. I have yet to discover what all these symbols mean exactly...I recognize a few of them. Question marks and exclamation points and the like. However, I have seen them use the symbol "<3" when expressing a pleased emotion. I do not know what precisely it means, but I believe I have at least vaguely grasped the concept.

Cash is the smallest of our group. He is birdlike in most aspects and I mean that quite literally. His face is that of a raven or a crow and he has feathers, though I do not believe he has the ability to fly. He also walks upright; his fingers are clawed and his legs are also quite bird-like, with three foretoes and one backtoe, also clawed. His eyes are incredibly keen and black, and I believe he finds himself more comfortable in the shadows. He has the ability to move more silently than anyone I've ever witnessed.

You may be wondering how I witnessed such a thing of Cash. As it so happens, we were all in the Peek-At-You Inn together, having just decided to perhaps travel towards Indus in the morning, when a young boy came running into the Inn, asking for assistance. It seems that the woods around Pallet Town are rife with witches, as it's so close to the border. Thus, due to these witches, the woods around are saturated with strange creatures and magic as castoff from their spells. The boy's sister had been taken into the woods by some strange red creatures, and Lady Evani, as well as Eska and Rix, were keen to help the young lad. Cash agreed, as well, once the innkeeper offered a small reward and a stay at the in as compensation. I made to accompany them, of course, though I must admit I was hesitant. I know I am not much in a physical fight, but I had the feeling that, as long as I stayed close to Lady Evani, I would be fine.

We ventured into the woods following the trail of the creatures that had taken the little girl, and soon discovered, as two of them set upon us, that they were imps. Lady Evani, Eska, Rix and Cash disposed of them quickly with very little trouble at all. They decided to keep one of the imps alive in order to question it as to the girl's location, and I was able to handily convince it to help us. Eska named it "Skippy," though I don't believe the imp itself was particularly pleased by this turn of events. However, it did lead us faithfully to the camp of its fellows.

There, as I mentioned, I was able to observe Cash's superior skill in stealth, as he crept up to the camp to investigate and then came back tell us that the camp was occupied by a few imps and, as Skippy had informed us, the girl. We discussed what course of action we should take, and it was decided that I should try to scare them off using illusions, such as I've created before with my violin. Eska, being far more knowledgeable about their movements than I, was able to bring me close enough to the camp by carrying me on their shell. I was then able to create an illusion of a dying imp that warned of a greater creature, which caused two of them to flee. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were more there than Cash was able to observe, and they set upon our party rather quickly. However, Eska and Rix protected me well, and I was able to remove myself from the ordeal and leave the fighting to those better experienced. Lady Evani rescued the girl from an imp who was threatening her by cleaving it in half! Eska themselves tore off the tail of a vicious imp that'd attacked them! It was truly a sight to behold. Brutal, yes, but almost dance-like in a way of those that know their strengths and how to use them.

After the battle, we were able to return the girl to her brother and the both of them to their parents. The innkeeper, as thanks, presented us with rooms for the night and as much to eat and drink as we wished. I must say, the appreciation of the townsfolk and the innkeeper made me very glad that we had ventured out into more dangerous territory for the sake of the child. It was quite a bit more perilous a situation than I am used to being in, but with the protection of the other four, the danger was minimal.

I know not what tomorrow will bring. I only know that the five of us will set out towards Indus first thing in the morning, and the journey will take us approximately a week. I will endeavor to write to you when we arrive. I hope you are well, and please know that I miss you terribly.

All my love,
Eustace