Dawnlord,

Thank you for meeting with me in Jaru. I regret that it was cut a bit short but I acknowledge that we probably hit all the major points and therefore your soldier merely failed to follow typical protocol for ending a meeting.

I will begin by acknowledging that the events of today and those past occurred without your knowledge or authorization.

When the ritual in Jaru completed, we had the reaction any would have. We reached out for answers and were met by a wall of silence except to inform us that we deserved it and were considered an acceptable loss. You can imagine how poorly someone might take that. Attempts to glean more were rebuffed. Denied the comfort of truth, we must turn to the comfort of self-protection.

I will admit that my discordance on this began quickly, as I would not consider you capable of it. I do not know you well, but I have spoken to you enough to know that you are not brutal, nor callous, nor cruel. You are not a student of war, and I recall your horror when you learned what happened when a tank exploded in a remote village. Yet your resume of rare adventures is all the proof one would need of your boldness. Far removed from the tiresome sneering of other diplomats, I have found our interactions to be graceful and productive.

I could not deny what had occurred or that senior members of your government defended it the way they did. I know now that you knew nothing at all of this, that you woke to a terrible situation and you made the best choice you could. Others shall debate the action, claim you were correct or otherwise, but I believe you that your involvement was in the aftermath, and your response to it was as I would expect of you given your strong moral character.

As for the Ally of the East, Karalden, he spoke to me. He was perhaps not as candid as my wildest dreams but they are dreams for a reason. Thiesekh offered me a pact as well and they tend to come with non-disclosures. Even limited in what he could say I found him to be direct in his explanations and justifications. I do not necessarily forgive it, but I understand. I am wise enough to see the gift concealed in this ugly box and I intend to make full use of it.

We still have business, I fear, and things to resolve. Their origin is not in the Grimoire but in the routine brutalities of mortals, nothing too exciting. Even so, as I mentioned, I am open to revisiting our mutual bans upon one another when the dust settles and we can return to whatever passes for normalcy on this unhinged continent. For like fifteen minutes, I think, because another crisis shall be along presently probably.

Perhaps the choice was not yours, but the heat appears to be. I think it only fair you are compensated with a bit of the credit.

Thank you, Dawnlord Yen Jaydde-Stormcrow, Grace Serene, for removing the cloak of invulnerability from Thiesehk and giving us a fighting chance in the battle to come. I do not care for the price that was bartered, but we only pay it if we fail, and we simply have no intention of failing.

Goes for you too, Karalden.

Ever Forward,

Countess Nezaya Visindi
Seneschal of Hashan
Witch


Penned by my hand on the 14th of Scarlatan, in the year 951 AF.