aelle;

To start, thank you for keeping us updated on the events as they unfold. Generally, you provide detailed and informative posts. Thank you for that.

This was the first time I was awake and really able to help out in dealing with these sketches and the apparitions which come forth from them. It was during this that I realized that you never offer a description of the image in question.

To this end, I will describe the image:

The image wasnt what anyone would call precise. This is not to say that it was unskilled: even I, who has never held a paintbrush in her life, could tell that the blurry details and muddled colors were an intentional attempt to capture a haze of drunkenness, to put the viewer in the same atmosphere as the drunkard. Despite this, the important aspects of the image were clear:

A lone drunkard sitting at a grimy table, solely victorious over his drunken friends who lie in heaps at his feet on the floor.

While most of the details of the man were vague, the expression was clear: Take, watery grey eyes full of solemnity and loneliness.

Now. You seem to have struggled to find a moral to this story. Some lessons to be learned, or a line in the sand to say This is good, and this is bad. In my opinion, there was no such moral in this story. I dont even think it was a cautionary tale.

I dont even think it was truly about the alcohol.

When we look at a story, we want to consider what has changed, what has driven the plot, as it were. This drunkard was a drunkard most of his life, as far as we know. In the story we were told, we learn that he seemed happy and welcomed enough as he had friends in every corner of the land - friends he gained because of his drinking habit. We can imagine many long nights drinking with friends, playing games, telling stories, and doing stupid things. We can imagine waking up in the morning feeling as though Bataoac has done a cannon ball on our heads, and still have no regrets thanks to the wonderful times that you had the night before.

Then his friends died. Slowly, and over time, they passed away and left him alone.

The image we saw shows the drunkard sad and lonely as he is the only one of his friends left after a night of revelry and fun: The image showing a single night of fun is representative of the drunkards life, and his feelings after his friends are gone.

This image isnt about the dangers of alcohol, nor is it a condemnation of drinking in excess. In my opinion, it is a comment about what makes life worth living.

Friendship.

You may disagree. Half of Sapience may disagree with me! They may do so because they truly see another interpretation of the work, or they may do so simply because I am a - oh, let me check my notes- ah, an eViL aGenT oF cHaOs. Either way, thats fine. Artistic Interoperation isnt a science, nor does it have direct right or wrong answers. Even with the input of the artist, we can still debate over what the artist intended, and what they really meant - what their subconscious ideals brought forth in artistic expression.

Say what you will about my Chaotic studies. My work has taught me to look far beyond surface level interoperation, and to see answers even when none seem to be obvious.

I have also learned that while The Great Bard Scarlatti may claim dominion over the arts, the creativity that drives it comes from other sources.

As a final note, might I ask in the future that you offer a transcript of Myatts story, along with a description of the sketch? I was lucky enough to see it this time simply because I asked.

Regards,

Aberrant Archaosa LenabCaos, Daughter of Undoing

Penned by my hand on the 5th of Scarlatan, in the year 959 AF.