Letter of Introduction

[Glenn]

Gloria,

Rhaena has told me of your discussion, all that you had wanted me to know from her, and of the altercation that followed. I have also heard, indirectly, encouraging reports of your lessons with Sylvius Duquesne. Considering your the effort you have been putting into your own betterment, I wish to offer you another potential resource in your ongoing studies: Coriolanus Helstone, former Governor of Myrken Wood and the current Lord Aubrey. He is a serious man and a learned man, also a busy man with many responsibilities. What will interest you the most, I would think, is that he is, by former profession, a trained barrister, knowledgeable in oration, debate, and all matters pertaining to the law of numerous provinces.

Attached to this letter is a note directed to him introducing you, as well as directions for how to contact him and a small stipend to be used in the shipping of your first few exchanges.

Governor Burnie

----
Attached would be the following:

Lord Aubrey,

It has been something of a reluctant joy to have no immediate need to contact you for many months. Myrken endures. The school grows and prospers. We hold back against encroachments from East and South. Drow do not trouble our streets. It is thereby on a more pleasant note that I write to you now. I have given your name to an enterprising young student, a Jerno, Gloria Wynsee, who shows great interest in matters of the law and the art of presenting one's self persuasively. As a foreigner, her language skills are still developing, but reason, logic, and the ability to craft a well-formed argument are universal ideals.

As I know you have always been a strong proponent of education and striving for intellectual improvement, I do hope that you will find the time in your busy schedule to occasionally correspond with her.

I hope that this note finds you well,
Glenn Burnie
Governor of Myrken Wood

[Rance]

"You've learned to write," Professor de Lanz said to her.

"Badly," she admitted. "I do not understand capital letters so well. The period astounds me. The comma is like a tiny bug. It buzzes and flits around and I can never exactly grasp it."

"But your metaphors," he said.

"My metaphors are just fine. They are just fine."

"If heavy-handed."

"Are you grading me," the seamstress said. "Are you grading us?"

He uncorked his inkwell. "You are learning to bathe."

"Occasionally."

"How old are you again," he asked.

"Fourteen. I will be fifteen in several weeks. I will have cakes with Master Cherny and Mister Catch and Menna Raia. It will be my fifth year since passing the Odos. My fifth year with clothes. One day I will forget about all -- all of those old Jerno things."

"I take it you want a letter. I take it you wish to dictate."

She held out a folded parchment -- Glenn Burnie's letter to her, a thing she clasped between her fingertips with muted excitement. "To make a good first impression. I wish that you would label it to Lord Aubrey."

His guess was wild, wholly coincidental -- the scarce chance of finding a fortune in one's stocking at the dawn of Yule.

"Lord Aubrey," de Lanz said. "He sounds like the kind of posh fellow who might eat two cucumber sandwiches in a single sitting."

She spoke. He wrote.

To One Esteemed Lord Aubrey, Coriolanus Helstone, Former Governor of Myrken Wood

"Omit that last part. A man is not often former unless he has earned it."

"Should you wish that I start over," he said.

"No. Strike it. Mistakes mean I am more in need of his guidance."

To One Esteemed Lord Aubrey, Coriolanus Helstone, Former Governor of Myrken Wood

I returned to my Room this Evening at the Broken Dagger Inn to enjoy a Roll, a Tea, and some Rice, only to find the Attached Missive awaiting Me. I must say I do not know how to best initiate our Contact, but I will do so with Humility and Cooperation. I wish that you will forgive this First Dictation, for while my Following Letters will be of my own Hand, it is quite Best for your Good Sanity that I take more Time and Care with my Punctuation and Capitalisation before trusting My Own Letters.

It is true that I am currently schooling myself in the ways of Rhetoric and Public Speaking; I have gotten Fine Marks with a One Msr. Duquesne and attend his Lecture near Daily at Darkenhold. I have learnt the Virtue of speaking with Contractions and have begun eschewing my Occasional Stutter, a Result of my Lackluster Command of Standard. As a Barrister I imagine You recognize the Value of discontinuing such Poor Habits.

I submit to You this Recommendation. As a Loyal Myrkener and Former Jerno, I hold in High Esteem the Word of Authority, and if Governor Burnie believes I should further expand my Knowledge to Law and its Proper Articulation, I cannot help but to Submit Myself to You. You may find me Regrettably Uninformed, but I am a Keen Student, an Avid Reader, a Lover of Poetry, and I am trying very hard. I am also Stubborn, Hard-Headed, Wide-Hipped, and Otherwise Undesirable and have often got Bad Breath. Thus, Words are a Solace, and I wish to be better at Them, for Myself, and perhaps that I might repay my Gratitude through Them as a Servant of Myrken Wood, for all the Opportunity this City has provided Me.

I implore you to Correspond with me, and if you find I am a Worthy Quill-Friend, perhaps You may suggest to me some good Beginner's Books on understanding better quote-ORATION, DEBATE, AND ALL MATTERS PERTAINING TO THE LAW-unquote. I am sure Darkenhold will have what I require. Also I am an Accomplished Seamstress and will gladly mend Your Garments should you Need, and can provide Hand-Brocade and Embroidery.

Sincerely Yours,

Gloria (Glour'eya) Wynsee

The letter was sanded, sealed, and sent by courier to the information the governor provided. To him, a response was dictated, hand-delivered to the Meetinghouse on the following morning.

Dear Governor Burnie,

I am both Excited and Humbled to be referred to Lord Aubrey and cannot more appropriately express My Elation. Also I apologize for any Inadvertent Harm I may have nearly caused your Lady in the Desire to protect Her, for I recognize My Life less valuable than Hers and I may have been Reckless in my Want to guard her from the Black Man.

Please tell her I think that my Brooch is Lovely, I have showed it to my Friends, and I wished you no Ill Will with the Fear of Foolish Portents and Bad Dreams.

Yours,

Gloria (Glour'eya) Wynsee

[channe]

Shortly afterwards, the mail coach passes through with a letter addressed to a Miss Gloria Wynsee; the back is sealed quite officially, with a coat-of-arms pressed into dried wax. When she opens it, she will read:

Dear Miss Wynsee,

It is with great interest that I received the recent letter of introduction from Governor Burnie recommending we converse. I am quite busy and fulfilled here as lord of this peaceful range of rural lands, but I do very much miss pure and true intellectual conversation with like-minded individuals.

You seem to have arrived in Myrken Wood at an auspicious time. When I was governor of Myrken Wood, we were fending off drow, undead and threats even closer to home in the form of the traitorous Brotherhood of Janeiro. Now, it seems, there is great peace and the rule of law. You need that kind of peace to truly study and grow. You need the rule of law. Law and peace generally go hand-in-hand; they are brothers. And you are smart to study public speaking. A woman or man who can speak passionately and logically about a matter is, perhaps, a more potent weapon in some arenas than the sharpest knife.

Regarding the requested books, let me recommend some basic texts and tomes that were required reading during my time studying at the University in Collingford. It is hard to sum up the rule of Law, but the very first thing to know is that Law is not plucked out of the air, it is grown carefully for years upon years, but can be upset with the barest whiff of chaos.

The Code of Madoc is one of the oldest Amasynian law documents. It is the very first time the feudal lords of Amasynia made an effort to limit the powers of the King. It may be interesting to you to read the Code and then look at how lordship and fealty is transferred in Trae Kelsa and Amasynia, and compare it to the system used in Myrken Wood, because the two are very different -- and, in some ways, quite similar. It explains very clearly why some things are the way they are, since you come from so far away.

You may also want to try Avila's Treatises. They encompass the very basis of Logic used in Rhetoric, and I am sure knowing the basics of Avila will make your tutor extremely happy. You may find some entertainment in using his methods of persuasion to influence your friends. But do not stop there; being a rhetor is also learning the other parts of the trivium, or logic and grammar. Together, nothing will be able to stop you.

Finally: You say you are wide-hipped and undesirable. Why do you tear yourself down thus? We are all who we are, and if you convince yourself of your ill worth, how can you truly be a good student? You can't. Just think about it, Gloria.

Yours in learning,
Corionalus Helstone, Lord Aubrey.

Another would be addressed to Glenn Burnie at the Meetinghouse:

Governor Burnie,

I am extremely glad to hear the good news of your continuing success in governing the ungovernable hellhole that is Myrken Wood. I will indeed write to your friend; from her words, she seems like a bright young woman. That kind of drive to learn is quite rare, and with some education she may be of good use to Myrken and to peace in our time.

On a more serious note, we have recently been visited by a gentleman who says he stayed in Myrken Wood for a few months; he is a servant of the crown, I believe; Constantine Kostroma? He spoke highly of you. I understand he was riding north to Collingford to do research on war-sorcery, especially of the Thessilanean sort. I am not exactly sure what research the University has on channeling, barristership having been my love and calling when I was there, but after the Thesil attack on the city walls two years ago I think it may be considerable. As you are closer to the war than I, I thought you may like to know.

Sincerely,
Coriolanus Helstone, Lord Aubrey.

[Rance]

Days before her hands would be covered in blood at the Rememdium, they were stained with the ink of an old book. Helstone's letter had been delivered to her on a Seventhday morning; by the end of the following Fisrtday, Avila's Treatises had been devoured with with excitement. His language was stern, short, but humorous; the long-dead rhetor was good company, and when the last page was done, her charcoal went to work.

She posted it to the courier with Burnie's stipend, that the letter might be given its several days' travel.

Esteemed Lord Aubrey,

All two-hundird and 80-8 pages of Avila are to blame for a very sleepless night, I could not want for sleep without hearing his words in my mind, it is like they are the finest poetry. I should not hestit pause in making to you these following opservasions,

ONE, that his words are full of a grand wit, to read him is like to convearse with an old friend, none of which I have, so I am grateful for him,

TWO, I find his rabuttel of Cambrose charming, he is clever even when he is critical,

THREE, I shall put to good use his theary of Subtle Pers Presw perswasion and his Experience Model, sometimes I have got many things to say and not the right way to say them so perhaps to understand that others do not shear my same experiences and thus I am requir'd to use unaversil knowledge and simple declearatife statements would be helpful, I can stamble over words and sometimes not be clear,

Accept sometimes under prassure, Msa. Duquesne praises my ability to as he says assess a moment of high emosion (in others) and remain collected and empathetic, that is a start

Upon returning Treatises I will be putting my hands on a copy of the Code which I look forword to being informative and pleasurble to read

The triviom is retter rhetoric, logic, and grammar, yes?

I beleave the Law is very important to follow, where I am from Law is Law and while it is harsh there is no questioning it, I do show proper respect to my betters, the Governor and the Headmistress and the Marshall and the Proctor, and think they should function always as exemplers of the prewrote codes and edects,

A second page, folded neatly beneath the first.

but here is the crucks of it, the very wonder in my soul that forces me to question what is Jernoan and what is Myrken Wood inside of me:

We shall say I have got friends who know right and wrong and others who think they are outside of it, how must I approche knowing when a friend has broken Law, am I to say something or nothing, what is stronger: to betray the Law or to undermine a friendship

Also, if you have got a friend you love dearly who does not understand Law and offen acts due to compulsion because he is less able in his mind, what are you to do then. Also hyperthetocally, say you have got magical words that will command him to do as he ought, should you? if he is commanded to do as he ought, instead of encouraged to learn, are you an impure tyrant to him, is it proper to give him the invisable shackles of following your orders, or let him do as his disabled mind impresses upon him? Is it best to give him agency over himself or best to submit him to these magical words so he always does right?

Also, why must THE RIGHT OF LAW and THE RIGHT OF EMOSIONS always seem to conflict, it is like they are never in line -- do you listen first to LAW or EMOSION?

You must forgive:

ONE, my language, I am trying so very hard to be a fine writer of the Standard, it is much easier to read it than to write it,

TWO, my willingness not to be proud of myself, it is simply that I am not pretty nor ever fit to be a wife but others have said you are beautiful Gloria but it is hard to beleave them, that is where I am from that is what you do, there only the fine-looking women are bought by men and I wish not to be bought, old habits dye hard they say

THREE, sometimes I will write or say a thought as long as _________________________ when it may best be searved to be thought or wrote like this _____.

But I am not going to let anything stop me, I have got many things to learn still

THINGS TO CORRASPOND ABOUT AT A LATER TIME:
- undead, how can a thing not be not dead? Is it like my friend Noura
- drow, the black-skinned elfs, I have befriended one who I think has got a good heart and may be taught, it is like teaching a Jerno how to not be a Jerno it is a long trek but worthwhile
- Janeiro, it is very similar to when I say Jerno but dissimilar, what is it?

to be "grown carefully for years upon years,"
- Gloria Wynsee

To Glenn Burnie, there was a shorter letter written, matter-of-fact, direct:

Dear Governor Burnie,

If you would please to direct me to a book or a pamflet that may explain the basic Law of Myrken Wood, or direct me to one who may be willing to discuse it, I would be grateful, I have received my first missive from Lord Aubrey and have been transported, intreagued, and enlitent, and I desire to not waist any of your very important time, but must understand the RIGHT and WRONG of Myrken Wood more clearly,

Yours,
- Gloria Wynsee

[Glenn]

A reply would be surprisingly swift from the Governor (to Helstone that was. Gloria would have to wait).

Lord Aubrey,

Please know that you have my appreciation for your exceptional kindness in this matter. Miss Wynsee seems quite excited at the prospects of intellectual discourse with a man with your background and breadth of knowledge. Also included with my own regard is that of my betrothed, Rhaena Olwak, who is instructing the girl in mathematics.

That Constantine spoke highly of me is interesting, though not entirely unsurprising. We clashed heads occasionally as our interests were not always completely aligned. You may well imagine that. Still, he is loyal and dedicated and in these times, such things are remarkable in and of themselves.

As for Myrken, it is as you say. Every day I find myself carefully straddling the line between security and freedoms. We are now prepared to handle threats as they arise, to have tracked them somewhat before they engulf the land, but in order to fully preempt them from harming anyone at all, I would have to install a military state, the sort where very little creativity or initiative might flourish. I am not willing to go that far. It defeats the entire purpose of fighting back against the darkness in the first place.

It is with such thoughts in mind that your words find me and thus hearten me greatly.

With thanks,
Glenn Burnie
Governor of Myrken Wood

A second letter would be quickly drafted as there was much to do today.

Gloria,

Such volumes exist in the library at Darkenhold. Attached is a sketch which documents where in the room I think I last noticed them. Best of luck.

Governor Burnie