Melchior’s Grand Tour: Return to Kimaris [12 epilogue]
A letter from Berenix of Kimaris to Qirina of Finisterre, 3rd day of the 2nd of Summer.
My dear, beloved sister,
I know Melchior has written you as soon as he returned to the castle of Kimaris. I’m sure he didn’t skimp any details of its incredible adventures, so incredible in fact, that I thought you might want to hear my dispassionate version.
Your son went away for a quite ordinary mining survey (in one of the most well know part of the Tartarus Dungeon, nonetheless) and came back ten days later without a mouth, bringing a strange black stone filled with meat and with four dwarves that speak for him. We were taken aback, baffled, and incredulous, Especially after hearing the supposed story behind it all: they found a portal in a cyclops’ skull, that lead them to a faraway land, and there they met a girl with three eyes and a creature from the black moon. The idea of my nephew telling lies is inconceivable, but the facts are too egregious to be taken at face value, especially since they are not spoken directly by Melchior, but through the voice of his “entourage”, made mainly of foreigners with shady agendas. Among them, there is also a known ranger and a nun from the Gigonix sanctuary, but there is a chance they are part of this bizarre plot. Because the only possible explanations are that either the dwarves have charmed your son and the other Imperial citizens, or that they are all prey of a mass delusion, possibly caused by hallucinogenic spores from the dungeon’s mushrooms.
Both explanations don’t account for the unusual affliction of Melchior. We are trying our best to cure him and provide him care while we came up with a solution.
The problem, and one of the reasons I’m writing you, is that your son is reluctant to accept our help. He moved in with the dwarves, in a house on the base of the cliff, under the spiral stairs. He refuses to live in the caste with us, his relatives. Not only: he drags there our revered guests Oozolina and the Audiomancer for day-long visits. Some other guests, scholars and nobles that came here to meet the slime lady, are deserting our rooms, spending their days under the cliff, talking with Melchior and his “friends”.We are worried: we fear your son will turn his back on us. It’s not only a matter of decency and familial love, but also of politics. The Dwarven Chief, strong of the mining concession, is going to declare the portal, and what is beyond it, a dwarven colony.
They are going to face fierce opposition: the Order of the Bones is sending the vice-abbess and some nun-notaries to stop that, challenging the contract: they have prelation rights on every skeleton found in the Tartarus’ underground. Melchiors’ testimony could possibly help the devoted nun to keep such a holy relic in the hands of the Church, and not in the stubby claws of some unscrupulous southern profiteers.
There is a rumor that the chief of the Hifar company, Lady Naima Hifar herself, will come here to weigh on the question. I remind you that the Hifar company is specialized in brewing black powder and other explosives. Also has a reputation for a bad temper and rushed decisions.
Among the few and far-between things we hear about Melchior, there’s the fact he is planning a long voyage by sea and is asking for conjurers and other experts in space magic. This could be an interest sparked by this supposed adventure as it could be a manipulation induced by the delusions of dwarf enchanters.
Please come here and put some sense in your son: he needs our medical expertise and loving care, and also some perspective on the consequences of his attitude.
With love and apprehension,Your sister Berenix
