Garland Goldenscale,
Forgive my silence, would you believe just a month since our encounter I fractured my writing hand? My trash can is littered with letters to you with the eloquence of a scholar and the penmanship of a toddler.
I do hope this letter finds you well, though given the storms we shall be lucky if it finds you at all. I pray you have no immediate plans to visit the Spiral Archipelago or the Snow Continent, and if you do I implore you to reconsider. Twould seem they are wracked with storms and conflict respectively. Though by the time you receive this letter such warning will likely be old news, we can only hope.
Your undying friend,
John Rose
John Rose,
I can only imagine the penmanship you’d dare to show me. Tisk tisk, even having a servant write would have filled the void you have left. I thought perhaps you would never get back to me.
As much as traveling is my business, the storm did force me a unexpected extended stay on the snow continent. I unfortunately am still there as I write this to you. I’m not one to enjoy the cold, it makes my scales itch. I’ll surely have to bask on a beach soon as a personal treat.
None the less, news is news. My fiancé continues to insist on bigger and more lavished items as an apology for my absence. I dare say this women may be my own early death.
Your very much alive friend, Land
Land,
A servant? Surely you jest, more heads under this roof are illiterate than not and the rest would not have the patience to put up with me. No Friend, such luxuries are far from me now.
That is most unfortunate, I should hate to be in your shoes. Granted t'would seem I no longer wither in the winter, or at least not so severely. Still, I detest the chill regardless. But personal preference aside I may be joining you soon; the guild is in an uproar with recent events and we may be sending support to the Snow Continent to keep the peace. Or perhaps I will be sent straight into the eye of the storm in Spiral Archipelago itself, hard to say. To my understanding a decision will be made tonight, one way or another. To face the bitter cold or a tsunami, I cannot say which I would rather.
I appreciate you sharing your suffering, as I am reminded once again the benefits of seeing a man. I would recommend it were it not for your duties to carry on the family. I have known my fair share of women akin to your fiancé, as you are well aware. In ~~our~~ your circle I expect you would find little else, and of that you do have my condolences.
On the topic of courting men, wish me luck as I intend to make a fiancé of mine, and soon. Truly it has become a test of patience as I would have gladly asked for his hand months ago, but it is just one upset after another. Not only that, but the price of a ring stings far greater now than when I was home with family and fortune. Still, soon. With this new life I was unsure I would have any desire for such contracts, but somehow such bindings do not feel like the cage they once had. Can you understand? Call me starry-eyed, but I welcome the chains.
Given my line of work it may be some time until you hear from me next, so do not fret. Unless instructed otherwise.
Your poor, lovesick fool,
John
John Rose,
If you do come by land perhaps we can meet up at my private estate. It’s one of mothers, she did like to enjoy the snow from time to time and insisted upon foolishness like sledding. I personally despise it, but, duty calls like a scorned women.
As for your own pending nuptials, I must say I never expected you of all people to find love in a man’s arms. You somehow escaped this life, and questioned cost, but so on. Your family keeps the lie you are abroad. I’m so sad you did not take me on your journey in the grass lands, so selfish of you.
Be well John, I will think of you and the strange new path of life you find yourself upon.
Your frozen friend,
-Land
<<This package was delivered with some honey and rose water sweet candies>>
<<A rolled-up copy of the Allurian Post has been delivered to Garland with a note attached: "Sir, given your previous investigation we believe this may be of interested to you">>
Headline: CRUISE SHIP CLAIMED BY SPIRAL
A luxury liner capsized as sea. The Galliot which set sail mid November carrying 245 passengers was set pass by the raging Spiral Archipelago but was pulled into the storm by some mysterious force. The GCFS responded to their distress call and were able to rescue some of the passengers, but over 100 are still unaccounted for. Given the terrible storms loved ones of the missing passengers have been informed to assume the worst. Survivors have been escorted to Ethovalon to receive immediate care alongside refugees of the Spiral Archipelago crisis.
<<Below the article is a complete list of all passengers unaccounted for, a select few pictures printed above the list>>
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pictured above, left to right: Curtis Cook, Shelly Harrison, Ollie Wood, Eugene Whitlock
<<Gene's picture is familiar, one of a set of professional family photos that hung in their foyer. The picture is two years old, depicting a smug looking young Roserade man>>
Garland leaned back in his chair, taking a long drag off his cigarette. “So, his family decided to use the recent regional tragedy as an excuse to whip their hands of Eugene?…”, he flicked the ashes into the golden ashtray.
“Pathetic. But. One political move to be expected. I suppose if this is what they want, I will have to attend the arrangements….”, he ran his thumb over Gene’s picture.
“Vanessa. Prepare and send a condolences package for the Whitlock family.”, he called to his assistant. The Girafarig women beside him nodded and left without a word.
“Oh John. What will happen now?”, he asked himself.
Land,
Journey to the grass lands you say? Then we have both been slighted as it would seem I failed to invite myself as well. Shame, I would have greatly preferred such a trip compared to the one I was given. I would have even settled for that frigid continent you find yourself on now, especially with the generous offer of room and board. Or perhaps 'found' is more accurate? Have you been freed of your icy prison?
Forgive me for not sending word, I had not received your letter before I was shipped out. I do hope you were not waiting for me. In addition it would seem I am rather accident prone in this new life. While at sea I suffered an incredible head injury; one moment we were braving a terrible storm and the next I am lying in a hospital bed a good two week later. Arceus must be working overtime keeping me alive it seems, that or he his terribly put out with how I never seem to stay dead. I prefer to think the former.
From what you have said it would seem just as I cling to life, they clings to my memory. I am not surprised, more so that they have managed to keep up the charade for so long. But make no mistake, they are no family of mine. As far as the cost I will not lie, it was great. In the blink of an eye my home, my fortune, my livelihood, my relationships, my abilities, my powers, my body and face--gone, or replaced. And the whole world foreign to me, even myself. I did not know such loss existed, and still I feel its sting. And yet I wake every day grateful for this second chance, for I feel more myself than in the twenty years I gave to those people I once called family.
((Gene read and re-read Garland's letter as he rolled one of the hard candies he'd been gifted around in his mouth. One word popped out at him with every read. Escape. What a curious choice of word. His younger self certainly would not have used it to describe the loss of the life he knew, and likewise he suspected Vern or Alice or any other blood of his would not. But Garland had a greater legacy than he, and far greater shoes to fill. He could not help but wonder, with all his talk of duties and engagements, was it not to the grasslands but on this journey of self discovery that Land wished he could join? But he feared such questions would cause greater distress than the answers were worth. If Garland wanted for such a life that was his decision to make, he did not need Gene poking at him to take the same path when Gene himself knew how difficult such a journey could be. Had he been given the choice he doubted he would have accepted. And so, he chose to keep such queries to himself.))
Your once lost soul,
John
John,
Your letter was rather ill timed in all truth. It seems the disruptions in the grabd spiral have wrecked almost a whole fleet of cargo ships. Both mine and that of suppliers. Needless to say, everything is now causing massive issues all around.
Beyond that, it seems you nearly lost your own second chance. It saddens me to know I can never be at your side during such times. Nor can you for me. A pity, you would have loved the floral arrangements my fiancé had decided on.
At any rate, I am glad you are well. That all of this had not been for nothing and that you can continue on with your secondary chance. I am curious of the man you spoke of whom stole your heart. I am plagued wondering about this. Perhaps I am idle far to often.
- Land
Land,
My condolences, that is quite the tragedy. Seems no one is safe from the wrath of these storms. But you needn't fret on my behalf, for as accident prone as this new body of mine may be the fact that I've been gifted with a new body at all must surely count for something. Arceus does not simply hand these things out to everyone I'll have you know. Surely I have earned his favor somehow, so I've little worry. My first life lasted me a good twenty years, by my calculations I should have at last another nineteen on this next one. I kid, of course. With any luck it will be much longer.
You dare ask a lovesick fool such as myself about his fiancé? My you must be bored indeed. I do hope you realize what you have signed up for. And given that I myself spend a great deal of time in bed recovering as of late I have no qualms prattling on about my love life as a form of distraction.
((At first Gene was eager to gush about Ari with his old friend, but he quickly realized he was limited in what he could share. How could he explain their meeting without revealing Ari's status as well? Or talk about family dynamics and the war without mentioning the Shadewoods? Several times he drafted a letter and immediately set it aflame with Will-o-Wisp, paranoid of not only Garland learning of certain well-kept information.
But eventually he found the words he wanted.))
We met by chance barely more than a year ago. He could sense that I was different, as some are able. That I was not born to this form and that it was foreign to me, like a newborn Deerling unsteady on its feet. He helped me become familiar with my new typing, helped me hone abilities that were unknown to me. When both the world and myself had become a mighty stranger, he was there. For some time I had lost the ability to sleep, cursed to lie awake in bed as the hours ticked by, until he filled my nights with conversation and friendly banter and I no longer needed suffer in silence alone. Through these late-night talks, his knowledge of my changing, and a chance run-in with my former brother Ari came to know me deeply, and in ways I wished for no one to ever know me again. And stripped of title, wealth, family, fortune, with nothing to my name and nothing to gain, he showed me kindness. Can you imagine? A life where someone wants you and only you, not your money or trinkets or job or status or whatever else there is. I could not. Cannot, if I am being honest. But I have nothing else to offer any yet he stays.
In addition to his loyalty I must confess I find him terribly charming. He comes from a place unlike the modern life you and I are accustomed to, and it is a thrill to watch him experience the world I took for granted. Just as he has helped me come to terms with what I am I too have had the privilege of watching him grow accustomed to life as we know it. He has this bright childlike wonder to him with every new discovery which I find both heartwarming and amusing. You see, in him I have found a partner. Someone to grow alongside, to learn from, to guide. Someone who has taught me to be humble and enjoy the little things that I never paid much mind before. Trite as it may be, he completes me.
Have I satiated you, curious friend?
John