The Letter

Instructions from a loving father.

The parchment is firm, with two crisp folds, allowing it to slide from the unmarked envelope without resistance.
To the naked eye, there are no markings. No stains. No sign of being used for anything other than sliding into a clean envelope.
But I'm told that to he who wears the mantle of the Ithari that clean piece of parchment comes to life. That works elegantly and lovingly placed upon its surface share the innermost wisdom and encouragement from the last Hero of the Gem. Instructions for his son, who would one day, inherit the family mantle and save the world.
...instructions which change according to need.

I asked Wendell once what he saw in the letter given to him.
He hesitated for the longest time, but eventually asked for a piece of paper. He scribled fiercly, writing the very first message he saw--words which burned in his mind, leading him to the second Demoni Vankil seal:

My Beloved Son,
It feels like only moments ago that I placed you in the arms of another.
I know they will love you and care for you as their own, but already I mourn my decision.
You need to know that you were never cast off or abandoned. There wasn’t any other way to keep you safe, but to send you away. I have already laid your beloved mother to rest from this war—I could not lose you as well.
Thus I had to send you away…to buy you time.
My beloved child, I love you with all my soul. One day you will understand that.
All I do…all I have done or will do, has been to provide you with an advantage over our enemy. To prepare you for that which is to come.
Above all else, my son, you must protect the seals!
Our enemy will eventually escape from the prison we are preparing, unless the seals are maintained. Protect them at all costs.
Should Mahan escape, he will seek to destroy you, for you are the only true threat barring his path to absolute dominion over our world.
Should he escape, you have until the shadows fall to prepare for war.
The end war.
It pangs my soul that you must bear the weight of my failure.
For this, my son, I am sorry.
I did not have the heart to kill the one called Mahan. Though he remains the blackest evil to walk these lands, he was first my friend.
My brother.
A brilliant mägo who sought the praise and glory of his own people.
Only now do I see that the evil was always within him.
It is his lust for power and hunger, to be worshipped, that corrupts his heart. Nothing but godhood—placing all others under his feet, will satisfy him.
Even now, he seeks to rule over ‘lesser’ beings, destroying any who offend him.
It was by Mahan’s own hand that your mother was murdered. Yet even then, I did not have it in me to take his life.
My son, beware his power.
The Lord of Darkness is cunning and patient. His true skills do not lay in might, but in the subtleties of the mind and heart. He is a great orator and can persuade men to do his will by taking a truth and twisting it in such a fashion that the lie will seem like truth.
His influence seeps through the blood of generations, twisting and corrupting, while hiding in plain sight. I have yet to uncover the spies woven into our society, but know that Mahan has no equal upon this world but Ithari herself.
From her vision he cannot hide.
Protect the seals.
He cannot escape the frozen torment of Unrest unless they are broken.
Be patient with others, my son, for few will understand the path you will be forced to walk.
Trust no one but the Gem. Through her, you will learn the truth of all things. This is your only true protection. Listen to that inner voice that whispers to you. Not your own, but that voice which prompts you to do only what is right, what is true and just. Ithari cannot lie and she will not falter, so long as you serve her with a pure heart.
Though she manifests her power in many ways, this one lesson I give unto you—learn it well;
She will not support you in vain ambition, pride or revenge.
As you love her, protect her, honor her…through your sacrifice for others, her abilities will unfold unto you.
When your hearts become one, so will your power.
You will speak with the elements, even the intelligence within the elements, and shape them to your will.
Then and only then, can you be the hero our world requires and destroy our enemy.
Until such time, protect the seals and seek Ithari’s children. Keep them safe or they will be used against you.
All of my hopes rest with you, my son, as does the future of this world.
Through Ithari, my heart is always with you.
Your Father.
P.S. Make haste to Til-Thorin. It is there your journey will begin.

The Letter cannot be stolen, lost and as far as we know, destroyed.
This has been confirmed by the current hero, Wendell P. Dipmier.
The advanced enchantments placed upon the parchment bind it to the Ithari.

The Letter first appeared in the book Race to Til-Thorin.

It’s available in both digital and print through your favorite online sellers:
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