Nuptial Letters: A Gold Heart, Silver Chain Precursor
Setting: The Black Causeway

Atop a formation of boulders lining a sea of inky black liquid, a woman sat with a pen in-hand. A pad of thick paper rested in her lap as she acted as a scribe, detailing her thoughts. They were as complex as a puzzle, but as simple as nature itself. A quandary and mystery rolled into one.

To my dearest Valda,

The moon shines brightly on this night, its glow reminds me of you. A sea of endless stars twinkle in your image. Tiny fractals cutting through the depths of the universe, just as you have cut through me. You’ve left behind an imprint, Valda…

It is one that I couldn’t hope to cast aside. Even if I wished to remain a solitary entity, joining souls is the Arvad way of existence. It is time for me now, I feel that ancestral urge within my being. An Arvad that does not act upon that calling, withers away to return to the elements once more, so they say.

Maybe it is true, perhaps that is what I am feeling tonight. The calling of my element, of the shadow, warning me that I shall be returned to it, if I cannot find a presence upon this land to be as one with...

With a tongue peeking out to wet her lips, Blair sighed softly. She felt that a hesitating pulse would be of a rather profound company at this moment. Sugar-grey eyes blinked back a salty sting, because she knew it was not folklore. No, it was the truth. Arvad were primordial, but they were not everlasting. They were given form by the desire of loved ones, parents who wished for a child like themselves. Yet, they could not maintain a bodily form forever, never upon their own merits. Smearing the sweat from her palm onto her tunic, she continued her letter.

It has been a month now, since we collected and crested upon that dance floor. In one single night, one of your kin, became one of my own. On that same night, I felt this distant unease that your presence so swiftly soothed…yet, to me the passing time feels like a vortex between yesterday and an eon ago.

I recall the celebratory drumbeats ringing in my ear. The shimmer in your eyes that night were like the stars above. The way that the flickering firelight played against them, just as the twinkling stars play against the swath of Basa, lighting the way across the lands. It looms within me so perniciously now, a thought that ghosts across my hands and my heart.

Her time was almost up. She could feel it, and her parents concerned themselves over it. Once an Advar came of age, a mortal soul had to accept them. A mortal had to give them a reason to walk the vast tapestries of Basa. She needed a tie to the mortal realm before she became nothing more than scripture… but to tie her soul to that of another wasn’t an easy thing. Convincing a Cadfan or Aasa to join souls with hers would promise their own ties to the shadow, and upon their deathbed, they too would become an Advar like herself.

Fated to an eternity as an Advar… with no afterlife to hope for, or cling onto… just a life of wandering the lands, and little more. Could she truly ask that of anyone? To be bound and unified endlessly like that?

I am happy to report that we have finally finished our business in the volcanic circle. My father says that we should begin our journey northbound. In general, it seems to be raining as we traverse the rocky channels of the Blackened Causeway. It is an arduous task. The tar pits in this region are just as I remember them; inky blackness and dead foliage as far as the eye can see. An endless vortex of searing blackness.

I’ll have you know, that there was an overflow recently. The tar has blackened the pathway once more with its wet and sticky ichor. This is a desolate place indeed, not even our best horses care for it. Northbound journeys tend to take some time though. I have come to expect the mutterings of the pack mules as they continue plodding along in the mud and muck.

I have often wondered, Valda, why do collections of your people see fit to inhabit places such as these? It cannot simply be for the highly priced commodities you see fit to barter with, can it? Although I can ask that, you’ve never been to the volcanic circle before, have you?

I wouldn’t blame you, if you haven’t.

Blair swallowed back a lump in her throat, she felt it stood to reason why she would be so greatly disliked, and why most of the Advar had the same issue. Flame, liquid, land, light and shadow, it didn’t matter. They were all outcasts, every single one of them. That was the way of the world, echoed as it was through the souls of the elements.

To befriend and Advar, to love them, that was not often seen as a natural thing.

Personally, I have never cared for the ash looming so predominantly here, not the heat that never ebbs. The wretchedly thick scent of sulfur burns my nose. Alas, here I am, burying my face beneath my cloak as grey water falls from the sky. The water stains upon the paper can be blamed upon that, but perhaps that is a comfort to you. At least you know that you are always persistent in my thoughts… distant and dreary although they are.

I have to send this letter now, before we take our leave from the outpost we’re currently residing in. I am afraid I’ll be out of a serviceable reach for quite some time. I’ll let you know when we re-settle. Until then, I’ll send you letters at every trade post and village that we pass by.

Wait for me, Valda.. and while you’re at it, just agree to marry me already. I know of your fondness for me. The way your hand fits in mine goes without saying. You belong at my side, in your heart of hearts, you must know that by now.

Fondly awaiting the day when we shall meet once more,
Blair Blodwyn.

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Setting: The Vamon Coast

“Princess, another missive for you…”

“It had better damn-well be important,” Valda replied softly. She didn’t bother to look up to the servant. “If it isn’t, cast it into the fire. If it is, place it upon the table and leave me to my thoughts.”

“As you wish, Ma’am.”

She could not be bothered with the man disrupting her now. She was too busy penning a letter of her own. Delicate fingers plucked up the paper, scanning her words.

Salutations,

I’ve received what I hope to be every one of your letters. I don’t believe there could be one missing, but one can never be too sure. The carriers often have difficulty traveling about this time of year, what with the snow, and all.

Esoteric banalities of my feelings for you aside, you know that I cannot simply agree to marry you. You have to pass the approval of the eldest in my family line. Royal blood is not so quickly cast aside to the likes of an Arvad, much less an Arvad woman… the Birendra name is one not to be sullied by unfortunate blood. What could be more unfortunate than that of a woman without lands to call her own?

Oh, now I know how that sounds. I most certainly do not need a several page diatribe from you in return. Particularly never upon the merits regarding the Arvad way of life. I know just how deeply connected your people are to the ebbs and flows of the greenest pastures and deepest forests. The elements that so bind you, you would never be able to part with.

Ah, yes now, that is the problem, I’d say.

Of course that was the problem, and it prevailed in her mind for the reason why her family might decline. She thought on this, reconsidered her words, but there was no kind way to gentle her thoughts in the matter. As a Cadfan woman, she was lacking. She couldn’t do battle the same as her elder sibling, she could not bring herself to be conniving like her younger sibling, the best of the saboteurs. She could only do what was expected of her, and what was expected was to be of support to a noble lineage.

Sighing to great length, she looked up to the painted image upon the wall. The likeness of herself and her family hung there. Her father, once a principled and proud man, was also the relaxed sort. Temperance firmly in-hand. He could no longer speak on her behalf. If he could, he likely would have waved his large hand and sent her on her way. He would have blessed her to live a life as she saw fit… her elder sibling was not so easy-going.

Even the Aasa have kingdoms and villages to call their own, Blair. It is true that eons of war and separation have made them detest our ways, generally speaking… yet, it is the Arvad that continues to face the utmost scrutiny. That said, my betters have agreed to have a nuptial meeting with you… that is all they have agreed upon, mind you… I suppose it is the best we can hope for.

The best, and the worst, a fact Valda had to keep in mind.

It was not the fact that Blair was an Advar that posed the issue, no, far from it. Her elder sibling was also bound to an Advar after all. It was that Blair did not intend to settle, or to live the Cadfan way of life. Who knew what would come of this meeting?

You really are something of a ragamuffin, Blair… always complaining about the way we Cadfan enjoy our idle luxuries. You should know just as well as I do that we aren’t so affected by the locations we inhabit. That would be exactly why we call them our home in the first place. It would be completely preposterous to think otherwise.

No, I have never been to the volcanic circle. I have, however, heard wondrous things. The power plants are reliant on the volcanoes there. If only we in the northern and southern tips could harness that power for ourselves, we’d be much better off. Alas, unlike the searing heat centralized to Basa’s center, we know only the bitter cold bite of a never-ending winter… it gets colder by the day it seems. There is no useful seismic activity for us to draw upon, either. Only the whims of the winds and waters that pass us by.

Then again, we are a people that do not travel much. We have so little use for wandering a landscape that hardly welcomes us. In fact, quite frankly I should think that you’re a fool… why even take an interest in me? It makes such little sense when you are such a restless person.

I will await your missive once again, I hope your ensuing travel doesn’t take an eternity.

Cordially yours,
Valda Birendra

End of Precursor…
Precursor #2 will be released April 20th, 2022
Precursor #3 will be released April 27th, 2022
Chapter one to be released May 4th, 2022

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