Correspondence of Arcadius

DAY 1 (scrawled note in Common)

I trust this will be easier to understand, since I still have that accent in Common.

I look forward to applying myself, and hope I’m worthy. Who knows what lies ahead of us? We are a very mixed group, and that should prove interesting - problems can arise when not everyone sees eye to eye – on the other hand unexpected insights and strengths can be found that way. I’ve certainly come to see advantages to the variety of backgrounds we have in Point of Origin. So different from my homeland, where we are so uniform in our ways and habits of thought.

I don’t know most the people I’ll be setting forth with very well. There is Kenneth Bailey of course, from our order – he has a humble quiet way about him that I think masks a lot of courage. I can’t verify the strange rumors about him of having or at one time having had a magical box that made horrible annoying screeching sounds at inappropriate times. Where would one get such a thing?

There is also my friend Shaft, from the lands to the far south. I’ve never been able to pronounce his name in his native language. He always keeps me entertained with jokes and stories, appreciates wine and song, and is a good one to have around when chatting with women. How glad I am that Pelor doesn’t require abstinence like the god of that fellow who wears the lion skin… I believe his name is Alcander. By the way, he is joining us. Despite differences in our paths, he is by all accounts very brave.

Hrogar will be with our group. Though I don’t know him exceptionally well, he is one of the most persuasive people I’ve met. I think someday he will be a great leader and commander – though I know there are some who jibe he should become a courtier or merchant. I disagree – achieving worthy goals often requires persuading others – what can one do in isolation versus with many friends?

Among the others, there are several more Paladins – Marcus, Prudence, Sigrun, and there is a Dwarf Paladin named Fflam – we have very few of his folk in my
homeland and they are principally miners and traders who have a colony in the desert hills on our border. There is also a cleric named Marcus who I understand comes from a family of Paladins, and another cleric, Marion, whom I have briefly met and who seems very thoughtful and good-hearted.

Though other duties require that I, and a handful of others, will not be joining the main group for a few days, I look forward to doing so, and once we catch up will do my all to help us succeed. Most of them I may not have known, but we are called together and they are now my friends and companions. We have a saying in my country: “Rightly we have done, rightly we do, and rightly may we do in the times to come.” It is something people repeat often to themselves, and include in certain types of formal writing. I think it is simple, but true. May that expression always apply to us.