Carl walked down the hallway, grumbling to himself as he went. Honestly, it was a simple mistake; anyone could have made it. Those coordinates had so many numbers!

Yes, anyone could have made that mistake.

“Really, this seems so unnecessary,” he said to himself.

On some level, yes, he understood. Verna was his boss. She would have to give reports to her higher-ups. But he suspected her request for “a summary of the consequences of his actions” had more to do with getting him out of the way than addressing a pressing concern.

Arriving at his office, Carl sat down at his desk and summoned his Tome, the bush of text-covered leaves blooming in front of him. Extracting a celestial page from one of the branches, he withdrew a rune crystal from his coat and began dictating.

“This begins Part One of my summary of ‘The Sullivan Incident’—and I do think that name is a bit much—where a family was transferred from Earth to Arenia due to a perfectly normal mistake anyone could have made, and who, due to a situation totally out of my control, were sent to a variety of different locations in the forest surrounding Palmyre. Summaries of the actions of each individual are as follows:

“The first two subjects are Beth and Peter Sullivan, who are also the parents of Angela Sullivan and Mark Sullivan. Beth and Peter arrived in the same location—and I think we should all take a moment to celebrate that fact—although something happened to Peter during his transference. The cause was unknown, but it resulted in a significant injury en route to Arenia. Nobody, and I can’t stress this enough, nobody believes this was in any way my fault, so I don’t want anyone getting that idea. Fortunately, Verna was able to supply Beth with a healing potion that fixed Peter’s injuries.

Following those events, Peter and Beth proceeded towards Palmyre in a relatively uninteresting fashion, aided by a ranger they encountered named Eliza Gray, who shepherded them through a couple of minor incidents involving goblins and Beth’s near-death after being impaled by a goblin spear. Upon arriving in Palmyre, they were able to secure ownership of their family home within the city.

“Next was their daughter, Angela Sullivan, who”—Carl was forced to pause the recording so that his laughter didn’t get transcribed—“whose journey to Palmyre was the source of a great deal of amusement for those of us up here. Oh, gods. The memes. Anyway, eventually she got killed by a feaster bunny and respawned at the family home in Palmyre, satisfying the conditions of a quest given to her by the Arenian goddess of nature, Ennàd, thus granting her the class of druid.

“As for the son, Mark Sullivan….” He paused, taking a moment. “Okay, this one I am very sorry about. Nobody realized he was epileptic when he was sent, which created quite a few struggles for him along the way. That said, I had nothing to do with him entering the Kaos Dimma! I mean, who does that? Whatever happened to him in there, he came out the other end with a bizarre class that none of us can pronounce and a staff that absorbs seizures. What’s more, while travelling alongside a blacksmith’s family whom he met on the road, he somehow used his staff and seizures in combination to magically obliterate a nimh that attacked them, saving their son in the process! Which, you know, turned out all right for everyone in the end. Eventually, he reached Palmyre, where he met up with his mother and father, although significant questions still remain about his class, his staff, and what exactly happened when he was off our radar in the fog.

“Last of all, we have Jack Milsom, Beth’s grandfather and Mark and Angela’s great-grandfather. Jack seems to have had no problem adjusting to life on Arenia—although there was a little issue with his age that got sorted out without too much trouble. Granted, he hasn’t quite made it to Palmyre yet, but he did meet a lovely group of sentient, carnivorous creatures along the way. They appear quite taken with him. I mean… they did intend to eat him at one point, obviously, but then he saved the life of one of their youths during their ritual of rebirth and is now their distinguished guest. Which is lovely.”

Carl was just about to finish up when he realized he’d forgotten something.

With a grimace, he began recording again. “There is also the matter of Turkaletta Milsom-Sullivan, who is, err, the family’s pet turkey and was also sent to Arenia. She seems to be doing quite well, and although there was a slight issue with her Tome, I resolved it quickly and efficiently in a manner befitting one of my stellar reputation.”

With his summary settled, Carl tidied up his report and sent it off to central for archiving.