17th Light beneath the tenth Moon

3761 Cycles beyond the Dark

722 Years after the Repentance

Entry: 1/001 - Instructions

Dear self,

I doubt I will ever have need of this journal, or if I do, I would likely not be in the position to make use of it. Nevertheless, I will be placing several spells within this book as contingencies as I think of them. I have already begun by protecting the text from discovery with layered glamours and building a sympathetic link between myself and it.

If you are reading this, you might be in danger. Whatever anamnestic charms I will have managed to place on here no doubt convinced you of the authenticity of this book. I urge you to disguise your vigilance from anyone of suspicion and, if this book becomes truly necessary, become suspicious of anyone you feel unduly trusting of. I cannot anticipate your every circumstance so the full burden will ultimately fall under your own caution and judgement.

My name is Maico, the eldest son of Umari the Enchantress, and the Magister Vrulath. I am one of currently four siblings including our twin brother who lives with Father, our younger sister who regularly visits from the academy on a monthly basis or more, and the youngest, little Tori who clings to our Mother like a barnacle.

I would place some faith in our mother’s and aunt Ekelyn’s ability to deal with threats by themselves so suggestions of their ineptitude should be placed under more scepticism than the contrary. Our sister Anora is also highly talented at various fields of sorcery and may be counted on for her competence.

Even if many of the wards have failed, you must still trust in Mother’s protections; she is a master enchanter and a blood mage, something very difficult to affect with illusory or subtle magic. She likely has at least three more hidden wards beneath every protection I might strip from her workings.

Should the need be dire, I have placed the Gaudium Dolore spell in the back of this journal, but I hope never to have to use such a blunt curse to counter domination. It is especially useful in rooting out and subverting all manner of conventional compulsions, as well as their perpetrators.

The simplest way to counter any influence placed upon us is to maintain an isolated kernel within our mind and then to use the clarity of thought it preserves to identify oddities and irregular logic. You must pay particular heed to any sense of dissonance or contradiction in your memories. Do not make promises, do not offer what is yours, and do not talk about mother’s apocrypha to anyone. The people around you might not be who you think they are.

Hope we fare well.

Regards,

Me.

~*M*~