As Lohmen walked into the Bard & Bass, he scanned the room for Yerik. When he finally spotted him at a corner table, he let out a relieved sigh. He had been worried that he had missed him, or that Yerik had given up on waiting for him.

But sure enough, there was Yerik sitting alone at a table in the back looking around the room himself. He and Lohmen met eyes and Yerik waved him over.

As Lohmen approached the table, he noticed that Yerik looked deeply concerned.

"Demon’s hearts, Lohmen. What happened?" he asked.

“Some men tried to rob me one night while I was camping.” He replied. Yerik thinned his lips and raised in eyebrows, and Lohmen continued. “I know. I know. I did get to a bank. Don’t worry. Listen, I fell behind and was looking for you yesterday in Monum.”

Yerik gave a mildly confused look.

“We agreed back in Munnum that we would meet in nine days at the Bard and Bass in Poshnum, in Kunnan. Today is day nine, and here we are.”

“I know…but, it’s been eleven days.” He vaguely recounted his fight, the healers, the Yophel’s and the Crypt.

Yerik thought for a moment. "I suppose it's possible. Time can be a fickle thing when you're travelling. But either way, it's good to see you."

Lohmen nodded, relieved that they had finally found each other. "Yes, it is. And I'm sorry for any confusion. Shall we move on to more pressing matters?"

Yerik nodded. "Yes, let's. I've been doing some research, and I think I may have found a clue about the disappearances. Plural. There’s nearly a dozen children that have gone missing over the past ten years or so."

The two of them settled into their conversation, discussing the theories and evidence they had gathered so far. As they talked, Lohmen couldn't help but feel hopeful for the first time in years. Maybe, just maybe, he was finally on the right track.

As Lohmen handed the commissioners’ letters to Yerik, he explained the events of the robbery and how the papers didn't burn in the fire. Yerik examined the papers carefully, his brow furrowed in thought.

"These papers are most unusual," Yerik said after a moment. "The material is something I’ve only ever seen once, and it’s incredibly rare." Lohmen’s eyes widened awning the response.

“There’s a very small mill at the site of the Ancestral Trees. With the trees that grow there, they make a paper that could be what these notes are written on. It cannot be destroyed. I don’t know why they would use these to commission you, but it was incredibly important the message get to you.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"How do you get this paper?" Lohmen asked, puzzled.

"That's a good question," Yerik replied. "I’ve only ever seen something like this once before, and only in passing. It’s magic paper and not really the business of ordinary Book Binders. We exist to proliferate knowledge. This paper is for preservation only and it’s not distributed freely. Whoever your commissioners are would have procured this paper themselves. They’d have gone to the Ancestral Trees. "

Lohmen nodded, considering Yerik's theory. It made sense, but it also raised more questions.

"But what kind of information could be so important that the commissioners would go to such lengths to protect it?" Lohmen asked. “Wouldn’t it be better that the paper be destroyed, so that no one else can read it?”

Yerik shrugged. "I don't know, but I have a feeling that it's something worth investigating. You need to be careful, though. Tomeera, the Mage, this paper. Whoever the commissioners are, they are quite powerful and they seem to be only telling you enough for you to complete your task."

Lohmen agreed, but felt a sense of determination. He had several leads and clues to follow up on, and, as far he could tell, those at the mill of the Ancestral Trees would know who his commissioners were. Yerik and Lohmen continued their meal and Yerik listened intently as Lohmen described the events leading up to the discovery of the papers, and the subsequent fight with the robbers and his discovery of being an adventurer, the meeting with Varga and his portal, or passage or whatever it was. He left out the part about Yophel.

"You’ve been on quite a journey already," Yerik said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Would you leave the first one with me? I’d love to have a sample of it for research and maybe I can find out some more information."

“I can’t. I’m sorry.” Lohmen replied curtly then softened. “I appreciate your help, I do, but if there’s something to these, I need to keep them both on me when I get to the Ancestral Trees. Yerik nodded in disappointed understanding.

“That portal thing you mentioned,” Yerik thought for a moment before responding. "I remember when Tomeera met with that mage the one that vanished," he said. "Maybe that man in the maze is on to something."

"Its certainly possible," Lohmen said, "but I don’t know how to follow that. I need to follow the papers."

Yerik nodded in agreement. "You're right," he said then exhaled. "What will you do next?"

Lohmen explained that he would need to go the mainland, and the world beyond in search of the Ancestral Trees to try and find the commissioners. Either they knew what happened to Thesdon, or they knew something about making people vanish. The mage that gave Tomeera the unburnable letters was able to do it. At least according to Yerik.

“But before all that, I need to find this Mr. 7042. The purchase of Tolo is where this all started,” Lohmen opined, “Then I’ll find a ship.”

“ I fear this might be our last meeting, Lohmen.”

The two shook hands, and parted ways outside the Tavern. Yerik, was heading back south towards Umlom and Lohmen was heading North to the Mount Registry in Newhul.