Dear Friends,

I hope this letter finds you well.

You may take this as confirmation that our shared project has now concluded. I spoke with Alexius, Julia, and their other allies. They assured me that the time rip which caused this whole mess has been closed permanently.

The box has now been sealed in the past, present, and future.

He wishes me to extend his deepest apologies for the unexpected – shall we say – intensity, which his divination spell took. It was a totally unforeseeable accident caused by the unusual fluctuations in time and space caused by the box itself.

I used the opportunity to query him about some of the other questions which had been weighing on my mind. I shared his answers here, in case they maybe of interest to you.

Who was that mysterious fortune teller?

Alexius and Julia both agreed that it seemed to be the same woman each time we saw her in that tent. And neither of them believed her to be the illusionist Isolde du Blois. Although I myself have some doubts.

You can never trust anything when it comes to illusionists, if you ask me. I’m still not even certain that this so called ‘Lodge’ is real. It’s such a well-known conspiracy theory, that its simplicity itself for anyone to use the frightening name as a smoke screen for their own personal gambits.

However, none of us could say for certain who the fortune teller was. We were all glad that she turned out to be on our side in this matter though.

Why was it so important that Agrippina be the one to finish the binding ritual?

Both of the mages were stumped by this question, except to say that she must have possessed some unique vital quality which was an unforeseen keystone to successful completion of the spell.

It was the monk Fra Pierre who suggested that hers was the only heart present which was totally unburdened by selfish desire.

Of course, a monk of the Poverty Goddess would say that. But then, he was also one of those present. What does that say about him?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I didn’t ask that question aloud, obviously. For manners’ sake.

Did Agrippina not feel slighted by the fortune teller, for not being returned to her mother?

Agrippina told me that when she was adopted by Baron Cosimo, she was taken in by his family, and his wife became her mother. They lived together happily for seven years before the Baroness passed away as the result of a fever, so the prediction did come true after all. And although Agrippina missed her adopted mother, she still had her new father and sister.

Alexius also assured me that he continued to search for Agrippina's birth mother. He admitted that the chances of her rescue were slim, but as Agrippina had saved us all, Alexius felt he owed it to her.

What did Justinian the Red want the box for in the first place?

Alexius narrowed his eyes at me, and assured me that he intended to find out.

Are Justinian the Red and Omar the Red connected?

Everyone had a chuckle at my expense, and I was most embarrassed.

No, Omar was called ‘the Red’ for his (unearned) reputation as a bloodthirsty tyrant. In fact, that reputation is mostly a result of his own advertising.

It’s just an odd coincidence.

Did Kitty’s allies return to the city safely, and are you going to do anything about them?

Omar’s ship arrived back in Whitegate without any trouble. It seems that many of the things which Isolde told her catspaw were lies.

Neither Alexius, nor Julia, nor anyone else present felt that the religious persecution against the followers of Moros were justified. The Republic itself has no secular laws against their worship, so everyone unanimously decided to leave them be.

Did Anita and Rosa make it home safely?

Yes… although they both mysteriously vanished less than a week later.

Julia assured me that she was searching for them.

What happened to Isabeau du Souisail?

She went into the Baroness Stirba’s custody, and has not been seen since.

Alexius informed me that he knew the woman who used the alias ‘Isolde du Blois’ well. He doubted Isabeau knew anything important to tell about her mistress, no matter how she was tortured.

Did we witness the future? What is a computer?

Alexius assured me that it was best to dwell on neither the past, nor the future, but rather to live life in the moment.

What happened to that strange creature that emerged from the box?

While we were safe in the upstairs scrying chamber, the monster apparently was spewed into the spell-working chamber below us, inside out. Its guts were left coating almost every surface.

Alexius is having the chamber thoroughly purified.

If there’s any bright spot to what we’ve learned, it’s possible that these abominations may find the environment of our three-dimensiona/uni-temporal world just as inhospitable as we find their bizarre mode of existence.

I hope that’s satisfied at lease some of your curiosity about this strange affair. It’s a shame that we’ve been sworn to secrecy about the part we’ve played in all this business. I think it has the makings of a rather interesting book... if I were allowed to write such a thing.

Your friend,

Official Biographer to the Doge of the Most Serene Republic of Whitegate, Camillus of Castle Hill.