Ian's Letters
Personal Correspondances
From Contributions to In the Dark
The letters here in are presented in chronological order. It is unlikely that anyone other that Ian and the repective addressee will have actually seen these correspondence.
Father,
It
is with greatest joy that I am writing you this letter. I hope it finds you
well and hale and in good circumstances and that all goes well with the Realm.
I am most please about my current circumstances and wish to relate them
to you. As you well know, I was sent to look into the situation surrounding the
piracy on the seas between Ardebal and Amber. My cover as an Amber caravel, the
Osprey, carrying raw wool & steel was, to say the least, most efficacious.
We were beset by the pirates less than 3 days out of Amber and, of course, we
beat them soundly. Nylan, Vertor's boy, acquitted himself well, but, I am sorry
to say, Dieter took a head wound from which he did not recover. If you could
send the message and a mourning gift to his wife and sons, I would thank you.
When I return, I will do my best for them.
On
that note, let me continue my tale. The prisoners from the remnants of the
pirate ships implicated certain merchants and a vizier of the Shah of Ardebal's
court. We made our way to the city of Ardebal with our cover intact. There, we
presented ourselves as mercenaries looking to be recruited and insinuated
ourselves into the plot. We ended up discovering enough of the particulars
behind the plot and subsequently revealed them to the Shah that I believe the
matter to be well in hand. As a bonus, the Shah opened the royal warehouses for
trade; no doubt due to a desire to keep the complicity of his subordinates as
quiet as possible. Though I deem it unlikely as the young Shah seems a good
enough fellow, there might have been some royal backing to the piracy. Our
agents in Ardebal agents may need to keep there eyes open and pointed upwards.
We
therefore made quite a profit in the exchange of our cargo for fine carpets and
other textiles. I will be returning with quite a profit. Pretty good for what
started out as a convenient cover story, eh? We'll be returning to Amber as
soon as possible, after taking a turn around the Shadow paths to make sure all
the pirates have been dealt with. We'll let the Shah's navy save face and let
them clear out the mess in their own Shadow while the Osprey keeps a low
profile.
But
to be honest, this is all dissembling. I could have told you all of this when
we made port. The news that causes such urgency is a matter entirely personal.
While
we were in mufti in Ardebal, we encountered a young maiden, scion of one of
their noble merchant houses. She kept trying to trade with us, quite craftily I
might add, but our political distractions caused her some... well, she sensed
our deception
I
am sorry I'm not getting the words out quite right, but my pen trembles as I
write this. As I was saying, writing rather. She uncovered our deception and
will we, nil we joined us on our mission. In point of fact, her involvement was
critical to our success. I was, to say the least, quite taken with her & so
I married her. There, I said it. Her name is Alis dha'r
Benis and she is wonderful. We were married with her father's permission
under their custom. We're returning to Amber to be married in our manner &
under our law.
I
hope you approve.But damn it, I love her & I will marry her though
all Chaos & its demons bar our way. If you do approve, I invite you to our
wedding. With the profits from the cargo, it will be magnificent. I sincerely
hope you will come.
Your son,
Ian of Amber
Alis,
My
heart, It is with the greatest longing that I write to you now. Too long have
you been apart. Weeks, it seems like months! The winter nights are long here in
the frozen north. Golden Circle, Hah! More like the Circle of Ice! Why his
majesty ever decided to bring so forsaken and forlorn a land as this under his
care, I do not know. Neither do I care, frankly. I would rather be with you in
our new house, or, better yet, at your father's house above the souk in
Jedebyne. On the balcony, sipping chilled wine to ward off the heat. Cancel
that. No chilled wine. Nothing chilled. Not for a long time...
Hunting
Trolls! Hunting foul smelling, foul mannered, man-eating creatures as a favor.
I should have known when I was sent here. At first it almost seemed like the
king was offering me tacit acknowledgment when he asked father for me to go out
into Shadow to aid the Azrothi with their troll problem. A task tailor-made for
me, or at least so I thought. In the end, it was just another backhanded slap.
I know they are my family and not yours, except in the largest sense, but I do
not understand why he tasks me so. In what way, except for being born, did I
offend my lawful King? In all things and in all ways, I serve him, his throne
and the country, and yet I can never get a civil word from him, or practically
any word at all for that matter. He's my Grandfather dammit! Why does he
hate me so! Or even worse, why does he not care? I hope that the burden of
state never turns me against my own.
Enough
of this! All this complaining is to no purpose. I write this letter to you. My
wife. My beloved wife. My much beloved wife. Why are these words not enough to
convey my feelings? I ache for you, my sun-kissed bride. I long to feel
your hand on my brow. To feel your shadow cross the sun, giving me much needed
shade. To see you. To touch you. In these frozen wastes with so little light,
you are the sun I long for. I can call to my father over our family Trumps, but
these is no Trump of you. I would pay in my own blood to have one right now. So
I could speak to you instead of committing my feelings to words, to writing, or
to prove my love for you without the need for words...
I miss you.
Hold
fast, my beloved, and I will return as soon as I am able. I will hunt these
savage beast-men all the more savagely knowing that each one that falls to me
will bring me closer to you. I will give this letter to my father and it is my
fervent hope that it reaches you unseen by any eyes other than yours and mine
as these words, these thoughts, these feelings are meant for your eyes alone.
But if it should fall into another's hands before yours, I care not. Now, as
ever, I would shout my love of you from the highest parapet of Castle Amber,
nay, from the steps of Tir-na Nog'th itself and would care not who heard or who
approved or disapproved. The only tragedy would be if this letter fails to
reach you, so you would not know how I feel. I have already said it, but I will
say it again:
I
miss you.
Your husband,
Ian
Prince
Gerard, Regent of Amber
from
Ian, Commander, Amber Royal Guard,
on
this the 3rd day of the 2nd month of the 6th year of the Regency
My
report:
My
Prince and Regent,
I
am reporting, as commanded, on the clearing of the latest demonic infestation
from foul Chaos. As usual, we tracked the invading force back to the perfidious
Black Road. My detachment ~ 40 men with corporals and sergeants as appropriate,
myself, Lieutenant Rhys, our equerry, steeds and remounts ~ made progress along
the route the creatures had taken. We had already determined that this
incursion conformed to the size typical of most recent enemy actions, hence the
size of my detachment. Whether this indicates an amelioration of hostilities
from Chaos, feints, an attempt to scout out intelligence, or whatever else,
remains unknown. Also what this portend regarding out forces at the Courts, I
know not, though, as always, I do seek answers.
As
I was saying, a small force ~ a score or so of demons and at least 1, but no
more than 5 wyverns or like beasts. We tracked them for 3 days. They stayed
away from most inhabited areas ~ most of which have at least yeoman garrisons
and some fortifications in this area. This may be evidence for the intelligence
gathering hypothesis, though perhaps they have become wary of our continued
efforts to increase preparedness. Then again, they may have been more cautious
because they lacked reserves. As I said before, no information on their
motivations was forthcoming. All evidence concerning their motives is
equivocal.
After
the 3 days of tracking, we encountered the enemy. They were trying to set up an
ambush. An attempt which failed, mostly due to my 'friends' and the
intelligence they provided. The skirmish was brief but fierce. There forces
consisted of 3 wyverns and I counted 17 demons. Very close to our estimates,
for which I thank our trackers, Borick and Frethel. 2 of the demons, both
female changed shape during the contest, Hellmaids at the least, if not
outright nobles.
6
of our men were lost. All died well and are to be commended. I will see to the
appropriate measures, but if you could inform their families for me, as I am
still in the field and will be for some time. They are as follows:
Sergeant
Collin
Sarinn
Norman
Rodrick
Kyle, and
Llewyllain
There
are many casualties, but only 2 render men unfit for duty (Tyndal and Orrin). I
am detaching 5 men under Corporal Dahl to bring home the dead, the wounded and
this report, then to rendezvous with us in 2 weeks at the appropriate
checkpoint. The balance stay with me to search for any survivors. I know losses
were heavy, but considering the opposition faced, they commended themselves to
King and country.
Your son,
Ian
[Written in the left-hand lower margin of this letter
at an angle to the rest of the content, in a much
freer version of the above hand is the following:]
Father,
Please
give my love to Alis.
Tell
her I miss her & am
all
right ~ All of
which
is true.
I.