Hello.

Hjolda, so many of your friends and foes have written things before I finally was able to find the words I wanted to say.

Eden Heimdell. I had forgiven you even before the battle to defeat you was over. I understood why you acted as you had. All alone in the world, seeing someone you loved irreparably harmed by a human and flawed father. Given that we both care for the one who was hurt so very much, it would be hypocritical of me to say I cannot understand your reaction.

The day of your defeat, the day I told your sister I loved her, we talked about the impulse to be a better person, and how this made humans strong in a way the perfects didn't understand at first. It seems you have learned this lesson as well. I would walk this path towards a better self, and a better person with you, and guide you if you would listen, and offer a hand up if you stumble. I am walking the path myself, after all.

I gave you a chance because I understood you. But more than that, because I had promised your sister I would. Even after you slew her and consumed her, I kept my word to her. I was asked to save them all, and I contributed as much as I could to ensure that such a thing happened. I cannot claim much of the credit, truthfully, but every action I took from the moment I made that promise until it was kept the night of our final battle was an attempt to uphold it.

Your sister was made whole and mighty by the esper Mercy a creature of second chances and, well, mercy. I had to show the same to you, and I wanted to. To this day my outlook on foes of Travance has been changed because of the lengths I saw my fellow companions go to to save you and your family.

I will not gainsay those that hate you, for their hate is understandable. But should any of them attempt to strike you down, and void the second chance you have been given, they shall face my blade. Such is my promise to you.

It is funny. From the moment I met you in the snow, standing beside your brother beneath a parasol, I wanted to prove the worth of humanity to you. That we weren't as insects, and mattered. I hope that with the second chance you were given, and the friendship and time I offer, you might learn such a thing from me.

I remain yours in service, Honor, and friendship,

Grimkjell Eirson

He speaks the truth, young Heimdell.

At the start of the June Feast where your past life laid claim over the... well, everything. I was, to my knowledge, among very few outspoken voices working to save all your family--all of your family. Including you. (There were many, I am sure. I presume most had simply fallen silent, speaking in whispers, by the time I became involved.)

Throughout the town, there were whispers of murder, of horrible things the townsfolk wished to do to you. I met with several of your then-champions in secret, trying to find a way not only to save your siblings whom you had consumed in your greed. But also you.

We had a method to save all but you, at the time. We... also had at least two methods to utterly destroy you. The town was mostly satisfied with these plans and was to move forward with them upon your arrival, which we knew to be only a few hours off at the time. The town chose your family over you. Your Champion, Raine Darkmore, however, had divined a small hope in a true all-save method, and I was determined to help him find it.

Most townsfolk I spoke to on that day, I have yet to mend terms with. Posing the idea of saving you along with your siblings? I was worse than a traitor in many's eyes... And after what happened you did upon the next noon? I don't blame them.

For the five years following, I hid among the crew of Ludvich's Flotilla under the guise of a leper. I wrapped my glittering skin in thick rags and suffered to myself. I watched from the shadows for five years, out of fear that if any of my friends--your Champions at the time--had awoken among us, that they surely would have been executed by the mob.

These were the real fears we faced for those long years, merely by supporting your existence as a being--even while with every breath we all cursed a pox upon your fallacious ideas of "Perfection" and "Unity." I hoped and prayed to my twelve dead gods that I would find those who arrived through time first, and gift your supporters the second chance I had thought we had failed to give you and your family.

Ser Grimkjell Eirson, Sir Pendarvin of the Heargen Clan was the only genuine ally among the townsfolk I found in that last day before you created the "Perfect" World.
He believed in your redemption. I'm glad you finally got that Second Chance, after all these years.

And I hope you gain a mighty friendship in him.

--Mantel Warrane

Justice demands that punishments already levied are atonement once served. Let us not speak anymore on the past, as I remember everything. those in the underground, those in the city, and those at sea. That I was not there to protect some of you is still a great pain to me. Even good whisky will not wash it away, so I'll use it to find ways to protect more people.

I offer three gifts to you- all gifts of instruction. The First is instruction in how my people work. How to be merry, how to treasure family. The Second is how Justice is supposed to work- what it is and is not. The Third is how to not act like a fool so you do not repeat yourself.

I'm no mighty Knight, or great Paladin, or haughty Noble. I'm just a Hooligan of my people.

-Donny

Are you preaching? Distasteful.

NOT AIKI

---

Prometheus,

I am mindful. Feel free to speak with me if there are concerns you have.

Eden,
There was a time when I considered you my enemy. There was a time when I helped create a poison to take away your powers. There was a time where I attacked you, cursed your name, and hated you. I won't deny any of that. That is our past. But I also never gave up the hope that you could be saved; even in our final battle, I made sure your family had a chance to say if they wanted you to be saved. The you that I have met the last few months is so obviously different from the version of you I hated. As far as I'm concerned, you are a different person. And I look forward to getting to know you better. You have nothing to fear from me.

Prometheus,
You and your family are welcome in Albriar. My home there is open to all of you whenever you come to visit.


To those who wish Eden ill,
I will not sit here and try to explain why you shouldn't attack her or feel hatred. Or to explain why I don't feel that way. You are well within your rights to feel that hatred and I am well within my rights to not feel that way. Feel free to come to me in person if you would like to discuss either my feelings or yours. But, the law is the law and as a subject of Albriar/Kormyre, she is protected by our laws.