Being the Twelfth Day of Air, Resplendent, Seven-Hundred and Sixty-Seventh Year of Our Realm
Center of the Known World and Creation's Imperial City, Scarlet Prefecture, the Blessed Isle

As you asked me to be on the lookout for any more texts that might relate to the fragment we discussed, I am compelled to relate the most singular experience which occurred some few days prior at the ruins of the Provisional School. I had entered, running my hand along gradations of warmth, and lighting candles on the left because they were on the untrue side…

The letter rambles on about the minutia of a briefly popular architectural style in the early Shogunate tried to encode religious lessons into the structure of mundane buildings. The conspiracy members see the following:

It appears my beloved cousin Aisa and I have approached the problem of V'neef in a similar fashion. I have convinced Bijar that I am supporting her efforts to enter the manse. While initially wary of me overtures, I was able make the case that my aim was not to support this or any V'neef but to oppose the similar efforts of Mnemnon. I am afraid some of my younger assistants have taken to using a few of my more colorful turns of phrase in conversation. (Cousin, if you should find yourself called a megalomaniacal, self-aggrandizing witch I apologize. You know how these things spread among students.) However, I am now poised to obstruct any actual progress to enter the manse while also gaining access to the research of one of the most obsessive experts. Expect updates if anything of interested is discovered. It cannot be stressed enough that no one outside of this sworn conspiracy can be allowed to gain control of the Imperial Manse. Such an event would be the final, and fatal, end of our efforts. The slave problem appears to have taken care of itself.

As we are in the service of Aisa's claim to the throne, I am compelled to ask how she wishes to gain it. I have been operating under the assumption that the most expedient and achievable way of accomplishing this is to present the Great Houses with a fait accompli. When the balance of strategic power is such that there can be no victory against us we can repeat the ascension of Her Most Highly Exalted Majesty. The Manse is a single factor which would decide any contest, but the accumulation of wealth and allies could do the same. I do not belief that there can be a amicable, negotiated solution.

Toward that end, I have taken steps to enlist the assistance of the Jadeborn Mountainfolk. The Scarlet Stone is the most cohesive force of martial essence users in the Imperial City. Many in the dynasty are only passing combatants, and the Stone is composed of veterans with mastery of war magic. I am not advocating a purge, but there is a reason for proverb "Better a petition in one hand and a sword in the other than only a petition." I have not gained the services of the Stone, but I have made inroads with their masters which brings me to the next bit of news.

Ejava is currently on the far side of the Inner Sea where she is of no good in the struggle for the throne. However, I may have found a means to make better use of all forces loyal to us. After negotiation with the Jadeborn they have provided information about a novel form of food preservation which can allow us to keep armies supplied far more cheaply. While that is their primary use, it may prove to be a significant boost to Ledaal shipping. (Whispering Twilight, along with an attached list of possible contacts, this new development may prove to be of some use to your rather moral employer.)

Please accept the lack of significant progress on my end, my time is much taken up with artifice work, but I expect that project to be finished soon.

In fire, faith, and blood,
Ledaal Catala Akashan