Father,

I am thankful to have heard from you again. Rest assured that I am watching my back as well, though I sense no threat from the people here. The humans in the area seem unconcerned with my questions of their past, making clear that they have only lived here for little more than two centuries – well recorded in our histories.

The halflings hold their secrets very closely, however. While gold can loosen their tight fists somewhat, the word is out about my interests. I have always heard of these folk as simple and friendly, but when conversation turns to the Fallen Star, they close their mouths and no gold will open them again.

I tell you this so you understand the difficulty I have gone through to get this latest series of documents. Again, these are from before the Cataclysm, but they seem to be from what you have called the “Old Thestran” language family. If I recall, you stated that Old Thestran books come from a time of wars between great empires. Each empire had their own script, and none seem to have been deciphered as of yet. This particular series of pages were bound between two leaves of forged iron preserved in beeswax.

As before, the copyist made a copy for me, and I am sending you the originals.

Your faithful son