Dearest Beloved

I miss you like the sun misses the moon. Of you I can only see what my memory illuminates of you, leaving the rest in obscurity, and I fear that my memory fades. Oh! How I wish I had the talent of the Mind Mages to recall events perfectly, so the night we shared would be something I could visit in the times between meetings.

I stare at the painting of you nightly, as I dream about our child, and what kind of life we could give her. I hope with all my heart that this quest of ours does not last longer than the babe’s infancy, and that she will know me as her loving father, the man who sacrificed experience with the loves of his life to save the world.

I saw Shelob today. She was walking the streets in your face. I saw her and I hoped beyond hope that it was you that had come to visit me and cheer me on at the games, but I know that would be foolish – you’re in seclusion in the Shire for a reason. I confronted her, my body shaking with rage and the need to kill her, but I had no Lopanic legal reason. There is no cross-border understanding of law between Lopan and the Western Empire, so the slimy whore of a hag can walk bold and free, careless of the horrors she has inflicted on the world. Though every bone in my body burned with rage and bloodthirst, I calmly bid her farewell, and returned to the encampment.

The bar across from our tent is called the Lover’s Leap Tavern. It gives me hope for our love. I gave a hefty sum to the barkeep for a tab and retainer, though he was speechless and offered change, and to settle the difference at the end of the games, I do not plan on asking for any of it back. The constant reminder of my reason to live is worth that and more. I might even leave a sack of gold on his pillow before I leave. I have not decided yet…

I have studied wards, and it came to my attention that there was no such ward of Life, like there is of Death. There is a Rune word meaning life, birth, and rebirth, but there is no ward that is widely taught that uses it! It has baffled me greatly. I ran into the Master Diabolist of the Guild when I registered for the White Ash at the games today, and he offered to teach me further. I will see if he knows how a Life ward would work, and if we can divine out the creation of one.

Meeting you and gaining the hope of fatherhood has changed my outlook on magic and life. I can’t see suffering in the world and shrug it off anymore. I don’t desire harm on others, but I have a harsher outlook on capital punishment. Monsters should be slain. Evil should be vanquished, and Good and Innocence should be protected and allowed to flourish. I promise that if I ever see Shelob again, I will retain proof of her evil. I hope that the evil she touched you with did not harm our baby. If it did there is no hole she can crawl into that will stop my vengeance from taking her.

I love you more than my feeble words can convey, and I dream only of you, and hope this letter makes it safely to you through Bilbo.

Yours across the seas and across time,

Aragorn

>>A Letter sent to Priest of Apis Donal in the 23rd Year of Emperor Voelkian Itomas II, by Azariel, Apprentice Alchemist. Acolyte of Osiris and the Lady Luck.<<
Portrait by Displate