Archivist van der Dawes,

Thank you for your interest, and the letter you sent. Your inquiries are extensive, and I've always thought of that as a good thing. Find enclosed the requested index of names of the principal figures of The Illustrated Concordance of Marielda. Please know that this isn't an index for the book itself, as writing one of those would effectively only be a reproduction of the Concordance itself. Also find inside a copy of the figures missing from the earlier edition that you are working from.

As to your final question: "What ever happened to the Blade in the Dark?" Well, Devar, you need to understand that however powerful the Blade is, however dangerous, it is not special. It is not guided through time towards us. It is just one more brick in the tall wall of history. And eventually, bricks, they break, or they fall out of place, or they're covered up by a new layer, or they are taken away by someone, placed in a garden, maybe, as trim.

What I mean to say is that the Blade vanished into time. I can track it but so far: Scavengers, traders, mercenaries. Survivors. A cult, briefly. Briefly. A hero who drew it only one time. A villain who never dared touch it. And then, ages ago, it vanished.

This is not something to correct or to concern yourself with. You do not ask about the petard that set Samot's tower to fall, nor the gauntlet that Samantine left on the Eastland Shores. These, like the Blade, have served their purpose. To be an archivist is to keep everything in its place. But to be a historian is to swim, curious, in a sea of unfinished stories.

Keep studying,

Semiotician-Emeritus Uklan Tel

This week on Friends at the Table: A Shattering Note

Man, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you like this? You write about the foolish plans of jealous gods, about arrogant wizards, about people who were so dedicated that they rearranged history itself. I'm not saying that the Blade has some Chosen Path Through History, man. I'm just saying you put a weapon like that in a world with people in it—you know, our world—and it ain't just gonna vanish one day. I read your concordance carefully, Tel, and I know one thing real well: That thing ain't a brick in a wall, it's a door no one's opened in a while.

-D

Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) and Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

Episode description by Austin Walker

Music by Jack de Quidt

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