Letter from Haido Xuan to Barmie Dingle
Date: 17 Folially 2622-3
Subject: Stance of a black stinger fragment
Our Venerable Tao Sian, who heads the Temple of Knowledge, has entrusted me with the analysis of the Daïsha stanza received from the Imperial Academy and containing a fragment of the black kirosta stinger found near the body of the deceased Orphie Dradius, former Ranger Leader.
The stanza of Daïsha is a proven means of preservation, invented during the reign of Lin Cho. Once set in amber, the object remains inert, stable and frozen in time, but still observable through transparency. Yet, this is not the case with the present stanza, which shows several internal cracks in which a black essence has spread.
The kitin fragment is visibly in an advanced state of decomposition, which seems strange to me because kitin shells usually remain hard after the death of their wearer, which allows among other things to use them for various craft creations.
The surface of the chitin shows abundant spumescent molds, testifying to the vigor of the decomposition. Their black coloration, identical to the color of the chitin, is singular. Visually, everything is black on this sample, including the flesh visible where the fragment has been sliced apart, as well as all the fluid matter oozing from the whole. Does this support Daeronn's theory of a pathogen? Which one would cause this staining?
As a precaution, before opening the stanza, I preferred to show it to a specialist in stanza and cubes, so that he could formulate an opinion on the alteration of the amber. He confirmed my fears, mentioning extreme cases such as attempts to put pure acid in stanza. He suggested that I have the monks do a purification. Meditation by the gaze on the amber is a complex phenomenon, which allowed the discovery of the principle of amber cubes from the stanza. I was curious to know what the monks would have to say when connecting with the stanza. I entrusted it to the Temple monks for several days, at the end of which they told me that they had had a lot of torment in trying to purify it. Their verdict is that the fragment expresses a profound disharmony, a corruption of matter, a supernatural power. They see there the evil work of the Karavan and have solemnly enjoined me to have it destroyed by lightning. I reported all this to our elder Tao Sian and we agreed to consult the magnetizers of Jen-Lai to conduct another examination.
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Haido Xuan
Dynastic gardener