The Nermarein Letter

Hey folks,

This was once part of a bigger entry/story that I was writing last year when my computer crashed eating all my data. I managed to reconstruct it (and change its destination) now that the new discussion on West Nybelmar caught some fire. It is definitely related to the eye-crabs entry, and I might actually relate to it in future entries.

I also added a short Compendium "disclaimer" (that I thought it was funny), but you can get rid of that if you want.

So, here it goes:

This writing was found on a piece of parchment on the body of a sailor washed ashore the Nermarein lands on Nybelmar, after the disastrous shipwreck of the “Third Envoy,” the expeditionary force sent towards the western Void, by the Anpagan commercial guilds. It is believed to be written by the same sailor that, on the previous expedition, captured and brought back for the Ansaran mages the first live eye-crab ever seen in Anis-Anpagan. Usually, the Ansaran Librarians would claim that this piece of writing is only the result of a dying man’s delusions. However, as more knowledge about the area is brought back, there are more and more dissident Ansaran groups pointing to certain occult qualities of this particular piece of writing.

The Santharian Compendium assumes no responsibility for any infringements of any type that might arise in a Nybelmarian context out of their action of maintaining this document in their possession. Also, the Santharian Compendium would like to remind on this occasion, that their scholarly endeavor is aimed at the betterment of knowledge as for the greatness of all Caelereth.

The Nermarein Letter

I watched the patch of dried grass behind the rock. And the scorched earth radiating damnation. And the little eye-crabs faithfully watching me. Perhaps they are indeed eyes of dead people. Their mute questions, their silent reproach, their looming memories weaving the winds around us. Clack-clack. Hello, little one, do you think I’ll be like you one night? Will you still watch over me next day? Or we’ll be watching together; that patch of dried grass, and the scorched earth… Clack-clack. Hello, little one. Have you seen my loved one? She had dark brown eyes, just like yours.

And I took one of these little eye-crabs with me. I carried it across the canyons and through the old mines of Zhun and all the way to Ansaran. But then I came back here to look for my loved one. And I wonder if the eye-crab still lives, far away, in Ansaran. I wonder if I returned here for naught, while my loved one was at home. On Ansaran. Watching, waiting, sending her mute question with the winds. Clack-clack. Where did you go? Are you there, somewhere? Clack-clack. Why did you bring me here?

They told me that the eye-crabs are the eyes of dead people. They grow on them while filling up with their mute questions and silent reproaches. And then they burst open from their graves, climbing up on the surface, so that their looming memories would weave the winds around us. Clack-clack. We have seen you before, they say, don’t you remember us? But who knows, if this is true… I’ve watched the patches of dried grass behind the rocks, and I’ve seen a little eye-crab with a huge eye, just like hers. Clack-clack. Do you remember me? I once loved you, do you know?

No, the eye-crab was not her. It was just an eye-crab that made me remember her. An eye-crab that made me see her in its eyes. Clack-clack. Do you remember me? I walked away from it but the little staring thing kept following me. Just a big brown eye mounted on some crab legs and a pair of claws. Clack-clack. I once loved you, do you know? I reached to the eye-crab, staring back at it, I closed my eyes and open up my palms. Clack-clack. Have you ever been happy?

I had happiness right there, in my palms. I was looking at it, and I knew it was within my reach. And then it slipped away. Clack-clack. Do you remember me? Like the wind passes over our bleached bones, like the water digs into our empty caskets, it just slipped away. And then it looked at me with its huge eye. Clack-clack. Hello, little one. Have you seen my loved one? She had dark brown eyes, just like yours.

I took the crab with me, and we were all happy. Lucky, or blessed, we were, as our eyes delighted on the wasteland void. Cheerful we were, as we breathed emptiness and desert. And here I am again, watching the patches of dried grass from behind the rocks. Bleached bones and empty caskets washed ashore. And I hunger. Clack-clack. Hello, little one. Do you think I’ll be like you one night? Will you watch over me next day? Because I once knew a girl. With big brown eyes. She was watching me all the time. Clack-clack. Do you like me? Clack-clack. Because I like you…