Parcel for Rennik Colmes

[Daoud al-Maaz]

Accompanying the letter is a  copy of   The Tenets of the Magi, Izdu, by Marcellus Saenus









Plain text:
[hide]Good Sergeant Rennik Colmes,

It has been an age since we last spoke. You are ever a busy man, burdened by service to the Sultan and to the Bellowed call of those who inhabit His lands. It has been difficult to find you with enough free time to converse, though doing so with me would simply be one more work meeting. I would like to change that, if possible, by extending a hand of personal friendship rather than solely that of professional cooperation. You have struck me as a man of loyalty, insight and temperance. It would be a blessing to call you friend.

I understand that you were on a long, unexpected journey beyond Ephia's Well. These travels can often invite time to reflect and reconsider past actions or views. I am merely observing from afar, but it would appear you have returned to us a changed man in some ways. There were words and deeds I had presumed you would speak or take, yet now they move almost opposite to those projected futures. I truly hope the journey gave you a happier view of the world and sparked a positive divergence that I am unaware of. Perhaps we could speak of things on a more personal level when next we meet? I am forever the curious man who seeks to understand the Cause of something's Effect.

Enclosed is a copy of The Tenets of the Magi, Izdu, by Marcellus Saenus. Worry not- I do not seek to convert you to my faith. I had simply hoped to spark discussion separate from work. Mr. Saenus has an interesting style of prose, often beginning his sentences with coordinating conjunctions. This format has brought the text to a total of one hundred and ten (110) individual lines, should you omit spaces. The sentences are delightfully variable, ranging from the shortest four (4) to the longest at forty-nine (49). Perhaps I did not need to see the book in this precise manner, but when one views things through a unique lens, new patterns emerge. After all, what is a clue but a hidden truth lurking in the guise of an everyday object? You likely understand this, as a man with a similarly investigative mind. I do hope you will read it with the same eye that I have, and reply in kind.


If books are of lesser interest to you, are you the sort who enjoys mathematics? Much of my spare time is spent attempting to find solutions to the numerical puzzles of physics and energy, eager to find useful applications of them for the good of the world. I have recorded here a calculation which has plagued my mind of late. The first line is solved, but it could illuminate much if you were to unravel the remaining answers, as they elude me currently. I pray that Izdu's guidance furthers the effort, should you see fit to undertake it.

3:7 + 39:16 + 45:12 = 1:3

33:2 + 23:22 + 63:15 = 1:3 or 8:16
23:22 + 10:13 + 45:2 + 63:15 = 1:3 or 8:16
45:2 =

33:2 + 23:22 + 56:6 =
23:22 + 15:21 + 72:4 = 1:3 or 8:16
45:2 + 20:5 + 72:4 =
20:5 + 58:4 + 43:2 + 78:8 =

15:21 + 32:8 + 40:6 = 1:3 or 8:16
23:22 + 43:2 + 93:2 + 56:6 + 12:4 = 1:3 or 8:16
15:20 + 56:6 + 39:16 + 59:7 + 12:4 + 40:13 =

Heavy is the hand which wields a blade in service to our beloved Sultan. I truly hope that yours is not too weighed down to lift a quill in echoed correspondence.



Fare thee as well as I fare,
Daoud al-Maaz
Maribeh 2nd, 7787[/hide]

[Blue41]

[The tome and letter are received at the Garrison by a Scribe of the Garden, before finding its way to its intended. A missive soon follows]

Investigator Daoud,

The number of letters I receive that are not blatant complaints about the supposed corruption about one of my Soldiers, related to proposals or requests for information in regards to a case can be counted on one hand. Receiving this letter was a delight for that reason alone, despite the nature of its contents. You may be aware that I am a follower of the Wroth, converted by Ellanher de Veend. One of the conditions of that conversion, a tenet of the faith, was to provide a vial of blood. The blood of the guilty who was delivered to justice through the workings of the faithful, offered up to Urazzir. I satisfied this requirement through bringing a Brooker to trial, and ultimately overseeing their execution within the Arena. After I was converted, Ellanher told me something that has stuck with me since. It was that no one can hurt you more deeply than one you call friend. 'Fear betrayal, fear death. Attain control of these evils to belay their pains.'

You may think that Ellanher's words are a touch extreme. That living one's life wary of every friendship would be a miserable fate. Perhaps you're right in that, but since then, I've faced more than my fair share of betrayal. You may recall overhearing one not long after we met, of the leak our Legion once suffered. That I had resolved the matter to my satisfaction.  The danger in allowing people so close to your heart is that it becomes that much harder to stop the killing blow. It is for that reason that the number of people I can call 'friend' are very few indeed. I see this as neither a point of pride or something to regret. It simply is.

Regretfully, I have always been more a fan of word puzzles than mathematical equations, but in the spirit of your wishes and what trust I can give to your motivations, I will take my time with your calculations to see if I can discover the solution. There is much we should speak on in person, and I hope that Urazzir grants some mercy in allowing that meeting to take place sooner than later.

Sgt. R. Colmes

[Blue41]

[A copy of a letter finds its way to the Inspector with a short post-script attached]

You assume innocence, I assume guilt.

I've done all I can with this lot. Best to look towards the future now.

Colmes