Julien enters the tavern shortly after having read the town council’s announcement of the proposal put forth by The Raven. He looks visibly scared.
Good…Good afternoon….fellow citizens of Port Katherine…
Please…bear with me…I am not good at giving lectures and as a man of learning I have a tendency to be a bit…long winded.
In an attempt to be fully transparent while the town debates whether or not to accept the proposal put forth by the Winter Court, I am providing all information, letters, and personal recountings that I have forward here for your review. I have produced copies of these documents and will be putting them in the library for you to review at your leisure.
Hereafter, I shall refer to the Winter changeling as The Raven. During my second encounter with the Raven, he loosely defined the titles and their respective groups as follows:
Julien holds up a piece of paper, with the following scribbled on it
Spring: The Flower / The Verdant Envoy
Summer: The Flame / The Summer Spearpoint
Autumn: The Crone / The Seamstress[es?]
Winter: The Raven / [The?] Seven
I am still not entirely certain whether these names can be used interchangeably or if the latter refer to their groups as a whole. It is entirely possible that these are simply the names that Winter / The Raven uses to refer to themselves and the other “leaders” and should not be seen as concrete, although the group names have been used by each to refer to themselves.
Here is a timeline of events leading up to our current situation…
First contact (Spring 1718): I received a letter from The Raven during the night after the conclusion of the Festival of the Dawning. It came into my tent on a gust of wind and there was nobody around that I could see. At the time I had believed that this letter was sent to me by the elementals (this was the seed that sprouted my interest in them), but further research and events confirmed that this letter was from The Raven. As you will see, the Flower is referred to directly in this letter.
Julien reads the letter aloud
“We notice you, Julien Bellefleur. The flower cannot speak for those whose graves it blooms upon. Soon, the fire will rage. You will need to choose: will you put out the fire or fan its flames? A wise man would gain allies by supporting his own people. We are watching.”
The dream (Summer 1718): At the beginning of the Summer Solstice, on the first night of the Fire Festival, I had a dream unlike any other. I awoke from this dream, shivering from head to toe, despite the fact that we were at the height of the summer. The following is my recollection.
“I was walking just outside the tavern. The rest of the town was inside, eating breakfast. It was early in the day, but the sun was high overhead. But it was definitely still morning, and yet I felt a sense of danger and dread.
Despite all this, I remember feeling very cold, shivers ran through my whole body. For some reason, I didn’t go into the tavern. Instead, I walked away, down the road. I came to the bridge, but instead of crossing it as I normally would, I turned right. It was there I found a path leading beneath the mill. I scaled down the hill, and I found a small dark opening to a room.
Then I woke up.”
Some of you may remember how I came into the tavern that morning, asking for assistance, but then I left without saying a word. I went to see if this place existed, and this lead to…
The First Encounter (Summer 1718): If you would like to read about this encounter, I have a copy of it that I have written here. places a copy on the table in the tavern
(Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1na7pYck3p_-hFTpnXx6H2OcpwxNApqgIiwhPbA2c9is/edit?usp=sharing)
Second Encounter (Autumn 1718): This encounter was much longer than my first encounter. I provided the council with this detailed description at their request, and I am now making it public places a copy next to the copy of the first encounter the table in the tavern
(Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-lu7BqBvSU1_tdgrDTiDFYn2qDOe6SVyf4UmQDXxl_Y/edit?usp=sharing)
As for the proposal, I will not be interjecting my own opinion into this matter. I think many of you already know where I stand when it comes to the Fae and my beliefs…and you would likely not find me impartial anyways. As I have been contacted multiple times by the changeling referred to as The Raven, and as a fellow citizen of Port Katherine, I feel it is inappropriate for me to publicly state my own opinion on this matter.
If you wish to discuss with me in private to better flesh out your own opinion, please reach out to me at the next festival or through a letter.
Julien finds a seat in the corner of the tavern, looking quite exhausted