TheStarsAreRight:RedlandLetter2

Greetings,

Don't get mad at me (an ominous beginning to a letter), but I'm writing this from Tibet just before I head out to China. I know you told me not to go there, but I believe that was primarily in regards to the Sword of Solomon, which I'm not taking with me. I don't have many friends, so I can't afford to lose the ones I have. I need to go to China to make sure that Henrik and Rebecca are safe.

- I do promise to do all I can to avoid going 'off book' during my travels there. I know that Maxine is in charge of the expedition, so I will restrict myself to a purely supportive role (e.g., I'll go as far as being annoying, but avoid escalating to the point of being distracting or undermining).

I'll send you a more thorough note regarding the Principles while I am traveling to China (I should have ample time to organize my thoughts and make a copy of my notes). For now, I figured I should mention a couple of quick things. Aspiration is the Principle I have had the most (only!) involvement with to this point. The candidate is our very own Laura Strickley (she has been living at the Wisphers Estate since we found her at the insane asylum, though she tends to be a fairly private person, so not many people see much of her). She had experienced some difficulty discerning reality (probably due to her powers), and she believed that she was living back in the late 19th century. I have been exchanging letters with her and checking up on her whenever possible, and I believe she has fully recovered the use of her faculties and is doing well (though she may be a tad bit bored at Wisphers!) She has not evinced any particular interest in becoming a Principle, and I have not pushed her on this at all, preferring instead to look into the matter further on my own and see if I could locate the remaining 'pieces of the puzzle' (Paladin, Priest, etc.). Even if she were eager to become a Principle, I was not quick enough to make anything happen, and the June 19 date has passes, leaving this situation close to a year away.

John Elwar was a sailor we met with while traveling to resolve the situation at Bailey (well, he, Henrik, and I all met at the same time, just before we began to understand a little more about 'how the world really works'). It did appear that he was a possible potential 'court' member (I'd guess the Paladin). Of some note, is the fact that he was searching for Donal when we met him. He was, however, not interested in the weirdness that we uncovered and we went our separate ways, effectively removing him from the role.

Anyhow, sorry about this whole 'going off to China' thing. I will do my best to insure that we are all back to New York by or before the 15th. Generally speaking, I'd vastly prefer to be in that region right now, but I think that I have to be in China to support my friends.

Oh, next time I see you, I'll have to have you read my signature (you can do that, right?) so that we can communicate via the telepathy thing. I find using telepathy to be quite fatiguing, but the convenience can't be beat.

Sincerely,

Redland Jack