“My name is Ezekiel Janus, an expositor of the Cobalt Soul. During my research, I discovered that a Luxon Beacon, of the Kryn Dynasty was stolen and being used by mages within Nicodranas. Whoever finds this should return it to Alphius Morent of the Cobalt Soul and him alone. Do not allow other librarians to see this or fall into other hands. I beg you, return this to the Cobalt Soul by hand as quickly as possible. This is the final request for my body.

Alphius, your suspicions were confirmed. Those in Nicodranas do in fact have connections with the Library and they are moving quickly. Their plans are almost complete and the body is almost ready. Below is my account. This body is no longer mine, nor will it be again. Please do not let my life be worth nothing; do not let them erase me. Alphius, I’m sorry. Thank you. Remember me.

I arrived in Nicodranas on assignment from a leader of the Library to locate a stolen Luxon Beacon of the Kryn Dynasty. Having been born in the Dynasty, I knew of the items importance and provided Sandrius some information on it and it’s purpose, and my greatest fear: that the Beacon was being corrupted to place souls in body’s they don’t belong to. What I found was much worse.

In Nicodranas, I discovered that the mage artificer, Yussa Erranis, was behind the theft of the Beacon and was using it below the Open Quay in a hidden laboratory. I managed to infiltrate this lab and found the baseline of their operations. They were indeed corrupting the beacon and had built a labyrinthine system for their experiments. Prisoners were held in tiny cages, packed like rats. Rooms with surgical machines and devices dotted the hallways with recent and old displays of their experimentation evident. Whatever they were doing here was more than just souls.

The beacon had been disassembled and rebuilt, built into a dual pyramid shape of iron and brass. The nexus within was dark and corrupted. Rather than flashing and placing a soul into the bodies around it, it seemed to be siphoning energy from those bodies and into the Beacon. This was not an artifact of prolonging life, but stealing it, sealing it and repurposing it?

I continued my exploration of the lab, moving through tunnels that spanned the city and filled with all kinds of dark intentions. I believe I found what was going to hold the essence from this corrupted Beacon. A set of strange orbs, black as the night sky, and each two meters around, three in a chamber, pulsing with the same nexus the Beacon now possessed. In that room, there was a notebook full of their experiment records, I assume, but it was in celestial. I memorized as much as I could and will copy it below for translation.

That’s when they found me. They chased me but I escaped, back into Nicodranas. I monitored them and I watched them grow concerned. They were moving the Beacon to avoid my prying, but I couldn’t let it go. I wrote to Him that I would try to capture it, but I didn’t share what I learned. Something stopped me, that familiar sense of danger present that saved me so many times. I blamed stress for it, then.

I followed them out of the city, flying above the carriage, waiting for the right moment. They stopped for a moment, meeting someone in the woods; a tradeoff, certainly. But now I’m sure it was a trap. I dove toward the carriage, I knew this was my chance, and they were waiting. Nets wrapped me, pulling me down. My teleportation bracelet, from the Assembly, was stripped. A strange weapon was drawn, metal and cylindrical, and hit me in the chest with a burst of energy, but I was not stunned. And I was not helpless in my life and they were not as prepared as they hoped. I overpowered them and flew away, thinking I’d circle back. But then the weapon took hold.

I can only assume that it was delayed, that the effect should have happened immediately, but the weapon was too experimental. Maybe that’s why I got away.

It hit me like a bolt of lightning, an energy that coursed through my body in mid air. My wings stiffened and I collided with the ground; I couldn’t feel my bones break because everything else was on fire. My body burned as my soul was shorn from it and sent away.

The weapon’s effect split my soul from my body and sent it spinning. I believe the intention of the weapon was to expel and capture my soul, but I was too far from the device. A soul seeks to return and my did as well, but I was too late. Others were in the body, having beaten me there, through some sheer twist of fate and bad luck. It’s stupid to think that this, too, was masterminded, but my existence has given me time to ponder every option in the last years.

The weapon had to have come from the Beacon, to have separated me and called the others. This is the Luxon, certainly. And for them to have expected me, to be prepared for my wings, to know I was assembly… I was betrayed, I’m certain. Be wary, my love.

What they intend to do now, what the plans are for these weapons, this new Beacon, these orbs, I cannot say. But those with considerable skill and knowledge have possession of devices that can split and allocate souls. The very thing that creates life, that builds mortality. Whatever it’s intention, it cannot be understated or ignored. A new form of death is coming, Alphius, and I must burden you with the responsibility of stopping it.

I fear that there is no return for me; the Beacon that ruined me is beyond repair and the weapon from it is unknown. My body’s owners have spoken with Luxon Scholars who don’t see a way through without the ruined one. I’m sorry I cannot fulfill my final promise and come home to you. But, I am at peace with this and am happy to have lived in service of knowledge. I hope you are happy and that you are loved. Live life to expand knowledge and grant truth. Awshum terranth. Carry on, with my love

• Ezekiel”

And then 12 pages of memorized celestial.