Artemesia Family/Garret Artemesia Research

Garret's Strange Activities

July, I think. I do not know the day anymore. My supplies were mostly washed away in the latest storm. Thankfully, the oxen and caravans survived. There was not much time to get much information about the day, but thankfully my objective was not time-critical. The Visionaries

I met two commoners of some note at breakfast today, whenever today is. There was a woman named Nina and a man named Brandon. Somehow, I think that woman is oddly familiar.

A day later.

There were some more deals to be done in Golden Farrow. I secretly hope that this has no bearing on the kind of man I am, for we of the Artemis house have never had to spoil our hands in less than the most noblest of actions, and even these deals I am making as a trader, though necessary, do put a strain against my noble nature, but the responsibility towards necessity outweighs some old customs.

Three days later, I have returned to the isles. I sent two messengers on the next ship headed for the East Continent. They do not know of each other's presence on board the same ship, but both have the same objective. In case one of them dies, the other might have a chance to get the message across. Either way, I have also equipped one of my best terns to carry the letter as well. If the ship sinks, then hopefully the bird will make it through.

November 1: The contacts in the East Continent have returned with news at last! It is as I had suspected. The girl was from somewhere else, or so Woody would tell me. All that remains now is to locate Nina, and find out if I was correct.

I have attached the letters, and the findings, of Woody and his helpers.

Letter from Grandpa Artemesia

Young Gary,

As per your request, I had our lesser known servants gather information regarding the woman you described. Are you quite certain that you met her at a peasant's tavern? You have quite strange tastes, young master. And you described a man as well, but did not instruct us to pursue his details. what, young master, taken a fancy for a rough commoner?

I jest, I jest, my dear boy. In my old age, you should even forgive me and pity me for my inevitable senility. I know you well, Gary. Chasing after women is not in your character, so why did you send such a strange request?

When Lorn's boy was here in our ancestral home, he was able to access the vault, and passed along the seal to make our agents execute your request. But due to the nature of this undertaking, even the best were bound by time, and so they only brought me scattered and incomplete documents, along with hearsay.

That girl you described said that she was from Poryatu, if I recall correctly. And, if you recall correctly. I do hope you were not heavily drinking at the time. That place is rather far away and it was quite difficult to get one of our people successfully into the region, but we managed to do so three weeks ago. Our apologies for the delay. They tell me that the girl, Nina, was raised by a local barkeep named Lucy. Through some creative measures they were able to obtain some samples to further our research. I have enclosed the raw report with the initial observations and the five tests we ran. For your easy reading, as I understand that you are not like Samael and Jared, what with the lack of interest you showed towards Lawrence's occupation, I have also enclosed a version that is easier for the layperson to read, and by layperson, I mean someone who is not very versed in the chemicals and of biology.

If you have completed your reading of the enclosures, do continue reading. From the results, we can now conclude that it is unlikely that the girl was born to the woman. Seeing as how we have a rather extensive collection of samples from Jared's many battles to work with, we could potentially find someone who is more closely related, which would lead us further towards achieving your request. It is an odd request, I must admit, Gary. Are you certain you are not enamoured of a tough fighting amazon?

The documents as well have been sent, separately. You might wish to read them quite carefully, as they allude to a noble of a house that I would rather not place on paper, for despite the nature of our organization, I, and my colleagues, would rather not be killed. But, forgetting the names, what myself and a few of my more trusted colleagues have managed to piece from the fragments of letters, the oral rumors of various townsfolk, and a wide assortment of characters from Atamara. Yes, Atamara, my boy. We have a sneaking suspicion that your answer lies in Atamara, and we have already sent word to Samael to carry out his investigation over there.

The point of these rumors is that there may, or may not, have been a noblewoman who had an affair with someone who was not a noble. We do not know the exact details, as it could have very well been a nobleman who impregnated a peasant woman. Are you seeing any parallels, Gary? Hah! I truly apologize. Your request, as you should have anticipated, would cause quite the uproar of laughter in our circle, but it is all in good spirit.

In any case, whoever the woman might have been, she was definitely the one who left. There is absolutely no record of that girl living in Atamara,and we are sure of that. By your command,young master, we shall instruct our people to ask the girl's adoptive mother for some further enlightenment.

Your pursuit of the truth, though questionable in its intents and its content, is nevertheless commendable, Gary, but do be careful. There are those who would rather not see the truth. Do you even know if this girl wants to know the truth, when we eventually discover it? Then again, Gary, think about this one carefully: How do you know that she doesn't know the truth? Ask her yourself, actually. I am willing to bet my gold tooth that she knows something that we would never be able to find out, and you were being all to lazy to find her and ask her about it. Silly boy.

Now, if you might excuse me, I send you my best wishes.

Love always,

Grandpa "Woody" Artemesia