Eloath,

Write no more to me of deadlines and obligations. I’ve not the patience for you to tell me of my duties. The Duke is happy to patronise me, and I am happy with her patronage, and that shall be an end to the matter. The work shall be finished when it shall be finished; should the Gods in the Peak desire it to be otherwise, they wish it in vain. But with their blessing and absent your nagging, I will produce for your presses a work unlike any seen in Janspar so far. Such an undertaking cannot be set in neat rows or squared into tidy reams, and cannot proceed according to such schedules. Continue with your pamphlets and plays and prayer-books; the demand for such will not fade while Darion writes his Histories.

However, I have listed below an approximation of what the contents of this work shall be. Let this be your guide in planning the manufacture and publication of my work. I expect each Age to fill a volume of its own. A supplementary volume of assorted essays may also be desired. The maps, where possible, should be from our own Fleet’s surveys, not the Aeskhonan charts.

I – INTRODUCTION

Covering: Introduction and Dedication, The Eras of History, Essays On Theology, A Survey of the Creation of the World

II – THE ANTESERMAL AGE

III – THE AGE OF REVELATION

IV – THE AGE OF CONTACT

V – THE AGE OF WITHDRAWAL

VI – THE AGE OF MORTALITY

Perhaps a Seventh volume could contain a gazetteer of all Janspar and accounts of the Fleet voyages, perhaps with the assorted essays. These essays could include the following: A Rejection of Locism, Governance and Mortality, Theology and Law. These additional writings (each of which has found modest success as a pamphlet in its own right Eloath, I am no innocent in the business of publishing!) would augment the work’s value as a tool of education and a store of the accumulated knowledge of our nation’s intellectual achievements.

Make the necessary arrangements, have the materials and inks and artisans ready for the manufacture of my work, and the work I shall deliver in its due Eloath, and not a single day sooner.

Yours,

Darion