The Town With No Name That Once Had One

To my dearest friend,

It is with great regret that I must inform you I will not be returning the boat you so graciously lent me. Hopefully you can find it in your heart to write it off as a business expense, as I suspect you’ve long since done.

It is with a much more heavy heart that I must inform you that I myself will also not be returning to the city, ever. I am no longer the woman you remember, and in all candor, I must tell you that I’m very, very glad for that. Having gained far more perspective over my journey, I have come to the conclusion that my purpose does not fall within the city I left, nor any of those I visited.

Perhaps there is no place for me within this world. I would be lying if I told you the question doesn’t plague me constantly, every waking day. If there is a place where I belong, however, I have resolved to find it, and that means I have to move forward rather than dwell in the past. My past in particular I believe is best left banished to history. However, worry not: I am ready to provide my report on the mystery signal in the east sea, as you requested so long ago.

Don’t send anyone else. Their mind and soul will be tested, and they might not come out of it for the better, and they certainly won’t come out of it the same. I certainly didn’t. I know these words will in all likelihood fall on deaf ears, but trust me when I say that it’s not worth investigating further. Since I know you’ll do so anyway, here are some tips for the next poor soul you send:

1. The keepers of The Tower will offer you supplies to entice you inside. Take them, but do not enter. You don’t owe them anything, and thinking you do will end badly.
2. If you continue straight east, you will encounter a city far more advanced than anything you will likely have ever seen before. The city is abandoned, and there are more treasures than you could imagine free for the taking. Unless you have some sort of strange aversion to shameless looting, take all that you can carry, but DON’T STAY AFTER DARK. Loot quickly, and you will stay safe.
3. DO NOT GO ANY FARTHER EAST.
4. Assuming you’ve ignored my third tip, do not believe the promises of the sightless, and whatever you do, do not give up your eyes.
5. Stay strong. You’ll probably die, but there’s a chance you won’t.

Unfortunately, I have very little faith that this letter will ever reach you. Writing it is simply an exercise for my own benefit, to tie up the few loose ends I left behind in my old life, and in all honestly, I have little interest in that which I left behind. If, by some divine intervention, this letter does arrive intact, while I hold no ill will to you, please do not try to contact me ever again.

Warmest regards,

Eleanor