Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Letter Twenty-One


My Dearest Nephew,
I hear you have ceased your rampage. I am most pleased with your choice and hope that you will now take up the noble path of benevolent a dragon.
     It will not be easy, putting yourself back in the good graces of the villagers around Aolia, but I have confidence in your abilities. First you must help them in their time of need, perhaps assisting them with the rebuilding of the towns you burned down. Also it would not hurt to give an official apology to them and beg their forgiveness. Tell them that you were influenced by ignorant and evil sources of information as a benevolent dragon should never lie and your actions were in fact influenced by your uncles.
     I received a letter from your uncle Gargazath recently. He expressed his rage at my hand in bringing you out of the rampage and railed on about how you had been so promising there for a few days. He even attempted to lead me into a trap but did it very badly. After he had assured me he would get me when I least expected it, he invited me to meet him under the abandoned bridge in Yovi, the one that has been threatening to collapse for years now. Honestly, that dragon’s incompetence surpasses it all. I have enlisted the help of my good friend Morflix the Imperceptable and laid a trap of my own. I will say no more on that subject in this letter as I am sure you will hear of the outcome in Gargazath’s next letter.
     Now, on the subject of a library. Many of the better known benevolent dragons such as Aurora the generous and Gelimnore the golden possess vast libraries filled with varied texts from philosophy to mythology. I know from past letters that you have an expansive cave, all the better. If you have natural shelves along the walls, you could start aligning books along them but I am sure that if you do start a library of your own, you will soon find that you will have to create some of the shelves for your collection of books yourself. I have found that it is a marvelous pastime to sit at the opening of one’s cave and read up on astrology or the writings of some of the human scholars as they provide excellent entertainment when all else fails. The collecting of books or scrolls is not difficult; you will find that many of the human librarians and kings are happy to donate any book, scroll or tablet you request.
     But do not let me force you into making a library for yourself. I know of other dragons that prefer to collect things of beauty such as fine art, weapons and armor forged by the great human and dragon smiths or precious stones and silks. Such things are not considered hoards as the objects involved are collected, not stolen from a pillaged town or city.
     I will conclude this letter by saying once again that I am very proud of you for stopping your rampage and that I hope you will become a better dragon now that you have seen the error of your ways.
     Your humble servant, mentor and uncle,
     Semithino

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