The safe unseals with a small hiss of pressure equalization. The inside seems well preserved; none of the fungal growths encrusting the exterior have reaches its inner chamber. The walls are surprisingly thick, and the door’s attachment is rings with a gasket, albeit one the starts to disintegrate as it is disturbed by your investigations.

A pile of letters sits clipped together tidily.

Letter A

This letter appears to be a transcription or draft of one sent by Jad. Its handwriting is informal, and bears correction marks and smears.

Dear Mr. Ströss,

I am writing you on the (quiet) behest recommendation of a one time peer of yours, a Ms. Alquinn. I have been lead to believe from her comments that you are one to judge a man on his accomplishes and not by his station. My name is Dalgren Jad, and I am an alchemist and scholar residing in the Holy Empire. Here, my work is often not taken seriously by my peers, who believe me to have come from bad stock. They cannot decouple their beliefs in my upbringing from the discoveries I offer.

Given a recent illness, I have become obsessed with a project on the preservation of one’s essential forces and the mortal shell from which we must operate. I have long studied the ability for local fungi to aid in recovery (a derivation of the well understood healing potions available across the civilized world) and am a specialist in this topic. Enclosed with this letter you will find a list of my academic recognition. (NOTE: DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE THIS!!!!!)

I find myself without proper discourse locally and wish—if you, Sir, are amenable—to establish a regular correspondence about my approaches and research. Please write me back, at your leisure.

Sincerely,
Dalgren Jad

P.S. I have included as well a sample of my improvements to the usual regenerative potion, in case you are curious.

Letter B

This letter is on very fine paper that has lasted well across its many years in the safe. You can still make out an impression of a Teutarch “home” symbol reversed where it has become embossed from the seal used on the letter.

Dear Mr. Jad,

Consider me pleased to make the acquaintance. Regular letters require brevity. I am interested, provide details.
M.S.

Letters C–J

The correspondence continues, with longer and longer drafts by Jad interspersed with the continually terse replies from M.S. They quickly get very technical, sometimes including multiple pages of formulae. The pair appear to develop a shorthand as they go, and it would take a very capable alchemist to untangle the details.

Letter K

Another draft by Jad. By now the letters have lost much of their formality, even lacking direct address of their intended recipient:

A breakthrough. The reformulation with a tertiary anaerobic fermentation and the reinsertion of C₂₃₁₁H₁₀₁₃N₈Su₂ with stabilizing H₉₀Nt₈₉₉T₁₁ reduced major effects of aging in the subjects by 96% over the previous revision! We’ve cracked it my friend! Enclosed is a sampling for your own confirmation. Beware! I have yet to find a precise way of determining dosage, and even a few micrograms extra has rendered some of my chickens comatose. The oldest, 8 months ago by now, has yet to recover but also appears nearly perfectly preserved.
J.

This is the final letter in the stack. If M.S. responded, it had not entered the safe prior to the collapse.

Notebook

A very well used notebook sits on the bottom shelf. A long-dried pen is tucked partway through its pages. It contains a mess of incomprehensible scribbles, diagrams, and sketches. At the back, a small pocket holds some loose cards and a few coins:

Courtier Vestments, 8 Wall St, Crags
Alterations to be complete by Aug 17th.

The Anunwall Hotel
Tearoom Frequent Visitor Card

● ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ➵ Free cup!

Penarddun ferch Aneir
c/o Franklyn Imports
65 East Farnam St, Ballyswan

Negretti & Zambra
Glass instruments for the sciences
Strada Monferrato 8, Alambi

Watch

A very nice watch sits in a small tray lined with suede. The internal spring has long ago wound out, and the face remains still at 19:21:07. The back of the case bears the inscription “fortunatus opus”. Its leather band shows little creasing, and it looks like it may never have been worn.

Potions

A small rack of vials once occupied the top shelf. With the carrying of the safe, these have ended up in disarray. Each bears a tiny tidy label on fading paper:

• Regenerative, formula CCCLXXXVIII₄.
• Rest, formula VI.
• Perpetuity, formula XV.
• Focus, formula XXIV.
• Illegible, holds a clear liquid.
• Focus, formula XXIII.
• Perpetuity, formula XVII.
• Illegible, holds an amber liquid.