Sealed Scroll: House Oakshade - Arandor

[AuroraWR]

A scroll sealed with wax sigil is left in the care of the bank teller with instructions to deliver it to the keeper of the Oakshade name.

From the Hand of Virellen Tharandor,
On behalf of Matriarch Ilserae of House Carwynn
To the Esteemed Keepers of the Oakshade Line
Arandor

To the attention of whomever yet maintains the legacy of House Oakshade,
Let my words arrive without intrusion and with the due courtesy owed between the elder lines of our kindred peoples. I write under instruction from the High Matriarch Ilserae Carwynn of Cael’thorn, in accordance with customs of lineage inquiry and the respectful preservation of ancestral memory.

We find ourselves in need of clarification regarding an individual formerly known to us by name, though not by station: Caerith Oakshade, once a wanderer of curious reputation and Wood Elf origin, believed to have ties to your House. While many decades have passed since his last known appearance within the traditional holdings of the Clans, records suggest he may once have been bound to the line of Syranelle Oakshade—may her courage in the final defense ever be remembered.

It is not our wish to cause disturbance or evoke sorrow. Rather, we seek to confirm details of blood and absence. Specifically, whether Caerith Oakshade may still be counted among the living, and whether any documentation, oral or otherwise, remains of his movements or affiliations after his departure from Arandor those many years ago.

Our inquiries are, of course, discreet in nature. No formal record of this correspondence need be kept unless you so desire. This request bears no ill will, nor demand of debt or duty. It is, rather, an archival interest… one of personal import to certain holdings within our estate.

If any member of the Oakshade line remains—perhaps a direct descendant or blood relation—to confirm any knowledge of Caerith’s whereabouts and movements, such details would aid us in reconciling a thread of history whose unraveling has proven…unexpected.

It is not our wish to pry into grief, nor revisit stories long closed. But you may understand—those of high blood and long memory have need, from time to time, to place certain events into proper context. We trust you to weigh this inquiry with wisdom and dignity.

Respectfully in trust,
Virellen Tharandor
On behalf of Matriarch Ilserae of House Carwynn

[Rafe]

From the hand of Thalyn Oakshade,
Law Bringer of the Valiant Shield,
Arandor

To Virellen Tharandor,
On behalf of Matriarch Ilserae Carwynn of Cael’thorn,

Your words have reached me, and I answer as the last who yet keeps the name of Oakshade within Arandor.

I must confess at the outset: I have not seen nor heard from my uncle, Caerith Oakshade, since the day of my mother’s funeral. From that hour forward he left neither letter nor sign of his path. Whatever choices carried him beyond Arandor, they bore him far indeed.

I cannot confirm whether he yet lives, nor can I attest to any ties he may have forged beyond our borders. In this I find myself as blind as your own house historians. Yet your inquiry compels me to acknowledge a truth I had thought closed: his absence is not the same as his death. If House Carwynn believes there is cause to seek him still, then perhaps some fragment of his story remains to be discovered.

Should further word of his whereabouts surface, I will weigh it with the dignity owed both to my mother’s memory and to your Matriarch’s request. For though my regard for Caerith is diminished, my regard for truth is not.

In trust and candor,
Thalyn Oakshade
Law Bringer of the Order of the Valiant Shield

[AuroraWR]

From the Hand of Virellen Tharandor
On behalf of Matriarch Ilserae of House Carwynn
To the Esteemed Law Bringer, Thalyn Oakshade
Arandor

To Thalyn Oakshade, Law Bringer of the Valiant Shield,
Your candor is received with the respect it deserves, and House Carwynn honors the dignity with which you speak for the line of Oakshade. In such matters, truth—even when it is absent—is of greater weight than courtesy.

Permit me, then, to speak with a measure of frankness in return. While Caerith Oakshade’s path has ever been one of elusiveness, there are indications that remnants of his wandering may have sown threads not wholly forgotten. Such threads, if drawn into the public eye without care, risk tangling both our Houses in unwanted scrutiny.

It is the will of the Matriarch that such matters be kept discreet, not for shame, but for preservation of order. Your mother gave her life to shield this land from chaos; it is no dishonor to extend that same shield over a lineage better kept from rumor and idle tongues.

Should signs arise—whether in Arandor or beyond—that one of Caerith’s blood yet lingers, we would entreat your cooperation in ensuring their presence remains… tempered. Not erased, but contained, guided into quiet channels where neither scandal nor speculation may fester.

Such a request is not made lightly. Know that in exchange, House Carwynn would extend to you and yours the subtle supports our line may provide: counsel in lore, access to knowledge long warded, or quiet influence where it might ease your burdens. Reparations, too, may be considered, should necessity demand.

I trust in your discernment, Law Bringer, to weigh not only your House’s pride but also its continued place in a realm that too often forgets the strength of silence.

With the regard proper to your name,
Virellen Tharandor
Voice of Matriarch Ilserae of House Carwynn

[Rafe]

From the hand of Thalyn Oakshade,
Law Bringer of the Valiant Shield,
Arandor

To Virellen Tharandor,
Voice of Matriarch Ilserae of House Carwynn,

Your words, and the regard with which they are written, are received. I understand well the care that guides your counsel, and the wish to shield both our lines from idle rumor. In this, our Houses are aligned: scandal serves no one, and truth twisted into gossip brings only weakness.

Yet permit me to speak with equal frankness. If blood of Oakshade yet lingers, it is not a thing to be “contained.” It is a life, undeserving of silence. My uncle abandoned his duty; I will not. The absence of truth is no shield — it is a wound that festers.

Know this: I will exercise discretion, and I will not parade such matters before careless tongues. But nor will I deny or erase what is owed to kin. If order is to be preserved, it must rest on honesty, not on veils that smother it.

I trust that House Carwynn, with all its wisdom, can understand such resolve. Should you extend counsel or lore, I will weigh it with the respect due your name. But let us be clear — my silence will never be complicit. If pressed, I will not shield falsehood, nor suffer an innocent to be diminished for the comfort of others.

Consider this, then, not a refusal of your request, but a boundary: I will guard Oakshade blood as I guard the law itself. To demand less of me is to demand that I betray both.

In candor and restraint,
Thalyn Oakshade
Law Bringer of the Order of the Valiant Shield