Travels of an Ancient Magickian

It has been some time [...] I now have the means to understand the Faelang tablet. The text still feels quite alien to my eyes, and I imagine it will take a great deal of study to parse all of the knowledge [...] Kallikrates had his many doubts about my work, but now that I see my toils realised [...] he would share my enthusiasm. I miss him dearly when I have such joyous news to share. [...] Jasim is leading yet another expedition into the Worlds Beyond, and I have been invited to follow. It seems he wishes for the aid of [...] not merely to sell me what treasures he finds. They are departing from very near Sana’a, [...] I may find signs of my Kallikrates there. [...] unsure of the answer I will give Jasim, but it would, as well, be opportune to [...]

[...] I tire of the way Jasim coddles me, and of the way he belittles his assistants. Their knowledge of the Worlds Beyond [...] adamant refusal to accept their suggestions [...] our detriment. [...] though I have not remained behind. In fact, I sit now on the edge of a great precipice in the Worlds Beyond. Jasim told me that I was mad for attempting such an excursion alone, [...] he underestimates my knowledge of the magickal arts. [...] perhaps I have overestimated it. I have only just begun my reading [...] I see its descriptions of the Worlds as vastly more than what I can capture in my own tongue. There is a clarity of intention [...] detailed specificity that gives such colour to their descriptions. There is no room for interpretation here [...] I feel exactly as its author did, and in turn I begin to see this land for all the potential they saw. [...] great, untapped magick [...] I command very little of it.

The Worlds Beyond are [...] Creatures unlike any Earthly animal, geography that seems impossible. [...] constructions here, shaped as if the stone itself grew to form foundations, covered with etched Faelang symbols. They call to me as I have never felt, and I cannot but wonder who their author [...] I might someday leave such legacy. Again, I am reminded of Faelang’s specificity [...] It speaks of each and every element of the Worlds as if they were brimming with limitless internal life. I have only begun to glimpse [...] Despite these many discoveries, I find no sign of Kallikrates. I have seen no human spirits [...] we claim these Worlds as the domain of the dead, I am beginning to have doubts. Though perhaps this is simply not [...] I am grateful for every piece of knowledge I gain, but I cannot hide my disappointment. I had truly hoped to find him here, to hold him [...] Now is not the time, however. Sifting through the knowledge held here could take a lifetime [...] I must not relent.

[...] latest section seems to put all other knowledge in a new context. I can scarcely describe it in this limited language, but [...] Magick is no simple command from magickian to ensorcelled object [...] a bargain entered into from both sides. One’s own intrinsic nature [...] irrevocable dialogue with all other forms of being, as equals [...] I see the remnants of this intent in the old methods, but now [...] [...] I lacked that knowledge until now, and I believe this is the reason why I have had so little success in my search for Kallikrates. [...] he spoke to me of an island he called Menuthias, which housed the ancient kingdom of Kôr. It was a rumour that fascinated him in life, and a place with which his soul would readily make bargain in death. There, I [...] his wayward spirit, and bid it return to me anew. I will depart from Sana’a in early morning, with a caravan of merchants heading West, then South from Men-nefer. I [...] cross to the Island alone, and seek the ruins of Kôr.

My first test [...] rather than following the misunderstood gestures and rhymes of the old methods, I approached magick anew, using the abstract mathematics of Faelang [...] I entreated the sea for safe passage, and we talked for a time, though I heard her words not with my ears. Earnest conversation was all she asked, and I soon stood on the shore of Menuthias, carried by the [...] those from the mainland call the island Unguja. [...] old kingdom I found easily, and the entrance to the Worlds Beyond soon after. The World here takes after the ruins [...] crumbling of the stone extends to the ground itself, dislodged in great pieces, pulled upward on the very air. [...] I have taken to calling this place Kôr’asli. Now that I am settled [...] search for Kallikrates’ spirit. I have faith that he is here somewhere, and that I will be able to bind him. [...] I find that he is absent, there is another theory of his whereabouts. I will find him, and at last, I will atone for sending him to this fate.