Letter from Fortinas to Garvan about Barnabas

My King, eternal would be your reign!

I am honored that you have given me the task to clarify the “matter” with Barnabas. However, I could not do this alone. Too complex, too important is the answer to the question you asked me:

How can I speak with Barnabas? How can I see him?

Our Savior, Saint Barnabas, he who makes the walls of our beloved city stand against the curse of Terra, praised be his sacrifice, is not easy to find. He exerts all his strength, and our apothecaries give him potions to fulfill his sacred task. He who made the sacrifice did so knowing he would never again see the light. 

For our enemies, it would be of immeasurable value to know exactly which place of the wall he is at the moment, so they could find him specifically. Therefore, only he knows when and where he is roaming our walls to protect Ankor Mortis. 

Such was the difficulty of the task you set for me, and yet I understand the reason for it. Yes, there must be a way for our king to find Barnabas and yes, there must be a way to speak with him, especially in times of great need. 

That our city is safe is due to the cunning and power of our Saint. One must have extraordinary abilities to stand up to the curse of Terra on his own. My research does not offer a simple solution to your wish. Much must be expended to achieve great things. A task such as seeing Barnabas face to face, is especially difficult. 

For this, he, who tirelessly roams the walls, must first be called to a place. A formula for this exists. I found it and took helpers, but Barnabas always eluded our grasp, no matter how hard we tried. 

Only the magic chains, which I had forged, are able to bind Barnabas in one place for a certain time. 

However, to open the gate to him and to face him directly requires much more than forging magic! There must be at least ten chain links, otherwise it will not hold! You absolutely must forge it in a powerful place, otherwise I’ve found that it drains the forge too much! It was also sacrificial in other ways! At least one chain link had to be consecrated with blood, and at least one had to be wet with tears. The more different the chain links, the more durable! I don’t want to complain too much, but we truly exhausted ourselves completing this task.

We have researched and analyzed, read and interpreted ancient texts, and now I can tell you what conditions are likely to be needed to see Barnabas: No less than a king is required, accompanied by a knight, a healer, a mage, a merchant, a thief, and finally a beggar, to open the way to Barnabas. Seven locks, no two locks the same, but it was never meant to be that way. 

We don’t think Barnabas even intended to create a way to bring him back to the light, but apparently minds before  you have wondered how it can be done. The prerequisite for this is that Barnabas is banished in one place, which can only succeed with the magic chains. Only then will the locks appear. Where these locks appear, I could not find out, but I think they will not be far away. 

The one question that remains is how and in what order to open the locks. From the decaying hands of an apothecary, I was able to solve a document written by none other than St. Barnabas himself!

The results of my research are extremely sensitive, and in the wrong hands they could mean disaster for our beloved city. So I will not only use encryption, but also let the Eye of Ignis watch over these lines! You know what you have to do. 

I hope I could serve you! Your devoted servant Fortinas