فانی

EPHEMERA

Text of secured Library correspondence between the Obscurist Magnus and

Scholar Tyler, stationed at the Oxford Serapeum.Greetings to my fellow servant of the Library. I trust this message finds you well.

I regret troubling you at this time, given the unsettled state of affairs in England, but this is of the utmost importance.

Recently we detected unusual activity on the Codex, which indicates the possible existence of a budding Obscurist in Oxford. We are striving to trace this incident back to the young person – for, as I am sure you are aware, Obscurist talent begins to manifest before the age of twenty in every case – so that this individual may be properly secured and conveyed to us here at the Iron Tower. We believe this incident, which may well have been visible to another, occurred within the

Oxford Serapeum in the past three days. I shall require from you a detailed listing of all persons under the age of twenty who visited the Serapeum during that time so that we may more closely investigate,and shall also require that you quickly and quietly interview all staff to find out if anyone was witness to an unusual incident.

I am sure you understand the urgency of this matter.

No reply to this message has been found.Handwritten paper message from Scholar Tyler in Oxford to Morgan Hault: As I feared, your efforts to remove the traces you left on the Codex were unsuccessful. You are no longer safe here. The Obscurists, when they send the High Garda, will be looking for you in Oxford, and so you must leave immediately. I can buy you passage out, but you must leave tonight.

Go to London. It is possible at the London Serapeum you may have both more time and concealment to alter the records and hide yourself, but stay on your guard at all times.

If London does not serve, I fear you may have to go into the heart of the Library itself, in Alexandria. I have been told that the closer you can come to the Iron

Tower, the easier access is to the formulae of the Codex, and the records.

It may be the only place in the world where you can remove all traces of your talent from their sight, and secure yourfreedom.

I pray, for your sake, that you don’t have to resort to this extreme.

Try London first, and be safe.