Nagisa's Letter

Description
Nagisa's letter is found in the P.O. box and read out during SBR 1.19. It is a correspondence from Nagisa, who seems to be one of Marie's old friends. In addition to the letter itself, Sam says that there was also a complex diagram on the back featuring interlocking pentagrams and Algiz symbols. They state that they've never seen it before in their life, but it is somehow familiar.

The letter reads as follows:

"Dear Madame Marie,

''I apologise for how long it has taken me to respond to your previous request. Communication in the mountains is slow, and it takes several days to walk down to the nearest village to retrieve post, and then, of course, any response takes weeks to get from the village into the city, and then travel across several seas to get to you, and of course, I have taken some time to look into the issue you described, and have found that there are some potential issues with your plan as previously presented.''

''The design you suggest for the containment of a large amount of arcane power is elegant, yes, but it does indeed have the suspected crucial flaw in that whilst it will be contained, it will most certainly not be inert. Algis is a powerful symbol, and combined with a binding spell, it can keep a lot of raw power contained. But it’s not an infinite resource, as you say. It is only a matter of time before those bindings break and whatever you are attempting to hold back breaks through.''

''I assume from the tone of your letter and the level of detail supplied that we are not talking in mere hypotheticals. I know you to be a powerful witch with a surprising amount of raw talent for someone who never apprenticed and only in the last decade or so took an interest in the study of the arcane.''

''I recall the day when I first encountered you, a plucky young witch with two daughters barely out of infancy, reading fortunes from a most peculiar crystal ball in a tent on Brighton Pier. It was late evening in July. There were still a few children on the beach. To my memory your girls were sitting in old fashioned deck chairs on the boardwalk. They watched me with wary eyes as I peeled back the tent flap.''

''You were not at all what I had pictured from your rapidly growing reputation. Small, unassuming, a head of mousy hair half-hidden under a silk scarf decorated with stars. There was great power in that tent. I could smell it. You caressed the crystal ball on the table, though it was nothing like any other I’d seen. In its depths, the static twinkles shifted under my gaze and I found myself transfixed.''

I confess, Marie, I do not bring this up to simply reminisce.

I know that crystal ball is more than it seems to be.

''If you have truly done what you described in your last letter and trapped some kind of arcane creature which is now seeking to break free of those bonds, I must warn you, Marie, that though we meddle in great magics, there are some forces that should not be tampered with, that are beyond our control. We need to recognise them when we see them or risk falling prey to things we are incapable of comprehending.''

''You’ve been a part of the community long enough now to know that there are rumours of a witch who walks here and there, who can be sought only by relinquishing your agency in that search and giving in to desire alone. They say he wears a flat cap and shell suit. If you are reaching points of desperation, Marie, and are seeking to control things which cannot hope to be controlled, he may find you and offer you something you will be hard pressed to refuse.''

''Do not accept his offer, Marie. I say this as a friend, but I do not say it lightly. Whatever you have done, take what steps you can to make it undone, and stay as safe as possible. I know you are in communication with the bog witch Rhytidia Delphus and that you have at least met the Hedge Witch Oliver Boleyn, so perhaps with their help, and that of your assistants, you might be able to right whatever wrongs have been done.''

Per arcanum vires circa nos,

Nagisa"

History
In line with the episode airing date, the letter arrives at the Spirit Box Radio studio just before the 25th March 2021, though given the initial apology at the lateness of the response both due to research and the postal service, we can assume that it was sent long before that date.

Appearances

 * SBR 1.19: Testimonial
 * SBR 1.24: Indolence

Trivia

 * The Latin at the end of the letter translates to "By the Arcane Forces Around Us".