Field Naturalist

Monthly correspondence from the Pendleberry Archive, delivered by post.

It is my hope that these records find their way safely to you, wherever in the Outer Realm you may be reading them.

For many years, we believed the old correspondence routes between our realms had been lost forever. Imagine my delight when the first letters from the Outer Realm began arriving upon my desk once again.

Since then, I have made it my business to record as much of the Once Kingdoms as I am able, particularly our dragons, whose habits continue to surprise me no matter how many years I spend in their company.

Each month, Field Naturalists receive a parcel I have carefully prepared within the Pendleberry Archive, including:

• My illustrated Field Notes, documenting the latest dragon survey from somewhere within the Once Kingdoms.
• The Daily Pendleberry, a collectors’ edition of the town newspaper, filled with local news, weather, notices and the occasional unexplained occurrence.
• A personal letter from me, written from my desk at the Archive, or wherever the month’s work has carried me.
• A collectible stamp, issued from a different corner of the Once Kingdoms each month.
• A handmade replica of a dragon scale recovered during the latest survey, prepared for your own collection and study.

Every month’s correspondence is folded, stamped and sealed in Pendleberry before beginning its journey across the old roads to the Outer Realm.

Each dragon scale is handmade for that month’s survey, so no two are ever quite alike. Some catch the light in unexpected ways. Others bear curious textures or markings that seem almost to tell stories of their own. These are precisely the details a good naturalist learns to notice.

It is my hope that, over time, your shelves will begin to resemble those of the Archive itself: a drawer of dragon scales, a stack of well-thumbed field notes, a growing collection of stamps from kingdoms many in the Outer Realm believe exist only in stories.

Do keep them well. They may be the only proof in the Outer Realm that the Once Kingdoms are still here, waiting just beyond the old roads.

It is a curious thing to hold in one's hands a letter that has travelled between worlds.

Happily, curiosity has always been my favourite flavour.

– Lune