Before the Line

The oldest name in the family record may not mean what they thought.

A notation in Graymere’s records points Mira and Oman toward older material once held in Aronnda. It offers a direction, but no promise that the answers have survived.

With Eyvee, Logie, and Liana, they travel east through unfamiliar towns and river country, following copied pages from one records house to the next. Eyvee must keep her identity hidden. Every discovery must be tested against what the documents can actually prove.

At the center of their search is Pataric: a name preserved in their family’s history, surrounded by words that resist a simple explanation. As older sources come to light, the question changes.

They set out to learn who came before them. Now they must ask what happened before the line began.

The records concern their family. That does not mean the family owes every answer to those who want to study it.