DCCLXXXIX.
Recorded by Scribe Ixolt

What follows is an unsent letter to the Hero of the Guardian-tribe, dictated by the great Emperor Calus:

"Ah, Light-born! What a joy it has been to watch you!

"When I invited you aboard my Leviathan the first time, it was an exceptional pleasure to see you go through a test I had designed myself. It was uniquely suited to your talents, I would later realize, though that wasn't my intention. Just a happy trick of fate that the talents I sought were those that you possess.

"When you shot the cup from my Automaton's hand? Ah, Guardian... My soul lit up with longing.

"And when my beautiful ship was invaded—twice, in fact!—by the Vex Mind, Argos, and later by the hateful Val Ca'uor, these visits were not so... predictable. You navigated the dangerous particularities of my lovely home with such... grace. Enthusiasm.

"More than anything else, that delighted me: your enthusiasm for a challenge. Watching you leap nimbly through my Reactor! Seeing you lead your team in perfect synchrony against the jealous Val Ca'uor! How it all tickled me!

"These exploits drew me to you. They inspired me to fashion you a chalice of your very own, that you might drink deeply of my royal blood and be enriched. And I knew the attraction was mutual, for you leapt head-first into my Menagerie. You took my every gift, you answered my every challenge. That day you gallantly slew Gahlran, golden chalice in hand—that was the day I truly knew we were meant to be together.

"I am ensnared by you, Guardian. I wish to possess you as my own until the end of existence."