Post by Dunwik on Nov 8, 2022 0:35:43 GMT
A package of moderate size would arrive at the Argent Palace, having been brought there all the way from Miskatonic. The box itself had an official stamp from the Dunwikki embassy on it, but the stamp was two years out-of-date. Curiously, the contents inside were extremely fresh, and all involved in shipping the package said it had been sent only a few days prior.
The box and its contents were addressed as a gift to "His Ephemeral Majesty, Florin-Aurelius Valentinian Charles Sebastian Eincrois von Marcum-Hollestra, Emperor Elect and Dictator Perpetuo of the Imperium Divinium, King of Divinium, Marcum, and Tanysira, High King of the Gankands, First Consul of Estraria, Sovereign Prince of Chalphys, Grand Duke of Tateland, Suzerain of the Petrine Doninions, Archduke of St Helena, Prince Popular of Chalphys and of Sorleis, Duke of Rigel, Munflotd, and Hweitzudes, Count of Mainzell, Leostädtt, Astranum, Ludenz, Coronae’i’Xarn, Margrave of Neuvele and Gautier, Rightful King of Duom Asderaordia, First Citizen of the Empire, Son of Venus and Mars, Inheritor of the Host of Difid" and were sent by Percival Clarke, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs under Grand Chairman Nelson. Within the box was a variety of candies all carefully assorted by different flavors, colored brightly and surprisingly for something from Dunwik, apparently free of all psychoactive substances. A little card showed what each color was flavored for, under the assumption that Florin would be unfamiliar with the native, tropical fruits of Dunwik.
Perhaps it was a gift for him to experience the flavors of mangoes, bananas and pineapples, but the biggest gift was a massive book, thickly bound and freshly printed. Within was a dazzling arrangement of illustrations and reconstructions of ancient men, dinosaurs, trilobites, and other, even more exotic things.
The book was arranged as a "journey through time" beginning with an excerpt from the famous Dunwikki author I.M Wells's The Time Machine, then briefly describing the theory of natural selection, then it started in the modern day with images of a few bones of living things, and a demonstration of how reconstruction may or may not be accurate with a hippopotamus skeleton being "reconstructed." As the book went on, it grew further back in time, past prehistoric man, hominid creatures, extinct mammals, and then more exotic. Dinosaurs, then before the dinosaurs, to bizarre and alien creatures like Hallucigenia and Anomalocaris. At the halfway point of the book, it reached into deep time where there were no fossils and some speculation on early life.
Then, the book took a particularly strange turn, inviting the reader to imagine a world in the far future, and the possible shapes creatures would take. Strange, hyper-evolved animals, drawn both as they would appear in life and death graced the pages. Gigantic, land-walking squids, parrots with hands instead of talons, and flying jellyfish were intermingled with dogs that looked like saber-toothed tigers and all other manners of insane and bizarre creatures.
The book was autographed by a couple of people including the author, the illustrator, Percival Clarke, and Howard Philips Nelson, and sent with a small note saying that Dunwik will always be a friend - if only they are treated with friendship in turn.
The box and its contents were addressed as a gift to "His Ephemeral Majesty, Florin-Aurelius Valentinian Charles Sebastian Eincrois von Marcum-Hollestra, Emperor Elect and Dictator Perpetuo of the Imperium Divinium, King of Divinium, Marcum, and Tanysira, High King of the Gankands, First Consul of Estraria, Sovereign Prince of Chalphys, Grand Duke of Tateland, Suzerain of the Petrine Doninions, Archduke of St Helena, Prince Popular of Chalphys and of Sorleis, Duke of Rigel, Munflotd, and Hweitzudes, Count of Mainzell, Leostädtt, Astranum, Ludenz, Coronae’i’Xarn, Margrave of Neuvele and Gautier, Rightful King of Duom Asderaordia, First Citizen of the Empire, Son of Venus and Mars, Inheritor of the Host of Difid" and were sent by Percival Clarke, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs under Grand Chairman Nelson. Within the box was a variety of candies all carefully assorted by different flavors, colored brightly and surprisingly for something from Dunwik, apparently free of all psychoactive substances. A little card showed what each color was flavored for, under the assumption that Florin would be unfamiliar with the native, tropical fruits of Dunwik.
Perhaps it was a gift for him to experience the flavors of mangoes, bananas and pineapples, but the biggest gift was a massive book, thickly bound and freshly printed. Within was a dazzling arrangement of illustrations and reconstructions of ancient men, dinosaurs, trilobites, and other, even more exotic things.
The book was arranged as a "journey through time" beginning with an excerpt from the famous Dunwikki author I.M Wells's The Time Machine, then briefly describing the theory of natural selection, then it started in the modern day with images of a few bones of living things, and a demonstration of how reconstruction may or may not be accurate with a hippopotamus skeleton being "reconstructed." As the book went on, it grew further back in time, past prehistoric man, hominid creatures, extinct mammals, and then more exotic. Dinosaurs, then before the dinosaurs, to bizarre and alien creatures like Hallucigenia and Anomalocaris. At the halfway point of the book, it reached into deep time where there were no fossils and some speculation on early life.
Then, the book took a particularly strange turn, inviting the reader to imagine a world in the far future, and the possible shapes creatures would take. Strange, hyper-evolved animals, drawn both as they would appear in life and death graced the pages. Gigantic, land-walking squids, parrots with hands instead of talons, and flying jellyfish were intermingled with dogs that looked like saber-toothed tigers and all other manners of insane and bizarre creatures.
The book was autographed by a couple of people including the author, the illustrator, Percival Clarke, and Howard Philips Nelson, and sent with a small note saying that Dunwik will always be a friend - if only they are treated with friendship in turn.