Ely edit 17 Dec 2023:
1-6 qps, depending on length and quality.
Potential +1 qp: if part of a series: o
Total: 2 qps
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A huge mess of open books, papers full of notes and pictures, and also a few smaller stone items, is covering Callesa's desk. A few pieces of paper lie under the desk, since their fall over the edges. The fire in the fireplace cracks from time to time, and fills the room with warmth. An ageless face studies the scrap of paper with strange markings. It is the original one, from Lord Timmee's quest, not any of the later rubbed ones. The tinkers haven't been too eager to share anything with Callesa, and the reports from other Sisters were less complete, than Callesa liked.
Nevertheless, a few things were getting clearer, as Callesa kept comparing the marks with earlier works by Brown Ajah members from the last two thousand years. She decided to let Sister Verin know of her thoughs, even though she knew she'd offer little more than theories. Probably not enough to ease the older Sister's mind.
"Dearest Verin,
I understand your frustration with how insufficient have the efforts on finding more about the strange rock been. You've always been quite an optimist, when it comes to evaluating people's, and especially rulers', thirst for knowledge. As long as something isn't really holding a knife to their throats or purse, they aren't really feeling pressured to know more.
We've both had a good look at the stone. I haven't been able to identify it properly, comparing it to our collection. It looks a bit like sandstone, but it is physically much more resistant, especially to wind. The strange markings on the sides remind me of the portal stones, even though they are different and less regular. They don't look like writing to me, but I could be wrong. At the very least, they are surely neither the Old Tongue, nor the trolloc language that we sometimes see scribbled on walls of destroyed villages and towns.
The imprint of the markings on my scrap of paper, that's one of our main clues. While there were some reasons, especially the chronology of events and the sounds of the rock at channeling, to consult the paper with the Tinkers, I had much less success than Aelrena at getting more information. She got a few words, like "fire" and "another", I got nothing. Nevertheless, the markings might indeed be a forgotten way to record musical notes or lyrics for later reproduction.
Another hint at the rock having something to do with sound, or music, or message recording, is the reaction to the One Power channeled to it. I don't think it is a usual Ter'angreal, it doesn't feel like anything I've ever touched, used, researched, or channeled into in our collection. I find it more probable as a Ter'angral from the Age before the Age of Legends, just like the Portal Stones.
When we probe the rock with the One Power, we get consistent results, dependent on the element used. A loud voice, the source of which we couldn't clearly localise and we can hear it echoing all over the gap (so hard to say, whether there is only one source), shouts LOU (Air, Fire), REP (Water), I (earth), THE (Spirit). Either a combined and more complex weave is required to make words or a song, or perhaps these sounds corresponding to elements are like some of the elaborate and expensive Domani toys, where artisans attribute a certain button to a mechanical action of the object).
Why did the rock appear right now? Where was it hidden? Would it work the same, if we were able to physically move it to a different location?
I know I am steering rather far from facts, giving you my theory, and that much more experimentation would be needed to confirm any of this, but I think we have "found" (or been shown) an ancient recording device, or perhaps a sound amplifier. Imagine channeling and speaking in one place, and the whole area hearing the message. Or perhaps a song. If a message is already recorded, than the question is, how do we replay it? And whether we aren't risking to accidentally erase it.
Please, let me know, what do you think. We should multiply our efforts in searching for answers, as we are not the only ones in this race. I don't think the Shadow has been fighting us around this rock just because of its location.
Yours in Light,
Callesa."
With a smile, Aes Sedai closes the envelope and seals it not only with wax. Verin had taught her the weave, and Callesa had no clue how many others had such a privilege. The less known it was, the more efficient. She embraced Saidar, quickly weaved a complex pattern of Spirit and Fire, and wrapped it around the wax seal. Should anyone tamper with it without using the proper counter Ward first, the envelope would burst in flames.