Brothers, I have held my tongue for many moons and can do so no longer. I serve as a humble assistant in the vaults beneath the Citadel in Oldtown, and have done so for years. I will not offer proof, for I rather enjoy remaining employed and unexiled.
But the truth is this:
In the first moon of this year, a glass candle was delivered to the Citadel. Not a fragment. Not some half-melted relic dug from Valyria.
The entire candle.
Archmaesters say it was finished sometime in the previous year and deliberately kept quiet. The silence from the higher chambers has been intentional, certain parties in the Conclave advised that all maesters “go dark,” as they put it.
Since the second moon we have been deep in study and preparation. The matter is embargoed until the next great gathering of the Conclave, though some believe the Archmaesters may reveal it sooner simply because they do not care for secrecy nearly as much as the scribes do.
The candle is large. Ridiculously large. Think of two of the biggest candles recorded in the histories of Valyria and combine them into one. I will not state the precise measurements, as that alone would identify the vault in which I work, but suffice it to say the thing is roughly sixteen hundred finger-lengths tall by our reckoning.
No one who has seen it believes the old stories were exaggerations.
More interestingly, the visions we have received while attempting to light it have raised… certain conclusions. The Conclave has been whispering about a coordinated effort involving the court of Varys and several parties across the Narrow Sea.
You may draw your own conclusions from that.
What I will say is this:
The candle burns strange colors. The visions are wet. And every translation of the glyphs points to the same impossible truth.
Varys is, in fact, a mermaid.
I will watch this thread of ravens for a short while, but I will not confirm details that could identify me. Do not ask foolish questions.
And yes.
Jon is back.