A Coward's Farewell

Haoyu, I know I've lost the trust of the settlement, so don't try to convince me otherwise. That blowhard Dauti sits in the tavern all day, crafting stories of my cowardice to anyone who'll listen. At first, I dismissed his falsehoods, believing the people of Windsward would surely be able to see through the lies, but then I heard others repeating his fishwives' tales, and I had a moment of doubt. Was it cowardice that motivated me to abandon the Cynefin Mine to the Lost? Have we let the Lost Pirates on the coast grow too strong for us to ever be able to contain them? Maybe Dauti is right. I don't know anymore. I've decided to resign as Speaker of the Winds and leave Corinth. I'll visit my cousin in First Light and then return to Ebonscale to see if I can be any use there in strengthening the resistance to the Empress, as I have heard her ambitions have taken a dark turn. I'll send you this only after I've gone, because I won't allow you to convince me to stay again, and as much as I will miss you, I would ask you not to come after me. You must stay in Windsward. If that bastard Dauti becomes Lost, as I expect, then the settlement will need you. Your patience, your optimism… they've been my strength. I thank you for that and hope we may meet again. On Aeternum, anything is possible. Your former Speaker, Tse Changying