The letter is written on clean white paper with black ink in a shaky handwriting
Enlightened Ones,
I feel like I am betraying my son by even writing you but I fear for his safety too much to stay silent. I loved my Claudius from the first moment I held him, club foot and all. I’ve watched the other children run and jump and play while he limped along as best he could behind them. He never stopped trying. I never knew that a broken heart could swell with pride.
Claudius came of age today. It is a tradition in our village that when a man comes of age he is to climb as high as he can on Mount Fatum and bring back one of the crystals that form there. The Elders came to Claudius and told him he did not have to go and that there was no shame in it. Claudius stood straight and tall and told us all that not only would he go but he would bring back the white crystals found at the very summit.
We stand now at the foot of Fatum watching Claudius pick his way among the rocky path leaning heavily on the ironwood staff his father carved for him. Every fiber of my being cries out for someone to stop but I dare not give it voice. For as certain as Mount Fatum will crush his body, stopping him will crush his spirit.
How do you help someone that will be destroyed by being helped? If any can solve this conundrum, it is you, Enlightened Ones. I leave this message on the altar at the base of Fatum and trust the north winds to bring it to you safely.