Mavrozomis estate, Athens, Late summer 1095

In a small room in the Mavrozomis estate, sparsely furnished with only a table and a pair of chairs, two men are seated one summer night, far later than one would expect to find members of the household awake. One of the men is seated in a corner of the room, his features shrouded by a heavy cloak. The only readily apparent identifying features he has are the fact that he is slightly above average height, and the bit of light colored hair peeking out from under the hood of his cloak. Well, those and a small symbol on the left breast of his cloak, obscured by the darkness and folds of fabric.

The other man is seated at the table. He is of average height, with dark hair. Despite being in his night clothes, the dark circles under his eyes suggest he has been awake to this hour rather than roused from bed for the meeting. Although likely once of medium build, the man looks thin now, as if from long illness or lack of food, his skin drawn tight over sunken cheekbones. Acquaintances of the man would recognize him as Kosmas Mavrozomis, comes of Athens, although they'd remark on his haggard appearance.

Kosmas sits hunched over the table, writing on a sheet of paper. His hand shakes as he writes, though whether from illness or fear it is hard to say. Every few sentences he looks up at the other man in the room, who nods and motions for him to continue. This goes on for a short while, until it appears he is finally finished. Kosmas signs the letter with his seal, stands and shows it to the other man, who nods and takes it from him. As the man then leaves, Kosmas lets out a sigh of relief. He sits down again at the table and falls asleep with his head resting in in arms, where his servants will find him that morning.

While it is impossible to say for sure what Kosmas wrote for his guess that night, shortly after their meeting a letter with his seal begins to circulate, it's contents causing some amount of stir among those close to House Asteri. Nonetheless, when asked Kosmas affirms it completely, and friends of his note that his health is returning, although gauntness seems to have been exchanged for a haunted look, and he can be found frequently looking over his shoulder, and jumping at sudden noises.

The contents of the letter are as follows:

I, Kosmas Mavrozomis, Comes of Athens,
find myself no longer able to lead House Asteri due to poor health and the stress inherent in the position. For the good of my House and my health, I hereby grant dominion over Athens to Ioannis Kalameteros, and allow him to voluntarily rescind his oath to me, so that he may become House leader. As I wish to remain of service to House Asteri, I swear an oath of fealty to Nevoulos ek Philadelphius.