WWW #33: The Witness

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond Number.

Whirling through the air,

spinning,

making its way towards the ground.

A single link of sausage

bounces on the carpet from the open mouth of Ursulan.

Ursulan,

you behold the wizard Tefmet

standing in front of a series of enchanted glass lenses, each about eight inches thick, but about 16 feet wide.

The smallest, the largest is about 24 feet wide.

You recall these lenses from the Calabel Nautomantic apparatus,

aka the Derrick, the Wizard's Derrick in the harbor of Port Talon.

What is Ursulan feeling in this moment as Tefmet continues to describe minutiae and details of the lenses.

We see here along the ridge the enchantment.

This was placed here specifically to initiate binding for an as-yet unknown.

It fades off as you

in this moment are thinking, what?

Ursulan,

I think, loses track of his body.

He's not thinking about the food in his hands or in his mouth.

He's just thinking about

the nauseous,

shaking

feeling

that he had

when he stood up there with Morrow as he gleefully turned on the Derek.

And

subconsciously, is going to rise and kind of enter the space with the witches with his hand on his sword.

Tef met

in the middle of speaking.

We believe that this magic may be three to five.

Hello, sir.

Hi, sir.

Sorry, sorry.

Hello?

Uh, and Tefmet steps back and puts their hands up as Ursulan approaches.

Where did you get those?

These, uh, you see that Indry looks over and looks to you, Ame, as a member of your retinue asks a question.

Where did you get those?

Tefmet looks to Inri, looks back to Ursulan.

These were collected from

a warehouse in the city of Caro.

They weren't destroyed.

No.

They were recovered.

Our understanding is they were recovered from a shipwreck of some kind by the island of Akam.

Amy feels a

deep

drowning feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Almost hear those waves, the screams of the wizards.

Just remembering the mournful gaze of Norhal.

I

clear my throat and

just to sort of remind Ursulan of my presence.

And if he wishes,

a smell of

chamomile and lavender and

scents of the cottage drifts towards him and he can

choose to

fail a save of against calm emotions.

But only if he wishes.

I'm gonna resist.

I'm gonna attempt to resist.

With the 12, I fail.

Is the intention for the spell to work even if Ursulan resists?

If he resists, it will not.

It will just remain a scent.

There's a moment where you actually feel the magic recoil from you, Ursulan.

In the moment

you feel it is is like pushing past a hand on your shoulder.

In this moment, Ursulan realizes that it was.

He should not have spoken, but he's not going to move.

Tefmet looks to you and says, these were recovered from a warehouse.

Our understanding was that they had been recovered and were on their way to the citadel.

The

do you recognize anything placed upon these tables?

Ursulan will look at Ahme.

We have

not encountered them directly, but have heard rumors.

Uh give me a deception check.

And inside check from Ursulan.

Yeah.

Thirteen.

Eighteen insight.

Ahme's lying.

Uh and

your fellow witches

look to Ursulan and see his reaction and know that you are lying.

You see, Grimor says,

What?

This reaction

to a thing you've heard of?

What did you hear of?

Giant glass lenses?

I'm

going to look at Ursulan

inside check.

22.

Deeply hurt and confused as to why we are not.

Why we would make any attempt to obfuscate

one of the most horrifying things we've ever seen.

Ursulan's mind can't see the power in withholding information in this moment.

Tefmet looks at Ursulan and looks back at Ahme

and says,

With the permission of my host, the Witch of the Wind and Stars, may I present some questions to our honored friend?

And you see that Indry says,

With your permission, Witch of the World's Heart,

might the Wizard Tefmet ask some questions of your guardian, Ursulan?

I would not wish for Ursulan to have to speak in front of these those assembled.

Why?

Ask Marara.

If I were to discover evidence towards

controlling and capturing of witches, I would not wish to

discuss such a truly troubling thing in front of a large group.

Liar!

Grimoire leans forward and says, I won't be lied to.

Isn't it obvious?

I know she walks among us now.

What did I find

in the staff of that wizard whose lifeblood I drank?

What's to say the contract isn't signed right now?

What's to say a worm hasn't wiggled its way into our heart,

sister?

Hakea turns to you, Ahme, and says,

Are you speaking truth

or lie, Witch of the World's Heart?

I spoke mistakenly.

I have seen.

items of

that nature before.

Tefmet looks at you, looking heartbroken.

When you came to my quarters to offer me a remedy,

were you acting.

Were you acting on behalf of the Citadel in that moment?

No.

No, I'm no agent of the Citadel.

In fact...

I wonder that I would even be welcomed back there.

Not a witting agent of the Citadel, certainly.

Well, we all have our little friends outside of this coven, don't we, Marara?

Don't lie again.

Not to us.

If the truth can't protect your friends, they're better off unprotected.

Ursulan.

Please do us the kindness of answering Tefmet's questions.

You are Ahme's guardian, not her servant.

You are in her retinue, not in her employ.

Act freely.

Tafmet looks at you and says,

Ursulan, honored friend, have you beheld these glass disks before?

Yes.

Where?

Port Talon.

City in the northeast of Accom, yes.

Yes.

Indri nods to Tefmet, and you see draws something on a scroll, a small list of places to look after with her massive library of stars.

And you see that Tefmet looks at you and says, we had not had time to study these carefully or closely.

We believe that under the right circumstances, they may have the power to buy.

They have the power.

They held a great spirit.

A ripple goes out through the assembled group here.

Perhaps none more so forcibly.

You see Heinruhl, the archer, a number of those spirits that are gathered here react sort of the most powerfully to what you have just said.

Heinruhl looks at you.

Held

a great one?

Held him

against his will?

Not exactly.

He

made the choice to be held that he would not endanger those in Port Talon.

That the amount of strength he would need to overcome it would come at great cost to those who lived there.

I was held.

Hakea looks around.

You see that even Heinrule, the archer, these other spirits,

they know what it means to be held.

There are no great spirits in this room right now, but you can see there is some kind of relief at the idea that a great one has not already been held against their will, even though they themselves could easily be held.

Hakeia looks and says,

Then they are very close.

Very close indeed.

Indri looks at Tefmet.

What do you make of this, Tefmeth?

This knowledge you have cleaned from Ursulan?

Tefmet says, Um,

if this feat has already been accomplished, they are

much closer than we imagined.

Did the missives that you intercepted regarding these lenses.

Did they say that

the Citadel was seeking to employ these lenses?

Or simply to examine the work of

truly a madman?

Tefmet furrows their brow and looks at you and says, What?

What do you...

what do you speak of, a madman?

The wizard who had built this monstrous contraption was acting alone.

Using the resources of the Citadel, but without their knowledge.

Give me an insight check.

23.

Tefmet regards you with condescension and pity.

As

one

who must spend

an inordinate amount of my arcane prowess constantly

to avoid the detection and sight of the citadel.

Allow me to assure you, which of the world's heart,

there is not much the citadel cannot see.

Indri looks back up at Tefmet

and says,

This window of opportunity that you believe to be rapidly shutting.

Tefmet says,

Slightly more shuttered than I believed at the beginning of this presentation.

Which of the wind and stars?

You see, the archer looks over, and Akea says,

My archer, Convi, who I should have brought

long before,

wishes to speak.

See, Convi goes,

I am not trad

the world of Umura

for years long,

a sight

from Achaia's bidding.

In the skies of the world of spirits, I have seen strange clouds move against the wind.

In the surface of a great grey lake,

where

footprints of leather boots left upon the surface of the water.

In the house of my father are twelve mighty steeds.

And in the shadows of twilight that came for the very first time to those stables was a thirteenth horse with eyes of glass who vanished in a twinkling.

Movements upon the world of spirits.

Strange things unfolding.

Paths not of our own keeping,

put

step by step into the side of our world.

Indri speaks and says,

Giant vermin stalk the Evermere.

The dead walk openly and roof.

Strange times are upon us.

Tefmet says,

if, as the spirit Convi suggests, these

I know not what constitutes as strange in the world of spirits, but if you have seen things that trouble you, this would map to what we have collected in these intercepted missives: that the reach of the citadel within and to

the world of spirits has lengthened.

Even now, within their armies, there are

conjurations,

spirits not merely bound but created.

Marara speaks and says, The Tamori.

Tefmet regards the coven,

the wizards' talent for constructs, the secret words of the lingua arcana to animate stone and

invite the spirit into mundane objects.

Their talent for constructs now passes to

not only animate stone and wood and straw, but to animate magic itself,

to invite the life-giving breath of the world of spirits into breath, nested.

And you see, the witches, you like, Hakeea furrows her brow and says, Magic nested within magic to animate magic.

What nonsense is this?

Tefmet steeples their fingers.

The majesty of the spirit touches the world of the real,

and the sublime becomes mundane

and when the mundane reaches back to the sublime

we are capable of creating great nonsense

magic animating magic

i have not come here to sour the coven against wizardry itself without the gifts of my library this knowledge could not have come here but our

reach is limited,

and there must be some answer to the citadel, and it cannot come from us.

We are not strong enough.

But this coven of elders, the greatest of witches in Umora, perhaps can.

What resources we have are yours, but there are no resources greater to us than the resource of knowledge itself.

And that is what I have brought here to make a case before the Coven of Elders.

The time

for scuttling and scurrying and hiding and worrying and

searching for answers is at an end.

More research is not a luxury we have the time for.

The time for action is upon us.

The words of the wizard Tefmet are well taken.

Tefmet offers

knowledge,

but knowledge is not wisdom.

Information of the actions of the citadel we understand,

and amongst this coven have each of us abjured and commanded spirits who stepped from boundaries and attempted to harm their brethren or those of the world of Umora.

What I believe we now behold

is not

the abjuration and binding of spirits

for ends of the spirit nor magic itself,

but a final crassness that seeks to shatter the foundations of magic itself.

The binding of great spirits to ends ends mundane

To harness the sun and moon

as common plowhorses

To pull engines of war and rend this world asunder

There is one

who already stands against them

There is one

whose friendship we would do well to honor.

The King of Night

strides this world,

and it is under his banner that our greatest chance of victory remains.

The will of this coven is strongest in its unanimity.

But even without us,

does the King of Night pose a worthy adversary to the Citadel?

The King of Night attacked a member of this coven,

breaking truce with her.

This was not an action in which he was advised this course by me.

And

he has paid a price for that gambit.

However,

Mighty he is.

He commands the house of Tikal and wears the stone of Kostvi.

To his banner have sworn fealty the king of storms and Orima of the reaching green.

In Ruve are there twelve spirits that the warlocks of that land have sworn their fealty, and each of those twelve

a mask of the king of night.

By himself

does the pilgrim under understars hold power unimaginable, such that there are no score of wizards on the world that I feel could move against him and survive or even scathe him.

And yet he does not walk alone.

By his side walk great spirits, every warlock of the land of Ruve and some million, million soldiers.

He is our chance, and with our power,

united,

she says as she whips to Ahme.

His victory is all but guaranteed,

and this brief window of peril for our world

may be forbade and ended if we have the strength and courage to act.

The million, million Ruvians

who have been

given powers by great spirits and the Stranger in Black.

What will happen to them when the Citadel is defeated?

Marara says, I imagine some great number of them will be destroyed by the Citadel in this effort.

However, my understanding is that the Citadel has already set that as one of their primary objectives, with no interference from the world of spirits whatsoever.

But I mean

those Ruvians remaining,

I suppose they will relinquish this power that has been granted to them?

I'm certain that I do not know.

It does seem that in this brief window with which we have to act,

we are willing to forego

a lot of assurances of safety for the future to the realm of magic.

I think only of of

that.

Because

it is in human nature to seek and take

and

survive

however they may.

Indri speaks.

Well, sister, for the future to be

protected, it would do us well to first ensure that it occurs at all.

Merara, thank you for

your

advisement.

Do you wish to put this forward before the Coven as a motion?

I do.

Very well.

Then, as a matter of coven interest, we will hold a vote on whether

the Coven

shall join the King of Night.

You see, she turns and says, Merara, you have refrained from asking for this vote before.

Do you truly wish to ask for it now?

Merara says,

Perhaps a brief recess before the vote.

Very well.

A brief recess before the vote.

The vote will occur in conclave chambers, solely with the Coven of Elders.

Thank you very much to the Wizard Tethmet and to Marara for your wisdom, guidance, and information.

I believe we have some business of adding new witches to the Coven of Elders.

Is that still a matter of interest to you, Witch of the World's Heart?

And do you imagine that these new witches might tell us the truth or lie to us?

I should hope that they have a dedication to the grand truth that we all seek.

Helps to honor the grand truths by sticking to the little ones as well.

You were kind enough to point out that while we believed that your station may be

headed for destruction, that I had isolated some

interesting candidates for new witches.

However, given that your station has not been destroyed, and given the impressive business that now befalls the Coven, I fear that an invitation to join this coven at this hour may be

quite

an effort to foist and invite junior witches with untested stations to potentially join the banner of the Pilgrim Under Stars and march against the Citadel.

Not exactly a welcome invitation.

However, I'm interested in what your perspective might be, sister, as this topic was introduced by you.

Well, we have yet to address the

vote for the prior topic.

But as for this one, I

don't see why we can't at least anoint new stations and perhaps see that the witches that are

studying to take over those domains have an amount of time to prepare themselves.

Indri sort of cocks her head.

You see,

Marara actually looks at you, Amen, looks back at Indry,

and says,

I believe the Witch of the World's Heart speaks wisely.

I'm all for new witches on the Coven of Elders.

More is the merrier.

Yes, you do love merriness, Marara.

Full pack is strong.

Well, that's alright with me, eh?

There used to be thirteen.

It would be hypocritical for me to say there shouldn't be more witches, otherwise it just would have been a one-woman coven for the past

thousand years.

Do we need to vote on this addition of new seats to the coven?

It seems we are agreement.

Of course.

I already have some candidates in mind as the host of the conclave.

I would be more than happy to make my recommendations to the coven and, you know, on getting back to the...

Ah, Fiddlefell, you don't need...

The wand knows.

The wand won't work if it's a bad job.

It needs a real witch.

You need to check in with me.

I'll be busy.

Don't bother me.

And you see, she says, just take the wand, induct who you want.

She looks at Indrian, and points at her and says i know how you feel about group project anyway you see she says

she says if you're willing to induct somebody then they already have my vote because you're so ricey

um

as the youngest as the newest member of this coven i would love to be a part of the

selection process

As Hakeya sort of explains to Indri that the wand, like, as long as a member of the coven

select, as long as a member of the coven has the wand and picks the right person,

that's actually all you need to induct somebody into the coven.

You see that Injury turns to you, Ame, and says, Of course, sister, I have so many worthy candidates in mind, and I'll be sure to let you know as I approach each and every one.

I don't even know if I need to ask for it, but Ame, go ahead and give me

an insight check.

23.

Oh!

You know the number that Inri Indry wants this coven to be.

And she will be fucking damned if it moves away from that number.

But you see, she says,

I will see to it.

You see, Hakeea goes, anywhere, it's settled.

But any one of us, if we come upon some talented young witch, would be able to wield this wand to deputize them.

Yes, yes.

Oh, fantastic.

By all means, if you find someone witch of the world's heart just send them my way

a brief recess and then

to the conclave chamber to vote on the final matter before us

whether to join the man in black and stand against the citadel united i remind those assembled that

the vote will pass with a majority of witches of this coven

but with unanimity the power of magic we will wield will be beyond what we have seen from this coven in an age.

The business tonight at our vote will conclude this conclave.

After the conclusion of that vote, I would be more than happy to offer everyone here the turning of an hour's timepiece to gather your effects, at which point I would be honored to have my palace

given once again to my own use.

The retinues arise.

Tefmet begins to sort of collect the belongings, and you see creates some hovering discs of force underneath the heavy objects and creates a little sort of train of hovering discs that will follow them.

You see,

they look, they're sort of shaking their head in this feeling of like, like,

I've done everything I could, and that's that.

And then is just sort of going about it.

And

Ursulan, I think you see this, just sort of looks up sadly to Ahm, raises their eyebrows, and kind of shakes their head.

And you

see that Indri walks up quickly to Grimoire to talk as Hakea gets up to sort of, and you see that Indry is sort of

like Grimoire, who was ultimately Indri's number one co-conspirator.

They're now really really kind of getting into it and talking about what comes next.

And you see, Marara gazes at Ahme, gazes at you, Ursulan, and looks down at the sword at your belt

and then walks out of the room.

Sorry to disappoint.

Ursulan, I think, kind of in the shifting when Marara got up, kind of moved back to a more respectful distance, and I think is just waiting for Ahmed.

Ursulan,

I'm I'm sorry.

Why did you lie, Ame?

Because I was scared.

I don't know why I do it.

I just really.

I'm supposed to be a bridge between the world of humans and spirits.

And

we're.

I wish that all witches were bent towards their duty.

That everybody has their own aims and goals, and

I would see

those lenses and the wizards that built them destroyed.

But I love Suvi, and

we were at the citadel.

We know

it's more complicated than that.

But what do you want?

What would you have me do?

I would have you do what

you think should be done.

Ame, you are the witch of the world's heart.

You are the wisest person I have ever met.

I trust you

and I believe in you.

I too love Sufi,

but I hate.

I hate

the wizards that she works with.

The man in black wanted to kill Grandma Ren because

she stood against him.

Not with the Citadel, but

with her friends.

With

the optimism that two hands could clasp one another,

turning away from weapons of war.

And yet she believed it so hard that she would have forfeit her life, that she did forfeit her life.

I want the strength to stand against this too.

But

what they're doing is abhorrent.

And I wish I could just

unreservedly

say that we should march against them.

But I can't.

I can't.

My duty,

my duty, is to bridge

these worlds.

Because what is going to happen

if we side with the man in black and destroy millions

of humans?

Then it becomes humanity versus the spirit world.

We move from this moment to to the keep of the world's heart and a golden bridal on a table.

What an energy.

Well, I'm having a great day.

We've nailed it.

I'm a little sleepy, but I've got time.

Alright.

We'd love to cast identify on this bridal.

Yeah,

Suvi

had intended in the morning to scuff her sort of like

ritual sigil, but kind of forgot to do it and was like, oh, great, I can get like a little bit of extra work done.

I don't, I think there's just like a little bit, uh, there's a little too much anxiety about whatever weirdness Tefmet's got on deck.

Uh, Suvi doesn't really have an instinct to like take a nap and is just gonna try to rally.

Uh, so yeah, I

go, I try to be like very careful.

I'm not trying to go through all of Ursulan's things, but like wherever you left the bridal, I would would go and grab it.

Probably in the room that Ahme reserved for me, where there's an untouched bed and a giant coat.

I probably wore the coat, so

there's a coin, a dagger,

and a bridle.

Sweet.

Easy to find.

I've got it in my hand.

Great.

Going into your diagram,

you see a bridle of golden thread taken from

the world of spirits.

Brought to this place, you see a young fire-headed spirit clad in furs with claws on his feet and hands, and an ancient mossy druid handing a golden bridle.

And you see one after the other the little clawed boy bridling a hurricane and then a river, bridling the wind itself, and at one point bridling a story and riding it throughout the pages of a book.

You see that this

bridle taken to the world of Umora,

you believe has the ability

to

prompt

magical beings to offer willingly

a single ride upon their back

with a successful animal handling check for beings that that would normally be impossible for.

Amazing.

A simple magical tool.

Yeah.

Oh, that's so sweet.

And CB goes and like

has a little extra time.

That ended up being pretty quick and pretty simple.

So I'll go replace the bridal and then make like a little note on it for Ursulon.

Like, I'll happily explain it when he gets back and we have time to talk.

But just in case

other things kind of kick up, like he'll have that so he'll know.

And going back into the ring,

Suvi goes to scuff it and clean, clean it up

and just has a weird little thought.

And again, is

was kind of hoping that this, the bridal would take longer.

So she wouldn't keep thinking about Tefmet

and replaying the ways in which she wished she could have like intimidated them or get some information out of them.

Like, it's a thing of like, yeah, going over and over again in your head

the interactions and you're like, is there something a little more interesting I could have done?

And then there was like something at the very end with Tefmet like casting a spell on themselves that was like what Subi cast earlier and Subi's like feeling away about it

and then remembers that identify doesn't only work on objects

and she thinks

about the fact that when she showed

the box

the anxiety the reason she wanted to walk away and not show it to her friends was

she didn't know how to explain what it was because she didn't understand what it was

because she didn't understand why

she had it.

And it's just an errant thought.

And it's probably nothing, but

she's here.

And she knows the spell.

It's much easier in her hands with the casting that she's learned from her parents and their notes.

So she's going to turn identify on herself one more time

to see if there's any magic on her that she doesn't know about.

Strap in.

Standing in the middle of this ritual diagram, you begin to cast.

Do you cast this in the expedited way of your mother's mending cantrip?

Only ever that from now on.

Which is fascinating because earlier today you pulled,

or earlier in this period of wakefulness, is actually yesterday,

you pulled a spell from your father's emerald ring, his ring of Aerith.

You begin to speak in the lingua arcana speech.

There are tales in the world of spirits about how this all began in inky blackness, and sometimes it was a body of ice that was thawed through, and other times out of the deep water or the dark forest came the first sun or moon.

But in some tales, too, the very first thing was not a sun or moon or star, but was a single word.

A language spoken by the universe to know itself.

And of all of the things that presuppose magic in a creature, the first is knowing.

To know is the condition

of those who would work their will upon the world.

Will,

wonder, workings of magic,

and the word.

You are a word, the wizard sky, the word sky, vast, and suddenly there it is, yourself in constellation.

Childhood, a point of starlight, a summer.

Stars in the southern skies.

A book, a scroll, a ride to Grandmother Wren's, traveling doors, circles turning upon circles.

And there they are, hovering like

moons orbiting your ring.

What's orbiting that ring?

Scrying spells.

And what are their names?

The names of the spells inside them, each with an emblem of a tall glass tower.

Why is a glass tower trying to look at your ring?

Why did it try to look at your ring

four times yesterday after you cast that spell.

Odd.

And you see that they can't touch the ring.

These spells are holding in space.

And suddenly, you look at the star in vision as the diagram moves around you in silver lines of light, and you are yourself in constellation, like a mighty archer made of stars above in the sky, beholding yourself in your own reflection.

And there, at your heart of hearts, past the sky, is the star that means Sufarin Ked Baraket.

And like arrows from a bow are there

two and twenty scrying spells

waiting to touch your heart.

They are some weeks or perhaps two or so months old at this point.

Waiting at your heart, and something is stopping them.

A curtain of celestial dust, like the rings of a vast and mighty planet.

And what is that arc stopping the scrying spells from touching your heart?

And why are they roughly two months thereabouts old?

The scrying spells from after your speaking mirror broke.

The scrying spells from when you were on foot with Ahmed in a calm, coming towards your heart.

And what is stopping them?

And you investigate and find another word, another name.

Ren,

gulp,

stone, a perfect sapphire, another star, orima of the reaching green.

Why can't she hear you?

A gift given to you.

A stone to stop the eyes of great spirits.

You are right.

There is something in their greatness that is too great and they must be stopped.

And then you walk around.

What else did your mother choose to protect you from?

The citadel itself.

You wear a stone around your neck and have since

the wagon in the town of Silbree,

where Bear is the strongest man.

And there you see your beloved friends true always at your side in constellation.

The stone you wear protects you from great spirits and great towers.

Two.

Two sides, two hands reaching towards each other to clasp in and of themselves the other.

And your stone protects you from great spirits and the citadel.

And it protected you from the scrying that sought after you in those weeks that you were missing.

Why?

Why did that not get mentioned to you?

If so many scrying spells were cast upon you and they didn't work, why wouldn't someone have followed up with you?

You look deeper.

You see strands of prophecy fulfilled.

Some of these stars burn red in the nighttime sky along a trail of Aurora Borealis.

They are burning red like glistening rubies.

And you see in the distance a man in a camel hair coat with a flat cap walking the Aurora Borealis, dropping rubies like breadcrumbs behind him in the sky.

You look forward again.

You have completed this and done your task as you always have.

You remained in the cottage, you remained on the dock, you saved your friend, you've always done exactly as you should.

You have kept your promises.

Is someone not keeping a promise to you?

You look on yourself,

and there you find it.

A deep and murky constellation.

Streaking comets

closing in around you as though within a meteor shower.

A fog of confusion.

You are under the effects of a modifying memory spell.

Behind that that cloud,

a burning star, red and glowing.

A gaius spell, a quest

placed upon you.

And you hear

eerily the tinkling of the rain road played in reverse, and hear the mirrored scorpions clacking against the stones of the Library of Stars.

Subi's on her knees

in the middle

of the sigils she built out of

chalk and sand.

It's white like the sand of the desert.

What?

Why?

What did I do?

What done?

She discussed the sigil immediately.

I don't know what to think.

I don't know what to do.

I have to

trust someone.

I don't know who to trust.

The doors to the keep open,

and Ahme and Ursulan enter.

Sky.

What's the matter?

I'm gonna take my coat off and put it around, Skye.

Are you alright?

No.

No.

No.

Um.

Are you hurt?

No.

Uh.

Uh, no.

Something's.

Something's wrong with me.

I don't know what it is.

And Stevie can't catch her breath or or make eye contact or stop shaking.

The fox runs over to the area where Ursulan's been sleeping in just sort of like a pile of clothes and stuff and pulls a small blanket with his teeth and begins to pull a blanket over to Sevi.

I go to boil some water.

I think reflexively, similar to Ahmed at the end of Arc One, Ursulan is going to cast protection from evil and good, not from any sort of like meaningful place, but a true

his worry for Skye kind of magically

manifesting in this space.

Ursulan touches a hand to you, and you smell soap, like from a bath given to a wild thing.

I am so sorry.

Sorry.

I dreamed you here.

No, no.

I did what I.

I tried to do the right thing.

Sky, Sky.

Skye, no.

Stop.

I don't know the right thing to do.

If I know, I'll do it.

I'm so sorry.

Ursula is just going to breathe with Sufi in this moment.

I think kind of

with his coat, kind of wrap his arms around her and just breathe, hoping that the feeling of his chest swelling will evoke a feeling in her.

Wren came to this palace many times from the cottage outside of Toma.

So many of the belongings in the keep are Wren's.

You look down and see the rug you are on surrounded by this blanket.

You recognize this rug.

The last time protection from evil and good was cast on this rug

was

Suvi casting it with Ursulan under a blanket, breathing raggedly.

The first spell you ever cast.

I think Suvi

just folds over on herself

and is doing

probably just a very poor attempt at breathing with you.

Like she understands what you're trying to do.

And it's just one of those things where like

the level of like exhaustion approaching like hysteria, like she cannot coordinate herself in this moment.

Ame comes back with a mug of tea and a cup of coffee.

And she sees her friends there and Suvi struggling to breathe.

And she just thinks about the last couple of days and Suvi's unwillingness

to open up to her, or

Suvi's perhaps, in Ahme's mind, justified mistrust.

And she stands back and watches her friends.

In this moment, Ame, as you stand here with these drinks, looking at Ursulon here with Suvi,

you hear on the glass.

I look over.

You see Neif

standing at the window looking horrified with a broom handle with a crow perched on it.

Neith?

Can I meet you at the front door?

Yes, I'll be right there.

I move to take the glasses from Ahmed.

I had them off.

At the front door, as you open it, Ahme, Neif looks at you and says, I, and you see that the crow, who you have not heard speak, goes,

A word with you is desired by my mistress Marara.

Yes, thank you, by all means.

What may I call you?

Flies away.

Thank you, Neif, for carrying the messenger.

I landed on the broomstick and wouldn't take off.

I'm sorry.

And you see that Neif runs off into the snow.

Oh, thank you.

Ahme closes the door and comes back in to collect herself, returns to her friends to check on Suvi.

Suvi is

at this point, I think, grabbing onto the rug, and

I don't think it's in her.

She probably would have lost herself a little more if she didn't hear that there were other people around, but she can't pull herself back from it.

It's too much.

She's exhausted.

And it's just all coming out.

Ursulon is continuing to rub Subi's shoulder and back to the best of his ability while using another hand to try and

build a fire in this hearth.

Wordlessly, Ahmed swoops over and picks up the log and starts to build the fire herself.

I think there's something in the like desire to do something or have control or be outside of her head and her heart.

I'm gonna cast an Aerulean bolt at the fireplace.

And fire leaps into the crackling fireplace.

Who is that?

It's me.

Ane.

No,

yes, I know.

God.

And she's gonna try to kind of push herself up to like at least sitting and not sort of being doubled over.

I offer my hand to help.

Yeah, she takes it.

Who was at the door?

It was Nefai.

I'm being summoned to speak with Marara.

What about

I can wait for a moment?

What can we do?

What happened?

There is

very powerful magic on me

compulsion

for and forgetting

Do you know where this magic is from

if it is a curse

perhaps wave breaker

Suvi gives a look

that

for all of her

rough edges,

she is pulling back a lot of initial instincts and strong

initial reactions.

And the look she cuts at both of you, at the idea of turning Wavebreaker on her

after what Ahmed just went through

is unthinkable

and doesn't have the like bearing to see the

attempt at kindness behind it and it just takes a little too long to pull that back

okay okay

I think the hand not sort of clasping her own chest

the other one is reaching for Ursulan in that very childlike way when

nightmares would drive her into the pile of us and she would clutch at his fur

to ground her.

I just need a minute.

Tell me about what you did

and I'll have time to think.

Maybe a simpler

problem.

Ahme and Ursulan exchange a look.

Ursulan looks terrified.

Ahmei looks at Ursulan like, well?

Ursulan looks at Ahme

with similar energy.

Subi looks at the fox.

They elected me to tell you.

Oh, it's that bad.

The wizard Tefmet said a bunch of scary stuff that I didn't fully get.

It had to do with the Citadel.

Marara said that the man in black wants to destroy the Citadel.

They're going to have a vote about whether that should happen in less than one hour.

I couldn't even have a fucking mental breakdown.

Why is there never enough time?

Fuck!

The fox leaps up.

Duh!

Honestly,

in your ascent to full wizardhood, you are, when you say fuck like that, thunder peals outside.

I pet the fox.

His fur is, he is a complete sphere of Lauren fur.

I'm calm.

I'm actually.

Yeah, yeah, you're doing so good, Fox.

There is never, I have found, a good time for a mental breakdown.

This one is, though, as you say, particularly bad.

Your thing first, though.

No.

What can we do?

No, no.

The Citadel is.

There's a vote.

There have been multiple instances

of

citadel wizards

like Guildmage Morrow.

Guildmage Morrow is an Imperium wizard.

He is not of the Citadel.

The lenses that he crafted were on their way to the Citadel.

What do you mean?

They intercepted.

Who is they?

Don't shake your head.

Who is they?

The Antivolist and

their associates.

The Antivalist

intercepted the lenses, headed from where?

To the Citadel.

I suppose the Derrick.

The lenses were recovered in a warehouse.

And then being sent to the Citadel.

Do they?

There were other artifacts

of

the Citadel venturing into the spirit world

of

breeding and creating

sp

spirits.

What?

Yes.

As well as using some form of

teleportation door,

an ancient one, to attempt to pull a great spirit into

the real.

That's incredible magic.

How did the antivolist know?

They had artifacts from these places as well as

intercepted missives.

Messages

from Citadel Wizards.

Plans discussing how to go about doing that?

Yes.

And you saw them.

You saw them all.

And you know that that wasn't.

Did you.

Is there any world in which a wizard who refers to themselves as an antivolist,

the stated nemesis of the wizards of the citadel, might have misrepresented, misplayed, overplayed their hand in presenting this evidence?

You were there with me, Suvi, on the Derrick.

You saw it!

I'm sorry.

No,

it's fine.

You know what these people are capable of.

I know what some are capable of.

There are

many ways to explain away a lot of these things, Suvi, but it is an undeniable.

It is undeniable that...

What?

What is undeniable?

That the machinery of the Citadel is being turned towards subduing great spirits.

What evidence do you have of that?

The lenses made

the Derek was in act

by the scepter's chorus.

You saw that with your own eyes.

I did.

When we brought it to steal the sword of the Citadel, she was on her way.

On her way to do what?

Exactly what she promised.

And how do you know that?

Because I trust her.

Well, I trust Ahme and the witches of this covenant.

They tried to kill you an hour ago.

And you would trust them?

They tried to kill me and Grandmother Wren because we stood against the man in black and his aim to destroy the Citadel.

Grandmother Ren collaborated with your mother and with Golt.

Keep my mother's name out of your mouth.

No.

Your mother was kicked out of the Citadel for standing up for what she thought was right.

Your father released spirits from the archive.

They risked everything for their principles.

And they were of the Citadel, too.

So, when your sisters brought forth a motion to destroy my home,

what did you say,

witch of the world's heart,

whose job it is to advocate for both spirit and humanity?

They did not ask for my vote yet.

And yes, when they do, I will object.

But do you think that the Citadel represents all of humanity?

I don't think the Citadel represents all of the Empire.

You do your research.

You discover the secrets of the lingua arcana.

What do you bend it towards?

What did you learn in your school, Suvi?

How to use magic.

For what?

To improve people's lives.

To travel

and share knowledge,

to survive in the face of a world that sees destruction at the hands of other people,

at the hands of spirits.

You believe that?

You do.

I know you do.

And I know Steele believes that too.

I think that there are so many wizards that do.

But when faced with overwhelming evidence

that

there are

well-funded, well-supported aims that seek to subjugate others,

wouldn't you

stand up against it?

Even if it meant standing against the Citadel.

What are you asking of me?

Would I condemn the Citadel to oblivion?

No.

My family lives there.

You met them.

You put yourself in a coma

because you did not want

to wait for our help.

And we kept you alive and nursed you back.

Why do you suppose Steele was so eager?

You want me to turn on my mother?

I won't.

Just because you don't know what it's like to have family doesn't mean that it's so easy for me to turn on mine.

She has only ever helped me.

She took me in when my parents died.

What do you want from me, Amay?

I have bent the last three months of my life

to helping you,

breaking your curse, abandoning my post,

nursing you back to health.

And then, in a moment of great crisis, when you decided that you didn't trust my home or my family, you betrayed it.

You betrayed me and you left.

And I still came and did my duty.

And the first time,

I would ask you to have just a modicum of faith in me.

A little compassion.

You can't find it.

Isn't that your job?

Or do you only reserve that for spirit?

I am so tired.

And I'm sad.

And I'm scared.

There are millions

of other humans

that are, as we speak,

preparing to march against the Citadel.

Whether they have my support or not, it will happen.

The power of great spirits turned against the Citadel.

Even if I were

to make an attempt,

it will still happen.

Okay.

It's that easy for you to not even try.

I didn't say I wouldn't try.

If I knew,

I promise

I would not keep that from you, Ursulon.

But what would you do?

What would you do if you knew?

If I knew that the Citadel

was attempting to

enslave and breed spirits,

I would burn down my station

trying to stop them

and walk away if I couldn't.

Then walk away.

Because it's happening.

You're so quick to believe the worst

about every aspect of my life.

Forgive me

if I need just a little more proof before I throw my whole life away

for your cause.

I am not so unmoored in this world.

The Aurora Borealis crackles overhead.

And with the distant chiming

of bells within the palace, Ahmed, you know the hour of conclave approaches.

You're going to go speak with Marara?

Yes.

And what would you have me do?

Do you think they will let me leave?

I don't know how the vote will go.

But just like my mentor, I will stand in the way of any harm

leveled fully at the Citadel.

And I turn around

and I walk out towards Marara's.

I promised you the same, and so did Steele.

And you still

ran!

I'm sorry.

Snow swirling, stars twinkling, as they do, as they have done, these nights past.

Perhaps the stark and frigid majesty of this place is losing a little bit of its charm as the witch of the world's heart moves through the courtyards towards the keep of the waning moon.

Ame playing back the argument in her head, just almost muttering to herself.

What am I supposed to do?

The fox treads beside you and

looks up.

You don't say

not now, I don't.

You continue on through this courtyard and arrive

at

a grand staircase descending down

into the pit below the tall tower of the full moon.

Deep in the pit underneath, the stairs descend to wrought iron and a heavy-set gate with latticed bars of metal across small windows gazing out.

Port Cullis raised at the beginning of a massive dungeon.

You hear

of a crow from within the shadows as you approach.

Hello?

The doors swing open.

Sister of the Waning Moon,

I was told that you wished to speak with me.

You

behold in the shadows a fluttering of feathers as the crow flies and lands on a step beneath.

You asked what you might call me.

Mm-hmm.

I am Cross.

Oh.

Oh, uh, it's a pleasure to meet you, Cross.

I thought perhaps you were upset with me for asking, but um, I see.

No.

This way.

Flies into the shadow.

The fox

goes down the steps with you.

And as you enter the shadows,

feel

the cool

of stone hard to see down here.

But ahead of you, swimming into view,

that fuzzy shape of beholding the bone-white mask in deep darkness.

You can't even see its features, just that something reflects the near absence of light in this space.

The doors slam shut behind you.

I am glad

it seems that we are both alive, as this was not the intention of our sisters.

I am grateful to be here with you.

Gratitude.

Yes.

The mask begins to swim up through space as Marara stands from whatever unseen thing she sits upon here in the darkness.

Mask is higher than you remember.

And it moves at a strange angle.

You hear something else moving, and you wonder how large Marara's body is in this space.

Give me an insect check.

18.

You

aren't sure on an 18

what might be lying in the dark here.

But you hear Marara say,

Are you nervous, sister?

Not nervous, just

exhausted by the day's events, as you might imagine.

Oh, I'd say so.

Lying to your sisters like that, there's a fair number of curses you've exposed yourself to.

Somewhat embarrassing, I would say.

Well, first of all, I misspoke when I said that we had not seen them before.

And second of all,

I really don't feel embarrassment the same way that a lot of other people do, so

there's that.

Oh, I understand.

I've not come here to taunt you.

I've come here with the precious few minutes we have

to

speak to you

of unanimity.

Perhaps Grandmother Wren never fully communicated to you the power that is wielded by this coven when it moves as one.

Hakea, Grimor, Indri, all were prepared prepared

if unanimity could be reached.

You worry of the lives of humans.

How many lives might have been spared if we acted 10, 20, 50 years ago?

How many lives might have been spared if we had acted before the flames were this hot?

I am not a bad witch!

I am not wicked.

I am not cruel.

I observe and hold my station, and though

many mortals dare not look upon me and see abomination, I am not abomination.

I am a truth ill-regarded by the common folk of this world.

A child dies in the arms of its parents.

the moon wanes, and a tyrant dies in justice, and the moon wanes.

It is not my fault that my station is not celebrated.

I adhere to it and serve it as best I can.

And for that service, am I

a devoted

and observant witch?

Ren

was a bad witch.

Wren did not observe her station.

Not in truth.

The world's heart.

The buzzing of bees, the marching of feet, the building of walls, great towers,

many hands working together.

And what do they build?

More than mugs.

Ame.

I am not a bad witch.

And your mentor, the greatest witch that ever lived,

tied our hands and ruined what possible future we might have had.

Now the bloodshed will be great because we dallied, because of her eternal optimism.

So you do remember Mr.

Whiskers?

The mask raises up about 20 feet in the air and looks down and you feel scratching of claws on many parts of the ceiling and walls around you.

Ren

was

devoted completely to her station

and into teaching me about the importance of balance.

There are no easy answers.

Do you think that by wiping out the citadel that suddenly humanity will be saved and that humans will seek their thirst for knowledge and for understanding the unknowable?

And you would

align yourself with another

empire to do so.

And with great spirits who have their own

schemes and plans.

You do not need to be wicked or cruel to be wrong, to be mistaken.

Grammarren wasn't just optimistic.

She was practical.

She saw

ways,

paths where other witches could not.

Have you at all attempted to ever

befriend a human, a wizard?

If your worry is Roof

and its monarchy,

I could speak to the Man in Black.

Reserve some concession for your station.

If the Citadel falls,

perhaps

it is your words that could give some design to the world of mortals once it was brought to heal.

No, it's not Ruve.

It's humans.

Even amongst the powerful witches

who are supposed to be bending all of our efforts towards bridging the spirit and the real.

We saw

how machinations almost

destroyed the two of us.

That machinations and selfishness and greed has already destroyed, I'm certain, others of the the coven before us.

You speak of Indry.

I speak of those who plopped for their own personal gain.

Give me an insight check with advantage.

23.

Even in the dark, you heard Marara's words for the first time when the mortal world is brought to heal.

That is not the language that was used in the library, and it was not included in the plan for the man in black to oppose the citadel.

Injury.

I was wrong to trust her.

I thought that we were at common cause.

I do not know why she wished to destroy me as well, knowing the importance of the coming war.

I cannot say.

Ami.

The mask lowers

and it's suddenly right in front of you.

I am afraid.

If there is a concession you can name to vote with us and secure unanimity, I will do my best in the short time that we have to secure it from the King of Night.

Grandma Ren

saw a future

which two hands could clasp in and of themselves, turned away from the weapons of war.

You

didn't think that wizards would

humble themselves

enough to

move forward with us towards a future of peace.

They will not.

I know you are wrong.

I can prove it.

I will prove it.

The man in black,

stranger.

He gave me one year from when he appeared at my door.

Before he would return again.

I ask for the remainder of that year.

A wizard.

Many wizards, in fact,

helped to stop the machinations of the horrible,

horrible man who built that cage for the Great Spirit.

I saw many in the Imperium give their lives for it.

What can I do to prove

that they can turn away from this

brutal

domination

that they can turn their back on it and learn to live with us

proof

you ask of proof

perhaps our truths are so far removed

that there is no proof that can travel from one domain unto the other.

If it is as you have said, then the man in black is walking down the road to your front door.

And when he reaches that door, we will have our unanimity.

Farewell, Ame.

I shall see you in the conclave chamber.

Maybe in the year to come,

Some accommodation can be made in your station in its remaining months

That we would understand that the world's heart beats like the drums of war and your station is not one of rolling pins and knitting needles but leather boots and engines of war

We shall see

The doors open

as you turn to depart and ascend the steps with your fox and arrive at the snow,

wondering at the impact of your words on the witch of the waning moon, you hear a whistling through the air, and on the stones in front of you shatters a kitty cat mug.

Ice blue shadow in the walls of the conclave, five witches, five familiars, and the light of the northern star.

Indri speaks.

Sisters gathered here, we have had a short recess to consider the words of the wizard Tefmet,

the honored friend Convi,

and the honored friend Ursulan.

We come now together to this space

for the plan set in motion by our sister Merara, Witch of the Waning Moon,

that the forces of our Conclave might be joined to that of the stranger, the Pilgrim under Stars.

This matter is to be considered carefully.

Our Conclave will join in this effort, but our sisters will contribute in the manner that they see fit.

No sister can be compelled to act in service to the conclave against her will.

Unanimity in this regard, should all witches act together,

would bring with it the promise of covenant,

and the weight of our connection to the spirit,

shared across our vast and sundry domains,

would bring with it a conviction to the King of Night and a surety of our victory.

Do any now object to holding the vote in this moment?

You see, here she looks at Marara.

Marara does not look at her.

Indri cocks her head to the side.

The long-awaited vote is here.

Let's see if all that waiting was worth it.

And here she looks at Ahme.

We put now to the Coven of Elders whether we shall join in aid to the Man in Black and seek to topple the Tower of the Citadel and with it the crown of the Khemsarazen Empire.

Are there any statements now that need be made?

Just a few questions, if I may.

By all means, put your questions forward.

So,

this is

an effort of everyone, spirits and mortals, in which

this conclave

against the Citadel.

Yes?

The might of this coven would seek to join the man in black, yes.

Meaning, those witches who vote yes

will not only join his effort, but bring some tools of the covens to their bearing, though they will not compel such service from their sisters who vote no.

And

when humanity has

fallen,

what

then?

You see, Grimoire looks and says,

The war is not with humanity, it is with the Citadel.

Ah, I see.

My mistake.

And we seek to lend our aid

against the Citadel and to

level the entirety of that great city.

That's correct.

And the leaders of the Citadel, they have been brought to parlay with us already?

Well, no, Wish of the World's Heart.

There has been no parlay, for we do not yet constitute a side in this conflict.

Well, but witches are always meant to mediate conflict, yes, and this war has been going an awfully long time.

The man in black has not yet shown his hand to the citadel.

They do not yet know that he moves upon the world in this way.

Yes, this would be.

So he would surprise them.

That is correct.

Without asking them if they would be willing to

turn their machinery towards more productive things.

You see, Indri rubs her eyes and says,

While official parlay has not been commenced, this coven

has granted numerous opportunities for the citadel to turn its gaze from this project.

There was a member of this coven who was given charge to undertake that upon her own request, and for some 30 years did Grandmother Wren

stop

hand to engage on the path that you now lay forth.

That time is concluded.

Grandmother Wren

was unable to complete her work,

in large part due to the effects of

a curse

upon her and myself.

But now that she is gone and I am here, the new witch of the world's heart, my station secure, the curse removed,

is it not fair that I should not get a chance to

try to continue her work?

How about it, sisters?

Do you want to give the kid a shot?

And you see that Indry looks at the others and says, no.

Grimore shakes her head no, and Marara also voices no.

The matter put forward before this conclave is a vote, sister.

Yes or no.

Your vote and your path is your own.

Wren bought all the time the conclave cared to spare, and most would argue it was too much already.

Blood.

He hears you.

She bites her lip and starts bleeding down her chin.

The time for blood is here.

Take it up with the spirit of your mentor past that you didn't get your chance.

I would assume that the blame for that would not lie on her doorstep, but on the doorstep of whoever cursed her.

But

I suppose, yes.

Go ahead.

Let's vote on the time of blood,

as opposed to

seeing if we can turn the machines of war into the plowshares.

Go ahead, Amy.

Give me a persuasion role with disadvantage.

Seventeen.

We move then, sisters, to a vote.

Yay or nay.

Whether we join the King of Night in this war or not.

Sisters, I vote yes.

Let us hunt.

I vote yes.

Hakea looks at you, Ahme, as does Indry.

I vote no.

Indry looks at you.

I vote no.

Marara and Grimoire both turn to Indry,

looking

no inside check necessary.

Grimur is enraged at Injury, who she's realized has just

opted out of this thing.

Hakea looks at you and says,

Looks like they left the

deciding vote

for old Hakea.

I've been asleep for far too long.

Thank you for waking me up

like the gentle rain to the forest floor.

I think I might have taken a shine to you, young army.

The woodland green votes, yes, let's tear that tower down.

That was Lou Wilson as Ursulan, Erika Ishii as Ahme, Abria Iyengar as Suvi, and Brennan Lee Mulligan as Everyone and Everything Else.

Worlds Beyond Number is edited, designed, and scored by Taylor Moore Moore at Fortunate Horse with additional sound design from Michael Gelfield Studios.

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