WWW #32: The Vote

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond Number.

A fire crackles in a vast heap with armchairs and tables in an open long hall all shoved awkwardly into the corner right around the fireplace.

The fox on the rug looks confused at the image

glittering in the shard of mirror from the small spider construct's back as he chews on a sausage link.

Ursulan, you and you alone understand the speech of the tree of worlds as Ahme and Suvi look on.

The image fades as Hakea Hakea leaves the vision of the stars at the top of the tree.

And the mirror

alights back into the music box.

I take a moment to explain.

As best I can, kind of just narrate it.

Or, you know, kind of

going back and forth between Hakea and the Eewola.

You explain everything with some wild new information about the nature of the Coven of Elders, the fact that the tree had other wands to make other great covens, that it was, in other words, that the nature of the coven of elders is not an inherent element of witchcraft.

Witchcraft doesn't need a high council of all great forms of magic.

That was what Hakea believed was most useful.

It was a choice of a mortal witch to say, I would rather have

these other dark or terrible forces gathered together and bound in covenant so that what needed to be resolved between us might be in this magical compact.

You see that the wand had the ability to make many more than five, to induct other stations into it, and that Hakea must have been the one to.

It's possible it's not, it might not have been her making every new witch, but she certainly had to have inducted the first other one, right?

And

then you also see there were other wands that Hakea could have chosen.

She made the call for the wand she wanted.

That wand is here in the castle.

And you have the proof here

of

Ahme's ability to advocate for herself.

You have the point of fact in history.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, that's that's what we were saying, and now it's like a thing.

It's a thing.

Yeah, it's not just very inconvenient for them to be the stalemate.

It's magically impossible.

Yeah.

You're good.

You're good.

We're good.

And I let out

and I feel this weight that has not lifted since

those little ice fairies busted into the citadel is is is at least eased.

While Ahme is like breathing, I'm gonna reopen the music box and I think just deeply inspired by Ahme, a

thank you to the little spider.

Give me

an arcana, if you'd be so kind.

Give me a flat arcana check.

22.

As you open it and say thank you, the spider leaps to your arm to get into the music box and then as it lands on your arm, you say thank you and the spider stops for a moment.

turns to you,

lifts up a little sort of circular, jagged shard of mirror, and just kind of like spins it over its head for a second in a little gesture of some of in a little non-utilitarian gesture of some kind of feeling and then jumps on the mirror.

I do it back with my sort of free hand.

Well, once got the box and once got the spider, so

press the digitation and I make a little like thing of it doing it back.

Like, I don't know, just a little finger.

Well, a mirror box understands reflection.

So

yeah, you see the the spider, yeah, it goes back into its spot, but in saying thank you from that identify spell you cast, you know on a 22 arcana

that the spider does something it was not enchanted to do and that no wizard

knows it can do on this planet but you.

You are the only wizard that knows it can do that.

And I think you realize that

the only reason that that is not something you knew it could do is that no wizard of the citadel tested that

and i think it's a thought that doesn't come with like

an eye towards advantage and i think it grounds her out of like the sort of mounting panic that she's been experiencing and it's just a good feeling And then she just has a good feeling and moves on with her day.

A growth arc.

A growth arc.

How about it?

And the four of you are here in the space together.

They're having,

it is now almost three in the morning, and Ame is saved.

You have the thing in Sly's prophecy.

The wizard Sly said,

if the wizard sky does not go with you to this conclave, you will die.

And then you realize that effectively the plan was for Ahme to just be like, don't you think it would be really bad if there was just four?

And

now there is a proof, something from memory of

what this would be.

Sufi,

of course,

to see Yewola is truly something spectacular.

Where does the memory come from?

This is one of the stars

in Ingri's uh sort of star library uh and i describe very briefly because we all got the download from the fox of what that looked like got it oh from that space yeah incredible you did that when i was going in and and getting uh my snake talk snake filled talk with inri

what what is what's this little spider

remember what i said before this where i can't super explain?

This was something built for me

to bring to this place.

And

I know

I've been able to figure out that you guys have some

maybe plausible reservations about the citadel.

But please believe me when I tell you, I don't know why I have it.

Can I do a

some sort of because this is troubling.

This sounds like some sort of memory tampering, just like just like I had with my curse.

Give me insight.

Can I also give you insight?

Yeah, both of you guys can give me insight.

Yeah, one.

17.

Ursuline, you're so tired.

You.

Think of what your day has been.

Think of what your day has been.

Remember when I got folded folded in half and sucked into a woman?

You've been the drunkest you've ever been in your life today.

On that one, you're just like, you're fucking, and you just perfectly translated an ancient witch memory.

You're zapped, man.

You're fucking zapped.

Super, you look at Ursula and look at you, and it's just his eyes just slowly close.

I like slow blink back at him because he is a little bit of cat.

He likes us

on a 17 on a 17 insight.

You already knew that Suvi was going to go try to steal novels.

Secrets, I sent her, I sent her to go steal secrets.

So, this is like, okay, you have a little tool that helps you do the thing that I thought was a good idea to do.

And then her not knowing about it, the things that it could be, yeah, memory tampering could be one.

She also could have a compulsion on her just to not be able to talk about it.

You know, and there are a number of magical explanations, but I think on a a 17 you don't feel panicked about it you maybe even arrive at a conclusion similarly where you're where you go like actually i think a lot of my sisters probably can read minds so if so if all that this is is a way for her to have an incredible tool in a way that can't be clocked by my sisters, maybe you would even partially appreciate the cleverness of how this has come to pass, that you're like, oh, that is how you would smuggle something in here.

Thank you so much, Subi.

Yeah, I'm glad.

Sly was right.

All right, good.

Yeah, he hasn't been wrong thus far.

We should get some sleep.

We have to be up soon.

Yeah.

May I

can I show this to them?

No.

Okay.

Um,

Do we have...

Do we

request that she pulls up that memory?

Hakea, with her mind?

No.

Uh, in the library.

If you mention this memory,

I will have a problem

about how the memory was wrought.

I had to use Vandal as an explanation for why the locking spell was gone.

You

love

lying.

Please lie good so that I don't die.

I wasn't really covered in the making it out on Sly's End.

Like, we got your kind of get out of jail free card.

I also would like to go home.

Okay,

well, we're all exhausted.

I think we'll get some sleep and we'll.

Oh,

okay.

Um,

suvy you returned to your tower to get some rest knowing that tomorrow will be i'm not gonna return to my tower oh okay i like look going back to like back in arc arc one suvie has a profound capacity for uh endurance that's been trained into her by the citadel we only have a couple hours left until ame goes into conclave and suvie has a strong uh anxiety about the finish line so ursalon's asleep Ahme, I want Ahme to rest, and Suvi will stay awake to make sure nothing happens before we get inside.

Are you sure?

I'm good.

And I'll spend time drawing and making my sort of second ritual space, temporary though it may be,

wherever the two of you bed down, and I'll advocate for it to be here in this room.

Oh, yes, we already.

And spend the time like

using salt and like whatever little chalk.

It's not my best work.

I just need a ritual circle

to keep a like ritual detect magic up for the rest of the night to make sure nothing untoward happens to them.

She will make it to Conclave and she will win.

Before I go to bed,

you know, as I'm sort of getting ready for bed and doing my little skincare, James,

you know,

I just

silently put a cup of coffee next to you.

Let's see.

Okay, thanks, Sufi.

Thank you, Ahme.

It's gonna be okay.

Yeah,

yeah.

One way or another, it will always be okay.

Good night.

Good night.

As Ahme trots off, the fox remains behind her for a second and looks up at Sufi.

And you see, he smiles and cocks his head and just nods slowly, like you and he have been lifelong friends.

And he's like watching you go to college, you know?

Like,

it's like

it's like he's the wrong emotion for this moment, but he's new to all this.

So you see, he looks up at you and just goes like,

if you're going to trick people, you have to know a lot of stuff.

Yeah.

He just walks in a little circle around you, licks your ankle, and then walks off after Aume.

Suvi has been raised to be too praise-seeking to look that gift in the mouth.

I'll take it.

The fox is my dad, and he's proud of me.

You stay up, Ursulan and Ahm, you awake, not having gotten as many hours as you might have liked, but we're going to call it a long rest.

Oh, there, yeah.

For Suvi, we're not going to call it a long rest.

Yeah, still known.

But you remain up that entire night.

There are two instances throughout the night.

One is you see off in the distance, not in the courtyard outside this window, but in one past it, you see Costa walk by and he

continues walking.

He doesn't come towards this keep.

And way later, like 5 or 6 a.m., something like that.

And again, it's eternal night here, but like closer to the time that they'd be waking up, two little ice fairies poke up their head, catch you wide awake, a cup of coffee in hand, and leave.

And there's moments where it's like, were they on innocent business or were they here to do something?

Your true friends will never have to find out.

I think Subi's doing her best to, like, in the like deep quiet, like,

they're weird.

I can be weird.

What's a human being that didn't get sleep?

And, like, just one eye blinks at a time.

Makes eye contact with the fairies.

These little cyclops fairies look at you, blink each eye individually, and they're like,

and fly off.

Ah, and Ursulan, you awake, having had a long rest for the next day

and head off under the stars.

Now that it's day three of no sunlight, and I think you're starting to feel it.

That's enough time that you're like, hmm, this is my second morning with it being night when I wake up.

And

head off towards the conclave.

You guys arrive in the hall

and see Indry, Costa, you see Grimoire and her wide pack, Heinruhl.

As you guys walk in, you see this moment of, there's a moment of tension as you arrive.

Grimoire looks out and you see that sort of like looks predatorily in Suvi's direction and suddenly snaps looking at something that seems to horrify and upset Grimoire, which is Heinruhl gets up, puts on his human glamour.

As he's walking, another spirit comes up and puts his little modesty rag around him.

He looks right at Ursulan and goes, Brother!

And claps him on the back.

You see, Grimoire looks at that.

Injury looks a little bit confused at this as well, and she turns to speak and watches an ice fairy flip by her with a letter signed with some glyphs on it to Ame,

which is

a little thank you from Tefmet.

So Heinruhl comes up to you, and Hakea enters with two new spirits you have not seen before.

There is a tall, green-skinned woman with these, with this like,

with broad, beautiful, proud features,

sort of poison yellow eyes a spike of thorns as a mohawk along her bald scalp and a huge bow of thorns over her shoulders and then you see on Hakea's shoulder there is a little spirit that is like a bundle of herbs with red thread around its ankles and wrists that looks like an animated spirit of dried herbs

And these spirits walk in with her.

So Heinral comes up, embraces Ursulan.

This letter from Tefmet comes to Ame, and Hakea goes right up to Suvi and goes, hello there, you clever one.

And you see Indri and Grimoire and Marara, who's now in this space.

Marara's always expressionless, but Indri and Grimoire look as all of these kindnesses descend on the retinue of the witch of the world's heart.

And you just see Indri go have an expression of, I'm losing it.

As

the witch of the wild hunt, the witch of the wind and stars, and the witch of the waning moon watch as they yet again have underestimated the station of the world's art.

When you got friends, you got everything.

I want to like give a little nod to Marara and say,

good morning and thank you again for the help and advice last night.

Indri whips her head to Marara

and you see that Marara can't turn to look at Indry

and goes,

it is time for the conclave.

And all of a sudden niceness is meaner than meanness.

There's this weird moment where you're suddenly like these two very tall ladies and then Grimoire is kind of shorter than them, but suddenly they're just three, like they go from being titans to three women standing in a room on their back feet.

Like, like, okay.

And

they move into conclave,

once again taking their thrones.

You see, Hakea offers her arm to Ahm.

Thank you.

I gratefully take it and I wave to Subi and Ursulan and give a little.

Can I have the benefits of a short rest while I was keeping absolutely cool then I'm gonna regain a level two spell slot so I can send Ahme off with an enhanced ability

for the conglomerate what ability are you choosing I think it's got to be charisma like we know what we need to know

you just want to sell it

So let's give you, let's give you a charisma boost, baby.

As you cast enhance ability, what does that look like?

Oh, yeah.

Uh, this one is Eagle's Splendor, and I go back and think

of,

I don't know why I'm like so, like, locked into stories, and I think of like the stories that we read when we were little together during that summer, and

I imagine like

just one of the drawings that we did way back in the day that was like on the wall and then Grandmother Wren made us clean it off.

And like as I give you like a little side pat, not a full hug, because I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends.

I think you just feel something like balloon across your, like the middle of your back, like a pair of little wings

that are cross-hatched, that same sort of like wood carving story illustration.

A little more discreet than the one for Ursong, because I don't know how much magic we're allowed to use on people.

As you construct this, you

Suvi look and see these witches who have not dispelled their auras for anybody else's benefit of like sleepy pollen and terrifying blood stuff.

And you're basically here being like,

Here's a boost for you.

You are granted an aura of this crosshatching, this memory of this time together.

And I think that what you can feel, because it is this wizardly magic coming to you.

And it's interesting to think about what would a wizard add to the charisma of a witch.

And to me, I think that with the pollen gone, the clarity of mind

that you feel as you enter into this space, you know that moment where it's like you're in the shower the next day and think of what you would have said?

Visions of your future self in showers impart to you the gift of what you would say two days from now.

The library of retorts and comebacks is available to you in the moment of your greatest necessity.

This is the most powerful spell that's ever been cast.

Could kill a god.

And you walk into the conclave, where that may, in fact, be one of the topics of conversation.

I wave at Ursulan.

I turn from Heinrule and bow.

Slow.

I bow just a bit.

Conclave.

The light of the northern star gleams, encircling in silver radiance, five thrones arranged like the points of a pentacle.

You see

the edges of the ice-blue walls in the massive spiring dome fall into deep blue icy shadow.

The witches of the Coven of Elders take their seats and Indry,

host, witch of wind and stars,

speaks.

Good morrow, sisters, even here in this realm of night.

We resume the business of yesterday's gathering.

Hopefully rested and fed and welcomed to my palace.

I offer

all the kindness of my sanctum to you in the coming conclave, and let us begin the business of our gathering in earnest.

Of

those great comings and goings of the world of spirit and mortals, it is given to us to discuss three

objects of significance.

First and foremost of these discussions is the fate of the station of the world's heart and its witch, Ame of Toma.

Second of our conclave's business is a report from a member of my retinue, Tefmet the Antivalist,

and business concerning this coven on the nature of the citadel of the Kemsarazan Empire.

And third,

should

our sister be here by the time this business is taken up, the item of consideration put forward by which of the world's heart,

discussing the presence in our world of a spirit known as the man in black?

Do these orders of business appease the desires of our sisters gathered here?

Grimore

snarls in ascent.

Hakea, having let go of your arm and sort of sat into her throw with her serpent around her, you see that her mossy gown now has bright daffodils all over it, and there is a curling vine of some lavender pink and violet blooms around her neck.

And you see that she has what looks like butterflies rather than moths around her that are scintillating and powerful and you see that she looks awake in a very funny way she like she was so tired and checked out yesterday she looks awake now but her awake is still an ancient awake she doesn't look like peppy and alert.

Instead, her eyes are quite bright and reflective.

And even though she still has like heavy lids wrinkled with age, looking at injury, her gaze is sharp and fixed her awakeness is a still one of intense focus

uh and you see marara

sort of cocks her head at a diagonal in a nod and injury turns to see uh if ame accepts these uh topics of conversation

ame

beams at her and inclines her head solemnly.

You see, the fox, like at your feet, cocks his head to the side, and he mirrors your little nod.

And you see that the injury is looking at how happy you are, and that porcelain, smiling rage on her face is back.

Yesterday, perhaps too hastily, we took up the matter of the station of the witch of the world's heart.

As was told to us in her report by our sister Ame,

this station has come into

incongruity with the remaining stations of the Coven of Elders.

Our domains abut and cause friction with it, and we must consider whether its position yet belongs within the Coven of Elders.

Hakeia, as the dissenting vote,

Do you require more time to consider this matter?

Or shall the coven take up the vote on

the possibility

that this station may need to be removed from the coven?

You see, Hakeia goes,

I accept.

Let's get on with it.

Very well.

Seeing no need for statements to be made in one way or another, let us commence to voting.

I actually would love to make a statement if it please the council.

As the subject of this vote, you are, of course, allowed to

give any statement you wish, perhaps as your final words.

Such a gracious host.

Thank you.

The proposal for my station to be eliminated is predicated on

our domains being in conflict with one another, correct?

That is correct, Witch of the World's Heart, as I have just said.

I just wanted to make sure that I did not misunderstand you.

Our coven was formed on the foundation of our opposing truths being brought together to bridge the world between humans and spirit.

Is that not so, Sister Hakea?

Hakea turns her focus to you, not quickly, but you can tell that there is effort in the shifting of her focus, and she goes to you and says,

Precisely,

Ami.

The domain, the responsibility of the realm of the world's heart has always been

to

foster communication, community, togetherness.

Help so that our magic and the magic of the world and the mundane moves forward together in harmony.

It's a difficult task, but one that I have seen Grandma Wren,

our sister, Wren,

be

more

than up to.

She taught me that magic is great in the interplay between disparate forces coming together.

And that's true not only philosophically, but also magically.

Correct?

You see, Indrie furrows her brow for a minute, and you see Grimoire goes,

What are you driving at, sister?

That magically,

our opposing forces are bound together by covenant.

And that it is in our nature to disagree with one another.

See, Grimor

snarls and shifts, and you see Hakea says,

You prove the witch of the world's hard point in your foul mood, Grimoire.

And you see Grimoire looks up, kind of actually give me a little insight check.

Yeah.

22.

You look at Grimoire, who looks at Hakea and suddenly like,

look, we're a team.

You've chastised me.

What happened?

What happened?

But you see, just sort of looks almost in that mournful like lupine predator, like, why?

The Witch of the World's hard point is well taken.

Opposition is the cornerstone of this coven

to address the vastness of the forces of our world

and acknowledge that the faces of truth are many.

There are wild differences

still

possible

to bridge.

And here you see a little bit of moisture collect in the corner of her eyes as she looks out and decides after maybe a thousand years to care about the thing she started again.

Beautiful poetry,

the nature of the coven

are forces meant to oppose

and yet

I wonder to myself what in your words addresses the present matter of the existence of your station.

Is it not true that the world's heart would still beat without its witch?

What true harm would befall this council should your station be removed?

Sister, gracious host, Indri Indri

of the Wind and Stars,

it is far more than just flowery words.

There are the old ways that we must honor.

There's a power in the numbers of our descent.

Three,

five, seven,

nine.

We began as a conclave strong in numbers, and we have dwindled.

The bridge

will crumble should the meeting end

with four.

As you say, this

you feel

magic echoes out in this place.

You see,

Marara cocks her head.

Is that so?

Grimore snarls.

What is this?

What could she know of the old ways?

She's nothing more than a pup.

Young Ahme, the nature of the old ways escaped even Ren from time to time.

To know of the true foundations of magic, ancient magic.

If we wish to speak of ancient magic, why not shut our mouths and listen to one who was there?

I incline my head towards Hakea.

The witch army

knows of magic.

There need not even be

opposition

on even sides.

Even the possibility rends the coven asunder.

Should the conclave end

with sides opposed in even number, the magic of this conclave, the purpose that even in opposition, some path forward might be reached.

These numbers are not simply magically significant, they tell the story of what we are here to do, which is to find a path forward, even if we cannot always see eye to eye.

And if the coven departs with the possibility that sides be split evenly on lines of opposition, then the magic is broken.

Marara turns to Hakeia and says,

Why did you not raise this point yesterday?

I assumed you would all be clever enough to know.

I thought that's what we were trying to do, end the conclave.

And you see, she sort of slumps into a tired position in her throne.

Grimora looks at her with sort of this wild gaze.

And you see, Marara says,

Am I to understand

that if Ah were destroyed, we would either end the conclave and unravel the Coven of Elders

or destroy another station on the Coven.

Well,

this is surprising.

Surprising?

You knew, Indri.

Indri looks up at her and says, Hakea,

I think you might be mistaken.

Indri, you might have paint on your lips, but you're old as dirt like me.

I know you know these rules.

And

it's a lovely shade.

You see, Indri,

her nails clasp on her icy throat.

Careful, Akea.

What insult, sister?

You are as old as much of the dirt on our world.

Ame's mouth drops up into a little O.

You see that, you see, Akea turns to you, Ahmed, and goes, Dirt refreshes.

Most of dirt is actually rotten vegetation.

It's true.

I would love to talk to you about soil sometime.

Oh, my God.

And you see, Grimor says,

Akea, don't you think Marara whips over to Grimor and says, And did you know, Grimoire?

Grimoire,

you

are at your best when you are honest.

And Grimoire turns to Marara and says,

I

knew.

Marara says, So the plan, in the wake of all we know that has befallen.

And Amay, you're like someone at the head of a line of dominoes that you just pushed, is watching them get steadily bigger as they approach the horizon.

The fox looks up at you and is basically checking in with you.

Yes.

Ame shakes her head like a tie a little bit, looks at me like

I'm good in your mind.

Marara says,

So, in the wake of all that was to befall this world, all of the conversations we have had, the long years of bashing our heads against the brick wall of Wren's obstinance, we were going to let this coven fall.

And you see that there is silence.

Indri is completely still.

And Hakea looks at Grimor, and you see Grimoire is sweating.

And Hakea goes...

No, Marara, you sweet child.

No!

They weren't going to let the coven fall.

Don't you see?

You were next.

And Marara stands up.

Indri whips to her.

The conclave is not yet concluded.

Marara whirls in shadow, surrounds Indri's throne.

Can we not then take a break, sister?

And Indry stands up and says, You fool, this would have all been handled if you had just had the patience to let the meeting happen at night so that the old one had a bite in her stomach beforehand and Amay would have been dead.

And so would I, sister?

We cannot speak to each other this way in this conclave.

And you feel the foundations of the palace rumble.

Out in the great hall, all of you feel the foundations of the earth shake.

Ursulan wonders for a second if everything is going as well as he'd hoped.

Suvi feels so happy.

Like, this feels right.

Is Is this right?

Yeah.

Did you hear screaming?

What are the other, like,

what does the rest of the retinue look like?

No one looks like this is great.

Everyone looks around like this is not normal.

Can I scan for like someone who looks like this isn't going according to plan?

Yeah, give me insight.

That was a natural one.

I sleepy.

I'll also, can I also give an insight?

Now that I see Suvi smiling.

On a natural one, Ame has successfully killed the other four witches.

Perfect.

Natural 20.

Natural 20.

Yeah!

I slept.

Folks, you heard it here at Worlds Beyond Number.

You gotta get your shut up.

You gotta get your shut up.

You gotta get your shut up.

What you see in this moment, Ursulan, Marara has no retinue.

You look around.

Ara, the sort of Borealis spirit that is one of the servants, and Neif both look horrified as the palace shakes.

On a Nat 20 insight, you see Aura rushes out of the palace to start to restore some enchantments, which makes you think that some of the protections or enchantments of the Witch of the Wind and Stars might have been disrupted by whatever just happened in the council chamber.

On a nat 20 insight, you actually, I think, hear and you smell

animal

snarling happening inside that room.

You feel the animal sense of beings in a pack snarling for dominance.

You don't think this is a kill rage.

You think it is a fight for alpha, right?

It's like a fight for dominance in a social group.

But you know that things have been disrupted in the palace in this moment.

Of the retinues, you think Hakeea has cleaned shop and hers, like the archer and the sage spirit out here both look genuinely confused.

Grimoire's pack, Heinruhl, and a lot of Grimoire's.

You see that Aksha, her apprentice, looks around and gets very worried and leaps up on the lion's back and looks very concerned.

Like this is not part of the plan.

This was not supposed to happen.

I yawn and remain smug.

I'm going to wheel next to Suvi, put my hand on Wavebreaker.

Yeah.

And wait.

We move back inside.

You see, Grimoire stands up and says, Marara, take your seat.

Or what, sister?

I see it now plain.

With Ame gone, if Indri wanted me gone and you did as well, who would Hakea side with?

You, her beloved, or me, someone that has never garnered the respect of this coven.

You see, Indri says, Why would you need the coven's respect?

You have the man in blacks.

It is my domain

to consort with spirits of darkness.

Consort as a verb, not a noun, Marara.

Even our bestial sister comes with a pride of those who would serve her.

Is it truly an aesthetic choice to come with no retinue other than your familiar, or was there no one who wished to travel with you?

Give me an insight check, Ali.

19.

Marara has no face as a mask,

but you can see that Indri has said something.

You actually recognize that Marara for being a weird alien, da-da-da-da-da.

No, Marara's a witch.

There's a human under that mask.

And she is on the verge of

the thing that has been said has cut her to the core, and she

is ruined.

She believed that she was part of a conspiracy that was here to kill you and has realized that the target was also on her back, and that she has truly been made a fool of in the most sacred place of her coven.

Perhaps our sister Indri had hoped to anoint a new station.

Sister Ami,

you believe that Indri wished to take up the Covenant Wand and create a new station?

That seems the most logical explanation.

If my station, which stood so strongly in opposition to so many others,

were to be eliminated.

You might still yet end the conclave with five, were another witch and her station be elevated to the greatness of the council.

In this moment, or it seems like Ame is trying to provide an

out for injury.

Um, you see, uh, uh, as you say this, go ahead and give me persuasion.

That's a 25.

Yeah!

Let's go.

You speak that aloud and offer that out to Injury.

I offer it to Injury, and

of course it doesn't manifest visually, but it is almost as if the spirit of Amé's hand reaches out

towards Injury.

Offered upwards to be held

to support.

Give me now an insight to check with advantage.

That's a 20 on the die.

Oh my god!

Okay.

I am going to extend.

This is information I had no intention of revealing in this chapter.

As you make this offer, Injury looks at you.

And for the first time that you've seen her, you've seen her mad.

You've seen her foiled.

She looks at you looking dumb.

She has her, her jaw is a little bit slack as you suggest an out she never would have considered.

And on a Nat 20 insight, you realize why.

What did you see on Grimoire's face yesterday?

Fear.

Grimoire is acting because she's afraid.

She is afraid.

She is afraid of something in the world.

It is an animal fear.

Grimoire is deeply wise in the nature of the wild hunt.

Each of these witches is untouchable in their domain.

But no matter how powerful the beasts are, when the light of the great city burns bright, what do beasts do?

They are afraid.

And Marara,

who you realize is the second youngest, she is the youngest before you.

Like you, you couldn't have anticipated that because she's so alien, but they are mocking her here in this place.

You also can feel on a nat 20 insight,

Grandmother Red, no one has insulted anyone else's station which you know would be actually against magical law in this place but they are coming really close this is so messy that it's almost magically dangerous so you your instinct to jump in and smooth bridges is not just ame being like a a politician you're actually doing a magically significant thing the temperature's gotta come down in here before someone says something that breaks the covenant right like it's gotta cool down in here On that Nat 20, Murara wanted you dead for sure.

It all comes together to you.

She wanted you dead,

but what was her motivation?

It was fear as well.

She came to Grandmother Wren saying, You have to change your mind.

When she took your mug originally, when she came to the cottage, she was like, Please change your mind.

Like, we have to move.

It was the same thing where Wren was a holdout.

And you suddenly remember it was the talk of unanimity.

Grandmother Wren had explained to you that, and it all comes together now.

Of course, unanimity would be so powerful in a coven whose whole point is we are all from different universes of magic.

Like, if the waning moon and the world's heart and the wind and stars and the wild hunt and the woodland green all agree that something is true and necessary, how potent is that when all these facets of the world agree that something must be done?

And thinking of unanimity, you realize that that was Marara's motivation.

She just thought when

you told the conclave Grandmother Ren is the greatest witch who ever lived, she said, we've got the same fucking problem again.

You realize that unanimity is also

on

Indri's mind.

And the reason unanimity is on her mind is she's the witch of the wind and stars.

You suddenly remember the face she made

when you said the word dwindling.

A flash, flash, subconscious, something she wouldn't even have clocked in herself.

But

the self holds deep truths, even in hiding from the conscious mind.

And when you said the word dwindling, there was a flash of something like responsibility or guilt.

What number on the coven would ensure unanimity?

What number of witches would guarantee that the coven was always united?

One.

And Indri's scheme, hidden from all her sisters, is made clear to you and you alone in this moment.

And you wonder exactly who moved behind the fall of Skalvi and Aruna.

You take as much time as Ami needs to process the weight of what you have just gleaned from Indry's face in this moment.

Hakea speaks and fills the silence as you process.

Is this true, Indri?

You've found

a witch somewhere in the world that you believed of great enough power to represent a station to replace the world's heart?

Indri,

with great effort, breaks the eye contact from Ahmed to look at Hakea.

Several, in fact.

And

it was a bit of business that I hoped to introduce after we had concluded

with the presentation from my retinue.

And you see that Grimoire says, you didn't offer it as business at the outset of the meeting.

It slipped my mind.

I apologize.

That would be

a fourth item to discuss would be the witches that would possibly replace.

you see Marara

turns to Ame in this moment looking to see what your reaction to what Indri is saying is

what how is Ame reacting

claps her hands a little delightedly and and says

this is wonderful

whereas we came to this meeting

so so much fewer in number and with the troubles of the world so great now perhaps we can leave it or even perhaps next meeting with greater numbers and stronger powers.

Give me a persuasion check once again with advantage.

Advantage

19.

You see that Andre says, oh, well, I think to create a plan to increase the seats of first of all,

I know that there has been an outburst, but we are still here to consider the motion before us.

If we are to speak of new seats on the council, that has not been agreed upon as one of the items of discussion.

You see that Hakea says, neither was new witches for the station to replace the world's heart.

If you're allowed to introduce an after-the-fact

replacing the world's heart, certainly a sister Ame can inquire after putting new seats.

You can't have it both ways, Indri.

And you see, here, Hakea leans forward and roots crack into the ground.

She says, You cannot have it both ways.

Marara says,

I would like to interject a motion to consider seats upon the council.

That's not really how it works.

You see, Grimoire says, it is how it works.

Host,

you broached it.

I would like to vote that after the business of the Witch of Toma's agenda item, we take up the discussion about seats on the Coven of Elders.

I'd like to vote now.

And you see, Indry goes,

no vote needed.

We'll add it to the agenda.

It's added.

We added.

It's the fourth item.

Very well.

Then we have to figure out if we're going to kill Armeg.

Should we vote now?

And you see that.

Oh, my first vote.

Oh, my first vote.

You see, it's very exciting.

Siakea says, ooh, I can't wait to see which way you go.

And you see that

Indri says,

all in favor

of

destroying Ahme of Toma and removing the station of the world's heart from the Coven of Elders.

Raise your hand.

You see, she looks at first.

You see that Indri looks at Hakea and Grimoire looks at Marara.

Marara looks at Ahmed.

She wants you dead and does not raise her hand.

And you see that Hakea says,

I'm not raising my hand for all that.

And you see, Ame, do you raise your hand for killing yourself?

I think about it, I take a moment and I think about it.

Hmm.

And

I put my hand back down from my chin.

I put it in your lap.

You see

Indri and Grimoire look at each other as Marara and Hakeia don't raise their hands.

And Indri says,

all in favor of

Ame remaining in the station of the world's heart.

staying as a position on the Coven of Elders.

Raise your hand.

And you see, Indri puts her hand up right away to keep your station.

And Marara,

you see that

Hakea

puts her hand up.

Marara puts her hand up.

Grimoire, when Hakea goes, she goes up.

I look down on the fox and I nod.

The fox looks up and says,

I haven't been talking a lot,

but I'd like everyone to know that

it is magic law that I get a vote.

And he raises his paw.

The fox speaks for me.

Puts his hand down.

And you see, Inshri says,

our first item

is settled.

The station of the world's heart remains.

Ame, sister, we welcome you fully and with arms open into the coven of elders.

We will take a brief recess and convene for the presentation of my retinue in the great hall of the Tower of the Half Moon.

As the witches get up, Ahmed, the doors begin to swing open, the fox looks up at you, and you see your expectant true friends out in the entry hall of the main keep.

What do you do?

Grimoire and Hakea are the quickest to leave.

Marara vanishes, but Injury is still in the room with you.

What do you do in this moment?

I turn to Injury and I say,

Thank you, sister.

Should you need help with anything else, please let me know.

And I turn out to my friends, like

grinning

with my thumbs up, like, you know, sort of huddled to my chest, but when they thumbs up being like, yee!

Like a cat that ate the canary.

As your enhanceability, which will remain on for a few minutes more, but you sense it leaving the room where it was called to serve most, You feel on the crosshatching of that magic.

Ahme's parting words are a deep kindness of the kind that Ahme is

through her very heart itself always inspired to give, but also a formal and fundamental movement as the knocking over of a king on a chessboard that the domain of togetherness has offered aid to the domain of the independent self, the final checkmate.

Suvi, under her breath, so I think only Ursulan can hear is just like, man, nice is meaner than mean.

Nice.

And Ame, Ursulan and Suvi, you join together with Ame?

I do like a little pressed digitation of like a little sparkler and like a tinkling of a couple notes and a little sign in my hand that says, are you dead?

I lived.

So

when you won, is that when the ground shook?

Well, actually, the fight was just getting started as the ground was shaking.

And

yes, I have so many things to tell you.

Shall we retire for a moment?

Yes, let's get some tea and hot gas.

Yes, this is the only tea I consume.

Um, uh, so a deeply exhausted Suvi.

You retire.

Uh, there are some small other kitchens and side areas.

You see that Indri begins to walk off towards the Tower of the Half Moon, which is at a triangle away from Suvi's quarters in the Towers of the Crescent Moon.

And you are able to get a small tureen of tea and find a little private path through the courtyards and gardens to have this discussion.

Or maybe even not outside, but

you find a sort of skybridge pathway that is covered to have your discussion.

You see that the fox has a small harness that has a little sort of waggling tin cup of cocoa underneath him for animals to wear.

And actually, on your way out, Neif hands you small sort of silver baskets of uh biscuits that have little sort of icing stars and things on them, sweet treats and things like that, and little things of cocoa.

Um, here you are for the hospitality.

Neither, can I have two, please?

Oh, uh, yes, absolutely.

Uh, gets a little samovar.

She's like wearing a silver hot samovar of cocoa on a bag on her back and pours it to you and says, Um,

directions, uh, just follow this pathway and take the third left, and that will lead you to the great library at the base of the tower of the half moon.

Um, uh, but please take your treats, it's a little bit of a walk, uh, should be about 10 minutes.

Um, uh, and uh, and then lunch will be served in the library.

Thank you.

Uh, toast, you have to toast with us, though.

Oh,

what are we toasting to?

Uh,

me being a lot just to being alive.

Oh, being alive.

That is an uncomplicated toast.

And puts it down.

The fox

under his breath goes, being alive.

That's my favorite one.

Walking through the hallways here, Amig, what do you impart of the meeting to you?

I tell them everything, and I tell them, and then Kurt Moore was like,

and then Marato is like,

like, oh, you've all turned against me.

And then, uh, and then Indry was like, uh, you're sleeping with the man in black.

Yeah.

Hold on, hold on.

Marara is fucking the man in black.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

That's so

fun.

Wow.

That's so good.

I know, right?

Man, he really does just give his sword to everyone.

I'm exhausted.

Yeah.

You should probably take a little nap while I'm

eating, but

do you feel safe?

safe?

Yes,

my station and I are quite safe now.

Yeah, but are they gonna like

do retribution for fucking

of their plan?

No, I think that if

it seems like if curses were to be lobbed at one another, that it just would be an inextricable tangle and everybody would be cursed.

So I think we're good right now.

Yeah.

But I will say

the antivolist is going to be giving us a presentation about the Citadel.

What do you mean?

And CV, like, like in a sniff, goes from like kind of tired and enjoying the tea to like hyper-aware.

What do you mean?

I don't know what the second item on the agenda is.

They had an agenda.

They had an extensive agenda past my destruction, you know.

So now we're getting some sort of a presentation by a wizard about the citadel.

Do you know what Teffmet?

No, no, I don't know a Tefmet.

What the fuck is a Tefmet?

Is that a person?

A really attractive person.

Just so tall with tattoos of the arms and just these eyes and

uh

focus up.

Uh, yeah, I think it all went rather well

Tefman

Not name-cloaked

Just

this is the antivolist who's going to talk about what they think is happening at the Citadel to convince the witches to do something about the citadel perhaps but now that I'm fully on the board I can always be uh the voice of dissent should any word be raised against the Citadel.

Not that I don't trust you.

Is unanimity a requirement for decision making?

Well,

unanimity is not required for a vote.

However, for the full magical strength of the coven to be employed, it requires unanimity.

But also, Henry owes me one, as honestly, so does Marara.

And you're going to cash those in for the Citadel

minutes after getting those boons.

If necessary.

What's the threshold for necessary?

Well, the man in black seemed like he

took a very dim view of the Citadel, yes, Ursulan?

Yes, he believes it a knife in the heart of the world.

Well,

I'm merely going to continue the tradition of Grandmother Wren and

your parents in

fostering the harmony between the worlds.

I think you see Suvi gets a little colder when you mention her parents.

Okay.

Well, good luck.

Let us know if you need anything.

Arriving in the library, Suvi and Ursulan, what you see is that

there is a massive library.

This one actually filled with books, star charts, books about astronomy,

every single book on astronomy and stars within this chamber and library.

So it's rich blue parchment and sheepskin wrapped in golden-handled scrolls.

And there are astrolabes and spinning globes made of twinkling silver lit within by candlelight tinkling overhead, almost like museums having massive like hanging exhibits over long halls and you see that there are several tables in rows these long sort of banquet tables like you would have in a public library as a place of study which you realize in a place that is just for the witch of wind and stars is such a strange

this everything here has the feeling of it could be for so many and it is instead for just one

and there is a uh there's six tables in a row that are side by side, and then a seventh at the head, centered in the room, under this massive swinging orory of celestial bodies and stars, with the arched ceiling having constellations painted upon it, and

bright braziers of witch fire burning, the sort of golden witch fire.

And at that table, you see that several tables have been dragged in smaller, sort of square, almost almost like block tables that have sheets over them.

And you see that the witches are not only gathering here,

in high-backed chairs.

These sort of look like leather

fire, like almost like drawing room chairs, have been gathered.

There are five of them here, but there are also a host of cushioned ottomans and other seating arrangements.

A bunch of the predatory animals have gathered around in this place already.

Some are by the fireside.

It looks as though the retinues of the witches are invited to this meeting because it is a presentation of a retinue.

Because one of the witches is inviting one member of their retinue, all members of all retinues are likewise extended an invitation in some acknowledgement of an evenness amongst the coven here.

Ooh,

looks like you all can save for here.

Subi, I just have to say, this is so your aesthetic.

I know, I cast Pinterest at ninth level.

Suvi just is constantly wrestling with like, every vibe is exactly right.

Why does she suck so much?

Please.

Oh, Ursulan, you can go sit by Heinru.

Oh, that would be nice.

Unless, Suvi,

you have need of me.

No, you're good.

Can I insight check?

Yeah, do the insight check.

I just want to vibe check.

I got a 10.

I got a 13.

Ursulan just got permission to go sit with his friends, his new friends,

at lunch.

It's not romantic.

It's just bros being bros, dude.

That's so sweet.

Heinrich looks up and says, I found meat.

What?

I thought they just had the cakes.

Unbelievable.

As all of you approach the end of the library, there are five seats.

You see that Akea moves towards one,

holding hands with Grimoire, and that Grimoire departs and sits next to her.

So they're on the right, close to the fireplace where all of the animals are hanging out.

So it's Grimoire on the end, closer to the fireplace, then Hakea.

The middle seat is unclaimed.

The seat to the far left has a crow on it.

And Marara is standing off to one side, gazing on, sort of uncomfortable in this brightly lit, welcoming room with her crow on her seat, but otherwise not moving.

Injury moves through this space as well towards the front.

You see a figure

with some instruments assembling some notes on one of the tables that is partially covered by a sheet that is clearly covering some objects on that table.

You see Tefmet.

You see this wizard.

You do not.

Give me an arcana check.

Actually, give me an insight check.

17.

Okay, I think you're looking and you're like, immediately, you know, this is not a wizard of the citadel.

You know, they're wearing this like beautiful geometric single piece of fabric garment that is wrapped very like over and over again on their body.

You know, they have some scrolls on their back and they have a large bound tome on the table next to them.

You see leaned against the back of the near the door frame is a knobbly wooden staff that kind of looks like how your staff disguises itself, but it looks genuinely like there's no illusion there.

Like it is just sort of a knobbly old wooden staff.

They are reviewing something.

On a 17 Arcana you're like not a wizard of the Citadel.

So the only other option is hedge mage

They're not a you don't know how to describe it other than this is not JB Adelaide.

And I think that on a 17-hour kind of that's good enough to put you in no man's land for how to taxonomize this person.

And whatever emotion that would evoke in Suvi is the emotion that occurs.

Uh,

I don't like unknowns, so Suvi

stiffens up.

Have I learned Ame's lesson of kindness?

No, not to wizards, just to witches.

If I catch

their eye, I will hold it in a way to suggest, like,

yeah, another one.

Um, you do not catch their eye.

Their back is to the assemble.

They're like a professor going over notes at the beginning of a looking at the blackboard away from everybody.

Uh, Ame, as you approach, injury falls in alongside you,

moving towards the seats.

She looks at you and says,

I'm sorry that my tongue was stilled back in the conclave chamber.

You offered me a kindness, and I would hate to see it unacknowledged.

Thank you for the kindnesses you have paid me.

And she holds your gaze here

with the knowledge of the out that you provided to her

a debt is owed here and it would be foolish not to acknowledge it

it's a funny thing ame

in the discussions that i had leading up to this conclave i observed

that

time

is

ever on the side of the world's heart.

And

I think here, Suvi, you hear a connection to the thing that Steele said about wizards.

And she looks and says,

I remarked that

if Ahme were anything like her mentor, Grandma Wren, then a day would be more than enough time to effortlessly charm all of the denizens of our various retinues whose loyalty should theoretically be to us.

But that is the nature of the world's heart, ever charming.

You do me a great kindness by saying that.

From,

I mean, you know, listen, if a pretty girl tells you that you're charming, then you gotta accept it as truth.

You see that Andre goes, hmm.

Thank you.

You see that she shoots over a look at Marara, and you see that Marara does not turn her masked face to behold her.

but you also see that for whatever foolishness seemed to cloak Marara in that conclave hall

you realize that injury is reproaching herself because apparently because you now go like oh injury must have told Marara we cannot give the witch of the world's heart time

to make her case and start to peel people off and make them fall in love with her.

And so within that, Marara's like, got it, have to act fast.

And then panic and went too fast.

And panicked and went too fast.

Yeah.

Oh, so good.

Ooh, a ripe tail of

bitches.

Ame, as you're walking, with those two seats that are left, do you go to the one in the center or the one to the left?

Well, first, I'd like to actually peel off very quickly and run over to Tefmet

and say, oh, how are you feeling?

Oh, Ame.

Yes.

Oh, hello.

I wasn't destroyed.

Oh, thank goodness.

Okay.

You see, Indri walks up behind you and says, yes, I misspoke earlier, Tefmet.

There will be five witches of the Covenant Elders.

Tefmet meets Suvi's gaze.

Suvi, do you...

you're wearing your winter clothing.

Do you have any visible emblem of the Citadel on your person?

No, out of respect for Indri, who asked that I not like strongly signal it, but I want to try to convey it in sort of bearing.

Like, the way Suvi's holding her staff also is just the little, like, oh, the witches are so like relaxed and fun and funky.

And there's a just incredibly rigid human being staring daggers.

Amazing.

Go ahead and give me a DC-10 performance check to see if you can communicate the might of the Citadel without emblem or symbol.

She should have taken a nap.

No.

Oh.

I do not do it.

So, you see, Tefmet glides over you, just sees a woman in black holding a staff, looking really sleepy and mad,

and is like, is like, okay.

And it just is like,

she's mad at me.

I don't know why.

But also, there's a talking bear and a shadow, and that crow came out of a bunch of inky blackness.

And so, you know what?

We're just going to keep on keeping on.

No, I'm part of the tapestry.

But I do.

So you're feeling all right?

You see, Taffmett says, absolutely.

Yes,

feeling lovely.

Feeling lovely.

Fantastic.

And thank you so much for the lovely little thank you note.

Oh, of course.

I was

dreading giving this presentation feeling under the weather.

And now I feel that I actually

have the potential to do this right.

So thank you.

Well, I look forward to hearing what you have to say and revealing all these little surprises here on the table.

Oh, and over there is oh, my retinue includes the guardian of the Witch of the World's Heart, Ursulan.

Of course, really good, really, really good.

Oh, my goodness, an honored friend!

Yes, that's a true honored friend,

and Wizard of the Citadel Sky.

What?

Wizard of the Citadel Sky, a friend from childhood.

Uh

the uh

well uh the

oh um and you see Tefmet looks over at Indry and says I the

sorry I can't the the cit the citadel has been invited to and you see injury says the citadel has not been invited the wizard sky is here in the retinue of the witch of the world's heart yes sky is here uh not as a representative of the citadel but as my true friend.

Taphmat goes,

looks at Injury and says,

I cannot give this presentation in the

this is this is I cannot do this.

If the I cannot do this.

And you see, Injury goes, what are you talking about, Taphmet?

I cannot give this presentation in the presence of a wizard of the

citadel.

I I cannot.

Is it

I understand that the presentation pertains to the citadel, but is it of a sensitive nature or highly, highly, highly.

I see

you see Indri looks and says

well Taphmet

it is not given to us to refuse the retinue of one of our sisters.

You may either give the presentation or not.

It's up to you.

You are here under under my invitation, and I will see no rudeness extended to my sister Ahme.

Tefmet looks, makes eye contact with Suvi.

Unblinking.

Give me an intimidation check.

Oh, God.

Please.

You are rolling disadvantaged because you are exhausted.

So tired.

Natural one.

Natural one?

There's a natural one.

You dead-eyed Tefmet.

You dead-eye Tefmet.

In the moment that you dead-eye Tefmet,

Neif walks up to you and says, I saw you spilling your hot cocoa all the way over here, so I got you a second cocoa.

God, think.

This one has marshmallows and cream.

Can you have cream?

Is cream good?

It's fine.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

Damn it.

What was I doing?

And I remember I was hiking a steering concept.

I'm like, oh, I lost so hard.

Give me an insight checkoff.

15.

You see that Tefmet is on the verge of a breakdown.

Oh,

okay.

Just

please, please,

if you could just breathe in with me, breathe out.

I'm gonna even...

Tefmet does not breathe in or out.

She's a

wizard, yes.

Tefmet looks at you and says, I am

Witch of the World's Heart.

Respect is given to all members of the conclave and you as a member of the coven of elders

have the station that I am here to beseech.

I

do you know

whom

well that would be a disrespectful question to ask so I'm not gonna ask

just go ahead and ask and we can you know I will filter it considering that you are about to give a big presentation and are deeply upset by this.

Now everyone has taken their seat and is just an there's an audience watching Ahme talk to Tefmet.

And Tefmet goes, I need a moment to your thank you.

And actually, I'm okay.

Thank you.

And actually, I am okay.

So, thank you.

And Tefmet runs over to a stack of notes and says, Can you please take your seat?

So that if you be so kind, you do what you wish to do.

It is your conclave.

And

Tefmet begins to go through scrawled notes and begins to

like opens a hand and incinerates a couple of the notes very briefly, and has, like, what was a heavy stack of notes, is now a small set of, like, three index cards.

Uh, Suvi's gonna step behind the fourth chair, the one, yeah, that's closest to Marara, and uh, try to give a little, like, beckoning

look to Ame,

but not to compel just a

I walk over to the chair as gracefully as I can.

I give a nod to Suvi

and I sit in the chair.

And then, as you say, I'm going to just lean into your ear so it's sort of just a thing you're hearing.

Like, I'm so happy to leave if that will give you an opportunity to hear the full

thought process of deafman.

They'll hold their tongue around.

It's true, and I you know that I will relay any important information to you, as would Ursulan.

And Fox, I don't think, would be able to not tell you everything.

So, if you'd like to go get a little bit of a nap, I think perhaps it it would, you know, be even more productive.

I'll take good notes for you.

Okay.

Uh, if you want, you can make a little gesture right now to dismiss dismiss me and uh have some little

status.

Oh,

ooh.

Yes, all right.

Uh, thank you so much for joining me, Wizard Skye.

Uh, I uh your services are not required for this meeting.

Indri turns to you, Ame, and says, Have you felt compelled to dismiss a member of your retinue by my guest?

Oh, no, not at all.

Uh, Skye was, uh, has uh important studies to attend to a continuation of her her work yesterday.

And I'll give a little nod to Andre and say,

the work of the Archmage Apprentice is never done.

And I want to say that just loud enough because we weren't really throwing my title out there like that.

I was just trying to get in Tefmet's head a little more.

Okay, give me one more intimidating disadvantage.

I know.

10.

Tefmet turns around to look at you.

You also see that Tefmet has taken a moment as the witches confer and has cast

Eagle's splendor on themself.

You see that Tefmet casts an enhanced ability, turns around,

makes eye contact with you as you are going to go.

Anyone who wants to can give me an insight check here.

Yeah, I'll keep rolling.

I'm having a great time.

I'm going to look up from my meal.

Yeah, yeah.

15 for Ursula.

11.

18.

You see a look of.

I think you all read it differently.

Suvi, you see a look of

anger.

Of like controlled anger.

Ursulan on a 15, you see a look of fear.

And

Ame on an 18, you see a look of hurt, of pain.

Suvi departs.

Are you heading to the keep of the world's heart or the tower of the crescent moon?

Oh, God.

Uh, crescent moon.

Ursulan's gonna stand up as you leave.

You want me to come with you?

You're good.

Okay.

Thanks.

And I just want to give a little, like, head nod to Heinral.

I tried to help him pull himself together.

Heinrill looks at you and tosses a couple sausage links to you.

There is a moment of, like, profound gratitude as Sufi goes to grab him out of the air.

Oh, no.

Uh, and actually, can I grab?

Uh, I'm gonna actually, I'm not gonna come with you, but I am.

Ursuline approaches you.

The sausage is very good.

Thank you.

Also, I wanted to ask.

My sister gave me a bridle

from the horse, Hollymun, that I rode here on.

Okay.

I was wondering if you might take a look at it after you've rested.

No,

there's time for this now.

Okay, done.

Anything else?

No.

Is there anything in your hand like food was?

Yeah, so much meat.

I'm going to grab some piece of what you got, too.

Oh

Take that and walk out

Incredible.

So instead of going back to the tower of the crescent moon, I'm going to head to the keep of the Ami's Keep so I can go find the bridal.

Okay, great.

Are you gonna nap first on getting there or are you

no

gonna get the bridal first?

Gotta get that bridal first.

I don't think I remembered to like scuff my little like ritual sigil.

So I'm like, wow that bad boy's still up.

Let's get this done.

Scuff it and take a nap.

Great.

Sky leaves.

Tefmet turns.

Indri raises a hand and says, seated in the central sort of high-backed chair.

Sisters of the Coven of Elders, I present to you a member of my retinue, the wizard Tefmet, the Antibolist.

Tefmet comes to us with tidings of the world of Umora.

Insight that only a wizard can glean on the comings and goings of the Citadel.

Tefmet,

if you would be so kind.

With a deep breath, Tefmet

goes to deliver a rehearsed speech, and you can see

easily on their face that they believe this is the most important

speech they have ever made.

Witches of the Coven of Elders,

I am Tefmet of the Library of Nurwara.

I have come here

to the palace of the Witch of Wind and Stars

at the top of our world

to tell you

that a window we have only just perceived is already about to shut.

The opportunity to address the threat represented by the Citadel

is closing rapidly, even in the moment of my speaking.

I come to you to give

a portrait of a changing land.

It has been a little over 200 years since the first coining of the term lingua arcana,

and some 200 since the creation of the White Desert and the citadel of the Kemsarazan Empire.

Within these short centuries, has the magical understanding of the world previous to this been disrupted to a level that cannot be overstated.

Millennia of

witches bridging the gap between the spirit and the real,

and the progeny of the spirit world

existing in our own.

Monsters, sorcerers, shape-changers, various gifts from the interplay of the world of spirits and our own.

Of my library do I come

to speak of the greater binding.

The understanding that the magical nature of our world is the interplay between the spirit and the real.

neither existing over the other in hierarchy, but in their interplay, communication, cooperation, learning, is the possibility of magic made real.

An imbalance, yes, was created some 200 and some odd years ago by the creation of the lingua arcana.

The first time

that

a bridge was capable of being made between the real and the spirit

purely through

understanding without exchange.

The understanding that a language exists to bind the spirit and the real

together

under the auspice of a single mortal's will.

The creation of wizardry

has seen immense and incredible changes to the world of Umora.

Ones that as a wizard I am proud of.

Proud that the understanding of mortal minds

seeks to bring more light to the understanding of magic, the nature of spirits, and of mortals, and of all of the instances in between.

I see here Tefmet shakes for a second as they talk about bringing light and look to Marara in the corner.

And Tefmet says,

It is no secret to the witches gathered here that

I, by my very nature, exist in the shadow of the Citadel.

Wizardry's greatest strengths are in learning, and the Citadel, as its first project, has created

a

philosophy and political order of secrecy.

the control and limiting of information within the Glass Tower of the Erian.

As such,

my library and those who dwell within it, and all other libraries like it, are

anathema.

My greatest hope, when discovered by Wizards of the Citadel, is to be considered a hedgemage and dismissed.

I do not walk the halls of the Citadel.

I do not stroll its courts.

and

it is our most important project to remain hidden from the eyes of the Syrah's Imperium.

That being said, in plumbing magic and seeking to learn the secrets of the greater binding, to bring to light those...

to bring to light those things that might make

a better world, a world

where

the cleverness of the human spirit might see our greatest problems solved.

It is impossible now to avoid the citadel, and though I do not tread its halls, I know well the bottoms of its feet.

A first sheet is taken off, and you see

a mangled chunk of what looks like metallic fencing.

This fencing was taken from a compound in Ganspret, within the realms of the Kemsara's an empire.

The fence was broken by a spirit creature.

A spirit creature that did not have its origins, we believe, within the world of spirits, but was true born in the mortal world of Umora.

Its parentage brought here and born not as a monster, but as something like a true spirit, we believe a massive armored beast of the land, something sort of like a turtle or a tortoise, a horned spirit.

In escaping, we believe it had returned to the world of spirits already, but had been born in our world of spirit.

By what means, we do not know, but we know that when we arrived, the citadel had already abandoned this location, some of their equipment left in the paddocks of whatever livestock they were breeding in this place.

Tefmet removes a second sheet.

Under that sheet is a cracked, massive, sandy, wind-eroded yellow stone, a glyph broken apart into its composite pieces now.

This stone served as the keystone

of a gate of sun and moon from an ancient imperial house of Gauthmai.

Cracked in half, it is our understanding that what broke this was not an act of abjuration as the gate had been dormant for quite some time.

Instead,

judging on what the wind has eroded from this stone, we believe that there were runes placed here and the stone cracked at a failed conjuration.

A conjuration of a great one.

A true spirit.

The magic was mapped back to Zhao Court within the citadel.

a conjuration experiment to bring a great spirit against its will to the mortal world in a place that once lived under the might of sorcerer kings.

Tefmet goes to some of their belongings and takes several missives.

This information has been corroborated by missives intercepted from imperial couriers.

Supplies, magical organization.

Though the wizards were protected from our scrying, they're

servants, non-magical, and their contributions to these large imperial projects had been mapped.

Putting these pieces together, we believe that the Citadel has ventured much farther into the world of spirits than the near spirit, deeper.

We believe that amongst some of these belongings and missives, there were packs created, explorers' packs, with rations that had been enchanted against aging for centuries, as though the explorers were planning to go to areas of Umora where time might pass by orders of centuries in their travel, and that their food and rations not spoil.

These explorers, I think it is safe to say, were not headed to any material location within the world of Umora.

In terms of mapping this project, we have only the edges of a great shape.

The Citadel's ability to abjure and prevent descrying are

incredibly powerful, at least to our means,

which is why we come to you now.

In terms of how close the citadel is to whatever this project is,

we cannot say

with certainty that there is unified purpose here, but across these missives, certain connections are made, shared ingredients that do not seem to build to common purpose across the installations, compounds, projects, digs, archaeological sites that we have seen throughout the empire.

In our uncertainty, are the commonalities found.

The ingredients that we cannot place within these rituals are the common ones.

In terms of their point of interest, it seems to be great spirits.

Which brings us to our final conclusion about our timeline.

The only equipment we have been able to liberate from the might of the citadel

before one of these rituals had occurred.

Not cleaning up the refuse and the garbage, not finding the failures, but actually interceding to find what would be put to use

are a series of magical artifacts that I cannot speak to the purpose of.

But the enchantments on them are so potent across the schools of of conjuration and abjuration that I believe them powerful enough to affect even the greatest of honored friends.

What purpose they could have, I do not know, but I have brought them here to communicate the direness of the message I now give.

The final sheet comes off

on a table some twelve feet wide,

you see

enormous glass discs.

The last time you saw them,

you were standing on them in the derrick of Port Towen.

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

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

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