WWW #26: The Conclave of the Witches of the Coven of Elders

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond Number.

Snow falls slow and heavy in the icy garden of frozen statues before the doors of the keep of the world's heart.

As Ahme and Suvi, the fox beside them slightly buried under snow, behold the sudden rush and arrival of Ursulan astride a spirit horse, its hooves glowing with sunlight and melting partially through the ice.

Ursulan, you in the last fractions of moments as your horse surged through the world of Umora, flashing here and there between the near spirit and the physical world.

You saw for a brief moment the valley of icy trees ascending the mountain and suddenly appearing here in one of the many courtyards of the palace of the witch of wind and stars.

And as Haliman, your steed, comes to a sudden stop, you behold your true friends,

and it is cold.

I take a running leap up into Ursulan's arms and I kiss him on the cheek.

Oh, you're okay.

I'm so sorry.

Oh, God.

No, no.

Where did you go?

Um, I went.

I went to see my family.

Um, what?

What?

Yes, there's so much to talk about, and I can't get down off this horse because I know my legs will not hold me.

Um, so I'm just gonna sit up here for a second.

Um, but

it is

good to see you.

It's good to see you both.

Yeah.

So glad you're okay.

And you came, you came.

Who is this?

Who is this?

Hello?

Give me an animal handling check.

16.

Haliman, as your hand goes up,

puts a soft, warm, fuzzly nose into the palm of your hand.

And

his breath is so warm.

As his breath snorts out of his nostrils, and you feel it on your shoulders and your chest, this enormous white steed.

You feel that the warmth actually lingers a little bit longer on your chest than even your prestige digitations did on your ascent to the witch's palace.

Oh, I pull out an apple from my pack, and I press the digitations, I warm it up, then I hand it to him with both my palms flat.

You see the sort of brushy, whiskery lips

take the apple, and a little bit of warm slobber is left on your hand.

And even that, that, you see, it quickly sort of evaporates.

And you watch steam rise up from the saliva of the horse and stay steam, even in the cold air as it kind of mists away.

Can I make an arcana check on this horse?

Because I would like to go and engage with it, but Amy's doing it.

I'm still mad.

Go ahead, and I know

the call of the horse girl is.

God,

you were just watching Suvi swallow every horse girl instinct to be like, no, I guess I just get to understand it.

Give me an arcana check.

And Arcana is going to be less useful to you here than nature or than nature would be or probably another related skill.

If there's another intelligence skill you want to use, even if you're not proficient in it, but Arcana will give you some stuff.

I'll go nature.

Go nature, yeah.

Terrible die roll.

You fool.

Nine.

You look, I mean, you can tell that this is a horse not of this world, but looking at it, you see that it

doesn't look like the horses of the empire it doesn't look an imperial horse imperial horses are trained for bravery but they are trained for speed they're not wizards don't tend to like run the front line on a horseback into melee therefore tactical movement and and and you know and essentially like horse archery rather than like uh combat this looks like

a powerful

There's something about it where it even sort of you're like, this is like a draft horse, which is not even a horse you would use for riding.

It's like, and this is like for pulling a plow or something like that.

But looks can be deceiving, and it's, it, you can feel, you can see the like flurries of snowbanks leading off from the courtyard along the mountainside.

This thing clearly was leaping 100-foot or 200-foot jumps over chasms to get up the mountainside and arrive here.

apple, give him an apple.

He's warm.

Okay.

Oh.

His name is Hollybook.

He's a gift from Suvi's best friend, Orima.

Ah!

What?

Of the reaching green?

Yes.

After I spent time with my family, who I swear I will tell you about,

I

it was on a recommendation from my sister, the Wizard Stripe, Kalia,

that I

approached the near spirit, and it was there that Arima found me and introduced me to my new friend here.

This is so sweet.

I incline my head to Hollyman, and I say, Thank you so much for bringing our true friend back to us safely.

Uh, we should all lead him.

I'll lead him, and Ursula and you can stay.

Thank you.

My thighs are just shaking.

I have a question.

How close did Ursulan and Hollimon land to our sort of ice statue garden?

And is there any material effect?

Like, you mentioned the cobblestones being revealed.

Is there anything happening to any of these ice scopes?

I think you see that Holy Mon is some distance from the nearest ice sculpture, but your question doesn't strike you as being an unusual one.

You like, ooh, there's like, I think your wizardly sensibilities go, there's an interaction waiting there.

But the cobblestones, there's writing on them?

You look and see that the writing is less so like runic language as much as it is symbology.

It is hearts and hands.

There are like

hands clasped, emerging from vines, hearts.

You see that there are rolling pins, grains and fruits, things that are basically of the station of the witch of the world's heart.

So it's a visual language, it's a language of art and of the decorations of this place rather than full sentences.

It seems that this place was created for this station.

Suvi, give me a

Arcana check.

Like in 3.5, this would be like architecture and engineering, but I know that you have that kind of, you've just taken warp and weft.

So give me an arcana check as you look at the keep.

16.

As you're looking at the decorations here of this station that is being kept at the Palace of the Witch of Wind and Stars, I think you observe that this keep is one of the smallest and most humble.

Yeah.

Give me an insight check with that as well, actually.

And you can do that with advantage because you succeeded on your architecture and engineering.

3020

The decorations here in this place,

there is a tremendous kindness for the Witch of Wind and Stars to keep these halls as pure guest residences for these other witches that would probably only come here under dire circumstances.

You know, Grandmother Wren's cottage didn't have keeps for all of her other.

She would have been like, I can make a bed for you in the corner, you know, like that was, so it's like, it's not obviously a necessity.

But looking at the smallness of the keep, I think under Dirty 20, you have to wonder if the smallness and humbleness is a kindness to a station that considers humility part of its domain.

Right?

Like, the witch of the world's heart is not humble as in small, it's the humility of

we are in this together.

It is the humility of not centering oneself, right?

Yeah.

But you also, having met Indri, wonder if she considers the smallness and off-to-one-sideness of this keep to be a kindness herself.

Yeah.

Oh,

and I guess along with that line, how would I compare this to where Subi was dropped off?

Tower of the Crescent Moon is actually.

So, this is at the edge of the palace, and it's set into the base of one of the peaks.

So, it's sort of like kind of eaten up by the mountain a little bit.

Tower of the Crescent Moon is on an inner ring of towers around the central keep

and appears to be like adjoining the quarters of the Witch of Wind and Stars herself.

So you're like halfway in between Indri and

Ame.

I would say too that when you see Crescent Moon up on the top of that tower now that you're outside of it, you see an enormous icy crescent moon atop that tower.

And you can see

that there are two other towers like it.

One of which has a massive gleaming full moon, and then the other one which has a sort of half moon with like a semicircle on it.

So are you just gonna be

where are you gonna put the hork?

What's the plan with the horse?

Hollymon, are you with me for like good, or was this just one trip?

Your guess is as good as mine as to what that meant.

Now, I will actually, I will actually remind you that Ursulan does, I believe, have speech of beast and leaf.

Do I?

I do.

Proud worlds beyond number tradition.

Well, I guess as Suvi asked that question, I will use speech of beast and leaf

and kind of lean around

Hollymon's face to kind of make to look into his one of his eyes as best I can.

Hollymon,

Is this a one-time?

Is this a one-way trip?

Or are we

in it?

Hollyman

shakes the bridle on his head as though he's trying to remove it.

Aww.

I'm gonna.

Sufi, can I use your shoulder?

Oh, yeah.

I'm gonna put way too much weight on Sufi as I hop down off of Hollymont

and just

stabilize myself and then go to remove the bridle.

You remove the bridle from Hollyman.

Give me one more animal handling check.

19.

Holliman

kneels down and puts the long length of the bridge of his snout and his forehead up against your chest and presses into your chest in a comforting way, leaving a sort of warm imprint there.

And you see that Holliman

walks into the snow and vanishes amongst the statues of the courtyard and fades from sight?

Oh

the fox goes, he wasn't that great.

I thought that was the most beautiful creature I've ever seen.

Well, you missed the best part.

Well, for to see, the actual experience was actually quite unnerving.

But I crossed the world in a matter of minutes.

Really?

Yeah.

I was in a jungle recently.

I was actually in Gautmai.

What?

Yes.

Again, so much.

I don't know what...

Suvi, how did you get here?

It's so cold out here.

Let's go inside.

The fox turns

pads over to the door, and

as the doors appear before you,

do you go to open them?

Yes, I'd like to.

I can see the little ornamentation that is Grandmother Run's work.

Yeah, a little wicker charm with a red ribbon around it.

Oh,

what kind of charm is that?

Give me a little

insight to check.

21.

Looking at the charm, you get the sensation that this is

an offering or a gift for any spirits that are within the area.

And you see that there are some very small, little like crumbs or pieces of some kind of candy inside inside the wicker with the ribbon tied around it.

Uh, and you actually can see sort of the old little marks of frost of some of the ice fairies here.

So, you wonder if it was a almost almost like a little bird feeder, like a little honey, like a little pine cone feeder with peanut butter and butter seeds on it.

And it looks like it's both a kindness and an offering.

And on a you beat a 20, it's also a way to

keep ice fairies on the outside of the keep.

Ooh, I love that.

Um,

I'm gonna dust it off a little bit and um

use prestigitation and mending to make it shiny and new.

And I'm gonna put some more saltwater taffy inside of it.

Incredible.

You as you put new things into the charm behind you, I think, Ursula, and your ears flick and you hear

of little flapping wings as new candy has been added to the charm.

The witch of the world's heart keep

opening the doors and proceeding through,

you see a keep.

Unlike most of the palace, this keep quickly becomes made of stone and actually enters into the rest.

So the exterior is sort of covered in ice like the rest of the palace, but there is a squat sort of stone building here carved into the mountainside.

And

you see that there is a cold, unlit fireplace at the moment, but there are logs beside it.

It's very, very frigid in here, but there are some carpets.

And you see that there is a small box of sort of tidy dishes and a kettle and a couple other little things that is clearly like a little tote that like grandmother wren left in this place of like things that were a hassle to bring each time.

And And you see that there are.

It's very funny because the hall is small in relation to the palace, but quite large in relation to the cottage.

And you see that in its grand kind of appointed luxury,

there are some wide open doors that lead to some chambers and corridors, a staircase leading down, presumably to the kitchens.

And you see that there

is some sort of like not damage, but it looks like the stove was moved up the staircase into the grate.

It basically looks like Grandmother Wren was like,

you can just see the story of it takes 15 minutes to get from a room I need to get to to another room I need to get to.

I'm bringing a bed and a stove and everything from this keep all to the fireplace, which is the one place that can't move.

So there's a weird little stone henge of like bed and sofa and chairs and logs and a stove and a standings like wash basin that's all just sort of looks like a council of furniture around the fireplace.

Piggledy pigglety.

Once inside, I set to work immediately

and even as we're talking, just sweeping the hearth, putting in the log,

magicking up a fire and stoking it,

cleaning things off, and I look around and cupboards to see if there's any provisions with which I can make something hearty for us to eat.

And as I'm doing it,

welcome to the keep of the Witch of the World's Heart.

While you are here, please consider it as your home as well.

Suvi, while you're doing all that, like, walked into the door, pressed digitated the like snow and any like melt off of her and is just standing off to the side.

And I think now that the like excitement of your arrival has passed, you see the like coldness that she is affecting.

That like there's no softening of that.

She's like kind of remembered it more and is

quiet and still.

Skye, will you be staying here?

No, I have my own apartments.

Thank you.

Oh,

Amy, is it all right if I stay here?

Oh, of course.

I Really love that.

Great.

I have actually a few things, and I'm just gonna pull out some of the stuff I got from Kali.

New boots,

this fur coat,

which,

you know, is uh it's amazing to have a coat that actually fits me.

Um, uh,

yo, flip this coin.

Tails.

It's going to be tails.

Watch.

And I flip the coin.

Tails.

Flip it again.

Is it just a

poorly made coin?

Just flip it one more time.

Flip it.

Tails.

Alright, now watch me flip it.

Heads.

Okay.

Heads.

Every time.

If a mortal flips it, it's tails.

If a spirit flips it, it's heads.

And I think there's that moment of like wanting to be a little mean and be like, that's...

a stupid thing.

And then the like, oh,

a means of detection.

And And like the actual like secret, like lateral uses for it.

And then Suvi kind of swallows a snarky comment and just quirks an eyebrow and nods.

She stole it from the citadel.

Ami, do you have any food?

Oh, yeah, I think I can actually, oh,

there's some seasonings here, too.

Yeah, you see there's like some spices in the tote and a couple other things.

There is no, it doesn't look like there's any ability to like, there's some flour, there are some things that keep essentially, and especially in the cold that would keep well.

But

you see that there's a little note

that points somewhere and says eggs.

And you see, it just points to a window, and you can see that there's just a basket in the snow covered with a like a cloth.

And it looks like there's just some frozen, they've got to be frozen solid.

So it's like it's slim pickings here at the North Pole, folks.

We got eggs, we got potato, we got

some fire.

Can we have a conversation so I can retire to my tower?

Would you like to

make us

supper?

I'm fine.

I arrived well-provisioned, thanks to the citadel.

With a very pointed and slow look at the both of you.

So is that

is that the means by which you traveled?

We all could have,

but you ran away.

Well, I can't lie, Suvi.

Um

by running away, I was able to reconnect with my sister

and

aside from you two coming back into my life, there is no greater gift.

So, I I apologize.

I made sure those wizards were safe.

Um what wizards?

The four wizards who had been using the um

the conjuring.

Oh, they were caught up in it as well, but I was um

I mean, I don't know what your experience in the

uh

cataclysm of your own creation?

Is that the phrase you wanted?

Yeah, sure.

Um the cataclysm of our creation

uh was Ame, but

I mine was very interesting.

I...

I made it back to the cottage, and I'm...

Oh, Arsan, I'm so glad that you found her.

Yes.

But...

Suvi, I'm sorry.

I was scared, and I...

I've suddenly inherited something that is a lot larger than me, and I think you know how that feels to have

that kind of pressure weighing upon you from all of your obligations and how lives, many lives hang in the balance.

But I'm sorry, and I promise I will never abandon you again.

Sure.

While I was in there, I met the man in black.

What?

Yes.

We walked together for well, not together, but uh, I walked ahead of him for a moment.

Um,

and he told me about how he met the two of you at Ahme's house.

Um, yeah, through the door, yes, through the door.

Uh, but he has he very much wants to come back.

Um, uh, he attacked Grandmother Wren.

Yes,

well,

um,

it would it would seem, Ahme, that you are

his problem is with the Citadel and the wizards of this world, but uh familiar chorus

Aame is seemingly the only thing keeping him from

or in some way Ame, you are preventing him from

I guess maybe having his way with the Citadel

what does that mean?

What?

We we didn't talk for very long because it did feel like if we walked together that things

my life would be irreparably changed.

But

in the moments we did speak,

it seems very much that

Ame

and the future of the Citadel are tied together as far as the Man in Black is concerned.

Well,

we're screwed.

Something about a dagger.

Suvi, the Citadel, was the...

in his example, the dagger, plunged into the world's heart.

Ah.

Does that make any more sense to you?

It was only two days ago, but.

He attacked Grammar the Ren at the grove

and

she switched the...

No, I'm sorry, I'm still in the dark here.

Do you trust him

trust him to

have told you the truth about the wizards the citadel a dagger in the world?

I'm just getting so fucking tired of

nope.

I do I do believe him why

Because there was no malice in his voice he did not seem to

sway me or he was not attempting to sway me in any way.

way.

I told him that Ame was under my guardianship and that I cared for her.

And he told me

that he was coming for her

to help her or to remove her

to reach the citadel to attack the wizards.

Yes,

the latter.

Because he had sensed that there was a wizard in the home home when he came to visit Arme.

And that they had already

had her in their clutches.

Though, of course, it was not with that.

I think he was inferring something that I do not believe is true.

Okay.

But he continues on his path.

I.

When I touched the near spirit and met Arima, I sensed he still walks walks toward us.

And you trust him

while understanding that he is on his way towards conflict with first Aame and then my home and family.

I do believe him.

Okay.

Well, uh, I'm going to focus on one

life-ending problem at a time.

Um.

Thank you.

I will puzzle over that and perhaps inquire as to more information that others might have about him.

Suvi, you are here in

the capacity as my advisor.

What what do I do?

What do you know of the other witches here?

Do you know anything of the case that they will make against you?

No, I don't know why they are trying to eliminate this station, nor the other station

which

they

would have to eliminate were mine to be disposed of.

But I think that might be the key to it.

Discovering which of the other

domains

stands to be destroyed should the Witch of the World's heart also be destroyed.

So, you've found out nothing in your time of separation or your arrival here.

I found out that the pendant that you wear

was created by your parents and Grandmother Wren

to shield you from spirits, to protect their daughter.

That has nothing to do with what we're doing here.

Have you found out nothing of use?

Ame.

You hear a knock at the door.

Um, hello?

I'll get the door.

Hello?

You open the door.

There is a

tiny,

matchstick, thin little girl outside outside in the cold shivering with an enormous wooden box filled with vegetables and food and some cuts of meat and provisions and all sorts of things.

She has a thick scarf with so many moth-eaten holes in it and then tiny little white leggings and little black buckled shoes that are completely

what's the opposite of impervious to the snow.

These things are so pervious, just shivering there.

You see she has sort of warm brown skin, close-cut hair, like a little pixie cut, and a little sort of big wool thing with a puff on the top of it.

Just shivering.

Oh my goodness, come in.

Please, come in.

Hello, I'm Ame, and this is the Wizard Sky and Ursulan.

Begging your pardon, I'm so sorry to be in front of you.

I am Neif.

I am apprentice to the Witch of the Winds and Taris.

I've collected these for you from the kitchens.

They have collected for you from the kitchens.

I.

You're the your

CV snapshot jaw shut.

She's just like, oh, what?

Oh no.

You're

the apprentice of

like the one, not what?

Ame also snaps our jaw shut.

Um

it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Neif, the apprentice to the witch of the wind and stars.

I

Uh

are you about to die?

No.

You must be cold.

Please come come bring the box down.

Oh no, I'm sorry that I've shivered.

There's no.

There's no.

This is frightfully rude.

I.

You see that she puts the provisions down.

Hanging from her belt, you see there is a little steel bristle brush and a like clanking iron pan for like sweeping up hearths.

You see that she has a little like collapsible telescoping poker that's also hanging from a wand on her belt.

She,

I don't think you've ever seen someone who looks,

everything about her suggests susceptibility to the elements.

Which elements?

Any elements.

Any, all.

Any and all elements.

She looks like she would get hot.

She looks like she would get cold.

She looks like the wind would be bad.

She looks like no wind would be bad.

She goes.

the

um if there's anything else I can retrieve for you in my duties to my

mentor, my the

my mistress the wind of the wind the wind of the wind and

can I make an investigation oh my god

I also I would like to do an insight.

Oh, I don't want insight.

I want an investigation check because I don't trust it.

Like, there is a lot meeting injury and feeling the effect and the feelings I feel about her and all of this.

Like, it reeks of illusion, and I do not trust this energy.

For insight 24,

investigation 21.

Insight?

What you see is what you get.

In terms of, in terms of she's,

her inner truth is being worn perfectly on her face.

You think that that if this person was asked to deceive somebody, she would burst into tears.

And Sufi, on your investigation, looking for like secrets or

illusion, something like that.

You're looking hard for an illusion.

You don't see it.

You don't see it.

I...

You've done such a wonderful job.

Thank you so much.

We're going to make a hearty supper with this.

May I send the invitation to you

to stay for supper?

Oh, that will not be necessary.

Many of the other keeps require some tending to

before the arrival of the fellow covenmates of my mistress, and so I must away quickly.

The upkeep of the palace is given to me as my charge.

And you look at

the palace?

So, Ame, in this moment, you remember all the chores you had to do in the cottage?

That's incredible.

Yeah, I flash back.

You know, you can see my mind goes elsewhere.

I'm staring at a thousand-yard star, remembering sweeping the hearth and slopping the pens and,

you know, organizing the bookshelves and Nicholas the goat.

And immediately, and then I snap back to it and I say,

in this time of many visitors, I imagine that your duties must have increased tenfold.

May I,

you, you seem cold.

May I

provide you with

an additional scarf or

perhaps a treat for your

give me a persuasion check.

Can I assist just sort of nodding along with like every time Ahmed makes an offer?

Just like, give me a health action.

We're gonna call this a DC25

getting Neif to accept help is a DC 25 persuasion check

22

You see that Neif looks at you and says

the

The stories of the kindness of the witch of the world's heart ring especially true in this moment, but no help is required for to accept help would suggest that I needed it, which would be to suggest that I did not receive it.

And so, therefore, I need not accept in this moment your help.

And the offer of a treat would imply that I deserved one.

So, thank you for your time.

And you see that she goes, However, if I can be of any use, and you see, already being in here with like the little fire that's going, she's already kind of warming up and just goes, However, if there are any tasks which you require that I could impart to you and that would be for the betterment of your time here, then I am given leave to perform such duties for the guests of my mistress that they

need

done.

Yes, actually, yes.

I have more honey cakes, you know, I was going to put out later, but I don't want to walk all the way back out to the great hall on my own.

So if you could take some of them and please

see the edges here, They're not quite as pretty as the other ones.

If you could cut those off and

you may take them if you wish and taste them to make sure that they are fine.

She looks at you and goes,

I will see it done.

Thank you.

Give me your scarf.

Yes, very well.

Should it please you to have it, then all the hospitality of the Witch of the Winds and Stars, and she hands the scarf to you, would be yours.

To,

if you want my scarf, I have to give it to you.

And Suvi takes it without a word.

And I think, just again, now that she has that slightly faster, slightly optimized version of her mother's mending, she will just very quickly repair

the moth-eaten bits and the torn edges and like the bit a bit of the fraying as she continues to stammer through.

And as Ame explains

the honeycake

strat to get this child to eat.

And I will hand back

the fixed scarf with, on second thought, I don't want it.

Thank you.

You see that she looks at the mended scarf,

looks incredibly grateful in this moment as this garment is now fuller and richer and warmer.

She looks up, and I I think Suvi in this moment,

you watch an opinion change in her head.

And she goes,

Thank you very much for returning such a humble garment to me.

And should I find a scarf more becoming of a wizard of your station, I shall be sure to collect it and remit its custody to you.

Deeply grateful, Neif.

Yes,

I

actually

would

require your services in terms of updating me as to the arrival of the rest of my sisters and anything that I can do or any of any help that I can be as is befitting of my station in the Conclave.

Please do.

Since you'll be coming back frequently,

please see that you're properly shod the faster

to get to the keep keep of the witch of the world's heart.

I oh, actually, do you want me to have different shoes?

Yes, yes.

Okay, I'll see what I can do.

And you see, she sort of like clicks her heels together, bows,

and turns out with the new scarf and the honey cakes and scurries out the door.

I have not met this witch, but she seems to be no Grandmother Wren.

You explain.

Yeah, I mean, what were all those sounds you just made?

Imagine the most attractive person that you've ever seen in your life.

Like, like, you've...

Right,

while you've been out in the world, you've

seen your fair share of attractive people, yeah.

Yeah.

Well, imagine that they

were

magically heightened both both literally to be tall and to be even more beautiful like any little flaws that you might have seen in that person

it's it's just not there this this woman is perfect and immaculate and she smells nice and uh she is everything that you could possibly want like like it doesn't matter who you are she's got it baby

and uh

she's just

she has this giant house um full of people that are in love with her um and she can get even the most uh

cold heart to melt and

beat for her and her alone or something like that

She is equivalent to her surroundings, so Neath is a bit of a surprise.

What the hell is happening?

Witches.

And we don't have a plan yet, then I will excuse myself.

I arrived here with

a bit of a

retinue of my own, so I needs must confer with them before the end of the night.

Of course.

I'm glad you're safe.

It's good to see you, Sufi.

Thank you for coming back.

Mm-hmm.

What time are we meeting tomorrow?

Um,

I'll keep you updated.

I will

send a message to

your tower.

Understood.

And with that, Suvi turns and moves back into the cold.

As Sufi leaves, Ursulan and Aame and the fox are left in the keep of the world's heart.

The fox looks up at you, Ursulan, and says, You met your family.

I did.

That's great.

Tell me all about them.

It was more than just your sister.

Oh, my sister has been prolific.

Two husbands, three children.

Those children have multiplied.

It was incredible.

Wow,

for her.

her.

I mean, she's also quite old, 120 years.

She tried to come after me, but came out first.

Spirit time bullshit.

Truly.

Oh, oh, that's wonderful.

And while we're doing this, as we're chatting, whereas normally I would sit into a chair,

I am stressed spaking right now.

Making so many different layers of a a cake and a stew and my shoulders are

up to where my ears are as I move around the kitchen.

Just absolutely cannot

let this

relax.

But I am, oh, I am so happy.

Yes,

his the youngest one, Rovro.

He he actually cast his first spell while I was there.

It was truly something incredible.

Magic, of course, of course.

Oh, that's wonderful.

Ame, you look down also and see Ursulan's shield, which now has this beautiful painting upon it and gleams with a sort of magical

light here softly in this space.

Oh, yes, yes, the shield that you painted.

Ah, yes.

Something truly incredible.

This, what I painted, is where Kallia lives.

What?

The same tree.

A red tree with blue fruit.

Kallia lives underneath this very tree.

I mean, not this very tree, because I didn't know that that tree existed, but once I saw the tree, it was just remarkably similar to the one I had drawn.

Well, that's...

And she said...

I'm gonna push it kind of into your face.

She said that you would see something in it that I couldn't.

I squint at it.

do I see?

Because I've seen the shield before.

I helped pick it out.

And

I have seen the drawings before.

But there's something different about it now.

Well, you look at it and the kind of

care and crafty nature of witches, the magic of tending to and sewing and repairing and building and baking and making and crafting and all of the magic of the hand, the care and attention that is put into things to mend and care and make over time.

The painting of the shield is exquisite, and you found this old prototype in Tilliver Mill that they didn't end up going with that is a little bit more heraldric, a little bit more

sort of an older model that didn't look as

military and looked a little bit more knightly, for lack of another word, that didn't quite, it didn't look right with the rest of of the Citadels things.

And the shields that they made at Tilliver Mill were for the creation of shield to Mori, living shield spells that carry these sort of to protect as they go.

The surface of the shield is perfect.

The painting,

it's not the sort of beautiful but flat symbology of heraldry, which is telling you like a family and a name and a story.

It passes that, but if your eye lingers on it for even more than a fraction of a second, it enchants you.

It's clear that it is an illumination as from a fairy tale.

The tree, the details of the leaves, the fruit, that all of it somehow...

If Ursulan holds this,

he doesn't seem like

how knights would have looked in the past.

He would seem like a story of a knight.

There would be something more mythic about it, just the illustration of this tree.

And again, it's not gleaming, it's not flashy, it's just if you study it, you become a little enchanted by it.

When you look at the back of the shield, you see that the prototype nature of it is it's bolted on the back to two kind of thin leather straps.

And that's actually where your

eyes go, which is you're like, oh, this is not fitted for Ursula.

It's not like it's just too standard-ish.

You, you know, put your arm in here, hold the shield here.

So the body of the shield and its magical face is flawless.

And you go, oh, this is where it needs a little bit more love.

It needs to be fitted to Ursulan.

It needs to actually be made to his specifications.

It needs to fit his wrist.

It needs to have a handle that allows him to actually wield it pretty effortlessly in battle.

And I think that's where your mind goes.

And

I'll let Ami think on

what kind of work she might want to do on that and what magical impacts impacts that may have on this shield?

I'll say the two directions that you could possibly go in would be something you can see that you're gonna have to make a decision between something that makes the shield sturdier, like it's bolted down even more, or something that makes it a little bit lighter and easier for Ursulan to move with it, which might mean that he can get a better mobility or reach while fighting it.

So it's like, is it a tougher piece of equipment or is it lighter and easier to wield?

From there, we're going to move to the Tower of the Crescent Moon.

Sufi, you're moving through the Palace of the Witch of the Wind and Stars.

Okay, if I've sort of lined up that my tower is like in like that inner ring close to like the main uh like heart of this palace.

What if I get a little lost and just wander around

and maybe

maybe just if I end up finding injury?

I think there's that thing of like I'm walking back and I know in the back of my head I can find exactly where I need to go.

But if I just kind of rock up on a study

or a very pretty witch,

what could happen?

Hell yeah.

Go ahead and give me

investigation.

And I think I just want to see you beat your own passive investigation.

Okay, okay.

20.

Dang it.

Okay.

So you are walking through this space

looking for injury.

As you move, the palace is so beautiful.

So many windows and courtyards.

Many of the hallways are just pure white ice.

And you're always sort of marveling at the presence of starlight and the torches.

And the ice...

fills itself with light so that like there'll be a hundred foot long hallway with two torches in it that nonetheless is illuminated like they the light of the torches gives itself to the ice and carries just enough of a glow like it's that weird thing of being in snow at night it's all just illuminated enough even if there's not that much torch fire.

Moving through the space, every once in a while you'll come across a room and suddenly see beautiful red and patterned carpets spread out and hanging chandeliers,

you know, shelves adorned with trinkets and treasures.

So, every once in a while, you'll go from Ice Palace to something that is so furnished that for a moment it actually feels warm and welcoming.

And that seems to be the way in which the palace shifts.

That

moments of icy solitude open into small nests and honeycombs of rich, warm caramel wood and deep red carpets and fires and braziers, things that invite a sudden warmth and refinement away from the rest of the icy palace.

And you also find in your journeys through going into the central keep,

as you see the inner courtyards,

beautiful evergreen trees the first plant life that you've kind of seen here in this place and you see that decorated in them are

what can only be described as the ghosts of candles

shimmering little ethereal points that have small and spectral lights that do not catch the branches of the tree but they are nevertheless decorated with these soft little lights and you can see almost out of the corner of your eye that maybe those lights are being held or those candles shouldered by small fairy folk that do not flitter or laugh like the ice fairies you've seen, but maybe something a little older or a little more somber.

And then a trick of the light, a flurry of the snow, and their faces and forms are gone.

You

walk a little further in,

looking for injury, and see coming up that there is a room with an enormous porcelain tub, steaming water coming out of it, a blind set aside with a robe laid over it.

There's clearly like a bath that's been drawn here, and you see in an icy corridor, long hanging robes.

There must be a hundred gowns and robes of whites and reds and silvers and blues and all sorts of different colors.

And you see Neif walking out of that closet with five enormous scarves,

and she goes, A mistress, I oh, oh god,

sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm late, I'm so on my way to the moment.

Wait, you're fine, you're good.

Oh, you're you took that very seriously.

Um,

these are the warmest scarves I can find that my mistress has laid out.

If you want, um, Neith,

thank you very much for all of your hard work.

I don't need a scarf.

I appreciate your diligence, and I was trying to help in a way that would bypass

your

well-understood resistance.

Okay,

if you I would you um

it would be a tremendous honor to confer upon you a scarf so that I can have fulfilled each of the requests laid out for me.

Understood.

And I'm going to just then quickly scan the scarves.

Is there one that would maybe...

which one of those would match what Indri was wearing today the most?

There is a beautiful silver and blue scarf that is patterned.

It almost looks like the patterning of like the eyes of a peacock's tail, but filigreed and with small sort of curling silvery leaves that end in these deep pools of like

of sapphire and robin's egg blue throughout.

And it's almost like a captivating, shimmering, metallic pattern to it.

And looking at it, you see it is like a quilted scarf almost, that it is like stuffed or something like that.

So it's not made of yarn or like flat fabric, but it looks like a patterned quilted material.

That one is

lovely.

Are you okay?

Are you sure your mistress would not miss that one?

Oh, oh,

nothing I do is done without the knowledge and expressed desire of my mistress.

And therefore I would never, she would, I don't, I always ask her for everything except when she says that that's not right and so she knows that this is happening and is happy with me making sure that you are warm.

Well, then I will take that one and consider us square.

Thank you.

And she hands the beautiful silver and blue scarf to you.

Neith,

do you know where

the other wizards of the citadel are being kept?

Oh, they are in the uh the silver rampart chambers, um, quite near the tower of the crescent moon.

I can bring you there if you wish.

Oh, uh, you seem busy, and I kind of look back towards the bath and hope to leave enough of a silence to try to get her to explain what's about to happen here, or what this is, or what it's for.

Um, oh, I um, I am drawing a bath for my mistress, um, uh, uh,

with which to bathe after her studies are completed.

And this is her wardrobe,

which garments of which were made by magic.

Myth made

by magic.

Subie is warring with wanting to press and pry

more about injury, more about Neath.

But there's also that sense of like, I don't want her to mistake the act of kindness earlier as a like opening salvo to information garnering.

Can I make an insight check on her to see like

how she feels about this interaction?

Like am I stressing her out by taking this time?

Ah, 12.

You're stressing her out a little bit, but she's an anxious kid.

Okay.

You also look at her and get the feeling that she is maybe actually like a little bit older than you thought.

You think she's, she's, she reads really, but she's probably about like 12 or 13 years old.

Because she's a little bit bit tall, too.

She's like

really, really smashstick skinny, but is

tall here.

And you wonder like how much this kid sleeps or eats here a little bit.

And you see, she goes,

if

whatever thou, whatever thou wish, I might.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Genuinely.

I will

see myself home from here.

Very well.

From this place, if you have been in search of these scarves, which I'm sorry I did not bring sooner, the fastest way would be the path through the Court of the Evergreens.

But

if you wish to not be buffeted by the cold,

by heading left from the door here, you will pass by the Library of the Stars, which will lead to the bridge

across which will be lit by torchlight, and then just take a turn at the inner courtyard past

past the stone guardians of the outer wall, and that will lead you to the Tower of the Crescent Moon.

I think I've had enough of cold for tonight.

I'll take the long way back.

Thank you.

You are very welcome.

And

thank you for not

liking my scar.

Have a good night, Neve.

She smiles, clicks her heels, bows,

and

you make your way out.

What do you do on your way back to the Tower of the Crescent Moon?

I think now that I have a

heading,

I'm going to let myself think about the day and allow myself to like, like kind of rewrapping myself in the frustration of the dance that had to be done.

to be accepted into this place at all by the witches because of the way they feel about wizards and hearing and even through the relief of seeing Ursulan safe and in hail again being reminded of Arima and his conversation with the scary the actual scariest spirit Suvi's ever witnessed through a door

again warning against the wizards and just this sort of

how much it feels like everyone versus Suvi and how much she has to like take care of what she needs to take care of uh and i will head

back

specifically in search of that library

moving through the passageways away from the bathing chamber

you see a pair of doors adorned with beautiful

eight and sixteen pointed stars

adorned in light and the doors open just a crack and these doors are actually made of

beautifully stained but still rough-hewn wood with metal hinges atop them.

And looking through the crack and open, you see one of the most beautiful chambers you have ever seen.

It is

built

with sweeping and curving staircases through multiple levels with great wells and pools in the dome of an observatory, an enormous silver telescope that breaches through the heights.

You see

the glass at the top of the dome revealing all of the majesty of the stars overhead that now glitter in companionship to that true fixed northern star.

You see

the layout of the stairs and wells and landings almost like a gallery or a grotto more than a library.

It is like looking at the many

concentric and overlapping gears of a watch in terms of the size of wells and the spiraling staircases that approach them in a strange and beautiful asymmetry that nevertheless has some pleasing geometry to it.

And from each of the openings of the wells, does shimmering, flickering light emerge?

Do you enter the room?

Uh,

yeah,

yes, yes, obviously, yes.

This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Uh,

but I do, on entering, I, there's not a universe, I, uh, Suvi would assume, where

she wouldn't, there wouldn't be a sense of, like, I might be followed, I might be observed So is there any sort of like

scan I can do to see if there's like any like magic like detection magic or a tale or something?

Give me a perception check

15

You detect no one following you

kind of step in

breathing heavily in that way of when you like first walk into like big old world cathedrals and you're sort of overwhelmed by beauty.

Subi was like raised in

ostentatious surroundings, but I think this is truly the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

As you enter the room, you suddenly are able to see the ringed wall of the dome and see

the shelves of ice at the corner of the icy wall do not simply go sideways, but they actually slant

up and away, almost like you would store

something kept in vast quantity, like the treats of a candy store, or coins in a vast arcadium, something

miraculous and wondrous, and you see adorning these various shelves throughout, surrounding this place.

I'm going to ask you to describe for me what it looks like when you pull a star out of the sky and put it on a shelf.

What?

There's something like focusing about it.

Like the act of a selection and placement gives illumination and specificity.

So I think this place glows and somehow the shadows increase everywhere else as is as if to say like, yes, there is everything everywhere, but here is where you've chosen.

And it's like, it's just like this beautiful pinpoint and highlight.

And

I think maybe

like the detail

in like in and around, everything comes a little more ornate and a little brighter, as if being rendered in real time and being given like increasing layers of definition to like the place that you have shown attention to.

Looking at these beautiful specificities, the glittering stars adorning the shelves, like

radiant gems, but no gem is ever this bright.

Gems just reflect light and these emit it.

These somehow shame the brightest diamonds you have ever seen as you walk into this space and you watch as your form produces at first a thousand shadows, each one dimmed by the light of some other star that is...

it's almost like each shadow you produced is instantly banished by the light of some some other star, but you are in some flickering shadow puppet play that can never gain enough shadow to truly begin in earnest as you walk into this place.

It is one of the most enchanting places you've ever been to, and you are of the citadel itself, the home of magic in Umora.

What

do you do as you enter this space and see these shelves

filled with stars that also have upon them

silvery plaques that you see written ancient words in a language that you comprehend, not the lingua arcana, but you comprehend as being

the names in an ancient northern tongue of constellations.

And there's some

there's some point

while

looking at these shelves and these stars, something that

feels

the most like everything Suvi's ever loved or cared about.

Like it sparks her curiosity and joy in a way that seems so divorced from all of the context.

And it's just...

She just feels overwhelmed with the gift of it.

Like, yes, she's here to try to protect Ame and defend herself against the witches that seek to do Ame harm and clearly don't like the wizards of this.

But

it feels like even in this, just this first day or night, the kindness that's been shown and the beauty that she's certain, like she's suddenly in,

I feel overwhelmed and I want to like

give a gift, but I'm so uncomfortable.

with

kindness or showing emotion.

It feels like weakness, but I...

there's just this like overwhelming tender feeling.

And yeah, I want to reach for a little music box in my pocket and leave it as a gift and she'll find it later, but I just want to tuck it away somewhere.

So when she finds it, maybe

I don't know.

I just want her to

give something.

As you look into the wells and the light coming from them, you see that

you see that each well goes a hundred feet into the earth and is lined with red velvet-lined icy cupboards that contain some, that the vast majority of the stars kept in this place are actually in these wells that fall deep into the earth.

That apparently, this, the shelves on the wall here, this is like the workbench of the wind and stars.

And the deep archives are within this two dozen some odd wells that populate this vast observatory dome with its massive silvery telescope in the center that is itself the size of like a small tower.

And as you go, moving from the stairs, there are a million little cupboards and crannies.

There are places where a staircase moves sort of narrowly between two wells that abut each other.

There are many small and off-to-the-side places, railings, and steps and wells and shelves that you could

find a little quiet corner of.

Yeah, I think I want to go high up and behind

some little like trick of like architecture, a little alcove, and just open up the little music box and tuck it behind.

You open the music box, the silver dancer in its center,

the

cracked and welded mirror in the lining of the lid.

Stow it away.

In this moment, do you linger in this space or do you leave?

This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

And I don't understand it.

And I think those are the two most

biggest pulls on Suvi that trigger her curiosity and what she might want for herself and what she would do.

But as ever,

duty

will pull me away from the thing I want.

If I'm caught lingering, I don't know what will happen.

Maybe I never get to come back.

So I'll leave now and hope I get to return later.

You linger not at all.

You give yourself the moments that it takes you to stride across the room and depart from this place.

In the keep of the Witch of the World's heart, Ahme is beholding a shield of the citadel transformed by the artistry of a wild one.

In this moment, Ahme, are you describing to Ursulan what you see as the work that the shield requires?

So I have the shield flipped

paint side down, and I'm sort of tinkering with it.

And for right now, I...

With your permission, of course.

Of course.

And I'm so right now I'm popping the rivets out in order to

for the straps.

And I ask,

well,

we can make it so that you can hold it and it's sturdier or

quicker and lighter.

And I

have to say that I

your style seems much more suited to it being lighter and give you some agility and so you can tackle more people.

I like that.

Yes, let's do that.

Okay.

And so I

have leather scraps.

I look around to see what I have.

I definitely have artisan's tools with me, and I am going to craft so that the straps are more stir- more suited to Ursulon's size of his arms.

But I'd like to see if I can make it so they can conform to his glamoured form as well.

I think you can

weaving some enchantments, you find a little bobbin of thick thread and your leather working tools to be able to make the straps fit to the bolts of the shield and I think there is some thread from Grandmother Wren's cottage that you've carried here that you know can be spun in such a way that it follows the comings and goings of the spirits themselves it is a glamored thread and

with some quick work in this way you are able to craft the shield such that it follows the natural movements of Ursulan's arm, no matter how long that arm might be in the moment of its wielding.

As I work, I hum to myself.

I think about

the summer that we spent together

and the rough housing and the tumbling around.

the joy in that and I think about how Grandmother Wren

would

occasionally take in if there were little spirits and

you know, things that were not quite human in the woods, bringing them in and sometimes patching them up and

giving them a little gift to go along their way with.

I weave that into it with the threads,

Ursulan.

Your shield is a plus-three magical shield.

Okay,

And with the ability woven into it by the Witch of the World's heart, as a bonus action, you may extend that plus three bonus

away from yourself to an ally within five feet of you.

So you would keep the plus two from the shield itself, and the ally would receive the plus three magical bonus of the shield.

Should you or the ally move farther than five feet away from each other, the bonus would return to the shield and the person wielding it.

Okay.

Do

Try it on!

I take it and put my arm, the unglammered arm, through it, and I draw Wave Breaker.

And I, you know, carefully wave them around.

Not wave it around, but you know, a few strikes.

Feels good.

Yes.

I really kind of feel the length and kind of the

comfort that Ahme has woven into it and my ability to bring it both across myself and away from myself.

It's really also that the like where the straps are puts your forearm right in the center of gravity of where the shield moves easiest.

You're not high up on the shield so that as you move it, kind of the pointed tip of the kite shield swings around wildly.

It's like you're using your shoulder and back to lift the weight of the shield that comes up on top of your arm where you have the most control of it as it moves.

It's just nice and centered and goes exactly where you want it to go.

And even holding your arm at full extension, it doesn't wobble or shift its angle and it is heavy, but not uncomfortably so.

In that moment, watching you,

the fire glinting off of a remarkable shield, catching on the end of Wave Breaker as it swings through the air, hearing the wind and the snow howling outside.

It's like the illustration on the shield.

It's not

like a hearkening back to an old time.

It's you are the idea of a knight.

And I can't help but tear up a little.

Ursulan kind of brings,

you know, after kind of enjoying the feeling of and the comfort of now having both a sword and shield that feel truly as as though they are his,

is going to notice your tears.

Sheath wave breaker, but keep the shield out and extend up, kind of bring you in,

kind of bringing you in with his right arm and bringing the shield behind you

in his left.

And just hold you and in that moment my shoulders drop and i let out a breath that i didn't know i'd been holding and i don't

it's just it's not even sad tears it's just i've been holding in a lot and i

i'm just really happy you're here

of course

you know i i know we've been traveling a lot under my title being protector of you the Wizard Sky.

But I would also offer my services to you, Amay.

Oh, I'll take it.

I need all the protection I can get right now.

There it is.

Well, just so it's not Protector Protector, I will be Protector of the Wizard Sky and Guardian of the Witch of the World's Heart.

Ooh,

I'd like that quite a lot.

Thank you.

Well, you and your heart are under my guardianship.

Oh.

And the heart glows bright here in this keep, for though you have come here in the face of dire danger,

you are not as alone as you were when you arrived.

Day does not come here in the darkness of the far north, but

after rest, huddled under furs in the cold, you awake in the same scintillating darkness with drifts of snow alighting on the cold ice outside.

Time does not move here.

There is some relationship to eternity in this place that is not reflected by the passing of the seasons.

The wizard Sky, our friend Suvi, awakens in the tower of the crescent moon, as beautifully appointed, cold, and beautiful as the mistress of this palace, and Ursulan and Ame awake in the humble keep of the world's heart.

Each of you receives a knock at your door.

At the keep of the world's heart, the apprentice Neif, and at the Tower of the Crescent Moon, the bear Costa,

informing you that

within the hour, the arrival of the Coven of Elders will be presaged.

I'm gonna look at Neif.

Do they all

get here at one time?

Oh,

I don't know if they are all traveling together.

Hakeya is quite venerable and I believe may be coming in the company of Grimoire and

Marara.

I'm so sorry I said her name.

Never mind.

I don't know.

She'll get it's whenever she gets here, it's perfect.

I look over at Neath and I like put my hand at the middle and and I'm like squeezing my hand and being like

what is that?

Did she do that?

What is that?

Oh, you

oh no.

What is that?

What is that that you did?

What is that?

Is she gonna do that to me?

What is that?

What is that?

Ame was looking for a cup of tea.

I'm going to get Ame a cup of tea.

Oh, that's my job.

I'll do that.

No, no, please.

No.

All right, will you come in and help me?

Yes, yes.

She comes inside.

I need extra drug, please.

It's gonna go bad.

Okay, I'll eat it.

That's my job.

And Costa at your tower, Sumi, says, The arrival of the Coven of Elders is imminent, Wizard Sky.

Thank you.

Are there any places that would be obviously off-limits to a Wizard of the Citadel who seeks to not

over-extend her welcome here?

Within the chambers of the coven itself, only those members of the coven are permitted.

Only familiars are welcome.

Understood.

Thank you.

As he walks,

give me an arcana check.

25.

You've researched this a little bit and you don't believe that

decisions will be made

in the moment of the like, you look at Citadel has information on witches and sort of thing.

You don't know if it's true about the Coven of Elders, but in general, you believe that you being here as an advisor would not be something that would have been welcomed if

decisions were introduced and made in absence of any talk with advisors.

So you think it might be a situation where even though there's a private room where only the Coven of Elders can meet, that essentially it's like like they will convene there and break.

It's a conference.

Yes.

That's the vibe you're getting from that.

That makes sense.

As you all emerge to the great hall, you see a door that had previously been closed is now opened, and you see an enormous room.

And in this icy palace, it means something to say that this room is cold.

It is a tall

circular room that goes all the way up and is perfectly straight in its circular walls up until it's already like a hundred feet up and then it curves slightly into a dome at the very top and opens

to the light of the stars overhead.

And you realize that that meeting point is directly under the northern star that illuminates just the top of a platform with five seats on it and that the rest of the room that is not spotlit by the northern star falls away into a dark deep blue of the ice in shadow.

That chamber put aside, the great hall is here as Ahme and Ursulan and Suvi convene in this place.

Seeing also nearby, there is Neif setting to the fire.

It looks like that sort of meeting chamber is not where people are being directed.

It's the big fireplace that Ahme first came to in the palace that has a table laid.

There is feasting upon it.

You see there are

sweets and roasts and welcoming things, mulled cider, the rich smell of cinnamon and spice.

All of that is here laid out on this table as you all convene with Straw and your fellow wizards.

And

Neif is here as well, Costa nearby, but you do not see Injury yet.

I definitely think I am hanging back and I'm in just sort of light conversation with the other wizards.

Just, you know, doing the sort of check-in of like, do you feel safe?

How are we all doing as a group?

Like, not saying anything interesting and then just sort of doing the like

middle school lunchroom, kind of clocking you two as you come in.

And then finishing up a conversation before coming over.

I'm gonna be lined up for food.

And cider.

And is the cider hot?

Ooh, it's toasty.

Sufi, have you had this?

Ame, have you had this?

Oh, yes.

It's very good.

Oh, yes.

Oh,

I'm gonna pull it out of a chair and just sit down.

The fox leaps up onto your lap and is like, this is where it's at.

Break a sausage in half and take a bite of that.

What spice is that?

Um

that's Cayenne.

Yes!

He's armed

in a flurry of snow.

A small silvery door opens and Injury emerges.

I'm gonna need a wisdom saving throw from Russia.

Join me, brother.

Only a 13.

Injury emerges.

You have like a sausage link hanging out of your mouth.

It's like you are in the midst of this feast and

Indry emerges.

Her eyes alight on you.

And you see that she says,

Ursulan,

welcome to my home.

Which of the winded stars?

My, my.

Ursulan, you may finish your mouth full.

Ursula,

of course.

I, um, not even making eye contact with him.

A no-look, I passed him a napkin.

Indri walks over smiling in a beautiful jeweled hand.

You see that there are

three rings.

She has one on a thumb, one on the middle finger, and one on the pinky, each of which connect with a beautiful bejeweled chain to a bracelet around her wrist.

She lays this hand upon you.

You see that each fingernail has a deep coat of blue paint on it, studded with the finest cut diamonds, so small in size, in patterns of stars and snowflake on her fingernails.

And she lays that hand on your shoulder and says,

Let us have a formal introduction at a later time.

My sisters are about to arrive.

It will be done.

She turns and says, Costa, the door.

Polar bear over the end of the hall, opens the doors.

Wind, snow.

Suddenly you hear it.

Approaching the door.

It's not a figure.

Not even Sephiroth.

A horde pours forth from the freezing snow.

Some 30 wolves, gray and lean, panthers,

flying falcons, eagles, hawks, emerge, roaring into this,

snarling at each other as they take here, rolling.

A leopard leaps forward as a full maned lion

roars on its announcement.

Their jaws are soaked with blood as though they have freshly killed.

And you see also in their number flying suddenly,

flittering through the snow everywhere they touch, blooming suddenly with some form of plant life that seems to grow even in the icy ground.

Fair folk, little green fairies, blossoms of rose upon their head, and you see a core group of figures emerging in the howling, snarling, growling, roaring pack of chasing animals.

At their center is a woman, bowed with age.

She moves a gown of moss and bark surrounding her.

This woman is

ancient.

An older black woman with hair bedecked by moss and vine, a wide-brimmed hat.

Her venerable eyes look forward with a pulse of green light that casts the entire world wherever she looks becomes verdant.

She gazes at the ground and a carpet of moss grows in front of her.

To her left, holding a hand and helping her to walk, is a

man composed of living wood.

The grain of the wood is the grain of his muscles that stand open, and he has a massive axe across his back.

Ursulan, you immediately recognize a fellow wild one.

This is a spirit that walks the world.

His head is smooth and grained wood with two long pointed ears of carved wood.

Set into his eyes are fiery jasper stones, semi-precious stones, and a strong jaw as this warrior approaches this oaken combatant.

He helps Hakea of the woodland green, and to her right

is a woman that I'm gonna need a wisdom-saving throw from all of you right now in this moment.

You can't look at these witches, you can't look at witches.

Oh no,

12, 7,

21.

Ami's at work.

I'm working, guys.

Hakea, the central figure, this ancient woman who approaches.

You see, her dress is shifting bark and moss as she walks.

She accepts the physical help from her warrior that you can see is clearly part of her retinue, this tree warrior.

And you see her familiar around her shoulders is an ancient powerful serpent this enormous beautiful constrictor that even as she takes help walking you see the weight of this enormous serpent fills her with resolve and strength as she moves forward as its tongue flicks the cold air.

You see that to her right, also lending her a hand is the woman that all of you have just made your wisdom save against.

I'm also going to need constitution saves from everybody.

18.

22.

8.

Both of you, as Hakea enters this space,

pollen and the smell of blossoms fills the air.

It is her presence in this icy place.

You realize you haven't really, other than the cider, you haven't been able to smell anything here.

It's too cold.

And as Hakea comes in, it is suddenly

moss and growth and growing things Ame, you get like sleepy as Hakeea enters the room.

It's like a it's powerful drowsiness.

You grew up in places this verdant and I think Suvi you're just like on it enough to not get that.

You both look at the woman who, like a young and loving niece, is helping Hakea move.

Her bare feet drenched in blood and in pointed claws.

She wears the furs of deers she has slain with her bare teeth and claws.

Her hands end in monstrous talons hooked like those of a bear.

And you see that the

empty

hide of a deer's head with massive antlers extends like a crown upon her head.

Blood runs from her mouth.

The soot of black soil stains everything from her nose upwards, so that the top of her head is like charred black, the rest of her skin like dull white, flecked with dirt and soil.

She sleeps on the earth.

Blood runs from her mouth down in between her breasts.

It runs along the inside of her leg.

It pools at her feet.

The animals covort in front of her.

Suvi and Ursulan,

you look at her and she meets your gaze, knowing you not to be witches.

If you run in her presence, she is given to kill you, and no magical law will stop her from doing so.

She naked?

Yeah, partially.

She has furs over her torso.

One breast is exposed.

They cover down over her waist.

But for the most part, she seems like she's wearing this one deer hide, essentially, and then a couple other furs that sort of surround her.

Her left hand is extended to help Hakea walk, and her right hand, again, end in these enormous claws.

And you see that even her legs, she's powerfully muscular.

As she smiles, two enormous canine fangs extend from her mouth.

Her right hand covers the knees of a tiny little girl with a ragged mop of hair that sits on her shoulder with an arm clutched sort of like around the antlers.

And you see this little girl, who must be her apprentice, is similarly fanged and feral and like wears just a little fur loincloth and smiles as blood gushes out.

She's holding on with her teeth to just a fresh heart that is hanging out of her teeth as she sort of chews on it, grinning absentmindedly.

I don't know if Suvi's ever felt fear divorced from status or authority or magical prowess.

Like this is prey fear, and she is frozen.

The scream of a hawk circles in through the cold as the last one in of this horde.

The hawk you see is Grimor's familiar as it turns and alights on one of her antlers.

You see this pack of animals some 50 strong that come in here.

There is one large wolf that steps up, takes the form of a man that begins to follow.

And you see he himself as he takes the form of a man is sort of fully naked in this moment, accepts a rag from one of the beasts that comes at one of the panthers, ties it around himself himself for some small modesty, and then walks barefoot into this place, grinning.

He looks at you, Ursulan, with this wild look of like, we should fight.

Ursulan is just gripping the sausage he split in half with the fox.

The fox looks horrified, sausage in his mouth, and you see, he leans over to you and goes, you can take him.

Let's not even have the conversation, fox.

You see,

You see this wolfman stalks behind Grimoire and her apprentice.

And the one last spirit you see here is a group of fireflies emerge from Hakeea's mossy robes.

And you see that one of the fireflies

turns into this

beautiful woman with jet black skin, eyes that are just bioluminescent firefly.

She has this enormous staff on her back that is this like natural piece of wood carved with various runes and holding on to stones hanging from leather cords.

And you see another spirit.

So two wild ones.

There's like this basically

firefly woman who's now wearing her glamour in front of you.

And the tree spirit who is not wearing his glamour both walk with Hakea into this place as they approach.

The wild hunt and the woodland green have come to the conclave of the coven of elders.

Hakea

approaches, looks at you, Ame.

Which of the world's heart?

I realize that I have been staring this entire time, mouth completely open, my tongue almost frozen, like

frostbitten.

I stop my mouth shut

and shake myself too, and I and I rise.

And I gritsy deeply

and I say,

Hakaya of the Woodland Green, it is an honor and a pleasure to meet you and

to bear witness to your entire retinue.

Honor, honor.

And that's all she says.

And you see, Grimoire turns to you.

Do I receive a greeting?

Grimore of the wild hunt,

I had long and hoped to meet you.

It is an absolute honor and pleasure to meet you and your apprentice.

Aksha.

And you see, the little girl takes the heart, pulls at the heart, and strings of meat and blood rip in her teeth.

She

and swallows down the chunk.

She goes, Hi!

Hello.

Grimora looks at you and says,

May I ask

something on first meeting?

You may.

She reaches up with an incredibly dirty hand, claws, claws, hand, question mark.

Puts your chin in the crook in between her index finger and thumb, and says, Can I see your teeth?

I

open

my mouth, not in a grin.

I know that that is

considered a threat display sometimes.

But I open my mouth.

Ah.

You see that she

puts her nose.

The smell of Hakea and her retinue is, it's like sleepy, gorgeous moss and roses.

Wonderful plant.

Lie down on the moss and go to bed.

When she gets close enough, Grimoire smells crazy.

She, it's like, it's like, ooh, that's the worst B.O.

I've ever smelled.

And it's also a smell that normally you would associate with like powerful, musky, unwashed body.

But when you smell it, it's like getting electrocuted in the nose and makes you want to run.

It makes you go like, oh, the killer of me.

Like the thing the world made to kill me.

This is the smell of it.

And you've smelled it, and this is your only chance.

It's your only chance.

You better run.

And then another part of your brain says, don't run.

And another part says, well, if you don't run, you're dead.

And

she puts her whole nose in your open mouth and smells deeply of the inside of your mouth and goes,

Do you want to look at my teeth too?

I

would

never presume

to

seek such a favor, but if you wish to offer that invitation,

absolutely.

I want you to know how strong I am.

And she opens her mouth and smiles.

Fangs

powerful.

Back of her throat still stained with blood.

I take a good long

look into her eyes.

I let my gaze dart down to her mouth, the fangs, the dripping blood.

And I flick my gaze back to meet hers.

And I say,

yours is a strength that is ancient and undeniable.

I would have never asked to see it because I trust that you and the station of the witch of the wild hunt

has that strength

but thank you for offering it to me

you see uh go ahead and give me a persuasion check here

this is 25

she looks around man she stinks uh and she leans in really close and whispers in your ear

very kind of you It was just a little joke.

I was gonna try to lick your nose.

And you see that she stalks off towards the table.

And as she does so, a lot of the other spirits are saying you see that Costa is speaking to the wolf man,

that the uh that the sort of tree warriors, they've sort of formed a little group of like the three of them talking.

It's sort of like these people all know each other, they've had relationships for a long time, they see each other.

So, Ursulan and Suvi, you're kind of feeling like, oh, oh, it's my first year at fucking WitchCon, you know?

Like, there's free existing relationships here.

And as they all begin to talk and rumble and growl, and the various predators begin to lie down and rest or feast on the things on the table,

you hear

the crow calls from the council chambers of the Coven of Elders.

Seated already on her throne, you see a woman dressed in robes deeper and more black than darkest night.

A hundred points,

sharp as needles, emerging in a crown of spikes,

emerging from the back of a head adorned with a completely blank white mask, arms

longer

disproportionate to her already towering form,

ending in

gloved

claws like needles,

tapping on the arms of her throne.

Marara, witch of the waning moon, turns her head

and without movement from the blank, motionless form of her mask, says,

I think it is time for our conclave to begin.

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

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