WWW #24: Knock Knock

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond Number.

Snow

Endless and eternal in a place of constant cold

here in the depth of night.

In the vast darkness,

yet still illuminated by the reflection of star and snow.

Endless crystal whiteness emanating out through vast expanse in the far north of this world.

A flicker, much like a candle, bursts into being for a moment.

Wind, snow, and

suddenly,

Ame,

all of the warmth of the air of the cottage is stripped from you in an instant in the freezing north as the tile rune vanishes from underneath you, the fox stuffed into your coat, and you appear in the dead of the dark of night in the midst of freezing wind,

and you are

alone.

Erica, I would love for you to, if you could, describe for me a geographical feature, a celestial feature,

And

what the weather of this world is doing in the moment that you arrive.

What does Ame see and feel as she is moved from one side of the world to the other?

When teleporting from the cottage to the frozen

wastes,

it wasn't instantaneous.

There's a feeling, a scent, almost of ozone or electricity.

Appearing here in the cold,

my breath

sucked from my lungs.

It's forbidding and inhospitable,

but I see

a forest,

beautiful glass, crystalline.

Each branch that I can see

covered

a quiet white world.

I look up

in the patches between the clouds.

It's dark, inky,

less

a black and more just of an absence of all light.

Except I can just make out

one twinkle

from a star.

I'm not sure if I remember it.

What it would be called in this part of the world.

But it gives me

courage.

Looking from this place as the cold suddenly pierces through your clothing.

You already can't feel your feet.

The The snow is up to the middle of your thigh.

It touches the femoral artery inside of your leg enough to suddenly sap all the warmth from inside you.

You can feel your hands shaking from the power of the cold in this part of the world.

You see the fox shivers inside of your coat and you see concentrates on warming himself up to keep your ribs and heart from cooling down too much.

Where we're trying to go?

I'll look around.

Give me a perception check.

16.

On a 16, you perceive that you are within the cradle of a long and narrow valley.

This endless white plain with the subtle curve of a saddle within vast land masses beyond your vision, it is filled with crystalline icy trees.

The translucent

alien white of their trunks and branches

truly made of ice and ice alone.

They are statuesque.

Perhaps they grow, but they grow with the formal logic of crystal water, of ice forming in geometric pattern.

And though their branches bear snow, they are themselves an honor and a testament to a forest constructed of ice itself.

As the flurries of snow pouring from the sky above

subside for a moment, as one of the inky black patches passes overhead, giving you just enough respite from the storm, you see that

looming out from the horizons,

almost like whales passing a diver in the deep of the ocean, are mountains at the edge of your vision.

These enormous shapes reaching up that must be themselves miles tall,

soaring perhaps to the very top of the sky itself.

Give a feeling that all of the sky that you can see from this valley is simply in a narrow

slit like that of a giant beast's eye.

That even though it covers the entire width of the valley, you still feel the oppressive might of the surrounding mountains.

The forest before you wends its way, and you see the true fixed star

glittering up above

at the very top of the valley and as it twinkles

you see in reflection

borrowing the light of that eternal and unmoving star that rests upon the very crown of your world

is a glittering many towered castle

a palace of ice that rests atop the peak of a mountain so tall that you cannot imagine how you can climb it without surely losing the warmth of your heart and blood forevermore to the howling winds of this place.

I mutter to the fox,

you think if they had taken the time to make a magical item to transport us all the way here, they could have at least put us inside the castle?

What?

I said

you think that if they

they should have put us in the castle?

Do you have a little jacket for me?

You were born with a jacket!

No, I wasn't!

I adjust, I re-tie the sash on my

white robes, and as I do so, a warmth spreads from the middle, radiating outward.

A prestigitation, a little trick within the fabric to keep us warm.

You cast your prestigitation, warming yourself in the fox for but a moment, a single pulse of an ember that lingers for a second or two and no longer before

suddenly subsiding and releasing to the cold once more.

As you look out through the rest of the valley and see that palace on the far-off peak of the mountains, you

wonder to yourself if, in addition to being at the highest point of your globe, this peak is also at the highest point of your world,

reaching almost to the sky itself.

As the fox shivers within, you

remember mere moments ago being in the cottage of Grandmother Wren with Elbeth, the queen bee spirit, and Hena Henamohe and Dr.

Yagi and Mr.

Soup, all of them tending to the little witch's cottage of Toma you've left behind.

Having come here with some schematics about a perfect sapphire and whatever tools of your trade you could gather from the cottage, I also must ask, did you, I don't know if we covered in the last chapter, do you still have that little jewel hopper in a cage on your belt?

As a matter of fact, I do.

Kill him.

You see, sort of clicking against your belt, you see that the jewel hopper that is like ruby and emerald and has like golden skin where it's not sort of crusted with jewels.

You see, it goes

and turns powder robin's egg blue all over it.

It just starts shivering and turns into all sapphire.

That's okay, little buddy.

Um,

I am going to need a survival check.

This is why you pick where the meeting's at.

Yeah, otherwise, they put it straight up at the highest place, at the coldest place.

nineteen

nineteen hell yeah you begin to trudge through the snow uh and actually also give me a perception or an arcana check if you'd be so kind

25

hell yes uh as you mutter your criticism of sly's spellcraft here in this tile,

you move

through the first line of trees, and as you do so,

the snow ceases to blow so furiously.

And you see that the clouds above,

the fingers of the spirit world move upon the face of the sky as the aurora borealis twinkles into view.

Not only does this place seem to decide for some reason to stop trying to kill you so furiously,

but also you realize that you have stepped into

a space of magical

domain and realize that as you look at the curve behind you, it is not a straight boundary that you have passed, but rather a boundary that seems to curve away from you in both directions, keeping to a distance from a central point, that point being the palace under the northern star.

You feel that this tile may indeed not have brought you to where you need to go, but brought you to as close as someone would allow it.

I start to make my way towards the castle.

The snowflakes fall in this place still thick and heavy, obscuring your vision somewhat.

But the northern wind from outside the beginning of this stately orchard of icy trees

no longer cuts through your cloaks to steal the life away from you.

Instead, it is simply the feeling of the wetness in your boots, the moving through the snow, the shivering of a place that for weeks or months will know no sunlight.

I do what I can to keep the fox and the little jewel hopper and myself warm.

It's not much,

but honestly, I'm a little bolstered by seeing the heliotrope lights blazing across the sky.

I've been to places that have the Aurora Borealis before with Grandmother Wren.

I've been to cold places, but there's something about the absolute stillness here,

the quiet, and

it feels separate from the rest of our world.

And

the Aurora Borealis is

blinding.

Looking up for a moment at the Aurora Borealis, I'm gonna need another perception check.

11.

It is

frighteningly too late

when you realize that a figure has emerged from between the trees and is looming over you by about two feet.

As you turn to look,

the

long and pointed snout of an enormous polar bear

steps from between a line of the trees.

Moving through the orchard, you also realize that even as their elevation moves towards the foothills of the mountains on the other side of the valley,

these

trees are arranged in a geometric pattern that almost no way that you look at them can you not perceive perfect lines of symmetry.

And with each step, you discover a new symmetry of the trees moving through this space, as though they are arranged by eight-point lines and six-point lines and three-point lines and twelve-point lines moving in all directions, defying some incredible natural mathematics of this icy landscape.

The polar bear emerging from the woods.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you!

I

incline my head and extend my leg and do a little curtsy.

Greetings.

May I.

Okay,

this is it.

The moments that I've been training for, I have about 13 years worth of training that has suddenly been crammed into my small head.

All at the same time, I'm rusty at this, but I do remember some of the niceties.

What may I call you?

I

am Costa.

I am

the

eternal and beloved.

I am the walker and watcher.

I am familiar.

To her,

which of the wind and stars

It is a pleasure to meet you, Costa.

Thank you for the welcome, and I look forward to meeting

with

Indri.

My mistress, having felt your presence here in the valley beneath the palace,

has asked that I inquire if the journey is one you intend to make on foot.

Have the other members of the coven arrived?

Of the coven of elders, solely my mistress occupies her palace.

I see.

And the others, have they

planned their travel to the castle?

Of this I could not know.

You see, see, the fox pokes his head up out of your robes and says, I'm the fox.

And you see that Costa looks down and goes, What?

And you see the fox goes, I

what may you call me is the fox.

Bye.

And you see Pux pokes his head back into your robes.

The bear looks and says,

Army of Dorma.

My mistress asks,

She did not wish to assume that it was not under your power to fly to the palace if you intend to walk on foot It would be an honor to give you passage

At this moment warring within me is both the desire to appear self-sufficient also am I going to get to ride this polar bear?

Costa, the eternal and beloved.

I had indeed planned on making my way to the castle on my own.

However, I would be grateful for accompaniment, as it seems that your mistress's domain has many sights to see.

The lights in the sky, the crystalline forests.

If you could please, yes, accompany me and tell me a bit about your home.

Very well.

I will show you many places of magic on the way to the palace.

I'm gonna need a constitution saving throw from Ami.

Oh no!

That's a 17 on the die!

17 on the die and a 19 total.

You begin to move through the snow keeping pace with Costa as he walks through the snow.

Do you attempt to walk behind Costa Costa or beside him?

I keep up with Costa,

but I leave two footsteps between us

so as to show deference and let him lead the way.

You have done something very wise and respectful.

Costa moves through the valley, remarking here and there on the stories and tales of those who have come to this orchard in the past.

You also make use of an enormous bear cutting a swath through the snow so that snow is not touching the inside of your thigh and freezing you from the inside, which is how your 19 Constitution save means you don't take a level of exhaustion as you approach the base of the mountain.

Costa,

after about an hour of walking through the night, arrives at the base of the mountain.

You look up and see miles of crag and dark stone covered in ice, and you see Costa looks and says, Hmm.

Here is where I will

rely on the gifts of my mistress.

Would you accompany me?

Oh,

only if there is some gift that I can give in exchange, it's only polite.

In my village.

You see, the Costa smiles and says,

Any gift that you would offer would be welcome exchange.

I start rifling through my bags and my pouches.

Give me an investigation check.

Oh, no.

A four.

You pull out

a

very old saltwater taff.

Yes.

There's always one in there.

There's always one in there.

It's like from Silbury, from like you haven't worn your winter clothes in like so long.

Well, this one is watermelon flavored.

And watermelon flavored.

Yes.

It's a fruit that we have in abundance in Toma.

And

this one is a taffy that's of a consistency that you might want to keep it just like tucked in your cheek for a little bit to let it soften.

And then, but that's part of the fun, you see.

And then you get a little stop, stop, stop, stop.

The gift is not for me.

Oh.

So I don't want fruit.

Looking at the mountain, you see a glittering of starlight.

The aurora borealis moves, and

a staircase composed of light flickering like the aurora above moves up through the mountain and you see the light flows up the staircase almost like water moving up the side of the massive promontory above

the bear steps forward onto the staircase and appears to be ascending it step by step but quickly moves wildly fast up the.

is gone almost in the twinkling of an eye.

And as you hold this little saltwater taffy, you see one of the little mono-eyed ice fairies who came through the skylight before flickers up from the bridge and says, What's that?

Hello, I am Ame, the Witch of Toma.

I think we perhaps met in a lavatory in the citadel.

Huh?

Would you like a taffy?

What is it?

It's a sweet.

Eats it, and you see that the staircase that was sort of fading away shines brightly once more.

I start to make my way up as well.

As I go, I press to digitate.

I pass my hands on the ground up through what appears to be the running stream.

And little goldfish, illusory goldfish, start swimming upstream as well.

Little goldfish made of light swim up the aurora borealis around you, and you see the ice fairies all begin to emerge from the rocks, and you see there's hundreds of them on the mountainside, and they all begin to cast little lines of ice into the staircase, trying to catch these illusory goldfish.

You are filled suddenly as you ascend the mountain, no longer necessarily fearing for your death.

This is, you realize,

of the places in the world you have seen,

one of the most beautiful places you have ever seen in the world.

Going up the mountain, you see the valley below you, the aurora, the wide stars, the snow-capped mountain peaks.

This is a place of such

raw, majestic, uncompromising beauty that it fills your heart almost to the point of bursting.

As you ascend the staircase, the fox pops his head out at the little fairy eating the saltwater taffy and goes, That's for both of us.

And you

are whisked up the stairs, and suddenly,

as you arrive at the top of the mountain, you have to

put your back

into breathing.

There is so little air up here that you feel yourself going

just to get enough oxygen to not pass out.

And looking at the mountains around you, you get a feeling of vertigo.

Like,

no matter where you look, you feel vertigo, and you realize that the vertigo is in relation to the world itself.

You're on top of the world, and any direction from this palace would be falling.

I, as I struggle to draw breath, I still open my arms up

and just feel that

moment of being on the top of the world.

I can't resist.

It's wild and

beautiful, terrifying, and that's exciting.

You

see before you the palace that before was like a little twinkling, like something that you would see in like a painting, like a distant, you know, the palace under the star when you were in the valley was like, Look at that wondrous, whimsical little snow globe place up there.

And suddenly, as the staircase of light emerges, and all of your little goldfish hit the end of the staircase, and

little bursts of snow sort of flurry off of the end of the staircase,

what was once a whimsical wonder, like something out of a dream,

imposes itself at the edges of your vision, and a palace of countless towers, gleaming with the light of stars, endless ramparts and bridges.

You count no less than 10 and 20 keeps in separate places, striding from peak to peak.

A palace that has sat at the top of the world for ages beyond counting.

Doors gleaming in the silver of the snow open,

and a wave of gold, light, and warmth of a fire from inside as the long shadow of Acosta the bear falls across the ending of the staircase.

He pulls the massive doors open.

And a figure

more beautiful than words

in a robe

of fur and silk and spun metal and precious jewels, wearing a tall and silvery crown

with ice white skin and ruby red lips and eyes as piercing as the northern star above beholds you.

And I'm going to need need a wisdom-saving throw.

Unrest, you fall in love.

She's just too hot.

I love, I'm obsessed with.

All right, that's 22.

Keep it together.

The witch of wind and stars is

truly a

witch of myth.

She is

six feet and eight inches tall.

The silhouette of her is like a

the ideal of a queen, but a queen not of people and of lands, but a queen of magic itself.

The sleeves of her robe hang as she holds an icy scepter in one hand and she regards you.

She is beautiful in a way that

invites more than anything reverence.

A face of beauty that makes you more than wanting to approach, makes you almost want to drop to your knees.

And she

beholds you in this place and smiles.

On a 22,

you can tell that this is not an effect that she, this is not something as crass or plain as like mind control.

That's not where we're at.

It's that the magic of her is

the things that people want.

If a person had come here with no desire in themselves, this magical effect would not have taken place.

The magic within her is almost one of if you desire anything, you would desire her.

And so,

Bria,

um, Ame, kiss her, kiss her now.

She beholds you smiling and goes,

Ame of Toma.

I am Indri, witch of the wind and stars.

I behold my new sister.

May I embrace you?

Yes, please.

Yes, the uh, yes.

She holds out a hand, takes your hand in hers.

Uh, her hand is freezing cold, but as she touches your hand, you feel a reassuring squeeze, and she bends ever so slightly just to get one arm around you and places this

icy porcelain cheek against your cheek with a small kiss by your ear as she stands again and says, Welcome.

First to arrive, very auspicious.

The early bird gets the worm

is something that Grandmother Wren always taught me.

Thank you for your hospitality.

Your domain is

breathtaking.

In more ways than one, I hope you are all right.

Yes.

Yes, I'm quite alright.

Well, let's get you a seat by the fire and see you taken care of, my friend.

The doors are closed by Costa behind her, who you see stands up on his hind hind legs and

closes the door.

He's about 14 feet tall when he's standing on his hind legs.

So you see, even for this enormously tall witch walking beside you,

she still has this familiar that feels like it kind of dwarfs her, which is very interesting because with you and your fox, the idea that as imposing as she is, her familiar, this like portion of her soul, is even that much more massive moving behind her.

And she walks through, and this long hall that you are in that is as cavernous as any place you've ever been in.

It's a room that begs the question: if it was going to be this big, why even have it be inside?

This is just outside.

This is just covered outside.

You're just covered outside.

This room is too big.

You know, like whatever, something that is not actually a quarter mile, but you're like, that might as well be a quarter mile away.

At the end of the hall is a massive roaring fire in an icy wall.

And you see these long,

palatial sedan chairs and massive high-backed seats that have enormous gray furs thrown over them, speckled with silver and gray, and a carpet.

with a beautiful pattern of red and green and a small table on it that you see has enormous silver goblets that steam with something warm and welcoming, and you smell spices and mulled cider.

I am warmed.

I feel my cheeks flushing and the warmth returning to my body.

But somehow I don't think it's entirely because of the fire or the steaming pitchers of wine.

I

have brought

provisions as well for the meeting.

I pull out some honey cakes,

fresh from the cottage's kitchen.

Delightful.

Oh,

I see that the station of the world's heart is in wise hands.

I am glad that, with the passing of Wren, that these are not lost from the world.

And she takes a little honeycake and says, May I?

Please.

And you see that she raises it to you, waiting for you to pick up the goblet in a sort of friendly gesture of salutation and cheers, but also in a kind of thing that you recognize from Grandmother Wren's tutelage as, we are going to exchange this at the same time.

Yes, and indeed.

I take a goblet

and I raise it to her.

And I ask, what shall we

cheers to?

To having our breath taken away in the best of ways.

Takes a bite.

I take a sip.

And give me an insight check.

14.

On a 14,

I think you just noticed the interesting thing, which is, and you've heard people refer to it this way before, but you just noticed that she said Wren.

She did not say grandmother Wren.

And you just wonder for a moment how how old Indry is.

She regards you and says,

I am elated that you could make it here.

And you see that the fox jumps out of your robe as well and sniffs at the table.

Goes, Maldwine, can I answer?

This is my familiar, the fox.

The fox of the forest and shrine.

The fox looks at you and says, what?

You see, see, Andre says, oh, you're...

Sorry, your familiar has a title?

Or the familiar's title is the fox of the forest and shrine?

Yeah.

Yeah,

he.

I mean,

your

familiar Costa has so many titles, and

I think that

my familiar deserves a little something besides just the fox.

See, the fox furrows his brow, looking at you, and you see Indri says, uh, no, certainly, the fox of the forest and shrine is a beautiful, a beautiful appellation and title.

Does uh um and you see that she, uh, give me another insight, check

21.

Uh, you watch as she stops herself from asking if the fox has a name, because

either he does and you would have given it, or he doesn't, and that's going to be a weird, rude moment.

And you see that she has enough grace to catch herself and go, Well,

the fox of the forest and shrine is most welcome in this place.

And you see, the fox looks up at Costa, and Costa looks down at the fox.

And

you see that the fox looks at him and says, So it's your boss.

And you see Costa goes, My mistress is the witch of wind and stars.

And you see the fox goes, okay, nice.

Costa just sort of stares at the fox, and the fox looks up at you, Ame, with a look of,

I don't know why I'm making a bad impression right now.

I don't understand why this.

Oh, no, you're doing fine.

You see, he looks and goes, you see that he was doing a non-verbal thing, so he just goes like, yeah, I know, I'm doing fine.

I'm doing great.

I'm actually doing amazing.

And he sprints off into into the hall and goes, it's really big in here.

He just starts like whipping around, doing laps.

Indri looks and says,

so

very happy to see you arrive.

My

fair folk friends informed me that you might be arriving with your retinue.

That there were companions of yours when they made first contact within the citadel.

Of course, there's no requirement to bring a retinue.

You know, our sister Marara does not.

But Hakea and Grimor will be arriving with their retinues, and

have you a retinue here?

Oh,

yes, yes.

There are many who call the palace home, who I am proud to call my retinue.

They are busy right now.

I wished to entertain you myself as a show of respect,

but

if you were to wish to meet any or all of them, yes,

there are many guests within the palace, my apprentice as well.

There are those

to whom

I am owed boons, and to whom boons are owed by me, and

the

vast and many allegiances, companionships, and honored relations of one who has walked the path of witchcraft.

But if it's just sorry, if it's just you and the fox, that's also fine.

No, no, no.

My companions have

other matters to attend to,

and

I hope that they will arrive in due time.

The station of the Witch of the World's Heart

is

an Ahmed.

I

falter.

I don't.

Everything that I have said has been processed through

flipping through the repository of information that I'm remembering.

It has

been calculated, and

I just truly don't know what to say in this instance

until

The Witch of the World's Heart is a station

which gives to a great deal of people in a great many different communities.

They

all have

their own obligations within the community, and that is part of

what I do is enable them

to

share the magic with their own communities.

Give me a deception check.

Not because you don't like what you're saying, but because it's not the whole truth.

Tim?

Indry smiles at you.

While in my presence and as a guest of mine,

sister,

should I ever ask

a question

that

should cause some small sorrow,

feel always welcome to

simply acknowledge the question in your own words and change the subject should it bring you grief or sadness.

My apologies, sister.

I did not mean to

offend you.

In future, I will do so, and

furthermore, I do appreciate you stating your desires and needs.

She smiles.

Of course.

The question was perhaps

a clumsy one.

It is, I think, a small sorrow that

the witch of the world's heart

for what she represents

to arrive alone.

And I think it portends

some difficult conversations

that you have come

by yourself.

I have come by myself.

Forgive me, but I have come by myself, but I do not believe that I will be here alone.

Oh,

yes, I nod.

Well,

we shall see if there are.

And you see that there is a sprinkling of snow and a

lithe and

not winter-clad, tall spirit,

glassy and sharp, whose hair rises in a flicker of aurora borealis around her head, goes, Mistress, apologies.

Indri looks to this spirit and says, Aura,

what business brings you here to the Great Hall?

And you see, she says, Ah,

a ship of the citadel approaches.

Merry flickers, pops of burning wood

in the warm and welcoming heart of a burrow at the base of a red tree with blue fruit, in the heart of Gauthmai.

Ursulan,

you are seated in a massive chair, surrounded for the first time

in a long,

long

age

by family.

You are in the home of Kalliah and her family that she had here in the mortal world.

I need you to go ahead and describe

the seat you are in and the room you are in.

It's like the central room of this tree.

And I also would love you to describe

three different family members for me.

And I will tell you the three different family members that I would love for you to describe.

I just want to know who the family member was that was the first one to hand you food here,

who the first family member was who stoked the fire here.

And I want to know the first family member that fell asleep on you.

You described people a little bit when I walked up.

They have streaked hair, right?

That was a defining feature.

Yes, you saw them, and I described them as looking like Suvarin Kedbariket, but that's because you look like Suvarin Kedbariket.

Yes.

They have streaks in their hair, and your family, again, you're in a burrow.

So the ceiling is roots.

The ceiling is like not

dirty hanging roots, but like you are nestled under the central roots of this massive tree in this burrow.

And all of your family who are here have a sturdy, broad-shouldered build with like big, powerful hands.

You see that, like, your sister was the burrower, and that all of these people have almost a

they are spirits, but they feel like earth spirits.

They have this quality of sturdiness and being hail and hearty and alive and strong.

And some spirits you've met have that kind of flitting, ethereal, fairy quality.

And the spirit here is more of like

stories of those fair folk, of those like spiritual entities that like work and labor and care.

Ursulan is seated in a high-back leather chair that has very much seen better days.

This thing is beaten to hell and has been re-upholstered time and time again.

You see that one of the legs of the chair is like doesn't match the other four.

It's just it's been

it's been remade so that this chair can continue to stand for this family.

The room is kind of like domed at the top with different little bits of plant matter that have clearly been tamed by the family over the years to keep the space feeling homey.

All around it, though, I think you can tell each family member has claimed different individual parts of the room by placing things up against the walls.

There's drawings in the area where clearly the children sleep.

There's some more manicured and organized shelves in the space designated for the elder, the older, like some of the older family members.

Is it, would it be one giant room or is it

so?

Yeah, I think it's just one massive room.

It's clearly there are like little nooks and crannies where you can create privacy, created by the actual

like created by large roots that kind of section off different areas where maybe someone can have a quiet moment alone reading.

But very much, the space is shared between all the family members.

The first family member to hand me food was Kalia's probably

son, I would say.

Older, taller, crow's feet along his eyes, a kind face on a strong body.

The

first family member to stoke the flame would have been that son's eldest daughter,

who I think

a wild mane of hair, kind of a clever and kind of wiry smile,

but kind of more an observer not as involved as in some of the play that maybe some of the younger the children who I met outside of the house might be doing

and then

the first person to fall asleep on me is probably the youngest member of the family

can't be older than four or five

and I think maybe wasn't even wasn't so such a verbal thing as he he crawled into my arms as I was eating and then fell asleep.

And I barely noticed because of how small he was.

Making sure that you are well fed after a harrowing journey through the jungle.

Your nephew, Dullen,

which is spelled D-U-L-H-A-N.

Tall, broad-shouldered man.

Again, very like

strong and capable with a calming kind of energy.

And Bella, his daughter, is over by the fire.

And you can see,

you know, very taking great care.

It's not a flashy thing.

But you notice that as part of the fire sort of collapses, she just grabs one of the burning logs with a hand and moves it back into place.

Full moment of terror.

Oh, okay.

And you see that she has just a little bit, she clearly has that like fire tenders thing of like the apron she wears over her frock has soot patches on the knees, like wherever her knees would land.

And she has a little bit of the ash and soot under the fingernails and on the fingertips

just as she's like moving coals around and things like that.

But you see she can even pick up a little coal scatters onto the hearth and she tosses it back into the fireplace with just her two fingers.

And

Robryn, who is is being, who's so small that he's being called Ro Ro,

is completely asleep in your lap

with

sort of like in between the giant bowl of stew that is seated on a platter that itself has a number of crusts of this hearty Odi bread on it for you to be able to scoop

like it's a soup made for dunking the bread in until it's just the root vegetables and meat and things like that left that you just scoop up and eat.

In a chair next to you, which is not the high-backed leather chair, which is probably the only seat in here that you can really fit in with your glamour off.

Sitting in a little wicker chair next to you,

with a big blanket over her and a lot of blankets on the chair is Kaliah, who you can see is so

just beyond happy.

And you see that she's has the thing where you're she's holding your hand and her hand and her other hand is on your forearm as she leans against you.

As you see, all the other, the people that are doing the most talking are, there are three different married couples here.

So it's her son and his wife and then her two daughters and their husbands who are animatedly, happily talking as the kids clamor for attention.

So it's a very loud and noisy room

as the kids are asking you questions, asking questions about you to their parents.

And

I think you can see that Kalia is smiling in sort of the direction of everything here.

And you can tell

with age

that she cannot really hear what anyone is saying.

That her hearing is not so bad that she can't hear people.

But if multiple people are talking at the same time, her hearing is not good enough enough that she can understand what different people are saying.

But you see that it almost doesn't matter to her.

She just sees that everyone is happily chattering and is just happy to be out of bed and in the main room by the fireplace.

You look over and see that

so her eldest son, Dullen, is the middle child, so it's daughter, son, daughter.

And so her oldest child, who is her daughter, Adi, A-D-I,

is speaking and telling the children and says, well, your great uncle, Ursulan,

appeared outside of the house.

And that's, well, and that's what happened.

You see that she looks at it and someone says, but if he came from the woods, how come he came?

Where did it?

Did he ride a horse?

How did he get through?

And you see, someone comes over and looks at you and says, he doesn't need to ride a horse.

Look, he's a wild one.

He's a spirit.

And you see that an older daughter leans over and says, grandma's a spirit In a weird, angry way.

You don't know what she's angry about.

Just a weird, a weird kid inflection.

And you see another little kid says, Grandma's not a spirit.

Grandma used to be a spirit.

And another kid goes, you're always a spirit if you were a spirit ever.

And you see that one of them, you see that

Dullen says, clean up the plates and bring the plates in the corner.

And you see that one of the husbands comes over of one of Kaliya's.

So this is a full human, one of the few people here that is not like spirit-touched.

So, he comes over,

and you see, he looks like kind of like a port Talon guy.

Like, he seems like he might be from that part of the world.

His name is Rocky, and he just comes over to you and goes,

How are you doing?

Any other serving a soup there?

As long as you're all right.

Oh, I'm well fed.

Thank you.

All right, well,

and you see that he

points over, and

your youngest niece, Mahara,

slides an ottoman that scrapes along the floor because all the legs have been busted off of it.

So it's just fully like

a cushion with wood on the bottom that is just put on the floor so you can put your feet up and warm them by the fireside.

Oh, it's quite kind.

Of course, of course.

Well,

she says, how are you faring?

Did any of the beasts out there harm you, or is everything all right?

they did.

When I came through and arrived here,

there was a bit of a scuffle, but I'm quite alright.

And how, again, you got here because grandmother had a

some sort of burrow or tunnel that she had made.

Mama, why didn't you tell us that you had a

magical hole in the...

And you see that Kalia looks up as she's being talked to and clearly can't hear amongst the noise what her daughter is asking her.

She goes, huh?

And Leno, the

hole, the one that brought me here from the Citadel.

Oh, oh,

yes, of course.

Well,

oh, you.

Well, you can't go back through, so that those, you don't have to worry about that.

What's her question?

Is she worried?

What is your question?

You see, you see, she raises her shoulders and says, this is the wildest thing that's ever happened.

So I don't know.

I don't know what my question is.

We've discovered that we have an uncle.

And I've discovered that I have even more of a family here than

I thought.

Well, you're welcome here as long

distantly overhead, you hear

distant bombs dropping over the jungle.

And you see, there's sort of every everyone sort of quiets down, except for one kid who's kind of like playing with a little like

hobby, like a little wooden horse with wheels on it who kind of makes a little but then then realizes like a moment later that everyone's being quiet and you hear a noise it's moved farther away so it's not as frightening as it was right when you arrived but there's this moment of being in this magically secure burrow in this tree growing in the bottom of a canyon but you're still hearing this distant noise of

terror.

And there's a moment of the family kind of quieting down.

Kaliah looks up to you to see what's on your face as you hear that distant noise.

I think it's the first time I've, I feel like, since I got into this room, all of what happened before I got here, like even the talk of the magical tunnel is the first, is like, oh, that's right.

That's, it's like this moment has been so singular.

And there's been just so much taking in that I think for a moment Ursulan's even forgotten.

That is kind kind of honestly the outside world kind of seeping back into this moment for Ursulan

as he looks over at Kalia.

Are you do you worry about

the

bombs?

Yes, I do.

I do, but not

so much for us as just the jungle and the villages over the hills.

How long long have you been here?

Well

we came here

when

Adi was carrying Roro, which would have been about five years ago.

Um

we were living in a village probably about five days travel from here

trying to

uh make a living and and

it's not uncommon to see those touched by the spirit.

It's a little bit more common than across the ocean to

find

those who are themselves descended from spirit and mortal, and

an easier, safer place to raise a family, certainly.

Even when I was at the citadel masquerading, um

my my late husband and my um living ex-husband uh

both both of them were from Gauthmai.

You've had two husbands.

Yes, I have.

One of them is dead to me and the other passed away.

Amazed.

Did you meet them at the citadel?

Um my ex-husband, yes.

But uh it was when I had started coming to Gauthmai

that I met my late husband.

Did both know of your true nature?

Eventually, yes.

Kador, my late husband, was

new right away.

But

Gauthmai is a safer place for us.

You see, as words starts to pick up again,

you see that

Bella walks over to you and says,

Uncle Ursulan, is the fire war warm enough?

Or would you like another log on the fire?

Um, it.

I can touch fire with my hands.

My siblings can't.

Only I can do it.

Only you?

And you see someone says, like, I can do it.

I just burned myself.

What more log would be nice?

She looks so happy that you said that.

She goes to put another log on top of the fire.

I love Cinderella.

Cinder Bella.

Oh,

shit.

You see that Kaliah looks and says

the citadel was easier to hide in when I first joined.

During my lifetime did it truly become

what you described.

It was much more like a university 70 years ago.

Always with the presence of the Empire.

The Irian was as grand as ever, but there weren't as many courts, and it was a little bit easier.

The charms,

especially their divination, it was masquerading as a wizard.

No one even necessarily thought to look for my glamour in the first place.

Or if they discovered it, they assumed that it was of a kind and kith to the glamour that many wizards wore simply for vanity, to alter their appearance or

for any other reason.

And I was able to move there in secret for many years, and I learned some of their tricks, but for the most part, the magic of the spirit, just my breath alone,

it was difficult for them to tell that it was not true wizardry.

I would say I had been there for some two decades by the time that their divinations had become refined enough that they noticed that I cast differently.

But it was also during a time where

there were differences in styles between wizards, so me casting differently didn't register as something that was

that anomalous.

And as they began to make it more regimented, I started to stand out and stick out a little bit more.

I started casting magic less and less when I was out and about in the citadel.

Yes, they've made changes since you were there that make it very difficult.

There's butterflies everywhere.

Oh,

Zhao Court.

Yes.

Yes, I'm well aware.

What's that old

slinking spider still doing there, I suppose?

Pomeroy.

I did not like him.

Well, if I'd gotten my fangs into him, I would have made short work of him, but um.

Oh, there was a handsome man.

There was a wizard, um

soft?

The wizard soft?

You knew the wizard soft.

In passing,

he waved to me as I was sprinting out of the Kasov collection.

Nice.

I

am

a true friend of his daughter, the Wizard Sky.

Truly?

Yes.

Oh, how delightful!

I, my goodness, how old must she be?

Well, she has her name cloak.

Oh, it has been some time.

It has been some time.

Well, so you are a true friend of a wizard of of the citadel?

Yes.

That is.

That is wonderful.

Does she.

Hmm.

In my time at the Citadel, there were many

good and kind wizards there,

but there was also, I feel, a presence of some there who.

In my time there, it went from a genuine curiosity and a reverence for the spirits

is she kind

she can be oh well that's good

I think that there was something starting at the citadel right when I first arrived I couldn't believe it because of course you can feel the breath of the spirit world everywhere there but it's so strange because of course it's it's all articulated through this clever, strange thing that mortals have done.

And you recognize it, but you don't.

And it has to be the same, but of course, it must be different.

And it was awe-inspiring.

And I knew many spirits at the time, those that I had contacted when I was out gallivanting and leaving this Adele to try to look for you,

that

thought the wizard's curiosity was

disrespect.

You know, there's something about curiosity which is irreverent.

And there are many great spirits that wish only for the acceptance of their awe and majesty.

And I always liked that the wizards.

It's like a little child that hasn't learned to be frightened yet, and they just want to pull on the hem of your robe and ask how everything works.

But that irreverence, I think, some spirits had already,

for sour and gloomy reasons, started to resent or think of as some sort of pride.

And

I suppose curiosity is the cousin of pride or some such thing, but

the best wizards, it was a...

It wasn't.

It was pride, but it was being proud of a world that they were a part of, I think.

Yes.

But I do believe that

curiosity grows into something more.

Yes.

Yes.

And I think, too, that there were some

wizards there that knew that their

curiosity

can grow into ambition

and were happy to invite the disdain of some spirits.

I saw as much in Port Talon.

What did you see in Port Talon, my brother?

Not a true wizard, but a

guild mage of the Imperium.

She shrugs.

You see, she says, Well,

guild mages are wizards true.

Don't I?

I understand that your friend

is a wizard of the city.

I would not approve.

I can feel her voice in my head, even as I, even as we even suggest the two are alike.

You see, she says, The Wizard sky is entitled to her opinion, sir.

Yes, she is.

But

just as the world of spirits is wider than the great forest of our birth, so too, I think, is wizardry wider than what they teach and govern at the citadel.

You see, she sort of takes a breath here, and you can see she's feeling very tired.

She just sort of like rests her head on your shoulder and says,

I'm so happy.

As am I.

I can't.

I still can't believe it.

The fact that you're here, the fact that I've found you.

You see, she smiles and says,

I was so worried for so long.

I truly thought...

I thought maybe you had wended your way back to

the battle of the...

I I looked into, I found it I remember you talking I I had l heard you talking to our father about it by the stream when we were nothing but cubs and

I had been looking for

the the man, the mortal man, for your pauldron, which you still wear.

And I I found him, the Sir Curran.

You met him?

Oh no, not I had not met him.

He had died before my time, but I had worried that you had found him and died there as well.

He died at the Battle of Starling Fort in Akkam, in the land of.

Well, not the land of our birth, but

I suppose the land where the stories of our father touch the world.

I searched and searched, and I did not fail.

What I was trying to do was impossible.

And that feels

frustrating, but good.

And you see that she

smiles and says, Roro, Roro, oh, you little Roly Poly, you little.

And you see, she tickles her, like, her grandson's tummy, and he wakes up and she goes, Roro, go and bring grandmother's

bottom drawer from the dresser by grandmother's bed.

Open it up and bring the little blue box to me.

And you see, Rora gets up and looks up at you, Ursula, and goes,

and yawns and says,

You got big teeth.

Why, thank you.

You see that he goes and puts his little juice-covered hands on your tusks, and you see he like squidges your fur.

You see that he like pets the sort of like little whiskers and fur on your cheeks

and just looks up with this wide-eyed wonder at your face.

And you see, Kaliah smiles

and for a moment you see her glamour twinkle like it's going to fall away but then doesn't.

She remains in this human form.

Roro hops off your chest, runs over to the room and you see brings a little blue box and you see that Kaliah looks at you and says, These are some things I stole on my way out of the citadel when I escaped from that painting.

And I think you should have them.

After all,

you have befriended a wizard true, and

you had mentioned before briefly while we were having dinner

another of your companions.

Yes, the witch of the world's heart.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Powerful thing, which is

very clever, very cunning.

I will say

the power I beheld at the Citadel was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

But I could never trick a witch.

But these were what I was able to grab on my way out.

The box opens up, and you see within this box a number of

little magical artifacts,

some of which actually don't even look Citadel-made.

It looks like she may have taken them during a time where the Citadel was even less sort of,

for lack of a better word, industrial.

She hands you a little coin that you see has a queen's head on one side, and on the other side, it has a raven in flight.

You're not familiar, it's not an imperial mark, it's some older kind of coin.

But you see, she says, This is a magic coin, and

if it is flipped by a spirit, it will always land heads.

And if it is flipped by a mortal, it will always land tails.

And you see that that

Bella says, for us,

it just flips like a coin.

You see that Dolan, who kind of doesn't speak in full sentences.

You see, Dullen is already coming out with some like honey-baked, like baklava kind of dessert for the kids.

You see that he comes out and goes,

false positives.

And you see, he puts it down.

Can I flip it?

Comes up, heads.

I'll flip it again.

Heads.

Flip it one more time.

Heads.

Wow.

And then I'm going to reach over and take some of the kids' dessert.

You get a big thing of bakla.

You kind of like reach over a kid.

Yes.

Cut a big slice.

And you see Roro goes, hey.

I break off a bit.

She hands you this beautiful little antler bone-handled dagger.

In addition to being a plus-one dagger,

she hands it over to you and says,

Spin this on the ground and it will point in the direction of fastest egress

when you are in

a castle, a dungeon, a maze, anything that is built by artifice, anything that is made by the builders of places.

Simply spin this, and it will point in the direction of the fastest route of escape.

And then the third thing that she hands you that pulls out of there are these

large black leather boots, like intense cuffs on them, tons of wrinkles, tons of character.

The leather is like soft as a dream when you touch it.

It's like so well worn, but still no holes in it.

No, you know, it's not damaged at all, but they've just seen a lot of use.

You see the soul of them for a second.

You're looking at it like, oh, is this some kind of it look you think it's almost got to be some kind of fabric for a moment.

And then when you touch it, you realize the reason you thought it was fabric is just that there's no reflection of light off the bottom of the soles of the boots.

It looks like void or inkiness.

And you see that Kaliah takes the boots and drops them from a few inches up onto the ground.

And as they hit the floor, they make no noise.

Incredible, are they?

They charm to make them silent.

So, silent as a cat's whisper.

Yes, you can move through the forest with them and not be worried that a leaf or twig will betray you.

Thank you.

These are

great gifts.

I wish I had something for you.

I'm gonna fish around in my pockets.

Give me an investigation check

more taffy.

Come on, not Taffy.

Come on, not Taffy.

16.

16!

Uh, I think you maybe find

any little charm or trinket you might have had from your time in the Citadel.

Uh, oh, you know what I find?

What's that?

I find a pearl from Chura's Chowder.

Incredible.

And I hand it to her.

Kallia.

This pearl.

Can I ask, did they have Chura's Chowder when you were there?

Chorus Chowder?

Did you ever get to enjoy Chura's chowder?

No.

Oh, no, no.

Uh where where was where was Chura's chowder?

It's in Haverford.

Oh, there I don't I don't remember in the big market where everything is flying around

and constantly shifting.

I can't believe you went to the night market.

That place is dangerous.

Oh

it was it's dangerous?

Oh, back when I was at the Citadel, you would never, you could ever go to the night market.

Really?

Oh, it was full of criminals.

Really?

Oh.

Well, I think I still met many criminals, but we got along.

You see, she looks at you and says,

what an interesting knight you've become.

Well, I'm maybe not a knight yet, but on my way.

I think so.

You see, she says, oh, yes, back in that time.

Well, this was during a time in the Citadel when Haverward was...

There were some artificers there, but for the most part, it was very dangerous because it was the traveling doors that were there were unreliable and they needed different guilds to help run them.

You already know that like the permanent gates that are up now, it's like a whole different scene there now.

She's like, so if you wanted to cut the line, there were some sort of dubious types that you can pay a certain price to to jump the line and get a door opened up early.

And I remember, oh, my friend Roderick, he was a real rake, and he had got us to the front of the line to go to this shore town what was it Castigar Castigan something

but here well and it's a funny

it's a funny story but congratulations on on well it's just so good to see you

and you you seem

seem tired I'm I'm not in such a rush perhaps I'll spend the night and Please, please, oh, please spend the night.

We'll speak more tomorrow.

I have a thousand questions about uh

your travels and uh your your adventures.

Uh if you've ever returned home at all, or

oh

when you bring up returning home, you see a look on her face and she says

I think I'm tired.

Oh,

let's Let's talk more in the morning.

And she gives you a kiss on the cheek, and you see her son helps her get back to bed.

Give me a perception or an insight check.

Modified 20.

Your two nieces, so Adi and Mahara, are

talking,

looking at their brother bring Kaliya back to her bed.

And you can see them, you know, Adi is sort of the oldest and has like

her hair tied back with a bandana around it, the apron.

She's got her sleeves rolled up, and you see that Mahara has like a long, like very long set of braids with some like lovely little wooden like rings tied into them to help hold her hair.

And she's like, you know, like Adi is very tough and maternal and a little bit older.

And then Mahara is a little bit, you know, of these broad-shouldered badger spirit people is like a little bit slender, a little bit slighter.

You see, as they watch their mom going up, you see that they're in, look like they are,

they look like they're in the middle of rehashing an argument that they've had over and over again.

And you see that as they look over at your mom, you see another moment of almost like her glamour

fading a little bit.

And on that dirty 20,

it's not like the glamour was about to fade.

It's more like her true form was about to fade.

Like some, it's almost like something was about to leap.

Like, you haven't seen anything like that before.

Um, and you see that there's a

look of sorrow and of worry on her daughter's faces as they watch their mom go to her bed.

Can I approach the two of them?

Yeah, absolutely.

Ah, he looks up to you, kind of not like pulling up out of the sorrow quite fast enough, but looks to you with a smile as you approach and goes,

Uncle, you've made her so happy.

We cannot.

We are delighted enough to meet you on our own, but for the joy you've brought our mother, we cannot say thank you enough.

Well,

I mean, it is

hard to even describe how I feel.

I had fully removed

the part of myself that believed this could be.

So know that whatever you feel, I feel it ten times.

It means the world.

What can we do for you if there's anything?

I wanted to...

One, I just...

Do you have any more of this?

It's delicious.

Oh, oh, of course.

You see that she goes over to the kitchen and opens a drawer that just has what looks like a cloth sort of napkin, a little like gingham napkin on it, and takes it off.

And there's a fresh baklava thing and pulls open another drawer.

And there's this rich ginger banana nut loaf thing that she just puts in front of you.

I'm going to cut just an uncomfortably large slice.

Just kind of reach in and palm it.

Is it.

I know it might be rude to ask, but

how old is she?

I think

well

she's well over a hundred and twenty.

I've only been here for

twenty some odd years.

She has been here for a long time, and I think she's h held on for a long time because

And you see that they both kind of look at you

you see you see a look of like you're what she's been hanging on for and they don't say that but that feeling is in the air

you see that they look at each other and you see Mahara says

it may well be her

time soon and you see Adi turns to her and says it doesn't have to be and you see that Mahara turns to her and you see the the sort of the breach of the argument again in a moment you see Mahara says Let's not trouble Uncle Ursulan with this right now.

No, what do you mean?

You see, Adi says,

Well,

our mother is

a spirit, a wild one like you.

And you see, Mahara says, She's also our mother.

And you see that Adi says, Of course she is.

There are parts of being here in the mortal world

where

it is governed by the laws of mortals.

And in the same way that a mortal might go to the spirit world and live forever there, a spirit cannot come to this world and hope to live forever.

Mahara says,

our father passed away a long time ago.

And

Kaliya, our mother,

has wanted to be here with us for as long as she can.

Her magic protects this place, and you see that here Adi interrupts and says, but her magic also did many things in this world.

In searching for you, Uncle, she found many,

many way-shadowed spirits.

This world

is

filled with the lost.

And

we are among the luckiest.

We have each other.

You hear the noise of distant war fading away, and see in this very humble burrow, in this strange place,

that

the achievement of this happy family, even amongst the wide and looming shadows of the world, is a piece of triumph.

And you suddenly get the feeling from this family that

they feel like this is the height of aspiration to live hidden in a hole with love.

Adi goes,

Mama found a lot of

spirits

and tried as best she could to help them.

And if she couldn't help them, she tried to point them in the direction of how they could help themselves.

But they are out there

All over the world.

In the cracks and crevices and all the places where they fall away.

And

you see that her eyes drift like Wavebreaker and says, I know that

with the strange coming of years and the passage of the door of ivy and everything of that nature that

you have only been here for a fraction of the time that our mother has, but

I know that you have felt the sting of the world.

It is clear.

You are not alone.

And our mother

knew that firsthand many times over.

And knew it secondhand many times past that from those that she encountered.

You see, Mahara looks and says, but her time in this world is

at an end.

Not today, I think, but sometime soon.

We'll

fade from here and join our father.

And you see that Adi kind of like stiffens up and says,

or

not.

And Adi and Mahara turn to look at each other, and there is, you see an intense, deep, kind of sisterly wound between them.

And

Mahara says,

I'm going to make sure that Roro doesn't fall in the sink and walks off into the kitchen.

And

Adi turns to look at you.

Like the sister, knowing that Adi's going to speak her mind, but doesn't want to be around, even sort of be around it.

Adi just turns to you and goes,

Her

true form she hasn't worn in years and years and years.

It's it.

The effort it takes her to change her glamour is too much for her.

And

she was in love with our father, who was a mortal man.

And my sister and my brother have both talked to her, and she wants to.

She has, I think she has been pressured to believe that the right thing to do is to wear the glamour until the end

and walk into

the path of our ancestors and join our father.

And I love and miss my father every day, but she is a spirit.

She's a wild one.

If she dies wearing her glamour,

I think some great thing will leave this world forever.

And I think that if she

were to return

home,

I don't know.

And you see that she sort of just dips her head a little bit.

She's like,

I think my father would want it for her

to go home.

To be a wild one.

It is gift enough that something

endless and eternal and magical came here and loved us.

What would you all do with regard to the safety of this

We are sorcerers, not great, but gifted enough in our ways to

keep the enchantments alive.

If a great spirit has set them, then we can tend to the rituals and make the offerings, keep this place safe.

Shouldn't all fall to her.

I think it hurts her to hold on.

And of course, she will.

She loves us.

But I don't think it's right.

I I am sorry to

upon the

upon the moment of your arrival thrust you into this very old and painful argument between

me and my brother and sister.

Although it is mostly my sister, if I'm being honest.

My

br you know, you can't get two words out of Dullen before he goes off to chop firewood or do something, but seems like he's a man of his hands.

Yes, he likes to talk through action, and

that's nice, but sometimes you sometimes you have to talk.

Well,

I have not had family in quite some time.

It is nice to have both its joys,

but to understand that that means it will also come with struggles.

You see that she squeezes your arm and leans her head against your shoulder for a moment.

You will always have this family.

There, um, so someone or I can rest.

She smiles and she says, uh, we can make up a bed for you.

Um,

oh, there's no need.

Really?

No, we can find a uh.

It's, um.

It's part of my being here in this world.

Oh, oh, of course, understood.

Um, And you see that she

looks around and you see that they go, and

thinking that blankets might magically cross a line,

she goes and gets a big thing of fresh laundered clothes and cloth napkins and the things they use to wrap the baked goods and just scatters them all on the rug and makes a big pile out of them in front of the fireplace

and then goes and gets a tablecloth and goes, Now, none of this is bedding.

You know,

I've never quite tested the limits of my taboos, but this should all do just fine.

You curl up by the fireside.

The noise of kids being slowly sort of carted off to bed.

You know, the parents getting together, people making sure that you have what you need to be able to sleep comfortably, that you can smell rich wood smoke burning in this little chimney, that like the stones going up between the roots to pop out up above the leaves somewhere.

And

the last little thing before you're able to drift off into unconsciousness is

the little horsey toy with wheels.

Roro comes over and puts it in the crook of your arm and pats it and says, Take care of Uncle Ursulan while he's sleeping, and toddles off to bed.

I don't think Ursulan cries, but I think there's just

nothing but joy in his heart as he falls asleep that night.

Snow

whips across the deck of the meridian, crossing the boreatic parallel, headed towards the northernmost point of the globe as the wizard's sky stands astride the helm.

An enormous navy dirigible, ship cable-sized ropes of silver brocade across the balloon, and a black gondola with the purple flickering fiery beginnings of the shield preventing the worst of the wind from ripping sailors into the rigging and off the deck, you stand and survey your crew, Sufi.

What I'd like for you to describe, if you'd be so kind, is

any important details of your ship, the Meridian, but also, and most importantly, physically describe the crew member you trust the most, the crew member whose competence has surprised you the most,

and the crew member whose presence here is still a little bit of a mystery to you.

Question: Before I answer that: How long has this trip taken?

You took off pretty much immediately after your conversation with Steele.

It's probably been about

36 hours.

Copy.

I think

Suvi,

especially

after or going into her time in a calm with Ahmed Ursulan, had a little bit of a, oh, maybe the wizards are kind of a lot, a spiral rope bridge coming down from Steel's ship.

Like, maybe that's too ostentatious.

And I think something in

the last day and a half in her, and especially before leaving, really locked in to her that no,

the sort of

flare

it means something, and it's it, there's a point to it, and it says something.

So, I think Subi's leaned in in a really big way.

So, uh, the dirigible, the inside of this, like, gondola is meticulously appointed.

Uh, this there's no intention for this to be a long trip, so it's sparse when it comes to like it's not full of books, but uh, very carefully, like she's got her desk and her bed and her sort of compartment and apartments here are all richly carved and well decorated and stark and dark.

I think it's very dark wood with like low orange flame

and the sort of papers and things that she's reaching.

She brought a little research because she knew she would have time on the way up.

But I think all of this is just for any that would look in or look out on the wizard sky and her works,

there is nothing that doesn't signal that she does not move with the full faith and resources of the citadel that sent her.

Incredible.

Astride the deck of the ship in this moment, you see the cresting lights of the Aurora Borealis, the dark wood of this ship.

The Meridian is built for speed and is built for basically survivability.

It's an extremely fast, tenacious ship.

So it only has two gun ports on it.

It has like two sort of arcane staff ports.

It's not a man-of-war.

This is mainly a ship for exploration, travel, and being able to move to places like the Arctic Circle of Umora.

The crew member you trust the most is near at hand, sort of a constant presence for you.

Physically describing this crew member, what does this crew member look like?

I think she is tall, but not as tall as Suvi,

Very broad-shouldered and ruddy with long blonde hair in like ornate braids and curls.

And she just looks like

thick and hardy in a way that I think not a lot of like wizards tend to be.

And there's something about that, like the sturdiness of her that, like, on top of just everything else about her, that Suvi like really just finds comforting.

The wizard straw.

A much older woman who like rose to this position kind of early on in her career at the Citadel and then stayed here.

She found the hole that corresponded to her magical kind of egg, like where she fits in the grand scheme of things, which is she's a talented wizard, but the spellcraft that she knows is she's an engineer, an arcanist.

She understands spellcraft and she likes sailing.

Her family were nautical sailors, and so her getting inducted into the Citadel, she came with a knowledge of sea craft and navigation.

That as these sort of airships were becoming

more prevalent, these derigicles were becoming more prevalent, she had this knowledge base to come aboard here.

So she is, I think, at the helm.

She's your basically helmswoman.

So you're the captain, like off to the side, and she's got the helm.

She looks over to you and says,

Wizard Sky, we're approaching

about another 20 or so minutes.

I think think downstairs, there's a ringing of the bell that I heard on the way up.

That your speaking mirror is ready for you.

Your page back from the tower of the glove.

Perfect.

Thank you so much.

And yeah, I think there's just not a lot of warm conversation back and forth.

Like, Suvi's been very in her own head, so she'll immediately go.

As you move down,

on your way down,

you spy a crew member whose presence on the ship is still a little bit of a mystery to you.

Almost everyone here is working directly for you, but again, because this was given to you by Steele, there is like one or two elements of this that are still a little bit like, you know, Steele being like, and this person is accompanying you to do X,

right?

There's an older Asian man, like close-cropped salt and pepper hair

and like tan skin and like the beginnings of crow's feet and he's just like very clean cut and quiet and doesn't have a a sense to explain himself in any way, but is it like isn't giving any vibe in any direction.

Just okay, he's here and I'm not gonna be the one that like breaks this silence with the curiosity that might belie

the respect I'm trying to like push out for authority.

A curt nod and a professional smile from a gentleman called Rasper, which you know he's not a wizard of the citadel, accompanies you.

He's been in his quarters, pretty quiet and respectful, and very much

in a status way deferential to you.

Like, he's not in your business, he's not telling you how to run the ship.

He came aboard with special focus to the cargo coming on board the ship, and is basically just on deck while it was being loaded up.

And he's been in his quarters, and now that you're almost arriving, is the first time you've seen him come up on deck.

He gives you a curt smile and a nod on his way up.

Have I ever seen him like like cast magic?

He has a rapier at his side.

A little basket hilt sword.

No robes.

Sort of, he's dressed for the cold.

Not too much though.

You know, all of your crew have these elemental rings that are keeping them warm against the frigid cold.

But he has boots for the snow and a long black cloak with a little sort of furry mantle.

He's wearing mostly black.

If you were gonna going to guess,

you would guess

a lot of Imperial bureaucrats wear black.

But the thing is, he goes by something that sounds more like an appellation or a name cloak.

It's like, is that a guild mage's name?

But if he was an imperial bureaucrat, he would just have a first and last name.

He would just have his normal name.

But he smiles and nods to you.

And

as you approach your quarters, the captain's quarters of the ship,

whose competence has surprised you the most in your short voyage here?

Or physically describe them?

This is a person.

And going back to Suvi as a child, was a kid that referred to other kids as children.

So I think the person that has surprised her weirdly is just the other person here that is her age.

Awesome.

And they're just like just average.

Like they have just sort of brown,

kind of thick kind of wavy hair and like big brown eyes and like medium tan skin and there's just not really anything

special

obviously about them

but they're but they're here

very capable and having neither complained nor shied away from any of her tasks

the as yet unname-cloaked wizard Maddie,

who, you know, you can infer that maybe her longer name is Madeline, but she has certainly not shared that.

She's using a shortened nickname version to be able to later name-cloak herself.

Yeah.

And

sort of smiles and nods.

She goes to open the door for you and says, Wizard Sky,

the speaking mirror illuminated some two minutes ago.

I believe your page is reaching out from the Tower of the Glove.

Thank you so much.

Let me know when we are five minutes out.

Will do.

You stride into your quarters, remove your gloves,

and

looking at the mirror, you see hanging by its side are three small bottles of ink.

Yeah.

On your desk is a book, an account of the cataclysm of Caro from the Wizard Throne.

And

as the speaking mirror

moves, you see there with her sort of moving powder blue, puffy cloud vest is your page, Yulia, who appears with the sunlight of the Citadel behind her, saying,

Good morning, Wizard Sky.

Or good.

Oh, north.

Very north.

Nighttime outside.

A good time zone with you as well.

Yulia, how are you?

Oh, very good, Wizard Sky.

I was able to ascertain that information that you had asked about Ghost.

Oh.

The name Ghost appears on a register from an interview in the city of Caro at an Azure Battalion facility

from the wizard Cutlass, who is a guild mage of the glass coronet.

Cairo,

is like Port Talon to Cairo an obvious like port of call on the way?

It's not the fastest route to the Citadel, but Cairo is the most populous city in Umora.

It is the beating port heart metropolis trade hub of the Khemsarazen Empire.

Do you have any evidence that she made it to the Citadel?

No, there is no record of her at the Citadel at all.

This interview occurred

the date you gave me in which you met her, this interview occurred, I believe, about

nine days after that.

Do we have any transcripts for the interview?

No, those are proprietary to the Glass Coronet, but I can request a meeting upon your return.

And the Tower of the Glass, there is a Tower of the Glass Coronet where the Guild Mage Cutlass is stationed in Caro.

So

he is still active there, and you would be able to

have a conference with him if you so wished.

I can set that up for you after your business is concluded in the north.

No need for a meeting.

I just need you to send a letter.

inquiring as to what happened to this person post this interview.

If they used my name, oh, they would use my name, cloaked name.

Should still carry over.

The magic is good.

If ghost dropped my name, how did they not make it to the Citadel?

Not accusatory, just inquiring and maybe press a little bit.

Okay, I'll do so.

No luck on Flickr.

So I don't know that that name doesn't appear anywhere.

That's a shame.

Okay, we'll get more answers when we get any feedback.

Thank you.

Thank you for following up on that.

Of course, Wizard Sky.

And I'll send that letter right away and

politely and professionally

make an inquiry as to an explanation.

Deeply appreciated.

The mirror flickers for a moment as Yulia is kind of signing off.

And as it flickers, you see an image of Steele's face.

As Yulia says,

again, it's such an honor and a privilege to work for you.

Thank you so much.

I do have to take this.

Oh, sorry.

And you see

the image flickers and sitting on her balcony

with her armor off in her robe, sipping a little thing until you see the familiar trellis, the vines behind her, steel.

And you see immediately she has a telemet next to her.

And the last memory of yours with a telemet is not a positive one.

But as she fades in, she goes, hello, wizards.

Oh my goodness.

What an outfit.

Okay, thank you.

I I feel like I should be making a point.

And I do a little twirl wearing this like long black cloak that is like open to the elements and has this like very sheer

under panel covered in embroidered silver stars.

And I kind of just wiggle the ring on my opposite finger, not my focus.

I think I'm going to make a point to the

conclave.

You feel like you're giving very chill vibes for the beginning of a war.

Howard, what's your morning?

What is this?

Hey, if I get attacked on my balcony, I think we can call it there.

Fair.

Fair.

Why is a telemet out?

That feels like a threat.

Could you please

open the case next to your desk, Wizard Sky?

Wait, Sir.

God damn it.

You open a case,

you see there is a telomet resting in a velvet depression within the case, sort of concealed.

The case is about, you know, four feet long, two feet deep, two feet up.

So the telomet contains like the whole base of one end of the case.

You see, along it, there is a small depression in the velvet for a small blood-red vial.

There is a potion.

It is stoppered, not with a cork, but with a piece of like industrial solvent or like almost like glue or wax covering it.

You also see on the desk another case that's a little bit less intense looking that has like a scroll in it, stuff that's been moved here.

And you're wondering because it wasn't here when this trip started, so it's been moved here from somewhere else on the ship.

You see that Steele looks at you, and something in her demeanor changes.

She says,

Wizard Sky, Sufi.

If you'd be kind enough to remove the talent and place it in the pedestal by your desk, this should be on the ship from this point forward.

It's useful to have in front of the mirror for any number of reasons.

Please remove the potion and the secret compartment in that intermediary space between the potion and the telemet.

Peel back the velvet and you'll find a small wooden box.

Can I do an insight check?

Yeah, you can.

It's not a lack of trust, but this feels needlessly

clandestine.

14.

You can't get a beat on her.

Yeah.

She reads you in this moment and says,

We're going to

talk very quickly now because you're approaching your destination.

Go ahead and take a seat.

I'll walk you through everything so that you know what's about to happen, okay?

And I do want to just say that like this is a like it's trepidation, but there's no actual like hesitation to it.

Like Suvi is complying with trust, but there's definitely like, what is this?

But she follows exactly what she's told and takes out the vial and starts to peel up the velvet.

Under the velvet, you find a small, beautiful music box.

On opening it, you see that there is a little silver figurine of a dancer in it that can rotate, rotate, but there is on the inside of the lid, there is a mirror, but the mirror is fragmented.

It's like it's a broken mirror that's been welded together with silver.

So it's sort of like a weird stained glass mirror cracked up, put back together with sort of silver.

You see, Steele looks at you and says,

this is our opportunity, and I'm going to talk to you about the process that's going to occur right now.

We're going to

do our best to make the most of this first and possibly last opportunity for a Wizard of the Citadel to be given entree to a meeting of this coven of elders.

This represents

a magical opportunity and an opportunity for intelligence that I wouldn't have known to anticipate even a year ago.

To explain from on high.

Witches have an opinion of wizards.

That we are

devious,

buffoonish,

and paranoid.

When someone is underestimating you, don't get in their way.

So,

what's going to happen is this.

There's a plan, plan, and then there's another plan.

You're going to take the telemet out of the case.

You're going to put it into its pedestal next to you.

Telemets are standard issue on most of these ships.

You're going to put a hand on it,

and you're going to take that music box, and you're going to

put it in your belongings.

It's small, it's innocuous, it's clearly magical, but so are many of the things that are on you.

What's going to happen is when you put your hand on the telemet,

I am going to cast a spell on you.

The spell is a questing spell, also known as a gaius.

It is going to compel you to follow a course of action.

And then what you're going to do is you're going to drink that potion.

And that potion is going to make you fall asleep forgetting the last 10 minutes.

I'm recording this conversation on my end so when you get back to the citadel you'll be able to watch it and recover at least a version of these memories.

The reason for this is these witches will almost certainly be able to read your mind no matter what barriers we put up over them.

So we're not going to give them a mind to read.

The compulsion will still be working on you, even if you don't remember receiving it.

It's going to feel a little bit uncomfortable, but the good news is you are brilliant.

So, the compulsion, which to be clear and lay out everything for you, what I'm going to compel you to do is to find

a central library within the witch's castle.

Open the music box and hide it somewhere in that library.

It's not going to have to be perfectly hidden, just somewhere out of the way.

The magic on the music box will take care of the rest.

You're going to hide it somewhere, open it, and then at some point after doing that,

and this is going to sound strange, you need to ensure that someone in the castle who is not of the citadel sings.

They can sing for any reason, they can sing any song, they don't have to sing it for very long, they just have to sing.

And then

you're going to go back and retrieve the music box.

Now that's all going to be laid on you as a compulsion.

You will have a magical effect to do that.

People that are not very bright,

when they are unaware of a magical compulsion, they get confused and frightened.

And I'm going to tell you something very scary right now, which is that brilliant people, when they are following a compulsion, tend to invent an innocent reason for doing so.

So even though you won't remember that this is all part of the plan, every step of the plan will occur to you as some

form of

Good idea finding a library placing a music box brilliant minds find justifications for things.

This is alarming, but does it all make sense so far?

Everything makes sense.

I have follow-up questions, but I will wait till you're done.

So, that's the real plan.

Now, if we show up to this conclave without a plan, the witches will know something's up.

So, the fake plan is on your regular desk.

If you look behind you, you will see there is a scroll.

The scroll is a magical contract.

It's a contract that you're going to try to get the witch of Toma to sign that says you will agree to help her in this, her first conclave, but she has to, you know, use her abilities on the council to advocate for the citadel.

You know, she's not allowed to vote to destroy the citadel or what have you, right?

And we're going to take that contract and we're going to hide it in the Wizard Straw's staff.

that already has an abjurative effect on it that will potentially conceal the thing.

And after you drink that forgetfulness potion, I'm going to explain this fake plan again when you wake up so that when you walk in there, you're walking in with a sneaky secret plan that just happens to be fake.

I've given you a real nesting doll of a plan here.

Yeah, this feels like a factor of trust, but also,

you know what?

No, nope, nope.

That's the old CV.

I understand.

And I trust you.

Good.

So

let's begin.

Okay.

I'm going to put my hand.

It's hand on the yeah, hand on the telemet

and kind of pop open the glass and right before I sip it.

She, with your hand on the telomet, as soon as you touch and you open the vial, says, Suvie, look at me.

The talomet starts to get warm under your hand.

She begins to cast a powerful spell.

I invoke my name.

I invoke the Tower of the Sword,

the Citadel,

White Sand.

I invoke the Council of the Pyrrhian Dome.

By all these powers do I lay on thee this quest,

the artifact before thee,

made of glass and wood.

It falls to you to carry it, and you feel these words reverberating through your hands and it's getting hot, almost like uncomfortably hot.

To carry it into the heart of the library of the witch.

that lies in the far northernmost point of our world.

To hide it therein and open it.

To then ensure that some companion of that place, not of the citadel,

shall, for some reason of your finding, raise their voice in song.

That the box then be collected and returned to the ship.

This compulsion I lay upon you

to be fulfilled at any cost.

Sufi, as you feel the heat on your hand from the talomet

and the casting of this spell on you by steel,

I ask you this.

Spell has a saving throw.

Do you resist the spell

or do you elect to fail the saving throw and allow the spell to be cast on you?

Usually, when spells are resisted, is the caster aware that it is being actively resisted?

Like, do you feel that in like that

pushback?

You

cannot be certain whether the caster of a spell this powerful, like past the level that you can cast.

Maybe they can tell, and maybe they can't.

But you do know that if you imbibe this potion

and forget this conversation,

you know that if the magical compulsion is not laid on you, this plan simply will not come to pass because you will not remember to follow these instructions.

Yeah.

I think there is that initial burst of resistance, of

wanting agency and to remain untouched and to push and rebuff.

And it's just that heartbeat of like, no, wait, no,

let it happen.

And I think the last of her resistance isn't resisting the spell she will elect to fail the save.

But even as her like hand is on the telemet, her fingers are working in like pressure on it, like tapping keys or a piano as her rote sort of finger waggling tries to remember what is happening to her.

Try to move your hands in the way that they will remember what this spell was.

Give me an Arcana check.

22.

You stitch a memory of the casting,

not into your mind, but into your muscles.

You will not necessarily remember it,

but you will know the movement of this spell.

And if you witness it again,

you will know that you are not witnessing it for the first time.

I think there's something inside of that to feel the like wash of relief of, I know, and that makes it okay.

And she just surrenders to it entirely.

You are a wizard.

You have clever ways and can move on a diagonal through spaces of the mind.

That which cannot be remembered can be remembered, and that which may not live as a memory may live elsewhere.

Your hand is your mind, at least for this.

And you feel the spell take effect, and you feel the compulsion in your body in a way that you understand it.

Like right now, it is a conscious thing that you feel this urge to do this thing.

All right.

Potion.

Get somewhere comfortable.

Sit in your seat.

And I think there's just so many moments of Suvi about to like speak up or hesitate or ask something.

And again, she just keeps putting it away.

She has to trust someone.

And this is big, and heavy, and weird, and an obliteration of agency and understanding that terrifies her.

But she has to trust someone.

And though she loves her true friends, she doesn't trust them now.

And she has to trust someone.

And it has to be Steele.

So she just closes her mouth one final time,

nods, and goes and sits down.

Steele looks at you as you sit down.

Suvi, are you okay?

Yes.

You understand

why I'm doing this, right?

Yes.

I know this is frightening,

but we must.

You will do this, and it will work.

Okay.

And kind of closes her eyes and just throws back the vial.

Fog and haze.

Sort of sleepy.

Remembering, not rem

you're like, you know that you're waking up, but

you actually just remember

walking down the stairs and seeing Rasper on the way up to the deck, and now you're kind of here,

and you hear Steele's voice saying, Suvi?

Suvi?

Oh, sorry.

It's been a long couple of.

Sorry.

Yes.

Yes.

You were saying?

Yes.

So.

Heading into this conclave, I understand that you are going to be able to go in here because you are part of the Witch of Toma's retinue.

Whatever

duties or obligations you need to fulfill to her to keep your space at the conclave secure, by all means do.

Preserving the relationship to your friend Ame, other than for your own personal reasons, is in this moment of strategic benefit to the Citadel.

So,

it is wise for you to make sure that whatever station is affording you the ability to even have a presence at this conclave is maintained.

Okay.

Now,

we're going to talk about what the Citadel wants from this.

Behind you on the desk, there is a contract.

I want you to take a look at it and know that we are going to hide it in the staff of the Wizard Straw.

And Steele begins to explain what she's already explained.

But to Suvi, this is the only plan that she is aware of in this moment.

Yeah.

Oh.

Yeah.

She's kind of doing that like little sparkle: like, yep, oh, I like this.

It's clever.

Yeah.

Okay.

Understood.

Steele smiles at you.

Give me an insight check.

19.

You look at Steele

and feel like you see an expression on her face

that is one of

pride

and

a hint of like shame in herself, or something.

There's an emotion on her face that you don't quite understand in this moment.

You good?

I'm not going to die or disappear.

It's going to be a couple days and I'll be back.

Don't worry.

I got this.

You are singular.

And

the opportunity that you have provided to the Citadel

cannot be overstated.

Okay, that felt.

That felt big for you kind of lounging on your porch in the morning, but okay, sure.

Do I gotta put my armor on for everything?

Yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, just.

I'm on my porch.

Okay.

I'm on the balcony.

Sure.

It's nice to see you relaxed.

It's fine.

We're good.

Done.

We're good.

Best of luck, Suvi.

We love you.

We have to say it back.

I love you too.

And you see that the mirror flickers

and you're alone in this room.

You hear a knock at the door.

One sec.

And I think the moment the mirror goes out, Suvi spends a couple minutes like

trying to shake off this like sort of wee, like wooziness and queasiness, like whatever happened where she drifted off in the middle of a conversation that has her heart rate just a little, like a little too high, and she's just a little worried about herself.

Like, she's gonna give herself a couple seconds to sort and calm down and be like, oh, okay, come in.

The door opens, and you see Rasper standing at the door.

Uh, Wizard Sky.

Hi.

It is a pleasure.

I've come to

collect the

case for the telemet.

I understand that it's been

set up in here, but your call with the

Archmage steal, the sort of the tower.

May I?

Yeah, I guess.

He walks in really briefly and says,

You're finding the cabin appointed here.

Specifications and everything's to your liking.

Yeah,

this is great.

Thank you.

I appreciate everything you've

done

for this mission.

Rasper.

Simple quartermaster.

Just trying to keep everyone outfitted and

wishing you all the best.

This is the most I've ever heard you speak.

What's your passive perception?

18.

You just notice Rasper like go to the black case for the talomet, kind of, you know, clasp it up, and you just notice him real quickly throw an empty class bottle into the case as he's clasping it up and getting ready to walk out with it.

The talomet should stay in its pedestal at all times until, you know, such time as either it breaks or disenchants or anything, and then we'll get you a new one.

But for the time time being, that should last for hopefully longer than the ship.

Yeah, thank you.

You're welcome.

Anything else?

Let me know how to be of service.

And you see, he heads out the door.

You hear the wind rushing outside.

You begin to see spectral edges of the Aurora Borealis.

I think there's still that little bit of distraction,

and she's just kind of, okay, I've got my mission.

I know what I'm gonna do.

And then, like, the little clever part in the back of her head, like, she can feel gears turning that she doesn't remember starting about what else she can get up to

while she's at the palace.

And I think at any other point, she would sort of stop herself and say, like, whimsy, the sky is the sky, and I have work to do.

But I think she needs that like passive time to think.

So she'll push up and away from the desk and make sure her sea legs or air legs or whatever this weird feeling is

isn't going to like unmoor her.

And she'll just kind of go out and go out to like

a little landing and just look at the sky.

Mountains, a valley of endless trees of ice,

a vast white castle overlooking the edge of a crag.

Whipping up from the ice, a pier of frozen snow constructs itself from magic, clawing out over the edge of a cliff, and silhouetted in a golden doorway, the light of a roaring fire in the distance, is the figure of your friend, Ame.

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

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

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