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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3766675" data-attributes="member: 3448">The strom looked pensive.  “I wonder where the Queen-Empress’s forces are.  They have only sent scout parties, distributed throughout the southlands.  They look for the Princess, but do not trust Duke Snatterkaz’s word as to where she is.”“That is unusual in Hanal, right?”“More than unusual-- it is perilously close to an insult to the Duke’s honor, which could lead to a challenge in the House of Lords, and then open war.  Except that would be disastrous, so Snatterkaz will treat it as a minor insult, be hostile, and refuse to speak to the Queen-Empress for a couple of years.  Then Princess Anastasia inherits, then her daughter or son inherits, and all is well.”“How close might the succession be?”The strom chuckled.  “You mean will Queen-Empress Thyastis die before she can do any more damage?  Her death was closer last end year than this.”“Was she ill?” “No.  A couple of the saner nobles tried to hurry things along.  They did not succeed. But now…  She could last twenty years, but more likely only five or ten.  Once the bouts begin, they get worse rapidly, with a steady pace of increases.”“The bouts, your lordship?”“Bouts of insanity, not remembering what was done afterwards.  It skips some generations, but always recurs.  A representative from the Holy See said that it had to do with the piping in the capital, but I don’t understand how that could be true.  We’ve used lead for hundreds of years.”“You mentioned that the Duke was in room to room fighting.  Do you know anything about how the Princess is?”“I don’t know much, but the last I heard about Anastasia’s personal condition was that she was resistant to whatever they were trying to do.  I must admit that I did not much understand the message.  Perhaps she is resisting the curse of the ratmen, and they are trying to turn her into one of them?  I hear they can do that, partially by putting their spittle on their blades.”“I think that those are wererats.  As far as I have seen, ratfolk are different.  I’ve never heard of them transforming a person into a rat creature.”“Ah.  We will see when we get there.  I fear it will be quickest if we wait for our replacement voller.  Traveling by land would get us there after the battle has been won.”“How many troops do you have?”“About fifty men,  plus the surviving members of the voller’s crew.”“We should be able to teleport a group that size down without much difficulty.”“My thanks, but that was what we tried first.  We were unable to teleport across the border; the mage said it felt like crossing an impenetrable barrier.”“Oh, really?  That’s very interesting.  I’ll speak with some of our mages to find out what the problem is.  Is the mage with you?”“No, I don’t have a mage with me.  The mage was the personal mage to one of my allies, who should already be there.  We sought to travel down together by magic but then took our vollers when the teleportation failed.  I have no mages now, only a couple of mild psions.”“Be careful relying on them for communications.  We have had some psionic communications with the Duke, but our psions sensed what may have been eavesdropping by the enemy.”“Thank you for informing me.  We know that they have some psions.  Fortunately, their magical support disappeared about two weeks ago.”Kit rose.  “Thank you for your aid to Grokken.  We will see if we can get you to the Duke’s aid faster than waiting for another voller.”“I only wish I could have done more for your people.  Grokken reminded me of the siege of the City of Crystal, some twenty years ago.  The Queen-Empress commanded that siege.  The City was built by the elves, but abandoned, and then occupied by humans.  We charged, but the walls did not fall.  So we besieged it for six months.  They ran out of food, sortied, and we seized the gate.  After that… it was short.  I prefer not to remember that.  It was then I learned what we had gained as Empress.  She commanded death to all within the walls.”“All the more reason for us to work to recover Princess Anastasia, your lordship,” said Kit slowly after swallowing hard at that description.</blockquote>

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