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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3769207" data-attributes="member: 3448">Kit reported her conversation with the strom to the rest of the Council.  “I’m worried about the block on teleportation.  I don’t know what it means, but it’s worrisome-- and it will make it harder for them to get Princess Anastasia out?  Maybe Lady Constance will be able to suggest a way to deal with the problem?”“Why not ask the Minister of Magic?” asked Dame Brionna.  “He’s also an archmage, and unlike Lady Constance, he isn’t in league with devils.”“But Lady Constance has been so helpful in the past,” said Kit.“And teleportation is a form of conjuration magic.  A summoning specialist like Lady Constance will know more about the dimensional lock or whatever it is than a generalist like the Minister would.”Lady Constance arrived shortly.  The Council described the problem, and she nodded thoughtfully.  “Drift is beginning, then.”“Drift, Lady Constance?”“The forces in the South are largely extraplanar.  More importantly, they are routinely gating in demons, ratlords, and other extraplanar creatures.  That is causing their territory to drift out of alignment with the Prime Plane.  Teleportation is more difficult because of the drift.  If a mage is inexpert in planar travel and adjusting a teleportation, it would be like striking a steel wall.”“Drifting out of alignment with the Prime… do you mean that it is becoming overlayed with the Abyss, like in the Shadowlands?”“It is the same process, but it will be decades before the South becomes like the Shadowlands with a permanent connection to the Abyss.  At present, it is just less connected to the rest of the Prime Plane.”“Is there any way to stop or reverse the process?”“A very simple way,” said Lady Constance dryly.  “Take back the territory.  When the Shadowline advances or retreats, it is decades or a century before the land is fully absorbed into the Shadow or returns to the light.  The Shadowline itself is a border that becomes a physical manifestation of the difference between the Prime and the foreign plane.  Lands that have been absorbed and are retaken gradually must shift back.”“Does the presence of the ratfolk inherently cause the shift?”“I should think not.  While they are not native to this plane, the South is barely out of kilter currently.  If they did not continuously open uncontrolled dimensional rifts, it would not get worse just because they live there.  But the rifts are a deliberate effort to let free willed beings through-- demons in the case of Shadow, sometimes demons but usually ratlords in the Southlands.  In theory, the South could slip out of the Prime into another world completely.  In practice, that has only ever happens in Shadow.”“Another reason for us to push against the ratfolk, Your Grace,” observed Dame Brionna.“Indeed.  Lady Constance, could you help us teleport a small contingent of troops into the Southlands?  We would like to assist the troops that were on the voller that recently landed in the City to reach their destination.”“How many?”“About fifty knights.  Ideally, we would also want to be able to extract some troops back in a few days time--these knights are part of a rescue force, and there are some politically important people in the Southlands.”“We could bring fifty knights down easily, with a gate.  For the return, we would need a contingent of knights and scouts to secure our position, so we can then open a second gate for extraction.”“Your Grace, the palace guard will be perfect for that mission, especially because they understand how to fight defensively.”“Good.  Pick out a company of your best guards, and let’s get them through.”Lady Constance bowed slightly and began her preparations as Dame Brionna organized the guards who would accompany the mages.* * *Later that day, while doing one of her regular full patrols of the palace, Dame Brionna prayed for Glor’diadel to provide her with a vision of her warhorse.  She walked and walked and prayed and walked and prayed.  As she crossed the catwalks on the top of the palace, she heard a sudden whinny.  A pure white horse with wings and a horn stood on the wall.Dame Brionna’s eyes widened.  “Lord Glor’diadel, I am not worthy.”  She knelt by the unipeg, not before it but with it, and then gave a full round of prayer.  It waited patiently, understanding what she was doing.  She then extended her hand with a bit of honeycomb.  The stallion ate it and whinnied again.  Dame Brionna opened her mind to it, and the unipeg communed with her a bit before flying down to the courtyard to wait.  Dame Brionna traveled down to it, and together they began the process of teaching her to fly on it safely.[End Session 25]</blockquote>

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