Aphonion Tales: The Archducal Council -- Unedited notes; later posts are edited transcripts (posts MWF, update 3/1/23)

[CPaladin]

[Session 58 cont'd]

The Council gets a psion, and contact the Noldar Admiral. In the imaging of the psion, a rather willowy Noldar in very ornate garb eating what appears to be a muffin?

"That is a warp projector. Even the creatures in the Shadowlands cannot build them. These creatures can. It projects primal warp energy in an energy blast. Crude, but effective. It destroyed one of the war schooners. We have been ordered to commit ourselves fully, even to the extent of the destruction of our ships and our own deaths.

"Without the projector, they have nothing that could threaten our ships.

"The large flat area has runes at its corners; there is a considerable power with them, we expect that it is the Abomination of Shurr; it is capable of domain magic."

He sends the Council a copy of the runes (which neither he nor his sorcerer recognizes).

* * *
The Council ask Lady Constance about the runes.

She provides us with the ciphers, which she enjoyed creating. After our report of the odd take-over of Dame Brittany Tirteroth and some of her ranking officers. (Dame Brittany was one of the commanders of the Debonai Heavy Lancer.) There is a means of objecting a possessing spirit. I have prepared these six. The person would have to be held captive, and a possessing spirit could be ejected.

Lady Constance’s guess is that she’s not in charge of herself, but not actually dead.

We discuss the potential domain magic. The Greater Festival of the Mists is a reason to be very concerned, especially about summonings. This is very, very old—it is domain magic. It is a weakening spell—anything worked by women, it will weaken for 24 hours.

There must be a ton of stored life energy. A crystal matrix is possible. Or lead medallions—they would need to have several hundred, and they would need to be assembled for some time. The Noldar death rays would be attracted to that large concentration of life—they would be like magnets. This is the language originated by the followers of the Queen of Chaos in the Abyss before her downfall. I’m not surprised that this sort of domain spell would be in her tongue—her hatred of mortal women is legendary.

She still has some followers, but she lies in one of the Abyssal prison cells, guarded by a horde of demons that fear her release more than any of the Lords of Light. I do not think she has any followers among… she clearly has some who are at least knowledgeable of her.

This is written only to target women—it could be rewritten to target men. It could not target both.

This would reduce fortifications of 20 foot thick walls to the consistency of thick wooden walls for the 24 hours involved.
* * *
The Council reaches out psionically to pass on the information they have gained.

The Sixth Daughter is very glad that the Council called. They discuss what sort of title the renegades might earn. They tell her that the warp projector is the key target, and failing that, the life energy repository. She says that the Council probably has the army it needs.

The Council also informs the admiral, and he consults with his necromancers about targeting.

[End session 58]

 

[CPaladin]

[Just a note--the next couple posts have some body horror stuff involving impregnation. I've put it behind spoiler tags. Be aware if that's likely to be triggery.]

Session 59 (August 13, 2013)
Skard 22

The Council gets a preliminary report from the Rakshasa. [Attached] Things seem to be going well, but with heavy casualties.

The Ministry of Magic says, in response to our inquiries: If the warp projector is destroyed, roughly 1000 yards radius will be completely destroyed. The next 1500 yards will be heavily mutated—intelligent creatures could resist that, but animals and plants would not. It could be contained, but that would require controlling the projector and having a team of mages there in skin.

Kit also gets an ambiguous message about groups doing strange things near the western territories. [Attached]

The Ministry says that we could attempt to establish a bleed conduit—to attempt to bleed off some of the energy. To where, the Council asks? The Abyss would be best. The Council asks if Dame Constance would be helpful. He says yes, and drains of all color. So the Council asks her to work on this as well.

Sir Clarence Strawberry has headed to the west, based on rumors of human bands moving around in the area.

Kit gets a telepathic link to Sir Darryl Strawberry, who is very loyal but not very bright. They’re heading to various farms, and staking out cattle. My father thought that was bad, and took some men to deal with them. But some of the men are stronger than we expected—probably with magic. Sir Clarence tried to cut free some of the cattle, but then he collapsed. Someone else tried to help him, but then he collapsed too. They’re sleeping?

Sir Darryl shows Kit a map at our request (while we start talking about the idea of polymorphing the cattle or teleporting them away). There are 8 locations. It’s clearly a rune, and it’s disturbing to look at, but it’s not any rune I recognize—not elven. The rune of the Queen of Chaos as the Mother of Hordes.

Dame Constance: Anyone who touches them becomes part of the sacrifice—it’s a standard defensive technique of demonologists.

Dame Constance: The family in charge in the west is massively incompetent, which is why all of the problems are developing there. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was deliberate… but I do know better.

Polymorphing them, would unbalance the ritual, weakening it; if they were small enough to escape, it could disrupt it entirely. May be planning on transforming themselves—bulls are traditional symbols of virility and strength. Might be trying to become prime material equivalents of warrior demons.

"I suggest… I do not think we have time to get a force of any size there except by teleportation. I will apport as many as the Master of Magic will give me. I am needed here, but I can apport them, or perhaps set up a gate for a dozen or so minutes. We can move through about 200 people—a group of mages, guarded by crack troops and some healers/abjurers."

We also arrange to recover the prisoner, and Sir Clarence’s family. The group of 200 go through.

The prisoner is highly, highly disreputable. He’ll come to eventually. He has a terrible odor. He has a cloven tongue. There is also something very odd about his boots. His feet are horribly misshapen—goat like in appearance.

Dame Constance: He’s been touched by the Ram. You haven’t touched him, have you?

Dame Brionna touched his boots—"She’ll be with child. We must withdraw it immediately. And he must be moved to a place where he will only be in contact with men. It will develop much faster than natural."

Dame Brionna and Kit want to find celibate men (or eunuchs) to deal with him.
[cont'd]

 

[Quartz]

[Just a note--the next couple posts have some body horror stuff involving impregnation. Be aware if that's likely to be triggery.]

Might be best to put that stuff in spoilers.

 

[CPaladin]

Might be best to put that stuff in spoilers.

Great suggestion. I'll edit the previous post to include spoiler tags for that sort of material, as well as doing that for the next post and any more that have similar content. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 59 cont'd; body horror stuff in spoiler tags]
Dame Brionna gets a priest to deal with this. "There was definitely an attempt, but your holy aura killed it. You’ll be sick in a day or two, but then it will pass."

"Can you delay it? For maybe 6 months?"

"I’m not that powerful… for maybe 3 days?"

"That will do."

He was birthed that way. His mother willingly accepted the touch—otherwise, he would have just been a man.

The Council plans an interrogation of the prisoner. He is ranting and bragging and answers freely.

"Great Lord, Great Queen make alliance for many children. Free, she rule, he rise. Night comes, I will know. I will change, and your puny cell will not matter anymore."

"How did your people hide?"
"Behind the orc lines. It is in the lost places that the Ram continued to live, after the purge, beyond the cities, beyond the lords, beyond the paladins. But not here—we could not creep back here, the old bitch was too strong. The Master knew that he could not face her yet—but the young one? Pffft."

"The Master?"
"You know that there’s a great adept—how else we do this? He and the others wait—then we play the last part of the Ram’s promise. To distract all of those who could stop the plan. To distract all of those who could keep the Queen captive. That is why he will rise when she returns to the throne."

"Is your Master an ally of the Abomination?"
"We’re all allies of the Abomination. The plan, his force cripples the catmen. United, they more powerful than you think. Not united, eh. Wish we infected you. Old bitch too strong."

"Where is the leader?"
"The others who will change—but we will all change, wherever we are. We set it up—Master set it up. We did as we were told. Has been preparing the binding wards for years—we just used them. Powerful enough to make anyone short of a Noldar join in the sacrifice. Their blood is not for us to take. Their blood is for the Abomination. For us it burns."

"Where is the Master? "
"He is with the others, waiting to change. But he will ascend beyond us."

"What will he ascend into?"
"The Herald of the Ram."

Kit contacts her Toe within the army of Debonai.

<<There’s a huge battle going on near the chaos generator. And the commander I’m under has started withdrawing his people, starting an hour ago. We’re under bombardment by two elven ships. The projector fired once, doing substantial damage to the larger of the two ships. But it hasn’t been able to fire again—I think the drow are winning. The elven ships are still bombarding. The women are taking it on the chin—they’re not yielding an inch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they died to a man. Woman! Woman! There are Rakshasa on both sides.>>

Then Kit feels an almost earthquake of her mind. There’s a thunderous kaboom. She can feel the toe falling to the ground.

<<It just exploded, my lady. I’m quite a distance away, but there’s a hole in the ground I can’t see the bottom of. And there’s plants grabbing people.>>

<<Run! Run as fast and as far away as you can! That’s an order.>>—she loses the connection.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[And we're back, after a very eventful vacation with limited net.]
[Session 59 cont'd]
Dame Brionna sends a quick sending briefing the Seachen.

Perhaps two minutes later, alarms sound in the palace, and a servant delivers a message to the door guard, to the page, to Dame Brionna. There’s a young rakshasa in the holding cage. A young, bloodied rakshasa male comes in and prostrates himself before the throne. "My grandfather, the Plar of Splice, has asked me to come here and report that the Seachen have fallen back to their fortifications, fully two of five of their warriors are dead. The false Rakshasa who serve the accursed have pursued strongly. My grandfather has decided to commit his forces and those of his allies against them—19 Rakshasa and several hundred Rakastas. My grandfather is concerned about the substantial mutations among the humans, but he thought that the false Rakshasa represented more of a threat. The drow made the most heroic sacrifice—only 2 survived, but they threw themselves upon their swords when they found out they were mutating, but they succeeded. The Noldar have not disengaged, though they took serious damage to their main ship."

The Council promises to raise a cenotaph to the noble drow, and to search for any of their surviving kin (who would inherit their titles and lands). They also offer to take in any of the Rakshasa dependents—the messenger (who is being healed of life-threatening wounds), says that his grandmother and his kits will likely do so. He then heads back to the battle, with a briefing on the expected ritual.

When the Red Moon rises, one point of the ritual has been disrupted—all the cows there are gone, although there were casualties (wards upon wards). All of the other cows are incinerated. And where the servants of the Ram are gathered, instead of turning into goat demons, they begin yelling and screaming. One leader, dressed much more elegantly than the others, and accented at wrists, cuffs, belt, and cloaks in a specific color of green. He’s obviously a Hanalian noble. Alistair identifies him as one of the houses allied with Thyastis’s most insane daughter (the middle one, much crazier even than the oldest one). He makes a series of extremely complex gestures, and suddenly, all of the other servants of the Ram burst into lampent green flame. A second later, the toe, who has never rung in directly, comes online weakly—“Holy naughty word. Hundreds of the army, including almost all of the officers, have burst into green flame. They’re dying.”

Dame Constance comments, "The spell he cast was as complicated as anything I could do on my best day. And demonology is less predictable. His expertise is remarkable. He cannot be human." (He teleported away and we can’t trace him.) He cannot be one of the Seen Unseen—they cannot control that level of power.

Could the greater servants of the enemy do that? They could, but we don’t think there are any.

What about a cambion? Perhaps—a greater one, the son of a demon prince. You don’t think that he could be the son of the Ram himself? He had children before, in his last effort. He would have had to have had a child with a willing woman of Hanal, some century ago (to have reached that level of power). What do we know of Thyastis’s aunts? It could not be Thyastis’s mother—we know all of her children. She did not have her sisters killed—sent them to country estates or seclusion, mostly.

Dame Brionna sends everyone else out of the room. "Why was it so important to erase the memory of your mother? She must have been somebody important. If people have been intervening in the great houses for so long. Who did it? And why?"

The Council need to follow-up on the memory erasing thing.

The Council also asks the Sixth Daughter to locate any plausible heirs of the dead drow.

Three days later, the Noldar ships limp in (well, the flagship limps in); it then lands (which they never do) and a strained cadet drow officer, without weapons, asks the court to come to the ship. They do. The drow officers of the ship are, with great ceremony, bringing a tremendously ornate box of beaten platinum and mithril, and the chief drowan officer salutes us. We see no Noldar. “The taint is departed. The land is free. We asked, since it was an alliance with you, and in alliance with you that the Admiral died, that he be interred in your lands, and that you remember him.”

"We promise to do so, with all the honors we can bestow. Did he have any knowledge that he was dedicated to? We would wish to bestow a center to further that knowledge in his memory."

"He was a lover of music." They offer to bring some of his instruments, and some of the cadet houses that can teach how his music be played.

"Did he leave any heirs?"
"A nephew, his sister-son."
"We ask that his nephew come to Canberry within my lifetime that we may honor him appropriately."

Their priest is dead, so he’ll be buried according to Glordiadel's rites.

They send him to the cathedral to lie in state.
[End session 59; this also basically wrapped up the Abomination of Shur plotline, though related plotlines have continued for a long time since.]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 60 (February 27, 2014):

Skard 26
We still haven’t heard back from Lord Davion and the Duchess of Ergmoth—who went to Hanal 7 days ago.

Page of the door politely comes in in the morning. There’s a very bedraggled guard out here—he can’t speak very well, but he seems to want to come in. Dame Brionna recognizes him as one of the people who guard the teleport cages.

“I’m sorry it took me so long—I couldn’t muster the strength to leave the holding area. You have two guests in the holding area. An elven woman and a very young elf. I don’t think they’re like the healer who left recently. They came in and politely asked to see you and then none of us could stand up. I don’t think they intended that…”

Alistair wants to go, but Brionna objects, and Brionna travels to meet them on her own. There is a Noldar woman, sitting in front of a large chest, and an adolescent Noldar boy.

Brionna greets them, and apologizes for the delay (making a mental note to get guards for this area with more psionic defense). She’s not sure that they actually have to be in the cage—they may be being polite.

“I heard of my husband’s demise, and wanted to visit you. This is my husband’s nephew. I understand how much shorter your lifetimes can be, so I wanted to come promptly.

"I have brought several things we were informed you would be interested in.

“I fear for you all, in the coming ages. But… be that as it may.

"There are two items that I have brought that I think are appropriate. The first is a gift for you. You should not maintain in it in your grasp for a prolonged period of time, but for certain state occasions, it might be useful, especially if you believe you might be threatened. The second is for your school of music, a creation of my husband that he spent some 300 or 400 years on.

"I take it that the battle was not a complete success—that one of the leaders of the enemy escaped. This plan was long in the making, and our people are departing this world, as are our cousins. That process is too far along to be reversed. Be wary."

She will be sitting in mourning with the body (in our Cathedral, where it’s lying in state), and then will likely demonstrate that the process is continuing. Alistair wishes her well in her journey (and then the Council speculates over the mind link about where the Noldar go.)

"The scepter strengthens your line. I have looked at the stars. The strength of your line is important to the success of your kind on this continent."

"We have taken steps to strengthen my line."

"Yes. That is well.

"The one who escaped—I do not know if he will return, or if he will go about his business.

"Now, Ethean, this is a human ruler. This country is his. You have been very polite, and you should remain so. These are not one of our servitor people."

"I am Ethean Moriquendarim," he says, and prostrates himself.

Alistair greets him. "It is customary among our people to confer a title and land to people who have won a great military victory. We would offer that to you."

They discuss what that means.

She says, "He is old enough to decide. Your uncle would have said that you could offer much to the younger people, and that they might, in their way, offer much to you as well."

"I will accept."

“He could have been his son, had I been able to conceive. I will tell his uncle of his choice. I will release him, and he will choose whether to go West, or to the Kingdom in Waiting.”

Alistair says to Ethean, "We will not expect you to convert to the worship of Glordiadel, unless you wish, but you will be expected to support the established church in your lands."

"I understand. Would 100 tual be an appropriate tithe?"

They assure Ethean that would be more than sufficient and begin the long process of educating him on the difference in scale between wealth among his people and among humans.

The entire group goes to the Cathedral. She approaches the casket, curtsies to the priest, and then rends her garments from neck to crotch. (She is fortunately wearing body armor underneath.) She calls out 3 times in Noldar. There’s a shimmer around the casket, and then it’s gone, and she falls to her face in front of the casket and begins to weap. This continues for some time. She then rises, shudders, takes off the rest of her gown. “He is no more in the East. He should be allowed to remain here for 3 days.”

They discuss whether she will go West in the near future and try to persuade her not to.

* * *

The Council asks Caitlyn to take the lead on reorganizing territory to the south and planning out the various titles and lands they need to confer.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 60, cont'd; again, body horror stuff is behind spoiler tags]
Kit calls up Lady Brina in Debonai

“Ah! Things seem a bit better. I wouldn’t call them stable yet… Well, there was some bizarrety at Court a few days ago. Various courtiers burst into green flame.”

“That’s to be expected,” says Alistair.

“That’s to be expected?!” says Kit.

“That’s to be expected?!?!” Lady Brina exclaims.

The Council explains the Order of the Ram event.

The capital is quiet. It has been since people burst into green fire. Plus, dozens of men—hundreds even—who are missing, unexplained.

The Council explains that their children will need to be checked for taint.

If things continue, people should even be able to travel within the next couple of weeks.

* * *
That evening, 20 uniformed drow and two walking chests teleport in.

* * *
Midnight-ish, a guard approaches Dame Brionna.

“Dame Brionna, be an odd group approaching the West Gate.”

“Odd how?”

“They be men… more or less. The man who spoke to me who was looking for you said their eyes glow green, and they be bearing some great bone thing between them.”

“How was it shaped?”

“Rather like an eagle wing, but much larger.”

“Right, let’s get there.”

“They be cursing, dame.”

Dame Brionna can detect its evil from within the ramparts.

“Thank the Lord of Darkness we’ve reached it. It be trying to make us assume our other forms. We be Grand Duchess Fenris Rufus’s bodyguards.

“Her Grace be returned to Ergmoth. Her Grace be… not well. We belong with her and her husband before he passed.”

They start transforming into werewolves. A group of paladin’s rush up from the cathedral at our request.

* * *

We talk about where the paladins should move the wing. We consider several bad options, and then Kit decides to wake up Lady Constance.

“Only one thing to do to contain that evil. I’ll put it in Hell.”

“I’ll have to talk with the Archduke about that.”

“I won’t put it near Tiamat. That would be bad.”

We link up via a mindlink.

“If you haven’t researched how to destroy it—you haven’t yet, have you?”

“No.”

“Then we need to constrain it until you can destroy it. Two options, one possible for me. You could put it in the heavens, but I can’t—very difficult, impossible for me. The other is to put it in Hell—not the Ninth level, which Tiamat rules, but I have some pacts with Dispater, in the Second Level. He’d probably accept it if he could use it to taunt Tiamat with.”

“Which would be more secure?” Kit asks.

“Well, the Heavens of course, but you’d need someone who can open a gate to there.”

Alistair wakes up the Archbishop. The Archbishop can’t cast Gate, but the Patriarch might be able to. We agree to send a sending to the Patriarch, telling him he has until nightfall of the day. He also suggests we ask the chief midwife.

We ask her, and she can’t create a gate either, but she can ask for a holy deliverer—a celestial midwife—which could then bring it back. So we ask, and Gunnora sends a giant celestial stork with a sling. Alistdeair leads it to the Wing. It gets it in its sling, caws 20 times to Alistair, and then takes off before disappearing.

* * *
Dame Brionna speaks with one of the werewolves, where he has been gorging on a side of beef. She asks him what happened to Lord Davion. “He was stricken down in the field. The other elven folk—the light elves—have taken him to their woods—their city?”

"The Forest of Singing Leaves?"

"Yes, that’s what their captain said. To take him to a redactor. He was grievously wounded."

"Two-thirds of our number fell. It was better defended by the fanatics than we expected. I thought I knew every type of were in the world—but I was fooled."

"Strange weres?"

"Yes—they changed into a mixture of ram and human, and their touch burned like fire. Their claws were not claws but hooves, and when they struck they struck like silver."

"Did they touch any women among you?"

"We realized that they could not touch the Grand Duchess, because when they touched women, the women burst asunder, with horrible infants. We committed the unspeakable, because there was no choice."

* * *
We ask the Archbishop to research how to destroy the thing.
[cont'd]

 

[CPaladin]

[Session 60, cont'd]
In the morning, we ask Master Farsensor to contact Singing Leaves to find out how Lord Davion is doing. “I have contact with the Master Redactor. Shall I project his image?”

The elven redactor gives the Council a report. "It is no question as to whether he will survive. It is a question as to whether all of his injuries can be completely healed, or whether he will lose some of his mobility permanently. I do not know what attacked him, but it attempted to rip him in twain. It did not succeed, but it splintered his spine. We have him in Skin."

"What of the Grand Duchess?"

"She would have lived under our care. Her bodyguard insisted on returning her to her home. They committed her to the care of the Mouth." The Council presumes this refers to the First Mouth of Paranswarm. "I would not expect her to live without redaction. As for Lord Davion... he will remain in skin for 18 days."

"Do you think we could send a redactor to the Grand Duchess, if they would not allow her to come to Singing Leaves?"

"It would have to be a human—there are human redactors who are Masters, even one or two Grandmasters. I think they would reject an elf."

The Council speak to the Minister of the Mind. "Do you have a Master or higher level redactor?"

"Two, well, two Masters. Grandmasters are very rare, at least among humans."

The Council arranges for one to go.

"Do you want the younger one or the older one?"

"Whichever is better."

"The older then."

[I think there's a slight continuity error here. I think Minister of the Mind is himself a redactor, but I don't think it matters whether it was the Minister of the Mind or another Master redactor. Also, it's possible that he was obliquely asking if he should go or the other, and I'm not certain he's actually our strongest/best human psion.]
* * *
Kit contacts Lady Elspeth, the spy mistress of the Grand Duchess of Ergmoth. Kit writes a note, then gets her scribe for help:
Wing has arrived, we have some of the story, Lord Davion in the Forest of Singing Leaves in skin, Wing is currently secured in the heavens, we’re sending back the bodyguards along with a redactor to help heal the Grand Duchess, thank you.

Response: Have informed First Mouth’s secretary. Will await redactor; none here. Grand Duchess stable but unconscious.

The Council sends off some of the bodyguard and the redactor.

The Council also deploys additional security and add sweeps to the graveyards, to make sure nothing new wakes up and to make sure there isn’t too much of an increase in crime from the Wing encouraging evil.

The vollers arrive; they have a brief meeting with the leader of Lord Ethean’s honor guard.
[End session 60]

 

[CPaladin]

Session 61 (March 13, 2014)

Skard 29

Kit wakes Alistair in the middle of the night: "We have two urgent messages: first, the Duchess of Ergmoth is dead; second, one of my agents from Hanal reports that there’s been a coup in Hanal, Thyastis and her eldest daughter are dead, as are many of the high nobles. The Archbishop of Hanal is under house arrest."

Kit’s agent is with Anastasia; they’re on their way to Enclaves in a voller, along with a strom. The Cov of Snatterkaz has an army in Magdad, and they’re preparing for a siege, but they don’t expect to be able to hold for very long.

When she arrives, Dame Brionna asks whether they have blocked teleportation into or out of Hanal; Kit doesn’t know.

Alistair hypothesizes that the death of the Duchess of Ergmoth triggered the coup and the assassinations; but the timing doesn’t work, because the assassinations started before she died (when the emissaries of the First Mouth were recalled).

Reports on the death of the Duchess of Ergmoth: the redactor arrived, but was unable to save her. She cannot be raised.

Brionna raises the question of whether the Council can get access to the secrets of the Duchess of Ergmoth.

Brionna also asks about the current status of the hobbits. The Council speculates about whether that may have been the Order of the Ram targeting Gunnorans.

Brionna also notes that prior interactions indicated only two daughters, with a civil war necessarily ensuing if the elder died and Anastasia did not return.

Alistair concentrates on trying to remember the geneology and family history of Thyastis; he has conflicting, fuzzy memories, alternating between 2 or 3, despite his detailed knowledge of the Hanalian royal family. Also, as he thinks about this, the Noldar and Eldar anti-mind control wards in the palace walls trigger.

The Council sends for the Grandmaster Farsensor, who tells us that the middle daughter of Thyastis was horribly deformed and died almost immediately after birth.

They ask him about what could have caused changed memories throughout the world. "It could not be done psionically—if it were, the runes would fully protect. Two kinds of mind magic would be possible: domain magic, cast a long time ago, and allowed to spread; high level divine magic, which can affect human minds heavily. The domain magic could take several years to implement."

"Who would be capable of casting domain magic like that?"

The Grandmaster Farsensor answers one of the great elves; powerful fae lords; major demons, especially cambions.

"So, a century old archmage cambion of imperial blood born of a demon lord, with a major sacrifice?"

"Easily, and with a major sacrifice, it might be faster, or even project backwards in time."

The Grandmaster Farsensor offers to consult with the Archmage advisor to the Queen of Singing Leaves; it may not be possible to break the enchantment, though he can (and does) protect the Council themselves.

"What about with the Eldar and Noldar artifacts of memory stabilization? Could those break the enchantment?"

"Likely yes, but you might have to choose--restoring the lost memories of your mother might not be compatible with using them to affect this."

The Council orders the Archivist and Kit’s scribe to find when the first written records of the middle daughter of Thyastis start showing up; also, they’re supposed to report (and not correct) any obvious errors.

Dame Brionna stays focused on her core duties of protection. "Can Alistair be erased or forgotten?"

"No. He is linked to the Land; the Land knows him."

"What about Caitlyn?"

"The Land knows her as well. The Land does not, however, know the two of you."

"How can they be protected?"

"Kit would be known to the Land when she becomes gravid." (There’s some sputtering about this.) "As for Brionna—drinking some Earth Blood from the Tor."
[cont'd]