Online Session Recap - 06.09.2019

The walls of Ipeshtir’s sanctuary are blown away, the entire room in ruins.

Muqad Fevre steps through a hole in a wall, carrying a massive sabre.

Muqad Fevre: “Wait.”

Muqad Fevre walks into the room while brandishing his sabre.

Tylendel: “I’m trying to prevent the destruction of Eras, destruction that will follow me here, and you attack me?”

Muqad Fevre: “It looks like destruction has already arrived.”

Tylende draws Red Dancer. Muqad Fevre studies the sword.

Tylendel: “We had an understanding and this is the second time you attack me.”

Muqad Fevre: “I am not attacking you. Does it look like it?”

Tylendel looks over his shoulder at the mirror – it looks like it’s about to shatter.

Tylendel: “But why attack Ipeshtir again?”

Muqad Fevre: “It was time, and I was paid well.”

Tylendel: “By whom?”

A stone block falls from the roof, making both Tylendel and Muqad stumble. The stone leaves a gaping hole in the floor.

Tylendel: “I bought Ipeshtir, so I believe I have the right to know who wants to destroy my property.”

Muqad Fevre: “You bought him?”

Tylendel: “Well, you sold him to the miner, and I bought him from the miner.”

Muqad Fevre: “Ah, an unfortunate event. Well I hope you are pleased with your purchase.”

Tylendel looks around.

Tylendel: “The property that came with the purchase has been destroyed, and I want to know who ordered that destruction. Who’s paying you, lord of Yungul Goz?”

Muqad Fevre: “It was a tiny, ugly fellow, but his pouch was deep.”

Tylendel: “Steel teeth, had he?”

Muqad Fevre: “As a matter of fact he did. I guessed you knew him.”

Tylendel: “Oh, I know him all right.”

Muqad Fevre: “As an added bonus, perhaps I should kill you, if you are an enemy of his. What say you, a duel in the skies?”

He swings his sword, showing Tylendel his skill with his sword.

Tylendel: “Just so you know, the man with the steel teeth is a servant of Parafor.”

Muqad Fevre: “Well, he’s not here, is he?”

Tylendel: “No, he is just about to destroy Eras as we speak. He is free of his bindings.”

Tylendel tries willing the floor beneath Muqad’s feet to dissolve – just as the floor disappears, Muqad jumps forward, grinning.

Muqad Fevre: “Don’t think I don’t understand what you are doing. I did not become the lord of Yungul Goz for nothing.”

Tylendel: “But you have never faced off against me before.”

Muqad Fevre: “I know enough about you.”

Tylendel: “Really?”

Muqad Fevre: “I was warned.”

He stares at Tylendel, and the veins at his temples start pulsing with strain. Instinct tells Tylendel to take a few staps backwards, and just as he does the floor disappear where he stood.

Muqad Fevre: “Do you understand?”

Tylendel stretches Red Dancer behind him and taps the mirror, shattering it. A piece of the roof lands on the table, shattering it. Hoping that the shattering of the mirror proved a distraction, Tylendel wills the entire floor of the sanctuary do disappear, but he senses a force resisting him. Muqad grins.

Muqad Fevre: “There is a reason I challenged you to a dual. Come now, let me show you true strength.”

Tylendel: “Very well.”

He assumes a defensive stance. As he does so, he feels Red Dancer start flying out of his hands, but Tylendel manages to hold on.

Tylendel: “Really?”

Muqad Fevre: “Yes, I am a cheater.”

Tylendel wills Muqad’s legs to cramp, and suddenly Muwad winces.

Tylendel changes to aggressive stance.

Tylendel: “I have the point of view that if you don’t fight dirty, you don’t fight to win.”

He charges Muqad and slashes against his sword arm. Muqad tries to parry and disarm Tylendel but proves too slow – Tylendel hits his upper shoulder, and Tylendel hears his collar bone shatter. A surprised look spreads over Muqad’s face, and Tylendel takes the opportunity to swing against his lower legs, chopping off his left leg at the knee. Muqard falls forward, grunting in pain. Obviously, he is bleeding profusely.

Muqad Fevre: “No! No!”

Tylendel: “Was it worth it? Did you get paid enough?”

Muqad Fevre: “You dog!”

Tylendel: “I guess the Crow-king didn’t warn you enough.”

Muqad tries reach for Tylendel’s legs, but ends up flailing ineffectually.

Tylendel: “Do you have a mirror?”

Tylendel can see him straining, the veins on his forehead bulging. His severed foot start sliding towards his severed knee.”

Tylendel: “Okay, that is rather impressive, but the lord of Yungul Guz is dead now.”

Tylendel decapitates him. Muqad’s head rolls across the remains of the floor and drops down a hole.”

Tylendel: “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!”

Tylendel cleans Red Dancer on Muqad’s cloak and sheathes the blade. As he turns towards the chest where his friends disappeared, the floor of the sanctuary collapses, and Tylendel falls through the skies.

Tylendel: “Fuck you!”

Above him, he can see a floating stone and several ships that are still falling apart. As he falls, he spends a few moments shouting profanities, then makes an effort to calm down and willing himself to fly.

Tylendel: “Oh, fuck you, Kanderov. This war has gone on long enough.”

Tylendel flies up to the ships - the remaining crews are evacuating. Tylendel flies over to the ship that looks the most intact and lands on the upper deck. A man is standing by the rudder, shouting orders to the crew. Tylendel can’t understand him, but the language reminds him of how the Áhar speak. A sailor on deck sees Tylendel landing, his one eye growing big. Tylendel shoos him away.

Tylendel: “Captain.”

The man at the rudder spins around.

Captain: “Kahee!”

He then (clumsily) draws a sabre.

Tylendel: “The lord of Yungul Guz is dead.”

Captain: “Twachee youcho!”

Tylendel: “Do you understand you don’t understand what I’m saying, do you.”

The captain releases the rudder and starts backing away from Tylendel. Tylendel sighs heavily, then concentrates, willing himself to Brightshedding, to where the undead thing pulled him out of the streaming light. After a few seconds he feels himself having changed position.

He opens his eyes and sees that he is in a chamber that reminds him of the Crow-king’s factory, a chamber that opens to a dark chasm. Tylendel stares at the chasm until he finally realises that the Tears of the Burning Gods is gone.

Tylendel: “Oh shit.”

He wills himself to the surface where he first saw the Tears. There is a warm breeze that blows particles into Tylendel’s face; in the distance, he can hear some noises and he can see what looks like torches moving about. He can hear hammering.

Tylendel: “Black steel forges.”

He starts walking towards the torches, seething, feeling that he is losing the fight for Eras.

Eventually he reaches a large stone building where it looks like the Crow-king’s undead slaves are emptying his factory.

Tylendel: “I’ve been reacting for too long. I need to strike back.”

He tries using his will to release the spirits of all the corpses. A large number of the collapses – the rest stares at the collapsed bodies for a moment, then return to their duties. He walks closer and tries again.

Tylendel: “Be free.”

The rest of the workers collapse, but new ones emerge from the building.

Tylendel: ”Oh, you fucking piece of shit. Let’s try this. Let’s see how powerful I can be.”

He tries summoning the Crow-king…

… but nothing happens. Instead, he feels a presence in the distance, and a vague voice talking to him.

Voice: “You should have followed the monk. You must come to us.”

There is something familiar about the voice, but Tylendel can’t place it.

Voice: “Come… to Fallen Naalkabara.”

Tylendel: “Well fuck that. It’s too late to make a gate. We’ve lost. All we can do now is to bring as much destruction as we can before we die.”

Voice: “Noo…”

Tylendel wills himself to the Tombs of Light.

When he opens his eyes he can see the stone cubes of the Hazelands in front of him. He feels like he is lighter, as if the weight of his gear is gone. He approaches one of the tombs, and when he inspects the flow of blood he saw before, there seems to be no movement.

He walks away from it and wills it to open – there is an explosion and a blinding light. There is a haze from the hole, but he can’t see anything that reminds him of the shapes he saw inside the Tears of the Flaming Gods.

Tylendel: “I need power.”

Tylendel: “I need power. How do I get power? I need some help here, spirits. Look at me, talking to myself.”

Tylendel: “There must be… There must be something. There must be something left.”

He opens another tomb with the same result.

Tylendel: “I need your power.”

The loneliness and sense of despair feels oppressive.

Tylendel: “So this is doom, is it?”

He sits down on the ground.

After while he starts meditating, trying to reach Pábes.

Eventually he opens his eyes and finds himself sitting in daylight, in a stone circle. Around the circle there grows many bushes, and six grey monoliths are nearby. Above him there is a band of stone and a large, mountain of ice. Hanging on a thorn bush there hangs a piece of cloth, something that looks as if it came off of Pábes’ frock. The grass is trodden, and Tylendel starts following the tracks. IN the distance there is what looks like a palace; high towers that are topped with domes.

In the distance, he can see what looks like Pábes jogging.

Tylendel wills himself about 50 yards head of Pábes. Pábes stops as soon as he sees Tylendel, his eyes growing large.

Pábes: “Oh, good”

Tylendel: “Where’s Ipeshtir?”

Pábes: “I don’t know. Didn’t he jump after me?”

Tylendel: “He did.”

Pábes: “Then he’s somewhere around, I guess.”

Tylendel: “What are you heading to?”

Pábes approaches Tylendel, scratching his head.

Pábes: “I’m going… That way?”

He points past Tylendel, towards the towers.

Pábes: “Are you coming?”

Tylendel: “And what will you do when you get to that way?”

Pábes blushes

Pábes: “Um… There is someone… Waiting for me.”

Tylendel: “That’s Fallen Naalkabara, is it?”

Pábes: “This place in the Between is called Naalkabara, indeed. How do you know?”

Tylendel: “You are going to those walls? Those tow-“

Pábes: “You’ve been here before?”

Tylendel: “No. Someone told me.”

Pábes: “Was a close one, wasn’t it.”

Tylendel: “Yes, it was.”

Pábes: “I’m glad you came after.”

In the distance, Tylendel can only see towers, no walls. Tylendel grabs the collar of Pábes’ robe and wills both of them to the foot of one of the towers.

Pábes: “What are”

He opens his eyes and looks straight into a wall.

Pábes: “you doing?”

Both of them nearly fall off the narrow ledge where they now stand; Tylendel keeps his distance, and he holds Pábes back.

Pábes: “Aaaaa!”

Looking around, it looks as if the palace is standing on a disc of stone and dirt.

Pábes: “Oh no, you fool! There’s a portal on the other side that we have to enter through!”

Tylendel: “Language, Pábes.”

He wills them to the portal; Pábes looks stunned that Tylendel said that to him.

This time he stands in front of a void where the palace stands; in front of them is a broken bridge with what looks like a gateway.

Pábes: “There!”

Pábes jugs up the bridge, and disappears when he reaches the portal. Tylendel walks after, and as he passed beneath the gate he feels like he does when he teleports by his own power. He is standing in a large chamber, Pábes disappearing down a hallway. Tylendel follows. The walk down several hallways, passing rooms that pique Tylendel’s interest.

On a wall there is a large painting of the Lost God, but with a circle above his head, at each arm, and beneath him. Between each circle there is lightning, and the circles by his arms and beneath him looks to be two semicircles.

In one of the rooms is what looks like an alchemy lab. Another holds stuffed animals. At the end of the hall there is a large chamber, and Pábes turns around to make sure Tylendel follows him before entering.

In the centre of the chamber is a large dais, with a circular ramp winding around it up to a crystal throne. The figure that sits on the throne somehow seems familiar to Tylendel; he is a gaunt man, and his eyes are black.

Figure: “Come, child.”

Pábes approaches he dais.

Figure: “I see you have brought an old friend.

Pábes kneels and bows in front of the figure; the colours swirling within the throne changes rapidly.

Figure: “I see distress within your eyes, my child. Are things still in flux?”

Pábes: “They are, my lord. The weave keeps stretching. Soon it will-”

Figure: “Your old enemy continues his work. Make haste, I said. Make his efforts wasted. Make haste, I said.”

Pábes: “We did our best, I believe. It is hard when I keep forgetting-“

Figure: “Enough! It is what it is. We must do make do with what we have.”

Pábes: “You Majesty, I did obtain the elements from the Seals of Night.”

Figure: “Did you, or did he?”

The figure looks at Tylendel. He has small, red, pupils, and Tylendel feels more and more sure he has met him before, but has no idea where or when.

Pábes: “It was him. At my bidding, sire. But he said that he is blind, why can’t you-“

Figure: “He is here now, so there is still a sliver of hope. Let’s call it one of my contingencies. I still believe I made the right choice. Remember, child, one much be careful with one’s secrets, for there are always the ones that will use them against you.”

The figure looks at Tylendel again.

Figure: “Come, child. Do not fear, though I don’t believe fear is in your heart. The gate has not been built, and now the Creeping God is free. He must be banished. Contained. Time must come to kill dreams.”

Tylendel: “Who are you?”

Figure: “I suppose you have forgotten about me.”

He stands up, and Tylendel sees he is a giant of a man. He walks slowly down the ramp. As he talks, his voice reverberates.

Figure: “I am… The one… Who gave you… Your sorcerous powers. Awakened them in you, to be more precise. Remember the blood?”

Suddenly, it is as if a dam burst inside Tylendel’s head, and he remembers what happened in the Hidden Kingdom. Tylendel draws his breath, clasping his head.

Tylendel: “Y--- You--- You motherfucker.”

The Sorcerer-king raises an eyebrow. Pábes tries to hide his head between his shoulders.

Tylendel: “This… What did you do to me?”

Sorcerer-king: “We awoke the power in your blood. Lent it some, let’s call it what it is, magical qualities. I’m afraid I had to force your mind to forget about me for the time being. As I said to your friend here, some secrets are best kept very, very well hidden.”

Tylendel: “You fucking idiot.”

Pábes (whispering): “Tylendel…”

Tylendel: “You motherfucking, pigfucking idiot. With this…. With this… I could—I could have done things weeks ago with this knowledge.”

At this point Tylendel is shouting.

Sorcerer-king: “What knowledge?”

Tylendel: “If I had known how important it was to get the pieces of the seal, I could have done it weeks ago! I wouldn’t have focussed on Byrkburgh!”

Sorcerer-king: “But you did get the pieces of the seal, did you not?”

Tylendel: “Yes, and now Parafor is at the walls of the city.”

Sorcerer-king: “He of the many eyes has awoken, yes. However, my child, I was wrong when I told you. It was not the Creeping God I should have called he of the many eyes, it was someone else, someone who stole the Light of the Moon.”

Tylendel seethes.

Sorcerer-king: “Do you know of whom I speak?”

Tylendel: “Why don’t you tell me.”

Sorcerer-king: “You would call him the Crow-king, would you not? To your credit, you found the mirrors. He is a vile and dangerous enemy. The Awakener. But his eyes are always looking, even for me. Had I revealed myself to you earlier he would know. Now, however, I have created a way that will make it harder for him. Soon the time will come when I shall make good on my promise. The Hirisnoth will be by your side.”

Tylendel: “Everything too late.”

Sorcerer-king: “No, it’s not too late, though time is pressing, and time is always in flux, as you may have noticed.”

Tylendel: “I can’t push time on Eras.”

Sorcerer-king: “No. But the Lady, you have roused her to action. Even as we speak, her Light grows.”

Tylendel: “And even as we speak, Borka is burning.”

Sorcerer-king: “Is there anything left of it?”

Tylendel: “The City. Holdouts. How close is Parafor to the City now?”

Sorcerer-king: “If the Lady manages to keep her pressure against him, Moonlight against Dragonfire, I suspect you would have three days.”

Pábes: “But that’s not enough to build the gate!”

Sorcerer-king: “No, he must be the gate.”

He looks at Tylendel.

Tylendel: “And have you checked on my body lately?”

Sorcerer-king: “Should I have? Did you leave it in an unsafe place?”

Tylendel: “I left it in a place I thought was safe, but I do suspect it has been killed.”

Sorcerer-king: “How fare your studies in ancient histories, child?”

Tylendel: “How ancient, and what do you want to know?”

Sorcerer-king: “When last we met I advised you to study ancient history.”

Tylendel: “Well, I bloody well forgot, didn’t I?”

Sorcerer-king: “Did you? If you ask me you have found things that has been of great help. If I’m not mistaken, enough to defeat three aspects on your own. To be honest, I expected gratitude, not foul language.”

Tylendel: “You gave me a tool and took away the knowledge to use it.”

Sorcerer-king: “You did use it.”

Tylendel: “Many people have died because I didn’t have this knowledge. I got this knowledge too late.”

Sorcerer-king: “And what knowledge are you speaking of? The memory of the Hidden Kingdom is not a memory you needed.

Tylendel: “But the memory of the importance of getting pieces of the Seal of Night was. The memory of how to properly use my magical skill, that was important. I’ve lost weeks.”

Sorcerer-king: “I did tell this one to bid you make haste.”

Pábes: “I did, Your Majesty, I did!”

Tylendel: “But it took me weeks just to reach him! How about this place? I reckon you know how to travel from place to place here as well.”

Sorcerer-king: “This, my child, is all that remains of the World’s Heart. As you perhaps saw, the rest is torn away. It is where you last met me. This was once a grand palace of the kings of Naalkabara. I… I can move between this place and Solios, the Hidden Kingdom. Unfortunately, I am restricted to this place. I spend much of my power keeping this bond.”

Tylendel: “Weeks. Fumbling my way through navigating the Between.”

Sorcerer-king: “Perhaps you focus has been somewhat misdirected, but we have to do with what we have. We still have one chance at this. In one, fell swoop we must remove the Creeping God, and most importantly, perhaps, this Crow-king. However, if we remove the Creeping God, the Crow-king will no longer have access to the gifts so easily snatched from the Between. As I said, I have prepared a ritual that will allow anyone to more exactly pinpoint this Crow-king’s location. He’s easy to miss. He’s learned something from the powers he stole.”

Tylendel: “Well it wouldn’t surprise me if he was at the tomb of Gablug Maístor.”

Sorcerer-king: “Perhaps. I thought that tomb was lost.”

Tylendel: “It’s found. And all the secrets it held, the Crow-king now holds.”

Sorcerer-king: “Have you seen it?”

Tylendel: “The tomb? Only through visions. I know where it is, though.”

Sorcerer-king: “Where.»

Tylendel: “On the Great Plain.»

Sorcerer-king: “I should have known…”

Tylendel: “You know, the one that’s afire right now.”

Sorcerer-king: “It must come to an end, child. It shall.”

Tylendel: “Well, it’s a bit late for that now, isn’t it?”

Sorcerer-king: “I’ve told you twice already: We still have a chance. Though it was almost lost.”

Tylendel: “Do you have a mirror?”

Sorcerer-king: “No. Those belong to the Lady of the Moon.”

Tylendel: “I know.”

Sorcerer-king: “Until they were stolen.”

Tylendel claps his hands, then wills himself to the Ghostweave, but stops as the Sorcerer-king speaks.

Sorcerer-king: “Wait.”

Tylendel: “What?”

Sorcerer-king: “Allow me to finish speaking before you rush foolishly ahead. Again.”

Tylendel: “I was just going to fetch a mirror.”

Sorcerer-king: “Will you come back?”

Tylendel: “Yes.”

Again, Tylendel wills himself to Ghostweave, this time uninterrupted.

Tylendel finds himself on the deck of the Ghostweave. He makes his way below deck to Ipeshtir’s cabin, where there stands an open chest. There is some blood on the edge of the chest.

Tylendel: “Ipeshtir!”

There’s some knocking from a closet, and Tylendel opens it to find Ququllu.

Tylendel: “Where’s Ipeshtir?”

Ququllu: “Hrrrhrf.”

Tylendel: “I don’t understand what you’re saying.

Queullu leaves the closet and points to the chest.

Tylendel: “He is in the chest?”

Queullu: “Hrrm.”

Tylendel: “Oh, bother. Did he go to Naalkabara?”

Ququllu: “Nachacharnmnah.”

Tylendel: “It is easier if you shake your head for no and nod for yes.”

Ququllu shakes his head.

Tylendel: “And since we don’t speak the same language it will be very hard for you to tell me where he went, wouldn’t it?”

He nods.

Ququllu: “Quatchaqoo.”

He points at the table where a few bottles of wine still stand.

Tylendel: “What.”

Ququllu: “Nachamacha.”

Tylendel: “Did he go to see the lady that almost appeared at the hideout?”

Ququllu shakes his head then points at the chest again.

Tylendel: “You want me to go into the chest?”

He nods.

Tylendel: “Okay. You could have just told me, you know.”

Tylendel grins, and Ququllu nods. Tylendel then climbs into the chest. He falls for a suspiciously long time, before feeling as if he’s weightless, swimming in darkness.

Tylendel: “This could so easily have been a trap for me…”

Tylendel: “So now I’m supposed to just… Want to go to Ipeshtir?”

Ipeshtir: “Tylendel?”

Tylendel: “Ipeshtir?”

Ipeshtir: “I am here.”

Tylendel: “It’s rather hard to see you, old chap.”

Ipeshtir: “It is little dark in my chest, eh? But! Time does not move here. As long as I’m here, I can… Cling on to life. So I am waiting.”

Tylendel draws Red Dancer to try to get a little light. It is very ineffective.

Tylendel: “Fat lot of good that did. Any way to turn on the light?”

Ipeshtir: “I don’t think that will be of any help. Why are you here?”

Tylendel: “Well, I’m looking for you. And my mirror.”

Ipeshtir: ”Well… If it’s here, it’s here.”

Tylendel: “If you and I go out, how long do you have?”

Ipeshtir: ”Not long. I don’t know.”

Tylendel: “I could try to heal you again.”

Ipeshtir: ”I told Ququllu to stay in the closet in case the Fevre would find the Ghostweave.”

Tylendel: “He’s dead.»

Ipeshtir: ”I know. He’s always been dead.”

Tylendel: “no. Muqad Fevre.”

Ipeshtir: ”You killed the Fevre!?”

Tylendel: “Yes.”

Ipeshtir: ”I--- I--- I should have expected it, but I still not believe it. Yungul Goz will be chaos!”

Tylendel: “That’s too bad. He shouldn’t have attacked me.”

Ipeshtir: ”Hee hee! Now I suddenly want to be alive again.”

Tylendel: “Do you trust me to heal you better this time?”

Ipeshtir: ”I can try?”

Tylendel: “How do I get out?”

Ipeshtir: ”Well, you leave the chest. If that is what you want.”

Tylendel: “The Sorcerer-king is waiting for me, so I need to help you and then get back.”

Ipeshtir: ”Don’t worry about me. You must hurry. I can wait here.”

Tylendel: “It will only take a little while to help you. He made me wait, so he can bloody well wait himself.”

Ipeshtir: ”So you met him.”

Tylendel: “Yes, and he finally released my memories, the fucker!”

Ipeshtir: ”I don’t think he had a choice, but I don’t know.”

Tylendel: “Who was the lady?”

Ipeshtir: ”Our esteemed guest?”

Tylendel: “Who was she?”

Ipeshtir: ”It was the Lady you spoke about. I thought I would invite her to you. The one you wanted to visit.”

Tylendel: “Nyssal?!”

Ipeshtir: ”Yes. I… I knew her once upon a time. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but he said… Don’t tell things that could bring us into more danger.”

Tylendel sighs heavily, then draws a deep breath.

Tylendel: “Okay. Let’s get out. How do I get out?”

Ipeshtir: ”You step out. I’ll follow.”

Tylendel acts as if he’s climbing out of a chest, and he climbs out of Ipeshtir’s chest. Ipeshtir follows closely, and immediately starts collapsing. Tylendel grasps him under his arms and wills him to heal. As he does, Ipeshtir starts breathing, then gain strength under his hands and finally he stands on his own. When Tylendel opens his eyes, Ipeshtir still has a large hole in his stomach, but he smiles at Tylendel.

Ipeshtir: “I feel much better now! Thank you, my friend. See, Ququllu? I told you, if I waited here in the chest, there would come some rescue.”

He brushes off himself, then notices the hole in his stomach.

Ipeshtir: “Oops! Oh, Ququllu, I see you have prepared something to drink.”

He walks over to the table and start pouring himself a glass of wine.

Ipeshtir: “Oh, I’m sorry, you were in a rush, my friend. And you forgot this.”

He throws Tylendel’s mirror at him.

Ipeshtir: ”And more importantly, this!”

He throws some white cloth at Tylendel; the robe he made.

Ipeshtir: “I am so happy to be alive! Ququllu, we are going to become the lords of Yungul Goz! Finally!”

Tylendel: “Then… There’s…”

He points at Ipeshtir’s hole.

Ipeshtir: ”Do you think the wine will show?”

He sips wine, and nothing shows.”

Ipeshtir: ”Aww. That is the beauty of the Between, is it not? But I don’t think I will go like this forever, but now, it is an interesting details, don’t you think?”

He sobers a bit and comes over to Tylendel, grasping his shoulders.

Ipeshtir: ”Thank you. Thank you very much.”

Tylendel: “You’re welcome.”

Ipeshtir: ”I am glad you came. Truly, I am.”

Tylendel: “So am I.”

Tylendel lays the mirror and the cloth, the robe Ipeshtir had been making, on the table. He then puts the robe on over his armour.

Ipeshtir: ”Exquisite. I have done a good job, I think.“

Tylendel: “I have to go back to the Sorcerer-king. See if I can do this thing.”

Ipeshtir: ”Yes.”

Tylendel: “Tell Nyssal I still want to speak with her.”

Ipeshtir: ”Until the next time, my friend.”

Tylendel picks up the mirror and wills himself back to the throne room of the Sorcerer-king.

Tylendel lays the mirror on the floor.

Tylendel: “There’s a spirit bound in this that will attack me. It has already marked me for death. Can you get rid of it. Sire?”

Sorcerer-king: “That is certainly something we can try to do. Is this the mirror that you stole from the Crow-king?”

Tylendel: “Yes. As far as I know this is the last of the mirrors the Crow-king ever had. I have destroyed all the others.”

The mirror starts vibrating on the floor, then floats to the Sorcerer-king’s hand.

Sorcerer-king: “To think that this has existed since before the Great Destruction, before… The Lady of the Moon. This is one of her mirrors.”

He turns it so it faces the floor.

Sorcerer-king: “And precisely one of the things the Crow-king uses as his eyes.”

Tylendel: “How can he use them as his eyes if he doesn’t have a mirror?”

Sorcerer-king: “Well, if he has other mirrors.”

Tylendel: “I don’t think he has.”

Sorcerer-king: “Yes, I’ve come to realise that his eyes have grown very few. But a mirror is a mirror. You can reflect things through several mirrors, can you not? I see you have the robe already on.”

Tylendel: “I thought it appropriate.”

Sorcerer-king: “Good. Did he tell you why?”

Tylendel: “Nope!”

Sorcerer-king: “Good.”

Tylendel: “I am fumbling blindly again, as I often do, because no-one tells me what I need to know.”

Sorcerer-king: “Then I shall tell you precisely why I asked him to make this robe for you. It is imbued with a certain protection you will need if I am to perform the ritual to allow you to find the Crow-king. Of course, if you agree to join this ritual.”

Tylendel: “I can use that to find him.”

He points to the mirror.

Sorcerer-king: “But you can never know if it was him. That’s his success, the theft of those mirrors, and what he was able to drag out of them. I had hoped to have two robes, and two to help us, but your friend, with the final chain snapping, is doomed.”

Tylendel: “Where is he?”

Sorcerer-king: “He’s joining with the Creeping God.”

Tylendel: “Then if I had known things, if I hadn’t wasted weeks, months, I could have saved my brother.”

Sorcerer-king: “And how would you do that?”

Tylendel: “Because I would have done this two months ago. Things would have happened before they happened. I spent a month at the Arganhold and Byrkburgh just…”

He sighs.

Sorcerer-king: “There was no need to save him. It is better that he dies.”

Tylendel: “If you say that again I will kill you.”

Sorcerer-king: “I admire your frankness, I really do.”

Tylendel: “Check to see if my body is alive.”

Sorcerer-king: “Let’s go somewhere it is safer to conduct things such as looking at enemy mirrors.”

He walks past Tylendel and leads him to the alchemy room.

The Sorcerer-king places the mirror on a table and starts working equipment that is alien to Tylendel.

Sorcerer-king: “You have used this mirror many times?”

Tylendel: “Yes.”

Sorcerer-king: “So this spirit you speak of, how does it appear?”

Tylendel: “Like a wraith. Sometimes when I use it, it comes out and tries to attack me, then goes back in. Once it succeeded, and gave me what… Was it Loronë that said I was marked for death?”

He strokes his cheek.

Sorcerer-king: “Some kind of soul drainer.”

He mumbles and starts working on the mirror.

Sorcerer-king: “The Crow-king has many simulacra. You have met at least one, I think. He can move them around at his will, and they serve as an extension of him, that is the problem.”

Tylendel: “That’s why the mirror showed me he was in the Doomed City when I had just seen him in the Tomb of Lug.”

Sorcerer-king: “Possibly. But how would you know you saw him, and that it was not a second simulacrum.”

Tylendel: “Because the mirror is very co-operative to me.”

Sorcerer-king: “At whose bidding?”

Tylendel: “At the Lady’s bidding, I guess.”

Sorcerer-king: “We can only hope. No matter. I have devised a ritual that, I believe, would be able to weed out the true Crow-king, so that we can end his danger once and for all. Of course, the true danger was that he was the one that was bent on waking and freeing the Creeping God. Now that he is free, he can divert whatever power he has used. Perhaps to destroy the one he hoped to be allied with.”

Tylendel: “Well, he may have succeeded. When I looked in Ipeshtir’s mirror, I only saw bones as my reflection. And just before… Well, it was actually when I was in the Hazelands now, I felt as if I wore less, as if… As if my body was being prepared for a funeral, as if someone took off my armour.”

Sorcerer-king: “Perhaps your soul is being drained?”

Tylendel: “Perhaps.”

Sorcerer-king: “Haah. Well, let’s look at this mirror then.”

He starts working a magic ritual, and after a while there is a whomping sound and the mirror turns black.

Sorcerer-king: “I think it is gone.”

Tylendel: “Thank you. Gablug Maístor. Kin of yours?”

Sorcerer-king: “Maybe so. Why do you ask?”

Tylendel: “Just connecting the dots.”

Sorcerer-king: “We have been called giants by people smaller than us.”

Tylendel: “And Muqad Fevre?”

Sorcerer-king: “Perhaps. Distantly. There are many who wander the Between, many peoples. Some are tall, some are small, some are wide and some are gaunt. Over the centuries, millennia, things get mixed up. So. Would you agree to my idea?”

Tylendel: “What do you mean with using me as a gate.”

Sorcerer-king: “Your blood. It holds the power of the Lord of Night.”

Tylendel: “It holds more than that.”

Sorcerer-king: “Does it?”

Tylendel: “Where is he? Where is Ruis?”

Sorcerer-king: “He resides between. The powers that keep this all together is him. But as the child Pábes says, it is stretching thin. Darkness between places. The Night. The power, the sorcerous weave. He is it and it is him. He is of the Twilight. That is, I think, why it’s been hard for him to answer people’s prayers, hm?

Tylendel: “Yes.”

Tylendel walks over to the mirror.

Sorcerer-king: “Of course, it also allowed your infusion to become extra potent.”

Tylendel: “My infusion?”

Sorcerer-king: “It was no accident that you came to the Hidden Kingdom. Some call it fate, destiny. But it was unfortunate that it was proved difficult with the blood of your brother.”

Tylendel: “Yes. Unfortunate.”

He looks at the mirror.

Tylendel: “Show me my body.”

The mirror vibrates slightly, then lies dormant.

Tylendel: “That’s not good.”

Sorcerer-king: “No. Did I drain its power as well?”

Tylendel feels if it’s warm; it isn’t.

Tylendel: “Well. Well, well, well. Well, well. Let’s try something else then. Show me where Creeping God’s Bane is.”

The mirror lies still for a couple of second, then an image start forming. It shows Bormost and the forest west of the City, and in the darkness he can see torchlight, a torch held by Yosha Artamon.

Tylendel: “He actually found his way out!”

Sorcerer-king: “So that is how it left.”

Tylendel: “I am a little worried about the mirror not wanting to show me my body, though.”

Sorcerer-king: “Yes, if it is destroyed, you are trapped.”

Tylendel: “Show me my room on Tamolyn Pahórek.”

Yosha Artamon disappear, then Tylendel’s room shows. He sees himself lying in bed.

Tylendel: “Well that’s good news.”

Sorcerer-king: “Peaceful.”

Tylendel: “Looks can be deceiving.”

Sorcerer-king: “Have you heard that before?”

Tylendel: “It is a common saying, especially regarding me. Show me that room as it is now.”

It blackens again.

Tylendel: “The mirror, sometimes it shows me things in the past. I do feel a sense of very now, though.”

He releases the mirror.

Tylendel: “So what do you need me to do, and how do we kill Parafor?”

Sorcerer-king: “These are two matters. The ritual I spoke about is to detect the Crow-king, but for the Creeping God… We do not have a Twilight Gate, but you are infused with the blood of Ruis. If we could place you in the vicinity of the needed elements, perhaps we could forge a gateway through you. It would be dangerous. But I’ve given this some thought, and I have spoken about it with the monk. With the power of the Night, it should be doable. I have been studying every day since last we met. I believe I have everything I need, that I know what I need to know. But you won’t be able to bring them all with you, as I have learned that you wish.”

Tylendel: “How long will Arokin’s prison stay intact?”

Sorcerer-king: “Arokin can only be released.”

Tylendel: “How about Gaffon. Will we be able to bring him through?”

Sorcerer-king: “The true enemy, isn’t he?”

Tylendel: “Yes.”

Sorcerer-king: “??? Take notice of him.”

Tylendel: “I hope he is still trapped within that sheath of Blacksteel I made.”

Sorcerer-king: “Blacksteel will contain them for some time, yes.”

Tylendel: “Good.”

Sorcerer-king: “I will show you the chamber where we will perform our two rituals, and explain.”