33.6 Shared Ancestry

General Summary

Day 515

The address Shelor has given for dinner takes me to a curious tower in the sage's quarter. The building is clearly a magic school of some kind adjoining a classic wizard's tower. I'm led up the stairs to a small kitchen with attached seating area, hardly large enough for more than four guests, and greeted by Shelor and the wizard-chef in residence Alfred. Although he is human, it is such a charming near-elvish thing to see such a powerful wizard happily engaged in cooking at the top of his tower. Even more so as the surroundings fade behind an illusion of a peaceful forest while we sip chilled fruit juice and chat.   Shelor tells me all about the winter and how elves have become quite liked and admired in the arts and crafts districts, though some people still feel threatened by the way the city responds to us. She believes that Nishvalen will likely win his seat on the council and that he is right to be intent on consolidating more elvish power outside of the city boundaries. Spreading out and being less concentrated will be good for us.   The sages are all in a state of unease over the library's behaviour and some of the new archivists now have access to places that were previously inaccessible to everyone. Even Shelor herself seems unsettled at the thought of a building with a form of consciousness, though I remind her that such a library has probably been somewhat self-aware since long before any of us were alive. It's good context for me though, and I'm more confident that Kaide and I will be able to navigate the interior safely.   On my part I finally offer her a solution to her investigation about the burned temple. She and the whole city know that they likely won't find the specific people responsible for the fire since they have probably already fled. But I can offer them the knowledge that the mastermind behind it has been apprehended and punished by an ally in a far-off land. It would be a nice start to diplomatic relations between my Outlands and Deldrln, even if trade routes will take centuries to establish and for now we can only exchange news and some people. In particular she hopes we will send some elvish crafters and artists.   Later on in the week I'll have a meeting with Wyn the Azure to discuss city planning and identify some of the magic lurking in the city streets. Until now he has been outspoken about keeping the magic deactivated since they don't understand any of it (a wise course of action) but maybe Kaide and I will be able to help.   All in all, a productive and friendly dinner. She even tells me a little more about the Golden Micro Empire, being closer neighbours than I am. From her description there are people quite like Yneir there, though mostly spirit people taking the form of striped cats and scaled ungulates rather than crows. The crows, she says, seem to live near a mythic river that leads to enlightenment (this last said as though it is an absurd idea).  

Day 516

The next day starts quite late with a visit to Mayfa for food and guidance. Armed with a basket of dumplings, meat pies, and some other treats (along with a basket for Dedrafel) she leads us to the darkened back of the library building and speaks a watchphrase.  

Those who walk in shadow may always seek knowledge

  And suddenly a door has emerged from the wall, surrounded by Imperial magic. It is so friendly, after all the unusual things I've seen lately. Unfortunately Mayfa's advice proves to be accurate as Kaide is unable to traverse the threshold as an unsworn elf. And...it is nonsensical for her to swear an oath to herself. Even hiding inside me she can't get past the wards and is put to sleep as I cross through. In the midst of my trying to untangle the wards and locate a token that would allow her waking entrance, Dedrafel emerges from the depths looking as scruffy and dishevelled as any new mage ever did.   After some amusing back-and-forth about how long he has been down here ("7 days?") he produces a token for Kaide to manifest and says he has been here working with 'her' on the third level all this time, and have we come to see her?   Something about his tone makes me think it is not the Empress he is referencing but I am unwilling to take the risk. He and I will go speak with 'her' while Kaide goes to peruse some records and see if she can find anything useful.   Indeed, when Dedrafel leads me to the third level I find piles of debris that he has been digging through, all surrounding a familiar elf. She is older now but her presence here confirms it - she is one of the ancestors I saw in my bloodline echoes, the young woman who served in the Eternal Library and hid seeds in the bindings of books.   Just like a trio of scholars we absolutely avoid the simple questions in our haste to ask the big ones until I calm down and conjure some seating and tea for us to settle into. First - she introduces herself as Cycadaes, a master archivist of the Library of Elistina. She is one of twelve spirit archivists still housed in the library and claimed the right to administer Dedrafel's senior archivist exam as his ancestor. This makes me laugh - apparently Dedrafel and I are distant, distant cousins.   The work they are doing now is to uncover some texts that Dedrafel will require to pass a senior archivist exam. Neither of them seem keen on the simple option....which is to have him take a lesser exam first...but I hold my tongue. It's sweet seeing their eagerness. But when I comment that Kaide and I would like to take the first exam, she pales.  

Is it a name of honour now?

  And I immediately send Dedrafel from the room to go assist Kaide with whatever she is doing. Turning back to Cycadaes, I explain that the Kaide I travel with is my sister and companion, not the Empress as she once was. It is important to me that she be treated as her own person and not as a memory or echo of someone else.   In her time Kaide was an Osyr who sponsored Cycadaes' position as one of the first elvish archivists in Elistina. As a jeweler Kaide had helped construct anchors for the magic of the library and it was a further 500 years before she ascended to become the Empress. Cycadaes is, then, the only ancient person I've met who remembers my sister before she was Empress, though the gap between Kaide's memories and the archivist's still seems to be wide.   And so it makes it easier to tell this ancestor that the Empress is not as terrible as she once was, that she is beloved by elves and rightly so. And she gives me one piece of treasured knowledge I wasn't aware of, asking if the Empress has returned to mischief.