33.4 Black Banners

General Summary

Day 505

That night I call Bran into the Dreaming and hear his thoughts on Mec Ales - to him it doesn't make sense that the Empress would have cursed the Leaf and Vine trees to destroy anyone who tried to connect. She had a way of laying trees to sleep the way they were in Dreamfall; why not do the same thing?   It is a good point but I worry, in part, that Magdalena's hand is at play. I think that Magdalena was active around the time that Dreamfall's trees would have been cursed, but I am not so sure about Mec Ales. I don't know if Magdalena would have wanted elves to become fae again, or if the two of them would have fought over this principle. Either way, I'll speak to both of them soon enough.   I also tell Bran about Nucifera and the mission she has anchored herself to - preventing the alliance of elves and the Ancient Enemy. We are in full agreement that Thalien ought to steer clear of her web and that it is the right choice for Bran to go instead. When I introduce the two of them I feel the tension between them as Nucifera encounters someone unexpected.   When she questions him about his ears ("Is it a deformity?") and his race ("Are you really still human?") he pushes back confidently. When she tells him that he could call her 'teacher' he brushes it off and says that they can talk and perhaps be friends but that he is not going to step onto a path someone else has made for him. I leave the two of them in conversation and fade back into the waking world feeling secure that my stubborn, steady human can fend for himself.  

Days 506-513

We make peaceful travel towards Deldrin with Liliales working on his combat magic and Trillium working on spirit-calling using paints and pigments, a necessary foundation before I try to help her call ancestors of Leaf and Vine.  

Day 514

This time we approach Deldrin from the North and find it far more settled and sprawling than the Southern outlands. There are villages and farms leading up to an incredible arcing bridge a kilometre long across the river. Its support pillars are inscribed with magical runes to give it the necessary strength and flexibility, but also to control the forces of nature around the city and prevent terrible storms that might damage the structure.   As usual, 9 coloured banners fly in sequence up the bridge, mostly familiar from the last time I was here. The new colours are gold, purple, and grey. It seems Master Bodin won a seat, and I am curious at who has taken up Vander's colour.   I keep my wings concealed again for our approach and we are greeted by a cheerful guard wearing the gold robes of a scholar who introduces himself as Ricken. He warns us that it is not a good time to be visiting due to the unrest around the temple's burning and that if any of us are mystics we ought to be careful. The usual test of magic ensues and while the others pass without issue, I am a bit of a surprise for their detecting orb, especially when I reveal my wings.  

A mystic...and a wizard?

  So we end up waiting a little while for them to ask if Shelor will sponsor my entrance into the city. The particular guard who is keeping us company is very interested in motion magic and demonstrates a piece of troll magic he learned from a troll named Twig. It is used to pin someone down by their shadow, which...I imagine was born out of wartime between trolls and elves. But now he uses it to pin down anyone fleeing the law, and I can imagine that it would be a useful decorative tool as well. It is a rich conversation that results in an agreement to meet for coffee in a few days to swap notes on our studies.   And he gives us a bit more news of the temple: 3 blazing orbs struck Mora's temple at night in rapid succession. Many were injured there but further burned bodies were uncovered all around the city, all carrying tokens or items connected to Mora. Of these further 15 bodies, fully half of them were travellers from Eir, as well as a few merchants and people from a nearby school of anatomy that was caught in the blaze. The head of the Candlemaker's temple and three elders are missing, and of course suspicion has fallen on the Candlemaker's church, the missing elders, and now any fire-based elemental wizards.   Shelor is investigating the occurrence, and I sigh to think that my visits to Deldrin might always coincide with a human religious upheaval that needs settling. Fortunately teh guards return with Shelor's invitation to enter the city and join her for dinner tomorrow as she is currently occupied with other business.   Inside the city walls I head straight for the Twilight Rose, remarking along the way that there is no storm damage even to the tall towers of the city. Kaide notices this too, remarking that it was probably something magical. She remembers this being the city that never slept, a place with glittering lights across the entire skyline and a lake that was luminous and full of living things. There was something in the water that encouraged magical talent here, in her day.   The rest of the family all heads out to explore the city as I arrange for our lodgings at the inn and then go to find Nishvalen. Winter has been busy, it seems, and the Twilight Rose has expanded to both sides and now seems to include more general lodgings as well as the distinct elvish style. Our rooms, of course, remain distinctly elvish.   In the elvish quarter I find black banners hung about, mimicking these of the counsellors. Apparently Nishvalen has announced his candidacy for the next election, opposing Garret the Crimson. He is interested in improving the Southern outskirts of the city and making space for elvish villages to support people who don't want to live inside the city walls.   The storm's energy flowed over the city in the winter and powered up the magical defences, including illusory ghosts and great stone statues. It was good for elves, apparently, as they took orders from elves but not humans. This in combination with the recent events at the Temple of Mora have made elves more accepted around Deldrin as they have been protecting and healing people who need it.   It is a whirlwind entrance into a very busy city after several days of very quiet, steady travel. With dinner and research invitations, the nagging feeling that I will have to become involved in Shelor's investigation, the anticipation of Lyssa's arrival, and the growing awareness that soon we will go before the Empress I find myself happy to lie down on my bed and listen to the muted bustle of the city.