The Briar's Ritual

by Luke Thomas

Dear Diary,

I checked in on Anna this morning. She was working quietly in the scriptorium, bent over her spellbook, carefully copying low-level spells with a focus and steadiness that I can only admire. She’s learning quickly — faster than I ever did — and, unlike me at her age, she listens to advice. When I examined the faint aura I’d noticed on her before, I realized it was enhancing her intelligence, and it had a fey origin. There’s a link to the pool in Rosebloom, but I’ll need to dig deeper to understand it.

Our attention then turned to the ongoing feud between the Long Table and the Briar Ring. The Briar Ring has been buying up small buildings near the city gates, which the Long Table considers their territory. On top of that, there have been ritual circles and standing stones discovered in some of the Briar Ring’s properties — only one confirmed, but enough to stir trouble. The timing coincides with the Lorewood creeping closer to the city, so the Long Table blames the Briar Ring for inviting the Feywild in. We got the address of a warehouse where one such ritual had been placed.

I went to the Gloom to speak with the Briar Ring leadership — my own order, technically. They claimed they’d bought houses in the city because they were feeling cut off, being stationed outside the walls. They denied performing dangerous rituals and said the circle in question had been intended to stop nature’s intrusion, not accelerate it. The Long Table had interrupted one of their rites. They also admitted the king had ordered them to dismantle the outer warding stones, suspecting they’d been reversed to *amplify* fey influence instead of repel it. They’d cleaned up the site afterward. I believed them, though I was disappointed — I’m always searching for new ways to combat the Fey, and it felt like a wasted lead.

We went to inspect the warehouse in Foregate, just south of the barracks. The building was in bad shape and windowless. Hayley and Gael tried to find a way in while Alistan and I were approached by guards. I claimed we were checking for leyline disruptions, but they refused to let us in, accidentally revealing that someone was already inside. So, I began a ritual outside, shaking the ground as part of my “leyline test.” It knocked them off their feet. I rushed for the door, but one guard grabbed me before I could get inside. Hayley stepped in, her magic sending fear coursing through them, and they fled.

Inside, I found another guard coming toward me and summoned an earth elemental to hold him back. Vines erupted along the corridor, and a knight in ornate armor shouted that I was trespassing on Briar Ring territory. I sent my elemental at him and retreated to a safer corner, but he smote the creature to dust. The guard rushed me, only for Hayley to make him vanish with her magic. I pushed forward until I could see the ritual circle, though the view was partial. I trapped the knight in a maze of stone and called out a warning to the druids to stop, or I’d reduce the entire thing to ash.

They stopped. Hayley disrupted the circle, and the druids scattered. The knight tried a few shots at us with his bow before realizing he was outmatched. He retreated, promising we’d regret crossing him.

Alistan and Gael went to report to the Long Table, while I stayed to examine the ritual and the papers Gael had found. It was exactly what I feared — a deliberate channel to draw more of the Feywild into the material plane. I began altering it to reverse the effect, sending word via Fiachna for Anna and Lumiria to join me and help. Lumiria questioned why we were pushing the Feywild back, but I told her it was to keep King Ulther at bay, which seemed to convince her.

We were close to finishing when Ser Selyos arrived with a shield guardian and several knights. He gave me an ultimatum — leave now, and he wouldn’t press charges. He wanted the fey influence to grow, claiming it would empower the circle to fight the Fey. I called him a hypocrite. But we couldn’t take on ten fully armed knights. We withdrew, but not before I destroyed the ritual circle. I told Selyos I was done with the Briar Ring. I want nothing to do with those who invite the Fey into our world.

It’s tested my resolve. I’ve seen too many suffer from fey bargains — prices that seem fair until you realize too late you’ve sold more than you can afford. The people of Keralon need someone to protect them, whether they know it or not. And if that means standing against my own order, so be it.

Lumiria complicates things. She’s a fey herself, and I know the risk of bringing her deeper into this world. Yet she’s also a victim of Ulther’s tyranny. I want to believe she understands why I’m doing this — and that it’s as much for her as it is for the city.

On the way back, we stopped at Edna’s Wish. One wall was thick with creeping vines. Feyris didn’t seem to mind, though he complained about trimming hedges and dealing with pixies in his storeroom. Whenever he looked at me, I sensed a faint recoil, like my elemental magic unsettled him. When I showed him the heart of acid, he actually vomited.

A boy burst in, calling for Feyris to help his father. Feyris left, and I stayed to tend the bar. I made Lumiria a sweet pink wine with a quick transmutation, which she seemed to enjoy. When Feyris returned, he explained that ever since the building changed, he’d developed magical powers. He could grow flowers with a touch, and even ease an alcoholic’s suffering by cleansing his body of poison. He’d also been having dreams — running lost in a forest, finding a tree cut down, and then a sapling sprouting into a staff just before he woke.

It’s strange. More magic is blooming in Keralon, but I can’t tell yet if it’s a blessing or a warning.

— Luke

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The Briar's Ritual

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