Day 281
For the last five days we have been steadily moving away from the Northern Grove, having accumulated about a hundred Vanguard on our march. They feel infused with a new, raucous purpose and while they are all siblings in a way many of them have not met. Every night is a party filled with ancient music and laughter. One in particular has a stringed instrument that is similar enough to the one in my memories that I take to it like bat to the night sky.
The next day I work with that fae to recreate the instrument I remember, the same strings and structure made of eldritch wood and inlaid with silver. I think Bran would be so proud to see me working with this fae. The end result is an instrument whose music penetrates the heart of anyone listening, encouraging sleep, rowdiness, conviction, or melancholy. The decorative silver creates images of foliage that I think would baffle Doraal - the leaves of the Grove entwined with Kadia’s vines and flowers and speckled with soft orange blossoms.
That night I am pulled into the Dreaming in an unfamiliar location amidst rolling hills and seemingly lonesome mountains. The night sky tells me that I’m far South of where I am in the waking world and indeed as I look around, I see Tira and Lyssa coming to meet me. They look well; Tira dressed in comfortable travelling clothes and Lyssa dressed in what I presume must be dwarvish style - heavy and decorated. And glancing the other way I find Bran striding towards us as well to make a small family meeting.
Amidst our hellos I inquire after Basalt and Tira is very surprised to hear that I’d met her. Her clan is not one that pledged support to the Empire but they held off for a curious reason. They told Tira to spend some time on the other side of the Barrier with Haze and perhaps come back when she knew what she was asking for and what she would need to offer in exchange. Recalling Basalt’s gentle contentment at Crag and Alrudian, I think I have a better sense of what they may have meant. Just like with the fae, this racial friendship was once based on protection and guardianship of things we both held dear. Asking for help in a war is only the surface if what we really want (on both sides) is the shared experience of living and working together in harmony.
Haze has been able to join the two younger women and all together they have beaten back this manifestation of the Storm. Lyssa tells me that it scattered into a radial web of smaller storms that are now travelling across the continent and will cover it for 1-3 months by their estimation. It may even cross the Barrier or the sea. For now they are safe at the centre of this outwards spiral but it will be hitting my location in 3-5 days and then continuing onwards. Whatever preparations we need to make to survive the worst winter storm in a century must be made quickly.
They warn me of elemental draconic creatures, ice wolves, and other manifestations of the elemental winter that approaches.
Fortunately we are not in a bad position to be informing the rest of our network about this. Bran will prepare the people of Drognar and send word to Vaneili in Deldrin, who can contact Brighton and likely inform most of the other human cities by way of the Council. I will work with the many Vanguard to send messages through the Dreaming to the Northern Grove and to Dreamfall, as well as any other travelling fae that we can reach. We had intended to pause in Drognar before heading onwards to Dreamfall but now with the threat of travel being impossible we will have to hurry so that our winter fae can reach a grove. Bran and I exchange a sad look at this - we know he’ll remain in Drognar and it’ll be at least a month before we can join up again. Our separation feels painful in a very different way than with Lyssa or Thalien or even Doraal and Mistress. He’s so very needed where he is, just as I am needed in a place not two days’ travel away.
It will also be up to me to deal with most of the communication around Solace, Whitewater, and the Keep. I hope Amytri’s network is robust enough to handle responsibility for the entire area - what may once have been the Dawn Garden Prefecture.
And then conversation turns to the Desolation. It stands between this radiating storm and the region of our Keep, but we don’t know how it will behave. Tira handily summons two blackboards and begins working through the magical properties of the winter storm and the Desolation. I can see where her thoughts are coming from and I summon my own blackboard to continue where she has gaps. At the end of it we have three theories but no strong ideas on which is most likely:
- A mountain range which will produce an intense area of effect to the North and a rain shadow effect to the South
- A funnel which will suck the magic from the North and drive it towards the South
- A sponge which will simply absorb the magic and slow its progress from North to South.
As we discuss Bran also notes that the magic of this storm will run into strong burning magic what we’ve also run up against it. He’s right...what will happen when the unquenchable storm meets inextinguishable fire?
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