Mellia — Diagnosis Lunar
????, Fire Season, Season/Illusion Week
Context
Fire Season/Illusion Week/Fireday/sometime at night, between the Temple of Humakt and the palace at Boldhome. [[[s01:session-43|Session 43]]]
SPOILER ALERT!
Events
On the way up to the Palace, Nala, who rides without reins or a saddle, puts her arms around Mellia to hold her on. “Did Beneva give you any details? They wouldn’t let me in to see Kallyr.”
“No, she didn’t,” Mellia replies. “She was in a hurry. I wish she’d told me if anyone’s checked Kallyr for interfering magic. Beneva should have succeeded, Nala.”
“Magic would be my first guess,” says Nala thoughtfully. “Like an inside-out spirit block, preventing anything from accessing her spirit. Unfortunately the only sorceror I know is in Prax, and I don’t think even flying would be fast enough.”
“It wouldn’t, I think,” Mellia says. “Kallyr doesn’t have much time. Do you think, if I can get you in there, you could check for magic?”
“Yes, I could certainly adjust my vision.” Nala thinks for a moment. “Are you strong enough to try casting twice? If once I watched from the physical and other from the spirit — but that would take an hour, you see — I might be able to trace your magic seeking her. A bit. Maybe. A real shaman could, anyway.”
“I have not the strength to cast twice without visiting the temple here,” admits Mellia. “We want to get this right the first time. Would you want Xenofos to help you?”
“Can he travel with spirits? I don’t know him at all. He’s never spoken to me, I don’t think.”
Mellia says, “Not that I know of. Xenofos keeps to himself. If we need him, he’d better be straight and sober. “
SPOILERS AHEAD
“Which reminds me, would you please not chase trickster spirits away from him?”
YOu can practically hear Nala blink. “Um? Does he usually have them?”
“No, but he’s going to. Xenofos has been using poppy and drinking on top of it, Nala.”
“Oh. That explains the weird staring.”
“I think that if he is to be useful, possibly not in the room? I mean, summoning a knowledge spirit to investigate could be done, though it would spend a good portion of his god’s blessing to keep it going long enough.
“But first, if we can tell if there is magic. Is Tenebris able to speak at all? Even if there is magic and I can’t trace it, a group, a really big group, dismissing magic all together?
“This would be easier if I’d completed my training. But Argrath happened.”
“Maybe we should call by for Kalis.”
“I haven’t been to the palace yet today. I have no idea what shape Tennebris is in, or what he can do. Let’s get Kalis, if we can.”
Tiwr swerves appropriately, commenting drily, “Thank you for deciding that before I started with the stairs.”
Our heroes ride to the Temple of Ernalda, where Nala makes inquiries.
“Ah. She’s still gone. So it’s just me, unless Tennebris knows any other witches.”
“Damn.”
Mellia says something rude in Esrolian.
“Right, so, we get in, ask exactly what happened and hope the response isn’t “there was a lot of magic” but is useful, we ask whoever is there if there is someone else they trust who can see and maybe track magic, and/or a sorceror, and then either you try the resurrection –maybe whilst in a deep meditative state, I can get some mushrooms — and/or I go bodiless and try to follow your magic if I can to find out at what point it’s being blocked, and by what.
“Does that make any sense? There’s a lot of supposition. And we’ll have to lay out exactly what we are doing to whoever is in charge so no one sends me back to my body. I might have to be gone as long as a day. You’ll have to water me in that case. Sadly, my beloved companions lack opposable thumbs.”
Tiwr says something probably rude and pithy in Praxian.
Nala whispers, “ Or we get a Storm Bull to sense chaos, which also would tell us about active Lunar spells, I think, if Tennebris didn’t freak out that we sensed chaos on Kallyr.
The problem being that the Storm Bull cannot berserk afterwards….this may be an issue. Or an easy way into Hell if we manage to steer him towards the spell.”
“I think I’ve made sense out of it. I’ll do my best to get you in with me. I imagine I’ll be shown to Kallyr’s bedside as fast as I can go.”
Tiwr says, “Stairs now. Hold on, White Lady.”
Mellia holds on tight to Tiwr’s mane. “Thank you, Tiwr. I don’t know how you manage these steps.”
“It takes a lot of effort to be as good as I am. Few manage it.”
Tiwr walks up the palace stairs. At the top Nala lets Mellia do the talking.
To be continued in Session 44.
