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Two girls are moving their hands through the air and speaking together in perfect parallel.
Two girls are looking expectantly at a circle of red chalk on their floor.
Two girls have done something exceptionally stupid.
Arcane in Elcenia
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infinitely-stranger
"If you are able to arrange for about three dozen people to be summoned at once, into wards that prevent them from moving around or communicating with one another by any means, and for at least one but preferably all of those people to be immediately and regardless of their objections fed local food by a person who is present and able to communicate with them, that will take care of the Queenscourt. There are of course details and precautions, but I believe that is enough of a sketch to tell you whether this is something you can accomplish."
on-my-word
He thinks about it.
"Almost certainly, yes. But I will want to hear the details and precautions before I commit to anything."
"Almost certainly, yes. But I will want to hear the details and precautions before I commit to anything."
infinitely-stranger
"As implied, feeding is an avenue of vassalization. The strength of the claim varies according to several factors, and weaker claims sometimes fail to take hold especially in the presence of many competing claims, but no claim can hold if the one feeding is already a vassal of the one fed, so the Queen cannot be vassalized this way except by a mortal - someone from outside our world. Across that boundary - if a mortal eats food from our world, or the reverse - such claims are extremely strong. Do not eat food from my world."
infinitely-stranger
"Sky-veils can subsist indefinitely on natural light and rainwater, neither of which carries a vassalization claim."
imeanforever
(Promise, meanwhile, inaudibly rummages in her bag. If she can grow an unobtrusive little garden she can live on what she brought, with flat harmonics helping her force the plants.)
on-my-word
"But go on. Once we secure all these offworlders, what do you expect us to do with them?"
infinitely-stranger
"Rescind Queenscourt orders, determine loyalties in the absence thereof, extract names from the Queen where necessary, perhaps summon more Queenscourt members. Order the secured Queenscourt members to free captives and dismantle security measures and rescind orders and so on; then return them to where they came from and let them get on with it. Order the Queen never to give an enforced order, never to reveal anyone's name, and never to seek to circumvent those orders by whatever means. Allow the non-loyal Queenscourt members to leave. Then, only after all captives and unwilling court members have had plenty of time to escape, return the Queen. I do not harbour enough ill will against her to suggest that you keep her captive for extra security."
He reflects for a moment, then adds, "I'm sure someone will realize that there was another world involved, and I'm sure after that someone will try to gate here. No one has yet tried to take over the mortal world we're used to, and this one is more hazardous on multiple levels, and the individuals or minor courts who might try it don't pose nearly as much of a threat as the Queenscourt, but I still suggest that you encourage people to conceal their names, particularly from winged strangers. The name that counts is the first one you have; subsequent nicknames, if unrelated to the original, are safe."
He reflects for a moment, then adds, "I'm sure someone will realize that there was another world involved, and I'm sure after that someone will try to gate here. No one has yet tried to take over the mortal world we're used to, and this one is more hazardous on multiple levels, and the individuals or minor courts who might try it don't pose nearly as much of a threat as the Queenscourt, but I still suggest that you encourage people to conceal their names, particularly from winged strangers. The name that counts is the first one you have; subsequent nicknames, if unrelated to the original, are safe."
imeanforever
The Queen might require an honor guard of some kind to keep ambitious mortals away from her once she's no longer protected by her court, but that can be safely left for later.
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