:...Your magic is so fascinating. I - actually can think of someone who might have a stupidly expensive pillow.:

Lady Treesa inexplicably gave her a tiny gold-leaf-coated sculpture of a fluffy lapdog as a gift last Harvestfest. Not even because she knows Melody is Vanyel's Mindhealer and wanted to express gratitude. She's just like that. 

:Anyway.: Glance down at the note. :I think you'll want to hear the rest of what he said.: And she'll translate it over in Mindspeech. 

I am not sure how much the following should be spread around, and will trust your judgement on it, since you're more up to date on the state of things in Haven. I think you ought to tell Savil, Enara, and Blai, unless you have reasons to think that's a terrible idea, in which case don't. 

I was able to contact the Shadow-Lover via my usual method. 

:- Sidenote, his usual method is killing himself a little bit. The Shadow-Lover is - an avatar of a god, whose main purpose seems to be talking to the spirits of Heralds - and probably other Valdemarans - after they die. Unless you're Vanyel, in which case the Shadow-Lover will give you cryptic frustrating tidbits of information and send you back because you're not done. And Vanyel discovered a few years back that he can kill himself on purpose and go yell at him. Anyway, moving on–: 

I was mostly hoping for some breathing space to think, and gambling that the Shadow-Lover's god still isn't done with me. I did end up getting some answers, though. I was able to confirm that the Shadow-Lover's god, at least, is not aware of any agreement with the gods of Blai's world that exempts souls here from their afterlife system (and thus keeps them out of the evil afterlives.) Blai has more context; it was a possibility he raised with us, as a reason why our world's gods might be against Leareth's plan, but I think we can rule it out now. 

This is still partly conjecture, but my current belief is that the Shadow-Lover's god has been working at cross-purposes from the Star-Eyed Goddess and likely from Vkandis. They certainly aren't our friend or, in Blai's terminology, a good god, but I have updated to believe that They don't want Leareth dead. I believe that the Star-Eyed Goddess was steering to have Leareth end up in Haven while not immortal and use the Heartstone to finish him off, and the Shadow-Lover's god (hereafter "Shadowgod" for brevity) was allowing this in order to steer for an extremely specific outcome where Leareth and I would both be desperate enough to perform the god-ritual on an emergency basis as the only way to stop Brightstar from destroying Haven in his attempt to kill Leareth. Most likely with my mind as the template, which would force Leareth to carry out his plans in ways I would countenance, as I imagine was the Shadowgod's goal. 

This is obviously not going to happen now, and was probably off-track at the very latest from the point when Blai cast the second prophecy spell. I currently believe that our gods are very limited in how well They can perceive downstream effects of Blai's actions in Foresight, which explains why They have been steering for what I imagine were the original plans even once that was obviously insane. I have done my best to convey to the Shadowgod that we aren't planning to march to Their orders, but that I recognize we have a common enemy. 

If my gamble here pays off, we may actually get some friendly godinterventions to help untangle the mess in Haven. 

That's really a lot to take in. :So... Seldan is a... friendly... Shadowgod... intervention?... have They got another name, that one has a really unfortunate collision.:

:...Seldan?: 

Enara gestures with her muzzle at the other Companion. :This is Seldan. He appeared in the Grove half a candlemark ago and is apparently here to Choose Blai.: 

What? But that doesn't - 

...Melody turns her Sight on the new Companion. That - sure is a Companion bond. More accurately, half of a Companion-bond. It's not actually hooked up on Blai's end yet, and the tassels of it are stretching in a direction that doesn't exist in ordinary space, rippling in an imaginary wind. It looks bizarre. 

:Oh. I - imagine this is a friendly intervention, then.: She tugs her sleeve straight; she's still very fidgety, it happens when she's stressed (and hasn't had enough chava because she was LOCKED IN A ROOM ALL DAY.) :I'm not aware of the Shadow-Lover or associated god having another name. They...aren't actually worshipped directly, at all as far as I can tell.:

:But it's not clear to me what me having a Companion accomplishes exactly. Also this is a very strange way to relate to gods on every level.:

:From my perspective it's on the gods to tell us if They want to be related to differently. Or, you know, to behave better.: 

She glances at the new Companion again. Seldan, apparently. That name feels weirdly familiar.

:Having a Companion means you'll be automatically be considered trustworthy anywhere in Valdemar. Which is presumably why you're not locked in a Work Room anymore - I was surprised, I expected to have to win an argument about that. Companions are generally rather useful, in a purely logistical sense – they can Mindspeak long range for you, they have nearly eidetic memories, they have remarkable speed and stamina for travel, and they're leaps and bounds above ordinary horses in a fight.  Also, as a Herald I expect you'd be able to cast a Truth Spell, even Heralds with no Gifts to speak of can do it – though that part might or might not only work here and not in your world. I assume the Companion is fine with you needing to return to your world sooner or later, or he'd have given up already?: 

Also, most Heralds get a lot out of the emotional intimacy and having someone who's always there for them, but Melody has a feeling Blai will just be confused if she tries to explain that. 

:- oh. It's like having a Lawful Good aura that people here can see?:

:...Huh. Yes, I think that's right.: 

She frowns. :You should know the downsides, too.: 

Enara interjects. :The - difficulty with questioning the gods - isn't a problem. Seldan didn't seem to have it at all.: 

:...Huh. Suppose that makes sense, it would be pretty incompetent as a friendly intervention otherwise.: 

Melody turns back to Blai, serious. :It's rare that Companions get themselves killed when their Herald doesn't, they're very tough, but - it's very bad. I'm not sure if you have any context on how bad it is, if your world doesn't have any kind of soulbonds. A broken bond is - like a serious injury, but to your mind, and it doesn't really get better. It's not necessarily disabling, sometimes people can work around it: albeit in all cases she was aware of, people who had additional mitigating soulbonds to lean on, :but it's - hard enough to bear that many people who've experienced it end up not wanting to be alive.: 

Pause. 

:- It is apparently possible to non-destructively withdraw a Companion-bond, unlike lifebonds which genuinely are permanent. It's not something most Companions can do on demand, but - if yours came out of the Grove, he might be more like Rolan. Possibly you should ask about that.:

:Wizards who lose a familiar are often noticeably impaired about this for weeks and sometimes resist acquiring a new one for years if they have that luxury? I... am not acquainted with more severe instances. ...do you have any way to ballpark how tough? How does this interact with - I guess you don't have resurrection spells - if we get in touch with Golarion I'm going to need Yfandes's body and a pile of gold or negotiable gemstones, I can use a scroll of Raise Dead - if I get access to her body before that I can keep it intact longer and use the less expensive spell over a longer time horizon.

This assumes that I get to cast any spells, at all, in the foreseeable future, which might have been part of the intent of sending Seldan if it's important that I heal the King today or something but doesn't seem to have happened as a result yet.:

That sounds vaguely similar but a lot less severe - honestly, Melody would never ever recommend this to anyone otherwise, but she's almost inclined to suggest that once Vanyel makes it to Haven, Blai should have him bounce over what it feels like. Her sense is that Blai can judge for himself whether he could function around it, and - if her read on him is right, he's like Vanyel in an important sense: if it's tactically useful to have a Companion and all the attendant benefits, he wouldn't consider it relevant that he might experience emotional pain over it if something goes wrong. 

- and then Melody's entire thread of thought stumbles to a halt. 

She manages to just barely catch the rest of Blai's answer. 

:- Oh, I'm so sorry, I should really have opened with that - I got distracted, in my defense I haven't had any more sleep than Savil.: She did try to nap while she was under arrest, but they hadn't put her in a room with a bed and the armchair wasn't actually comfortable enough to sleep in. :I'm here to undo the blocks before I go north.: She won that argument handily. 

:...We don't have resurrection spells. That - changes a lot of things - but, er, yes, one of the implications, if it works on Companions at all and I don't see why it shouldn't, is that the broken bond would only be temporary. I, um. Assume we can get Yfandes' body to Haven promptly, if that's important.: 

:There's a spell that works without remains but it's ninth circle. ...who should I be talking to about estimating the conversion rate to local currency for these scrolls or castings to determine if anyone else is worth bringing back?:

:...Herald Joshel, I think. I think it can probably wait until everyone has had slightly more sleep? Anyway. Should I take the blocks off before we do anything else?:

She really really really should have done that first so this poor man could have the rest of the conversation with his magic and without the uncertainty on whether he would be allowed back his magic in the next day. 

:Please.:

She's going to do that right now, then.

(She's not quite as good at precision as Nayoki, and it does very faintly feel like the barn walls are going soft around him.)

It takes about two minutes, and then Blai can cast his spells again. 

...he's going to lean on Seldan a bit, it seems socially acceptable to do that all round and he's not positive about keeping his feet.

Guidance!

Also an Endure Elements. It's quicker and less awkward than asking after his coat.

Awwww. Seldan will be such a good stable surface for leaning on. 

(And very happy about this, but carefully not projecting it, Blai has not agreed to anything yet and "it will make Seldan very happy" should be at most a very minor input into his decision.) 

Oh good! 

:Right, where were we? Vanyel is coming to Haven with some precautions and will reassure all the Heralds that he's alive: albeit not exactly well, :and then probably you should talk to him before making a decision, for - context on how bad a broken Companion-bond is. And then I'm hoping we can all meet and figure out how to walk back all the preparations for war with Leareth.: 

Which she's not at all convinced will go smoothly even if all the Heralds are convinced, but she's also way too tired to worry about it right now. 

:Thank you.

Who should I talk to about potentially healing the King?:

:Follow me, I have a Gate to catch and can find someone to pass you along to on the way.: