"He'd been going to finally talk to a god, so maybe he got an answer?"

"Oh." Leareth tenses a little. "I - am unsure whether we are going to like the answer, if that is it." 

"That's... possible but doesn't seem like it'll become more likely if you skip the meeting. I guess you might want to tell Nayoki it's happening and where and have her expect updates?"

"Yes, I should definitely do that." He Mindspeaks her and fills her in quickly. "She says she will arrange to be nearby and I will tell her what is happening." Leareth swings his legs over the side of the bed. 

"Stay close to me so I can notice and catch you if you stumble," she says, scooting around to help him up.

"All right." Leareth puts on his boots and then makes his way out of the room with her, going more slowly than it feels like he needs to; he's been up and about in his room and that's going fine but he's not sure if he's still going to get exhausted more easily than usual. 

She's careful, especially on the stairs, and when they meet Amshalan suggests he sit on her the rest of the way.

Leareth appreciates that; he's managing but he is feeling a little lightheaded. 

Amshalan carries them to the selected field, where a number of somewhat disgruntled-looking Heralds and elderly lords, many of them in bathrobes and blankets, are arranging themselves at nice spread-out intervals. 

She and her various people-glued-to-her-brain can set up apart from everybody else too.

The group gets settled, which takes a few minutes. 

Rolan paces. He doesn't seem unhappy, exactly, but - definitely tense, wired with some sort of strange energy.

:We have a very complicated situation: he sends, finally, including everyone. 

:No goddamned kidding: Tran mutters in Mindspeech; it's unclear if he's including everyone but it does go to Belrun, Amshalan, and Leareth. 

Belrun just nods.

Rolan paces. 

:The difficulty, it seems, is that there are in fact several different gods at work here, and They disagree on what is best for Valdemar: Pause. :Or, possible, some of Them no longer have Valdemar's interests at heart at all. It is - difficult to convey in human words, the communications I had just now - I cannot actually say which of Them is responsible for exactly which actions, here, so there is still guesswork to be done. However, the god I spoke to - the god behind our Shadow-Lover - does not wish Valdemar to be destabilized, whereas it certainly appears that other Powers are attempting that: 

:Even if you can't put actions to gods directly can you tell us who's working on the destabilization? And if the - Shadowgod - has any allies who aren't?:

:Well. I do know both that the Star-Eyed Goddess does not wish Leareth's operations to proceed unhindered, and that She has greater power in Haven due to the Heartstone: 

:That's why we're not there, yeah. We suspected Vkandis of working with Her to murder Leareth that last time on top of all the other times:

:...The - Shadowgod, I suppose, as good a title as any - intimated that Vkandis also had some sort of plan, here, but I am unclear on the details, since if any of it has happened yet I have not observed it. I suppose the discontent in Haven would be an excuse for Karse to also back out of our alliance, however, if Karse is considering that they have not yet informed anyone: 

She nods again.

Rolan paces.

:My goal, my purpose here, is to serve Valdemar's interests: Now he does seem unhappy, and - conflicted. :This plague obviously does not do this. I am unclear on its direct origin but I can infer it was not the Shadowgod, since the Shadowgod would like Valdemar to be stable: 

Nod nod. Seems reasonable. She's taking notes.

:The crisis in Haven also does not serve any of this kingdom's interests: Muted anger in his mindvoice. :However, it is too late for it to be undone, and perhaps the Shadowgod cannot directly oppose Her in Haven where the Heartstone lies, if this was indeed Her plan. So we will have to make our own way forward out of this: 

Leareth is frowning unhappily. 

:Do you think you need to move the capital? Can the Heartstone be removed safely?:

:Vanyel?: