"I have no idea if there are decision relevant things today because I don't know what's happening in Valdemar–" At this point, Vanyel does in fact start crying. "...Sorry..." 

"It's okay. You and Yfandes have enough on your plates right now. You don't need to worry about politics on top of that."

Vanyel isn't sure how to convey that it doesn't matter how excusable it is for him not to help, the exact same bad consequences are still going to happen. He doesn't succeed at conveying anything, instead, since he's busy crying. 

He is not really sure how to help with this!

Hey Leareth, are you able to use the crystal ball to check out what Valdemar is up to? Vanyel is a little worried but not up for it, I think, and he might feel better if it got done anyway. We would be scrying completely blind but if you've seen or interacted with anyone there you could scry less blind than us.

:I know the names of the Senior Circle Heralds, at least. I have not met any of them and do not know what they look like except for by vague description. If 'Vanyel's aunt' is a helpful piece of information, that could target Savil?: 

I'd give you maybe a forty percent chance at each but that might mean you get one.

:I am happy to try: 

He makes sure his colleagues are all set up, and then Gates out again to the buried palace. He stands in front of the crystal ball and this time aims for 'Herald-Mage Savil Ashkevron, Vanyel's aunt, in Haven' and a vague mental image of someone older and silver-haired. 

This works.

Savil is a lean woman in Whites, silver hair pulled back into a bun; she doesn't look that old, maybe a well-preserved sixty, but she does look exhausted. 

She appears to be in a meeting, and in the midst of an argument. 

"–you any more," she's saying. "It looked like the same communication spell I use. Which isn't secure, but the past-watching spell doesn't let me try to intercept it." 

The person she's meeting with, a dark-haired woman in green robes who looks if anything even more tired, is frowning. "And the other spell?" 

"Look, I already told Keiran. And Katha. I don't know. It didn't look familiar. I didn't think magic could look that way. I certainly can't tell you what it was for, except that it wasn't a Gate." 

"And you didn't see anything?" 

"No. I also didn't detect the magical signature that an illusion would give off. It could be an unfamiliar kind of illusion - or it could be an unfamiliar kind of Gate, I guess, whatever I sensed. Because there's definitely nothing up there now." 

Leareth watches intently as Savil finishes her meeting - as she yawns, massages her temples for five minutes, heats herself up some tea, and then heads off to talk to a different Herald. 

An hour later, when Savil is back in her suite in her bed and seems unlikely to move for the next while, he Gates back to the winter palace and looks for the others. 

They're in Vanyel's room. Fazil is reading Hagan one of Leareth's books about Velgarth history.

Leareth sits down. "I do not think anything here is urgent on the level of hours or even days, but we do have a new problem. It seems that the Heralds made the Web-alarm thresholds significantly more sensitive, presumably because they are expecting my forces to invade and feeling very paranoid. I did not predict this but probably should have. They detected my communication spell and also your teleport, I assume, though they did not recognize it and I observed several discussions about what it could be. Herald-Mage Savil went to the location in question and used a past-watching spell, which means they were taking it very seriously, since there are not many mages and both Gating there and the investigative spell are costly. She thus saw slightly more than the Web alone had sensed. At this point they seem unsure whether to call it a false alarm or assume I am up to something very clever." 

"Valdemar can detect all magic that happens in their country? That's incredible. - also it'd be incredibly annoying, in any country here."

"How is it done - this is probably not the time. 

Does this make us more in favor of trying to Wish Yfandes okay."

"I think they must be finding it annoying right now. At that sensitivity they would be dealing with mostly false alarms from animals with native magic and such. Anyway. I...am not sure. I feel more rushed before but also your Wish spell still sounds very dangerous, especially for something like this which is so poorly specified or even understood. Maybe we ought to start workshopping the details of a Wish, though, so that if another week passes - or if events worsen in Valdemar - then we could move on it without further delays." 

"That makes sense." And he has acquired records of Wishes and results and advice on specifying them, for Leareth to read through.

Leareth sits down to read through that and make notes, taking a break midway through the afternoon to see how the other guests from Velgarth are getting on. 

The researchers from Osirion are really pleased and impressed with their progress. They want to take them to sickhouses and get diagnoses but told this has to wait because Velgarth is a secret.

"I hope that keeping Velgarth's existence secret will not need to be for too much longer." Leareth spends a little while explaining some of the magic artifacts brought over, and then remembers to go check with Hagan whether they have any word on Rahadoum recruiting. 

"They're still hiring. Good training, pay mostly in spells and magic weapons, looking for people who will give them at least six months but he agreed readily enough to one and then our call whether to sign up for the full thing. He claimed, as before, that they were going to tackle the div activity in Thuvia. I asked whence all the conduct rules - there's nothing in the Thuvian desert to pillage - and he said it's a useful filter."

"Which is true. I like to use that for recruiting in general. Still, it is evidence of something. What is 'div activity'?"