There's a pause, and then a rapid dump of not-quite-verbal concepts. Companions are a (structure/process/some godconcept that doesn't quite map) that tie into the (construct-over-time) materially represented by the Web and the Death Bell, and less tangibly by the rest of the Heraldic institution and cultural context. Companions are (clean/ordered/predictable) in a way that gives specifically the Shadowgod more (power/influence/legibility)(this is a concept smushed together that in human terms feels very jerryrigged but seems to make sense from a different angle.)

Companions are mostly human but are also (patterned/regularized/imprinted) in a particular way that has some hard-to-describe relationship to the rest of the structure. Probably this is related to certain problems introduced by the alliance with Leareth. 

:Is there a way to get un-bonded Companions loose of the - rigidity that makes it hard for them to think about being at odds with gods ever? And the Groveborn?:

Any Companion who deliberately wishes to be free of that can come have it broken here. Not necessarily this room, but by Mindtouching the physical focus of the avatar. I believe that should include Rolan, if he wants it.

:- gosh, okay. Can you stop making them be born that way?:

Likely, yes, but and a pause, concepts shifting and being put together - a distant sense of diverging silver threads, but - the path might be a better one if they need to face it themselves and learn the associated lesson.

:Hm.

Do you have more of a name than 'Shadowgod', or a gender or anything?:

I do not have a gender in human terms. I have not previously worked closely enough with humans to need a name; Shadowgod will do as well as any, I suppose.

:Okay. Can I now reach you from anywhere in range of the Heartstone if I think of more questions? Is answering questions costly in any way we should know about?:

You ought now be able to reach me from anywhere in Haven, yes. Questions...are somewhat costly if they require translating new concepts to the avatar, but also valuable, since it will contribute to the avatar system working better, and those answers will then be remembered. You in particular need not worry about frequency of questions.

:What should I tell other people about whether they should worry about the frequency of questions?:

You can tell them to batch questions with one person once a day unless they are very urgent, pending a more systematic process for it. I do not Foresee too many questions being a problem this month, though.

:Okay. Thank you: And she heads out of the room, nodding to Nattan.

Nattan nods back. "Everything went all right in there?"

"Looks that way!"

:Well?: Amshalan asks as she heads out. :Is the improvement worth all the fuss Leareth put into it?: 

:It seems like a big improvement. I don't know yet if it obviates the need to build our own but that can wait till Leareth wakes up. Can you tell all the Companions that if they're not jailbroken yet Shadowgod'll do that for them if they go in the room, that includes Rolan:

:Oh! Really? That’s incredible. I’ll pass it on right away:

:They could also stop making foals be born that way but thought that maybe getting it undone would be a useful lesson? Is it a useful lesson?:

:...Hmm. I think so? Not sure if it’s valuable enough to be worth the fuss, but it did make it a lot more salient to me that my beliefs and feelings aren’t always trustworthy and I should check:

:Huh. I'm not sure that's worth slapping a mind-control feature on every newborn Companion but I guess it's an understandable argument:

:–My guess here would be that the Shadowgod doesn't see mind-control as intrinsically bad. Given that, um, They came up with Companions as a system in the first place. So my guess would be that all they're going on is the Foresight footprint, and...if you add in that it's a pretty icky thing to do to people, it looks less appealing: 

:I'd be interested in a - poll of Companions, maybe after the ones who are going to go to the room have done so - I know I'm unusual in this regard:

:Makes sense. Though I think most of the Companions who hang around Haven will opt for it, it's annoying being left out of gossip because it makes your spine crawl: 

:I keep having to update in the direction that gossip is more important than I thought. Maybe I should skip ahead and conclude that the entire world is made of nothing but gossip and pease porridge:

:Heh. I do think Companions are especially inclined to gossip - serves the important purpose of keeping information up to date without making people feel like they're having to sit through boring meetings about it: