drifted off like the land split by sea

the-final-accounting

There's a lot to be done, in the immediate aftermath of finding Carissa and young Ma'ar in Urtho's Tower, and for a while Leareth is very very busy, as well as very happily distracted in his scant free time by having his wife back. And Ma'ar needs lessons, in magic and other things, and he has a baby daughter and spends more time than he strictly needs to visiting the nursery to hold her.

He introduces Ma'ar in the palace as a 'relative' who's going to be fostering here with him and Carissa for the next few years; he doesn't try to further explain the situation. There are curious whispers and various rumours about this for a little while, but then it stops being controversial.

Running Cheliax continues to hold many ongoing headaches. There are nobles used to getting away with more than he especially wants to let them; there are a handful of local insurgencies that need dealing with, and uncertainty around whether there's any larger organization behind this; some neighbouring countries are still discomfited by the rapid changes of the last year. But nothing goes sufficiently wrong to reach the threshold of being an emergency, rather than just a hassle.

They try a Sending to the other Velgarth he found, but it doesn't work, maybe 'the Leareth who lives there' isn't specific enough, and even after consulting his records he hasn't been able to narrow down what name he was going by or what he was doing at the time.

After six months, he finds time to slip off with Urtho and return to the Velgarth of a millennium ago, and check the cache where he left a note for his younger self. There's no reply, which is unsurprising - even over the entire course of a given lifetime he won't necessarily visit all of them - but in the meantime he's looked up the locations of a dozen other records caches, spread around the world. He leaves more notes.

Another six months later, there are still no replies. This time he brings a Chelish wizard with him too, to attempt a Sending from within the same world; this doesn't work either.

After that point, he stops going in person, and sends one of his mages every so often, equipped with a map and a list of locations to check, plus knowledge of the counterspell-techniques to his protective wards. Someone who's travelled widely throughout their Velgarth and can manage Gates to places that haven't changed too much, and compensate with scrying for the differences across a thousand intervening years.

At the two-year mark there's still nothing. Leareth worries about this a little, and then puts the matter out of his mind; the very fact that this is taking place during a gap in his records, and that there are no large-scale activities that hint at his presence, means it's not as time-sensitive as many of the other things on his plate.

He still sends another mage a year later, though, with the same briefing, a list and a map.

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Berko Obi

The Obi family is starting to get their bearings. Ekunde's father and younger brother want to go have a look around!

Dayo Obi

Dayo is so excited and has so many questions!

Ayodele Obi

Ayodele wants to stay with her brother and hug him until he's ready to get up. He must've been so scared and alone, not knowing if they were safe - and they all came so close to dying...

Tadesse

the-unforgiving-minute

It's nice, having her there. For some reason he's still groggy and it's taking him a long time to wake up fully, maybe he slept too much.

Yewande watches them for a while, then sidles up to Carissa and Leareth. Lowers her voice. "- Can we talk? In private."

to-let-you-in

"Of course."

the-final-accounting

"We can go to my office," Leareth says quietly, gesturing for her to follow them.

Yewande follows. She accepts the chair Leareth pulls out for her, sits. Fidgets a bit.

"I...didn't want to bring this up in front of the other children," she says finally. "Don't want them to worry. But -" She chews her lip for a moment, then goes on hesitantly, as though painstakingly picking out each word. "It...fits better, knowing. About Tadesse. But - I worried about Ekunde, before. And I'm not sure this leaves me less worried."

to-let-you-in

"Tadesse seems...very out of it. Which isn't normal, for - his many lives. I don't have any idea what's going on. If sharing isn't good for them we might be able to separate them."

"Maybe it's the sharing that's bad?" She seems unsure, though, dubious even. "Though...if anything I think it might be good for Kun. He - grew up a lot, after it happened. Seemed more like he knew what he wanted - he got closer with his siblings, too, they used to bicker constantly. But..." Shrug. "I don't know. Looking back, I can sort of guess which of them was in control when, and Tadesse... I'd catch him with, just, this awful haunted look. Like...nothing would ever be good again. It's uncanny on a child - makes more sense, knowing he's eight hundred years old, but Leareth doesn't look like that."

to-let-you-in

"And Leareth, when he found out about a new world, jumped on it instantly, precisely because his options in his own world were so terrible."

Nod. "That fits. ...Maybe he just needs time? He's had a stressful last few days."

to-let-you-in

She glances at Leareth. "I hope that's all it is."

the-final-accounting

"I hope so too." Sigh. "Thank you for telling us your concerns. We will - give him some space for a day or two, I suppose, and if he does not seem any more - like himself, then I will sit down and ask him what is wrong."

:I wish I remembered anything about this: he adds to Carissa.

to-let-you-in

:Is it usual, that you don't?:

the-final-accounting

:I mean, at this point I have barely any actual native memories of lifetimes that long ago, but usually I review all of my notes each time and I manage to retain something, and can look up more if I need to:

to-let-you-in

:And even if you died you'd - take notes next life, right, on what you learned before you died?:

the-final-accounting

:Usually. Unless - I am not sure what it would take. Unless I had the very poor luck to immediately die again, or I came back directly into an ongoing emergency of some kind... Also it is not unheard of that I only manage to transfer notes into one records cache and then it ends up destroyed before I can finish my next full review and make copies elsewhere. I...could get more information on which it was in this case, I suppose, but I would need to return to Velgarth in person and visit all of the records locations, and I do not really feel I can afford the time to do that:

to-let-you-in

She nods. :I'm not sure it'd answer what's wrong with Tadesse anyway.:

the-final-accounting

:No, I doubt it:

He sighs again, and leads Yewande back to where her husband and youngest son are getting shown around the palace, then returns to his office to stare at paperwork he's behind on and worry.

to-let-you-in

:Should we be keeping an eye on Tadesse.:

the-final-accounting

:- For what? Possibly he ought not be alone, but Ekunde's sister is with him right now - I suppose we could trade off watching them as well if you think that is not enough:

to-let-you-in

:For if he's not just out of sorts but off-model and not our ally.:

the-final-accounting

Leareth frowns. :I am not very worried about that in particular - that he will cause serious damage to our interests here, I mean. He seems - damaged, but not more dangerous than I am. Still, I would feel less uneasy about it if I were more sure... Can you read his mind? My Thoughtsensing cannot get past his shields, but Golarion Detect Thoughts works differently, and he is not himself mind-Gifted, he only has the mage-gift:

to-let-you-in