Lhín slips a blob onto her hand.

Invisibility. Plane shift.

They appear deep within a dark forest. Enormous trees surround them. Strange noises echo in the distance.

Greater teleport.

They appear in a deserted Midland street somewhat near the docks. The time is past sunset into the night.

"Time is accelerated within my demiplane. It should only be around ten at night on the 14th of Sarenith, at least in Almas. Goodbye."

Tencednil feels Felandriel's hand drop away.

"Thank you. Goodbye."

Tencednil... walks home? Mother should still be awake, it's not that late. She will need to figure out how to sleep at the right time again but that should be doable.

<You're back! That was prompt. And did you do whatever you needed to?>

<Of course I did! Mother I wasn't doing anything interesting!>

<You can't fool me that easily. Though you have definitely improved, whatever you did. More importantly, you also can't fool Ulon. A few days ago I woke up with a new circle. Whatever you're doing, it needs a Commune.>

She... stops. She doesn't even twitch, for a few moments.

<I see. We'll talk tomorrow.>

And she goes to her room to... try to get some sleep? At least some napping, so she won't be exhausted tomorrow.

KORVOSAN CARRIER
MOONDAY, SARENITH 15th, 4708

SENESCHAL TOGOMOR'S CURE SHOWS PROMISING RESULTS

It's a bright summer day. Togomor's effort to create a cure advances rapidly. They're paying well for human blood. There is no trace of the overwhelming force of beasts and monsters from below. The enmity between the Great Houses has found a perfect excuse to flare up in the assassination of the King. The public's opinion of Ileosa seems to have improved a little, though it's unclear how much of this is just propaganda from the papers. The rest is more typical daily news.

As usual, Dilnictan wakes with the dawn to pray. Less usual is that she went to sleep when her daughter returned from her time "guarding a caravan", so she has had seven hours of sleep before praying. There's no reason to hesitate now. She already has the cinnamon. Ced' was restless, so she'll already be awake. Nothing more to wait for.

When dawn arrives, Tencednil is half-dozing, attempting to preserve some of her wakefulness for the daytime. The shadow Lhín pokes her every once in a while, apparently interested in something in a book, so she hasn't really managed to take a nap. Being stationary in one place and letting her mind drift is a worse outcome, but it's one she can survive.

When Mother walks in, she is abruptly jarred from her stupor. She scrambles gracefully drops out of her hammock (it's amazing how much easier it now is to act perfectly composed in the strangest of conditions) and nods. <Mother. What do you need of me?>

<A Commune is best used with a sense of what is actually occurring. I will have only six seconds to ask each question. You need to tell me enough to describe a proper set of eight questions. The final question will be if there is additional information we need.>

<Ah.> What does she have happening that Ulon might need to reply to? There's the Norgorber letters, but that must have failed. The conspiracy guidance shouldn't require any additional work, and if it does, there's very little she can do about it now. She can't feed Morgethai false information, that would be both practically impossible and Ulon directly forbids being turned to betrayal. Morgethai very much did not betray her, given every opportunity, so unless there was something she did not know which would have changed her decision to trust Morgethai, it would be improper to harm her.

This could be a chance to send a message to Morgethai, if there's something important there? Why would that matter now? ...well, Morgethai gave her the page to take back if she returned again. Can Ulon use that? If the gods could see the memories, surely the Abadarans would have reorganized their security before the break-in, so Ulon might want to send a message back as well?

...that should be eight questions. If there's more they need to know, getting this set of responses will point them in the right direction. Report, then. She shifts through sign briskly, as if every moment might be important.

<I have an active plot involving the Four-Faced Foe, which may have succeeded or may require active intervention to succeed, but I doubt both. I have an active plot involving misleading guidance to another, which again may have succeeded or may require intervention. It may be worth a question to know whether the new Castle residents are involved in that plot.> In other words, whether she's right that Togomor and Ileosa are both part of the conspiracy. <Finally, I did recently work with a wizard, but she has demonstrated trust and I shall return it. One question for whether she is misleading me, one for whether I should contact her with knowledge I have, one for whether Ulon has a message to use like hers.>

Mother's reaction to that is... inscrutable. Unsurprising. She pauses for a few seconds before continuing.

<Good. I will begin casting, and ask the questions in that order. You sit and transcribe the results as I receive them. If Ulon gives a lengthy response, it must be recorded perfectly.>

Sit! Paper. Pen. A great deal of focus. She throws up a Detect Magic for the first few minutes of the casting, but by the fifth minute she's convinced this is at least generally what it's supposed to be, and returns to focusing.

Commune.

O Ulon, Your servant requests an answer to the following questions!

Has 'Ced's plan involving the Thief of the Underworld succeeded?

NO

<No.>

Can 'Ced usefully intervene to alter the success chances of her plan involving the Thief of the Underworld?

NO

<A second no.>

Has 'Ced's plan involving misleading guidance succeeded?

UNCLEAR

<Unclear.> Think on that later.

Can 'Ced usefully intervene to alter the success chances of her plan involving misleading guidance?