"Yes, I can read all your languages as well as you can, so I could check the correspondence, and if it seems like, say, the Karsites will set fire to my grain deposits if I don't denounce you, or something, I suppose I'll have to look into it, but I agree that it's not a top priority right now."

Suddenly he's feeling incredibly weary and all he wants is to be alone in his room. 

"How urgently did you want to test the magic vulnerability thing," Vanyel says tonelessly. 

"If you've got questions on how our magic works in general, I'm happy to answer those anytime. We should get through whatever Vanyel's needed for and let him duck out, though. He just got back from a year of being the only mage guarding the entire Border." 

Oh no why does she have to draw attention to him. 

"I don't think I need the most powerful known mage for this, I just need somebody to try to damage my wing and I'll see if it does more damage than normal things and if it doesn't heal like normal things. Whatever you'd do to a regular person you wanted to injure more than a papercut is fine. I can anesthetize myself for it."

"No reason I can't do it, then, I'm not that old and decrepit. Anything else urgent that you need Van for specifically, as the one who summoned you?" 

"Nope!"

Randi pinches the bridge of his nose, as though he has a headache. "Any other plans you want to finalize now? I would rather you ran it by me before, er, summoning a lot of fairies or whatever they're called, but it sounds like you need a local human for that anyway, so I guess let us know? Tran can be your contact if you need maps of the Kingdom or other information." 

"Maps would be great, actually."

"I can get you some, that's easy! Some books on our history, too, if you want. Oh, and do you need a guest room to stay in?" 

"Wouldn't hurt! I mean, I can make myself a house, but then there would just keep being a house indefinitely."

"Is there a...size limit? On what you can make?" 

"A rate limit. But a very high one. Some apsels make planets or stars recreationally."

"What? Stars?" 

Vanyel's imaginary Leareth is narrowing his eyes about this, which for Leareth is approximately equivalent to screaming in shock. 

"...You could destroy the world. If you wanted to." Shiver. "I - guess we're lucky Jisa's floor-drawing got someone who doesn't want to."

Shavri keeps to herself, and doesn't say out loud, the thought that they only have Cam's word on what his motives are. Though Vanyel did Truth Spell him - but Truth Spells are possible to get around, if someone is smart and quick on their verbal feet - it seemed fine when Cam was someone who could just make a lot of bread, but someone who can make entire planets is...a lot more terrifying. 

"I acknowledge this but I super don't want to. I guess it would be responsible to ask if there is mind altering magic..."

"Um." 

"...Yes. There is. None of the Heralds here in Valdemar would ever use it, of course, it's very unethical." 

"Wouldn't put it past the Karsites, though. Given that they're throwing blood-magic right and left, and - Van, did they...?" 

"I saw compulsions being used out there. Not...often. Takes a lot of training, to be useful. Blood-magic is...well, half the problem is that it doesn't, right." 

"I lack context in much of that but if there is a defense against mind control I want it."

"We can get you a shield-talisman against Thoughtsensing and one against mage-attacks of any kind. If you want them powered all the time then one of us will have to re-power them once a day or so - unless it'd count as something you can make, once you've seen one? Van, any other ideas?" 

Vanyel shakes his head, wordlessly. 

(He's thinking that if there are any additional precautions that would make someone immune to compulsions, Leareth would know them, and also he DEFINITELY CANNOT ask Leareth for advice on this question.) 

"I - probably cannot make magical items, though I guess I should try it, anybody have one on them I can just copy?"

The Heralds all glance at each other. 

"- Sure, go ahead." Savil reaches into her shirt, pulls out a sort of quartz nugget held with silver wire onto a leather thong, and tugs it over her head. "Here."