"That's very reasonable of you." 

"Now, let's go watch some highly athletic men fall off logs. Trust but verify, and all that."

Lilian casts something else, gesturing towards the ground, and the circle she drew earlier melts away.

It's a short walk from there to the river, out the southwest gate and down the road past homes and warehouses.

The logrolling competition goes the same as before, the birlers pitching one another into the Cabelpas to the delight of onlookers. The matches play out exactly as Alex remembers, including the dramatic win by Raskos.

That's good, it would be unsettling if this changed and undermine his credibility.

Onto the field to see Aeschivus or does Lilian want to go see the baking competition and wait for Aeschivus's messenger to summon them?

"I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but I'd rather see Aeschivus arrive. If things play out the way you described, I want to witness them. And then I want to have a talk with the man about this ritual." 

"Okay, this way then." He starts walking, "If you can keep my name out of it I'd prefer that based on what you said earlier but I'll trust your judgement about this."

"Oh, I agree." 

They arrive in time to see Aeschivus and his entourage speaking with the dancers on the green. Before long, Alex sees Aldric the blacksmith abandon an archery target he's hauling and march towards the gathering to investigate. Minutes later, Aldric calls over an apprentice and sends him running into the town. 

From a distance, the discussion looks to be growing heated, with Aldric making increasingly agitated gestures at the magus. Eventually a pair of soldiers interpose themselves between Aldric and Aeschivus, forcing the blacksmith away. 

Mayor Daertes arrives next, not-quite-running to greet the magus and his people. His arrival triggers another round of heated discussion, and more officials crowd around as time goes on.

Lilian chooses to mingle with the confused dancers, keeping half an eye on Aeschivus from a safe distance; this time he doesn't seem to notice nor approach. 

When Aldric is dragged off to the square, Lilian excuses herself. "I'd like to see this in person, and check on something at the inn," she explains. "I'll be back shortly." 

"Okay, I'll be here." Alex will keep his distance from Aeschivus. Maybe in a future attempt where he's planning to be taken he'll try getting closer.

"Aeschivus, what a pleasant surprise." 

"Lilian. I trust you're not here to interfere with Imperial business."

"On the contrary, our meeting is sheer happy coincidence. I'm just here for the festival. I do hope to speak with you on a matter of great import, once your current task is finished. I've learned some alarming news while in town." 

"...very well."

"Splendid, I shan't delay you further." 

Aeschivus completes his survey as before, and allows Daertes to dismiss the townsfolk. Instead of riding off to the north, however, he and his people wait for Lilian at the north edge of the green. Lilian warns Alex that she might be gone for a while, but that she'd be back well before the time of the supposed ritual. Then she and her guards approach Aeschivus for a lengthy conversation. His group departs after that, heading north, and Lilian goes with them. 

The Feast of Thresholds proceeds, subdued but yet unconquered. The procession, the mock battle, and the dances follow as before.

And at about eight in the evening, an old woman Alex doesn't recognize, accompanied by a pair of men in the uniforms of the Eriksmont town guard, sits next to him on the green. "Well, this has certainly been an interesting evening. I am less inclined to doubt you, now."

It takes him a second but he manages to stop himself from saying her name aloud. "Oh? What did you find out?"

"It just so happens there's a woman calling herself 'Clarisse' who's been spending an awful lot of time with the Eriksmont town guard these last few weeks. It also happens that positively everyone she's met thinks she's wonderful, just wonderful, and quite the singer too, don't you know, and in fact she ever so kindly offered to give a private concert for the guard this evening, in honor of the festival, of course."

"That is better than I had feared. I believed she might have mentally dominated them just before she arrived and that this town might just be a small part of a bigger plan. I suppose it still might be."

"Outright domination isn't completely out of the question, but it's harder than many assume to cast, maintain, and conceal. At any rate, Aeschivus and I intend to crash that party in less than an hour. If all goes well, we'll catch her in the act of attempted mass mind control and that will be that. 

"If not...I'm loathe to rely on it, but perhaps you'll get a third chance. If you do, you can tell...other me...that we attempted a Wine Cellar Special and it didn't work. Also that I should do the obvious check sooner and it comes up blue-white. I'll know what you mean. 

"If there's anything else you need to ask me before the excitement starts, now's the time."

"Do you think it's a good idea for me to join an order and which order do you think I should try to join if so?"

"I think that if this situation keeps repeating, you should first attempt to enroll in Grawtosh Academy at Arbis. Grawtosh provides the most comprehensive education on Petronian theory, associated skills, and the Orders to be found anywhere, and useful connections to boot. It won't be easy or comfortable, at your age, but I think it's worth the attempt. 

"Tuition at Grawtosh is a pawn of vis* per season, or else a rather large sum of money. Students without wealthy families typically commit to joining an Order after a year or two of lessons. Grawtosh provides a basic grounding in theory, then the graduate apprentices to an Order magus for some years. 

"I'd only advise otherwise if you want to specialize in a specific magical tradition other than Avernian ritual magic. The Order of Aetherics has its elemental magic, the Order of Device its Gnostic crafting, the Order of Cognizance its Enigma of Twilight, and so on. The first two require opening rituals that are widely considered mutually incompatible with standard Avernian practice, although perhaps being Named offers a way around that. If you are confident in a focus on one of those, you could perhaps convince the corresponding Order to accept you directly. 

"What classes are available to you will be determined by your performance on the entrance exams, so in theory you could attend Grawtosh multiple times if you...reset. You may need a story the second time which explains how you were opened to the Arts without there being an Imperial record of it. It had better be a good one, too; it is not generally considered wise or easy to lie to Quaesitores."

*According to Alex's books, a pawn of vis is the smallest easily-measurable unit of concentrated magical essence in Petronian theory. It is typically attuned to exactly one of the ten Petronian Forms.

"I'll look into that, if I commit to joining an order in advance is the tuition waved or is it just that people join because they can only afford a year or two? If I'm understanding correctly I'll loop before a year regardless but in case I'm wrong about that, do I also have to choose which order in advance?"