Well, that all sounds promising, and someone called 'the Witch' is probably more likely to know what is going on than her random minions, as much as they both have names. She smiles nervously at Rhea - more nervously than she actually feels, but the mostly-helpless act seems to be working out for her so far - and obediently follows them, although she's still keeping a general watch out for anything else that changes.

Circe will come to the cliffside, and touch it, causing a part to disappear revealing stairs leading up. 

After going up the stairs, she will walk to a tower, connected with another tower by a bridge, and stand on a round platform, that will start riding up.

That's not going to be what attracts Allegra's attention - that role goes to a giant golden tree (also a moon that is definetely too big). If she doesn't spend the whole walk in awe of the tree, she can also get a better look at buildings on top of the other cliff, that looks to rise from the center of the valley.

Eh, giant golden trees are nice, but it's not like Seren doesn't have a whole forest of them. That's quite a big giant golden tree, but ridiculously over the top castles are definitely higher priority.

Between their magic user being called 'The Witch', the armour, and the dramatic architecture, she's definitely thinking Summer realm. Which is not all that bad really, they do tend to be a bit storybook but at least they're usually forthright and upfront about things; even the 'sneaky' ones are generally the kind to telegraph it for effect.

They will cross the bridge, and get on another rising platform that gets to the top of a tower. There, she can observe a following scene:

Another figure in the same outfit, holding the same knife, stands over a corpse, which looks burned, and taller than humans should be. On the back of the corpse, a wound in a shape of a semi-circle, with additinal lines coming from the outer side.

To the side, lies... a doll. Human-sized, and looking very human, expcept for blue skin and four arms. 

"Did it work?"

"Yes. She should awaken soon. Alecto and others will return some time after that. Who is she?"

"She appeared next to the Two Fingers when they started their communication. They seemed as surprised as me."

Circe will look at Allegra and say "Looks like the Witch isn't awake yet. While we wait, can you explain what you did when healing Rhea?"

Eh, it's not the strangest looking Herald she's ever come across. Quite pretty by most Herald standards, which also suggests Summer.

"It's just chirurgy," she replies. "Uh, it draws on your hearth magic - like, some people do actual wound care for it, but that's impractical through armour. It's just a matter of tapping into your cultural metaphor - there are some other possible techniques, but that's the easiest route - and doing something that resonates with the concept of healing. Intention and uninterrupted concentration are the key parts of it, I could probably teach you if you're the kind of being who can learn, and if I understood your cultural context a bit better."

That sounds like "Order Incantation", though perhaps not of the Golden Order specifically. Circe doesn't get the chance to answer, because the doll begins to move.

As the first thing to happen, the doll now has two faces, one ghostly and slightly in the wrong place - right eye of doll-face overlaps the left eye of ghost-face. 

She opens her eyes (but the overlapping one doesn't open), and starts standing up, moving unsteadily, and her four arms behaving especially erratically.

"How did it go?"

Circe removes her hood, "Mostly as expected. The Destined Death did its job, Alecto and the others should join us shortly. The Black Knife was ineffective against the Two Fingers, and they fled."

"When the Two Fingers started their communion, she appeared before them" she point at Allegra "Everyone seemed surprised, she claims not to serve the Greater Will, and she healed Rhea, much faster than she would recover naturally."

"Intriguing. Can you explain, how you came here, and what do you think, of what have you seen so far?" she says to Allegra.

Her movements gradually become more steady, and her arms no longer behave quite so erratically.

Okay, that is genuinely creepy. Perhaps she should be thinking 'Winter' rather than 'Summer' after all. Oh well, the approach is quite similar to both at this stage; neither of them like dishonesty or dissembling much. She'll err on the grandiose side a bit, and that should keep them entertained.

"I was minding my own business in my own house, when a large golden portal appeared - which is not, to my understanding, the normal behaviour of portals at all, even had a regio spontaneously manifested for some unknown reason.

I knew if I let my people hear of it, they'd demand to come through, and probably come to a bad end; so I wrote them a note explaining what had happened, gathered a few supplies, and headed through myself to see what was happening.

Of course, as mysterious portals are wont to do, it disappeared as soon as I was through it; then some giant fingers, presumably the Two Fingers, attempted to gesticulate at me, but sign language is something I've never picked up.

I fear I lack context; I would expect this to be the pocket of some magical Realm, but it is rather large for such a thing, and doesn't quite conform to one or another. Is this a Realm pocket, and whose domain is it under, if anyone's? It would seem I have landed in the middle of - something of a power struggle?"

"This place is called The Lands Between, and I have never heard of 'Realm pockets'. The Lands Between are a fraction of a greater world, but are, in a certain way central to it. They are currently under the domain of Queen Marika, The Eternal, but the true force claiming it is the Greater Will."

"'Power struggle' is perhaps a bit generous, but will serve for now. I am Lunar Princess Ranni, and I have now, for the first time, won part of my freedom and my Fate." This statement is directed less at Allegra, and spoken with weight behind it.

"What are your intentions for you future here? If your coming here was indeed an accident of the Two Fingers, I doubt either I or anyone else can return you to where you came from. I can let you go, should you swear not to reveal what you have seen atop this tower, but I will admit, I am curious about you. I give you the offer to enter my service, to help me with my fight, in exchange for my protection and my knowledge. What say thou?"

Marika... no that was an Empress Mariika, and not an especially magical one at that...

"I was rather hoping to return, but failing that - I am a Guide of Navarr and I do not serve any inhuman force, but I imagine I could be your ally, for a time, perhaps with a little more explanation of your own goals and intended means?"

"Very well. We can be allies. Then let me explain.”

"I an Lunar Princess Ranni, daugher of Renalla, Queen of the Full Moon, and Radagon of the Golden Order, who is currently husband to Marika. This makes me a demigod. At a young age, the Two Fingers chose me as an Empyrean, a candidate to succeed a god - Marika - to become a god of their next age. I would not acquiesce to the Two Fingers, but my Empyrean flesh gave them power over me. Was I ever to turn against them, they would render me helpless in a single movement. So I stole a fragment of long-sealed Rune of Death, the only thing that can kill a demigod, imbued the Black Knifes with it, and slew my own body, and freed my soul from it, becoming as I am now. That is... not everything I had to do, and the path here was darker than I hoped.”

"I am still not free of their power, and will not be free, as long as the Two Fingers that chose me live. But they can't control me, not as they could while I was in my own body. I can steal my Fate from them, find a weapon that can harm them, and, one day, upend the Order of the Greater Will. The path will be dark, for they leave no other path for me. But I am determined to find it and walk it, and perhaps with your help, it will be better lit.”

...yes, this is blatantly an Eleonaris and Jaheris situation. And... she's just signed up with Jaheris.

And he's come up with a story about how he stabbed himself with the death blade - or, wait, that was Hayaak...

Yeah, 'the path here was darker than I hoped' is classic Jaheris. Trust her to end up with the only entity in the Summer Realm that actually does plots and deception.

Still. This 'Lunar Princess' is right in front of her and the Black Knives do not sound like a thing she would like to be stabbed with, and she's probably blown the chance of going and investigating the nice peaceful looking village instead.

"Okay. I'm not sure I got all of the nuances there, but - not letting gods run around dictating the fate of people is definitely something we can agree on. And it's not like my history is entirely spotless, either.

I've helped Archmagi and Grandmasters alike with a lot of plans. Did you want to set out what we're looking at, here, and I can see if I can spot obvious problems, or where my powers might help? Although I only have a very limited supply of mana crystals and liao, if you have a source of those, then that changes what I can offer."

"The core of the plan is to find or make a weapon or perhaps a spell that can harm the Two Fingers. They are completely impervious to any known form of attack, and even Desitined Death did not work on them, for it is born of the Order they stand above. There are legends that entire nations once existing in the Lands Between were charged with high treason and banished, perhaps for attempting to create exactly such a weapon. The detail are, of course, scarce."

"What is 'liao', and would glintstone work as a 'mana crystal'?" She reaches into a small crate and pulls out a dark-blue crystal. It's obviously magical.

"So... you're not under direct control but you are - what does 'under their power' actually entail?

And you need to create something to cut them off from you entirely - probably by killing them, but that also seems hard - they're kind of like, a manifestation of something that is more - Eternal - and so it has to be - thematically appropriate, in order to kill them?

Liao is - it'll be easier to show you." Allegra pulls a small vial of purple liquid out of her bag. "I've got half a dozen of these. It's refined from a plant - we call the plant Vinum - which has sap that causes dreamless sleep; but I've never actually paid much attention to the refining process, and the trial and error method that developed it is recorded as being rather dangerous. It puts one in a very specific state of mind - one that emphasises the emotional connection between you and whatever you're concentrating on - and lets a practiced user create emotional auras through that connection.

As for mana - yes, that looks like it might be - may I touch it? Mana is expended in casting, but won't generally discharge with a touch, unless your mana is different; I'll be able to feel the power in it if I can hold it and have a quick look."

"They can see my intentions - once they realize I'm not actually dead - and can arrange things to stop me. I believe that ability is fairly limited, and they will try make sure I can't kill them, or claim the Order and cut off the Greater Will."

"I don't think we have any similar plant. I wonder if Miquella could... Doesn't matter."

"Take it." She gives Allegra the glintstone. "It is usually used as focus, and expending it is considered crude technique, but happens all the time in magic research, so the Academy gathers a lot of it."

Allegra examines the glintstone for a few seconds. "Yes, I can definitely use this. Right now I mostly have healing rituals, until I can teach someone else to help me with the larger workings - I can restore limbs and remove poisons, and remove most simple enchantments by replacing them with a harmless one that makes someone a bit more emotional.

I should possibly try one out, either on myself or a volunteer, to check that the underlying principles still work here; chirurgy does, but that's much more personal than ritual magic.

If that works, I should be able to teach most people who are reasonably intelligent - the more people involved, the more powerful effects we can reach - and prepare less efficient but more flexible effects with a season to prepare, if we find something that might be in my power to provide. I'm thinking perhaps I should work on re-deriving The Conspirator's Cloak - it lets you hide your intentions from those who would uncover them - it's Autumn, not a Realm I'm used to working in, but it's possible I can find a Night equivalent that would do similarly."

"That sounds very useful indeed. I doubt it would work to shield me against the Fingers, their connection with me is strong, but for you and for others who work with me, it will be very useful."

"Can your magic find information that was lost or hidden? The legends of the weapon are a place to start, but there are also other secrets that so far have eluded me, and they may turn out important to my cause."

"Only if some other power knows it, and is willing to be consulted, or sometimes if there is a magical connection between something I can hold in the ritual and the item sought. I do have a ritual memorised for calling on Leviathan, an Eternal of Day who answers questions of causality rather than fact - why something happened, not what happened or where something is - but it requires carved dragonbone tokens and I'm not sure of its success from another Realm.

The other rituals of this type mostly consult the history of an object that is present - who made it, what was the most pivotal event in its past - which could be useful if we have a fragment of something, I suppose? There are similar for places rather than objects, too, which might show who took something if it's not in the place it used to be, and its taking is the most important thing that happened there?"

"That is useful. Most secrets are tied to a place or object, though perhaps getting to them is going to be challenging."

And then, seven more figures emerge from the stairs. One of them is leading.

"Tiche is dead."