There is definitely not meant to be a portal in her house.

(For that matter, portals are meant to be invisible magical affordances, not garish golden swirling objects.)

The smart thing to do would probably be to ignore it, find someone younger and more adventurous to jump through; she could have a number of volunteers just by sticking her head out of the door and shouting.

Of course, they'd all probably die.

She sighs, dashes off a quick note along the lines of 'felt obliged to go through mysterious golden portal, please implement succession plan if no return within a week', checks her mage armour is in place, packs some supplies quickly into her bag, puts on her cloak, picks up her staff.

If she's going to go through because it might not last very long, she's got to stop dawdling.

She puts the tip of her staff through first, to check it doesn't immediately disintegrate or something stupid like that; then an arm, to feel the general conditions on the other side; then her head, to look through...

A giant hand with two fingers is standing in the otherwise normal-looking field! It doesn't appear to be part of actual body.

Right now, the fingers are straightened and unmoving. They don't seem to notice her yet.

Having confirmed there are useful things like 'air' and 'not immediately being poisoned' on the other side, Allegra sighs, takes a longing look back at her bed, and steps through entirely.

She looks up at the giant hand. "I don't suppose whoever left this portal lying around organised a welcoming party?" she says, to the otherwise empty field. Whilst also checking her sight lines for a good direction to run, if running becomes indicated.

The Fingers are confused. Again. Did they do this? Did Greater Will do this? It's too fast for it to be a response their message, but perhaps the Will has forseen it and didn't include it in the plan for the fingers.

The Fingers will ask the visitor a question of "Who are you? Why did you come here?"

To Allegra, this will look like erratic gesticulation, with no apparent meaning.

She can see buildings in a distance, including an impressive set of buildings on a raised cliff, connected by stone bridge to a village on ground level. Closer to her, she can notice a forest, and some rocks that may work as a hiding place should she need it.

Allegra tenses up, ready to dart away, when the fingers start moving, but they don't appear to be making any threatening moves.

"Um. This is the part where I admit I never actually learned any sign language," she replies, after deciding that the movement is probably an attempt at communication.

She keeps looking around for other signs of movement; perhaps a helpful interpreter will spring out of the forest, or something. If that doesn't happen soon, well, as much as she likes forests, the village is probably the most promising place to find out what is actually happening here.

She also experimentally waves an arm back over where the portal threshold was; it's probably gone, but as she's got a moment she might as well check.

The portal's gone.

Suddenly, from behind one of the rocks, a figure appears! It's hard to see any detail on them though.

The figure jumps onto the Fingers, and seems to hit them with something coated in black-and-red flame! The sound is of metal hitting metal.

The Fingers swing at the figure, but miss. They don't appear hurt by the attack. 

The figure will attempt the attack again, with the same result.

This will continue for a few seconds.

Just the one figure...

Well, she was probably invited here by the fingers and it seems impolite not to help them. She doesn't want to get terribly close to that blade, though; she suspects her mage armour won't be much use against it, if it's designed to cut through an entire metal statue.

Positioning herself for optimum fleeing into the forest if she does attract too much attention, she waits until the figure looks like it's about to need to dodge the Fingers, and lets out a very loud scream which she hopes might distract them for a vital moment.

The figure is distracted, though it's hard to notice! 

The Fingers land a strike, slamming a figure into the ground. 

The Fingers straighten, and disappear in a flash of golden light.

...okay, if it's not going to stick around to distract them, she is definitely leaving the area with all available haste; she's not putting much likelihood on 'they feel like talking' after that.

She's not the best sprinter but she's quite determined about it, and she is quite good at dodging trees and making headway over rough ground, if she can get into the forest.

A similar figure will step in front of her, seeming to appear from nowhere.

"Stop! Who are you and what are you doing here?"

While this figure is not moving, she can get a better look at it - it is armored, but very quiet for the amount of armor it is wearing. On top of the armor, there's a semi-transparent cloak transitioning into a hood that completely conceals the face (is there even a face?). In its hand, there's a a black knife that seems to have with a twisted guard, currently not on fire.

Okay, the jig is up, but at least they are talking rather than going straight to knives, so that's positive? She obediently stops, tries to look reasonably non-threatening, insofar as she can without actually giving up the option of frantic parrying if necessary; leans on the staff (silvered wood, autumn leaves growing out of it) like it's a walking stick rather than a weapon.

"Allegra Foundhome, Vate of Navarr. And I wish I knew; a few moments ago, I was peacefully at home..." 

She's not going to mention the portal too precisely unless they do; it seemed to have special effects associated with the fingers, which did not seem to be their friends.

"You are from beyond the Lands Between. And you didn't cross the fog here, so you were called here by the Two Fingers. Answer truthfully: Are you a servant of Greater Will?"

"Absolutely not," replies Allegra, entirely truthfully and quite vehemently.

She stops herself from going on; she wants to add something like 'I don't even know what that is' or 'I am a Guide of Navarr and I do not subjugate my will to any inhuman force' but it's not really clear what will land well and what will just lead to more problems.

"This will do for now. You can call me Circe. Help me get Rhea, and you can explain yourself later."

She will move towards the place where the other figure was struck down.

Allegra follows her; this actually seems somewhat more promising than the incomprehensible gesticulating fingers. "I've got my first aid supplies, if chirurgy might help," she offers, looking at Rhea - is it possible to tell if the figure is bleeding, or unconscious, or otherwise in dire need of medical assistance? She does have some skill in picking up the downed, as long as it's a fairly straightforward injury.

The finger-blow was certainly strong enough to break the bones of a human, but Circe doesn't seem especially worried. 

Rhea appears to be unconscious, but it's hard to tell whether there's injuries, though her armor.

"Do you have something to better carry her with? She will be fine, but I don't want to linger here".

"The staff won't break, if we want to move quickly we could tie her to it; otherwise no," she replies. "If she's anything like human, I can patch her up to wakefulness in half a minute; unless she has something more complex wrong, she'd be able to walk then, or at least help us support her weight."

"Let's try it", and she will stand near, and observe

Allegra takes some strips of cloth out of her bag, and sits quickly by Rhea's body. She looks for any patch of exposed flesh on Rhea, or anything that looks like it might be a promising access to one. "Do you know what the quickest way to expose any patch of flesh is?" she asks, in case that gets her an answer quicker. "Also it might be that the healing involves a small knife - don't be alarmed, it's only to draw my own blood for the sympathetic connection. I can try doing it with mirrors but I prefer to be able to make eye contact to get that right."

Circe will approach and remove one of Rhea's gauntlets, exposing a hand. Human, with slightly pale skin.

That'll do; she takes a small knife from the bag, slides it down the side of her hand, and gently anoints the hand with a drop of blood, then closes her eyes briefly in concentration. Feeling where the wounds are through that weak connection, whispering "My blood for yours, my health to your bones," she ties a couple of the pieces of cloth to the armour nearest the worst affected areas, then braids the ends in a simple pattern, wincing slightly where the work pulls on her own cut.

If Rhea has simply fallen of normal wounds, she'll be back up to just enough health to move around again after precisely thirty seconds of this; Allegra will get to her feet and absent-mindedly lick her own wound, which runs along an old scar that looks like she's done this a lot, and sometimes rather more dramatically.

Rhea will indeed wake up, and look first at Allegra then at Circe.

"She's from beyond the fog, appeared in front of the fingers, and tried to run. Doesn't appear to know what is going on, I plan on bringing her to talk to the Witch".

And to Allegra, "follow me", and she will start walking towards what looks to be a plain cliffside.

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."

"I am sorry, Alecto." 

Whisper to Allegra - "This could escalate very quickly, stay behind me."

Allegra will swiftly comply, although her demeanour is 'taking up the rear lookout position' rather than 'hiding behind someone'; she is no longer pretending her staff is a walking stick, it is clearly held as a weapon.

"That doesn't matter. I have done what you asked, and in the end, my daughter is dead, her body in the hands of the Golden Tyrants."

"It is all your fault!" And Alecto rushes at Ranni, while other Black Knives that came with her form a circle, but don't engage.

Ranni makes a motion utilizing her four hands, and blast of snow and magical cold knocks Alecto away.

The six other assasins join the fight, though not all of them can fight in limited space at the same time.

Circe and Rhea start fighting them, distracting two of them, so does the assasin who was originally present at the tower.

Allegra will stay cautiously out of knifing range, but remain alert; if it looks like Ranni, Circe and Rhea might be in any serious trouble, she'll consider intervening, but mostly she is looking out for any further ambushes and generally attempting to look like if anyone comes at her, they will regret it. If anyone does come at her, she'll start fighting.

Most of them are trying to get through to Ranni, but one will try attacking Allegra. 

Crice and Rhea are holding their ground.

Alecto will, without standing up, swing her knife, and send a wave of black-red flame at Ranni.

Ranni makes a gesture, blue half-sphere will appear, that consumes the flame and transforms into three floating blades, which lunge at the attackers.

On being the target of an attack, Allegra lashes out swiftly with her staff; she uses it as if it is a spear, but a spear that weighs almost nothing.

It injures the target a lot more like a spear than a quarterstaff, biting with magical energy when it makes contact - not in a fashion particularly more injurious than being stabbed with a sharp thing, but more so than just being whacked with a length of wood. She uses the full length of her weapon to keep her distance, not wanting to move in range of any of the other assailants.

Circe will manage to wound one of the attackers.

The one who attacked Allegra tries to dodge out of the way, but doesn't quite make it, and pulls back when wounded.

Alecto charges at Ranni once again.

Ranni will form a small sword in her hand, and swipe it at Alecto, with incredible speed.

"We're getting out! Dione, run, others - to me!"

And she extends a hand to Circe, Rhea and Allegra, while continuing to gesture with the fourth. 

Yes, this is definitely time to swap the staff into one hand and use the other to touch the powerful magic user that's about to portal them out of here, hopefully.

Yep! Everything goes dark for a second, then she can see stars. Much more clearly than can ever be seen from the ground. It's hard to tell where up or down is. This only lasts a few seconds, though, and then they are on a cliffside, near a much smaller tower. In the distance, blue beams reach for the sky.

"We are safe here."

It's just as well she has a lot of practice at Not Panicking, because that was definitely unexpected and surprising. On the other hand - constellations! She's almost disappointed when the view fades quickly.

"So. It seems like you might want to explain the - factions? polities? - here in more detail? It appears you have a - variety of enemies, some which look a lot like your friends..."

"Yes, Alecto is very capable, but also very impulsive. We're going to need to capture her before she causes too much trouble, but we have some time before she attempts anything as drastic again."

"Let us meet with Iji, my war counselor, and Seluvis, then we can discuss the factions involved."

"Iji has been my friend for a long time, and he is loyal. Seluvis has served my family, but cares only for himself. Don't trust him too much, and don't drink anything he gives you."

Allegra nods, and follows Ranni.

"The stars that we saw on the way here," she says, as they're moving. "Are there meaningful constellations? One of the modes of my magic relies on the meaning of constellations, which might not exactly correspond to what you have here."

"Yes, there are many contellations, and while their meaning don't affect sorcery, which just uses their power, it is crucial to the Fate, and my family has studied them for a long time. I can show you the star charts later."

"Oh, good, that makes me more confident that it's going to work. I'm fairly sure runes will work either way, but I'm much more confident with constellations."

And they enter a small tower, which has a spacious room, a big table in the middle that has a map on it.

There's also a man in blue robes, very big hat, and an iron mask.

And a troll (very big, and also with the abdomen ripped out), in a ridiculous-looking helmet made of mirrors.

"Ranni! Are you well?"

"Yes, Alecto rebelled, but couldn't do much. I want you to meet Allegra, our newest ally. Allegra - this is Iji and Seluvis."

Allegra nods politely at each of them. "My presence here is somewhat accidental, but hope I can be of use," she explains briefly, without actually really explaining anything - she'll take Ranni's lead on how she should present things.

"Allegra is from beyond the fog, and will need to be aware of the powers of the world. Iji should be able to answer your questions."

"Seluvis, you are to answer her questions of sorcerous arts, and the arts of Fate, as if she was Carian daughter. She may not be adept at the sorcery we know here, but her own magic may yet give us an advantage."

"I will go see Blaidd, unless you have questions for me."

"Thank you, Ranni." She turns to address the others. "I have been given a very brief summary of the situation, but it would be good to hear it in your own words, and then perhaps we can plan some experiments to see which of my powers are usable here."

"Well, the situation is that Lady Ranni, and by extension, us, just commited high treason against the Greater Will, in order to escape its grasp. She has renounced her Empyrean flesh, but the ritual was not without terrible cost. I believe, to say more I must first introduce you to the state of The Lands Between, should we do so now?"

"Sounds good." Allegra looks at the map - hopefully it will be used to explain a bit about the geopolitical situation she has stumbled into. 

He indeed points things out on a map.

"The Lands Between lie under the dominion of Golden Order, and its God - Queen Marika, who is vassal to Greater Will. The Two Fingers are the Will's envoys, but their communion is not fast, and so it is Marika who rules the land and manifests the Order."

"God's consort holdes the title of Elden Lord. There's been two so far, Godfrey, Lord of the Battlefield, and Radagon the Red. Radagon usually doesn't involve himself in wordly affairs, and pursues the understanding of fundumentals of the Golden Order."

"The Royal Capital is in Leyndell, at the foot of the Erdtree."

"Marika's children and stepchildren are demigods, granted significant power."

"Descendants of Godfrey are the Golden Lineage, but of the demigods only Godwyn remained here after Godfrey's exile. His home was Stormveil Castle, and the demense of Limgrave"

"Then come the Carian demigods - children of Rennala and Radagon - General Radahn, Praetor Rykard and Ranni herself. Radahn is said to be strongest demigod, and is adept at gravity magic. He holds the Redmane Castle, and is fiercly loyal to his father."

"Rykard has terse relations with rest of the family. He made his home on in the Volcano Manor on Gelmir, and has tinkering with magic derived from its fire. The Order considers such magic blasphemous, nobody dares to accuse the demigod, yet. He has a significant army, and should there be open war, he will be the main force opposing the armies of Leyndell."

"And at last, the malformed twins, Miquella, the Unalloyed and Malenia, the Severed, children of Radagon and Marika, both were born with afflictions - Miquella's body stayed ever a child, while Malenia suffers from Scarlet Rot - a disease as much as a curse. They are loyal to each other, Miquella, searching a cure for his sister, grew dissatisfied with the Order's offerings, and they left through the Forbidden Lands in the north, and haven't been heard from since. At least, by the Capital."

"And we are here, at Caria Manor in Liurnia of the Lakes - the main power here has historically been The Academy of Raya Lucaria - the greatest school of sorcery in the lands between, but Rennala has become the master of the Raya Lucaria, uniting the power of the academy and the Carian family. But since Radagon left her, she... hasn't been at her best."

"I believe that is the rough explanation of powers at play, do you have questions about anything?"

"I'm not going to remember all those names immediately," Allegra warns them. She looks at the map and tries to match everyone up to their places. It all does look very Summer from here, with volcano armies and great schools of magic. "you say Godwyn's home was Stormveil Castle and Limgrave, who rules there now?

And I don't suppose there's anything like a place of power aligned with - natural processes and abundant life, or... logic and purity? I'm not sure I'll be able to bind a coven without the - structures - I'm used to at home, and without one it's going to be difficult to do anything but the most basic investigation magic."

"As of less than an hour ago, Stormveil is without ruler." he says grimly.

"Destined Death can't be cheated, but it can split. For Ranni to die in body alone, another of equal strength must die in soul. That was the terrible price that was paid."


"I'm not sure about places of power, Abundance was a domain of the Erdtree in the old age, and its blessed sap has not been seen for long. Logic and purity are sometimes associated with sorcery, but not strongly."

"Okay. Stupid questions: the lands between what, if that is actually an answerable question and not just a turn of phrase? Where did Godfrey go into exile and is there a chance he might come back? Does Stormveil or the Golden Lineage have an army or similar, that might be also quite upset with us and capable of doing something about it?" Are there any known fixed portals leading out of here, she doesn't ask quite yet; she'll see what the reaction is to these, and maybe slip it in under guise of wondering if there is anywhere relevant but not on the map.

"It's... something between a turn of a phrase and a statement beyond my knowledge. The fog surrounding The Lands Between leads to different places, and is said to be impossible to navigate in directions apart from 'to The Lands Between' and 'out of them', but there's also places from which travellers arrive far more often than others, such as Land of Reeds. Godfrey went beyond the fog. It is said, before he became Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, he was known as "chieftain of the badlands", perhaps he would seek to return to his home, but that is just my speculation, not many travel here through the fog."

"And imminent threats from Stormveil, or are they likely to fall to infighting? I think our major problem is that if the Queen and/or the Golden Order and Greater Will actually start paying attention, they could make a spirited attempt to wipe us off the map, but what other threats are we looking at?"

Heading out through the fog at the first opportunity was certainly starting to sound quite tempting, but she didn't exactly want to let anyone present know that she was contemplating it.

"There will be some infighting, but our main defense is that nobody knows who exactly killed Godwyn. Depending on how long the infighting goes on, the Stormveil can be a significat force, but not comparable to Rykard's, Radahn's or Leyndell's. Additionally, any army attempting to storm the manor, will have to go through lands controlled by the Academy, who are unlikely to allow it."

"Are they likely to object to an army marching from Radahn's domain - it looks like he has to go through them to get to us and Rykard?

Smaller factions - things like Alecto and her people - is there any other significant player I should be aware of on that scale?

What's your estimated timescale on things like 'open war' and 'more extremely determined assassination attempts'? That will affect what I try to teach, and apply magic to; I doubt teaching people is going to be a fast process, but nor is rederiving more useful spells than the healing I have on hand."

"Hm, not sure, depends on who ends up in charge."

"There aren't many small factions, Golden Order holds a tight grasp. Ones that exist, tend to survive by service to demigod or the Queen."

"I do not expect open war, unless something else disastrous happens in short time. Assasination attempts... Alecto rebelled? Not unexpected. We will contain her before she has another chance, and other factions are unlikely to send assasins unless they learn significantly more details."

"We are likely to have years once we deal with immediate aftermath. The next stage of the plan was always expected to involve a long search."

Allegra doesn't especially want to stay here for years, but she doesn't think it's in her interests to let anyone here know that.

"I should be able to re-derive something useful in that kind of time, assuming the stars are cooperative. Can I get an overview of the kinds of magic you are familiar with, and an estimate of how many practitioners of those - or reasonably intelligent people, who might be expected to be able to pick up teachable magic - you have to hand?"

"Magic is broadly divided into Sorceries and Incantations, with many kinds within each group. Sorceries involve directing raw power from some source, while Incantations are calling upon entities to control it. Most common forms of sorcery draw power from the stars and channel it through glintstone, and most incantations of the Golden Order call either on the Erdtree or the Two Fingers."

"Most of the powerful sorcerers are graduates of the Raya Lucaria, but they are wary of change and new practices. Their admission standards are also notoriously high, you might find quite intelligent people among those the Academy rejected." it might be hard to tell through the mask, but his voice sounds slightly bitter.

"Hmm. Can you give me some more specific examples? By way of comparison - I divide magic into spells, rituals and hearth magic - the former is a quick shortcut to do a few very specific things which can be powered from collected ambient energy a few times a day, or by something like glintstone; rituals take an actual investment of power like you can find in glintstone, are theoretically much more flexible although getting a new effect is a considerable amount of work and study, and getting it efficient even more so, and do sometimes call on entities to help control the power; hearth magic is tiny effects that work as much as I like, the most obvious being a variety of emergency healing which will stop someone dying of most normal injuries, by tapping into patterns in the world."

"Most magic that gets properly categorized works like spells, like, for example Glintstone Pebble, a simple battle spell launching a small amount of energy. Rituals are usually used to alter objects, like Mistress Ranni created the Black Knives. I've never heard of something similar to hearth magic."

"Ah, the creation of most magic objects is a separate field to me - artisanry - which I'm not especially studied in. Rituals can temporarily imbue objects with magical properties, but it generally fades quite quickly.

It sounds like, unless there are any needs for the immediate aftermath, you should gather any practitioner of local magic that is willing to talk details with me - although it sounds like that might be difficult - and at least two hopeful candidates for learning my variety of magic, of similar cultural backgrounds if possible, because I would like to see if I can get them working together - and I should see what applies here, and if I can successfully teach someone.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Oh, and I'll also definitely need star charts, plenty of paper and writing instruments, and ideally a supply of glintstone that nobody will be upset if I drain while experimenting."

And I'll want to go looking for places of power, she doesn't add yet, because she doesn't want to push her luck at this stage - once she's established some trust, hopefully she'll be able to get to that, and be able to test this 'leave through the fog' avenue.

"Paper, star charts and glintstone is easy. I guess we can try calling in some Carian Knights - they aren't the most powerful sorcerers, but know it well enough, and it's much easier than introducing outsiders."

"I'd also bet that Seluvis knows someone who'd be happy to talk about unfamiliar magic, and also that you will have more luck with going to them without his introductions."

"Immediate aftermath will demand some attention, so we should avoid commiting to anything right now, but overall it sounds reasonable."

"Is there any particular help you might need in the - cleanup?"

"Ranni didn't have time to inform me yet - Alecto rebelled, did someone die in the capital? We will need to retirve body, cloak, and the knife. After Godwyn's death is announced, Ranni would be expected to appear in the Leyndell, which is both a constraint and an opportunity to observe how events are unfolding. I'm not sure whether she would want you to accompany her."

"She said a name, Ti-something, apparently they didn't manage to recover the body?" If Ranni wanted her to keep anything quiet, she should have left her with instructions.

"Oh. Tiche. No surprise Alecto snapped. It would have been during their flight, and only because they got careless, they wouldn't have the opportunity to get the body, so it will need to be done during Ranni's visit. Also this means they are likely to figure out how to see thorugh the veils."

"I'm not sure whether I'm more of a help or a liability - everyone seemed to be quite impressed with chirurgy but it isn't exactly fast and I'd rather hope nobody needed to be prevented from dying at a diplomatic meeting that ought to go smoothly. And I don't know anything about local etiquette, or have any repeatable defences against mind effects until we can replicate liao. Uh, that is a particular plant extract that puts me in the right mindset for some of my abilities, I only have a couple of doses with me - do we have anyone who might study it and work out if we can get something similar here?"

"Can I have a sample? I can try to manufacture it, but can offer no guarantees. Do you think concentrated starlight can have a similar effect?"

Allegra reaches into her bag, pulls out one of the doses of liao - a small vial of purple liquid - and offers it to Seluvis. While she's been warned he cares only for himself, he's probably going to at least need training to use the results, so issuing him the substance seems like a reasonable plan. "Does concentrated starlight have the effect of improving your focus enough to examine the fundamental forces of the human spirit, and manifest them in the world? If so, then maybe."

He takes a vial and puts it somewhere within his gown.

"Not exactly, but it certainly improves focus." he says in a more smooth voice than usual.

"Perhaps I will try that at some point, if Ranni thinks it's wise."

"It is not.", Ranni walks in.

"Blaidd is still sane, he will capture Alecto, we don't have to worry about that."

"Allegra, do you have any questions for me?"

"Do you want me to participate in any of the immediate activity, or should I be issued some star charts and glintstone, and start making sure I can recreate useful effects? If you have anyone who is poisoned, or wounded, or has lost the use of a limb, that you'd like me to try fixing, that's probably the rituals I know best, to begin with."

"How subtle can you make your magic, particulary one that reveals secrets? Capital holds many that are hidden even from me, and the opportunity is fairly unique - there will probably be more people visinting Leyndell than there ever was."

"Also, I believe I have not made it clear before, things were happening rather quickly, but if at any point you wish to go, you can. The dark path of the Empyrean only I may tread. If you leave, I will have to bind you to secrecy of what you learned about me, and can't protect you should Greater Will still take issue, but you are my ally, not a bound servant."

"It's not generally very subtle, I'm afraid. I can get a general idea of what would reveal more information, or the enchantments on an object or person, quite quickly, at the cost of a bit more power - but it's still quite obviously doing something in their general direction.

Anything else is going to be a couple of minutes of obvious magical activity, or has to be moderately obvious and gives them a feeling of being intensely scrutinised - and that last one is what I need the liao for, so I would rather keep it in reserve until we've worked out how to make more of it."

She doesn't address the idea that she might leave - it's not like she wants to wander off immediately, she has a little more context now but all of it is just more concerning. Her main plan so far is that if she starts teaching magic, she can organise an expedition to the edge of the mists with a group of people who know how to safely travel here, under some pretext, and that seems likely to get her out of here.

"Inconvenient. In that case, I can indeed show you the star charts, before I depart for the Capital. You can take Renna's Rise, the northern tower, it is currently unoccupied."

"After I return, Circe agreed to show me a way to Nokstella, a city banished beneath the earth for defying the Greater Will. They likely have some insight on the weapon I seek, and might have unique magic and maybe someone will want to study yours."

Allegra nods. "If you can spare anyone, it might be worth sending someone to study with me as soon as you can - ideally two people from similar backgrounds so I can test if I can create a coven bond between them without the infrastructure I'm used to.

Anyone who's reasonably bright should do, ideally someone with a bit of mental visualisation practice or who already knows the stars well, but I can walk them through finding their preferred metaphor."