The Wandering Isles: Session 88

Amaedrianna Blüdfist finally re-joins the group carrying fresh ideas, practical concerns, and a clearer sense of how the heist might actually be pulled off. The conversation turns quickly toward planning, but almost immediately she asks the obvious question: where is Dash? Eos, in perfect deadpan, answers that he is in prison and then carries on as if that were only a minor inconvenience. That blunt response forces the rest of the group to pause and explain what happened, more or less retracing the disaster that landed him in a cell in the first place.

Amaedrianna does not waste time lingering on outrage. She says she is going to the jail to find out exactly what kind of situation Dash is in, and Hatsu suggests that while she is at it, she should speak to some "friends" who might know more about the barracks security or have useful intelligence about the museum itself. Weslyn offers another route entirely. He says he may be able to speak to Dash in his dreams, something that seems entirely natural to him, as if dream-travel and dream-conversation are simply part of how he moves through the world. Eos is less sympathetic. In her view, if Dash got himself into prison, then he can get himself out of prison. Amaedrianna disagrees. Whatever else may be true, she says she likes having him on the team, and if that is the case then they need to rescue him. Eos yields a little at that, conceding that if nothing else, Lysa would probably kill them all if Dash were left to rot in a cell.

Before Amaedrianna leaves, Weslyn adds one more critical piece of information: while in the museum, he overheard enough to believe the object they are after, the egg, is meant to be moved within the week. Amaedrianna immediately points out that Dash’s infiltration may already have disrupted that timeline. Weslyn then mentions that he intends to return to Isolde, the Lore Keeper, the following day. When Amaedrianna asks what he learned from that first encounter, he explains that as recently as two generations ago there were still people in this place who understood the old law. More than that, he was clearly impressed by Isolde’s command of the language. She had also mentioned Kaelora as someone with expertise in the stones. Amaedrianna asks whether that could possibly be the same Kaelora they know, but Weslyn cannot say for certain. Even if he suspects anything, he admits he deliberately kept quiet. They are operating under cover, and he has no intention of exposing more than he must.

The tension softens briefly when Amaedrianna introduces Albi in a new form. Instead of appearing as a raven, her familiar now takes the shape of a spider. Eos, rather unexpectedly, thinks it is cute. That small moment turns unexpectedly tender when Eos, worrying about the tiny creature, says she will protect Albi. Amaedrianna gently explains that the familiar is bound to her in a way that makes it functionally immortal; as long as she lives, Albi will too. Eos accepts that explanation without backing down from the sentiment. She simply shifts it and says, solemnly, that then she will protect Amaedrianna.

From there the conversation returns to heavier things. Weslyn asks what happens if they fail. Amaedrianna answers plainly that their payment is not some abstract prize but supplies for The Rising Pearl, their home bastion, where survivors of the recent Saigo no Toshi tragedy still need help. Either they complete the job, or they somehow find an enormous amount of money to pay for those supplies themselves. When Weslyn says that if Ramseth takes the egg it hardly matters, Amaedrianna sharply disagrees. The king having it would be a very bad thing. Weslyn presses on that point, asking whether that outcome would truly be worse than letting the mysterious people who hired them walk away with it instead. Amaedrianna falls back on a grim logic: better the devil you know. For her, the worst possible path is the one that leads through Ramseth and onward to her father, the Archon. That, more than anything else, frightens her.

Weslyn does not find that reasoning especially comforting. He argues that anyone who understands enough about this artifact to commission its theft cannot possibly have good intentions. Amaedrianna again leans on the same hard instinct, preferring a danger she can at least name. Eos, still trying to reduce the problem to something graspable, asks whether it might not just be a crystal egg after all. Amaedrianna says it could be anything. It could contain blood from the last survivor of The Greenward Rebellion, or something even stranger. Hatsu agrees at once. Whatever it is, it is not a paperweight. Eos tries another comparison, saying it cannot be more significant than a crown, but Weslyn immediately counters that a crown is significant. That thought leads him toward a practical alternative: if the crown is of similar value, then perhaps they could steal both objects, hand over the crown to the people who hired them, and keep the egg out of the wrong hands.

Hatsu then reminds everyone that they still possess the teleportation stone, a Hearthstone, which would take them home if the need became desperate. Amaedrianna suggests Dash could use it: grab the egg, escape instantly, and remove himself from Ramseth’s reach before he can antagonise the king any further. But even as they game out possibilities, Amaedrianna remains wary of breaking the original arrangement. Their current employer, Lucien Vale, and the organisation behind him could prove to be very valuable allies. Hatsu adds that reputation matters in circles like these. Betray one deal, and others may vanish before they are ever offered.

At last, Amaedrianna and Weslyn settle on the dream approach. Hatsu takes Dash’s journal from Eldrin and hands it over to Weslyn in the hope that it will help anchor the connection. Before they begin, Weslyn gives stark instructions. They must keep their minds clear. If they meet anyone or anything along the way, they are not to agree to anything, not to look anything in the eye, and not to accept anything offered to them. If he loses them, he says, he will find them. With that, Weslyn, Eos, and Amaedrianna sink into trance while Hatsu and Eldrin remain awake beside their bodies, guarding them.

The dream journey begins in darkness. Eos joins Weslyn first, Amaedrianna after, and the three of them find themselves in a void that feels strangely like treading water despite there being nothing wet around them. Then the darkness gives way to a place Weslyn knows: the library. He moves instinctively toward the position where, hours earlier, he had gone to listen in on the king. But when he reaches it, it is not Ramseth who stands in that place. It is Dash. The image is wrong enough that Weslyn immediately asks why he looks like the king, but Dash only seems confused by the question.

Weslyn wastes no time asking how Dash got himself behind bars. Dash answers that he was trying to make the best of a bad situation. Amaedrianna and Eos join the conversation, and Dash attempts a casual greeting, only for Amaedrianna to answer him by scolding him for the efforts that landed him in jail in the first place. Dash explains that he is trying to gain the trust of Cassiel Vaelor, the Monarch’s Blade. Amaedrianna is exasperated. In her eyes, the best-case outcome now is that the authorities investigate his every move, and even that is terrible. Worse still, if the team proceeds with the theft now, it will look exactly as though Dash infiltrated the museum ahead of committing the heist himself. Dash argues that if he can gain the trust of the political court, it may serve their longer-term interests.

Eos is having none of it. Furious now, she calls him a "dirty little thief in a cage like a bird" and reminds him that they had a plan, while Mr. Heidmann is the one now forced into hiding. She accuses him of not caring about anyone. Dash flares at that and snaps that he has run through flames and walked until his feet were sore for this party. Eos only says that he has made his bed. Dash throws back that this temper does not suit her and calls it arrogance. Amaedrianna cuts through that at once, telling him he is only seeing his own reflection in it.

Weslyn intervenes before the argument can spiral further. He asks the question that matters most: how long will it take for the authorities to decide whether they trust him? Dash says they have to leave him there. At the same time, the others effectively answer that they have no choice. Amaedrianna presses him for any useful information at all, but he has nothing solid yet. Weslyn asks whether they should visit him again through dreams, and Dash says yes, adding that contrary to what they seem to believe, he cares deeply. Weslyn promises he will come again before heading north, since after that he may not be able to.

Weslyn then asks what exactly Dash told the authorities. Dash replies that he only said the king’s guard is complacent. Amaedrianna immediately points out that such a claim will probably double security. Dash tries to soften that by saying the king may only increase protection around himself, not necessarily around the museum. Amaedrianna does not look reassured. She says the situation now leads in one of only two directions: either they hang him after he infiltrated the museum right before a theft, or he somehow ends up working for the king. Which leads to her next, colder question: what exactly are they supposed to tell Lysa, the mother of his children? Dash answers, "the truth."

Eos asks how long he is even going to be in prison, but he does not know. Amaedrianna admits she is worried he is not learning from any of this. She wants to trust him. Eos again insists that they had a plan, driving the point home once more. Dash maintains that he did not walk in intending to be arrested. The situation turned sour, and now he is trying to salvage it. They go back and forth at length, grinding against the same point without resolving it.

Eventually Dash pivots, asking whether the egg is truly going to the king, or whether it may really be intended for Amaedrianna’s father. She agrees that this is a real possibility. Weslyn then introduces an even darker thought: what if it is not even the king at all? Amaedrianna pauses. What if it is another Slate, someone capable of taking another’s shape? Weslyn pushes that dread one step further and asks what if it is someone worse. The entire mood of the conversation changes with that possibility. In response, Weslyn says he would rather entrust the egg to Delphini Urging, the only person he truly trusts with it. Amaedrianna does not want to place such a burden on Delphini, but Weslyn believes she could bear it.

Amaedrianna then explains what she fears her father may really want it for. If the Archon is after this object, she thinks it may be to gain entry into "that tower," the same tower he once had her attempt to break into. In her mind, it could be one of the first seals, connected to The Seal, the kind of object that lets something else in. That revelation hangs in the air only briefly before Dash abruptly vanishes from the dream. Weslyn says they should leave. Amaedrianna, unable to resist, remarks that it is just like him to "dash away," but the pun lands badly enough to only annoy Eos and Weslyn further.

Dash wakes in the prison to a hooded stranger gesturing sharply for silence. Irritated and disoriented, he pokes the man and uses Tacitalk to communicate, a language of taps and patterns, subtle enough to be missed by anyone not trained to hear it. He demands to know what the fuck is going on. The stranger taps back that he is there to help and had expected gratitude. Dash glances around and sees two more men dressed similarly, as well as an unconscious guard. The stranger hands him a half-finished wanted poster declaring that Dash was executed. That sends a flash of panic through him. Then the man gives him back his belongings. The rescuers lead him to the last cell, through a hole, and then out into the open world.

While that escape unfolds elsewhere, Hatsu and Eldrin remain beside the dreamers and talk quietly. Hatsu asks what Eldrin really thinks of Dash’s situation, and Eldrin answers with complete honesty: it was dumb as shit, and Dash could easily be dead. Hatsu counters that Eldrin clearly does not have siblings. This, he says, is exactly the kind of thing an older brother would do. He asks Eldrin whether he would die for Tempestas. Eldrin says yes. Hatsu then asks whether Tempestas would need that from him, or even want it. Dash is a father now. He knows exactly what is on the line. So either he is a complete idiot, or more likely he trusts the group like family. Hatsu admits that Dash feels like his brother. Eldrin understands that at once and says it is the closest thing to a brother he himself could have.

The conversation deepens from there. Hatsu says he is grateful to have Ayame and Asuka with him, not only because they can protect him, but because he can trust them and be their support in turn. Eldrin agrees. When Hatsu asks whether Eldrin is willing to do what he must to keep his family safe, Eldrin says there is no other answer, even though all of this leaves him feeling as if the pressure inside his own head might make him explode. And yet, for all that stress, he has never felt more at home, especially while so far away from where he came from.

As the dreamers begin to stir, Hatsu tries to leave Eldrin with one more thought: he should not undervalue himself. Then Eos, Amaedrianna, and Weslyn return fully to waking life. Hatsu immediately asks how it went. Eos says they found Dash in prison in the museum, though Amaedrianna clarifies that the museum was really just the meeting ground inside the dream. Weslyn explains that it is easier for him to reach people through places he already knows. Hatsu has little patience for the metaphysics of that and wants only the practical summary. Amaedrianna gives it to him. Dash says the infiltration went wrong while he was trying to protect Weslyn, so he spun the disaster into a claim about weaknesses in the king’s security, or the museum’s, in the hope of securing a contract. For now, the authorities are holding him while they check his background.

Hatsu says he can only hope the cover story is flawless. Amaedrianna thinks it most likely is. Eldrin, however, worries aloud about how much of their false identities may now be compromised. Dash used the alias Derek when they dealt with Aron Cogsworth, and Eldrin fears that thread could lead somewhere dangerous. Amaedrianna says Dash seemed more focused on positioning himself with the king’s guards. Hatsu notes that this does align with his long-term ambitions.

That observation sparks an entirely different discussion. Suddenly the group becomes intensely interested in Eldrin’s own hidden identity. They need details. Mother’s name. Father’s occupation. Background. Habits. All of it. Amaedrianna and Hatsu begin effectively interrogating him in order to build a more believable persona. The lesson is simple: balance the lie with truth. Amaedrianna likens it to Eos’s favourite peppermint tea, saying the trick is the two t’s, reality and creativity. Eldrin notes that his clothing already reflects the Steelguard of his home in Bricksunder, which hardly helps him blend in. After some teasing about that, he reluctantly concedes that they are right.

In retaliation, Eldrin points out that Eos would not exactly disappear in a crowd either, being purple and all, and says she would scuttle away. That offends her on a surprisingly specific level, and she protests, "as if I'd scuttle!!" The whole conversation then slides into a mess of overlapping chatter, absurd side comments, and somehow even a discussion about eating camel.

Eventually they drag themselves back toward practicalities. Amaedrianna suggests renting another room under Eldrin’s alias, Derek, in case anyone starts looking for him. Hatsu adds that they should also move their ship, perhaps even ensure it is gone before the heist begins, so none of this can be traced back to them. They still have many things to do besides the theft, including helping Weslyn. Amaedrianna agrees and muses that perhaps the ship should simply be sent off once it is full, while they find another way back to the island. Weslyn says it could leave at dawn, but Amaedrianna reminds him that it is not their cargo. They cannot simply send it away without fulfilling the job or making payment first.

Hatsu then asks about Delphini Urging. When is Weslyn meant to meet her, and could she possibly help? Weslyn says the meeting is in four days, though he has no intention of changing course on it. He is going to keep that arrangement. Asked where she will be, he says only that she will be in the woods, and if the woods allow, then their paths will converge. Hatsu asks whether Weslyn wants company, but Weslyn cannot promise anyone’s safety on that road. He worries about what lurks there.

At one point Weslyn remarks that he has died more times than there are stars in the sky. That alarms Eldrin badly enough that he blurts out the obvious question of who keeps bringing him back. The others try to explain that Weslyn means something far stranger and more metaphysical than simple bodily death, but that clarification only seems to create more confusion rather than less.

Elsewhere, Dash is taken not to some anonymous safehouse but directly to Lucien Vale. The meaning is immediate and unmistakable: Dash now owes him a favour. Dash, being Dash, does not hesitate before asking for another. He wants Vale to send a message to his mother in Palperroth. Vale says that service can be arranged, but only if Dash first satisfies his curiosity about one thing: why is he travelling with someone personally tied to the Archon? Dash asks why he wants to know. Vale says it is simple morbid curiosity.

Dash describes Amaedrianna as a friend and says he wants the best for her. Vale seems unconvinced. He observes that the group hardly appears cohesive. Dash admits that much, but describes them as chaos with a general direction, a collection of people who all ultimately want what is best. Vale asks that if they are really a family, why was he the one who had to jailbreak Dash. Dash says he told them not to come.

Vale studies him carefully and says that with training Dash could do much more. Dash tries to dismiss his escape and survival as luck, but Vale counters with something closer to a philosophy: the skill lies in recognising when luck is on your side. He then offers Dash a place in his crew. Dash declines, saying their ambitions do not match. Vale presses. Dash makes his own ambition plain: he wants the king dead. That earns a pause. Dash continues, explaining that what he truly wants is for the magic users of this world, including his own children, to be free. He admits that perhaps this is only fantasy, the dream of a young man who has mistaken longing for a plan. Vale answers with a line that clearly means something to him: "we are all a work of art painted from all the lives that have brushed ours." He says he hopes Dash does not give up on those dreams.

Dash still declines to join, though he says he would gladly work with Vale. At some point Vale reveals that he recognises the Heidmann name. Dash mentions his father, Marcus Heidmann, and gets the distinct impression that Vale has heard that name before. Dash acknowledges the favour he now owes and says he will repay it. Vale leaves the offer of training open, and Dash says he will consider it before finally departing to rejoin the others.

He returns quietly, slipping up behind Hatsu and saying he would not miss training. Hatsu answers that he never doubted him. Amaedrianna immediately wants to know how he got out, and Dash gives the one-word answer: "Vale." She asks why, and what he wanted. Dash recounts the encounter, beginning with Vale’s interest in why Amaedrianna travels with him. Weslyn then asks what Dash told him, and Dash says simply that he wants the best for all of them. Weslyn follows the logic where it leads and asks why, if these people are watching so closely, they do not just do the job themselves. Dash says it feels as though they doubt themselves.

When Weslyn asks when the heist is meant to happen, Amaedrianna answers: four days. She says it with a look toward the rest of the group that makes the deadline feel even darker than the words alone. Weslyn responds just as firmly. In four days, he is leaving regardless. He waited for Saigo no Toshi as a courtesy, but he will not wait again. Hatsu assures him they will go with him.

Then, in a quieter and more secretive turn, Amaedrianna switches into wildspeak and tells Weslyn that she does not trust the room and that he should be careful how much detail he gives. Weslyn’s reaction is immediate and intense. He wants to know how she speaks that tongue. Amaedrianna says she has known it since birth. He asks what season her mother was born in. She says he will have to ask her. When he asks whether her mother still lives, she says yes. At once he says he wants to meet her.

Weslyn then demands to see Amaedrianna’s face, since she always keeps it masked. She is taken aback by the request. He asks whether her face is like his. She says no, that she is more akin to Eos than to him. Amaedrianna notes that when she spoke the language earlier he had seemed less surprised, but Weslyn says he has greater clarity now. He understands the difference between dream and waking reality. The way she speaks is close to root and stone, and in another age that alone would have condemned her to a boat. This innate language would once have marked her for exile from these lands. He warns that she is dealing with ancient things, and that he himself should not be speaking so clearly here. The walls have ears, and they have heard the group. Amaedrianna falls quiet at that, contemplative and unsettled. Weslyn tells her she will understand when she sees the stone. Hatsu, unable to follow any of this, points out that the rest of them cannot understand a word being said. Weslyn brushes him off by saying they were talking about the forest. Hatsu does not believe that answer, but accepts that the fuller explanation will come later.

Eldrin then asks Dash whether he knew Weslyn could speak with Amaedrianna like that. Dash hesitates, clearly trying to remember more than he can confidently say. Weslyn warns everyone who heard those words not to repeat them in the woods.

From there the conversation spirals outward into languages. Hatsu speaks in Seraphic, his own divine tongue. Eldrin nods with recognition, and Eos watches them with an expression that suggests she understands more than she lets on. Hatsu remarks that it is strange they have never really discussed languages before. Dash contributes Lunus, the language of night. Both he and Amaedrianna casually reveal that they speak many languages. Dash and Eldrin also fall into sign language together with ease. Hatsu says they ought to establish some common language they can all use. Eos offers Quicktalk, only for it to become clear that nobody but Eldrin understands it. Hatsu tries Netherchant next, which nobody comprehends except Amaedrianna. That leads him to a broader realisation: maybe these strange overlaps and intersecting lines of communication are part of why Remington put them all together in the first place. Amaedrianna agrees. Hatsu adds that he also knows Ironscript, an old and heavy language, while Eos reveals she knows Runic, though only as a written form. Eldrin recognises Ironscript on sight but cannot actually use it.

Through all of this, Weslyn remains half-lost in thought until eventually he asks Amaedrianna when she was born. She says spring. His answer is immediate and deeply serious: she should never let a blade of wrath rest in her hands, because she is spring-born just as he is. He then says that by tomorrow, if she knows anyone who can provide them, they will need bread, wine, and iron for the journey. Those things will protect her as someone who speaks the tongue. Hatsu, who was born in winter, asks what he ought to bring. Weslyn says it matters less if one does not speak the tongue, but he still explains the old divisions. Winter-born are hunters, grave-diggers, wanderers in the bogrest wood, those who stand between worlds and perform rites of death, deciding among those who would hunger when times are lean. When Hatsu asks whether that means sacrifice, Weslyn answers that among the Kin there must be a balance of mouths when hardship comes. Only certain people are permitted to kill: the winter-born and summer-born. When Eldrin asks about summer and autumn, Weslyn explains that summer-born are builders, warriors, well-diggers, and metalworkers, while autumn-born are the carpenters of balance, the ones who count, strike deals, witness, and speak the law. They are the ones permitted to carve on stone.

Weslyn insists he needs to know these things about anyone who means to travel with him, because the laws still stand whether the rest of the world remembers them or not. He asks if anyone else speaks the tongue of root and stone. One by one, they all shake their heads.

Amaedrianna says she will obtain the bread and iron, but Weslyn adds another crucial detail: they must be given by someone who does not walk away. Dash immediately offers, but Weslyn refuses. If Dash is the one who gives them, then Dash cannot come. Dash remarks that these are complicated rules. Weslyn says they are not merely complicated; they are important, and they must be followed. These gifts can be given freely, and the rites they belong to are older even than he is.

Finally, Weslyn tells them that he will not be with them the next day. He must meet the Lore Keeper, and that will require him to be away. He promises he will return and asks that they not come looking for him. If he is in danger, he will tell them by evening. Dash is visibly uneasy about letting him go alone, but Weslyn assures him he will be alright.

As the gathering begins to break apart, Amaedrianna helps Weslyn up from his chair and slips him a small note. He keeps it hidden until he is alone. Only then does he unfold it and read the words, written in wildspeak:

"Let no man carve when the earth lies frozen.
Let no name be spoken when none may answer.
Let the Law rest in winter’s keeping,
for only in silence is it made whole again."

Weslyn does not enter her dreams that night. Instead he sits with the meaning of those words in the privacy of his own mind, respecting what he seems to understand instinctively: the dreams of the winter-born are not his to walk through, nor his to witness.

And with that, the 24th of Searpeak comes to its end. Night deepens, then passes. Morning arrives. The group stands one day closer to the heist, one day closer to Weslyn’s meeting, and one day closer to whatever waits for them on the next stage of the journey.