The Immortal Dream

by Czar_Yoshi

Civilization Ho!

We stopped about an hour out from Snowport, as the road grew straight and well-surfaced and farmland and homesteads began popping up on the city's outskirts. A pleasant breeze rustled through my mane, cool enough that I didn't feel uncomfortable in my thick coat, but hardly cold. The mountains' shadow was growing as the sun edged toward the horizon, but I had a feeling we would outrun it: to our right was the last peak in the Crystal Mountains, and beyond it, the chain curved sharply away and descended into foothills. Just a little further south, and the horizon would no longer be made up of snow-capped ridges high in the sky.

"I should tell you a little about Snowport ere we arrive," Seigetsu said, getting out to check the wagon. "The stone fortress you see near the water is the seat of government, from which my brother rules. To the south, on the far end of town, are the rail yards, which as a safety precaution are largely off-limits to those who do not work there. Beyond that, we have a hospitality district meant for sailors and railworkers from other lands. As you will have access to the amenities in the castle, you should have no need of those facilities."

"By which you mean we're not allowed to mingle with other travelers, lest they get the right idea about what exists in their backyard," Papyrus cut in.

Seigetsu didn't look impressed. "A crude way of putting it, but not wholly unjustified. While I will not stop you from wandering and speaking as you please, I would at least ask that you see for yourself the benefits wrought by our way of life before making jokes at its expense. Some of them may surprise you."

"I've got a question," Corsica said. "Aren't trains faster than boats? The map we saw made it look like this is as far south as the sea goes. Why make a port town here instead of just continuing the rails along the coastline?"

Seigetsu folded her arms behind her back. "Although motorized trains exist, the vast majority of them are pulled by ponies, which was even more true nearly a thousand years ago when these tracks were first commissioned. As a result, ships are capable of carrying substantially more cargo per trip, and are preferred where possible because of it."

"Trains as a form of powered public transit only exist in Ironridge, at least up north," Leif remarked. "Even the Griffon Empire didn't have them."

"You also want to hand off the cargo between ponies with different sets of skills," Papyrus pointed out. "Keep the ambitious ones from getting too far from their precious homes too easily. Isn't that right?"

Seigetsu didn't look amused. "No, I don't suppose I can deny that."

I had something different on my mind. "The tracks you use were built a thousand years ago? Who maintains them? And how did they get designed, anyway? If everyone is only aware of the areas near their own cities, how did you decide what tracks to build where?"

"Equestria was not always the way it is today," Seigetsu explained. "It was restructured in the wake of a calamity long ago, and the trains were conceived as part of that restructuring. As to their resilience, they were both designed and constructed by Equestria's sole remaining monarch, Princess Celestia. Her enchantments have fortified them heavily, and they usually only need maintaining in exceptional cases of malicious mischief. Most times, they are more durable than the ground on which they are built."

"A calamity?" I perked my ears.

"Did you assume our desire for stability was founded on idle fears?" Seigetsu pulled out something that looked like a cross between a giant marker and an ink stamp. "It is based on experience. Long ago, Equestria was a diarchy, ruled by the sister alicorns Celestia and Luna. Then, as is wont to happen between gods, a war arose between them, and Celestia emerged victorious over a sundered land. They have since been reconciled, but it was so recently that none yet know what consequences it will have on Equestrian policy, let alone whether their reconciliation will endure."

Corsica looked intrigued. "How recently is recently?"

"Three years ago," Seigetsu said. "Their legend is known in some capacity all throughout the nation. Now, please make use of this."

Papyrus crossed his eyes at the marker-stamp.

"Yellow ink," Seigetsu explained. "Marking yourself with a dot above or near your cutie mark will identify you a a ward of mine, and new to the city. While not required, it just might save you a large amount of headache were anything unfortunate to occur."

I glanced at my coat, which completely covered my special talent. Cutie mark... She called them the same thing as Ansel.

Seigetsu saw my look. "Worry not. It washes out in the rain."

"Think I'll take my chances with the headache," Papyrus yawned, patting his rump.

Corsica sized the stamp up. "Same."

"Braen will take stamp!" Braen declared, reaching for the device.

My curiosity choosing now to overwhelm my paranoia, I took it too. Oddly, Mother didn't, but Leif did. Soon, we were back in the wagon and moving once again, Snowport close on the horizon.

---

Snowport gradually increased in density as we got further and further into the city, rather than beginning all at once. The street we entered on turned into a main thoroughfare, used more for moving than for standing around chatting; once the farms stopped and buildings became regular, streets began branching off to either side, filled with ponies and markets and lively conversations. There were more than a smattering of griffons, too, and dragons accounted for at least thirty percent of the population.

The dragons were the most interesting, because they came in all shapes and sizes: some tall and bipedal like Seigetsu, others long and noodly, some that were squat and barrel-shaped, and a few that went beyond four legs and had six. Relatively few had wings, but a quick glance up at the sky told me all the winged ones just had better ways to get around. Without fail, though, all of the dragons had sparkly scales, and were some shade adjacent to blue.

We rode through the north section of town, and eventually came to a river that looked like it had been artificially straightened, a proud stone wall guarding the far bank. The road crossed the river and the wall via a drawbridge guarded by two tall, Seigetsu-shaped dragons. Given the amount of traffic that was passing through and the complete lack of stops or inspections, I gathered the guards were strictly ceremonial.

Beyond the wall were more houses, this time stacked two or three floors high, sharing walls and looking like they had been built by a cohesive architectural plan instead of simply grown up around the roads. I tried and eventually failed to guess how many creatures could live in a city this size: five digits felt much too high, and four a bit too low. The place was certainly lively. I couldn't imagine I had seen less than two hundred already walking the streets alone.

The street opened out into a massive plaza that was clearly intended as the center of public life. A circular, paved-stone field surrounded a statue in the middle of a large moat that depicted a huge, noble-looking dragon of the noodle type, with a gaping maw and long, flowing whiskers. Surrounding the field on all but one front were buildings with important-looking stone facades, and the final front was taken up by the castle itself, three tall spires rising from its stone keep to provide an impressive view of the surroundings. An inner road circled the moat, and an outer road circled through the buildings that ringed the plaza, parts of their faces cut away to allow traffic to move straight through them. It reminded me of the train stations in Ironridge, except built by a civilization for whom moving around was much more significant than just a means to an end.

"Who's that?" Corsica asked, pointing at the statue. "Looks important."

"That is Saint Tadashi," Seigetsu said, keeping her eyes on the road. "An important figure from the history of our religion."

"How'd they become a saint?" I pressed, curious.

"I cannot tell you," Seigetsu answered. "Most of the world's religions are governmental supplements used by gods to codify and enforce rules for those who adhere to them or live in their lands, and as such must be spread widely within those lands and have adherence be mandatory. For the ice dragons, by contrast, our religion is synonymous with our culture. It is handed down rather than enforced, and we do not share it. As such, neither do we expect compliance with our tenets from ponies and other creatures who live in our land. It is for us alone."

I gritted my teeth. At least that wasn't as backwards as Icereach censoring the laws they expected their citizens to live by, but still...

"And yet you somehow find work as an inquisitor," Papyrus pointed out, "presumably going town to town and enforcing the tenets of the faith."

"Yes," Seigetsu said. "I do. Usually, that involves taking action against those with unduly loose lips, as well as cataloguing any damages they may have caused. Of course, my presence also serves as a deterrent against those with an unhealthy level of curiosity."

My face fell further. "And what do you do if someone does learn your secrets? Surely this whole thing can't be completely airtight."

"We have our ways," Seigetsu said. "You in particular jumped at the chance when I offered to introduce you to them earlier."

I blinked. Who had I... Oh.

The faction that supposedly could help fix my bracelet.

"I've got one," Papyrus cut in, interrupting my train of thought. "That holy war of yours. Don't you think it would be alarmingly easy for a bad actor - say, someone aligned with whatever you're fighting against - to turn the public against your interests? Even if you happen to be fair and magnanimous rulers whom the public would happily back, all that goodwill would be quite easy to manipulate if left unchanneled."

"You presume that we have an interest against which the ponies and other creatures of the public may be turned," Seigetsu said. "As I explained to you before, your thoughts are not our domain. So long as you abide by the laws of orderly conduct which are writ plain in the city's ledgers for all to see, you are free to think and believe as you will, even should that mean you sympathize with our enemies. We neither ask for nor desire your adherence to our culture."

"Just so long as we don't tell too many stories about the north," Corsica said. "Can't be caught expanding anyone's horizons, now."

Seigetsu looked amused, steering the cart up to the gates of the castle and beginning to slow further. "You conflate the ice dragons with all of Equestria. Even in parts of the land where we are unheard of, you would still find society moving along premade paths and information slow to travel. That is the design of Princess Celestia, who is a goddess and whom we do claim fealty to due to living under the umbrella of her lands."

"So are these your lands, or aren't they?" Corsica pressed. "Because I'm pretty sure you called them yours earlier."

"Both," Seigetsu said, as if it was a simple matter. "Our lands are part of Equestria. In fact, our presence here predates that name. When the alicorns appeared and first began to coalesce Equestria as a nation, my ancestors simply decided their goals were compatible enough with our own, and opted to join them rather than opposing the new divinities. Ever since, we have been allies of the crown, and found no contradictions in living under both their tenets and our own. Now, if I might put this conversation on hold... we are here."

We rolled through one of the castle's main gates, through a tunnel and past a checkpoint at which Seigetsu exchanged a few words with a draconic guard. Beyond there was an indoor stable where about half a dozen such motorized wagons were parked, with room for half a dozen more.

Maneuvering around a stone support column, Seigetsu parked the wagon, motioning for us to disembark. "You may bring your belongings, or leave them for a porter to collect. I would offer you accommodations first, that you might freshen up before an audience with my brother, but he is not usually the type of person to care..."

Not the type to care about looks, huh? That sure could be taken in a good way or a bad way.

"Sure," Corsica volunteered. "I could do with a bath."

"Eh, I'm good." Papyrus straightened his wings. "I just had one yesterday."

Corsica gave him a look.

I almost smiled. That was an exchange that could easily have happened between her and Ansel... And that made me remember how Ansel had stayed behind in Ironridge.

Whatever his reason for staying, hopefully it had led him somewhere as interesting as the basement of a castle owned by a bunch of censorship-happy dragons.

Seigetsu led us through a door, up a staircase and through a maze of passages, each one slightly larger than the last. Most had vaulted ceilings and were constructed entirely of stone, save for lavish carpets and paintings in the alcoves portraying inspiring vistas, armadas of dragons, and boats and trains. Nothing was too grand, though: this felt like it had once been primarily a military installation, then half-converted to a seat of civilian government with the expectation that it could be quickly converted back if the lands were ever in need of defending.

We were escorted into a wide room containing a huge, low table that was strewn with documents, a gigantic rug, and a hearth containing a blue, brightly-glowing crystal that somehow seemed to be putting out cool air, a pleasant feeling in the stuffy confines of the castle. Two small windows near the roof let in a breeze, and Seigetsu motioned to some chairs near the side.

"Please wait here," she instructed. "I highly doubt that my lord brother will do anything other than drop what he is doing to meet you."

We waited, and Seigetsu waited with us, claws clasped behind her back, no longer in a talkative mood. And after about twenty minutes, the door burst open, and several figures strode in.

Chief among them was a bipedal dragon with a similar figure to Seigetsu, sporting icy blue scales and a suit of heavy chain mail emblazoned with the same crest I saw on a tapestry mounted over the ice hearth. That had to be Snowport's ruler... but my attention was stolen by the pony who entered in behind him.

They were a batpony. A stallion, probably around sixty years old. Like me, he was heavily garbed, thick robes and a miter covering everything below his gray neck and gray mane. Yellow irises were the only hint of color about him; even his robes were gray... and as he stepped across my vision, I felt an uncomfortable tug in my chest, as if something invisible and greedy was grasping at my heart.

The stallion glanced at me, raising a very impassive eyebrow before turning back and following the armored dragon, sticking at his side.

"Well come and well met," the dragon said with a bow, his voice undeniably masculine, a slight shortness in his breath that suggested he had been out exercising minutes earlier. "As you've doubtless heard far too many times already, I am Lord Terutomo, and this is my fort. But come, six of you at once from the other side of the Aldenfold? You, my friends, undoubtedly have some tales to tell! I would hear every word and more, so long as your needs have been suitably tended to?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you friendly."

Terutomo nodded. "Better to waste hospitality on those who don't deserve it than withhold it from those who do."

"In that case," Corsica interrupted, "could we get some food? I've been living on rations for weeks."

Several others heartily agreed.

Terutomo nodded thoughtfully, his gaze sliding over to Seigetsu, who was giving him an intense look. "Why don't you all take that up with my men, here," he said, motioning to the dragon guards who had followed him into the room. "It seems my distinguished sister wants a moment of my time, but rest assured you will be treated with the finest Snowport has to offer."

Distinguished sister! I gave Corsica a look.

She groaned.

The two official dragons slipped out, and the strange batpony followed them, the grabbing sensation in my chest dissipating once he was out of sight. Papyrus instantly started chatting up the guards, but I couldn't concentrate. What was that? What had he been?

How possible was it that this was who Seigetsu had promised to introduce me to, the faction representative who could help fix my bracelet? The idea suddenly crossed my mind that anyone who knew enough about changeling queen crowns to fix them when they broke might not actually be that safe of a pony... Hopefully Seigetsu had a really good reason for dealing with someone who gave me such an unsettling feeling.

"Hey." I nudged Corsica, steeling my resolve and making my decision. "Gimmie the you-know-what back."

"What?" Corsica hissed under her breath. "Why? Won't you go all... you know?"

"If I do, then give me a minute and take it away again," I whispered. "But on the off chance it's fixed itself while I wasn't looking, I'd like to know, just in case this goes south and I need a weapon."

Clearly dubious, Corsica slid the bracelet stealthily towards me, so that no one else could see...

I touched it surreptitiously with a wing, and instantly I was on a formless road in the wilderness, hitched to a wagon, my legs burning from exhaustion as I ran and ran and ran.

Get to Snowport. That was the only thing that mattered. Get to Snowport. That was my overriding desire. Get to...

"But..." I panted, speaking between gulps of air. "Aren't we already there?"

Didn't matter. I had to get there. That was the only thing keeping me going, and if I didn't keep going, I would collapse, utterly spent. I had to. I pushed on, kept pushing... Pushed my eyes open.

My legs wanted to move. I could barely stop them from moving, even when I suddenly felt Faye pushing against my consciousness, lending her own instinct to mine as I commanded my body not to give in and start running, and my bracelet demanded the opposite. It was inert, not glowing, but it was loud, like ten thousand echoes of my own thoughts beating back at me all at once.

Stop it, I commanded the bracelet with the biggest drop of force I could spare. We're not running anymore. We no longer need to go... to go to...

The intensity didn't wane, and I pulled back my wing, afraid that I would finally snap and lose control.

"Well?" Corsica whispered, tucking the bracelet back away again.

I felt stunned. The feeling abruptly receded from my mind, like water draining from a bucket after it had been tipped over. The compulsion to get to Snowport... "I'm fine," I whispered back. "Or, I'm sane, at least. Gotta think about that for a sec."

I think... I get it, Faye said in my head. Tell me if this makes no sense, but we're an empty changeling queen, right? What if, by burning the bracelet for so long while thinking about exactly one goal and nothing else, we turned ourselves into an echo chamber, somehow? And touching the bracelet lets us get back in tune with that desire inside of us?

That would be... Maybe? I held a hoof to my forehead. How, though? We didn't have a throne, or any altars like Coda. And what was the point of collecting prayers from so many ponies if my thoughts on their own could be this strong?

I don't know, Faye said. We're speculating about something we know nothing about. But, when you think about it, normally we just have one or two ponies' thoughts in our head. Experiencing two weeks of your own thoughts compressed into a single desire at a single second is bound to be intense. Maybe we're underestimating what it's like to be a changeling queen who isn't empty.

I thought about that.

After all, Faye pointed out, We almost never saw Coda touch her crown. And who knows what it was like sitting on her throne, but she didn't seem to like it much.

I frowned. That sure would be inconvenient, if feeding my bracelet meant I could no longer wear it. And what about Ludwig, or the pink flame? Those hadn't influenced me like this...

Unless they can, and just haven't wanted to yet, Faye said. They are sapient, after all. Either way, now that we've successfully held it for a moment, we should practice holding it more often, I think. It would be nice if we could get rid of that desire to go to Snowport, but if we can't, or if something like this happens again in the future, it would be good to have the mental fortitude built up to resist it.

...Yeah. Good idea.

---

"Our deliberations have concluded," Seigetsu announced as she stepped back into the waiting room with Terutomo and the unsettling batpony. "Now, I have other matters I must attend to. I trust you will be content in my brother's care."

Without waiting for an affirmation, she left, along with one of the guards, who carried a copious list of Papyrus and Corsica's meal preferences. Mother and Leitmotif weren't picky, Braen didn't need food, and I was happy enough to have whatever Corsica was having.

"Well then!" Terutomo greeted, now that we were alone with him, one guard and the batpony. "My sister tells me you were frustratingly tight-lipped about your reasons for being here. Is your business a secret I actually shouldn't pry into, or was she just bad at making herself out to be trustworthy?"

"If it was a secret, would you leave well enough alone?" Corsica raised an eyebrow.

"Unhappily, but yes," the dragon said with a shrug. "Unless it pertains to the immediate needs of my troops and civilians. Of course, I'm told your goal lies on the Catantan Peninsula, and if that's true I'd imagine you'd be all too eager to plead your case to the overseer of most naval traffic on our fair sea."

I uneasily cleared my throat. "Hey, before we get too far into talking business... Who's that?" I pointed a hoof at the batpony.

"That's Yelvey." Terutomo's face fell. "Seigetsu wasn't kidding when she said she left explaining what he does up to me, was she?"

"She did seem awfully fond of dancing around subjects," Papyrus said.

Terutomo sighed. "Yelvey is the priest of the local chapter of the Order of Silence. It's a sect, controlled and overseen by the Holy Cernial Convocation, and its very few members have the power to erase memories."

All of my fur stood on end. "What!?"

The reactions of my companions, I noted, didn't match mine. Well, Corsica and Braen's did. But Papyrus looked intrigued, and Mother and Leif just looked weary.

"Does the public know stuff like that?" Corsica queried. "Or are you letting us in on forbidden knowledge to scare us into staying tight-lipped?"

Terutomo nodded. "The public is aware of this power. And while I endeavor to govern in ways that uphold the trust they display, the real reason we are allowed to keep it is because certain facets of life in this world make it incredibly useful to be able to come to the castle and ask to forget something you'd rather not know."

"Are you serious?" I narrowed my eyes. "Try me."

The dragon gave me a look that suggested he was beyond accustomed to answering this question. "Have you ever heard of a class of magic that only exists when no one is aware of it?"

I blinked.

"It sounds preposterous, and by all rights it is," Terutomo explained. "But it does, in fact, exist. The workings of our society are underpinned by several magics of immense power and significance that cease working for any individual the moment they become aware of them, which can be incredibly inconvenient for anyone who unknowingly depends on them and then suddenly finds them no longer serviceable. Accidents are unavoidable, particularly when some individuals need to know to do their jobs, or else found out and decided to live with the consequences of knowing. And so the public trusts us with this power because their way of life depends on having it available."

"That's... That's bogus," I complained, trying to find some way that such a magic couldn't actually exist.

"Sounds pretty dumb to me," Corsica said, getting up. "If you're for real, you wanna tell me just what this forbidden knowledge is? Then I'll tell everyone here if it's actually a good reason, and then you zap me if I want to forget it. It's not a painful zap, is it?"

"It isn't something one would exactly do for fun," Terutomo explained. "But you'd hardly be the first to request, or go through with, something like that. Memory erasure isn't gentle; it destroys everything from the present up until a given distance back in time. You'll simply find yourself with a splitting headache and not even an inkling of what it was you learned or anything that happened since."

Corsica looked disturbed.

"Does the magic even work for machines?" Braen asked. "I am not affected by the Aldenfold."

Terutomo stared at her. "I have, quite frankly, no idea whatsoever."

"Then tell!" Braen urged. "Not-knowing magic might not even work on Braen in first place, so maybe have nothing to lose from hearing about other magic!"

Terutomo stared at her a moment longer, then beckoned her over to a corner and lowered his voice too low for me to hear. Corsica looked somewhere between annoyed and jealous.

Eventually, they straightened up. "Who would make a spell work that way?" Braen asked. "Why not just make it affect everyone?"

"Presumably, inherent limits in the power used to weave it," Terutomo said. "It is, after all, quite a powerful effect."

"Well?" Corsica insisted. "Is it a good reason, or not?"

Braen hesitated. "After Catantan," she said. "Where are we going? Back to Ironridge, or not?"

I thought about that. Even assuming we found Starlight first try and had no troubles recruiting her, there was still the matter of Fluttershy and the pink flame... "I'm not sure that'll be our only stop," I admitted. "Though actually, that's something to research while we're here..."

Braen shook her head. "Then is important Halcyon not know. Many apologies."

Internally, I groaned.

Corsica's groan was much louder. "It's actually a good reason? If I knew, would I want to forget?"

Braen looked slightly ashamed. "Probably."

"And you?" I pressed. "What are you gonna do? Does memory erasure even work on machines?"

"Not going to find out." Braen shook her head. "Important part of mission is collecting performance data for Mother. If Terutomo spell is real, would be invaluable data for Mother to have, knowing whether or not my body is affected."

"Spoil me too, old chap," Papyrus cut in. "Very technically, I'm being bribed to be here as a bodyguard by her mommies, so anything she can't do, I probably don't need to do either. Besides, I know more about this place than most of us, so chances are I've heard about this in passing already."

Terutomo sighed and beckoned Papyrus over. After a moment of whispering, Papyrus burst out laughing.

"Bwahahahahaa!" He slapped his forelegs with his wings. "I don't know what kind of psychopath thinks up a system that vexing, but I like them already! ...Actually, I do know, but can't say it because spoilers. Let's just say my opinion of their megalomania has risen substantially, and also the rest of you almost definitely would want to forget if you learned this. It's the kind of thing done by someone with way too much time on their hooves who gets a kick out of watching everyone run around clueless in the dark, let's put it that way."

My eye twitched.

"This is really stupid," Corsica said.

"Really, really stupid," I agreed.

"Needless to say, I think I'll keep my forbidden knowledge," Papyrus said, walking back to his chair with a lazy wing salute. "If I have to bail on the party because of it, too bad, so sad, but I might have already known it anyway. And don't try to think about it too hard, girlies, or this will drive you legitimately insane." He winked at me and Corsica.

I felt my blood pressure rise.

"It's okay," Braen said, walking over and patting me on the shoulder. "Reason is actually a good reason. Halcyon and friends can do more not knowing. And when we all go back to Ironridge, Braen can tell you all about it!"

True. There was that... I calmed down just a little, trying not to pay attention to Papyrus as he giggled to himself and Corsica threatened to slap him.

"Quite the close-knit crew, I see," Terutomo remarked, raising an eyebrow from the spoiler corner.

"I'm the leader." I shrugged. "I've got one best friend, two family members, and two stowaways along for the ride. You take what you can get, sometimes."

A slap echoed out as Papyrus said something I didn't catch and Corsica actually hit him.

"Well!" Terutomo clapped his hands together, and Yelvey took it as a signal to quietly - too quietly - leave. "Now that we've got that on the table and none of you have gone running for the hills, perhaps you might avail yourselves of my city's hospitality? My chefs shouldn't be too much longer, and now that you know the basics about how to come running here if you accidentally hear the wrong thing and regret it, you're more than welcome to take a tour of the place! And get washed up." He pointed at the yellow mark on my flank, and others'. "And get rid of those. Those mark you as someone who hasn't yet heard the rules about how to unhear things and might not have even realized there are things worth unhearing. Just so others can be courteous."

"I still think this is stupid," I sighed. "How do you even know what we do and don't know, anyway? Without knowing what we need to not talk about, how do we know not to talk about it?"

"Seigetsu did her best to figure out," Terutomo said. "It's quite possible you do all already know. But so long as you do your own level best to avoid discussing far-away places in detail with anyone who isn't already cleared for it, you should be just fine, and if you do mess up then anyone who actually cares will know what they need to get fixed."

I wasn't pacified, and wasn't convinced there wasn't more to this that he could say, and just wasn't saying. I wasn't sold on this being a safe or effective kind of magic to have around, no matter what safety net was in place: merely setting the precedent meant there could be any number of similar spells around, all doing different things. What if Terutomo knew about this spell, the one he told Papyrus and Braen, but not others that functioned on the same principle?

In a world like this, the ones who actually kept the secrets would have absolute power. It was a stage that was far, far too ripe for conspiracies and intrigue. And the keepers of those secrets, I had a bad feeling about... and was all but certain their road was entwined with my own.

Comments

[Zapdroid]

Can I get in on this secret knowledge too?

[Thunder twister]

The secret must have something to do with the Aldenfold - I can't see any reason Braen would wait until ironridge otherwise

[Numinos]

Well, hello there, "informational hazard"

(If you want some more existential horror, look up Roko's Basilisk. But it is, just as was mentioned in this chapter, another of those things that you better of not knowing)

[BurningSkies]

Finally caught up on this vast wonder!

11458334
*works on basilisk code*

[Czar_Yoshi]

11462280
Welcome welcome! Been fun reading your comments as you've been going through.