Melehan returns from his journey to the Aelvinnwode, exhausted. He states he has been successful and that the threat of Rhuobhe has been contained for another generation, at least. As he is discussing matters in the council chamber with Cathal, Reynhild, and Mara, Sir Varyan, who has temporarily stayed on while figuring out how to deal with the loss of his mount and his armour, enters the hall. A strangely tense moment transpires as visible animosity passes between the two. Mara senses Melehan casting a spell. Mara and Reynhild quickly separate the two to avoid any incident.
Reynhild asks Varyan what happened between them; Varyan, showing great trust toward Reynhild, discloses a secret-- that he is gifted with the power to sense an individual's potential. He hints that he is concerned with Melehan's potential; Reynhild asks to learn more, but he states that he does not wish to use his gift in a manner that might unduly alter the course of fate. He also states that he sees the potential in her plans-- that the organization she is trying to build could become a great force for good, in time.
Meanwhile, Mara attempts to gain Melehan's perspective on the altercation. Melehan states that men such as Varyan--paladins-- are often unwelcome, holier-than-thou meddlers. Mara both bravely suggests he not ensorcel guests of the house, and asks him what role he envisions himself in in the House going forward. He deflects, and offers to show Mara something. He takes her to the catacombs beneath the Keep, dissolves walls by merely touching them, and transports both of them to the astral plane, where she is granted a wondrous vision-- the thread of her existence as merely a small part of something much greater, in the grand, dazzling, and infinite vastness of the cosmos. The vision affects her profoundly, and she returns to the mortal plane a changed person. Afterward, she officially accepts his mentorship, but first he requires her to destroy several magical items in her possession, including the staff of power from her old master Khorien, and the enchanted bracer from the Fulcairns, stating she will no longer need such crutches.
Mara and Varyan talk briefly about her ongoing struggle to discover her role in the House and the world as a wizard. She promises to use her magic to aid the house first and the people of the realm second.
Reynhild's contact Leandra informs her that the elder Duene has died. The Fulcairns correspond with several contacts, penning letters to Geoffrey Khorien, Gaelen Isilvaere, Tashairah, and Vulpina Duene; Reynhild in particular writes a somewhat apologetic letter to Vulpina, extending her sympathies and attempting to determine if the late Duene's illness was similar to her late husband Corrac's. Cathal, having received word that expansion of Avan's empire is starting to meet resistance from the realms outside his influence, also sends an inquiring letter to Harald Khorien, offering the Fulcairns' aid should it be needed.
Reynhild summons her rangers to the old fort-- recently renamed Fort Caedmon--and discusses the foundation of an elite organization which defends Taeghas from the shadows, using the skills of both Wilder rangers and Stormpoint thieves. She expresses a desire for it to be open to recruitment from all over Taeghas, from both nobles and commoners, to uphold the laws of the just and rightful ruler of Taeghas, and to strike silently and unseen at its foes. She refers to them as Ghosts, partly in honour of the Ghost in the Pines, Caedmon Fulcairn. Of the assembled rangers, Orian declines to join, wishing to maintain his regular duties, but Adair, Asha and Telfyrdd join, and remain at Fort Caedmon to train.
More discussions are held about the upkeep of the barony. Varyan is dispatched to take care of a griffon terrorizing farmers, Finn and a hundred soldiers are sent south to deal with marauding bandits, and the Fulcairns decide to head east, to survey the abandoned copper mine, scout a potential trade route eastward to Avanil, and investigate a cache of magic items Melehan left behind in a village called Vilmier, no longer on any maps.
The Fulcairns, along with Orian and Dolan, head eastward. The mine appears intact and relatively safe to be reopened. They discover ogre tracks while heading into the mountains eastward and find the remnants of an old road heading toward Avanil. They eventually find Vilmier; it is long abandoned and appears to have been partly obliterated by an explosion. A group of forty-odd men, however, is looting the ruined manor. Reynhild investigates and can only tell that they are likely from Avanil and seem to be mercenaries. Unwilling to take on such a large group, they wait until the mercenaries leave, gambling that the magical items will have been sufficiently warded. However, as they go to the ruined manor the following morning, they discover that the mercenaries had some sort of device that disabled the magical wards; the manor has been completely looted. Mara is displeased but silent; Cathal and Reynhild are leery of risking their lives again for Melehan's ends.
They return to Fulcairn Keep empty-handed. Melehan states they did the right thing, but worries that some unseen foe is moving against them, given that the location of his cache was discovered. He also tells Cathal that he has done more in his year of heading the House than his father ever did.
Varyan returns, having slain the griffin; its head is mounted to be hung in the great hall. Varyan presents Reynhild with a gift of flowers and griffin feathers; the two leave for a ride through the countryside.
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