"Well, damn. How wonderful."

I picked up the severed head, the meat already vivisized off of it, and Sama had wired the jaw to stay in place. Basic Runes were already carved into the substance of what looked like bone, but was not. It was clearly superior to anything human, showing none of the weaknesses and seams of human physiology and a body that had to grow from child to adult and change as it did so.

There were little constrained sparks inside the eye sockets of the skull.

"It has the capacity for Immortal Power, maybe ten points?" I informed them, turning it over in my hands curiously. "However, there's only one or two points in it, it's not gathering the power by itself." I waved my hand at Dread. "My Staff is technically an Artifact because it can draw in and replenish its store of Immortal Power at what I assume is a 'standard' rate, about one point every ten minutes, faster in an area of high arcane magic. It doubles if I'm Singing the Sublime Chord during Meditation Draw, for instance. You're planning on making this a Dreadskull, I see…"

"Can you identify the snot, so we know who we are actually dealing with?" Sama asked reasonably, nodding at the skull, which looked so human, yet when examined was put together far more like an organic construct or a robot.

"I'll send a message to Stalker to swing by. She's going to be very happy to solve this mystery. The Master has been very circumspect and secretive about matters of faith, and they never name the Patron they worship directly. Just variations on Father and Master and Maker and Creator and whatnot, don't question, just follow and obey and all that drivel. At the same time there was definitely Immortal influence around him, and she didn't want to stir matters up by investigating and being noticed by an Immortal."

"I think that when we do, whoever his or her rivals are will be very interested to know that they've effectively taken command of the desert tribes of the Sind," Sama pointed out calmly.

"With all the fond implications thereof. You know, being a mysterious nameless master of a god can be a great way to conceal yourself. It can also be a great way for others to conceal themselves as you, and really throw a spanner into the works, right?"

"That's pretty much what I was thinking," Sama agreed, eight canines mercilessly agleam as she accepted her burgeoning Dreadskull back from me. "I intend to align this against all Immortals. Will that work?" she asked me.

I considered the skull in her hands, the too-white bone somehow looking like it was protesting the indignity of being handled by two women with black nails. "Have Briggs do the work," I suggested to her, earning a raised eyebrow. "Sources do better with the purpose side of things. What you're effectively going to make is a minor Artifact, once you have it finalized. What it will be able to do will be defined most easily by Source purpose in combination with Runes. I'm thinking he might want to make one of its supplemental powers to be Bane, if not Dread, to an Immortal's followers whose power it comes in contact with for a certain period of time. A true weapon against Immortals and those who obey them."

"A variable Baneskull of Faith? How deliciously cruel and useful, and doubtless effective against saints and sinners alike, since one person's saint is another's sinners!" she sniffed disdainfully. "But Dread to all such followers would be a bit overly powerful. Just being Bane to all this twat's followers would make a most terrifying weapon against them!"

"And Detect Bane would become that much more powerful," I nodded agreement.

Sama cackled gleefully. It was a standard tactic for Forsaken to have Detect Bane worked into a Weapon, since they could swap Bane effects in and out with the Slaughter Enchantment on their Named Weapons. Being able to Detect the Faithful of a particular god or immortal would be incredibly powerful, something Inquisitors of aggressive religions would kill for, and zealously.

"My apologies for the excitement delaying your departure a day. Is that going to cause issues?" she asked me with no remorse whatsoever.

"No. I can be in Sidheduiche and back easily, and the students have a whole city's worth of distractions. I understand Briggs is taking them for a ride in your airship. They'll be raving about it and wondering why Zanzyr doesn't have such things in their skies, either."

"Because it costs hundreds of thousands of gold to enchant the things the way they do, making them some of the most overpriced magical items that exist!" Sama spat with feeling. "That gravity sphere method you are proposing… the cost savings alone, Edge!" She rolled her eyes in reproof.

"Permanency spells instead of enchantments is a lot of saving, I agree," I nodded. "But also more vulnerable, unless you've an insane Caster Level with Girding no one is going to be able to get through and break."

"Locking the sphere inside its support frame would normally stop that kind of stuff, but it could just be Disintegrated… But that's true regardless. Just have to make that difficult. Briggs has so many ideas he wants to try out, and Tenha is perfectly happy to make him all the prototype hulls he wants…" Her blue eyes were dancing with glee.

"Happy to be of help to you. But I think I best be going. I have an elven king and his court expecting me."

She just waved me off. "Shoo, and go talk some politics far away from me!"

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Well, that wouldn't be too hard to do…

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Only elves had seen me using the really powerful magic, and some of those didn't know what they were seeing. I was definitely recognizable, and the rumor train was going full bore… but at the same time it was pretty local, as the main source of information spreading such stuff to Zanzyr, the ambassador, worked for Brittabelle, and the elfin's Colorajo aide was a prissy secretary, not an intelligence agent.

I'd have to be graduating soon anyway, as raising my public profile was going to happen with incredible speed if I had to flex on others. One could only play the weakling for so long, of course…

The chamber I arrived in was not inside the Palace, because the Palace had an Interdiction about it just to stop folks like me from popping in and away unannounced and for nefarious purposes now.

The guards looked a little bit more alert and sharp-eyed than they had been, and there seemed to be a few more around than there were before. I considered how much excitement would be going on as long-buried moles were dug out, centers of infiltration were revealed, and caves and caverns long concealed were discovered and exposed for surveillance and counter-attacks.

The elves of the surface had to face their own version of constant nifloid attacks, monsters, and the like, brought about both by the concentration of magic here spawning in monsters out of nowhere in heady chaotic surges, and by the untamed mountains to the north and west, only a tithe of which were controlled by dwarves. The rest were home to all sorts of nifloids and monstrous creatures, and all of them wanted a piece of the paradise the elves had made for themselves here.

That said, the elves also lived in a place of plenty, unlike the Underdark, and didn't have to work very hard at all for their daily necessities. The laziness and idleness that came hand-in-hand with not having to work hard was not something that was very admirable, but it was quite fey and remarkably elven, considering our lifespans. Super-intense elves trying to improve themselves in short periods of time was very much a human thing, or maybe even dwarven. There was always time to learn new stuff and get better, like tomorrow…

Or not, because I was here today.

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The council chamber had three times as many people in there as before, with all the clan leaders present, presumably after Teleporting out and back in order to make sure they were here. They'd also all brought an advisor or two, and there were some minor clan lords who'd also decided to show up and watch the fun, along with what looked like some self-important elders here as well, doubtless here to give the King proper advice on how to proceed.

Naturally King Lymeril was present, his handsome face looking a bit more stressed than normally. He actually looked relieved to see me, and I had the distinct impression some arguments and shouting matches in singsong Elven had likely been flowing back and forth before I arrived.

"Here she is! Seize her before she can escape again!" one of the elders piped up, shaking his finger at me. "Clearly she is an agent of the shadenelves, here to pursue her own agenda and cause chaos among us!" he not-quite spluttered at me.

Gray-Brown. Totally concerned with elves and elves alone, and specifically his family and kin.

"Ah, one of the Faithless elders. Abandoning trust, benevolence, and good manners in favor of paranoia, violence, and fear, while astutely leaving the young and foolish to do the fighting for you," I bit back, silencing the entire chamber with my retort, while the older elf reddened in outrage. "Place the blame for your ineptitude and cowardice in the mirror where it belongs, elder, right next to all the other instances of your shame."

I leaned in, and he flinched away, his mouth clamping shut as all the other elves of Clan Fydelea were also silenced instantly, staring at me in fear and horror.

It sooo helped to have Sims keeping track of all the local cultures on the continent and beyond for the last few thousand years, witnessing all sorts of history. Looking up the proper past of this clan that had fled their homeland was just one of the things they'd done.

His clan really wanted to grab me and shake me and insist I tell them what I knew, or maybe they just wanted to shut me up permanently. That would not end well for them, but I wasn't going to tell them that, they could find out in their own way and time.

"Elder Iedorth, perhaps you should return to your seat and stop trying to chase away the one who revealed to us the depth of the shadenelf infiltration of all the clans here," King Lymeril said most diplomatically, with just enough iron undercurrents that even the cantankerous elder realized he was pushing it acting like such an ungrateful arse. "Lady Edge, thank you for returning after the exciting revelations of yesterday. One might say you've a good chunk of the kingdom in an uproar now."

"Your people are ill-suited for dealing with intrigue and the duplicity of other elves, kindly assuming there is mutual good will and trust when there might well be none. Of course, my people aren't much better, but the lies told about you do tend to provide us more motivation."

"Lies?" he repeated carefully, the rest of the chamber now listening as formal questioning began. "What manner of lies?" he asked carefully. "We know so little of them and their culture, and they refuse to tell us much about them and their motivations…"

"Before I give you my answers and start informing you of things, I will have my own question answered." I kept his stare easily, ignoring his presence and stature, waiting patiently until he nodded carefully. "Excellent. Explain to me what happened when the shadenelves came to the surface, sought an audience with you, and asked to be allowed to move to the surface." I held up my hand before questions started. "I know our version of the story. Tell me yours."

"Ah," King Lymeril nodded slowly. "It was soon after I was given the throne that their envoys arrived. Several of those in the chamber were present for those discussions, and they broke down rather abruptly… Elder Dierluml, correct me if my facts deviate, although I believe our records on the matter are fairly complete."

"They are. I will have them brought directly here for us to review, if they are important enough!" the bearded old coot stated, as if that was a huge concession to everyone, having records available to be read…

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