Minds Troubled and Still
Second Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
Ser Richard and Vee only require a few words of explanation before they are ready to go off to Pyke, the knight had been following news from Volmark Keep as it arrived a few days ago as to his mind, just like yours, the Deep Ones are one of the gravest and more immediate threats facing not just the realm you have crafted but all that is sane in the world. As for Vee she remembers Damphair and his masters, and she remembers Jeyne as she had first returned to the Deep a pawn of those alien power below and wonders if perhaps these children might not be related to that scheme, or perhaps some other sort of twisting of mind and flesh. Regardless, her aid should prove invaluable.
Jeyne herself is willing but a bit more hesitant, though not from fear. You recall well how she had reported the death of the bronze-masked Deep One on Claw Isle. No, there is something else lowering her gaze... shame. She is unsure how those who have suffered so greatly from the depredations of the Eaters of Minds and other horrors would take her own connection to them, something that would be hard to obscure given that it is her very knowledge of the strange powers of the mind that is the reason you asked her to accompany you.
How much of what you had guessed of Ser Harras should you share, you wonder. "The Reader and those close to him have learned that not all who are touched by the influence of the Far Realm are to be feared," you settle on at last.
"That is good to know, Your Grace," she replies blushing slightly, either at having needed the reassurance or having it read to readily.
Thankfully the mind dragon Nizuss arrives but a moment later in his diminutive form, cheerfully looping through the fresh morning air. There is nothing small or playful about the magic he lays upon her, a ward as potent as the one upon your crown, guarding her against both foresight and mental intrusion.
The Westerlander sorceress makes an odd face at the working, at first almost pained then bewildered. "Sorry about that, it felt like my ears were full of wool for a moment there," she confesses to the dragon.
"No trouble, I hope my spellcraft is a bit sturdier than wool though," Nizuss jests.
A moment later your hands are joined and the world blurs in the familiar motion of translocation. When it returns the five of you are again in Lord Harlaw's study at Pyke, the sound of the crashing waves far below underlying the scrape of a chair bring hastily pushed back and a blade half-drawn.
"My apologies, Your Grace," the regent of Pyke nods towards you, sheathing his dagger. A moment later he adds: "I appreciate the need for secrecy in showing up here at once, but I cannot help but wonder if there is a way to ward a chamber from such travel."
"There is, many of the old keeps of the Seven Kingdoms are so warded, the work of Bran the Builder or those who followed in his footsteps," you reply. "I am planning to make a study of such things, but in the meantime the best means I have to guard against translocation is rather expensive..."
"Isn't everything," the Reader sighs. "One more example of something of great worth you can't steal at the end of a boarding pike to give to the lords if nothing else..."
"They're still rolling about in that bullshit?" Vee asks bluntly.
Rather than being put off by her manner, Rodrik Harlaw snorts in amusement. "This is the Iron Isles, lass, precious few bulls about, more like a pile of rotten fish guts that will drag us all down if we don't toss it overboard even if those
things don't drown us first." The jest grows grimmer in the telling but no less sincere.
"Speaking of enemies below, we can see to the children now..." you trail off.
"Most are in the Guest Keep," the regent tactfully avoids its more common name, 'The Bloody Keep', a legacy of the dark deeds of Greyjoys past. "But young young Maron Volmark and his mother are here in the Sea Tower."
You consider the matter only briefly, while having more of the children to look over may help in studying their condition, Lady Joana's deeds in allowing the whole plot to be revealed deserve an answer as swiftly as you can give it.
Guided by one of the Reader's trusted men, tight-lipped and very careful not to look too closely at even your glamour-shrouded faces, you wind down the narrow stairs until you reach a a black oak door, the fastenings darkened to match by the passage of years. Before entering you
loan Jeyne some of your
insight, reasoning that her knowledge of mind magics might help her pick out something useful from the depths of the dream. Judging from her expression the feeling must have been even stranger than the mind ward, but she only nods in thanks.
"Can you help can you tell me what's wrong?" the greeting is abrupt, but no more than you had expected. Lady Joana Volmark is quite young, not quite thirty at a guess, though the lines of worry that crease her brow and the dark circles under her eyes make her seem older. She had obviously been expecting you.
How much of your true identity had the Lord Regent explained?
Not that it matters now, there is only one thing the lady cares about right now. "We will do our best," you state, not wishing to offer false hope.
She nods, letting you into the chamber. Though it is around the tenth hour of the morning young Lord Maron is still sleeping, shifting only a little in his sleep at your approach. To a sorcerer's eyes he seems wholly unremarkable no matter how deep you look, just a young fair-haired boy perhaps a shade too pale from lack of sun, but behind you can sense the air still unnaturally for a moment as Jeyne summons her own sight beyond sight. "That's odd, he does not feel like a mind mage, but there is something...." she trails off. "My mind feels clear when I am near him, my power clearer, like a channel almost."
"What does that mean?" Lady Volmark asks sharply.
"I don't know, I've never seen anything quite like this," Jeyne replies apologetically
The answer is obviously not satisfactory to the lady, though perhaps you could find her a better one by waking him and recovering lost memories. Then again... they are as likely to steal way what fragile peace he has found as give you answers.
What do you do?
[] Wake the boy, try to recover any hidden or repressed memories of just what was done with him
[] See if any of the other children might not be able to tell you more
[] Travel to Volmark and see the ruined ritual chamber for yourself
[] Write in
OOC: Any skill and stat boosts Viserys grants to himself or to others are part of the Dragon Dream so Jeyne just got an earful of ancient red wyrm and their experiences with Psionics. They generally are not direct, of course, but still that's a long time and a lot of dragons looking into things that might be dangerous, profitable or both. The part about her being able to get better use out of it is fluffing the mechanic wherein being trained in a skill allows you to pass checks higher than DC 10. 
