My vision blurred and divination collapsed as Biltagiretzae snapped into alignment superimposed over the field outside Good Charl. "Yes! Fucking finally!"

Sige perked up. "Hey, not bad! It's been what, half an hour? Especially for your first time that's fucking great. Okay, whatever you do don't fucking move. Just hold it steady like it is right now. Do you feel like you're going to hurl?"

"Nah. It was strange for a second, but I've managed to kinda split out my attention between my mind and my ghost and that's making it easier to deal with the double vision. So I'm not... actually in there, which means I don't know how this is supposed to help. If I want to put an actual physical object in there for storage, don't I need to physically take it there?"

"That's the tricky part. If you fuck this up, you can end up moving your whole body in there. You know the problem with that?"

Oh, shit. "Yes! Wait, why the fuck didn't you warn me about this ahead of time? I don't want to get stuck in the metal box forever!"

Sige laughed, like a sociopathic hyena. "Yeah, it would be really fucking bad. But that's the thing, it took you half an hour when you weren't scared and holding back. If you were worried about it, you'd literally never get it open. Anyway, now you know why I asked you to hold my bag."

"No, why did you... wait. Sige? Is your bag full of food and water?"

"Yup! Figured it might take a while for you to find your way out. There's a note in there too, about the best planes to try for. See? I wasn't just stranding you."

"You motherfucker. We're leaving on the job tonight."

"Yeah, that would have sucked. But I had faith in you, kid. And you did it! Now you just have to hold it like that, take whatever the fuck you want to store, and... gently... nudge it in there. Ah, my backpack. That's fair. Probably good to have it in there anyway. Okay, you did it! Great work. Now, I want you to try and bring it back."

"I can't reach it. Because my arms aren't in that plane, and you said if they were I'd be stuck there."

Sige came up right next to me, and I was suddenly tempted to try and throw him in there with his stupid bag. He sat down on the log next to me and patted my shoulder. "Yeah, but your eyes aren't there either, are they? This one might take a few tries, but once you get it you'll have it forever."

It took me another ten minutes, but eventually Sige's backpack dropped at my feet. Okay. So I now had access to an extraplanar storage locker, which I could only access by sitting still and concentrating for half an hour and couldn't be opened inside most cities, but which was anti-entropic in some strange way so I could safely keep stuff in there for a long time without it going bad. I was a little sad it wasn't some instant-access inventory, or hammerspace, or anything more... video-gamey... but I wasn't going to complain. I had mainly wanted it so that we could stash anything we didn't want to haul around on Earth - I could just imagine the looks we'd get.

I bounced things in and out of Biltagiretzae until I was sure I had it down, and then dropped Sige's backpack in one last time and allowed the connection to close. He didn't seem surprised that I'd kept it in there and he didn't complain, so I still bought him lunch on the way back to the airship.

"I keep feeling like there's something I'm forgetting. You've got food for Shitheel, and food for you, and anti-curse charms in case the Sahrger attack, and the letters for if we're gone longer than three months, and the list of names for the craftsmen and artificer and stuff. Our parking spot is getting paid right from the bank, that's fine... fuck, what am I forgetting?"

Sige grinned. "You forgot the traumatized kid."

Fuck, right. "Okay, yes. That was it. Shit. Mama Carnage will be sending someone over to get her, I figured out what town she's from and she says the Sahrger that took her place is dead so she just needs an escort."

"The kid seems fine now that she's had a good night's sleep," Sige said, "I can handle her for a bit. What about your personal gear, is that all figured out?"

It was, for the most part. Now that I had access to Biltagiretzae I was tempted to go wild and buy all sorts of situational shit, like a ton of rope and a canoe and whatever. Sure, it would take half an hour to get at any of it - and another half an hour to put it back - but why not be prepared? In the meantime, though, I already had outfits suited to trekking through the desert and extra healing potions and stuff. We had my cell phone and drivers license, but I was leaving the Earth clothes because they were in terrible shape. Besides, most of what I owned at this point were dresses that I wore shorts under, and they could probably pass well enough on Earth despite looking a little... ancient Roman. It would be good enough while we popped into a thrift shop, anyway.

Brin Telemet Ranket, the old artificer that was working on appliances for the ship, had stopped by with the mana crystal that he'd removed from the casing of the mana battery. He'd gotten it stabilized and optimized and put into its own shell, so now we had a second mana battery that was orders of magnitude weaker but still quite respectable. I clipped it to my belt where I could easily put a hand on the charging plate, in case Katrin wasn't around when I needed a top-up.

I did end up splitting off from Sige and shopping for stereotypical adventurer garbage, and then after a last minute revelation I got directions to a warehouse full of materials for craftsmen, and asked about buying a bunch of gold or silver. Sure enough, they had some on hand and it was cheap - I'd remembered way back in Theramas when I had sold a gold ring and been told it wasn't worth much. In fact, stuff that was alloyed with metals I'd always thought of as cheaper were more expensive than relatively pure gold. The cheapest was impure gold that wasn't a deliberate alloy, just mined from Tarmestal and not processed particularly carefully, but I went for the pure stuff because it wasn't that much more.

That surprised me at first, since the pure stuff would have required either a lot of work or mana and special equipment, but when I asked they reminded me that getting the impurities out of gold wasn't really any harder than purifying water - you start with something that's already mostly the material you're after, and a sample of the really pure stuff, and transmute out the stuff that doesn't match your sample. The pile of little ingots was ridiculously heavy, and I realized that was another thing I'd have to stash in Biltagiretzae which I probably couldn't even get to from Earth. Still... I could pull them out right before we left Nusos, and if we each took a few it wouldn't add that much weight.

The porter I'd paid pushed the cart of stuff out the city gates and stacked it all nicely so I could drop it all into my dimensional storage. Almost an hour later when I got back to the airship everyone was there, including Grunkle who had been MIA for a few days. We spent another hour or so getting supplies distributed, double-checking things, running last minute errands, and generally waiting for someone to declare that we were ready.

I spent the time having one last session with Betokat's clone, this being the fourth time I'd resurrected them and convinced them they'd just arrived. It was getting easier each time as I learned more about them, and even with their strange tangents and occasional temper tantrums I'd gotten a lot of good information out of it. I was starting to think that my domain in Ematse was finally secure enough that, if Betokat were to show up again for real, they might not be able to get in. I wasn't eager to test that, of course.

As soon as Matlyn cleared her throat I blanked the oydirme and focused my attention on her - she looked chipper as always but also very nervous, and Errod had to get Grunkle and Calliope to focus. "Um," she started, and then with slightly more confidence, "It's time to head out, uh, and thanks to Katrin's connections we've been booked for teleportation directly to Erathik. We'll sleep there tonight, and then in the morning head North towards the desert. After about a week we'll meet with my sister in the city of Batasun's Shelter, which is the last city before the landscape gets a bit... barren. Any questions? No? Okay! Great! We're doing it, let's head for the station!"

She was so fucking excited. I just had to hope it didn't turn out she was evil or something.

I thanked Sige again, gave Shitheel a good scratch on the side of his neck, and we all marched through the streets together. As we approached the teleportation station, we ran into a crowd. Good Charl - and most places that had teleportation services or planar portals - did a good job managing traffic from merchants most of the time. That there was a solid wall of carts and wagons blocking our way was not a great sign. Katrin was already talking to people, and after a moment gestured for us to wait as she circled around the worst of things and forced her way through. When she returned, she looked nervous.

"They've cut off all travel to the Endless Empire. They're not saying why, but... well."

Matlyn looked confused, so I figured I would just rip the band-aid off. "Lord Protector Hammersmith was taken over by a mind controlling... thing. As were a ton of their soldiers. So it's likely that the whole Empire is compromised and being taken over. It's... we told people about it, I'm sure they're working on it. There's nothing we can do right now anyway."

She stared at me. "You... were there for this? And the airship, and you practically going to war with the queen of the Sahrger, and finding a lost Dumine... who are you?"

I smiled, and nudged Errod. "Hey, maybe I'm Mila in this scenario. Right?"

He had a far-off look, probably being angsty about leaving Brinkmar without stopping Tindelus. After a second he seemed to catch up to what I'd said, and he nodded. "The one that casually mentions being wanted in five countries like it's no big deal. Yes, that works. Oh, and on the topic of similarities to the Duminere job, we're hitting a problem leaving town. Do you think we'll need to go through another plane again?"

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Katrin used that opportunity to take control of the conversation back. "No, because we're not going to the Endless Empire. We're going to Erathik. That can still happen, but we need to hurry - if we push through single file we can get up there, it's mainly the people with big shipments that are having trouble. Most of those are going via Heregie, and the planar terminal is in another building so we just have to get up to the square."

And so we did that, shoving through the crowd and trying not to get separated. Thanks to my divination I saw some pickpockets taking advantage of the chaos and press of bodies, but as one approached I made eye contact and shook my head. They veered away. When we got into the crowded square there was, as Katrin had indicated, an area in front of the teleportation terminal that was actually getting organized and showing signs of movement. A member of the city watch was directing people and setting up rope barriers, and after confirming we weren't going to the Endless Empire he let us through into the line.

Theoretically with so many teleports canceled we should have been able to just fly right through, but everything was a disorganized mess. It was clear that the restriction had just been announced and nobody had been given any warning. Right as the line was reaching the doors, I saw someone setting up a sort of step stool to stand on. Their voice was magically amplified, and carried across the square clearly despite all the competing noises.

"Attention, this is an announcement from the high parliament of the Free States! Direct travel from any Free State cities to any Endless Empire cities is hereby suspended, and indirect travel by individuals is strongly discouraged. The Endless Empire has been compromised at the highest level, by an unknown group or entity that is spreading its influence through the Dumines of its victims. If you see any Dumines where the golden portions have been replaced by red, treat them as extremely dangerous and immediately report them to the nearest member of the watch. If you have a Dumine, do not allow anyone to access it without first confirming that their own is uncompromised. It is unknown at this time if the entity can spread through blank Dumines or, if so, whether or not there is any visual indication. Out of an abundance of caution, do not allow anyone with a blank Dumine to access your Dumine.

"Do not allow yourself to fall victim to paranoia or hostility to your neighbors. Very few of you should have any reason to expose your Dumine to others, so this should have little effect on your lives. For those of you that are impacted by the travel ban, the high parliament has sent out guidelines on how to deal with excess products to prevent them going to waste, and to ensure merchants still receive fair compensation if they are forced to sell in a less optimal location. Note that these protections will only apply to sales within the Free States, and must be pre-approved. Details are available at all three of the major merchant guilds. In the meantime, please clear the streets. Thank you. This message will be repeated every six minutes."

It had been a few weeks since we'd warned people, but I wasn't sure if it had just taken time for them to act on it or if something had happened more recently to make them take it seriously. I was betting on the latter. Maybe someone had confirmed that the other two Custodians of the Empire were taken over in addition to Hammersmith? I didn't want to worry about it at the moment; it was so ridiculously outside my control. Once we finally got inside and past the main lobby, I found out what was slowing everything down - they were making everyone show their Dumines.

For a second I was worried that this was some convoluted plan by Tindelus - be honest about the threat since the cat is out of the bag anyway, and then use the "security checks" to infect everyone - but the way they were doing it that didn't seem possible. It was a visual inspection only, which meant it probably could have been thwarted by having a false Dumine and therefore had limited utility. We made it through, with me showing them only the one on my chest of course, and then in a flash we were back in Erathik.

Lute had paid for the teleport, so it wasn't surprising he was waiting for us at the other end. What was slightly surprising was the welcome Katrin gave him, which was... a bit more than I'd been expecting from her in public. Nothing obscene, but... damn, girl. Get a room. Of course right after that we did get rooms - Lute took us all to a very nice inn he'd booked for us, and we agreed to meet at first bell for dinner. It was only fifth bell at the moment, leaving two hours to dick around, so I hit the town and wandered aimlessly.

Theramas had looked festive enough, with all the little colored flags, but there had been no music there - and precious little in the Free States, either. Here, the Erathi people were singing and playing stringed instruments all the time. It made me think about how much I missed music from Earth, which reminded me that Matlyn had been listening to something on her cell phone. Did she have a charger? Was it powered by magic, or was it just a solar charger from Earth? I was eager to meet her sister and hopefully find out what the fuck was actually going on. I suspected that it would be hard for me to pretend I didn't know about Earth while guiding us there in Nusos, let alone once we arrived.

As I walked, the other half of me tapped into the Common Local Understanding and attempted to make a template for the language. I'd been unable to via divination, and too distracted to think of it when we were here to drop off Katrin and Hugh, but now I was nice and relaxed and could just open myself up to the vibes. The template formed pretty easily, which was a relief despite being what I expected. The harder part was what came next - using it to learn the language.

Sentortzi had given me the ability to template things, by using a template. That knowledge had just unfolded itself into my mind. Sure I could do the same, and I already had some help with languages thanks to Comprehension. And yet... nothing. While my body continued to walk the streets of Erathik, my mind did the equivalent of gnawing at the corner of some difficult packaging to try and get it open. I finally had to admit I was using brute force, and would probably need a more... elegant... approach.

I meditated. I concentrated. I tried to copy it, to unpackage it, to physically cram it into my mind. Finally, just as I decided it was time to turn around so I wouldn't be late to dinner, something happened. I felt it in a way I hadn't before, not as a template in my hands and not as a language out in the world but something in-between. A vast ocean of information. It wasn't just words, it was the meanings behind them and the history and how they could change in context or with tone of voice or for a million other reasons. It was the syntax for sentences, and slang, and idioms, and what the responses were to common phrases. What was the Erathi version of "good morning", and how late in the day did you say it? Was there a difference, as in English, between "It's fine" when things were fine, and "it's fine" when they absolutely weren't?

This sea of information was too much. I'd done too good a job. I could never use this, never learn this. Trying to unpack this into my brain and incorporate the knowledge would either destroy my concept of language entirely, or result in it just being loose in there without actually connecting properly to the English or Imperial counterparts. I threw the template aside, and began to make a new one. How would I gather only the knowledge I could handle, only what I needed, when I didn't yet know it? Ah. This... this was why I'd been told that making the translation bracelet had required someone that was fluent in each language. I needed to guide it, maybe not one word at a time, but lining things up like properly starting a zipper.

I began with the English and Imperial words for 'street', just because it was what I was walking along, but that didn't work well because I got tangled on paths and avenues and roads and lanes and... there were too many variants. I tried again with the words for 'moon', which worked just fine, and then 'sun' and 'sky' and... already it was feeling easier. I kept looking around me, providing English and Imperial words for things that I saw and feeling something flowing into the template in response. When I thought of 'mountain' something clicked and I could feel the words for hill and peak and dozens of others go with it, and from there it was like the floodgates had opened.

I thought of abstract concepts, and the planes, and imagined how to formulate dozens of different sentences and sayings. I finally had to stop and lean against a wall as the process became more automatic, information flowing into the template by way of my own knowledge of other languages, that detour granting meaning and structure. When it finally died down to a trickle and then completed, my mind was holding a thick book. I took a deep breath, opened it, and then... opened it again.

The murmurs of the city around me snapped into focus as sounds became words. I knew what everyone was saying. Holy shit. The bad news, of course, was that I doubted I would be able to do this with most skills any time soon. Maybe ones that I already knew, to some extent? It was possible I could cheat my way into increasing knowledge I already had, if I could surround myself with people that knew more than me about it and could start the process off with the things I was already familiar with, but that would be a hard experiment to set up. Something for way in the future, after we'd dealt with everything else and gotten past the Grand Alignment without the world ending.

I reached the restaurant just a few minutes after first bell, and as I walked in alarm bells went off in my memory palace. Time slowed as I scoured everything I could see from anywhere in the range of my divination - there were armed guards, a dozen of them, some dressed as normal people. Once I was looking for them it was obvious. The diners at that table, having a romantic dinner? The woman had weapons on her, the man had something rigid on under his shirt. Armor, almost certainly. The people out on the street behind me? Several were casually lounging in ways that just coincidentally gave them line of sight to the door. The server, peeking out from the kitchen, looked nervous. Scared.

"Welcome," the hostess said, "your party is already waiting for you."

How would she know what group I was... no, human Calliope would be here. Her hair was shorter, and she didn't have the Erathi nose ring, but we were still obviously identical twins. Still. Something was up, and I had to decide if I was going to walk into a probable trap or bolt right now. "Sorry, do you have a bathroom I could use first?"

It seemed like a reasonable middle ground, though I was painfully aware that the bathroom might be a dead end. The hostess smiled and pointed me to a door across the room, and nobody made any moves towards me as I headed over. It was, clearly, a bathroom - and once I opened the door I could see there was a window I'd be able to squeeze out through. Immediately I closed the door and then used divination to look through it, but nobody seemed concerned. I watched for another moment, and someone else came in but was turned away - they were all booked up for the night, the hostess explained apologetically.

The restaurant was practically empty, and the few diners I could see were secret guards.

Okay. I had some hidden knives, though I'd obviously not brought the whole bandolier for walking around town. I had some healing potions in my courier bag, and always had the option of using my ghost. I was a force to be reckoned with. I could do this. Checking the fate threads, I could tell that Calliope, Errod, and Katrin were all together in the back. I'd have to get to them first, and... oh, right. I pinged Calliope, and after a moment she appeared in my memory palace.

"What do you need? You're making me close my eyes and meditate at the table, it is very rude."

"This place is swarming with armed goons. Outside, too. Are you okay? If they don't know you know, we could all attack at the same time and get the fuck out of here. I could try to break through the wards, maybe, and... what?

She was looking at me like I was the most exhausting person she'd ever had to deal with. "The stuffed gemshells are getting cold, and they are very delicious. Come eat with us, and do not stab anyone."

She vanished. Well. I wasn't sure how I felt about the psycho killer human version of me telling me not to stab things. I came out of the bathroom, and the hostess walked me back to a private room - as the door panels slid apart, I saw everyone enjoying themselves eating some sort of appetizer. Lute stood hurriedly, looking mildly nervous, and gestured to the end of the table where the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen was sitting and smiling, with her hand on Katrin's arm like she'd just been telling her a joke or something.

"Ah! Cal - Connie. So glad you made it. Constance Runelighter, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my mother, Primarch Aintza of Erathik."

"Don't stab her, either," Calliope said.

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