Conversations with Talindra
Talindra nods, slowly. "I do not feel any particular connection to this place. Beyond the fact that it has been my home for twenty years. Or six hundred and twenty. If you leave, I believe I can come with you."
She glances around. "I will miss it, however. I was always meant to leave, but this place has been the key to my future. Or so I thought. I know you mean to 'restore' me. Resurrect me." She gives a little shiver at that elven taboo. "I don't know if that is possible. It may be the best you can do is destroy me. Or maybe left me drift into the Vale of Lost Voices and take up the watch of the baelnorn."
"Talindra," the name feels like a prayer on his lips, "when Kitheras and I drew you from the darkness and and penetrated the suffering of your mind... when it worked. I've never felt so certain. So clear. All my adult life I've risked my life rescuing our history and art. My life for a scrap of paper. My life for a cracked gem. My life for a stained journal. I've never hesitated because I knew I was serving something larger, and that if my life were forfeit this or that time that it would have been so that our kin would benefit and not be bereft of their heritage. So that they could dream and aspire and rekindle the hope and verve of our people.
"This time I'm here to save you. To restore to you the life that was taken. I can see your eyes and hear your words. I see your pain and loss, and I can't let it rest. This time I know for whom I place my life on the line, and I won't fail this time. A Wish reshapes reality. It's a Wish we seek. It is the exclusive provence of of Archmages. Archmages fear me, their towers and wards are no bar to me. You will be whole."
Talindra's eyes, which usually seem perpetually out of focus, sharpen on Corym's face. It is eery; for the first time in days she looks genuinely inhuman. "I am dead, Corym. A floating whisper and memory, a shadow of who I was. And you are fixating. Of the two of us, I believe you are the scarier."
"If you were merely dead or had died, I could be at peace with that. I would have to be. If you had chose the path of an eternal sentinel I would respect and honor that choice. I would visit you when the chance arose to provide distraction from your labor. But that isn't the case. We're not talking about experimental magic or a theory. Wish exists and there are wizards in the Dales that know it. Just one Wish and you will hear again the songs of Arvandor lilting just beyond the periphery, feel the grass beneath your feet, and breathe the free air." He takes a breath, "I know I fixate--that's what I do. But I think you're afraid to hope. Walk with us, let us see the Sage. If he tells me it can't be done we will make the arrangements you desire from the options available. But do not submit to despair because you fear that your hope is impossible. The impossible has been my calling since I took on the work of a Knave." He smiles roguishly. "What could you lose by indulging my silly fixation?"
Talindra shrugs. "Since we haven't established whether this new form of mine can feel pain, potentially a great deal. But I don't have a better option. I can't stay here. I have no idea how the master's wards have remained functional for so long, but they have to fail eventually. And once they do, well. This will be a hotly contested lair. So we go. And if you can help me bring as much of Master Bhephel's knowledge out, I will be grateful."
"We will. And more than his if we can manage."
Talindra nods. "When do we go? And to where?"
"I'm proposing to the Company that we aim to arrive in Glen two nights prior to Midwinter. That should give sufficient time to complete an accounting and prepare for the journey. We may even penetrate the basement before we go. If you're amenable, I believe the door to the catacombs is an unparalleled work. I don't think I've mentioned but before I took on my Knavery I was trained in the work of an Architect, Engineer, and Stonemason. I won't leave such beauty behind if I can avoid it. I could design an entire manor home around that door!
Talindra's eyes lose their intense focus. "So a moon, more or less. I suppose that is enough time to sort through a lifetime's gathering. I suppose it will have to be."
"Something occurred to me the other day that I'm certain you'll think is silly. The year dawning is 1361 DR. Do you recall its name in the Calendar of Harptos?"
A small shake of the head. "I didn't expect to live long enough to see it. Or at least, not have my wits about me if I did."
"The Year of the Maidens."
Talindra cocks her head. "And why should that matter?"
"Well, it seems fortuitous to me that just as the Year of the Maidens dawns that we have the hope of restoring one to her rightful life and are in search of another that was lost."
Talindra throws back her head and laughs. It's the first time you've heard so much as a chuckle from her, and now she lets out a fully belly laugh. "I assure you, the name a long-dead human gave to the year has nothing to do with me. Now go. You have planning to do, and I have papers to sort through."
"Kora's fingers will no doubt be in need of some tending by our priests! How do her studies proceed? How has it been for you to take up the work of teacher? Hopefully I didn't start her out on too rocky a foundation with my hedge magic."
"Well enough." Talindra waves her hand at the door.
Bowing once more, Corym leaves the room.