#baronyofthesilverwolf

Linnea looks uncomfortable, and hesitates. But then she responds. "Soon enough you may be offered the same oath, so I suppose it is not inappropriate to tell you. Though my lady keeps her privacy on many things, and holds us to do the same. I would ask that you honor this."

A soft nod

"My sister and I oathed years ago as guardians of Silverwolf Barony. The letter of our oaths... is to serve and protect the Lady of Silverwolf."

"...It was not always Calanthe." She says softly. Her expression distant for a moment.

"Oh" She says and feels a pang of sympathy, bordering on pity though she tries to stop before it becomes that

"She... Dame Calanthe. She rescued us, in a way. By taking up the mantle of our oaths, when we failed... " Her voice breaks for a moment, then steadies. "When we failed our lady Dahlia. When she was lost."

"Lost to being Dreamstruck?"

Linnea's expression might look cold and unfeeling, to any other than another troll. But Gwen may recognize the look as one who hardens herself, rather than showing weakness and despair. "We failed her. She was but a mortal, but she was ours."

"You loved her. Everyone seems to have" She says though she ponders if Calanthe did "But everyone seems to give just pieces of how she.. how she died. You say you failed her, and I . I know that must hurt, but How I am supposed to learn to protect my mortal friends or other charges if I'm just told 'She was wonderful, she died, we failed'? how am I supposed to not make the same mistakes when I don't know the whats, the hows and so on? "

"It's not just you...everyone says 'do't alk about her in front of the baron' or "she was wonderful... and what happened was horrible and sad...and.. apparently either no one knows the details, or they're scared to say the details out loud, or 'I' am not to know the details even if they seem to be the basis for half of what this hold is like now and the challenges it faces"

Linnea looks increasingly uncomfortable. "Gwen, you must try to understand, that we are not at liberty..." She trails off, and tries a different thread.

"It is important that you learn of the dangers to mortals, and how they may become Dreamstruck - it is similar to what Kithain experience as Bedlam, but more dangerous yet. Mortals are not made to be immersed in the dreaming. They are fonts of dreamstuff, and may even visit via enchantment, but they have not the strength to sustain themselves in a world of glamour. If they are over exposed... it changes them. Some yearn for it to the levels of the fiercest addiction. Others overflow and go mad, becoming conduits for chimera that may drain them dry. Still others... drift away, so enraptured and enthralled that they have eyes only for the Dream, and... slip away, leaving only a husk behind."

"Which happened to Dahlia?" A shiver. Suddenly the idea of enchanting Chet, riding on silver lakes on the feathered swanboat takes a dark turn.

Linnea's expression is shadowed. "We should have protected her. From the Dreaming, and from herself. Please, do not ask me more. We are not to speak of it, and I dance on the knife's edge of my oath as it is."

"Oh.oh. I never.. you're not even allowed to... " A sigh "I'm sorry. I never meant to put your honor in danger and .. I guess I've come close to that. I'm sorry."

And I need to learn the fucking ANSWERS already and gget the whole story.. A thought The story? I wonder if tibs... it's a long shot, but he MIGHT know)

A look of relief. "Gwen, be careful." She says. About mortals? Glamour? Calanthe? All of the above?

"I will, thank you Lin, for.. for everything tonight. "

She nods. "Please - do not be afraid to ask. Even if I cannot answer. I trust you to make the right choices." And she leaves Gwen to sleep, or ponder her own thoughts.

Gwen goes to sleep as best she can, but she's got one idea firmly in her head. She needs to talk to Tibs

(End scene)