Turnabout Devotion: Chapter 7, "The Permitted Turnabout ~ Middlegame"

Edgeworth, Althea, Illyvalen and Tikra take their leave and return to the kitchen to inform the remainder of the group about the arrangements. Illyvalen returns to conducting her tests and Tikra resumes working in the clinic, and the rest of the group depart from Illyvalen's residence; Nathaniel and Ellymoha split off to head toward the latter's residence while the rest head toward the inn where Edgeworth is staying.

Althea glances sideways at Edgeworth. "So... I get the sense that you've been accused of murder somewhat frequently?"

Edgeworth appears troubled by the question, though not startled. "Indeed, though only once was I ever at any real risk."

Althea: Mm. It sounded like something you've gotten used to having to refute.

Edgeworth glances aside disdainfully. "Mm. I had to counter a particularly spurious claim not long before I found myself here."

Dil blinks owlishly at Edgeworth over this conversation.

Toralnik raises an eyebrow. "Is that a common hazard for your profession in your world, or is there some kind of personal issue in play?"

Edgeworth: Somewhat common, yes.

Toralnik frowns. "That must complicate your role significantly. The prosecution's credibility is rather important where public trials are the norm."

Edgeworth grits his teeth briefly. "There are greater hazards to one's credibility."

Althea: Is criminality so much the norm in his world that no one deserves benefit of doubt? Is that why he's so reluctant to trust anyone?

Toralnik: I suppose. After all, even a murderer could still be honest.

Edgeworth crosses his arms. "Do keep in mind I was cleared of all charges the one time such an accusation made it to court at all. I was framed by someone who... had ample opportunity to come to know me."

Edgeworth smiles wistfully ever so briefly, even with his arms still crossed. "Wright saved me, that time."

Althea: I see... That at least ties in with his stated reasons for being wary of altruism. This likely relates to one of the traumas he's chosen not to speak of thus far.

Toralnik shrugs. "Still, in my experience even allegations can do a lot of harm... That's one of the reasons it's so important to get a story right before you publish anything. A correction can't rebuild a shattered reputation."

Edgeworth nods grimly.

Edgeworth: I've certainly been on the wrong end of the press before. The murder allegation merely stoked old flames, though. Prior to that, the press had speculated that I might have committed forgery, of all things.

Toralnik shakes his head. "It's a wonder you could still try cases with that hanging over your head..."

Edgeworth puts his finger to his temple. "Having grown more observant over time, I can only speculate that perhaps it had much to do with the prestige of the position, and the insufficiently-questioned faith in our competence."

Toralnik jots down a few further notes. "So being a prosecutor is a fairly high-profile position in your society."

Althea: That explains a lot...

Toralnik: Are such positions typically offered to nobility?

Edgeworth: Hmph. "Nobility" is an outmoded concept where I'm from, at least in theory.

Edgeworth: Though I cannot say that I did not once lean towards accusing those less privileged over those more so...

Althea: Breland might be moving in that direction, however slowly. The Commons Chamber of Parliament is elected from the populations of Breland's villages, towns and cities; that provides a counterbalance to the influence of the Nobles Chamber, potentially.

Althea: King Boranel is quite popular, and the people would rally around him in a heartbeat... but he is not as young as he once was, and none of the potential heirs are particularly... promising.

Althea: I've heard more than a few suggestions that Breland would be better off abolishing the monarchy the moment Boranel either dies or abdicates... I wouldn't say it's the opinion of a majority, but neither is it entirely fringe...

Edgeworth: Huh. That sounds remarkably similar to one prominent, otherwise-democratic small nation that nonetheless clings to that aspect of its past.

Edgeworth: Its monarch is essentially a figurehead today, and those executive functions still necessary are also handled by an elected figure.

Edgeworth glances aside. "As for waning fitness among the nobility, it has been discovered that limiting a family's breeding pool too greatly can have negative consequences over time. Such harm coming to prominent noble families may well have contributed to the rise of democracy as well."

Dil just shakes his head at the conversation, disinterested.

Althea: In Breland's case, the crown still conducts foreign policy and deals with issues of national security and law enforcement. Parliament is responsible for crafting the laws.

Edgeworth grimaces. "I see... In my own world, it's often been found that allowing national leaders to have too strong a grip on the military is an easily abused arrangement."

Althea: Because it ties the capacity for war too strongly to personal ambitions?

Toralnik blinks at this.

Edgeworth: Or, worse still, allows for a leader to terrorize citizens unchecked.

Althea: Then has your world too had to contend with leaders corrupted by the influence of fiends or the like? It did not sound as though you had such threats in your world.

Edgeworth looks bewildered. "Are leaders always so scrupulous outside of such circumstances in this world?"

Althea: ...it's hard to see what most leaders would have to gain by terrorizing their own subjects, if not to satisfy such agendas. It seems like a lot of risk for no obvious reward.

Althea: In any event, I don't know if it could be said that such threats are ever 'unchecked', but it does often fall to adventurers as the last resort in such cases.

Edgeworth shakes his head, his expression darkened. "One would be rather unpleasantly surprised. An infamous example is less than a hundred years old in my own world — a faction within a country that sought to bring down various subsets of humans they insisted were 'inferior' to themselves. When they took power in that country, it took an alliance of multiple nations to stop them."

Althea: I see... that sounds like exactly the sort of movement that so often proves in the long run to have had the influence of a fiend or outsider at its core...

Toralnik coughs. "...for a certain definition of proof."

Althea winces. "Fair enough. Events that have become legend always present a certain difficulty in differentiating fact from popular conjecture."

Edgeworth shakes his head again. "Such creatures are purely mythical in my world. Human evil is quite enough."

Althea: Perhaps it is simply because we face so much supernatural evil that we haven't yet fully explored what evil we might do entirely unaided... That is a depressing thought on more than one level.

Dil seems too horrified to say much on this point.

Toralnik: I think you might be fixing your consideration a bit too much on the more spectacular incidents, in any event. The power to deploy violent force is of use for more than just inciting panic. A more subtle feeling that associating with an idea or cause is dangerous can do much to limit its popular appeal.

Althea blinks in surprise at Toralnik. After a moment, she comments, "You have spent a lot of time abroad, haven't you?"

Toralnik: Yes... why do you ask?

Althea shakes her head. "Nevermind, it's not important." Just that I wouldn't have expected a Zil to articulate that as a negative...

Edgeworth: Indeed, such pervasive, subtle oppression is what I'm used to in countries policed as this one is.

Toralnik eyes Edgeworth. "Such things can be valuable for good or for ill."

Dil: If the Trust were like that, I wouldn't be content with them.

Althea nods, but there is a slight uneasiness in her manner as she responds. "Mm. I think the perception that they always adhere to known and understood standards is a core part of why the Zil are willing to tolerate them."

Edgeworth: One particularly striking difference between the Trust and other secret police I've heard of is their level of tolerance for free thought.

Edgeworth glares despite himself. "Indeed, even what few capabilities I've manifested thus far would be incredibly destructive in the hands of such organizations, as they far more literally become 'thought police'."

Toralnik eyes Althea's apparent controlled reaction with interest.

Dil: Information really is everything in your world, huh...

Edgeworth: And truth, in turn, incredibly crucial.

Edgeworth: Indeed, such oppression occurs due to unjust countries fearing its power.

Althea: On the point of breeding, there is some recognition of the risks there, particularly among the Houses; the strong interest in pairing marked individuals to improve the chances of marked offspring is counter-balanced by a healthy desire to introduce new blood. Being both a scion and something of an adventurer, I've faced a bit less pressure to marry, whether within or outside the House, than some might. ...it's only a matter of time before I have to contend with some attempts at arranging a marriage, though...

Edgeworth: I'm left to wonder precisely how such things are handled in the Fey clan.

Toralnik: Mm. I've been approached by House Sivis myself given my position... I don't think I'm ready to marry again, though. I don't know if I ever will be, really.

Edgeworth: ...I see. I'm sorry for your loss, then.

Dil: I'm just glad I'll never be forced into anything like that. That's one too many chains for me.

Edgeworth: For my own part, I have far more important things to do than maintain any sort of family.

Toralnik looks slightly shocked at that. "There's nothing more important than family."

Toralnik immediately looks away and at the ground. "...then again, perhaps it's not fair for me to say that..."

Edgeworth glances away. "Hmph. While I certainly have an adoptive sister I value, that has at least as much to do with our shared occupation as with our having lived together through my adolescence."

Edgeworth: I was speaking more of the notion of marriage and raising children. That would dilute my efforts to pursue the truth behind crimes and see systems of justice refined.

Toralnik: Fair enough. I can't imagine a life without my daughter, or the memories of the time my wife and I had together, but... I can't say that I was ever the husband or father I could have wished to have been. Spending so much time abroad, I've barely had the chance to see Jeslaryun grow into the young woman she's become...

Toralnik shakes his head.

Althea speaks up again after a few minutes of walking in awkward silence. "I couldn't help noticing you mentioned that this was your first murder in Korranberg... not your first in Zilargo."

Edgeworth raises his finger to his temple. Now that she mentions it...

Toralnik: Oh. That. That was... a long time ago, fairly early in my career. It wasn't quite the same sort of thing as this...

Edgeworth: What was it like, then? A comparison might help to put this investigation in perspective.

Toralnik: There have often been a number of... territorial disputes in the mountains around Zolanberg. We have a number of mining interests there, but some of that territory has also been claimed by kobold tribes. It's one of the areas where physical security is a more difficult proposition than in most inhabited parts of Zilargo.

Toralnik: During one of the more contentious disputes, a young girl who was traveling with family was abducted and used as a hostage.

Edgeworth glares, but doesn't interrupt.

Toralnik: While there were attempts to negotiate her release, ceding the territory under dispute would have been untenable, and... well, frankly, there were too many people with too many different ideas of how things needed to be resolved. The negotiations went poorly, things escalated, there was a poorly planned rescue attempt...

Edgeworth nods grimly. "So a very different sort of tragedy indeed."

Dil: Mm, I do think I remember that one.

Toralnik: One of her captors... mauled her while they were trying to get her away. She... didn't survive her wounds...

Edgeworth frowns. Perhaps this is a line of questioning best left alone.

Toralnik shakes his head. "...I'm ashamed to say that what I witnessed back then colored my initial reaction to Tikra. Just seeing her standing so close to my niece was unnerving."

Dil shakes his head. "People are too easily scared by what's different, whether it's change or just something uncommon."

Dil: And sometimes even what's more common than they like to think.

Dil takes a deep breath bordering on a sigh.

Edgeworth appears thoughtful again. Does this relate to the fact that he maintains that particular form most of the time, despite his reverence for a god of chaos and change?

Toralnik: And yet, Illyvalen seems to have known from almost the day she woke up that Tikra was trustworthy, even if no one else could see it. Those two treat each other almost like family. It was Illyvalen who taught her Common back when she was still bedridden, and by the time I had arrived she seemed to be nearly fluent.

Edgeworth shrugs. "That rate of learning a language seems in line with what extreme circumstances will normally squeeze out of people."

Toralnik: I suppose. More striking is that she was apparently also entirely illiterate, yet after a few weeks of tutoring she was reading at such a phenomenal pace that she went through Illyvalen's entire collection and then some over the course of less than two months.

Edgeworth: Huh. Is there some unknown effect on this region that further accelerates such circumstances? It would seem to be something that would be known by now in such an old settlement...

Dil: Something bothering you, Edgeworth?

Edgeworth shakes his head. "Merely unfounded speculation concerning matters of which I know too little to judge. Some of the facts as I know them would seem to weigh against it anyway."

Dil shrugs. "If you say so."

Toralnik: I do have to wonder what brought her here, though. She never talks about her past. I mean, she's told someone, she would have had to when she applied for residence here. But she hasn't even been willing to discuss it with Illyvalen. The most she's ever said to me on the subject was that the circumstances of her arrival constituted "an accident."

Althea looks away, slightly uncomfortable.

Edgeworth half-frowns. "At least she knows enough of her own circumstances to say that much."

Toralnik: Oh? So your reason for being here may not be an accident?

Edgeworth grits his teeth and blinks slowly. "If anything, the possibility of deliberate action seems less likely than that of an accident, but we have far too little evidence to say either way. A Medani heir highly specialized in the examination of magical traces found nothing on me that could not be accounted for."

Edgeworth: I was unconscious when the... transfer happened, due to circumstances beyond anyone's control. My first experience here was waking up in an alley.

Althea: Which also had no traces, for that matter.

Dil looks bewildered at the mention of 'circumstances beyond anyone's control'.

Toralnik: Hmmm... So if magic was involved, it was not magic of a typical kind. Are there no details about your location, situation, or even the timing of your losing consciousness that could shed light on the matter?

Edgeworth appears awkward and blushes slightly at the mention of timing.

Dil: Just because you're embarrassed about whatever it was doesn't mean it won't help you get to the truth, you know.

Edgeworth huffs, grabbing his arm. "Fine. There... there was an earthquake. I... I dealt... poorly."

Althea blinks. "I... see... I don't suppose you ever found anything in your review of obscure earth runes, Dil?"

Dil shakes his head. "I've only had a little time to spare, but I haven't seen any sign it's related."

Edgeworth seems too defensive to react to this.

Althea: Hmmm. I begin to wonder if I should have taken more of a chance with that vision...

Toralnik blinks in confusion. "Excuse me, but what does any of this have to do with the circumstances of his... 'transfer', as he put it?"

Dil shakes his head. "It doesn't. It was just a thought I had about how to figure out what one sigil he tried to trace when a more common one was appropriate actually was."

Althea: Just pulling at a thread in case it actually did have some connection. There have been some... connections between earthquake imagery and other things that have come up in Edgeworth's overall circumstances.

Edgeworth: Nnrrgh...

Edgeworth: Must we so openly discuss my weaknesses?

Althea: One connection in particular was rather striking, and is a part of one of my visions whose potential meaning may still elude me. I can't help but wonder if it could be relevant, though I certainly don't yet have evidence...

Toralnik shakes his head. "I can't really see what connection an earthquake would have to planar travel, unless you think he might have transited through Kythri somehow..."

Edgeworth groans. "It merely relates to... to my loss of consciousness."

Althea: Well, I would say rather we don't know that it relates to anything other than that. I wouldn't be inclined to read more into it than that but for my visions...

Edgeworth sighs. "You're almost certainly reading the wrong thing into its recurrence. While I declined to mention this detail, the earlier of the incidents that you pried into began with an earthquake."

Althea frowns. "I see..." She seems about to ask something further for a moment, but remains silent.

Toralnik: Hmmm. It doesn't seem obvious what avenue of investigation might prove fruitful, at any rate...

Althea: I can think of a number of... well, I'm not sure possibilities is the right term... more like things we don't know enough to rule out. I can't say anything looks altogether promising to me either, however.

Toralnik: Given your interest in the matter, I assume you aren't as eager to leave your past behind as Tikra was?

Edgeworth: There are those at home that I have some concern for. That being said, I may well have more important things to accomplish here than at home, and that may take a great deal of time.

Edgeworth: I cannot call it a simple decision.

Toralnik nods. "Entirely understandable."

Althea: It's likely to take time to discover a way for you to return, in any event. ...not to mention, financial means...

Edgeworth winces. "Verily. I could not in good conscience leave a significant monetary debt behind."

Edgeworth takes out the schema. "Though on the other hand, I presume this in particular would be of no use to me at home, as I see no reason why I would retain any magical capabilities there."

Althea nods. "I rather suspect I could get a buyer if I had to, though I don't know whether I could get full retail for it."

Edgeworth grips it more tightly even as he looks away with a regretful expression. "A pity, though, given what I've come to realize."

Dil: Speaking of that, what were you staring at it for when you used it earlier?

Edgeworth: ...It was rather strange. Its aura was slightly uneven, but always in a way that faced me — as though I were a moon to its tides.

Althea frowns. "I wonder if that's connected to the fixation of my visions, and/or what the Medani heir observed."

Dil: I bet it is. Though I can't say I get the comparison exactly...

Toralnik: What's this about fixation of visions?

Althea: ...I... haven't been experiencing the... typical variety in my visions of late. In point of fact, every vision I've had since Edgeworth arrived has involved him in some way...

Edgeworth frowns even as he tucks the schema away again.

Toralnik looks alarmed. "That doesn't sound normal even if he's the most extraordinary thing around right now. How many visions are we talking, three? Four?"

Althea shakes her head. "I'm prone to rather frequent visions, but there was at least one occasion that was too questionable to be sure it qualifies. Still, there must have been at least eight."

Toralnik looks taken aback. "Eight?! He's only been here a couple of weeks, hasn't he?"

Edgeworth winces. "She's likely counting the several times she's been drawn into my dreams."

Toralnik: That's more than what I would call merely "frequent". Is it really normal for you to have so many visions in such a short time?

Althea: It varies. Having multiple visions in a single day isn't exactly common, but it's not a new thing either. And I have gone as many as five days without a vision on occasion. My recent visions might have been a little more frequent than average, but well within the range of what's normal for me. It's just the focus of those visions being consistent that's out of the ordinary.

Dil stares at Althea for a moment.

Toralnik shakes his head. "I have to wonder how you can function like that..."

Edgeworth: That would indeed seem quite the burden.

Althea shrugs. "You get used to it."

Althea: Anyway, I take it your world's sole moon has an influence on your world's tides?

Edgeworth spreads his arms. "That it does — a simple matter of gravity at work, much like its orbit."

Althea nods. "Zarantyr in particular has a notable impact on the tides, but they may be affected in some measure by all."

Edgeworth: That sounds remarkably difficult to calculate. I must wonder how long it took for the people of this world to develop accurate tide calendars.

Althea: Notably, lunar conjunctions can have a very strong impact; it's not unheard of for seaside ruins to be discovered simply because of the waters receding during such an event.

Althea: Druidic lore holds that Aryth's influence on manifest zones is not unlike Zarantyr's influence on tides.

Althea: Some accounts suggest that there may have at times been weak manifest zones that appeared only when Aryth was full, and in general the effects of manifest zones tend to wax and wane a bit with Aryth's cycle.

Althea: Indeed, the anchoring of new towers in Sharn is only done during Aryth's full phase, to ensure that the anchoring is fully resilient and able to support the construction.

Edgeworth blinks. "Huh..."

Edgeworth then puts his finger to his temple. "While I admit to not having understood the conversation very well at the time, I seem to recall the concept of a 'transient manifest zone' having been raised as a possibility when we had that Medani heir search for magical traces."

Edgeworth looks to Althea. "At the time, you had little to say about it, instead discussing other possibilities."

Edgeworth: As well as far more important matters, at my own insistence.

Althea: Mm, it didn't strike me as a particularly likely possibility at the time. Dil would probably know for certain, but I don't think Aryth was full when the event in question occurred.

Dil shakes his head. "It wasn't. Only Lharvion, Barrakas, and Rhaan were..."

Dil: And Vult was in its new moon phase, for what that's worth.

Edgeworth: That's right — he needs to keep track of such things...

Althea: Huh... I suppose that sounds like the sort of conditions that might presage something odd...

Althea: I've had a few of my own peculiarities blamed on Lharvion being full when I was born... it does tend to be associated with strange occurrences and calamity, though how much is mere superstition and how much is actual influence I don't know if anyone can say for sure.

Edgeworth: Hmph. I can't help but be reminded of old superstitions in my own world, derived more from mythology than testing. Indeed, the civilization I mentioned earlier helped to codify that particular false science.

Edgeworth: That's as close as I can easily come to the term "pseudoscience".

Althea: It isn't as though we've developed methods to precisely measure the arcane influence of the moons. We know enough to be confident that there is some influence, but the exact nature is hard to be completely certain about...

Dil: Be careful about attributing too much to lunar conjunctions alone, though. There are twelve moons, so those happen all the time.

Dil puts his finger to his lip. "But I bet it would open up unusual possibilities..."

Dil: Even if it's not enough to pull in someone from another world by itself.

Althea: Mm. It should merely be seen as a periodic sympathy, not a cause.

Althea: Notably, though, Vult being new strikes me as a minor but interesting point. There are legends suggesting that Vult's influence helps to hold back outside influences from beyond the stars. Still, best not to read too much into that either.

Althea: As for Barrakas, I imagine some who observed your nature but did not know your origins might suspect you were born under that moon. Aside from the notion that gifted hunters are often born in that month, it is more generally associated with those who are gifted at bringing clarity to that which others find obscure.

Edgeworth: Hrmph. I see...

Althea: Lharvion is more directly associated with perceiving that which is hidden, and seems to give rise to diviners and researchers. Barrakas sheds its light on that which is already in the open.

Edgeworth appears uncomfortable. And as reluctant as I may be to put any stock in this sort of thing, the path I've been forced upon here seems to have required the fusion of both...

Althea: Rhaan is associated with creative thought generally, and tends to give rise to those talented at artistic endeavors.

Toralnik: Not to mention, its influence is tied to the Mark of Scribing. Many members of House Sivis time pregnancies to end in the month of Rhaan in the hopes of increasing the chances of a marked heir.

Althea: Mm, Jorasco aims for pregnancies to end in the month of Therendor for the same reason.

Edgeworth: So the months are also named after the moons, then?

Althea: Yes. Each month in the Galifarian calendar is based on the ascendant phase of the moon after which it is named.

Dil: Put simply, each moon is brighter for a twelfth of the year, starting with Zarantyr and working its way out. No one knows why.

Edgeworth: Hm. The concept immediately makes me imagine some regular, slow-moving wave emanating from the surface.

Edgeworth: Comprised of what, I couldn't begin to speculate.

Toralnik has been taking continuous notes throughout all this.

Althea: We do know that the influence of that moon is stronger during its ascendant phase, but again, precisely how or why is not something we have the means to thoroughly explore.

Edgeworth: I suppose science will always have its frontiers. Though it's still alien to imagine something like this as one...

Althea: Other moons are also considered to have ties to other dragonmarks. For instance, Lharvion is tied to the Mark of Detection and Barrakas is tied to the Mark of Finding. Vult is tied to the Mark of Warding, and Aryth to the Mark of Passage.

Althea: Presumably the thirteenth moon that ancient records hint once existed would have been tied to the Mark of Death, though there's no indication whether there is any connection between the disappearance of the Mark and the disappearance of the moon...

Toralnik blinks, looking at Althea as if she'd just brought up the subject of airships in a conversation about carts.

Edgeworth: I don't know nearly enough about history to begin to speculate. Certainly what little I've heard suggests that the timing would make little sense, though.

Althea: Hard to say. Scholars who study the Draconic Prophecy tend to feel that time is a fairly insignificant factor in the matter, even if the appearance of marks on people is a startlingly recent phenomenon.

Edgeworth peers dubiously at Althea at that.

Althea: As far as we know, dragonmarks have been appearing in geological formations for most of Eberron's history.

Althea: The Draconic Prophecy, from all I can gather, seems to be all about connections between events and influences, some of them quite obscure, and most of them defying what most would deem any kind of logical causality. The few who have come to any deep insights on the matter tend to be... confusing for most people to communicate with, due to how different their perspective on reality is from most people.

Althea: ...I don't think any of my friends back in Sharn can make sense of a single sentence Flamewind has said on the matter. It's not mere language I find myself having to translate in such a case.

Toralnik: Wait. You can understand Flamewind?!

Althea: By and large. I don't pretend to follow the Prophecy, I think the study of that is more than a bit beyond me, but I can generally follow her. Her manner of speaking is not that much more difficult than Belgiwig's. ...is it?

Toralnik just stares at Althea.

Edgeworth rubs his forehead. "His is trying enough for someone lacking in cultural context."

Edgeworth: All the more reason for me to hope that I never have to deal with things of such magnitude, if it corrupts one's very ability to reveal truth so.

Althea shakes her head. "Of course, most Prophecy scholars are dragons, and not all of them think it's particularly appropriate for us lesser races to know of such things... at least beyond being given warning and guidance when it's time to act to prevent some dangerous occurrence." Her expression is suggestive of offense at perceived arrogance.

Edgeworth: If not for the overall nature of this world, I would merely count this as yet another imagined role for dragons in yet another culture. As things stand, though...

Toralnik: To be fair, it sounds like it might be a particularly dangerous knowledge to impart without due care.

Althea: I don't dispute that, but it is not as though dragons are any less fallible than elves, halflings, gnomes, dwarves, humans, orcs, goblins, or kobolds.

Edgeworth raises his finger to his temple. "I beg your pardon, Althea, but given the fact that I've yet to see — nor even hear anyone's testimony of — any sign of a dragon since coming here, how is it that you claim to know this much on these particular subjects?"

Dil shifts from looking at Althea in confusion to looking at Edgeworth with mild interest.

Althea sighs. "There are a variety of reasons, but... well, I've mentioned that being a researcher at Morgrave University more of less equates with being an adventurer of sorts. I've had a number of affairs to see to, some connected to my role at Morgrave and quite a few not, that have called on me to work with others in pursuit of a shared goal."

Althea: There was one matter, the details of which aren't terribly relevant, where we had to deal with a couple of agents of the Chamber.

Toralnik turns a page in his notebook and looks to Althea with interest.

Althea: The Chamber is a draconic organization based in Argonessen but with some distinct interest in Khorvaire. Its goals are many and varied and don't always seem consistent, but it's not unusual for them to act as patrons for bands of adventurers because of some outcome they are looking to achieve.

Althea: The Prophecy is at the core of their interests, with some agents more interested in studying it as it unfolds and others seeking to manipulate it to their ends or to stop others from doing so. That's... about as much as I've ever managed to discover about their aims myself, anyway.

Edgeworth: What in the world has she gone through?...

Toralnik: That's more than most who know about the organization at all could say. Even I haven't heard more than rumors. Certainly nothing remotely close to publishable.

Althea eyes Toralnik. "Even if you had, I doubt they would... appreciate the publicity."

Toralnik falters in his note-taking... for half a second.

Althea: At any rate, most dragons you will find in Khorvaire disguise themselves as members of lesser races so as not to draw attention to themselves.

Dil simply nods at this.

Edgeworth stares incredulously at Althea.

Althea: That seems to be an innate magical capability of the entire race.

Toralnik: You seem to be remarkably knowledgeable on this subject even for an adventurer with a lifetime of experience, let alone one so young. I imagine there must be a great many compelling stories in that.

Edgeworth: Can I reasonably deduce from this reporter's reactions that within the context of this world, most of what Althea has said thus far is plausible?...

Althea shrugs. "Everyone has stories. Perhaps if your travels take you to Sharn you might find some of my colleagues' accounts to be fairly interesting."

Althea: As it is, I think we have plenty of more immediate concerns to occupy us at the moment.

Althea gestures forward at the now-visible inn with the Ghallanda crest where Edgeworth has been staying. "It's about time we parted ways for the night so we can ensure being rested for the coming... events."

Edgeworth nods. "Indeed. The particular needs of the truth in this world mean I must wake before dawn each day if I'm to reveal it to the best of my ability."

Toralnik frowns. "Ah, is this where you are staying as well? I would have thought the Library..."

Althea holds her forehead. "Right. You have time enough for one story, and not a very long one."

Toralnik: Hmmm... perhaps there are more pressing matters than adventure stories under the circumstances...

Edgeworth: I'll see you at the Archive in the morning. Take care.

Althea nods, and she and Toralnik head off in the direction of the Library district, the latter already directing rapid questions at the former.

As everyone continues to their respective destinations, Edgeworth takes time to write several things in his organizer before finally climbing into bed. He falls asleep quickly due to exhaustion that didn't quite register until he was finally able to yield to it.

Half an hour before dawn, Edgeworth climbs out of bed. He hurriedly takes care of what basic physical needs he has time to before returning to his inn room and forcing himself to calm, open stillness. He scarcely has time to achieve the right state of mind before dawn breaks...

The prosecutor-cleric once more gasps lightly and appears to be dreaming while standing arrow-straight. Inwardly, the bliss, clarity and correctness of profound interconnection with the essence of truth itself overtakes him, allowing him to be more than merely mortal for what seems like both an instant and an eternity... even though it takes an entirely measurable and finite hour from the outside.

Edgeworth: It's as though I need to get used to breathing again...

Edgeworth takes out his organizer and writes a few more notes — some kept alongside others related to such experiences, others in a different part of the tiny notebook entirely...

Edgeworth: Given what's happened since my arrival in this world, it seems distressingly important to keep notes about my dreams from here on out.

Edgeworth shifts uncomfortably, then continues to write. This time, it was merely a brief image — that of... "turning" a false light with the light I wield, for the sake of protection. Though I haven't the faintest idea who or what I might have been protecting... I merely sensed that it wasn't myself, and that it was imperative that I do so.

Edgeworth: At the very least, Althea seems not to have observed my dream this time.

Edgeworth slips his organizer and pen into an inner blazer pocket again. Anyway, I've renewed my new capabilities through my communion with the truth, so I should make as much haste as I can.

Edgeworth glares even has he exits his inn room again. There is, after all, a crime whose full truth needs to be exposed.