“We stand brave, united on the shores of day and night. We are Ebenguard.”
My heart hurts for you, Brother.
We’ll give them some “consequences,” all right.
Thoth, god of the Balance. What are we getting into?
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He got up, walked to the screened-in patio. I followed him.
M: What kind of spell is it, Augie?
A: They won’t let anyone have that book. They want the world the way it is. They want to enslave magic and keep it in the shadows. I’ve been gone a long time. Haven’t I?
M: Yes.
A: But they’ve been here with me, always. I hear them whispering to each other from around the world. Feel them moving like they’re under my skin. A splinter. A thing I can’t remember but can’t forget.
M: Can you tell me anything else about them? Who they are. Where they are.
A: Everywhere! Everywhere. Because they rule this world from a palace made of doors.
He looked at me again, unfamiliar.
A: I don’t know you.
M: I’m Martin Rank, Augie.
A: I’m really tired.
M: Come sit down…
I could tell the spell was failing, or fading. He was becoming the Augie I’d met before. Glassy-eyed, blank.
A: Ascender…
M: He’s…
A: What are you doing here?
M: My name…
A: You can’t be here. I did this to keep you safe.
I realized he thought I was Ascender.
M: I don’t know what to do Augie. What can we do to stop The Storm?
A: You need to learn all you can, Sender. How close are you? How many fragments do you have?
M: Ten.
A: You’re close. They came for us at twelve, remember?
And then I was a stranger to him again.
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Twelve. We’re on Eleven.
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I don’t think it’s a literal physical change. If it’s a spell it’s perhaps more of like an energy change?
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AhhhhhhHHHhhh. Augie, who hurt this kind soul?!
So what we get from that;
Monarch’s Mountain and the '94 Mountaineers were both taken out by “the Storm”.
Augie is an Ebenguardian
“The other side of the forked road” is “the Storm”.
The book may be a spell
They want to “Enslave” magic
The '94 mounties got to 12 fragments.
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A: Who are you? How did you find me?
M: It’s a long story…
And then he was back.
A: They all are when it comes to magic. Remember what I told you, Sender. There are pieces moving on both sides of the board. Some are trying to hinder. Some are trying to help. Hide from hinder, you’re too weak right now to fight, but follow help with all your might. It won’t make sense. Until it does. Trust the flow of magic. Trust whoever it is that wants us to open the book.
He started wringing his hands, pacing. Then he stopped and looked up at me…
A: Is my family safe? Tell me the truth.
M: They are. Your boys are grown. They have families too now.
A: Good. I’m a grandfather. The past is just a moment, Martin. They’re coming. They’re here.
Then he collapsed. It happened so fast I thought he tripped but he was seizing. Orderlies came in. He was foaming from the mouth.
They pushed me out of the way.
And then the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, like a current rushed through the room. I felt what he felt. Just for a second. I couldn’t help him. I ran.
Not my proudest moment.
That’s all I have.
I need a drink.
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And they rule from a palace made of doors… hence all the knocking last week?
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That means this storm might be coming for us…is it KS?
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Ave, Augie. Ave.
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My blood just went cold. Twelve.
A palace made of doors. They’re trying to find a door right now. They want to hold all the keys.
What role does the book play in this? why is it so important if it’s not the keeper of knowledge but a harvester of knowledge.
I just became very confused.
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And on another note…poor Augie. He was brave.
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And then they were decimated. I’m so full of rage right now. I have this feeling sitting at the back of my neck.
We have to finish this. Augie is right. Someone wants us to open the book, and now… we have to. He sacrificed himself to make this possible. Will opening the book make everything right? I don’t know. Who is the hinder, though, and who is the help?
It wasn’t your fault, Marty. This is amazing information. Pour yourself a stiff one.
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If it is a harvester of knowledge then who knows what all it’s harvested…
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We have to stop this Storm, and stop whatever went after all those people. Finish what the others started.
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Would it be helpful to anyone else to have the transcript all in one post?
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Poor Augie 
so now what?
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Mind blown. So Augie thinks we’re casting something with the book. Maybe it’s less a harvester, and more, I don’t know… a cauldron? We’ve been putting knowledge, goodwill, and magic into it for the past nine months. It might still tell us the truth, but we’re the ones making it happen (with the help of “whoever it is that wants us to open the book.”)
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“Hide from hinder, you’re too weak right now to fight, but follow help with all your might.” That’s the part that I keep getting drawn to.
Help and hinder…that’s two…a fork in the road of sorts.
And you can’t stop a storm…just weather it really.
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Exceptional work @Marty.60
Don’t answer any knocks on your door til you’re sure who it is. Any of us, in fact.
I’m off to sleep on this lot.
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