Having established contact with the miner, the wolf began listening to his story. It was a strange phenomenon with prisoners and their propensity for sharing their story, even with their jailers. Perhaps it was the loneliness, being tossed into a hole to toil and scrape to survive, forgotten by their society. But prisoners liked to talk, except when subject to pain and torture. The mirror wolf in his life never found the application of physical agony the easiest way to extract information from someone who was at his power. More often it was the kindness that was so rare to find in places such as this which opened them up.
So it was that the wolf showed the man a modicum of care, humanity even. And a suggestion of friendship and mutual aid. Bill the miner, as he had made himself known to the wolf, was impressed by the suggestion that telepathic animals could exist. "Are ye one of hers then?" He asked, almost certainly referring to the Immortal of Communication, and the wolf dare not even think her name, lest he draw her attention.
The wolf relayed the impression of a negative. He was not with the sovereign of Viden. But he was here, and wanted to listen to Bill's story, whatever stories he had to share. And also a promise of freedom, offered by a ship out of the way, crewed by mutual friends. Bill lifted his brows, and shook his head in disbelief, perhaps half-believing this episode was some kind of fever dream, brought on by long hours in the salt mines, or perhaps toxic gas that had leaked into the shaft. But then, the canary they kept was still healthy. So it wasn't deadly, whatever fever had taken him.
The wolf felt his thoughts, and assured him that it was very much a real thing. And it was able to understand him, and would he now like to begin talking?
"There's always been folks disappearin'." Bill admitted, "In the ice fields, in the city, in the villages. Usually weird people are nabbed, people showing signs of strangeness of magic."
The wolf relayed understanding, adding to its sentiment that it knew of Viden's prejudice, a newfound state of affairs, toward mages. Had that been what happened to Llyr? He always seemed to maneuver well in society, it was hard to believe he'd not secured permission to be in the city as a mage, or else suppressed his mutations with his talent for attunement. That aside, the wolf indicated it was listening. It even added a bit of extra meaning toward bill, I'm sure the sovereign had nothing to do with it, or the Intelligence Authority. It was a sardonic relay of communication toward the man, as the wolf sat on its haunches, its white and prismatic fur shimmering in the lantern light.
"Yeh, well..." He said, still uncertain of this odd creature, "Best watch they don't nab yer. A magic telepathic wolf might attract the wrong kind of attention in the city, if'n yer find the way there."
The wolf's brows flattened at that, but it assured the man that he had no intention of entering Viden in the current state it occupied.
Bill's brow furrowed at that, "Is you... one of them skinshifters? What they call them... Beginners or Becomers or something..."
The wolf saw no reason to delay the revelation, so it was relayed. The man gasped, but then shrugged. "S'pose old prejudices don't do a bloke no good down here. 'Specially one offerin' help for a pittance of infromation."
The wolf continued the interrogation, as it kept both of them ensconced in a shadowy illusion, which removed both of them from the external view. The Mmirror wolf had done its surveillance, and determined that the guards wouldn't come around until midnight, and even then the sleepiest guards tended to get these shifts.
The wolf wanted to know who to contact in the city, who was discontent, who was aligned against the sovereign or her police state. There was bound to be some revolution or else criminal element taking hold.
"See, yea." Bill went on, shaking his head, "That's the thing. City is so clean, so white, so pure. Nothing gets that clean without flushing a load of trash down the drain." Bill spat to the side. "The filth collects somewhere. Once you find out where, it's just there you'll probably find folk what don't like how the city are run."
The wolf considered this, and then remembered the Devil's Advocate, a dirty Inn that served ale as well as cheap company in equal measure. And while the wolf had never quite gone as far as to avail himself of the female companions at the tavern, he did know that women and men of such stripes often had their own share of information to give up.
It's time to go. The wolf relayed to Bill then. Then it conjured a large shadowy pick, deadly sharp and good enough to break ankle and wrist chains. Use this to escape, and I'll cover your passage. Do as I say, and you will make it to the shoreline, where a boat awaits you to the west. The wolf gave him careful instructions on when to move, when to hide, and when to run. THe wolf had studied the place in detail since arriving, and knew many of the alternative alcoves and hiding spaces. It would of course follow, with the shimmering illusion of the Mirror wolf concealing it from view.
So once the shadow pick broke the chains clamped around Bill's feet and wrists, he watched as the miner made his way back toward the back tunnels, hiding in wait for the sleepy guard to pass by.
It was remarkably easy, after breaking the man's chains, and using a combination shadow cloak, chameleon hide, and shadowy illusions to fool any patrols to get Bill out into the open. That was when the interesting part began. The part where they'd be able to leave a legitimate trail as they moved toward the northwest, where the longboat was waiting to take Bill to his friend's ship.
The trek north was quiet, almost too much so, but then the wolf was on the prowl perhaps silencing any of the prey animals. The two companions walked for breaks into the bleak landscape of the forest. Perhaps buoyed by the promise of freedom, Bill didn't seem to be slowed down by the weather, but bundled up in his furs and rags as well he could as he made speed after the wolf's tail. The wolf eventually led him to the longboat, waiting to take him out to the ship.
There, was waiting a small satchel and also a change of clothing. The wolf stopped him before he clambered into the vessel, and indicated the satchel. This jailbreak was not at all free. The wolf desired something from the man, and would have it.
His sovereign substances. Bill quirked a brow, and stammered, "I... what? you want me to bleed meself?"
The wolf assured him it would not need a lot of blood. Just a few drops for the phial.
Bill looked to the wolf, then the contents of the mostly empty satchel. A glass blade was inside the satchel, ready for cutting into one of his veins. And also a phial to collect the blood. The wolf told him he would walk him through the process. Afterward, it took little convincing to get him to part with some of his blood, some nail clippings, and hair. The wolf instructed him on the proper method of extracting blood and getting it into the phial He was a little messy, but then that was fine for the wolf's purposes. Then he wrapped the small leeching wound with a bandage that was also in the satchel. He tied the satchel to the Wolf's neck as instructed, then he was off on the longboat, furiuosly rowing out to the waiting lanterns of his friend's ship.
The wolf lingered a few moments, before fading into the scenery with its mirrored fur, and sneaking back toward the Shellter. It would arrive sometime late in the early hours of dawn. There, the wolf began the painful transformation back into her previous form, of a blended totem of Woe and Anima. She looked slightly different this time, but the general gist of her look was the same. Besides, she didn't need to look the exact same for her purposes. She donned her clothing once more, and then set about the long process of dedicating a new totem. She ground the nail clippings and hair and blood, into a fine paste with the tannin she'd had left over from the mirror wolf, applying it to a patch of fur which would be the totem object. She reflected on the man's shell, his form, how it related to these sovereign substances. Once she established a link between who she wished this totem to allow her to become. The process took the better part of the next few days, leaving her with even less time to continue her mission, and pilgrimage. But on balance, having yet another totem and face to rely upon would help her remain undetected in the future.
With the totem dedicated, she didn't transform immediately into this new person, but rather took time to sleep in the Shellter, to regain her energy after an arduous arcane process. The nights flew by, before she would be ready to make way toward the city itself, toward Viden.
