This is a follow up story of sorts. It takes place after Roland the Gunslinger finally got to the Dark Tower and helped fix things in there. In the course of fixing things, in order so that when time started running correctly on Midworld something odd had to be done. Here is what Roland had to say on the matter (from episode 18702):

Roland I and my ka-tet have been to other worlds (and indeed stand on one this very second)! We have gone through a sad, plague ravaged mirror world of my Earth-born friends. We have gone through a world that, while somewhat like my homeworld, had a property of "gravity" to it that was a touch more than I’d been born and lived with all my life (how odd that one had been). What an odd world Romulus had been, indeed. Terra Prime had been a welcome sight indeed (place where I wedded my newly recovered first love, Susan), and after this shall be my home forevermore. Walking the face of Krynn had been a thing of wonder itself (another land like Terra Prime land where dragons still walked and flew), and here again I stand.....with this one last piece of business to attend. Or shall we say, the last three pieces of business to attend. See, when I finally finished my business with the Dark Tower, I was told by the Rules and Agents that it had been necessary to do something extremely....er....odd with the world outside. Time had been running oddly, with some areas "caught up in a time warp" (as Eddie put it). In some places, I found out, time had actually run backwards for a bit and started forwards again. That was how my....father Probe (father he is now, by custom and circumstances that I shall explain in a moment) was able to save Susan. A strange type of time travel occurred there that....makes my head hurt if I try to fathom it too deeply. It was part of Ka, that saving of Susan That and the actions afterwards by Probe to make it appear she’d died in that fire. Though cruel seeming on the outset (making me thinking all these centuries she’d died....and it being my fault at the bottom of it all), it was the only way. See, if Probe hadn’t done it, the time paradox would have destroyed me (and perhaps Susan, my unborn son by her, and many others as well). Keep trying to tell my father, Probe, that I understand and it was needful because of Ka, but..... Somehow I get the feeling that it still hurts him deeply that such had to be done. By the Beam, I....think that concern for me and my well being is a large part why I’m actually....beginning to actually accept him as my father. I’d been shocked to the extreme to learn what it had meant when I swore my hand to him, but now that’s how he and the Golems are. That’s why I can now call him father.....and feel like a beloved son with a beloved father. Wonderful, really, considering that in a real sense I’d divorced myself from my old life and family ties back on Midworld by my actions in helping fix the Dark Tower..... Right, back to the task at hand..... What happened was that strange, so bear with me and try to follow along. Think of the point of time you call "the present" as a piece of land at the bottom of a steep valley a traveler (you) journey forth through. The land behind you that you’d walked through is the nation called the "past", and due the walls of the valley being so close together, you can’t turn around to walk back....and trying to walk backward wouldn’t do because you’d trip, fall, and break your neck. Got it? Well, the path ahead of you is (and forever shall be) a plot of land called "the future". You shall never reach it because as soon as you step forward the land called "the future" mystically becomes "the present". Understand? ...... Ah, I cry your pardon! I do not laugh at you and the odd expression you wear. I instead laugh at myself and the crudity of my explanation. ‘Tis the best I can manage, alas. Now, the thing here is that in my case, they Rules and Agents have taken my old "the Past" and and my old"the Present" and fused them into something different and new. Needful, according to the Rules and Agents, the whole of Midworld would be torn apart by time paradox. The exact reasons are.....unfathomable to me now (I understood when I stood in the Dark Tower), but I know it was needful and necessary. In the process, I was "divorced" from Midworld and it’s embrace. What happened exactly is a bit awkward to explain, so I’ll again resort to analogy to explain. Best way to describe it was that the course of my life, from the past to present, stretch through time like something like an earthworm (as I remember from my teachings back in Gilead). In this case, the Rules and Agents, with the fusing of past to present, made a grand total of four Roland Deschains (me being the forth, the one who made it to the Dark Tower).....as well as duplicating Susannah and Eddie Dean twice (due in part of them being my ka-tet at the times of the fusing). A shadowy afterimage is left over that will remain for years that can be somewhat glimpsed out of the corner of the eye for some, but will fade. That image will be the last of the olden world....the world I’d left behind. The world that moved on before the Dark Tower was repaired, making Midworld a world which had moved on (then moved back?). Uh, that’s....sort of like what is going on here, roughly, anyway. That afterimage is also what remains of Midworld’s old hold on me. If I, my ka-tet, Susan (or even Oy) were to try to walk through the Door right now, basically into something like a solid wall instead of passing through into Midworld would be the result. The way is barred, alas, but I and the others have a home on Terra Prime now..... Now, with my swearing my hand to Probe, I basically broke all claims of bloodline and family ties to my old (then defunct) family. I had to, for to not would be to forget the face of my father. It was a matter of honor that I disown my family (and my father), else I’d bring shame to them (and him) if I had not. Probe had saved Susan’s life AND my unborn son’s life, after all. Still, I hadn’t counted on Probe becoming my new father when I’d disowned my old one...... Hrmph.... Now, here’s the problem. I had known that one of the other Rolands running about on Midworld would be one who’d just qualified as a Gunslinger. However, I hadn’t expected it to be this newly qualified (a mere day). I hadn’t expected to have to meet him and my former father, Steven, who’d confronted me...er...him across a whore’s bed..... Silently watching Jarlath 2 and his group call up and greet the other Roland and Steven, I know what shall come next. I had only hoped to greet my other self and give credence to the offer of aid. If the other Roland refused aid, so be it. If the other accepted, then Jarlath would aid him through the troubles that awaited them....whether on the way to the Dark Tower or whatever. In this case, the problems ahead for this other Roland (young lad of 14), was what he faced out on a journey ahead. A journey that the first time around lead me to Susan, the Coffin Hunters, and so much more.... In this case, if Ka was kind, Gilead may not fall. I could probably help things along by speaking with this other Roland alone for that....but with Steven as well...... Should prove.....interesting. See, Astra was able to talk Steven and the other Roland to step through the Door to prove to help prove to them that the offer of aid (and her group) were real enough..... The look of shock realization on their faces as it dawns on them that it's really real here is almost funny. The look on their faces when they see me is......

What happens next is that since the Rolands didn't instantly hate each other they instantly became like brothers.

......

Look, it is like this. In the matters of magic there are certain things that are as invariable as certain things in the mundane realm. One of those things is the matter of dopplegangers (or analogs). It's an either/or thing, with no middle ground. Period.

Before that, however, we see that Eddie Dean and Slith are talking about a most recent problem the Draconians were facing. Seems that the metallic dragons who's eggs were used to create the Draconians had been keeping tabs on them. Not out of any plans on flying in and wiping Kang's Draconians out, you see. Rather, it was something akin to a person poking at a sore tooth. Yes, it causes pain to do it but for some perverse reason people do it anyway. The distraught dragons couldn't move on and give up totally on what their offspring had been changed into. Indeed, though they thought totally that the Draconians were out and out evil and beyond redemption, it was the nature of them being parents that just couldn't totally turn away and get on with life. When, however, they heard of the recent happenings with Kang and his Draconians....rumors that somehow it appearing that they weren't evil and such they'd flown in straightaway and ran into a roving patrol of dragon mounted Dark Knights. Overmatched, they would have been slaughtered if not for an interception patrol of Draconians in dragon form coming forth to drive off the Dark Knights. The Draconians tended the injured and soon found out about the true nature of these metallic dragons. A reconciliation between metallic dragon parent and Draconian was soon taking place. Furthermore Kang had the good sense of soon setting things up that their parents would spread the word that Draconians are no longer the menace they had been and could be trusted. Slith, however, was at a loss on how to best approach his silver dragon parents in some sort of reconciliation and sought advice from Eddie Dean, his friend. Eddie finally suggested to just lay it out straight without "any trimmings" as it were. If his parents couldn't accept Slith wishing to remain a Draconian (something that Slith couldn't change anyway), then the burden of the sin would be on the parents and not Slith! Delaying the meeting would not make it any easier so might as well do it soon. That was the only advice Eddie could give, given the circumstances.

That particular side issue is another story, but an interestin tidbit, is it not? It goes well with one of the story thread's themes, as you shall soon see.

Reconcilliation.....

That aside, what the problems that Steven faced are shown by a recounting by Edward Solomon and a unicorn lass named Hannah (who's somehow gotten sucked into Midworld here recently):

Edward Solomon "I would be happy to aid with your...problem with Walter," Edward Solomon says a second before everyone else, "But I respectfully suggest, lord, that you handle that mirror carefully, I beg!" I read this series by King. I remember enough to guess just why Lord Steven Deschain asked for that magic mirror of Juniors..... Look, in order to get a better grip on this situation you'll need to know a few things here about the people and the things involved here. Otherwise I know anyone outside looking in is not going to have a chance in Hell of figuring it out. Understand, though, while on Midworld I and my friends won't spread it around here. Wouldn't be nice, let's just say. Since it's well....er...known through the Gunslinger series by Stephen King, I won't be telling something that... Sigh. Look, if I don't tell you then you won't understand and you need to understand in order to see where I and he are coming from. First, let me you about the troubled relationship between Steven and his wife, Gabrielle. To not put a it delicately, the woman was having an affair with what had first had been thought to have been Martin Broadcloak (aka Randal Flagg) for awhile. Steven knew about this business for two years, and the affair may have been going on a lot longer than that. Who knows? Only thing here is that what really was going on was that at least sometime it was Walter, a disciple (apprentice?) of Martin in disguise. While Flagg may be gone for now on here on Midworld, Walter is still about and still a....loose end to tie up. Man has something coming to him for things here and.....for things back on Terra Prime. I will get to that here in a minute. By custom Steven is somewhat constrained on how he can deal with this mess. Can't just kill Walter in cold blood because it would....look bad to the others who are under him. There are other, more civil ways, but each is not without some kind of negative, unwanted stuff that Steven just didn't want right now. See, it revolves around something like "Code Duela". A man of Steven's class can't be seen picking his own fights but instead has someone in his stead stand in for him in a duel of honor. Frankly, those locals who are skilled enough for Steven's need would later ask for special favors...that he'd not like to have to give out and leave it at that. Then there is the fact that in order for the fight to go down the offense would become public knowledge. Right now it's just rumor and such and Steven would rather it just stay at that level. It would be too embarrassing and politically damaging, you see. But now he has a perfect opportunity to deal with Walter (who still is, according to sources, looking like Martin Broadcloak) through us. Remember, a lot of us in the group have our own beef with Flagg (or whatever he calls himself). Joan 2 got teleported away from her homeworld and her quest unfinished (re:9570) , among other things (her sister Joan finally got around to finishing it off). Astra 9a, who could have been a unifying factor back on her world when it was all falling apart and one of Flagg's flunkies (the Brazen Man) teleported her away to Terra Prime for Flagg to....play with her later (re: 9546). Can't say that Jarlath 2 has an issue with Flagg (or Walter) directly, but it's mages like Walter and Flagg who'd blacken the name of magic users back on his homeworld....and as such Jarlath would just love to have a piece of the action. The same goes for Andrea 2, my girlfriend. Then there is me. I have a very personal reason to "speak" with Walter. See, for some odd reason Flagg's type are compelled to have to follow certain protocols and such. Must have something to do with the Office he works for, I guess. He can't just do something simple like killing you directly, most of the time. Instead, he has to work through agents or use overly complex (albeit deadly) plans to do something like that. Probably was a major reason why Roland the Gunslinger never got killed by the fellow. This also, it appears, applies to some of his followers as well (i.e. his disciples). After meeting the Eric Solomon's who've gotten stuck on Nantucket Earth, a few things have finally come clear to me. Not exactly comforting and I do not use it as an excuse, but it explains a few things. That and a few faint sensor indicators/signatures I got while scanning Cort awhile ago..... I don't like being a pawn.... Alright, a bit of background info on myself appears to be in order here I see. Originally I was a member of a resistence movement called the Marquis back in what I now call the Star Trek: TNG universe. See, my world and a bunch of other border worlds next to the Cardassian Empire got ceded over from Federation hands into their hands. It was part of a peace treaty or some such in order to at least avoid yet another costly war the Federation really didn't need. In retrospect I guess it was the best of a bad situation. After all, at the time the Federation was still reeling from a "close encounter" with the Borg Collective (barely survived it, really) AND had the Dominion to deal with. Another battle front wasn't a good thing at the time and I guess it seemed alright to cede a few planets who's ownership was in dispute anyway was a small price. Heck, the Federation made efforts to move and compensate those who were being put into....er....inconvenienced by this. They even did what they could for those stubborn ones who refused to give up their homes. Well, I was one of those stubborn ones who refused to leave their homes and, of course, the Cardassians violated my rights and my property like the others who'd stayed behind. Finally I joined in an effort to kick the Cards out. Even had some unofficial aid from those within Star Fleet, so it wasn't totally hopeless. Worked well enough until the Cards called in those Dominion bastards to..... Never mind. The crushing defeat of the Marquis happened after the Marquis ship I was on got sucked (along with the USS Voyager later) into the Delta Quadrant (70 odd years away from home). The Voyager was a Federation vessel part of an effort to quiet complaints by the Cardassians (who we'd inconvenienced) that the Federation wasn't doing enough to keep the Marquis (who'd been ducking in and out of our secret bases located within Federation space) under control. She'd been sent out to track my resistence cell down and arrest the lot of us, really. But with things as they turned out it soon came down to where we needed to join forces in order to survive and get home. That would take a miracle, see, because we Marquis felt betrayed by the Federation and Star Fleet (those who weren't secretly helping us) and.... You get the idea. Somehow, though, the captain of the Voyager (Janeway) managed not only to get us to join forces, but got us to.... Well, put it simply we got "assimilated" into the crew and became "Star Fleeters" (as the Military puts it). I was a engineering sort in the Marquis with a panache for code breaking and such. In the olden days I'd be termed a "hacker" and I somewhat got a thrill from that. Got my fellow resistence fighters out of a few tight situations with unlocking doors and taking down security systems. Went on to keep being and engineer type while on the Voyager. That is, that's what my memories told me. Will tell you what I mean in a second so bear with me. While on our way back to the Alpha Quadrant (i.e. home) we rand afoul of from a Seven of Nine duplicate who was still a full Borg. She gained control of the ship, but messed up so where the Voyager crash landed (intact) on a class M planet. We regained control of the ship and even were able to "un-assimilate" a young human man named Scott Chen from that Seven of Nine duplicate. The duplicate, meanwhile, was in big trouble. Chen's memories were....something that got sucked into the Collective and that was....bad. Chen's memories are something like a computer virus on steroids. It eventually burned out the Collective, believe it or not! Operative word .That's a good thing, folks! Was one of the things that got us free of the Collective when we got caught by surprise by the still active Collective. That and Scott Chen, but that's a bit later. Problem is, here, that it was a wildly unpredictable virus! It took over the duplicates's assimilator nanites and caused them to transform the Borg female into what can only be called a little female dragon, for crying out loud! Scott Chen, Wildman and family eventually took the little thing in as a pet, but.... No, getting ahead of myself here... Okay, thing here is that I got violently assimilated into the Collective for a time. Not something I relish. It was a mind rape! Chen sacrificed himself to get us free and for that I shall always be true to him and think the best of him. Chen died...but then came back! Yes, BACK from the dead! Scott had within him a strange energy we term Chaos energy. Things always odd happened around him unless we used some kind of dampening material to keep it under control. That said, the energy was something that a parallel version of Janeway wanted to further her dark goals. She'd been building a large multi-dimensional empire, you see. Fooled us into thinking that we needed to help her get Scott (still dead) or else a lot of people were going to get killed by that Energy.... We learned differently, soon, from a bunch of humanoid animal versions of ourselves (called "furries") the truth and we got Scott (now back amongst the living) away and ruined the evil Janeway's plans. In the process our two Voyager had to double up into one Voyager, but that's a long story.... After a lot of adventures and misadventures with Scott (who'd joined the crew and eventually married "furry" Wildman) we had this encounter with this one Parwrath thing of a bobber and got sucked into the Terra Prime universe. We, seriously damaged, were rescued by the Military (who'd been in a battle with the Enemy to save Terra Prime). ..... What happened next I had always looked back upon and just asked myself why it had happened this way. At the time it seemed to be the thing to do.... Have vague dreams and such, though, of it being more than what it had first appeared.... At first it appeared to be a big culture clash. We rubbed each other the wrong way. Voyager crew who'd been part of the Marquis, still shaky from everything, went a bit nuts and dragged the more level headed (few that there had been, alas) along with them. We say the Military and saw another Cardassian Empire in the making. The Cardassian Empire and the evil Janeway empire rolled up into one. Being that the Military was very positive towards cybernetics didn't help (still was shaky about being assimilated, see). At the time the Slammer ships were about to launch a lethal final blow against the Enemy in a war that had been a war to extinction. We, being a bit....er.... Look, we took a leave of reason. We thought that the Military was BSing us about how bad the Enemy was. We thought that their answer of kamikaze ships to kill the Enemy to the last was horribly wrong (never mind that the Military told us about the Enemy wanting to do that to the Military first). We insulted them and we insulted those on Terra Prime (who'd come to become friends with the Military). Yeah, we were in the wrong. This is real life (or what passes for it). Might not happen that way on the TV show, but..... Well, the thing here is that I and my "furry" brother got it into our heads that we could sabotage the Slammer ships via computers and save the Enemy from destruction. We'd planned on not getting caught. Boy, were we idiots! The Military has been doing computer security and computer intrusions for a LONG time. They were at a level that nobody in the Federation (self included) thought possible. We got found out but the Military folks didn't kill us. They were mad as hell at us, but they didn't kill us. Cooler heads prevailed, despite the CO of the Military wanting to execute us. Turns out that Probe talked (or more like shouted) him out of it. That aside, the Military even got us home, despite that. They did, however, they were going to keep a weather eye on us to make sure we (the Federation) didn't try anything else against them. That is the reason why when another dimension's Enemy/Alliance war came to the shores of the Star Trek universe we didn't get totally destroyed by the Enemy. The Military saved our bacon. They saved us. Do you have any idea.....how I feel when I look back on what I did? .... To say I feel two micrometers tall is a vast understatement. Ah, but there is something that might make you think better of me. See, we found out that in all there were two other Voyagers with the same story as ours. One was a Voyager who'd made it back to Earth before us. One was a Voyager who'd been ambushed by the Enemy and all but a few survived it (others eaten). Nothing odd in that, all considered, but there turns out to have been disturbing indications of only one being the "real" Voyager and the others being some kind of counterfeits made by some super powerful entities. Indications of the Q were involved. I shall not go into the details of how this was discovered, but needless to say I was......disturbed to think that perhaps I was not the person who I thought I was! When I became a Champion I had asked the Rule about that, but only got a partial answer to it. The Rule had confirmed that the rumors about the other two Voyagers having been created by Q (that insufferable shit). Even told me that Flagg, who'd somehow regained his memories from prior lives and thus became a major danger, had been able to trick the SOB into creating them in a plot that eventually resulted in the Rule of the Star Trek universe (a non-freewilled Rule) destroying Q and the Q Continuum killing them out of a reflex action. .... With them gone, they couldn't prevent that parallel dimension Enemy from stumbling across the Star Trek universe and invading. Was some kind of overly complex scheme to bring about an orgy of death, despair, and destruction that would somehow play into the eventual destruction of the Dark Tower. Don't ask how. After all I've seen and learned I know now how little I really know and understand. Can't say how it would have happened but I believe Them.... Ah, that said you might wonder about me? About how I became a mage and all that? How a human being (which I was) from the Star Trek universe got changed? On the last night on Terra Prime before the Military booted us out for what I'd done, we'd been confined to our ship. I, being stupid, broke confinement and crashed a Military party. They were cool about it and let me join in, despite prior times of me and others making an ass of ourselves. Not realizing that the drinks being served were real alcohol (not synthahol), I got hammered and royally pissed off some of the folks there.... Look, the Military personnel there at the party were what we would call Elite Forces. They'd seen hard fighting and were in the need of some time to wind down and calm down! They partied hard and played hard, but they were doing it to "decompress". Hell, I think they'd been so happy with the thought of their war with the Ememy being almost over that they'd been able to allow a jerk like me into their party..... ..... A guy was able to break up the fight before it started and basically told me to get out of there (scared the bejesus out of me when I got belligerent). But saved my life he did when he caused me to run away in drunken fright. Only thing here is that the Sigin who'd become a demifox and his family were strolling about the base at the time and I ran into them. Into? How about over some of the kit! Little guys didn't get hurt (injuries healed vastly quick due to their nature) but I scared them badly. The kits bit me and I got their kind of neo-lycanthropy. Eventually became a demifox myself due to them not having the means anymore of curing me. The Voyager had no choice but to leave me behind on Terra Prime because what I was becoming wasn't able to survive long without magic. Had magic in the Terra Prime reality but not back home. While magically examining me after the bite attack, Sigin noticed some indicators of mind control! Seriously powerful stuff at that, but sneaky. Doubt even he, an accomlished Dragon Mage, would have noticed it if he hadn' t been lucky. That in part played a role in what got my crewmates spared.... That said, the demifox knew that strong measures were needed in order to free my mind from it being influenced whenever the perpetrater felt like. I learned later that while magic might have worked, it might have backfired and scrambled my mind into a milkshake or somehing. It could have left me a vegetable so another, less drastic measure was taken. Basically, I was shocked out of it. The means he used were harsh, but needed. He lured me in one day by showing me equations on subspace that....showed that the mages of Terra Prime knew some more about sub-space in some areas that us Star Trekers did! It was the first real indication that I actually acknowledged that the odd technological spurts here and there on Terra Prime (things like the revolver being a notable example) were do to the natives and not to the Military giving out goodies! Leading me down the path a bit to prove to me something (AND to help me out in snapping me out of it), I foolishly signed a contract of apprenticeship....in my own blood! Lesson there was always to read the contract before signing AND to make sure of what the pen's ink actually is! Blood signed contracts are binding in ways I'd read of in fantasy novels and religious stories! Good God, was it......painful. Sigin eventually released me from the contract, free and clear. Not before, however, force feeding my mind memories of a Phantom agent and a Lizard soldier. The agent's memories showed me (forced me to see) that the Military really was right about how bad things were for those civilians back Home. Showed me how corrupt the Company was..... The Enemy's memories were of it eating.....a human being. Showed me the true face of the Enemy. Sigin removed the memories (don't think I could stand to live with them really), but the lingering remains make me....shudder..... How in God's name could a race become so...... ..... It snapped me out of it, anyway. Sigin then suggested a means of snapping the rest of the Voyager crew out of their problems and so they soon got shocked out of their control when they actually saw what had happened, via recordings, what the Enemy had done to that duplicate Voyager they'd ambushed. That and the Military actually returning them home to the Star Trek universe..... Now, despite all of what I just said, it wasn't for sure that my Voyager was a counterfeit. There were other reasonable and likely explanations for those mind control indicators Turns out, though, that I now see that our little debacle back on Terra Prime was a Flagg special. If it had happened differently then the Voyager would have been executed and the Military wouldn't have been keeping tabs on the Star Trek universe. That or it may have lead to war between us and them. Basically a lot of death and destruction could have happened. Didn't, though. Thank God! Well, I remember (in a sleepwalker kind of way) of seeing readings back on the Voyager like I saw recently on my tricorder. Seems that Flagg was farming out the fun and Walter did the honors this time in setting us on our course. Remember in my dreams of this guy popping in out of nowhere, wearing robes and.....commanding us. The sensors had, before we blanked the sensor logs, recorded the readings given off by Walter's presence. Don't remember much (even in dreams), but those readings stand out enough for me to suddenly remember....like a bolt from the blue..... Walter used me. Used my friends. I'm not going to let him use anyone any more. Man's dangerous one and must be stopped. Death isn't necessarily the result of what this duel will bring. If he loses (and I plan on making him lose) I and the others have an idea or three on how to make sure he's not going to be a danger ever again. Exile to a branch of reality where no magic is and he doesn't know the Beam pathway (i.e. does not know where to find a Door back to Midworld and such) will do the rest of us a world of good! ..... That is the ideal outcome.... Forget about how my heart screams for it. Killing Walter. It's a matter of principle as well. Despite how old fashion it may seem compared to contemporary ethics of the Star Trek universe..... ..... Funny. As dark and cynical as I thought myself to be at times, Andrea calls me a bright eyed idealist. Was attracted to me for that. Guess that by Military standards and by the old fashioned standards of Terra Prime....I still am an idealist. Used to laugh at the hopeless idealists back in Star Fleet..... Nevermind. I realize, now, why the Rule hadn't told me everything but said instead I'd come to know the truth when I was ready. Before, at that time, I'd been crushed and lost. Now? I'm free. The deeds I'd done in what I had thought to be a moment of insantiy I can blame instead on the true culprits. When I had met my analog "brother" on Nantucket Earth I'd been put into a frame of mind where I was ready. When I caught the traces of Walter while scanning Cort (who'd been healed as a side effect of the fixing of the Dark Tower), I know now the truth. I may not be who I exactly thougtht I was, but I know now who I am. I do not need to keep beating myself up for what I was forced to do, but I must remember it else I shall become complacent and stupid.....and could actually do something that stupid. I am a Champion of the Rules and Agents and I will do the right thing as what should be done. I shall do the just thing. I shall fight Walter, who's been summoned. Not here yet..... .... OH, before I forget, let me finish up with that explanation. Walter is only one person who Steven needs something done about. The other is his wife.... Kind of got distracted, talking about myself there. Kind of is close to the heart, the reason why I am doing what I'm doing.... I mean, after all, with it all falling into place..... .... Okay, back to the task at hand and stop talking about the gut feeling that the "real" Voyager was the one who's crew got eaten! Would not be surprised if Flagg somehow bent things for that to happen....taking them out of the equation while us others mess about.... Well, shall have to disappoint him.... Right. Anyway, Steven's wife is the other one that he's having problems with. At a guess (and only a guess....man's not someone I feel like prying on by asking) from what I've read, the man does not know what to do about it. Not really. From that request of the mirror I feel he wants to use it's properties to try to set things right with her. Maybe he hopes that it'll show his true feelings and that'll get her to be true again. Have to wonder if it'll do that, though. See, it is very powerful. Powerful enough to show what I gather was a very devout follower (who we now call "Junior") the true feelings and thoughts of the "goddess" he followed. Thing is, it has no control beyond a simple....er....mechanism, spell wise. It's not sentient and without any feelings. Remorselessly it showed "Junior" the truth, without any cushioning. The experienced was so devastating that it drove Junior (then a grand wyrm) into making desperate wishes with a magical item. Now Junior is as cute and innocent as can be, eager to please (currently the Draconian's main source of power)...but I think you can see the possible result. Too loose of directives could well lead to shattering the woman (or the man if he looks at the wrong time). Now, while Steven in the end might have gotten to the point where he'd let Ka decide his wife fate (read where Steven might have knowingly let the circumstances where Roland accidently shot and killed her) I think that with recent events he's going to not be so.....fatalistic about it. I tell him why the mirror can be dangerous and why I'm asking him to be very careful in using it. He looks less than pleased but still determined. Holding my tongue and not pushing any more (rulers like kings don't like to be pushed), I am about to call it a day on this when Hannah speaks. "'Tis dangerous....that unguided Mirror," she says simply, "But a unicorn's magic can steer it, preventing a dangerous turn." "Indeed," Steven manages, looking at her oddly. Hannah And the love she think she no longer has for you we shall find again, I say softly towards the distraught human, confidence throughout the message. Unicorns have a knack, you see, at things like this... "Uh," he says, blinking. I then blink, realizing that I've overstep myself. "You think so?" he manages before composing himself, drawing odd glances from some in the room. Jarlath and the others look a bit alarmed, apparently having overheard some of what I sent, but Steven waves off any apologies from myself and the others. "Any aid is helpful," he finally says, "Just as long as the topic of conversation remains here" I may be a unicorn lass, but I know what the man means. No one besides those present will know about the problems with the marriage. No confirming rumors. Else the results for us won't....be nice. 'Tis justice really if that happened. Would not due to injure one's host so greatly after giving lodging and aid.... Besides, I am a being who at least has one purpose and that is to heal wounds....not cause them. Edward Solomon "Had a feeling she was here beyond just circumstance," Jarlath says softly to himself. Remembering his history, I know that his "feelings" have more weight than what I would usually take stock in, otherwise. "Ka," Roland the Younger says, nodding as he looks at the unicorn. That sums it up rather nicely, I think. That said, there is one last bit of business before we finally get around to getting down to the area that Susan (who Roland would just love to meet) is at.... Might try to contact some Old Ones to see if they have some working vehicles. Long shot but it would sure beat trying to fly by carpet or ride by horse! Anyway, Steven has ORDERED (in no uncertain terms) for his aid to come hither. We know, however, the one who'll come will be Walter. He comes, strutting and arrogant, still in the guise of Martin Broadcloak....and stops dead cold when he sees....actually sees.....me. Might look a bit different (fox tail, ears and youngish looking), but enough is there..... Boy, that look on his face is sweet. "Long time, eh?" I smile, tail swishing, "For me, anyway." Got an odd feeling he's just gotten back from the fun on the Voyager, despite the ten years for me having gone by....else why the surprised look? Time travel can be like that. I wonder where the Door he used is around here? Well, the two mages met on the battlefield and due to the regenerative nature of the demifox Edward Solomon survived the duel. Yes, survived it as in saying that Walter didn't. The evil mage's ego was such that he could not stand to see a tool rise up against it's master (as Walter still saw Solomon). The adventurers soon were trying to find a quick means to get out to the spot where Roland the Younger's Susan resided (to take care of business down there). The Old One's they contacted (people who have obtained arcane mechanical knowledge and access to the odd higher tech artifact here and there) proved to be a dry hole (i.e. no working vehicles). Instead, they decide to go again and tap the Draconians' aid by seeing if they could get a lift by dragonback...... That and a form of trade between Gilead and the Draconian nation was hoped for here. Roland the Younger's ka-tet was tapped because it was the best resource available at that moment in time (more seasoned folks and such being tasked by Steven in stamping out the troubles brewing about that the elder Roland had warned of)..... But what happened was when the ka-tet (Cuthbert and Alain) stepped through the Door back to Krynn.... Now, that said, let Roland the Younger and Cuthbert explain more fully....