Much time passed after Mirgia, Kimi and Teddy decided to return to Milinia. Karnisal and Qritor had preceded them earlier and Ankh had departed for the capital of Severanti to inform the emperor of what had transpired at the tower. After Rolin suddenly stepped through the structure of the tower and vanished, they’d spent several days trying to think of ways to get him out or follow after him but to no avail. Mel had yelled at Mirgia and even hit him once for putting her brother in danger but eventually after letting out her anger and worry she admitted that it wasn’t Mirgia’s fault. Mirgia spent several nights sleeping poorly. Logically he knew that he didn’t do anything wrong, but he felt responsible for the disappearance of Rolin and he still desperately hoped that the young man was fine. But as summer rolled over into fall and fall turned into winter, that hope was diminishing. Mirgia was preparing to go and meet Cobal and Mana on the road. A letter had come in telling him they were helping out Cassandra on the Ravadier Peninsula. As Mirgia was in the midst of preparations to leave, another letter came in. This one was from Mel.

Dear Mirgia,
My brother has returned from his time in the tower. He is tired but otherwise doing well. He wishes to speak with you.

Mel.

Mirgia didn’t hesitate for long before choosing to go visit Rolin instead of meeting up with Mana and Cobal. According to their letter, they had become friends with that strange pirate captain that Mirgia briefly traveled with earlier in the year and had her entire crew to help them out. They would be okay. He informed Kimi and Teddy that they’d be departing for Morpezo in the morning before he headed off to speak with Karnisal.
“So the young man has made his way back to us, that’s good to hear. Did the letter mention anything about what he learned while in the tower?”
Mirgia shook his head. “It only said that he is doing well and wishes to speak with me.”
Karnisal nodded. “Then you’d best go and see for yourself. Could you be so kind as to inform me of anything important you might learn?””
“Of course.” He paused. “Should I inform that sorcerer as well?”
Karnisal scratched their chin. “Inform me, and I will send him a letter with the information I deem good to share. I still don’t trust this strange construction and I have much distrust of the emperor of Severanti, but I understand that they both might be tied to my brother and it would do us well to keep them close.”
Mirgia nodded. “Understood, I will inform you first and we will move from there.”
Ankh had left the tower before Mirgia did, saying he would speak with the emperor about this and see if there was anything that could be done. The tension between the sorcerous doll and Karnisal had been tough to navigate for Mirgia. He had never seen the old elf this tense. Bringing up past trauma must have really gotten to him. But now wasn’t the time to linger on that, he had a bag to pack.

The cold winter wind made the journey to Morpezo much less pleasant than their previous journeys. Kimi’s musical talents helped keep spirits high but even the ever optimistic Teddy was noticeably silent in this colder weather. Apparently Redsan didn’t get nearly as much cold snow as here even though it wasn’t too far from their current location. According to Teddy, it mostly got cold at night but stayed at a decent temperature during the day. Mirgia felt a bit on edge throughout. So much had happened in a short time and he didn’t feel like much of it had a proper resolution. He hoped that meeting with Rolin again would give him that feeling of closure a bit more, learning what happened in the tower. The peak of winter was already over by the time they got to Morpezo and although it was still freezing cold, better days were coming. The tension in the village had left again, with the threat of the Sahilid gone. Mirgia found Mel in the common room of the inn and they were quickly brought upstairs to a private room where Rolin was resting. Apparently the time spent within the tower had taken a toll on his energy and he would need a while to recuperate.
Rolin smiled when he saw his friends enter the room. “It’s good to see you again.”
Teddy immediately walked up to the bed and firmly grasped Rolin’s hand. “We were worried about you.”
“You worry too quickly.”
“It’s in my blood to worry, other people are irresponsible after all.”
Mirgia sat down on one of the chairs near Rolin, who was laying on the couch but covered in a blanket. “What happened?”
Rolin explained to them how he suddenly found himself inside the tower after touching the door and focusing. He then told them about his conversation with Brela and what she told him about the way the shards of Kanarth work and that there were probably many more spirits trapped in these prisons. Finally, he told them that with Brela’s guidance, he had gained much more control of how his eyes worked and he was even starting to learn some new tricks with them.
Mirgia felt relieved. And with this information he could maybe even bring Karnisal some good news. After all, this made it seem that their brother had some good intentions when he brought down the city. It might not magically make up for all of it, but the goal they had was perhaps a little bit more noble than Karnisal had initially thought.
“So what’s next for you?” Teddy asked.
“Well, I need to rest up a bit longer first, Mel will kill me if I get up too soon.”
Mirgia saw Mel nodding in agreement.
“But after I’ve recovered, I would like to start searching for more of these shards of Kanarth. I was hoping that maybe I could speak with Karnisal again in Milinia and perhaps work out a way of working together, if only at a distance. I doubt they want to go into these places themselves at their age, but their knowledge of the city and their ways is obviously incredibly useful.”
“And how do you plan to find these shards, let alone free whoever is in them?”
“That I don’t know quite yet. I’m thinking of working with Ankh if I can’t find a better idea, but I want to run that plan by Karnisal first.”
“They’re not going to like that.”
Rolin shrugged. “The result is what’s important. I made a promise to Brela that I would help the spirits, and I will do so regardless of who I have to work with.”
Teddy chuckled. “It’s good to have resolve like that, makes it harder for your resolve to be shaken.” He clapped the man on his back. “Come to Milinia once you’re healed up properly, I’ll be there as well and we can think of a solution together.”
Rolin smiled. “That sounds nice. Thank you for coming all the way just to hear me out, I know it was a long trek, but I feel like sending this kind of information in a letter wasn’t smart.”
“I agree,” Mirgia said. “It would most likely be fine but if it did fall in the wrong hands we’d have a pretty big problem. I think that if my time and other business permits I’d like to help you out as well.” He looked at Kimi who seemed in agreement.
“If there’s anyone who knows about spirits being trapped,” she said, “it’s me. I will definitely come with you.”
Rolin smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, that’s very reassuring.”

With Rolin’s company, the group travelled back to Milinia, this time bringing Mel with them. Rolin’s sister really wanted to see the elven city as well and there was no reason for her not to come. The forest was relatively safe and Mirgia promised that a guard could be sent alongside her on the way back. The marvel of Milinia was apparently a dream of many people around the world and Mirgia was kind of surprised about this. Sure, the city was well hidden from the rest of the world, but it wasn’t closed off or anything. Still, it was nice seeing people excited about his home. He felt a sense of pride each time it happened. With Mel and Rolin situated in their rooms in the tavern, Mirgia made his report to Karnisal. He told them everything that he learned from Rolin and he could see the relief on their face. The chance that Sorda had a more reasonable explanation for his behavior was something that Karnisal had always hoped for, but never dared to really believe in. “But why didn’t he contact me in all those years?” Karnisal asked.
Mirgia shrugged. “Guilt, shame? Some other reason to cut ties? Maybe he thinks you are part of the problem in Kanarth and that’s his reason to create distance. I can spend all day guessing but without his word it doesn’t mean anything.”
Karnisal smiled. “Your bluntness is appreciated in times like these.” They got up from their chair and took something from a nearby cabinet. “Here, I want you to have a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a signet ring that once belonged to my father.”
“What do you want me to do with it?”
“You’re going to figure out more about the shards of Kanarth, right?”
Mirgia nodded.
“If you find anything with that symbol on it, can you return it to me? It might belong to me or my family.”
Mirgia pondered the question for a bit. Karnisal was asking a lot of him here. He was definitely interested in the shards of Kanarth and wanted to learn more, but making a definitive promise about investigating them might go against his other wish to meet back up with and help out Cobal and Mana. Despite his hesitance, he nodded. “I will.”
Karnisal smiled. “Any resource you require that I can personally offer you shall be yours. This investigation is immensely important to me, but I have a bigger responsibility towards our people now. I cannot go out there myself, even if I want to. So I’m leaving it to you.”
Mirgia smiled, his resolve steeled. “I won’t let you down.