The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

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>You know there used to be at least one elf living in the lowfolks land you knew off: The horrific spider lady who taught you willies
>Also she'd know... things about the sisterhood, because they are still a thing, maybe ? Heck maybe she'd know things about your supposed 'bride' since the sisterhood had a hand in that too...
>Your uncle was an expert in intruigue and codes and if anyone would know about the old kingdom codeq, might be him.

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I paused for a moment and pondered .. who could I contact who might be helpful in this situation? Sheila na Gig lived in the lowfolk world and had serious connections with the Sisterhood. I didn't particularly want to see her again, but she might be worth seeking out for information about my betrothed, since the whole thing had been a Sisterhood plot.

My great-uncle Roland would be another elf to consult. He had been Grand Marshal of Faerie for many years, during the early part of which I think the department of Definitive Veracity was still operating .. and it was afterward absorbed into Military Intelligence, which Roland was in charge of .. yes, he would definitely have clearance for the information I needed. But was he still alive? He had retired to Elfhame, last I heard, but I wouldn't put it past him to have returned to Albric Tor for the big battle against .. oh dear, if he thought I was a traitor he might not want to talk to me even if he was still around.

Unfortunately I needed the scrying tower to get in touch with these people, and until I learned how to control time-slips (or my cult reached a suitable level of stability) I had to stay out here.

>Adler: Remember that Rowan mentioned her father having a connection to the forest. Somehow able to talk to the trees. To your knowledge, only elves are able to speak to plants. It may be worth finding out more about this

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"Ixies," I called. "When you're done scattering shoes, I need you to scour the area for traces of Sheila na Gig. She used to live in a cave at the bottom of a mossy ravine somewhere in these woods. Big scary spider-elf with a devilish mask on. You can't miss her."

I glanced around the circle at the shoes scattered everywhere. It certainly looked like something extremely unsavory had occurred here. Now I just had to wait for the rabbits and Jerry's friends to come snooping.

"How did Rowan's father Walnut Marten earn such favor with the forest?" I asked the trees, as an idea occurred to me. If Rowan's story was true, my suspicion was that an elf was involved, and it would be worthwhile finding out more about this. Another elf in the area could be an ally .. or an enemy whom I would need to deal with eventually.

"Uh, we don't actually know," came the rustling reply. "All of that family are named after trees and it's understood far and wide that we have to be nice to them .. but none of us here in this vicinity ever met Walnut Marten."

"Well, ask around if you get the chance. I'd really like to know."

>Adler: What will it take to be able to read these books?
the lorem ipsum stuff, as far as i understood was a magical spell to avoid people that should not know stuff could know stuff they should not be privy of.
It's not about deciphering those books, but find a way to game the system without accessing king-level authority to slowly gain access to various "assigned competences".

I continued perusing the logbook and thinking about the Lorem Ipsum problem. It seemed clear from the incident with Estvan, when I could read some of the books but he couldn't, that the strange gibberish was some kind of security measure which hid text from those who were not qualified to access it. But what were the qualifications? Did it have to do with rank, or security clearance, or simply with the level of knowledge one had acquired?

If it was bureaucratic in nature, I might be in trouble since the DV was long disbanded and its replacement, the Intelligence Division of the army, did not exist at this time. I was still a Duke (wasn't I?) and a former Right Hand of the King, as well as the current heir apparent - but obviously none of that granted me access to some of these books. My best bet for unlocking this content in that case would be to reach Uncle Roland, if he was still alive, and hope he would speak to me.

If it was knowledge-related, I could try apporting every book in the library and reading the ones that were legible, then see if that unlocked any of the others. There were a few problems with this plan: First, without being able to see the library I could not be sure I had gotten all the books. Second, the dolmen out here was not the ideal place to keep a library safe from bugs & mildew. Third, apporting all those books and reading them was going to be a tedious chore.

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Oh well, I guess I would have to do that since it was the only course of action that was actually open to me at this time. I turned back to the logbook, since I might as well finish perusing the tome I had in hand before starting to bring out others.

My eyes lit upon an entry: "8th Junius, checked in with Skönk and revised report concerning situation at Skeorle Tor."

That was the surname of my intended bride! I had a dim notion that Skeorle Tor was on the Eastern frontier of the Empire. Had the Skönks been sent there during the reign of Roland the Dutiful when a lot of low-ranking Irenaeid kin had been dispatched to remote areas? This seemed to tally with something I may have heard at some point .. I wish I had paid closer attention!