[h3]The Hunter's Dream[/h3]
“The Shopkeeper is a Great One, good Hunter,” the doll answered Ophelia's question while she and the Shopkeeper walked down the stairs from the workshop to meet them. “They are so highly resistant to eldritch influence that they may as well be wholly immune.” She glanced to the master of the Dream and then back at Ophelia. “They point out that that is why they were able to perceive Arrayah. As for this Obcasus mentioned in the scroll...” She wrung her hands uncomfortably. “The Shopkeeper eagerly awaits its arrival. They cannot wait for the opportunity to hunt such prey.”

“That was a first,” Gerlinde sighed, scratching the back of her neck with an awkward grin. “I've clashed with Nayra before, obviously, but that's the first time she's taken off her blindfold. To think she had a trick like that up her sleeve all this time...”
She shook her head, turning to Farren. She glanced briefly at his altered arms, but apparently deemed to not comment on them for the time being. “I can probably shed some light on things without us spending time experimenting while the ritual progresses. As I said I've clashed with her before, and she has killed me several times... and I have killed her at least once. But as you just saw, she's obviously not dead. I beheaded her – she's surprisingly fragile, by the way – and her body just sort of... melted into the ground? Not like when one of us get sent back to the Dream, she actually liquefied right before my eyes. I also know that she definitely has some weird way of moving from place to place that is probably as fast as our lanterns, if not faster.”
Gerlinde turned away and threw up her hands in what appeared to be frustration, though her tone of voice sounded genuinely amused: “If only we'd learned Harry-poo's trick to control what can and cannot pop out of the ether before we pissed him off. But I doubt Nayra will keep hanging around in the forest; while I won't claim to know her – I don't think anyone knows her anymore – I do know that she [I]hates[/I] wasting time, and she does have a ritual to work on. As soon as we disappeared and she confirmed that you took the sword with you, she probably went right back to Yahar'gul.”

“[I]Champion,[/I]” the voice spoke in Ophelia's mind, “[I]lend your ear, if you would. That creature you just encountered is unfathomably dangerous. You told it that it is desperately unworthy, but in truth it exerts an unimaginable influence even over the Cosmic Sword of Truth. While you spoke with it, it communed with the sword [/I]from a distance[I]! Its voice overwhelmed the sword, bending its will effortlessly. Champion... not only would that creature be able to wield the sword to its full potential, it will even prevent the sword from using incantations while its many minds invade the sword. Greater protection is definitely necessary.[/I]”