Deep in the untraveled forest to the East of Lan, as men and women scrambled to find him, the king's assassin was striding with melancholy purpose. Few knew this place these days, except in a vague way as a place that should be avoided. But Yllicus knew its past. After all, it was his own Swords that, in the past century, had rendered this place obsolete. But he had dropped his swords, in a failed attempt to hinder himself on his foul quest. And now he needed the creature that stayed here. The old thing, which was once friends to his people. 

He had caught a deer, the biggest stag he could find, and carried it on his broad shoulders, hoping it was succulent enough to appease the creature, Atchetho. The trees in this part of the wood were coated with a shimmering white substance, though valuable and mysterious, Tharans knew better than to touch it. When he could go no further without stepping in the creature's webs, Yllicus dropped the stag into the tangle of silk in front of him. He called out:

"Atchetho! If this beast pleases you, see my past, know the plight that I cannot speak, and tell me what I should do next." 

The webs stirred. There was something at the center that Yllicus could not see, pulling on the strands. The stag, stuck to the silk, was pulled in toward the center and out of sight. Something scuttled and clicked, all the while Yllicus stood still, awaiting the creature's verdict. 

"I have missed Thara," a voice filled the air. It was a quiet rasp that seemed to reverberate in the threads of silk that surrounded the place, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Ages have gone by. I have had to catch my own meals. Hunting isn't difficult, but I confess I had been pampered by your kind. It would please me to See you here, if you had truly chosen me. But I See you have no options. You have been my brother in the Sight, but you gave it away. In vain, I See. You are hunted by legions, and by few."

"What should I do?" Yllicus wailed. He dropped to his knees, outpouring his grief and guilt to the creature that felt the vibrations of time. "Surrender and face justice? Or hide in shame?"

"It is good you came to me, shortsighted as you are. You shall do neither. I See the earth, and I See the sky. And I See Their hands moving things to Their favor. Lan pushes the Nomad and the Sellsword, and his wife pushes the Priestess and the Goatherd, both destined to meet if, and only if, you stand where their paths intersect.

"I See that your actions were not your own, but I also See that you wish to atone for them regardless. If you want to assuage your guilt, take foot North, stay in the woods, under cover from eyes from above until you reach a clearing where an alter to the Goddess stands. Lay on the alter, in plain view of the sky. The Sellsword will try to take you. Resist with all your might. Go."

And he went.