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Subject: Grannael the Once-Welltyn Documentation: Interview Transcript of Interview Conducted by Magister H. Recorded by Zealtor L. under influence of magical comprehension of languages. H.: Good day to you. May I call you Grannael or is there another title you prefer? G.: I have no titles of note. H.: Is that so? Are you comfortable? May I offer refreshment? You may speak your own language, I can understand tylwyth quite well. G.: (subject begins speaking tylwyth) Very well. H.: You are speaking for the band of tylwyth currently encamped on municipal land belonging to the city of Talvech. G.: I was chosen to speak to you. H.: And I am grateful that you are. So grateful, in fact, that I could speak to the burgomaster about the continued safety of your people near Talvech. G.: I understand. H.: I’m certain you do. With that matter understood, I have some questions for you. When the Gate War ended you were fighting alongside the 3rd Manufactured Regiment south of Dove, yes? G.: Yes. H.: Upon the cessation of hostilities with the soldati, you observed Doven hereditary cavalry under the command of Constable Ptahmen Suter attack the yanta of the 3rd while they were under repair. G.: Yes. H.: During the fight between former allies, you, aided by several other tylwyth, challenged the Constable and his retinue to combat and slew the Constable. Subsequently, you were attacked by death cultists of Apsu deployed with the Strong Arms? G.: Yes. H.: And following that, you fought clear of the battlefield, killing a number of yanta of the 3rd in the process. G.: Yes. H.: Very formidable. Now then, are you known among your kind as the Once-Welltyn? G.: …Yes. H.: You seem disquieted. May I ask why? Please speak freely. Recall the terms of our discussion, and should you need additional incentive, Constable Suter had three sons, one a Constable now himself, and the other two skilled hereditary cavaliers. G.: You ask things you already know. How do you know all of these things? H.: The events of the Spasm are a matter of historical record. However, if you mean your title among kindred, I have made a study of the tylwyth through research, perusal of your texts, and of course interviews. Do you take my meaning? G.: I understand. H.: Then you should also understand that I admire the literature and rhetoric of your people and know that you can do so much better than clipped and monosyllabic answers. You should also understand that I know my own ignorance and always seek to remedy it. Tell me, what does it mean to be the Welltyn? G.: …How can it be… I… Memories of that distant home are… H.: Yes, I am aware. But they are quite not so indistinct for you, are they? G.: …A fish cannot understand what it is to be a mole. A bird cannot explain how it flies. There is ritual: I was chosen as the fairest of the year’s harvest festival, acclaimed by all. I stood atop the cairn and even the wind gave praise. And then nothing. It was the same, except that all knew I was the Welltyn. All deferred, as in custom I was as royal as the King. My parents, ah, they were so proud, even as they mourned. But I withdrew, how could I not? My peers were no longer my kindred, yet I was neither royalty born. My peers were the Welltyn past, always with me. You do not speak. H.: I would not interrupt. But now that I have, explain the past Welltyn. G.: The Welltyn’s term is one year, after which they are put to death. But… they are always there. They are always being chosen, they are always ruling, they are always gasping as the knife is drawn across their throat. H.: You speak in a literal sense? G.: I thought long on this in reconciling what I know as Welltyn to what I cannot remember as kindred. Kindred did not live as mortals do in this cursed land. But we could not perceive it was different. The fish doesn’t see the water. The bird doesn’t see the air. I no longer know how it is that kindred can live as if they were mortals yet still live in the manner we did in the distant home. But we did. Death stalked us, we felt the passage of years, but such was not real, only… respected. As Welltyn, I could choose to look beyond it. H.: How did your term as Welltyn end? Could it truly end? G.: The Grand Muster was announced, and the kindred honored our treaties made before time. We left our home to defeat the foe here. How can I be Welltyn if I am no longer of that distant home? H.: If, as you said, all the Welltyn past are simultaneously chosen, ruling, and dying, does that not mean you have perished as well? G.: …I do not think so. I do not remember… it ending. I no longer see the other Welltyn. I do not think I am Welltyn any longer. H.: If it were possible to return, would your tenure resume? G.: I do not think the kindred can return. I think we are mole now, not fish.