After Envoy was expelled from the Guild Hall of Babel, she had to find an inn – a fairly cheap one, since she had no idea how long she might be there – while trying to make arrangements (no longer with Guild contacts at her disposal) to arrange for travel out of Babel.

While she was staying at the Broken Wings (my! such cheery names must attract the best clientele!), she received a note from a messenger to meet with an "old friend" at the Monument beside the Wound. There were enough little clues in the message to make it pretty clear just who the "old friend" might be, and it was pretty easy to find directions to the monument in question.

Here, various guards watch the monument and the offerings here, making certain that no one comes to steal gifts meant for the dead. It seems that even the various squabbling Yodh and some remnants of the Houses can put aside their differences to agree on this one cause: to defend this testament to Babel's greatest grudge against the higher powers.

Envoy sits on one of the perches, giving her a view of the Monument and the Wound behind it. While she waits, she can't help but try to match up the fragmented memories of boomer victims she received with their likely locations within the model.

It would take a few flights over the model, probably, to be able to get all the proper angles, given the height of the buildings, the depth of the lower layers … but, yes, she's gotten enough of those memories that she's able to pick out a few points … and, for a few moments, "relive" some of those dreadful experiences. It proves to be such an involving exercise that she almost fails to notice another Eeee fluttering up to land on a perch nearby. She's dressed up in ragged, bulky attire that disguises her body shape (and offers some insulation against the chill), but Envoy can tell almost immediately that it's Wynona regardless.

Blinking out of her reverie, Envoy turns to nod at her old friend. She's pretty sure Wynona would rather not be identified.

Wynona looks off toward the monument, and blows into her hands, rubbing them occasionally, her mouth moving rapidly. Envoy can feel the tingle of a building spell … and then, a little while later, she can feel a tickle at her ear. "Can you hear me?" the breeze whispers. "It works both ways."

"Yes," Envoy whispers into the breeze. "Can you hear me?"

Wynona whispers back, "Yes. I'm sorry about what happened. The news gets around fast."

"Nobody has tried to kill me over it at least," the Aeolun replies. "Not yet anyway."

"Give it time," the breeze answers. "Forgive me. Shouldn't say such things. I'm a little bitter."

"I'm sorry I got you into trouble by coming back," Envoy whispers. "I hope I'm not still getting you in trouble."

"No," the breeze whispers back. "I did that. I panicked. Should have been more careful. I meant no disrespect to Rephath … but She is looking only for vengeance. She wanted to lash out at something, some symbol of the 'enemy'. There are a lot of things I don't like about the College, but for Her to have you speak against the Guild … it just means there will be riots at the Guild Hall. The mages here do care. I may not agree with them, but they do care. It's those back in Caroban I have a few concerns about."

Envoy sighs, and whispers, "So, I made a bad situation worse instead of helping. It's exactly the sort of thing I've been afraid would happen since I blew my brain fuses to get away from Inala."

"I didn't mean it that way, Envoy," Wynona's voice carries, sounding exasperated. "I know you meant well."

"What now?" Envoy whispers. "It's not easy getting out of Babel, and the longer I stay the more I worry about causing more trouble."

"Trouble's going to happen, regardless, Envoy," Wynona's whisper comes back. "It's just that when you happen to walk along, then they get a recognizable name to attach to it. Goodness, that sounded bad. I'm not good at finding uplifting things to say. If I were, I'd use them on myself."

Envoy grins. "Well, I've never heard of an Air Mage that couldn't generate a little uplift."

The wind groans. "If it weren't for the seriousness of the topic, I'd have seen that one coming. Goodness, Envoy, if you can crack a joke even at a time like this!" The wind giggles. "You're something else." Wynona, over there, covers her face with her hands, doing her best to look like she's mourning or nursing a headache, but can't seem to decide which.

"So, was there any particular reason you wanted to meet me?" Envoy asks, before she has the urge to giggle herself.

The wind sighs. "You're my friend, Envoy. I haven't really got a better reason than that. If you're anxious to get out of town, I can look into some of the refugee routes. We sometimes send a Yodh along in the hopes that the promise of retribution to any bandits will dissuade them. Everything the Yodhrephath does has to be cased in the cause of vengeance, after all. That's not going to change unless Rephath suddenly decides she likes wearing chains and declares herself 'Rephesa', or appoints a new minor deity of 'Put Babel Back Together Before Someone Finishes It Off For Good'."

"I might be able to help defend against bandits," Envoy offers. "I can't use magic, but I still have my staff and … little friends."

There's a pause, and then a hiss. "Sorry. I was nodding silently. That doesn't carry well. I'll have another message delivered to you. You're better off out of Babel, really. We're fighting a losing battle. We're killing ourselves. We just used to do it a lot more slowly, I guess. And eventually, someone's going to do something crazy, and bring someone powerful – Rephidim, Caroban, someone – down on our heads to finish the job. But I can't just leave. I owe Rephath."

"It will be rebuilt, in time," Envoy says. "I can't think of any way to save it, though, even if I had access to the Demiurge on Fortunatis again."

"I suppose so," Wynona's breeze whispers. "Maybe not in my lifetime … but probably yours. Please remember what it's like now. There's got to be some lesson to be learned from all this."

"It's ironic," Envoy whispers. "I know of another Babel, the greatest city of its time. It built a giant tower in hope of reaching Heaven, and then it was struck down by God and chaos reigned."

"Maybe it's a jinxed name?" Wynona whispers back, in a tone hard to tell whether it's a jest. "In any case … I'd best move along. Too much more praying, and someone might take notice of my grieving. Somehow, I'll keep in touch … now and then … when I can."

"Thank you, Wynona," Envoy says with sincerity, "especially for putting up with me."

The wind giggles back. "Any time," Wynona answers. "I'm glad to have such an interesting friend."

"Yup, it's always interesting times around me," Envoy replies. "Of course, that's considered a curse in some cultures."