Kasterborous
studies the two sympathetic links.
The one 'from' the present has indeed been scrubbed in attempt - a very good attempt! - at removing resonances traces and signatures. Fortunately for the gathered mages, the Apostate Acanthus was able to put the vague hints and traceries back together. Enough to get a bearing on where the sympathetic connection came from. Enough to work back along it if he so chose*.
The one 'from the past' was similar. Whereas the present connection was shrouded in secrecy and still required cracking open, this gossamer connection of temporal sympathy was deliberately open. Straight as a ruler, this connection was a roadway, a path to the past deliberately conceived and executed. He recognised the Resonance imprint of the Clock itself as much as he recognised the subtle eddies of Death and Prime, toil and building pressure.
He even caught the refracted image, as if through a shattered mirror, of a man with silvery shoulder length hair hunched over a work table while he worked on a large clockwork mechanism.
And then the temporal link to the past shivered and rang in recognition to the Apostate's enquiry...
Everyone feels the shockwave from the temporal connections 'ping' or ringing peal that shudders through your soul.
Everyone has a momentary vision: a kaleidoscope of sound and images -
The chill of cold. Murmur of wind whistling through tightly packed buildings. Snow packed narrow streets. Stench of death snap frozen in frosty air. An image of a grainy wooden door with a big Red Cross daubed on it. A frightened child peeking out from a window that has been crudely boarded up. A narrow house lit by a single light, hidden away in the corner of a small square. The tramp of booted feet, getting closer....
ST NOTE: Yes, this is an Invitation to a Time War story...
Aurora
@Oriana
Sand
deltadream
Alastor
Cross
Langdon
Kelreth
Eurydice
Stray
Kaze
Ruach
Shodan
Woland
Weavebreaker
Whisper
Winter
Vincent
Gemini
girlwonder