Ii'jyka'vaar finds she is treated like her own squad of one (well, two). She is awarded all the privileges a Knight of Vlaakith would be accustomed to, and can go anywhere and talk to anyone. Pale's troops refer to themselves as "Loyalists" not "Ascendancy", and are generally welcoming of the knight. She lends a sense of order and legitimacy to the battle force. Those that favor the young heir are a minority, and there are several who favor the Ascendancy who are yet undecided among the Princesses.
Those that favor the White Lady are mostly necromancers and the more traditional-minded who desire a return of the Lich Queen. Some actually believe that the White Lady is in fact a regenerated Vlaaith CLVII. Others simply believe that only another Lich will be powerful enough to lead them in a hostile multiverse.
The supporters of the Young Heir are a minority, and not a vocal one. Some believe that Vlaakith left an egg in stasis, just one, for this very purpose. Others believe the story of the errant knight, and say that his/her loyalty to the githyanki people preserved the hope of a new queen. Some of those undecided between Lady and Heir believe the Princesses and the Ascendancy a necessary process in picking a new Queen.
The two groups, however, are mostly united in their opposition to the Singer of Fire's ascension. It is a little ironic considering that among Kirath's troops, the Cultists are the only ones who will willingly talk to Ii. There are even a couple duthka'gith who don't actually worship Tiamat. They consider themselves Ascendancy, despite their command structure, largely intact from the Incursion.
Pale continues to sweep the Shining plains for any life. Ya'shenn questions one graith, whose horse was chased down by N'Ach't. It happens that he was a messenger from Assam. Pale seems to be hanging around to intercept news of his movements, while simultaneously stripping the plains of all life.
Pale himself has little time to spare for Ii'jyka'vaar. He is hard at work in the bowls of his flagship, assisted by his necromancers. The bodies of the graith captured are prepared and loaded aboard several brigs. The astral ships' holds must have already been full, for their speed is slowed [Astral Brigs can hold 20 tons before their move suffers, 40 tons max]
]
As they examine the necromancer's personal quarters, Ya'shenn once again turns green, though she is less inclined to vomit than she felt at some points during the group's recent rrakkma. While mildly tempted by the locked cabinets, she decides against abusing the 'courtesy' of her hosts for now. Not merely because mages tend to ward such things, but because Mist of the Mind might be watching them -- at least occasionally -- or any mage or psion among Pale's crew might have been tasked to do so. She does not speak specifically of K'tch's fear of undeath, but for the rest of the voyage she attempts to keep the bard in relatively good spirits, without actually resorting to psionics.
The psion shares most of what she knows about Mist-of-the-Mind. A fairly large amount, actually: Kirath may sense a touch of hero-worship in Ya'shenn's voice as she speaks of the undead psion. It is worth remembering that Ya'shenn was raised in the most rigidly orthodox of all cities in the Githyanki empire, and was likely trained since hatchlinghood to regard those so favored by the Revered Queen with awe.
While that sentiment is in no way shared with regard to Pale (who may well have enjoyed the Revered Queen's inner circle himself), the psion finds it more difficult to resist in the case of a highly honored member of her own Order. At least she's consciously aware of this bias.
She doesn't mention Mist-of-the-Mind's association with the Silver Eyes. Of course, anyone who knows anything about the Eyes could guess at such an association, in any case.
Ya'shenn also speaks about her own Order, though not as exhaustively as she might. The psions of her school tend to possess a certain subtlety of mind that is actually easier to describe in either the Githzerai tongue or illithid Undercommon (not that she would make either comparison aloud), but it is the language of the People she uses to speak of it to Kirath. It is this mindset, in part, that tends to make them popular as advisors. Essentially, while a typical githwarrior tends to be fairly open and direct in his thinking, a telepath of her Order is likely to manipulate situations (and people) in ways the githwarrior would not have considered. They are also likely to extract information from others as a matter of both habit and curiosity. They like to fully understand the mind and ways of their enemies.
"I rarely say this about someone, but I do not know her mind. I can certainly guess, based on what I know of Mist-of-the-Mind, and I know my Order well. I suppose there is a certain similarity to a necromancer's mindset. A psi-dominator will perceive the minds of the living as tools she can use. As tools are useful, such a psion may be careful not to waste them or throw them away needlessly. That is not to say that a psion would not expend them, of course; only that a telepath would not be wasteful in doing so."
She also speaks of certain specialties of her Order. Its interest in the workings of the mind of the Great Enemy, the fact that Qualith scholars (rare even among the People) often originate from said Order.
[While Ya'shenn doesn't actually mention it directly, those of her Order are sometimes known as interrogators and psionic inquisitors -- sometimes against other githyanki. Unbelievers, for example, heretics, Venerators of 'unclean god-things...' A fact which sometimes makes them unpopular. Probably either Kirath or one of his fellow followers of Tiamat is aware of this at least as rumor.]
BoGr Guide to Missile Combat:
1) Equip a bow or crossbow.
2) Roll a natural 1 on d20.
3) ?????
4) Profit!