The effect of the elven slow-time regions, and spaces locked in sleep or thorns or ice, would prove to have multiple consequences.
For some, the experience within one of these regions would lead to a connection to the underlying precepts of the Saints. These 12 venerated figures are said to exist perfectly in one moment in the Universe, therefore may choose their moment of departure, or see the flow of everything around them, perfectly. So, Sageism, both meaningful and practical, has taken hold of the major portion of the spirituality in the Spans. The Saints are worshiped in a group as well as individually. Sageist monks help the populace within a number of distinct spheres, often working useful trades for communities, such as St. Ydes monks making ferments and elixirs, or those who spread the word of St. Barra making paper.
Many of these monasteries have become renowned for the wisdom of their Priors and Prioresses, the quality of their goods, or the skills of their warriors. The largest, most ancient edifice to the Saints is known as Sternhome Abbey. Set just north of the mountains of Lys Yraht within Azageer, Sternhome became the central gathering for many of the Orders of Knights, and Siblings-in-Arms, and is a voice of reason, if not powerful soldiery, to reasonably quell some of the ambitions of the Imperator. There are permanent representatives from the Holy College of Menders in Splinterlight, the Drakeswells Assembly, and Order of Penitents of the Sickle Moon, as well as one or two Knights of the Glassflame Ordinances, strange eldritch Mok-elves from Balefire.
The highest ranking among the monks and clerics of the Saints are said to have wondrous powers, and many are reported to have incredible life-spans, known to have been practicing their mantras and meditations for many ages. Also, Sageist monks are able to exist in the Iridescian Wakes, a dream-blasted land, that makes the human mind into something different existing in multiple states of reality. The elfs who do not dream as men do walk there, but they are known to slip between the Dreamlands where the Elf King rules and the real world where the Wizards do, as easily as one might be swept up by a riptide and cast far out in the ocean. So, some of the greatest shrines are kept in the Wakes by ancient monks who simply wait for the one who will come to them and ask politely to combat in words or skill, winning knowledge, glory, or the chance to be the one who then sits in meditation.
Through the elf-magic that enchanted them, many of the Princesses (most actual princesses, though any who was temporally and physically displaced by the machinations of the elfs) found themselves in the Dreamlands. The Dreamlands are sometimes also called the Elflands, or Islands Upon the Astral Sea, or by scholars and those in the know, Confluence. They are a land of conflict and war between the Elfking and the Trollking, with human forces having recently gained footholds and settlements there. Great edifices dot the main island, arches and standing circles which hold the key to limitless travel.
Upon these islands drifting through a strange space, and especially the main site called Confluence, the enchanted "sleepers" find themselves awake and aware. Sometimes in great danger, with luck and perseverance, a Princess could amass great experience. Time moves differently in the Elflands and for some, a lifetime (or a few) might pass before being awakened in the Spans. Of the few who have been rescued and returned, or awakened through whatever means, one gave up her claim upon the region of Edelsen north of Erseta, and defeated, so becoming, a Ceramic Knight herself: Ser Samarges the Charger.
However, the most well known Princess, and the first to awaken just after the ice pushed back to the mountains of Lys Yraht east of Burnside, was Rosamonde of Tenrow. The Rose was awoken when three Knights-Errant, wounded already, sought shelter in an ancient ruin covered in thorns. They were pursued by a member of that most despised of Orders, a bewicked Candle Knight. Though no one but the four knights and the princess really know what happened, Rose dispatched the implacable, flame-licked Lord Bazmagorth.
In Tenrow, the region of the Valelands east of Mirador Forest, the first awakened princess established Rosewood Estate, and declared it a sanctuary for any who entered. With the skills and power she picked up from her time in the Dreamlands, and a fair bit of political effort, The Rose was able to enforce her decree: any who came to the Estate, and did not violate the policies, would be safe from harm. Even the Wizards of the towers would be hesitant to defy this autonomy within the Spans now. And when the need for warring factions to meet in talks or diplomacy, all the way to country or Imperial-level needs, Rosewood Estate is often the site for these conferences.
Additionally, the three largest Guilds that oversee commerce and trade not officially sanctioned by governments nor mercantile agreements in the Spans operate out of the Rosewood Estate. Clarity Wainwright, having traveled through the wastes established the Far Lykinia Trading Co. Vindri Alair became First Sword of the Golden Wheel, a title originally bestowed upon the treasurer of a mercenary company, and soon expanded to oversee the final disposition of goods found in various military campaigns. And finally, Manfred Jerome of the Billingsclyde family, known as Luxurious Sneed owns Billingsclyde Mercantile, the ultimate repository for many fine goods. None have left the Estate in many years now, and are most often found arguing with one another over politics, or wines, or investments between their extensive business meetings.
Of course, not all noble houses lost heirs. Some gained great renown and power as a few of their members, through martial prowess, surviving adventuring, arcane studies, or sheer good fortune, thrived in the interim between the Great Rectification and the dawning of the Bright Spans. One family, the Crestfalls, originally from the Valelands near Tenrow (and, in fact, distant relatives to Rosamonde) gained something of a reputation as deadly fighters and skilled enchanters. Equally comfortable dueling as well as striking from subterfuge for diplomatic purposes, they were eventually kindly asked to reduce their exploits by the Kings-in-Waiting, the council of rulers who oversee the Vale. However, these same nobles saw the need for a means of balancing power with the many powerful individuals walking the land, so filled the Crestfall coffers to renovate their vacation properties at the eastern borders of Zelemja.
The great sprawling mansion, simply itself called Crestfall, overlooks the cliffs that make up what is considered the far end of the Bright Spans. The family itself has grown dramatically, with many people of unknown origin claiming the badge of the gauntleted hand holding an apple with a dagger through it, or the rampant wyvern with a crown around it's neck, both considered symbols of the House.
When someone needs to be found, and brought to justice (one way or another), and is beyond normal means, the Crestfalls are contacted, and for a fee, the threat is removed. This is primarily the case with rogue wizards who become book-mad, or spell hungry, and begin preying on magic-users of lower skills, killing them for their Tower's unique grimoires. It is "lawful", and in fact considered part of the learning process, for apprentice magic-users all the way to established thaumaturges to duel for the knowledge the other possesses. However, the agreement among the wizards who have these fighting students, is the contests should be fair, and agreed upon, by those of similar power. If an upcoming mage is coerced into a foolish duel, or blithely killed, their fellows are bound to demand justice. But open retribution might be seen as the start of open hostilities, and (almost) none of the wizards who hold Towers, much less the ruling Archmages wish to see outright war. So, often it is agreed upon that a Crestfall specialist team will take care of the problem.
Although each country or region within the Spans has their own laws, independent magic and martial specialists are often seen plying their skills as bounty hunters to find those wanted. There are a good many guilds at various locations, with more or less power, but the only individual with a similar reputation to the Noble Assassins resides in Vynika. The Bandit Kingdom, really a messy city made of detritus washed to the northern shore of the Salt Sea, makes the greatest wine in the Spans, distrusts rulers and mages (except their own), and houses Stodderbonge, The Beggar King. If those who make deals of illicit nature are being double-crossed, or contracts are being broken, the Beggar King's assassins and mountebanks, found throughout the land, may be activated to take care of the more shadowy business.
[It should be noted that these various guilds are known among the Tower Mages across the land. Not only to keep the peace within the culture of spell-duels, but also since it's considered perfectly reasonable that thieves will attempt to steal or otherwise make away with treasure, information, and rare items that wizards hoard. This is a large part of the reason for insane dungeons, trap-filled wizard towers, and fortified enchanted mansions among the magic-using types. They build these edifices with interlopers in mind, both as a challenge and a means of great entertainment, and as a way to tell the world that they have the means to hold those powerful artifacts and books and creatures. Gentlemen and women thieves are well regarded, swashbuckling into these deadly edifices, risking it all for their reputation, or as a clash of wits with some architect of the unknown.
And the "Mercantile Guilds" reap the profits, disseminate the items back into the world for adventurers and princesses to acquire. Or to trade back to the wizards who so covet wizardy things thought lost.]
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