A very powerful chapter to say the least, the reality of what they are facing had been made starkly clear. It appears that there can be no detente with the dark mages. I hold out hope that somehow Jamie and his fellow travelers find a way to neuter/neutralize Porvus and his minions.
We've yet to meet the Pertwee and am left wondering there may be some nascent magickal talent among them like Bastyin and the Lachess. This begs the question concerning the Lachess and the Pertwee, would/is it possible that Jamie and our fellow travelers, raise a sizeable force of magickal users??
I realize that Bastyin is an outlier, but where there's one, might others have the ability laying dormant??? if there were enough mages created they could simply do to Porvus et al what was done to Artagon. Rather than kill, entrap them till the span of their lives end.
"A dispersion field for electrums," Jamie acknowledged. "It can be tied two ways: to disperse from without, or to disperse from within. This one was tied to disperse from the inside." He shook his head in wonder. "It was culled from Master Thorvil's magick tomes in an instant of need by the lens. The field contained Artagon's primary offensive magicks long enough for him to see the futility of their wielding."
Of course another punishment would reduce them to...