I held the trump of Sand and concentrated. There was a long slow period of nothing. My mind felt dulled and tired. The contact wasn't going through. Connie held my arm to join the attempt. He too felt resistance. I suggested that we might be too close to Ygg and that maybe we should stop and try again a few shadows away from the dying tree. Connie disagreed. He urged me to keep trying, so I did. I found a cool spot in the darkness and grasped ahold of it. I could feel it's chill not just in my mind, but in my hand. The card was turning cold. We were making contact. There was a very tentative "Hello?"

With that the contact was immediately broken. It looked like Sand was no big fan of Brand and more than a little paranoid. I sighed. Connie apologized repeatedly and lamented his being related to Brand. He called it a curse. This was not the end. I borrowed the Trump of Sand and swore to attempt contact again in the future.

Connie's next plan involved a trip to Tirnanog.