Web-Spell

The Web-Spell laid on the land of Valdemar acted as an early warning system, sounding an 'alarm' whenever anything was seriously wrong. The original web-spell required four Web-Guardians, one for each quarter, to feed power into the spell and monitor it for alarms. In Vanyel's time, it required a revamp due to the lack of Herald-Mages who were able to serve as Guardians.

Problem

During the reign of Randale, Herald-Mages were slowly decimated, and nobody noticed that new Mage-Gifted Herald-trainees were not turning up. This was due to a covert pogrom by Leareth: slowly killing Herald-Mages, and youngsters with the Mage-Gift before they were even discovered or trained. Before long there were only four Herald-Mages in the entire kingdom who had sufficient power to serve as Web-Guardians: Savil, Kilchas, Lissandra and Vanyel.

Basic web

When Vanyel went into the Web-Spell to modify it, he saw something he had long suspected: a web, like lace, connecting all of the Heralds.

According to Savil, there was "a line to every living Herald in Valdemar, by virtue of their being Heralds... a vast network linking all the Heralds together." She said the original Web was created by King Kordas Valdemar.

Vanyel said, "the actual linkage is through the Companions ... We share magic with the Heralds [the ones who do not have the Mage-Gift] through the Companions." Vanyel also saw that there were delicate lines that were incomplete and underpowered. There was no way of knowing if King Valdemar had intended that, or not.

Contradiction

Centuries after he died, Vanyel tells Elspeth and her entourage a slightly different story. He does not mention King Valdemar. He says that he created the web, based on the Companions already being connected. "I tied all Heralds and Companions into a net of completely unconscious communication."

Upgrade

Vanyel had been studying the problem for many years, working out a way to power the Web-Spell without Guardians. He had slowly enhanced a node lying beneath the Royal Palace, with advice from the Tayledras, intending to use it as the main power source. In place of four Herald-Mages, he tied in the entire Heraldic Circle, knitting every single Herald into the spell via their Companions. He also intended to tie in a number of elemental creatures to help monitor and strengthen the network.

With time running out, Vanyel performed the spell to remake the Web-Spell. Tying in the node re-created a small Heartstone in the basement palace Work Room. With the Companions' help, he spread Guardianship among all the Heralds. He then invited the vrondi, small air elementals, to take part, offering them a magical energy "food" supply in exchange for acting as lookouts, watching for strange mages. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet figured out how to have the vrondi actually tell the Heralds about mages.

Though knowledge of the spell and the Heartstone was lost when Vanyel had to suppress belief in magic in Valdemar, the effects of the web-spell continued for centuries. It was what gave the Heralds awareness of the deaths of other Heralds. The faithfully watching vrondi were what drove foreign mages into insanity if they stayed too long in Valdemar.

End

The Web continued until Elspeth returned from training her magic with the Tayledras. Vanyel kidnapped her and her entourage and told them that the spell had been steadily weakening, and the attacks by Hardorn were harming it. Vanyel said, "I’m going to have to take it down in a controlled manner before someone breaks it and harms the vrondi in the process." At that point, the spirit of Vanyel, still guarding Valdemar's northern border, took down the Web-Spell before a Mage Storm could shatter it.