Ways V could have gotten around the epic spell...

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I was just thinking... why didn't V learn Dream? It's not scrying or teleportation but could have at least gotten a message to them.

[Dagren]

I was just thinking... why didn't V learn Dream? It's not scrying or teleportation but could have at least gotten a message to them.#532 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0532.html), Cloister blocks all communication magic too.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

#532 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0532.html), Cloister blocks all communication magic too.
'Communication' magic... that's pretty broad. You can turn tons of spells not specifically intended for communication into communication.

[Dagren]

'Communication' magic... that's pretty broad. You can turn tons of spells not specifically intended for communication into communication.Well yeah, I suppose, but Dream is pretty obviously primarily a communication spell.

[King of Nowhere]

The greater animal messenger had gone through the cloister, so that worked. Too bad V didn't provided hir birds with a permanent stoneskin...

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Among other things, V didn't know what was blocking his attempts. He wasn't aware of the specifications of cloister. No reason for V to think "Let's try this, because it's not specifically blocked," as he didn't know that there was a specific effect with a specific list of blocks.

[Snake-Aes]

"Communication" was probably a way to block any direct magical connection to the covered people's mind and senses. That would explain why the messenger worked, for example.