[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vaJXAPZ.png[/img]
[hr][hr][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoNLtvhWI8Q]♪[/url][/center][hr][hr]
The clock struck five and, across San Agustín de las Arenas, it happened. Four of the six Internal Guards, called 'owls' by the residents, collapsed where they stood: two rendered unconscious by internal chemical spells, one by a hard knock to the head, and another - notorious for his abuses of the Tethered - by having his neck slit. The remaining two slept in their rooms, off shift and having been made asleep for... much longer than was natural.

Cardinals at their posts found themselves overwhelmed by lesser Afortunado - half-trained boys and girls - but overwhelmed nonetheless, for such is the powerful advantage bestowed by the Gift. A couple tried to fight and were subdued. One took flight through the hedgerows and flowerbeds of the gardens and was unceremoniously knocked out mere feet from the Side Gate. Others protested with words, recognizing resistance as futile. Many were, in fact, already loyal to Don Escarra and this was mere formality. They nodded to the Tethered and continued to guard, in some cases turning their attention on those less cooperative.

[hider=The Great Bath]Yet, in the tiled plaza surrounding the Great Bath, the youngest children laughed and played under the watchful eyes of Ayla, Yalen, and Jocasta, unaware of the greater context. So, too, were the handful of caretakers and crafters that moved about, attending to the children's needs. 

Ayla was happily playing with the children, and despite the terror it should've inspired, they were in good spirits and had become obsessed with the Sand Wyrm which was coming. It wasn't long before Ayla started teaching them the rules of the game Dança-Alsahra. [color=7ea7d8]"The rules are simple, when the music is playing. Dance!"[/color], she grinned widely as she gave a little toot upon the flute, [color=7ea7d8]"When the música stops, stay absolutely still! This is when the Shai will come. If you move, you are out, as it gobbles you up. This is okay, you can join the wyrm and you get to cheer for your friends for them to survive, and eat them if not! Yum yum."[/color] There were looks from the caretakers as they expressed their disapproval, but the children were all for it. [color=7ea7d8]"Aunty Jo will play the Wyrm this time! She is super hungry."[/color], she smiled towards her friend who had now been volunteered to take part. 'Uncle' Yalen was left with the task of trying to encourage participation in the fun and games.

Having been voluntold, Jocasta sat by the pool and did her best to turn quickly whenever the music stopped. She hated this game, poor dancer that she'd always been and even worse at stopping on the spot.

She was so distracted by her discomfort and by trying to entertain the small, chaotic humans that surrounded her that she was not paying attention to the energies around her like she usually did.

There was a scream, and a bloodied caretaker, his 'magpie' robes torn and flapping, came running. He grabbed hold of a small girl known only as Rita and held a knife to her neck. [color=fdc68a]"This is rebellion!"[/color] he shouted. [color=fdc68a]"Now El Patrón will come and it will be the death of you all! Where is the Warden?"[/color] he demanded further, [color=fdc68a]"He has a plan!"[/color]

His eyes were wild and bugged out. He pulled the girl in closer and she kicked and wailed. [color=fdc68a]"Shut up, child!"[/color] He tightened his grip. [color=fdc68a]"And you,"[/color] he warned the others. [color=fdc68a]"Try magic and I will feel it before it works. I will strike. All of you,"[/color] he finished, [color=fdc68a]"you will stop this nonsense at once!"[/color]

Ayla felt her heart pounding hard, such a murderous intent was coming from him. The children were in danger. [color=7ea7d8]"Children, do what we have practised before. Hide under the furniture and cover your heads. Quickly now."[/color], she continued her encouragement, strongly urging the children to adopt the duck and brace position, instructing the caretakers present for them to do the same, but there wasn't much furniture by the pool. Some of the little ones were crying and others confused as they were herded away. [color=7ea7d8]"Señor... we don't know what you are referring to, but these are niños, that is a niñita in your hands. Let her join the others. If you need a hostage, take me instead. Let us talk, no need for them to brought into this, they are inocente."[/color]

Jocasta groaned inwardly. The psycho in bloody robes held some stupid adorable child who had gone all lemming, and the man was shouting things and trying to get them to halt a process that they had worked for years to put into place, that could mean the salvation of their people. [color=ffdead][i]Fat chance of that.[/i][/color] She took a few pushes and came to a stop when his eyes fixed on her. [color=fdc68a]"Not a step more. Not a fucking step!"[/color]

[color=ffdead]"You should accept my friend's offer,"[/color] the tethered warned, voice low and dangerous. [color=ffdead]"You may end up only unconscious, then."[/color] She rose from her wheeled-chair, pulling upon the Gift. [color=ffdead]"But you had best release that girl and release her now, because our plan will proceed - we will free ourselves and handle this problem that you have brought to our doorstep - whether one innocent child lives or dies by your hand."[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"You are monsters! Dangerous!"[/color] He squeezed tighter. Rita, who'd been either brave or in some sort of shock up to now, began to cry.

[color=ffdead]"No, most tethered are good people,"[/color] Jocasta countered, [color=ffdead]"even though you don't treat them like people."[/color] She began drawing, then, and [i]kept[/i] drawing as only she could. [color=ffdead]"You've just managed to piss off the one real monster among us."[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"Call your people off!"[/color] the crazed caretaker screamed. [color=fdc68a]"I don't want to hurt her, but I will! The tethered need to be controlled."[/color]

[color=ffdead]"Wrong!"[/color] she snarled. [color=ffdead]"The tethered need to be treated like human beings!"[/color] Her eyes became dangerous. [i]Still,[/i] the energy flowed. She was drawing slower now, making a show of it.

[color=fdc68a]"I do not fear death in the service of saving lives!"[/color]

It was then that Jocasta saw that he was truly dead to sense. [color=ffdead]"Oh, I said nothing about [i]killing [/i]you,"[/color] she teased, a dark smile coming to her lips. [color=ffdead]"Have you ever heard of 'deadening' someone?"[/color] She tilted her head to one side, long blond locks sliding that way with the motion and spilling over her shoulder. When he offered no response, she continued. [color=ffdead]"It's when we use magic to destroy the nerves connecting your brain to your senses. No sight,"[/color] she chirped, [color=ffdead]"no hearing, no smell, no taste, no [i]feeling[/i]."[/color] She hissed the last few words. [color=ffdead]"But you will be very much alive, mentally, very much able to think and comprehend, and you will be left that way, indefinitely, fed through a tube in your throat."[/color]

Her eyes narrowed and she completed drawing. The children rubbed at their temples or their bellies, making whiny noises. She was sorry for it, but it was a small harm. [color=ffdead]"You will be left that way while I will be busy."[/color] She settled back into her wheeled-chair. [color=ffdead]"While you lie there, going insane, I will find your name in the registry. I will find your family, your friends, women you have loved in the past. I will hunt them down, every one of them, and they will die in agony because of you."[/color] She folded her hands upon her lap, [color=ffdead]"Or, you can just let the little girl go."[/color] Jocasta's eyes did not flinch from his. [color=ffdead]"That is my counteroffer. You have... fifteen seconds to decide."[/color]

Ayla made herself look small and non-threatening, reaching her arms out towards Rita. [color=7ea7d8]"The niñita is harmless and you are not a monster. You are desperate and upset, but you know better than this, this girl is harmless. Let the girl come to me and you won't be harmed, you will be allowed to leave the Refugio and return to your family. Jo, won't hurt you, she will let you leave... this is your best offer, take it now and run out of here quickly before it is gone."[/color] She reached out towards Rita again, her hands encouraging the girl to come towards her, encouraging the man to let the girl go with the promise of freedom. It would be such a simple task to allow Rita to return to Ayla, and he could leave with his life.

[color=#FD5E53][i]I have to hold it together. I have to stay calm. I can't ruin everything my friends have worked for just because it's Rita...[/i][/color] Yalen clutched his chest and breathed deep. If he gave in to his emotions now, everything would be lost.

Jocasta's threatening display gave Yalen an opening that he quickly recognized. The moment she began drawing, he was already doing the same. It was his hope that at her full strength, Jocasta's presence would be frightening enough to keep the magpie's senses focused on her. He could already feel his head aching as she approached inhuman levels of Mana.

While Jocasta told the man all about his new life as a vegetable, Yalen stealthily acquired all the energy he needed for his little cantrip. To do so without drawing attention was difficult even with the pressure coming off of his tethered ally. He knew exactly how much he needed, but gathering the necessary power gradually without spiking too quick was a difficult feat. It was possible only because of the unique physiology the two of them shared.

If the man had immediately started cutting throats as soon as Jocasta powered up he might have left his mark, but his hesitation would cost him whatever victory he hoped for. In the middle of Jocasta’s countdown, Yalen suddenly opened the dam and sent the sliver of thermal energy he'd collected straight into the man's knife, heating it to the point where a sensitive human hand would be unable to hold it.

Driven by reflexive instinct, the caretaker's hand opened and he dropped the knife. Realizing his error, he tried to grab hold of the child tightly and make himself inseparable from her before anybody could harm him.

There was no time for patience as the man dropped the knife with a howl, grimacing as he moved to latch upon Rita. The poor girl was too scared out of her mind and she charged forward towards Ayla, not aware of line of sight, just acting frightened and running on pure impulse, not allowing others to seize the opportunity offered. However, with the threat of the knife gone, it gave Ayla and her non-lethal methods the opportunity to act, shouting out towards Rita, [color=7ea7d8]"Run!"[/color]. With the power of the Gift, she propelled the sound like a shockwave, ripping through the air. As the bloodied caretaker moved to grab the escaping girl, the force of the impact caused Rita to lunge backwards like a cannonball, smashing into the man as he hurtled back, caught in the wave of the shockwave himself, slamming right into the wall behind them with an almighty thud. Ayla pulls with her hand as she draws heavily upon Rita's momentum, causing the girl to come to a safe stop, only feeling at worse bruised from her body being used like a weapon. Ayla made her way over to Rita, pulling the girl tightly within her arms and away from the brute. As the man recovered, there would be nothing between him and the tethered pair to use as a shield.

With the magpie now left vulnerable to direct assault, Yalen stepped forward and sent a mental probe towards the overzealous caretaker. He began drawing the metabolic energy out of the man's muscles, depriving them of the fuel necessary to sustain movement. There was a brief moment where he could feel resistance as the magpie's own Manas struggled to resist the offensive draw, but he was a low ranking peon for a reason. Even an average mage like Yalen could eventually overpower him with a strong enough focus.

[color=#FD5E53]"Jocasta, we've weakened him considerably. I won't object if you want to deliver punishment upon him, but... can you please take him alive? Killing him in this state would be unjust."[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"Yyou ffuckn bassrdss!"[/color] The caretaker slurred, control over the muscles even in his mouth reduced. [color=fdc68a]"Yyyer evn ssshhhowngg how yerdangrus!"[/color] Then, Jocasta knocked him out. She clapped her hands together twice, like the Warden always did. [color=ffdead]"Oh wow, kids!"[/color] she exclaimed, [color=ffdead]"what a performance!"[/color]

Ayla and Yalen alike could feel her flooding Rita's mind with some calming chemical magic. The blonde girl turned on the spot, offering some applause. [color=ffdead]"So dramatic!"[/color] she enthused.

Then, the caretaker sprung back up. He took a bow and it took the other two students a moment to realize that this was an illusion. Subtly, they could see Jocasta straining to maintain it for this many people from so many angles. [color=ffdead]"Nothing to be afraid of kids,"[/color] she assured them, and some clapped hesitantly.

[color=ed145b]“That was just a show?"[/color] remarked one skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

[color=00a99d]“It was kinda scary,"[/color] murmured another.

[color=7ea7d8]“It was kinda cool!"[/color] said another in indirect response, shaming her for being a 'chicken'. [color=7ea7d8]"I wasn't scared."[/color]

[color=00a99d]“Neither was I!"[/color]

[color=662d91]“I wasn't."[/color]

[color=aba000]“I saw scarier things before."[/color] There was a whole chorus of brave, approving kids now.

[color=ed145b]“Yeah, can I be the one who gets captured next time!"[/color]

[color=598527]"I wanna elbow Caretaker Manazes in the gut!"[/color]

[color=662d91]"It's a performance, stupid. You can't actually hit him."[/color]

They were talking again. That was good. [color=ffdead]"Would Caretaker Manazes like to say anything?"[/color] Jocasta asked, voice sweet but strained. Her eyes pointedly found Ayla, begging for some sonic mastery. [color=ffdead]"Oh, and could anyone help us clean up our props?"[/color] she added, looking pointedly at Yalen and where the caretaker's unconscious form lay, hidden from the kids. Of course, about ten of them thrust their hands eagerly into the air, also volunteering without understanding a thing.

Ayla took the cue as she tried to recreate the performance convincingly. [color=7ea7d8]"It is important we practice our duck and roll technique with the sand wyrm coming. And you... the one wanting to do the elbowing"[/color], leaving enough time to enable Jo to make a characteristic more threatening stance, [color=7ea7d8]"Don't make me conveniently forget to call you for dinner. Now to return to my patrol."[/color]. She created the best opportunity for the illusion to disappear and then enable a more convenient distraction to allow the real magpie to disappear as well.

As Ayla distracted the kids with more games, she went about trying to secure the space to prevent any more 'drills' on their watch. She quietly spoke to the other two. [color=7ea7d8]"Do we need to check on the others, or do they have it in hand?"[/color].

While Ayla grabbed the kids' attention with her false impression of the caretaker, Yalen snuck over to where the actual body of Manazes was and hurriedly dragged it away. He had to use some internal chemistry on himself to get the adrenaline flowing, as he wasn't exactly suited for heavy lifting.

After passing the sleeping man to one of the more sympathetic guards just outside the plaza, Yalen returned to the poolside looking a bit haggard. His muscles were hurting now. In spite of this, he put on his best smile and kept up the facade that nothing at all was wrong.[/hider]
When he returned, the kids appeared to be occupied with whatever new game Ayla came up with to distract them. Ayla and Jocasta were whispering worriedly to each other, leading him to approach the two and squeeze into the conversation.

When Ayla mentioned the others, Yalen looked at Jocasta and spoke in a hushed tone. [color=#FD5E53]"That magic you use. The... space-time stuff? Can you use it to observe people remotely?"[/color]

Jocasta blinked. [color=ffdead]"We... can, in theory. I haven't really mastered the art of it, though."[/color] She turned to Ayla. [color=ffdead]"And I suppose we could try to check in on the others with it."[/color] She rolled off to the side, then, a bit away from the swimming area, and furrowed her brow in concentration. Around her moved the fabric of space and time. Jocasta reached out for it, finding some of its threads, and started to reel them in. People, long gone, and even glimmers of those yet to come flashed past too quickly to make sense of them. Stone smoothed and cracked with age and wear. Trees grew, sands shifted, voices came and went.

Then, she was in the present and searching. Dully, it occurred to her that she'd forgotten to ask 'who' Yalen had wanted to observe, and she could not do it now, so intense was her concentration. She tried focusing in on the various places visually, without tearing a hole in the fabric so that she could move through to them, but it was hard, and she lost it after a moment. Jocasta blinked and shook her head, taking in and releasing a deep breath. [color=ffdead]"I fear it is not easy to look without opening a physical path and, in any case, I forgot to ask you who you'd intended to look in upon."[/color] She shrugged in apology. [color=ffdead]"We can always just reach out and sense their energies, too."[/color]

It bothered the Djamantese, though, that she could not do it. That was a skill that she would have to practice: practice until she could master it.

Yalen scratched his head nervously. [color=#FD5E53]"Ah, the thought merely occurred to me since Ayla showed concern for Zarina and Kaspar. We can indeed check to see if they're still alive from here, but I see there is no way to gauge the success of their mission without going there in person..."[/color]

The young priest did not have much of a respite, however. No sooner had he started to turn away than Rita was there. [color=ec008c]"Mistuh Yawen?"[/color] she prodded, tugging on his sleeve. [color=ec008c]"That wasn't juss a show, was it?"[/color] Her face was earnest and implacable. At his momentary discomfiture, she decided to provide more evidence. "Caretaker Manazes nevuh does shows fow us." She shook her head adamantly. Almost as if to underscore the loss of innocence, the sky chose that moment to open up, and the rain went quickly from a few stray drops to a downpour.

Yet, for all that Yalen found himself having to offer a mea culpa or a very convincing lie, things had come together everywhere else. The old regime fell as surely as the rain did, though precisely what shape its replacement would take remained as yet undetermined. For now, Head Ranger Escarra took Warden Ortega's place in the big chair. That he had [i]killed[/i] Tavio was revealed only to a select few, and with mixed reactions. The remainder believed him locked in the securest part of the dungeon beneath the Red Tower. Nonetheless, Escarra remained nominally in charge.

There was much to do. All evidence of the uprising was removed, aside from its organizational results: blood scrubbed from tiles, clothes laundered, wounds bound, and the bodies of three staff who had died for various reasons sent to the crematorium along with that of one 'zero' who had breathed his last as the revolution succeeded in freeing his people. 

The Tethered who had formerly assisted in bookkeeping now took over the posts of those who they'd worked for. Many of the guards who remained found little change aside from the hovering threat of the Royal Sand Wyrm, maddened by an aberration, lurking somewhere in the desert. The residents swept the endless wastes, in every direction, for hours each day with the Gift. Patrols were sent out. Yet, while it entered their senses from time to time, at the edge of their range, it had not yet approached the Refuge. The place remained true to its name, for the time being, for [i]once[/i]. 

Two days passed like this, but they were not idle ones. A portal was opened on the first to Ersand'Enise and, with Hugo's silent approval, Ysilla, fallen strangely ill, went home. Three new faces replaced her, and then more familiar ones. The recent arrivals were brought up to speed quickly and then the majority of the students set about training the Tethered to [i]use[/i] the mana in their blood and not just to suffer from it. They lived, slept, and worked amongst them under the desert sun. The wyrm would come, sooner more likely than later, and they would need to be ready. 

The third day of freedom at San Agustín de las Arenas dawned cool and windy, but it dawned with news. [color=6ecff6]"Jocasta! Jocasta!"[/color] shouted Laëlle, hammering on her door. The older girl rolled over in bed and hoisted herself out of it with the Gift. [color=ffdead]"What is it?"[/color] she demanded, [color=ffdead]"to be waking me up as Ipte is barely over!"[/color] She floated over to the door and opened it.

The lord of this region, and solidly a quarter of all Torragon, was on his way. His messenger was nearing the gate and a host of some four thousand soldiers would soon follow: an apparition from the sands, but one all too real. The night guards, ebbing in energy and attention at this hour, had sensed them. This, then, must be Duque Huarcan Frannemas - El Patrón - who they had received furtive warnings about. Yet for all of these, his agenda and his purpose remained variables that they could not truly account for. He would likely not be pleased.

Still worn out from two days of using the full extent of her magic to physically restructure every aspect of the Refuge that created barriers for the non-ambulant, Jocasta stretched and rolled her neck. This was it, then: the reckoning, or at least one of two. [color=ffdead]"Go tell the others, Laëlle: students, Afortunado, Escarra, and Amanda."[/color] She was already getting herself ready, mind racing with scenarios and ideas. [color=ffdead]"Tell them to be on the staff patio overlooking the Great Bath by... 1:00 Shune, no exceptions."[/color] She was already in her day dress. Jocasta allowed herself to settle into her wheeled-chair. [color=ffdead]"I will meet them there. Time is of the essence."[/color]
[hr][hr]
[hider=Action Opportunities]
1) Plenty of socialization opportunities. Did you have any ongoing storylines with refuge residents? Now is the time to wrap them up. Your fellow students are arriving! Interact with them! What new or existing dynamics will be created or revealed? 

2) Training montage time! What are you teaching these people? Also, what might you learn from them?

3) What secrets of the Refuge might be revealed, IC, to your character?

4) Any long watches spent scanning for the wyrm? Realistically, this is only Tethered, though you could keep one company!

5) Is there a plan? Do you have ideas? We can gather for the meeting an collaborate on it.

6) Any fallout from the revolution: how about visiting the prisoners, Escarra's murder of Ortega coming to light, the cleanup, and more mundane matters.

7) whatever else you can think of![/hider]