[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/y3ohciD.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][color=FFD700][h2]Roaring Success [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SERHazw3ss]π…ž π…Ÿ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅑 𝅒[/url][/h2][/color][hr][hr] [color=FFA500]King Sancho and Queen Veronica of Torragon had nearly been killed during the masquerade ball of Nox Arcanum by a rogue wildblood. They had been by the Animal Farm, in their supposedly secret spot, but the beast - in truth, an unwitting student - had been teleported their way by the vengeful son of the slain Duke Frannemas. It was a near thing and, mere minutes earlier, thousands of magi had been stolen from that same duke's account as well as havoc wreaked at the ball by members of the Enchanter's Union.[/color] [color=FF8C00]It was all swept under the rug. The incident at the Animal Farm had been the result of an agitated froabas. Sancho's downed guards were not mentioned. All evidence was quickly discarded or destroyed. The damage was repaired. The thefts that had taken place earlier were quietly repaid by the massively lucrative school council.[/color] [color=D2691E]Officially, Nox Arcanum was a roaring success... as always.[/color] [color=8B4513]The grim times of Bloody Victendes were behind the school and the city of Ersand'Enise. The nations of the Central Alliance and the Sovereign Pact had reached a tenuous but seemingly more lasting peace, and the portal to Hogh-Munkhelad was soon expanded upon, linking the other four great Hegelan cities, Xochi, and Nashibansek to the City of the Bells. By the end of the calendar year, eight more major cities were in negotiations to join the burgeoning network. It seemed that Zenith Upta's gamble had paid off.[/color] [color=A0522D]As Rezain deferred to Somnes, the weather grew colder and the drinks and food warmer to compensate. With it, the bubbling cauldron that was the Workman's Quarter and Mudville seemed to cool as well. The commons of the former returned to work, momentarily placated by some guidelines on accountability that the school had added to its conduct code. The 'rats' of the latter had found their cause surprisingly championed by at least a handful of moneyed interests and, as Caldores approached and students and citizens roved about the city, caroling and frolicking in that rarest of treats at such a warm latitude - snow - a date was set for a plebiscite.[/color] [color=CD853F]They gathered, then: families. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some had much to celebrate and others, much less. Two weeks off of school before the final review period and exams felt like a blessing, though the church bells tolled every day and those students who had joined a semester late received no break whatsoever. Among them were a nun named Sister Łaska, a boy named Rikard, said to be a descendant of Hugo Hunghorasz and his spitting image, and young woman named Kaureerah: an eeaiko of very dubious extraction. In their various ways, they celebrated the ending of one year and the start of the next. It was now Dami-Zept 55, a year considered especially blessed from an astrological perspective.[/color] [color=DEB887]Those engaged in their last-second studies could only hope it was true. Quills consumed copious amounts of ink, pencils scratched across the surface of papers, and the library was open around the clock. It rained for much of the winter and even snowed a second time. The students were well and truly rooted by now, in this: their new home. Various business ventures flourished and relationships of every sort bloomed. It was a great way to mask the wrongness of the world.[/color] [color=FFDEAD]Then, after both a great passing of time and anxiety but, paradoxically, before they even knew it, the exam period was upon them. The near-sleepless nights, warm and cheap meals, and desperate sense of camaraderie that are so a part of youth accompanied that period of three weeks. Pubs and taverns were drained dry when it was all finished. Gifts were given to Master Zenos and groupmates and, gradually, the students' quarter of the city emptied. Generously, the school offered to open portals to a handful of major destinations, free of charge, and the arduous journeys home that had made Hundri returns so difficult for students in the past were no more.[/color] [hider=Destinations][color=FFF8DC][h2]Portal Destinations[/h2] 1) Varrahasta, Torragon 2) Yabusa, Joru 3) Relouse, Perrence 4) Meldheim, Eskand Ath 5) Salbeiro, Segona 6) Gandakar, Virang 7) Zewaggah, Belzagg 8) Kraznow, Warlisz 9) Mahanzir, Malabash 10) Koubao, ReTan 11) Hetzelburg, Kerremand 12) Chuokyo, Nikan[/color][/hider] [hr][hr][h2]Days Go By [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWDyHH7wnxs][color=ffffff]π…ž π…Ÿ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅑 𝅒[/color][/url][/h2][hr][hr] [color=E0FFFF]By the thirty-second of Tiptos, when five moons shone high in the sky, a soft rain fell on empty townhouses. There were no more than a hundred or so students remaining in the city. Faculty breathed a collective sigh of relief and took portals of their own to the places they wished to travel for... definitely research. The silent army of cleaners, contractors, and suppliers who kept the city running set to work, preparing it for the school year to come. For the few who remained, it was a chorus of hammers and saws every day, from dawn until dusk, weather permitting. They would have heard those great gangs of workers as they sat up on crossbeams and rooftops, singing as they built the city. Meanwhile, merchants and artisans ran their businesses seriously during this time, stocking up and preparing for the coming swell when the academy's doors opened once more. [/color] [color=B0E0E6]Quietly, Greenleaves arrived and the small group of students and staff remaining organized an intimate little gathering in the Arboretum, where one might actually get to know those with whom they'd likely exchanged precious little to that date. Hundri gave way to Stresia and rare migrating birds and dragons like the Lunar Swan, Indigo Krait, and the Blue Whistle-Beak returned from in great honking and clattering flocks, blanketing the sky for minutes on end. Hunters stood out in the farm fields and the rushes by the river, dropping them from the sky, but the meagre efforts of humans and yasoi seemed to have no impact on their vast numbers.[/color] [color=7bcdc8]The first of the students returned about two weeks later, trickling in through the port or the Godsroad, mostly, but a handful had booked private portals, and some had entered through the rapidly expanding port of Mudville, just to the south. There, they came upon the former slum in the midst of a transformation. The rough and filthy streets which had earned it its name were nearly all paved over with either stone or boardwalk. One of the Tan-Zenos - a tethered - had been adamant on making that a condition of admittance should the upcoming plebiscite pass. Trendy shops lined the waterfront and a branch of Sealy's Bank had even been persuaded to open there. There was Zenobucks location and, in the distance, where the great wreck had once stood, loomed the black smoke-belching stacks of a small but growing factory.[/color] [color=01DFA5]The portals began to open, for an hour each day, on Vardes the twenty-first. For the next three days, they disgorged youths from across the globe back onto the streets of Ersand'Enise. Gone were all but the very last of the great flocks of flying creatures, all settled now in their nests for the warmer months to come. So, too, had disappeared the construction crews and their merry, bawdy singing. There were only a few still about, working nearly around the clock to finish up some of the Academy's more ambitious projects. The merchants and artisans were ready, as they had been every year for the past half-millennium, to receive the influx. For one entire week, it was more or less a carnival atmosphere that prevailed. The taverns, inns, and guesthouses profited greatly. The student services staff were inundated.[/color] [color=00FF7F]On Vardes the twenty-sixth, [url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kb4T1-EqjWP3dqfKBp5MMenPv8k72gEZ/view?usp=sharing]bells tolled[/url] and flower petals fluttered. For the second time now - but the first for some - the students of the Academy of Thaumaturgy gathered in Balthazar Square to hear their Zenith speak. Flags flapped in a stiff breeze and the sun shone down upon the people of tomorrow, warmer than it had been when they'd left. Their Sophomore year at Ersand'Enise - DZ55 - had begun![/color] [hider=Zeno Groups][hr][hr][color=00a651]After all of the speeches were done and dormitories assigned, a small army of staff filtered through the crowds, repeated announcements were made, and signage put up directing students to Balthazar Hall at appointed times for course selection and Apprentice Group assignments. When there, they found the following:[/color] [indent][color=f7976a][b]Zeno Tannifer Marbrand:[/b] Ingrid Penderson, Niallus Saberhagen, Silas Reiger, Nazih Iqbal, [i]Benedetto Corvi[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][b]Zeno Randan Kedd:[/b][/color] [color=fdc68a]Esmii'nesta'tawaar, Ymiico'luun'yoru, Casii'fyret'alan,[/color] [color=f7976a]Trypano Somia,[/color] [color=fdc68a][i]Ismet'ych'lahiin'dichora[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][b]Tan-Zeno Jocasta Re:[/b] Kaspar Elstrom, Desmond Catulus, Zarina Al-Nader, Evander Synesti, [i]Penelope Pellegrin[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][b]Zeno Born-on-Solstice:[/b] Yalen Castel, Ayla Arslan, Yuliya Vasilieva, Dorothea Hohnstein, [i]Edyta Łaska[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][b]Zeno Fades-in-Moonlight:[/b] Fiske Flachstrauch, Abdel Varga, Maura Mercador,[/color] [i][color=c4df9b]Neki Kaureerah Wenhan,[/color] [color=f7976a]Rikard Ambrus[/color][/i] [color=f7976a][b]Arch-Zeno Riu Kai-tan:[/b][/color] [color=fdc68a]Ashon'amar'loiyang, Cal'tuuro'jaros,[/color] [color=fff79a]Marz Mohfolk,[/color] [color=f7976a][i]Marceline Hohenfelter, Manfred Hohenfelter[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][b]Zeno Alcaster Serra:[/b] Tku, Qasem Laghmani, Yvain de Berbignon, [i]Sven BjΓΈrnsson, Marlijn Vaanse[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][b]Zeno Jurgen Mendenhoffer:[/b] Isabella Lowell, Carmillia Carbonneau, Ysilla Al-Nader, [i]Owain Vaanse, Jomurr Ikon III[/i][/color][/indent] [hr][hr][sup][h3]Legend[/h3][/sup] [i]italics[/i]= NPC [b]bold[/b] = master [color=f7976a]f9ad81[/color] = human [color=fdc68a]fdc68a[/color] = yasoi [color=fff79a]fff79a[/color] = hegelan [color=c4df9b]c4df9b[/color] = eeaiko [color=82ca9d]82ca9d[/color] = sirrahi [color=7ea7d8]7ea7d8[/color] = meerami [hr][hr][/hider] [hider=Action Opportunities][h2]Action Opportunities[/h2]Welcome to Act Four of The Hourglass Order! For this cycle, feel free to do any of the following: [indent]❖ You could tell us what happened during Nox and Dies Arcanum if you haven't already. ❖ Summarize your second semester or highlight a particularly important or impactful happening from it! ❖ Tell us about your Caldores! Who did you spend it with, and how? ❖ How was your winter break? Where did you go and what did you do? ❖ What was it like returning? If you're new, what were your first impressions of the city and academy? ❖ It's time to get settled and react to your new groups! Maybe some quick back-and-forth posts are in order, or perhaps collabs! ❖ Feel free to run a mini-event during the break![/indent][hr][hr][/hider] [hr][hr][h3][i]Happy posting![/i][/h3][hr][hr]