[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zXPaTQf.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGmmjZe5BMc&list=PLpV28ONBH95SsjGpQEVhLeLhBFn7MZ95a&index=2]♫[/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr][center][color=808080][i][b]Present:[/b] Esmii [@BlackRoseSiren], Oksana [@Ti], Yuliya [@Suicharte], Marz [@Th3King0fChaos], Yvain [@jasbraq], Roslyn [@Fallenreaper], Khaliun [@YummyYummy], Sven, and Penny[/i][/color][/center][hr][hr][center][h1][color=6A5ACD]Into Darkness[/color][/h1][/center]
[color=6A5ACD]The sun was waning as they gathered. For all that magic had wavered during the day and they had felt the blessed flow of the Gift coursing once more through them, it had been but a tease. Painfully mortal and mundane, seven youths trudged their way back to Dami the Shrewd, Khaliun floating in last and late, unsteady in the hazy magical interference. 

[color=F7976A]“Just two more,”[/color] Penny sighed, stretching out languidly on one of the back pews. [color=F7976A]“[i]Oraff[/i], I feel like a jellyfish,”[/color] she whined, glancing Yvain’s way. [color=F7976A]“I shall require three feather pillows, gently fluffed, a glass of lemon water with four moderate-sized ice cubes, and a bedtime story. I’m not fussed about the genre.”[/color] She let out a groan. [color=F7976A]“We’ve been waiting an [i]hour[/i]. Gods, where [i]are[/i] they?”[/color]

[color=385403]“You gonna be okay, princessh?”[/color] Sven teased. [color=385403]“Think you’ll make it?”[/color]

[color=F7976A]“Ugh. Shut up, Shven.”[/color] She snapped back a little too quickly and forcefully, and then softened it b y letting out a snort and rolling her eyes playfully. [color=F7976A]“I will if you carry me.”[/color]

Time dragged and the light coming in through the stained glass windows flared for half an hour and then darkened. The group of seven decided not to wait any longer before debriefing each other in earnest. By this method they learned of Yuliya’s and Yvain’s harrowing ordeal and their rescue by what was confirmed to be Khaliun’s intervention. She hadn’t been able to seriously harm the masked man who’d had them cornered - he was [i]that[/i] strong - but she’d succeeded in making him back off, risk-averse, perhaps. [color=pink]“Is member of Volti, obvious!”[/color] the Vossoriyan exclaimed, punctuating her point by tapping on the wooden pew. She quickly made the sign of the Pentad as an absentminded act of contrition. [color=pink]“We come there, good faith, and he is trying to kill.”[/color] She shook her head, fire flaring behind her big, pretty eyes. [color=pink]“I want his head as trophy. I mount him on my wall. Remind people what happen when they [i]fuck[/i] with me.”[/color]

[color=00e600]“I am also very… amenable to his death,”[/color] Yvain added coldly, [color=00e600]“and those of everyone in his employ, though… I’d like the chance to ask some questions first.”[/color] He paused. [color=00e600]“We’ve confirmed what we suspected, though, at least: the phenomenon isn’t natural. It’s one of those odious devices.”[/color]

The pair of ‘Y’ names weren’t the only ones to bring news. Oksana was boisterous in her recounting of her, Esmii’s, and Sven’s misadventure in the monastery grounds though, in practice, she didn’t get too many words in edgewise. Once Esmii started up, there wasn’t much anyone could do but listen, even as she gushed on about how Sven had gone berserk and obliterated the monks.

Penny admitted to something similar, as did Roslyn, who seemed… a little bit shaken by the entire experience. [color=385403]“I actually think we messhed up kinda bad,”[/color] Sven quietly proposed. [color=385403]“At the end of the day, they were jusht defending their property againsht a break-in.”[/color]  

The Perrenchwoman wasn’t having it, however. [color=F7976A]“Are you telling me that what we found inside was normal for a monastery?”[/color]

He shrugged uncomfortably. [color=385403]“It was… more than I expected, but…”[/color] Sven scowled. [color=385403]“I wash originally being trained to go into the prieshthood,”[/color] he admitted. [color=385403]“They’re shurprishingly martial, but it’sh… not that unushual for a remote monashtery to have a large workshop.”[/color] He shrugged again, even as Penny and Yuli - the two-headed monster that they often were - both stared at him, borderline incredulous.    

[color=#b08cc9]“Well, [i]I’m[/i] glad he’s not a priest,”[/color] Esmii exclaimed. [color=#b08cc9]“That’s for sure.”[/color]

Penny audibly groaned at the comment, but Yuliya was still focused on Sven. She even shot Penny a dirty look. [color=pink]“What you think? This is Vossoriya. Everybody has something on the side.”[/color] She shook her head. [color=pink]“Sure, maybe they attack you. You stop to think this is because you break into their home and holy place?”[/color] She let out an annoyed sigh. [color=pink]“You will do the same in Quentic church?”[/color] She waved a hand dismissively, signalling an end to the digression. [color=pink]“You did something else useful, yes?”[/color] she prodded.[/color]

[color=483D8B]Abashed, Roslyn held out a notebook with a surprisingly detailed map of the southern and southeastern end of the city and explained that they had followed the edge of the anti-magic zone. Khaliun, in only a few words, explained that she’d gone up and it was a bubble. It was, in fact, at least two bubbles, Roslyn added. If they extrapolated the patterns out… she extracted a pencil from her satchel and followed the existing patterns to turn them into proper circles. A large portion of the city was left uncovered, yet there was definitely no connection to the Gift there either.

[color=F7976A]“But there’s magic where you’re staying, right?”[/color] Penny asked Yuliya sheepishly, having been chastised a couple minutes earlier. Yuli nodded. [color=pink]“Yes, no…”[/color] She paused, struggling for a word. [color=pink]“No ‘no magic’.”[/color] It was growing late and she was tired. Then, in the distance, they heard the faint tumble of thunder. A storm was blowing in across the plains as often happened around this time of year, and usually with little warning. Tentatively, Roslyn sketched a third circle into her map in the rough location where she thought it should be, leaving a question mark in the middle. The seven exchanged glances. A couple nodded. [color=78CBE8]“Tomorrow, we should confirm it,”[/color] Khaliun decided, voice as flat as ever.

[color=#b08cc9]“But… the monastery, and the caves?”[/color] Esmii countered. [color=#b08cc9]“We can’t just ignore things like that. Why don’t we split up again?”[/color]

Roslyn, quiet for much of the meeting aside from her work with the map, shook her head gently. [color=ebe7a3]“I’d like to investigate as much as anyone,”[/color] she remarked in a small voice, [color=ebe7a3]“but today made pretty clear that it is [i]not[/i] safe out there.”[/color] She pursed her lips. [color=ebe7a3]“We should stick together.”[/color]

Penny nodded in agreement. [color=F7976A]“I’m with her on that. It’s hairy.”[/color]

Yuliya nodded. So did Sven, before glancing once more out the now-darkened windows. There was a flash of lightning in the distance and then a more pointed crack of thunder. [color=385403]“Sho… what do we do about the othersh?”[/color] he offered, eyes searching his peers’ for some sort of consensus. [color=385403]“They’re shitll not here.”[/color]

[color=00e600]“You know, if they’re not utter fools - which may be giving them too much credit,”[/color] replied Yvain, [color=00e600]“they’ve probably just headed straight back to the inn. I, for one, would rather not be out in the… Eshiran’s weather that’s clearly headed our way.”[/color]

[color=pink]“Sounds like what smart person would do,”[/color] Yuliya agreed, shooting Yvain a smirk. The notion reached consensus and they parted somewhat quickly after that, with promises to meet back up in the morning and take the piss out of Marz and Nazih. In the back of more than one mind, however, a nervousness gnawed and, in the event, they did not outrun the storm either. Yuliya and Khaliun were thoroughly soaked. Yvain, Esmii, Sven, Oksana, and Penny had less distance to cover. They made a dash for it, the fifth being left in the dust by her bipedal counterparts, but it was for naught. All arrived cold and wet as they stumbled into the inn.  

Trudging up to their rooms, moods brightened a bit with mischievously whispered plans to press cold clammy hands to the backs of Nazih’s and Marz’s necks or wring out soaked riding cloaks over them. However, when Sven pushed the door open and prepared to dash forward, he and his peers found the boys’ dormitory eerily unoccupied, sitting still, silent, and untouched. Outside, the wind howled and rain pelted shuddering windows. 

[color=F7976A]“You uh… think they might’ve just spent the night somewhere closer?”[/color] Penny proposed, trying to avoid the inevitable. [color=385403]“They’re probably waiting for ush in the church right now,”[/color] Sven replied, [color=385403]“becaushe we didn’t have the patienche to wait.”[/color] He glanced back out at the storm and swallowed. [color=385403]“At leasht… I hope sho.”[/color]

What followed was a ten minute debate on whether or not to go back out there. In the event, the innkeeper mentioned, through broken interpretation, that he had seen a hegelan and foreign boy sometime earlier. Their worry imperfectly pacified and perhaps wanting to believe that all was well, the visitors bedded down for the night, the girls all forced to listen as Penny knelt by her bedside and whispered nighttime prayers for the safety of the missing pair and her beloved boyfriend Ashon, on the other side of the ocean. Finally, she made the sign of the pentad, climbed into bed, and fell silent. She and the others buried themselves in their covers as temperatures plummeted and, lulled into an uneasy sleep by the sounds of rain, wind, and gentle thunder, they waited for tomorrow and better news.[/color]

[hr][hr][center][h2][color=B0C4DE]Into the Light[/color][/h2][hr][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFH2llKgFog]♫[/url][/center][hr][hr]
[color=B0C4DE]Morning was a miserable affair. A thin, slick layer of slushy ice coated everything in sight. Laundry lines lay broken on the ground, clothes thrown in the all-encompassing mud. Shed and stable roofs sagged under the extra weight. Horses, oxen, and carts struggled down the filthy streets. The seven woke up, gathered in the common room, and sat around a large table, warming their hands on a motley assortment of teacups as they drank and the warmth slowly returned to their bodies. Still, thunder mumbled indistinctly in the clouds, though it seemed to be fading and, even as they sat there, some wretched, some still wrapped in quilts, the sleet turned steadily back into a clammy, miserable rain. Marz and Nazih remained missing and hopeful protestations that they may have just been avoiding the weather were starting to ring hollow.

While Oksana was well-outfitted and ready, it was another hour and a half before the foreigners were prepared to commence their search. There was no staving off the rain or warming themselves with magic. The scions of families old, wealthy, and proud found themselves reduced to slogging along like the commonfolk, no different from them, for once, save the nicer cut of their clothes and heavier coinpurses. There was just enough wind to buffet and twist umbrellas, and Penny, who couldn’t hold one anyhow, instead found the hood of her raincloak repeatedly blown back. 

They met up with Yuliya and Khaliun once more at the church, and the pair of missing boys was, once more, nowhere to be found. An entire morning spent knocking on the doors of locals eventually gained them the idea that a hegelan and a foreigner had headed for the cliffs and caves across from the monastery. A few had mentioned the collapse but, then again, the students had also offered money. Regardless of payment, however, and whether grizzled grannies or spry young men, the locals, peering out through barely-open doors into the inclement weather, urged them not to go. It was dangerous.

At this point, however, most of their consciences had been pricked and a fear that the worst had happened really began to set in. The ground was slick, muddy, and unforgiving. Roslyn nearly fell down a set of stairs, catching herself on a railing at the last second. Sven’s feet went out from under him when climbing up a slope. Penny fell three times, each progressively worse. She slid down a ravine after the last one and lay there in the mud and gravel, wrapping clammy, shivering arms about herself and sobbing softly. [color=F7976A]“We left them out there,”[/color] she mewed, from behind chattering teeth. [color=F7976A]“We let them die and this is our punishment.”[/color] She snorted up a long dribbler, small and sad and very much not the Penny that everyone else was used to. [color=F7976A]“I’m sorry. I’m [i]so[/i] sorry. I deserve it.”[/color]

There was a long, ragged scrape down her right forearm, and it trickled a trio of thin constant ribbons of blood into the remnants of her shredded sleeve. A lesser counterpart could be found on her hip and a deep bruise to go with it. They did not have magic here, however, and there was no healing to be done. She picked herself back up only after a few minutes and only with help, gently rolling a tender ankle back and forth before continuing.[/color] 

[color=696969]Esmii identified the cave she had visited earlier and all agreed that it was a likely candidate. They headed hopefully for its mouth, eager to be out of the rain and muck, but it was fool’s gold. Every surface was slick and treacherous, the pale limestone mud thin but all-encompassing and relentlessly sticky. Natural light faded and Oksana took out a match and a lantern and they clustered together within its small, yellow-orange oasis of light.

Stalactites dripped and rivulets of pure, frigid water trickled from cracks in the stone. Everywhere was the sound of echoing droplets and moving water. Their breath formed little clouds of condensation before them and the temperature, if possible, dropped even further. Surfaces became coated with frost. 

The going became slow, even as Esmii warned of the strange pulling sensation she had felt the last time. Water that she could’ve sworn had flowed alarmingly uphill last time gathered in a placid pool now. Penny continued to lag, the others having to stop repeatedly to let her catch up. Her cheeks flushed with shame at her inadequacy and they could hear her muttering beneath her breath, though none could make out what she said. 

Fallen rocks became more common as they went, the cavern littered with them, in many cases sharp and new, recently carved from the chamber walls. Looks were exchanged. In a couple of places, it was a tight squeeze, and Sven had to drag a couple of boulders free just to fit. [color=00e600]“I hate to be the one to say it,”[/color] Yvain announced, his voice the first to cut through the cold and silence for quite some time, [color=00e600]“But I fear someone must: what if this is a dead end, or a false trail? We’ve been walking for some time and…”[/color] He trailed off, eyes roving about the other shadowed faces. [color=00e600]“Well, given that we’ve found nothing, perhaps that’s all there is to find,”[/color] he concluded grimly.

[color=385403]“Five more minutesh.”[/color] It was Sven. [color=385403]“Five more and then I agree. We turn around.”[/color] He looked to the others, or what little he could see of them. There were either nods and murmurs of agreement or else abstentions, so they continued.[/color] 

[color=gold]For the first time more or less since they’d woken up the previous accursed morning, there was good fortune to be found. [color=pink]“You feel that!?”[/color] Yuliya chirped gratefully and, indeed, the others did! [color=pink]“Magic! Thank Shune! I knew she's be back!”[/color] It was hazy at first, but it grew stronger as they walked, as if they were nearing the edge of the field. Roslyn leaned in close to Oksana and flipped open her book, leaning hunched over it to prevent any of the ever-present dripping water from wetting the pages. She made a small mark. [color=ebe7a3]“We’re far enough north that we’re leaving the device’s influence.”[/color] Satisfied, she clapped the journal shut and tucked it away. Others began conjuring flickering lights before long, and these bobbed about in the darkness, growing in luminosity as they went. 

And then, it ended. Up ahead was a collapse. They shone their lights about - how they shone them! Yet, it was well and truly sealed. Then, Penny flung a rock free. She had her magic back and the others noticed belatedly that the scrapes and bruises were healed. She reached out and pulled a second one free. [color=F7976A]“What?”[/color] she retorted, when she noticed them staring at her. [color=F7976A]“We came all this way, we went through hell to get here, and we have our magic back. What are you waiting for?”[/color]

Even before she’d finished, Yuliya was working. Yvain, Sven, Oksana, and Roslyn soon joined. Spirits rose. Just being able to use magic again - to once more enjoy the agency they usually took for granted - it was phenomenal. So intense was the joy, so irrational, that a few even started singing work songs they’d heard from the plebs.[/color] 

[hr][hr][center][h2][color=66CDAA]Cold Comfort[/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
[color=66CDAA]There was a hand. It was cold, broken, and discoloured, and Roslyn scrambled back when she touched it, letting out a small sound of terror. It did not take Esmii’s energy scan to reveal that there was no life. Yuliya, wordless, pulled the last few boulders free with kinetic magic and there was the body. It was Nazih, or rather [i]had[/i] been: someone they had fought alongside, laughed and joked with, shared lunches and classes with and he was… gone. This was just a lifeless remnant. More than one hid their eyes. The light that had animated them a mere minute earlier left the chamber and there was little else to fill it aside from the sounds of breathing and the occasional sob. This was one of theirs, no longer a youthful, invincible thing. 

Dead.

It took a good couple of minutes for them to start up again. The body was moved with kinetic magic and set aside. It was covered with its own ragged cloak. Then, they started digging again, having scanned for anything abnormally-shaped, if only to brace themselves against the inevitability of a second body.

There was nothing, however. They went for another indeterminate amount of time, but probably a half-hour or so. Not a single sign of Marz was found by the time they reached the end of the cave-in, and so they continued, into its depths, reaching a second such obstacle, which they cleared with a few more minutes of magic exertion. Then, they reached a third. This, too, was shunted aside. Outside, the weather worsened, though they did not know it, and the sun began its descent.

The final collapse, however, revealed an undisturbed chamber beyond. Vast and dark, lit with the twinkling bioluminescence of fungi and tiny insects, it had an air of peace about it and a large, crystal clear pool that sparkled beneath the interlopers’ lights. A trio of olms quickly skittered away at their approach and then they had the cavern to themselves. There were a few stray rocks to be found, but whatever disturbance had created them was gone, a fact confirmed by Esmii in whispered wonder.

Sven glanced behind him. [color=385403]“I’ve heard that Darhannicsh should be bathed before they’re buried.”[/color] He let his light fade and, once the others had done so, the room lay once more in perfect, peaceful darkness. 

It was some two hours later when they once again saw natural light. No body came with them. They had performed the ceremony to the best of their knowledge, spoken their words, and left their friend and classmate to the Gods. What they had not found, however, was Marz, and that failure lingered, intruding on what should have been a solemn silence. [color=F7976A]“You remember how a couple of the people we talked to gave a different answer?”[/color] 

Oksana, able to lip read by lamplight, twisted and nodded. [color=dcf3ff]”They say coolaps!”[/color] she confirmed excitedly. They were all in need of some hope. [color=F7976A]“Just so,”[/color] Penny concluded. [color=pink]“Then we go,”[/color] added Yuliya. [color=pink]“We look, find hegelan, bring back. Break any heads on way that needs breaking.”[/color] 

A couple others chuckled at her bluntness, but the momentary mirth soon died. Wind howled and snow whipped across the cavern’s mouth, rendering the landscape beyond almost impossible to make out. With it, of course, came a ferocious chill that bit through clothing. Yuliya, so stalwart for most of their journey, was now lagging along with Penny, the two girls supporting each other. She suppressed a grimace. [color=pink]“I eat something bad, I think,”[/color] she said weakly, only half-joking. [color=pink]“I get to bed, rest, maybe puke… You know I’m tough, Penpen, ha?”[/color]

Whatever they’d planned for the remainder of the day was put on hold. Sven was brave enough to accompany Yuliya back to where she was staying and, partway through, Khaliun took over, hovering somewhere above them and above the magical interference, supporting her with kinetic magic. He barely made it back, exhausted and frostbitten. Penny had fallen twice more, but at least not been injured to any noteworthy extent. Roslyn was sneezing. Yvain had sprained his wrist somehow, and Esmii shivered beneath a mountain of blankets with Sven. Only Oksana had held up well. They gathered in the near-empty boys’ dormitory that night and discussed their plans for the next day. 

These were not to be. The Stresian blizzard howled, crown jewel of a late cold snap, and utterly relentless. Windows were shuttered, animals stabled and swaddled in hay and blankets, and stockpiles of wood burned through as hearths stayed lit for almost the entire day. Ships sheltered in the harbour, animals huddled in their burrows, and Kirimansk drew into itself to ride out the storm. An entire day passed in futility. All that the seven students could do was play cards, talk, and drink around the fire, holding out hope that Yuliya was indeed alright and clinging to the faint likelihood that Marz had been… well, not [i]killed,[/i] at least.[/color] 

[hr][hr][center][h2][color=90EE90]A New Dawn[/color][/h2][hr][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raCTmTP071s&list=PLpV28ONBH95SsjGpQEVhLeLhBFn7MZ95a&index=3]♫[/url][/center][hr][hr]
[color=90EE90]Orredes dawned blessedly sunny, the morning light glistening with stark beauty upon the snow. In the distance, a herd of muskoxen made their way between the sparse pines and, within minutes, a hunting party had set off to go and hopefully make meat of them. The students were similarly motivated. They ate quickly, dressed warmly, and met, once more, in the rear pews of Dami the Shrewd. Already, the snow was beginning to melt and mud encroach upon its former domain, for such were the fickle vicissitudes of stresia. 

[color=pink]“Today,”[/color] began Yuliya, after she rose from her morning prayers, [color=pink]“We do two things: we go this collapse and find Marz or someone who knows something, yes?”[/color] Esmii and Sven heartily agreed, and she nodded along with them. [color=pink]“Good. First, we pay visit to this gap in the cliffs, find Volti there, and beat him until he tells us why he’s here and where the magic boxes are. Maybe we get lucky and he knows where Marz is too.”[/color]

Scarcely half an hour had passed when a group of mostly-foreign youths, armed with guns and swords - many of these high quality pieces of Nikanese manufacture - arrived at the foot of the triple towers in the indent. The people who were milling about rushed to get out of their way. The women sweeping snow off of the outdoor stairs gathered their brooms and hurried inside. Shops closed their doors and animals were led anxiously away. It had cost a good deal of coin on the part of Yuliya, Yvain, and Penny, but they had money to spare. 

Icicles hung, dripping, from the massive wooden towers and their skeletal external staircases and scaffolding. Chimes jingled in the wind and laundry flapped from various lines. Three large, rough-looking men stood at the base of the steps, and two more emerged from nearby doors at ground level, closing these behind themselves and unslinging the rifles from their backs. The weapons were not yet aimed at the students, but then one man with a red cap, who seemed to be the leader, spoke up. [color=SlateGray]“Ты! Почему ты здесь? Что ты хочешь?” (You! Why are you here? What do you want?)[/color][/color]

[hr][hr][center][h2][color=696969]Action Opportunities[/color][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
[center][hider=Coming Soon][color=696969][center][h2]To Be Revealed on Discord![/h2][/center][/color][/hider][/center]