MargardKazuki/SessionThirteen
It is the beginning of Resplendent Wood. Margard Moro has decided to channel her energies towards learning about the things that she will be doing as a professional member of society. Tevanad and Reflections, seeing Moro being more studious, themselves become more dedicated to their schoolwork.
Reflections realizes that she is still too young to go out into the world, and plans to stay an extra year for post-graduate study. Reflections has also started doing her part in helping Kazuki and Aoora become better students.
Tevanad, not to be outdone (and not to be relegated to the status of class idiot) pushes himself to study more despite continuing his work for Cynis Yorake.
As for the Tournament of the Scarlet Grace for the senior class, only Moro is interested. She has almost convinced Reflections to join her, but the rest of the class is uninterested. Jahanna helps to train Moro, and gives her tips on how to better survive the battle portion of the contest.
Ranka goes to the library to do some research stories and myths on people who have somehow lost their ability to use sorcerous powers, and the circumstances behind those occurrences. Most of what Ranka finds pretty much ends up with someone entreating with an entity far more powerful than what anyone should be dealing with. Ranka also begins research into finding answers to logical holes in the world's history.
Judas is also spending time in the library learning more about occult. During this time, he is laying low as the Wind.
Kira is helping Ranka with her first-age artifact research.
Kazuki's birthday is this month. Kazuki throws a party for the Dragonblood students and his friends. It is an informal affair and very low-key, but fun.
Daihama is vying for a place working at the Wall. Rokumasu is aiming for a professorship at the College. Mahiro, while she is still just a junior, is aiming for a seat in the Cherak deliberative. Chisato is attempting to find a post as a sorceror's assistant. Hikaru is working on improving her horsemanship. Okagura has no idea what he's doing.
The morning after Kazuki's party, Judas is up and as he heads down to the kitchens, he sees an awful lot of Black Helms around. When Judas asks about it, he learns that some violence had been committed within the Palace last night. He is directed to the halls where the freshman class reside, and finds Undefeated Raven and Cynis Norrin there investigating the scene, where paintings and decorations have been torn from the wall and strewn about the hallway, and footprints are etched into the flooring.
He learns that water and air were somehow involved in the destruction of the hallway. All of the freshmen are missing at the moment. Judas offers to collect the missing Freshman students.
Just as Judas heads up to collect his classmates, an Infallible Messenger appears before Mizugami and awakens him with the message "It will be safer for you if you don't investigate." He goes to fetch Ranka. They discuss methods of tracking Infallible Messengers, and decide to visit Virtuous Cloud.
As Mizugami exits Ranka's room -- still in his bedclothes -- Judas arrives. Hilarity ensues.
After Mizugami and Ranka have dressed more appropriately, the three meet up to collaborate information. Messages are sent to the rest of the class while the three go to consult with Virtuous Cloud.
They learn from Virtuous Cloud that there are a couple of possibilities to track the Infallable Messenger, but both are time-consuming and and not necessarily reliable. They decide to send their own Infallable Messenger to Soosilus to try to better assess the Freshman class' situation. Just as Ranka is preparing the ritual, the rest of the class arrives at Virtuous Cloud's home.
Soosilus responds that she is found this great dress and went to the Avana's Emporium to shop. The group decides to try contacting the others while going to go fetch Soosilus. Kuk is elsewhere, but is okay. Mier does not respond at all. Easley is at a nearby outlying village having his arm looked at since he'd just falling off his horse.
They fetch Soosilus, now waving her hat around trying to fend off potential threats. In speaking with her, the group discovers that there is a chunk of her memory missing between the time of the party and when she found herself at the tailors. The group decides there is something bigger amiss and escort her back while trying to contact Fallows. He doesn't respond either.
Judas believes he knows where Mier might be and goes off towards the Glittering Smoke District and splits from the rest of the group to look for her.
When they get back to the College, it is in a flurry of activity. They send blackhelms out to fetch the appropriate people and eventually meet up in the Palace. Crow agrees that there was mind control to blame for the sudden departure of the students. Unrepentant Jade is also there, and he comments that it was probably not a good idea for him to be alone.
Scene switch -- Judas is in the Glittering Smoke district in between taverns, when he suddenly feels the effect of extreme vertigo. He attempts to escape to the undercity, and finds himself under attack by a gust of wind and a ghostly woman, and he is in for the fight of his life. After a valiant struggle, he is knocked out.
Back at the palace, Unrepentant Jade begins to describe the situation, where Fallows and Easley both flared their anima, but when asked, none of the staff on the floor heard anything. There was suspicion that Cynis Norrin may also have been mind-altered. The group decides it would be more prudent to send people out to fetch Easley. Mizugami suggests that one of the professors should contact Kuk and find out where he is.
With new information revealed, the group attempts to contact Judas. The Infallible Messenger does not return.
Knowing something is up, the group asks Virtuous Cloud about an air elemental that she had mentioned earlier. It is sent to follow a second Infallible Messenger -- and they both disappear. Virtuous Cloud realizes that her air elemental was just destroyed, and relays that Judas is likely in trouble.
The group, with Crow and Unrepentant Jade, goes off to look for Judas while the investigation continues. The group that had gone out to fetch Easley is able to catch up. Easley was found with a dislocated arm and severe bruising. He is also down a considerable amount of essence and he doesn't know why.
Elsewhere, somewhere within the undercity, Judas awakens in a metal cell with Aoora and Mier. Aoora is cowering in a corner away from Mier, who is flaring her anima at the door, trying to burn it down. Judas soon joins her there for a while before a ghost materializes through the wall.
They talk -- she asks Judas to join Preceptor Seemo. Judas counteroffers to get her to join /them/ instead. She leaves them to consider the offer.
The group tracks Judas to the place where he tried to escape underground and finds some blood on the ground. Reflections determines that there wasn't enough blood for Judas to have bled out there. They continue to try to track Judas when Ranka and Crow detect an unnatural breeze that they recognize as an air elemental fleeing. Realizing they've been detected, the group powers up.
Back at the cell, Mother of Ash, the ghostly girl returns and agrees to Judas' offer. She sets them free and tells them where to go to get their weapons and how to get to their friends. Judas sets a rendezvous for a fortnight.
The rest of the party comes to an area of stadium-seating that overlooks a maze. There, they see two obviously flaring earth anima, and several glowing spots that reveal themselves as fire demons that come flying up at them to attack.
The group easily fends off the fire demons, then proceed to try to find Fallows, who Mier saw in the cell before he willingly went with Preceptor Seemo. Kira finds his tracks, and finds that he is traveling with Seemo and six children. She tracked him to the outside, right into a restaurant kitchen. The cooks and staff there were also mind wiped, and they did not remember the other group coming through.
Outside, Kira realizes that they have somehow obscured the tracks. Ranka detects the magic and dispels it, and Kira notices that Fallows has traveled in one direction, and the others have gone in another. Fallows, they learn, has gone back to the school.
The group gets back to the school, and people move off their separate ways. Judas takes Crow aside for a moment to let her know about the deal he made with Mother of Ash. Fallows is interrogated by Unrepentant Jade.
Fallows has a few more names of the children as well as some background of a few of them.
Ferem Lasha is asked to construct kekkai around the Palace. All except for the tip of a parapet is covered -- only from there may an Infallible messenger be sent. Notices about these changes are sent out to various personages.
Judas has his meeting with Mother of Ash, with Kazuki, Ranka, and Jahanna in tow. Mizugami and Kira could not guarantee not attacking Mother of Ash during the meeting, so they elect to stay away. At the meeting, Ranka detects for mind-altering magics and charms and discovers no less than seven different charms and magics currently affecting her. Ranka and Jahanna step back, but Kazuki is confused. Judas and Mother of Ash have their meeting.
During the course of the discussion, Mother of Ash reveals information on all of the preceptors and students at the school that they were trying to recruit Fallows for. They all have supernatural abilities and they are trying to induct Aoora at least. When the questioning ends, Judas asks one last question: Were you told to do anything at the end of the meeting? Mother of Ash answers by looking around slowly, then telling Ranka, "You would have been safer not investigating." She then phases through the floor.
Out of paranoia, Ranka scans the group for mind-affecting magics and discovers that everyone has been tagged. She dispels the magic, but the group goes to Virtuous Cloud to double check. When they check clean, they meet up with Kira and Mizugami to reveal all that has happened.
After the discussion, the students decide to let Crow know what they have learned. Even if the preceptors are not truly Dragonblooded, as Mother of Ash claimed, there are at least 17 powerful x-blooded individuals with however many fire demons they could have been able to summon. It would be too powerful for the group to handle alone, and they should never consider it.
Judas realizes that there is the potential for danger to one of the Wind's patrons, and he asks Mizugami to help draft a letter to Ferem Havelock in order to try to pass a message to her during a formal brunch.
Kira is a little bored and spends a few days scouting the campus, with Kazuki in tow, looking for suspicious activity. Nothing is found.
Jahanna makes it absolutely clear to Aoora that she should never leave the Palace. Mizugami gives her a buff jacket and a ranseur as her own personal gear to keep with her at all times, and the Idiots are more than happy to help entertain her.
Judas asks Mizugami to join him for the brunch with Havelock, as well as to see what his uncle writes about in a letter to his father. In the letter, he describes the situation he believes he is faced with and asks for support or advice. His uncle is also interested and asks about Judas' current resources, and surmises that Judas is actually looking for something that his father is willing to lose to Cherak.
Later that day, Judas and Mizugami meet with Havelock and they warn her of possible impending danger from the rakshasha who created the dreameaten that she is taking care of. She subtly asks Mizugami to also notify the Cherak Security Council.
Ranka visits Crow to find out more about Kuk. He is a Dragonblooded, of course. He had exalted when Elana and Crow were tracking one of the Abyssal beings that had attempted to capture Lucretia outside of Gethamane. They had battled in his village, and they were reluctant to leave a newly-exalted Dragonblooded alone. They took him in to educate him so that he can be a contributing member of society.
