Mizugami/SessionSeven

7th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

The final meeting of the Greater Deliberative for this school year was this morning. I was elected Vice President for next year in a landslide over Judas. Elin won the Presidency in a 9-7 vote over J’hana, of all people. It was interesting that Chead abstained from the Vice Presidency vote, but voted for President. I wonder if Judas or anyone else understood why.

Next year should be a lot of fun. I expect Elin will be a more active President than Chead so it should be quite the learning experience for me. For the first time, I also find myself wondering what next year’s students will be like. Guess I’ll find out in a few months.

8th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

Now that’s certainly interesting. Virtuous Cloud, Lucretia, and Crow have left the school. Rector Danic and Cathak Meladus are training Kira for the remainder of the school year and Incomparable Ebony Comet is handling the remainder of Ranka’s sorcery training for the year.

I hope Virtuous Cloud and Crow are off dealing with that accursed Seer. I can’t imagine any good coming from her continued stay at the school. Still, I wonder why they kept her around all these months only to disappear with her now. When they return, I’ll have to try and find out.

10th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

It looks like House Ragara is stepping up their plans to turn Cherak into a personal satrapy. Miyako isn’t even being allowed to graduate, but is leaving in just a few days’ time to replace the previous Margard liaison to the Great House. According to Tegraat, the House shipped him home and demanded another liaison, immediately.

We’re going to have a going away party for her tomorrow night. I’m going to get her a calligraphy set, I think, and encourage her to stay in touch with me.

12th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

Things just get stranger. Ranka gathered the freshmen up this afternoon after discovering Incomparable Ebony Comet was missing and Rectors Danic and Norrin had no idea why. She shared with us that Virtuous Cloud, some days prior, had entrusted a box to her that she said contained the Stone Crown, the artifact that the Icewalkers had been looking for in conjunction with Lucretia. Virtuous Cloud told Ranka to keep it safe and don’t open the box, as the crown would try to dominate her or anyone else within reach if the box was unsealed.

We discovered that a Ranka double entered her quarters this morning, stayed a few moments, and left. After a short discussion, we decided to work under the assumption that the crown had been stolen and investigate. I took leave to examine Incomparable Ebony Comet’s quarters while the others fanned out to pursue other leads.

I co-opted a pair of black helms to stand guard over Comet’s quarters while I searched them. Undefeated Raven showed up as I was finishing my cursory search. Using Indisputable Physical Analysis Technique, which I only recently learned, we searched his home more thoroughly. It was ransacked, but most of his valuables remained. His drugs were gone, as were some of his talismans, but a lot of cash was left behind. There was no evidence of a fight; we expect his place was searched by someone looking for something in particular.

We reconvened late in the day to pool what we’d learned. The Stone Crown is the last remnant of a god of roads that was killed during one of the pre-Realm Raksha invasions of Creation. J’hana found out that Chef Huey dispatched a servant to pick up baking supplies and not only has she not returned, she left the palace carrying a parcel. It seems likely that whoever impersonated Ranka on the way in impersonated this girl on the way out. Ranka decided to use her spells to track the girl’s movements in the palace with Kira along for support. I told them to wake me if they found anything and retired to my quarters to update my journal and now go to sleep.

13th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

I hope I can get an entire night’s sleep tonight. The entire Palace was put on alert shortly after I dozed off last night. Ranka and Kira tracked that serving girl to the catacombs, where they found her corpse. I convinced Rector Danic to have a private meeting with us and we revealed what we could, without mentioning the Stone Crown. She offered to obtain the use of an Exalted Cheraki tracker for Ranka to discover where our murdering thief had gone.

Come breakfast, Ranka was off with her tracker and Judas decided to share that Red-Fist Hayoo was back in town and he knew where. He said it’s a cursed building, but Tevaned had sold him anti-curse charms. He wanted everyone to go with him but he wouldn’t tell us where unless we agreed first to go. So I walked. He hasn’t earned my trust and has gone out of his way to betray it, in fact.

Kira pulled me out of class a short time later to tell me that she and J’hana were going after Ranka. A few hours after that I got an Infallible Messenger from Ranka. Kira was with her (J’hana had returned to school) and they were waiting at a café outside the Glittering Smoke District. The trail had led there and the tracker felt his odds of success were far greater if he went in alone.

Not long after I arrived, Judas and Kazuki showed up and the tracker returned, as well. The thief/killer went to the Silken Rose opium house and the tracker said the place was heavily guarded. We agreed to return to the main guard house in the inner city and put together a proper raid. It would take hours to assemble the various Dragon-Blooded members of the guard, but given the possibilities of what the Silken Rose held, it was the smart thing to do.

Unfortunately, Judas decided yet again to do his own thing. And as usual, Kazuki’s loyalty wouldn’t let him go off alone. So while we waited at the guard house and I stopped a corrupt guardsman and his squaddies from alerting the Silken Rose to the impending raid, Judas and Kazuki talked their way in and Judas got the one on one fight he was after. Well, perhaps not the fight he was after. Kazuki’s use of Bellows Pumping Stride is the only reason both of them aren’t dead. On the positive side, Judas claims to have learned his lesson, as well as the value of teamwork. Time will tell…

We hit the Silken Rose with 12 Exalted Guardsman and 20 veteran troopers shortly after nightfall. It was an abattoir, the worst, most awful scene I’ve witnessed. The gore and viscera of dozens of patrons were splattered about and among the several dozen zombies, I found Incomparable Ebony Comet. Downstairs, we encountered a man calling himself Glorious Serpent, a pair of Dragon-Blooded, 8 expertly trained mortal warriors, and the foul, gibbering mess that was Red-Fist Hayoo. This Glorious Serpent has the apparent ability to transfer skills or charms between individuals, as 1 of the Dragon-Blooded was using Red-Fist Hayoo’s red-glowing First Pulse Style. The strength of Danaa’d was with me as I managed to subdue her. I’m beginning to wonder if I really need a daiklave after all. I lost track of much of the battle while fighting Teela, but I did see Judas kill Glorious Serpent.

Thankfully, there were no deaths on our side, though a number of us required medical treatment. Before the fight commenced with Glorious Serpent, he admitted that Jade, his thief, had been unable to penetrate the wards on the box containing the Stone Crown. So it seems that it is still safe, after all.

21st Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

I stopped by Aunt Elana’s estate today to collect my new servant and discovered more news about Lucretia. Aunt Elana and Peleps Japhen are also off with Virtuous Cloud and Crow. I feel better now in some ways, but worse in others. I can think of few things that collection of Exalts couldn’t deal with but I wonder what necessitated them all hurrying off together on short notice.

25th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

I can’t believe it! Servants from Aunt Elana’s estate arrived at the Palace this morning with a delivery for me. My parents got me a daiklave!!! A black jade daiklave! With it was a note from the two of them stating that they were proud of what I’d accomplished this year and encouraging me to do even more next year. I’m off now to meditate with it at the pool. Given our House’s losses, it’s no surprise that it’s a brand new daiklave. Some people might be offended at that, getting a weapon with no history, no lineage. I see it as an opportunity to create a new and glorious lineage for our House.

After a few hours in deep meditation with it, I can’t imagine any First Age jade daiklave would be any better made, any better balanced, than mine. It feels like it belongs in my hands, like it’s always been in my hands. And after the time spent attuning to it, pondering the mysteries within the depths of its blade, my weapon’s name revealed itself to me: Ebon Arbiter of the Dragons’ Justice. I’m looking forward to sharing it with Aunt Elana when she returns.

28th Day of Ascending Fire, RY 768

Crow and company are still gone, so while graduation was perhaps more eloquent, it was also less impressive. Several classmates were showing off new gifts besides myself. Kira now has a beautiful short powerbow while Kazuki has a magical scarf attached to the pommel of his dire lance now.

I was able to speak with Chead after the ceremonies were over. He’s joining the Wyld Hunt and is heading off to the Blessed Isle for a few years of additional training. I wanted him to know that if he ever needed my assistance, he had but to ask.

I’m going to have to be careful in my interaction with Ferem Lasha for the next 2 years, too. She’s been named the College’s new sorcery instructor and though we were classmates this past year, she’s now a faculty member. Even a hint of impropriety could be used against either or both of us.

Tiger of the Heavens taught me a valuable lesson this year. I don’t intend to underestimate apparent do-nothings anymore. He’s now a captain in the Cheraki Guard, which is a little far up the chain of command for a new recruit, even an Exalt. Maybe I can figure out what he’s been up to during my off time this summer.