(OOC - Left early Saturday. Back late Monday - which is the present day. So yes, just a couple nights. And you are absolutely right, the exam was Friday and results Monday... meaning today!) 

"No, no... sorry, results were out today. But there were people Friday celebrating just being done with the exams," Piero says, correcting himself. 

"Of course, I would have missed that going to bed so early", Guardok agrees.

He spends the rest of the meal chatting amiably with his roommate, and if no-one else arrives heads back to the dorm room to catch up on sleep.

Guardok heads back to his room with Piero following once they have finished eating. Mae is already in her room and eventually Malvyn returns as well. The floor quiets for the night until the morning brings the next day of classes. Those proceed basically as they always have.

After the last class of the day, Larine catches Mae as she leaves the class.  There's only a brief time to talk as Mae has to go to her private tutoring sessions. "You want to meet up after?" Larine asks her before she goes. The tutoring is held in a building not far from the Biblioplex, so it is not far from both classes and Dresar Hall.  But it is nearly dinner time before she is done.  

Guardok is able to catch up with Rubina and Quentillius after class. They are curious to hear about the trip but also have a few bits of news about a new play that will be starting up in the near future.  

Malvyn of course sees Aurora after class, though it's apparent he had seen her the previous evening as well.  A bit later he runs into Drazhomir while working at the Biblioplex. "I heard you had been traveling. How did your voyage go? Oh, and I think Professor Flintwind had been asking after you. I mean, the Mrs. Flintwind. You should talk to her some time." 

And after, the week proceeds with little incident. It seems Aurora has some plan to go off with Malvyn over the weekend. And Larine reminds Mae of her Intramural Water-Dancing Club performance on Saturday afternoon as well.  Fortunately, she does not have to attend any tutoring sessions on weekends. 

(Are there any particular things anyone wants to do? Research particular things or talk to anyone?)  

Mae will try to see Larine at dinner when she can, but is probably overly stressed and exhausted from all the extra tutoring, but she would absolutely make an effort to go see Larine at the Water-Dancing Club performance on the weekend.

During the school week, Malvyn would of course try to catch up with his studies while also working at the Biblioplex and for the Strixhaven Star. He considers writing a piece about the trip to Silmeadow but decides to keep the story for when they actually are able to enter Disyn's grotto. If he finds the time he would research the walking statues and the masked ones that had some conflict with Strixhaven. Finally he would try to seek out Professor Flintwind as soon as he can, thanking his friend Drazhomir, also asking him on advice for some good romantic but dark and tragic poetry to possibly impress Aurora with the coming weekend.

Guardok will first and foremost offer to help prepare for taking the exam she missed. As long's wants help and it is deemed as cheating. He assumes her exam won't be identical.

He is also very interested in the new play, and is eager to learn more and to try out for a part when the auditions come around.

Beyond that, he isn't much for research, but will go with Mal if he decides to look into what they saw. Mainly so they can go over the details to make sure they haven't missed anything. A bit of Bardic Inspiration also helps these situations too.

He will probably catch up with Zanther and the gymnastics crew during practice.

Mae manages to catch up with Larine for dinner that first evening, though throughout the week there are times she just retreats to her room. Larine stops by to check in on Mae, though doesn't linger unless invited.  The work with the tutor seems like a lot.  For the most part though it means that once she is done for the evening, she doesn't have a whole lot left to work on. Unless she wants to review what she had done with the tutor.  She certainly seems quite caught up with all of her classes. 

Having missed a day, it doesn't take too long for Malvyn to get caught up. Later in the week he tries to look for some information in the Biblioplex along with Guardok. The two are able to locate a number of references to very large, statue-like beings that are found here in Arcavios.  They are called Archaics. It is believed that when an Oracle dies, they go back in time and are reincarnated as an Archaic. Something about the same explosion of magic that created the Founder Dragons somehow captures the soul of the Oracle and they become magically connected to the world itself. An Arcaic is thought to have vast knowledge and magical power, but only shares such things rarely and even then in cryptic riddles.

They are described as gargantuan beings with multi-arms.  There is not a lot directly known, but they are thought to be in some way connected to the star arches and snarls that exist throughout the world.  There are many stories of a star arch appearing or disappearing after the sighting of an Arcaic nearby. 

You would have already heard about the Oracle of Strixhaven.  They are considered the wisest and most accomplished mage in the world of Arcavios, selected by the Founder Dragons. The Oracle’s lifelong task is to ensure that magic is used to help people and not twisted to evil ends. To be the Oracle, one must understand fundamental truths about the nature of magic, know and wield hundreds of spells, and possess impeccable judgment and virtue.  The current Oracle is named Jadzi. She had been a graduate of Quandrix College. It isn't known exactly where she lives, but it is said to be somewhere beyond the borders of Strixhaven.  

Malvyn isn't able to find Professor Flintwind until nearly the end of the week.  But she is present when he is working there Thursday afternoon.  When approached, she says, "Ah yes, I was looking for you. I was hoping we could find some time to get together with you and your adventuresome companions. I know time will be fleeting between now, the final exams, and the end of the year. But perhaps we could manage some evening to meet together and discuss a few things?"  When she hears about your trip to Heavefell, she suggests, "I imagine you would make a visit to The Grand Library? There are a few volumes there that are harder to find here. Oh! And I suggest the Goblin's Grotto. It's in an area of twisting alleys at the fringes of what's called the Grey District. Not the fanciest area, and the place is not finest either. But you would be amazed what is packed into the little book shop!"  With that she leaves you to get back to her work, suggesting you arrange a time that everyone might be able to meet and to let her know in the next week or so. 

Guardok learns a bit more about the new play over the week. This one looks to be a bit more serious, not having room for the more comedic part that he played so well last time.  It focuses on relationships within a family. There are about 4 different rolls that each have a focus, with the tale being told from different perspectives throughout the play. Quentillius is a bit disappointed as there is no definitive 'lead' for him to play. Though, he is convinced that once he's studied the piece there is truly one most prominent role that he will seize. 

And Guardok does have his practices with the gymnastics team a couple times throughout the week.  Zanthar is trying to plan another tournament, but nothing has been set yet. He thinks perhaps they could do something small at Strixhaven in the future though. 

(OOC - For Malvyn and Guardok, you do not immediately find anything in the library about the masks. But you can make an Investigation check, with Guidance or whatever other bonuses you might have, to try and work on researching the item. If you think a different ability might be useful in your search, I would consider it too.)  

Guardok will supply Mal with Bardic Inspiration (1d6). His own research is a bit haphazard, not being as proficient in this sort of thing as Mal.

Investigation: 5+2=7

Malvyn would gratefully accept the assistance from his friend and eagerly get to work on his research on the mysterious masks.

Investigation: 12 + Student dice: 2 + Bardic Inspiration: 5

Malvyn's research, with Guardok's assistance, does not specifically reveal anything about the mask you had recovered. The most obvious reference that you do find talks about the Masque Charm, which is actually a silver pin. According to the material you find, these items were created here at Strixhaven, and originally the magic involved actual masks.  There are a few vague notes about other items involving masks as carriers of various magical properties. You realize you don't know much about the mask other than what it looks like.  So perhaps if you had more specifics, you could focus you investigation more in the future. 

The weekend comes and goes. Malvyn disappearing with Aurora. Mae attends Larine's Water-Dancing performance.  And Guardok is left to his own devices. Mei has been rather quiet,  keeping to herself. Everyone has noticed that her general sleepiness has returned.  

After the weekend, come Monday, classes resume again along with extracurriculars, work, and tutoring as the case may be. 

(OOC - If Malvyn wants to talk to the group about his invitation, we can cover that here. But I'm also going to try to move things along a bit with everyone.)  

Guardok is disappointed they didn't find much about the mask, but his excitement that he saw an Arcaic makes up for any disappointment.

He starts the weekend catching up on the missed classes from the previous Monday, along with some exercising and a bit of training. As he is left mostly to his own devices, his thoughts are drawn back to mystery of the strange events at Strixhaven. He starts keeping an eye on people's feet, and their footprints, seeing as he is close to the ground anyway. Just in case he randomly stumbles across anyone with large shoes and a bent nail. He doesn't mention it to anyone but continues his random checks into the following week.

Malvyn too would be quite exhilarated as he realizes he and the others had most likely seen an actual Archaic, and if possible he would want to press further into the subject, curious if he could determine which archaic they had seen, imagining there couldn't be that many around. He also makes a mental note to bring his many questions to Professor Flintwind when they meet with her. And yes, Malvyn does indeed tell his floories about Professor Flintwind's invitation and urge them to come along to meet with her.

Mae unfortunately, declines, having managed to see Larine's performance (which she enjoyed quite a lot) but otherwise completely swamped by tutoring and studying for the time being. She barely sees anyone, floormate or Larine with her hard studying and tutoring, always looking exhausted by now and deeply concerned.

Guardok has no idea who Professor Flintwind is, so has no great desire to come along. He could be persuaded of course, especially if he should know and has merely forgotten.