"Well fine, I suppose I can try to keep you informed enough not to embarrass yourself," Aurora says to Malvyn. "As for Rubina, if she has any special friends as you say, she's been remarkably secretive about it.  But that's not her nature. She's always on top of her rehearsals and studying and I don't think there's anything she's hiding. Though, I was a little surprised she came to the art gala.  Not like her to go to additional events when she's focused in on what she needs to do." 

"Piero, though... no, I don't really recall him hanging out here at the Bow's End. Not sure I've much to tell you there."  As she talking though she gets an odd look on his face. "Although, is that him over there? I hadn't seen him earlier."  Malvyn cannot really see anything, as where Aurora is looking is mostly behind him. It does seem like the crowd has thinned out quite a bit by now, so it is a bit easier to spot people. 

 Guardok ends up looking up into the night sky from the ground, while Mei ends up seeing the same sky from atop Dresar Hall.  Although she does no rituals tonight, she has a faint feeling that her words are being heard.

Suddenly, Mei awakens, realizing that she had drifted asleep at some point. It has been a few hours. 

 Mae and Larine continue to talk for a time, though eventually Larine heads up to her floor. 

The purple-skinned tiefling quickly turns his head, his curious fiery red eyes scanning the tavern for Piero or whoever Aurora had seen.
Perception: 5  

(Malvyn perception: 8)

Malvyn looks and does see Piero sitting far across the tavern. You are tucked down in the overflow seating area, while he is on the opposite side, up near one of the doors leading to the patio.  It's hard to make out who else is with him, but there seem to be about 5 others at the table. "Don't just stare Mal," Aurora says. "Is that one of those keep you from embarrassing yourself things?" She laughs softly. "I think they're all getting ready to leave." 

"I wasn't staring...was I?" The purple-sklinned tiefling says quickly and quietly. "Aren't you too curious about him and who he's with? We could just get some air and say hi to Piero and his friend as they leave right, or is that awkward too?"

Aurora again laughs, "Maybe not staring. But very obviously looking." She finishes off the last tiny bit of her wine. "Yes, let's go for a walk. A fine idea Mal."  She starts to get up, looking for Malvyn to do the same. 

Feeling a bit excited, the wine and the pleasant company certainly helping with that, Malvyn smiles and takes Aurora by the hand to lead her through the thinning crowd and outside in the cool night air, finding a place to talk where they would spot anyone leaving the Bow's End tavern.

Another perception: 17

Malvyn and Aurora wander out, strolling along the path that leads past the patio of the Bow's End.  The tiefling does find a spot not far down the path to stop and talk where he can easily see the patio exit as well as the further exit from the main part of the tavern.  But about as soon as he finds a spot, he sees Piero coming out from the patio. Beside him, arm in arm, is a young woman in a Prismari uniform.  She has tanned skin similar to Piero and long dark hair.  He seems rather quiet, but the woman is chatting with several of the others besides them, a large number still wearing their Show Band uniforms. 

After a little while, Guardok makes his way back to his room, and settles in for the night.

"Hey Piero, good to see you, how are things? Haven't seen you around much but I can see you've been in good company." The purple-skinned tiefling says with a friendly smile as he steps closer, drawing Aurora with him, looking between Piero and the young woman in the Prismari uniform. "I'm so sorry, I don't believe we have met, I'm Malvyn, one of Piero's floormates, and this is Aurora." He says, offering his hand to the young woman in a handshake, unsure if the raven-haired performer needed any introductions at all with anyone at the universtity.

Aurora nods and simply says, "Hello," as she is introduced. 

Piero quickly looks over at Malvyn, speaking up first. "I have been fine. And I was just enjoying the Show Band performance and seeing some friends back to their rooms."  He steps to position himself a bit between you and the woman he is with, though he still gently has her arm in his. "Since it is getting late, we should probably be moving along." He moves to continue walking. 

Amongst the others in Piero's group, you notice one of the young women seems to have stepped forward also, as though practiced at it, so that she is right beside the woman as well. She has dark hair and tanned skin like Piero and his female companion. But you also note she seems to have leather armor beneath her dark grey cloak. 

The woman at Piero's side does not seem to make any effort to respond.  

(I'm posting just to move things along a bit. Please do jump back to cover Malvyn's interaction with Piero!) 

Everyone awakens the next morning to another week of classes. After the busy couple of weeks, it is a bit of a shift to have a relatively quiet week now.  However, as expected, the next Exam is looming.  Professor Lang confirms to everyone on Tuesday that there will be an exam at the end of the following week.  Your Magical Physiologies has been talking about Owlbears and that will be the topic of the test.  It gives you the rest of the week, the weekend, and all of next week for preparations.  And maybe just a little bit of time for other things if anyone is so inclined.  

By the time Mei had arrived in Professor Lang's class that Tuesday, she is feeling a little sleepy. She certainly could stay awake, but laying her head down for just a moment does sound awfully tempting to her.  She had been feeling more or less fine until then.  Though on reflection, she had perhaps been wearing down a bit since the weekend. Maybe before that even?  She isn't sure.  

(OOC - Feel free to post what your character is up to in this period.  Make plans for studying if you wish.  Or anything else you want to cover.  Perhaps some discussions amongst the group and possibly with Piero based on how things go with Malvyn too!  We still haven't got to the actual Studying Phase yet, so no need for figuring out the mechanics or making rolls yet. But soon!) 

Guardok falls back into his usual routine of early morning exercises, classes and never missing a meal. He takes the first week to make sure he is caught up on his work, and that he is set up for some serious study on the weekend and through the following week.

He also has some laundry he had put off until the last moment, and so gets that done.

(OOC: DM - remind me what the situation is with the investigation? It's been a long time, but I seem to remember samples were stolen? Are we waiting on anything from anyone? Do we need to chase anyone up?)

Earlier

"The plot thickens my dear. I'm starting to believe perhaps Piero or his companion is someone quite prominent, being here incognito but still needing a fairly discreet bodyguard. Or what do you think?" He asks Aurora with a small but clearly excited smile. He would then spend the rest of the evening in her pleasant company before walking her back to her dorms and the returning to Dresar hall to sleep and digest the day's events.

Now

Malvyn too keeps to his routines with heavy studying and working at the Biblioplex but he would quickly share with his floormates what he and Aurora had learned about Piero, which admittedly wasn't much, but he would also check with both Mina Lee and Grayson Wildemere if they would know anything about either Piero or his companion and what appeared to be the bodyguard. He would of course also put a good effort in with the pieces he provides the Strixhaven Star with.

(Malvyn would study with Aurora but others can join in of course :-)

Maeleve settles back into the usual routine of classes and such, hopefully performing down at the tavern a time or two, bumping into Larine a few times as well. She isn't particularly interested in the social gossip around Piero, although if brought up, she'd mention something about wishing she had had a personal bodyguard before. She'd gladly accept any invitation to study as the exam time approached, but would otherwise plan to meet with Larine a couple times when it was time to study for the final.

Mei too is back to business as usual, ready to start studying! 

Piero, the woman at his side, and the other companions continue on their way after running into Malvyn.

Once the others have moved on, Aurora speaks in a lowered voice to the tiefling. "Prominent. I thought I had heard of someone from another plane that was supposedly here on campus."  She pauses as she tries to recall. "Núria Belen Castrillón I think her name was. Daughter of some important figure in their land." 

Guardok would likely be aware of Piero returning to the room a couple hours after that, though at the time he knew nothing of the encounter.  Piero makes no mention of the event to any of the floormates unless someone brings it up to him. It almost seems like a breeze to get back into his routines without all the extra practices and rehearsals this week.  The gymnastics group does meet just for a quick workout.  And the Drama Guild has some welcome time off after the hard work that went into the play.  

Malvyn shared his encounter with PIero with the other floormates, and shared with Aurora had mentioned.  Mina Lee did not really know much, but Grayson Wildemere had a bit to say. "You say you think the one girl with her was a bodyguard? Interesting. I wonder if that means Strixhaven let her in as a favor for this woman? Or did she actually get in on her own merit, plus is a bodyguard?  Anyhow, indeed, Lady Castrillón is one of the foremost socialites on campus.  She has been pretty reclusive this year, keeping with her friends on the Primari campus."  He adds, "Indeed, had you read my column regularly you would have known she was dating some unknown fellow.  He's been seen, but there have not been too many sightings.  But now you say he lives on your floor?" 

Over the past few weeks, Malvyn had submitted a number of articles: the gymnastics event, the art gala, the play, and the Show Band performance.  A special edition had even been put out featuring his review of the play to allow for it to promote interest in the later shows. Whether it was his article, the play had indeed had very good attendance throughout.  

Larine seems to find a way to bump into Mae often throughout the week. She is very happy to study with Mae as well, though she does get a tiny bit distracted now and then.  And she does seem a little bit nervous about the exam.  After the aasimar mentions wishing she had a personal bodyguard, Larine asks her about it later when just the two of them are together. "Whatever did you need a bodyguard for?"  She seems both concerned and intrigued. 

As the week goes on, Mei finds that she's a bit more and more tired each night.  Definitely she is no longer able to go on and on without much sleep. And the dark of night seems much darker than it had.  As the weekend is close at hand, she finds herself falling asleep unexpectedly when sitting in the lounge on their floor.  And she dreams...

Walking through a small, forested area, you see the silhouette of a woman in the distance. You start to recognize the area - more feeling than an actual memory of the scene - it is the place where you 'met' Disyn.  You walk until you come to a clearing and can see the figure more clearly. She is both bright and oddly shadowed.  She clearly turns to you, and though you make at no features, you know it she is looking at you. Disyn. 

She looks worried and tries to approach you. But it seems she cannot get there. Nor can you really close the distance to her, even if you try to move towards her.  All that happens is that the brightness flares and fades, seeming to be diminished more and more each time.  Things seem to shift a bit, becoming a blur. You can actually feel the emptiness of the space - different than what you remember that night when several people had all come to this spot. 

And then you wake up, still sitting where you had been before. 

(OOC - I'll see about summarizing investigation info and posting it in the OOC thread this weekend. Hopefully I remember!) 

"Well, Piero lives on my floor, and I certainly got the impression they were a couple. He is quite reclusive though so I know next to nothing about him, I would be impressed if you managed to find out who he really is?" The purple-skinned tiefling says, hoping Grayson would be able to find out more than he and his floories had done. "Do you know where one could find out more about Lady Castrillón?" He asks with a polite smile.

Quote from Culuril >>

Larine seems to find a way to bump into Mae often throughout the week. She is very happy to study with Mae as well, though she does get a tiny bit distracted now and then.  And she does seem a little bit nervous about the exam.  After the aasimar mentions wishing she had a personal bodyguard, Larine asks her about it later when just the two of them are together. "Whatever did you need a bodyguard for?"  She seems both concerned and intrigued. 

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