Vorenus says, “I don’t care if I won’t like it. We all need to know. So that we can understand what is happening here. Please explain further, I share Iromae’s concerns. Did you… were you somehow part of how this break occurred? What were you doing, exactly?” Vorenus does not move from his chair, he leans forward, intent on hearing all of it, before they make any other plans.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Shenua lets out a long sigh and quietly rolls up the sketch she had offered Vorenus. Then she rises to her feet and starts toward Lirae. As she moves, she muses towards Iromae and Vorenus, "You do understand she's a person, not an encyclopedia, right?"
She glances toward Diego, as well, eyebrows slightly raised in a silent plea: Time to work your charm, O Bard. Can you soothe the room a bit?
Reaching Lirae's side, she gestures to the sealed scroll tube. "May I see that, please?" The tiefling is hoping it contains something — anything — more about the node in the Crown Spire.
Like the others, Shenua wants answers about Kalis. Every detail Lirae can share. She simply isn't up for putting more pressure on someone who clearly hasn't been having the best time lately.
"Well of course she's a person!" Iromae replies to Shenua. "But it rather sounds like she was spying on us when Kalis with us. Her answers are a bit unclear. And she's already led with the fact that we won't like what she's about to say." She seems a bit exasperated that Shenua's comments seem contrary to what she and Vorenus have been saying. But she does also look at Lirae sympathetically. "I'm sorry if I sound harsh. I'm sure this must be difficult for you. And you are helping us. Thank you for that."
Shenua, Diego is looking at his hands. You're pretty sure he's listening, but he may be lost in his own thoughts.
Lirae listens through the mounting questions — the tone of them shifting between confrontation, confusion, and concern. She remains still as Iromae and Vorenus speak, but there’s a subtle hardening in her jaw. When Shenua rises and gestures toward the scroll tube, Lirae offers it without resistance — her eyes never leaving the others.
Inside the tube, Shenua finds a series of layered vellum sheets — diagrams of the Crown Spire’s interior, drawn by hand in remarkable detail. There are annotations around the foundations and inner halls, with one section at the base labeled simply "Node?". It appears the internal layout of the Spire has been mostly reconstructed from memory — or perhaps observed through magical means.
When Iromae levels her accusation, Lirae responds at last — and her voice, while calm, carries a weight it hadn’t before.
“I wasn’t spying,” she says. “I was studying. There’s a difference.”
She looks directly at Iromae, then Vorenus.
“I was part of the Royal Research College. Not your Guild. I lived here. In this version of Suzail. My research involved monitoring planar fluctuation signatures. I had tracked five overlapping magical pulses for months. I believed them connected. But I didn’t understand what I was watching. Not then.”
She steps back toward the chalkboard and picks up a piece of chalk, slowly circling the outer ring of one of the looping diagrams. “You weren’t from this world,” she says quietly. “Not originally. At least, not all of you.”
She lets that hang.
“I believe this city — this world — was sealed off for a reason. I believe the thread you found was part of that seal. But something … or someone … reached through. And when you five activated the runes — whatever that really was — it broke. Not completely. Not yet. But enough for one of you to slip through.”
She draws a short line. “Kalis.”
Then another. “And now … you.”
Lirae places the chalk down. “I didn’t know what it meant at the time. I didn’t even know your names. I only knew the signatures. And when they reappeared — last week — I knew you’d arrived.”
Her voice softens. “I’ve been watching this thread fray for six years. I don’t know what caused it, or how you all forgot her, but I believe Kalis is at the center of it. And if I didn’t tell you … it’s because I wasn’t sure you were ready to hear it.”
She looks down for a moment, then adds, “I didn’t bring you here. But I think you’re the only ones who can bring her home.”
Iromae had been bracing for something awful. And yes, she still wasn't completely happy with this woman 'studying' her and her friends. But perhaps it wasn't quite as intrusive as she first thought. As Lirae winds down her comments though she is uncertain. "You still haven't told us the part we're not going to like, have you?" She no longer has any hint of animosity, she is just genuinely curious about where the conversation is at.
As she talks about Kalis and about bringing her home, she thinks that is really what she wanted too. But the woman's comment that she hadn't brought them here made her start to recall what had led them here. "It's strange," she says in a more reflective voice. "Here we are, perhaps with the chance to get Kalis back. Even though we had just re-remembered our friend Kalis, it was actually that planar stabilizer that wasn't working right that led us on the path to get here." She then turns to Lirae, "And now you speak of broken threads. These breaks must somehow correspond to the disturbances in the Weave that were causing problems there. Or is it the damage the stabilizer caused that broke the thread?"
She doesn't know. But as she thinks more it just causes more and more questions to come Iromae's mind. How exactly were those two at the Guild related to all this? Who sent the letter to them originally to bring them together in Suzail?
Finally, she comes out of her thoughts and back to the present. "Wait a moment. Lirae, did you just say, 'You weren’t from this world. Not originally. At least, not all of you.' Are you saying one of us is originally from this world?"
(OOC: Two questions, please. 1) Where is the Masquerade taking place? Is it in the Crown Spire, or somewhere else? 2) I'm a bit unclear on the timeline. The day we found the runes, as students, and lost Kalis and our memories of her, that was six years ago? From that point, our paths diverged until we received the letters and met again like two or three days ago? Is this correct?)
Shenua is grateful to have the schematics from Lirae to focus on, as it gives her a reason not to take part in the confrontation directly. She scans them, though not in depth. There will be time for that later. Still, something nags at her. She glances at Diego. Why is he so silent all of a sudden?
She studies the schematics for a few seconds more, then tunes back into what Lirae and Iromae are saying. Wait. Is it possible that one of them isn't from the same Suzail they came from? Her turquoise-over-black eyes widen. She looks back at Diego.
This can't be. Can it..?
Shenua walks up to the bard and asks softly, "Diego? Are you okay?"
She doesn't ask the question truly weighing on her mind. Not yet.
Vorenus is not as tactful as Shenua. The information they have been guessing at, curious about, seeking as hard as they could is now coming hot and heavy. He looks at Lirae, saying clearly "Who is it? Which one of us is it, Lirae, it seems that our memory of this, the memory of Kalis has been altered in our minds... other matters may have been altered as well. Such as, remembering that we were actually from here, from this timeline, this version of Suzail. So, please, can you tell us, who is it? Diego? Me? Iromae? Shenua? We may not even know." Turning, Vorenus sees Diego looking at his hands, lost in thought... "Or do we? Diego, my man? Something you want to tell us? Remember that time that you helped me out when I disguised myself as Professor Shushoff and went into the Professor's Lounge and left that rune on the main table at break, how you covered for me? We've been through it buddy, but you need to tell us if you know anything more about... this. Because frankly, my mind is blown right now, and somehow we need to pull it together if we are going to have a chance."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
OOC: I don't think you know yet where the Masquerade is being held. (I tried to search, and of course, it didn't work.) Yes, roughly six years ago you were students, found the Silent Runes, something happened, Kalis vanished and was erased from your memories. You all graduated / drifted apart. Three days ago you reunited, attuned to the box, remembered Kalis (partially), investigated the planar stabilizer, and landed here.
Lirae watches Iromae with a look that is neither hostile nor warm— just measured, as if weighing every word before she speaks. “No,” she admits, “I haven’t told you the part you won’t like yet. I wanted you to want the answer first.”
Her hand drifts toward the chalkboard again, tapping the outer ring of the thread diagram. “You’re right about the planar stabilizer. What you’ve been dealing with back home is reacting to the same fracture I’ve been tracking here. Think of it as … feedback. A seal anchored across realities starts to fray; devices tied to the Weave on either side begin to misbehave. Your stabilizer didn’t cause the break, but it made it impossible to ignore.”
Iromae nods slowly, still uncertain. "Wait a moment. Lirae, did you just say, 'You weren’t from this world. Not originally. At least, not all of you.' Are you saying one of us is originally from this world?"
Lirae’s gaze lingers on the group. “When I first tracked the pulses six years ago, four of you registered as foreign signatures. One did not. When the event happened, that native signature shifted — its resonance rebounded through the breach and stayed where the missing one should have been. I can’t prove identity from resonance alone, but if you start remembering two versions of the same event — one with the person beside you, and one with someone else — that’s the thread I’d follow.”
Iromae:
While saying this, you noticed Lirae's eyes glance toward — and perhaps linger on — Diego.
A tense silence fills the room. Shenua studies Diego, who is leaning on the table, staring at his hands. “Diego? Are you okay?” she asks softly.
“Fine,” he answers too quickly. He taps his temple. “Just … taking notes up here.” His grin is thin, and for a half-second, it falters.
Vorenus frowns, leaning forward. "Or do we? Diego, my man? Something you want to tell us? Remember that time that you helped me out when I disguised myself as Professor Shushoff and went into the Professor's Lounge and left that rune on the main table at break, how you covered for me? We've been through it buddy, but you need to tell us if you know anything more about... this. Because frankly, my mind is blown right now, and somehow we need to pull it together if we are going to have a chance."
Diego forces a chuckle. “Right, the rune-on-the-lounge-table gag. Classic. Look, we’re all rattled. Let’s just hear the rest.”
Lirae folds her arms and regards them all. “You asked if I was watching you. I was doing my job. I was with the Royal Research College then — monitoring arcane activity beneath the Academy. I didn’t know your names until later, and I never reported what I saw. That’s why I’m here now.”
When Iromae presses about divine magic, Lirae shakes her head. “Divine channeling can slip through the net, but not always. A quiet blessing? Likely ignored. A full miracle? The sensors will notice.”
“The masquerade,” Lirae continues, “is in the Crown Spire — Grand Upper Rotunda. Invitations carry sigil-lacquer seals that match an echo signature at the gates. Stealing one isn’t enough — you’d have to spoof the echo.”
She nods to the brass key Vorenus pocketed earlier. “That key bypasses the first scanning ward. It won’t get you all the way inside, but it’s a start. You’ll need disguises — mundane is better — plus a plausible cover story. I might have old routing sigils to help with the rest.”
Finally, she sets the chalk down, her gaze tightening. “And here’s the part you won’t like: Kalis helped build the very cage she’s in.”
The words land like a blow. She continues before anyone can protest. “Not by choice. She arrived here — overpowered, unstable — and the Crown convinced her that if she didn’t help contain the Weave, entire districts could collapse. She agreed, just for a time. She created containment lattices and detection arrays — your sensors — thinking it was temporary. But the Crown used her work to consolidate their grip. Now she’s the face of their magical authority, trapped between exposure and complicity.”
Lirae’s tone softens, but it doesn’t lose its weight. “She’s alive. I know that much. But she’s been walking that edge for years, and it’s killing her spirit. If we’re to free her, it must be at the masquerade or through the sub-vault route.”
She looks at the group, her eyes steady. “So — do you want to plan for the masquerade tonight, or scout the southern node first? Either way, we don’t have much time.”
The fact that Diego evades both her and Vorenus’s approaches—even as the bard shows the faintest crack in his demeanor—only confirms Shenua's suspicions. Still, she says nothing and instead she turns to look at Iromae. If Diego won't open up to herself or Vorenus, perhaps he will with the cleric. It's clear the bard feels something for the half-elf, so the tiefling imagines it is better to give them space.
Shenua offers Iromae a faint smile, then subtly shifts away from Diego's side, her attention refocusing on Lirae. "So. No stealing the invitations. Good to know — that would've been a terrible mistake,"she says, shrugging lightly to her companions. How was she supposed to know? Still, she's relieved they hadn't gone down that route after all.
"And you're right, Lirae — I don't like the sound of Kalis being trapped in her own work one bit. Knowing her, that means the defenses around her are going to be... difficult to bypass. As a student, she was nothing if not methodical." Despite her words, Shenua smiles softly, the memory of their friend momentarily warming her expression. But then she continues, "And yes — this only makes me more eager to see the Crown brought down," and this time, her voice cool. Her fury may not flare like Vorenus’s or Iromae’s, but it burns — steady, focused, and no less determined.
At Lirae's final question, the tiefling raises a clawed finger to her temple, rubbing it gently in thought. A loose strand of turquoise hair slips forward, and she absently tucks it behind a pointed ear as she speaks. "If we scouted the southern node first, we'd still have time to prepare for the masquerade, right? We still have a few days?" (ooc: Sorry, I don't remember either, and you are right, @ddp, with search being buggy, it's hard to double-check.)
She pauses, looking around at the others. "If that's the case, then I'd rather we investigate the node first. It might give us insight into how best to proceed later — or a backup option if things go wrong."
Iromae catches Shenua's look at her, though she is a bit at a loss as to why. 'What does she expect...' she wonders. 'She was asking Diego if he was ok. Then Vorenus questioned him. Was he the one that was originally from here?' She had noticed Lirae also linger on Diego when she made her odd comment about remembering two versions of the same event. 'But even if it is Deigo, why should she be the one to talk to him?'
As Lirae goes on and Shenua seems to move away from Diego, she finds herself moving over closer to him. But she keeps on listening to the conversation. Feeling that she really ought to be speaking to Diego, she continues to focus on what Lirae had said. "Can you get the routing sigils to help us? We definitely will have to come up with something else if we don't have that!" She then adds, "What do you mean by disguises? Won't we be hidden by our masks and dressed up for the ball?" She sighs as she hears about Kalis and nods in agreement with Shenua's comment about Kalis being methodical. "But she was smart. If she was behind it, she'd have tried to work in a loophole or something."
When Shenua suggests they might have a few days, she jumps in. "Didn't Lirae say the masquerade was tonight. Or did she mean we should prepare tonight? Assuming we did have time, what do you think we'd learn from the node?" She also gives the others a weak smile. "And I knew that stealing invitations was a bad idea."
As a lull develops in the discussion, she reaches over to gently touch the Diego's sleeve to get his attention. "Hey, you are being kind of quiet there. Um, taking it all in to write your next ballad?" She again gives makes an awkward weak smile - jokes were not her thing. But she really didn't know what else to say. 'If there's anyone I don't understand it's Diego!'
“As for the masquerade … It is real. The Night of the Crown, hosted each year by the palace on the last full moon of Spring. That’s three nights from now.”
"Ignore me," Shenua says with a wave of her hand. "I just remembered—the Masquerade's in three nights. The half-elf at the Raven & Thread told us that, didn't she?"
At the mention of acquiring someone else's invitation, her eyes go wide. 'I never thought of that!' she thinks. She blurts out, "Could we really do that? Take somone's invitation? What if they really had their heart set on going?"
... but continues, "Well, I threw out an idea when we had little else to go on. It sounded like a possibility back then. Fortunately, we have better options now." She pauses, tapping her chin, "In any case ... matching invitations with sigil-lacquer seals that align with a guest's echo signature? That's brilliant, I have to say. And I'd be very interested in knowing how it works exactly." She turns to Lirae. "Kalis's invention as well?"
When Shenua mentions it, Vorenus pipes up, "Yes, let us examine the southern node. I'd be curious to see what we can find there, and I'm sure we would have time. You would come with us and show us, right?" Vorenus says to Lirae. He catches the looks back and forth and starts to watch Diego out of the corner of his eye. "Right... the rune on the table gag. Did you - you don't remember it going down any other way than that, do you?" He looks up at Lirae, saying - "That's when we will know we are close, when our memories start to diverge, right?" He looks back over to Diego, preferring to say what they are all thinking at this point. "Or do they diverge, if you are from here? Diego? C'mon good buddy. Tell us if you know something, we need all the cards out on the table at this point. Right? I told you guys about my, uh, errors. Misdirections." He looks down. "Failures. So, please share, if you're holding anything back.."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The tension that had built since Lirae’s admission doesn’t immediately ease, though the questions have shifted. Iromae’s earlier suspicion lingers at the edge of her expression, even as she moves closer to Diego, instinct steering her more than certainty. She watches him sidelong as Shenua and Vorenus keep pressing Lirae for answers, trying to read the unspoken thoughts behind his silence.
Lirae notices. But she doesn’t press him. Not yet.
Shenua is the first to redirect the room, offering Iromae a faint smile before turning fully toward Lirae. “So. No stealing the invitations. Good to know — that would've been a terrible mistake,” she remarks dryly. Her tone suggests relief, not shame. “Fortunately, we didn’t actually go through with it.”
Then, more seriously: “And you’re right — I don’t like the sound of Kalis being trapped in her own work one bit. Knowing her, the defenses around her are going to ben… difficult to bypass.” Her voice softens briefly. “As a student, she was nothing if not methodical.”
“And smart,” Iromae adds. “If she had a hand in designing her prison, she’d have built in a loophole somewhere. We just have to find it.”
But it’s Vorenus who voices the central thread still unraveling in everyone’s minds. “So we keep hearing it — memories diverging, people not being who they thought they were. Lirae, that’s when it happens, isn’t it? When the false and the real start to separate?”
He looks to Diego, not with hostility, but a searching curiosity. “That rune trick, in the professor’s lounge. You helped me. Covered for me. You remember that, right? The way I remember it?”
Diego is still. Shenua watches him too, brow furrowed in concern. When he doesn't speak, she quietly slips away from his side, choosing to let Iromae close the gap instead.
The half-elf reaches out, brushing Diego’s sleeve. “Hey,” she says softly. “You’re being quiet. Taking it all in so you can write your next ballad?” Her smile is awkward, uncertain. It isn’t a joke, not really — more a lifeline tossed into murky waters.
Diego blinks as though startled, then glances at her hand. “I …” His voice falters, then steadies. “It’s a lot. I’m just — thinking.”
But even as he speaks, his eyes drift once again toward the sealed book still tucked under his arm. His fingers tighten slightly on the cover.
Lirae doesn’t interrupt the moment. She lets it pass before speaking again. “Three nights,” she confirms in response to Shenua’s earlier question. “The masquerade is in three nights, yes. That gives you time to prepare. And time to investigate the southern node, if you choose to.”
She nods toward Vorenus. “I can take you there. I’ve visited once before. Quietly. It’s not well-guarded, but it is observed. If anyone spots you, you’ll need a reason to be there.”
She glances to Iromae next. “As for routing sigils … I may be able to help with that. But I’ll need time. And a disguise — just a mask and finery won’t be enough. The sigil seals are keyed to the echo signature of your presence. That’s why stolen invitations wouldn’t work. Every invited guest is pre-encoded. The system is clever,” she adds, with a touch of pride. “Yes. It was Kalis’s idea.”
Shenua’s eyes flick with interest. “She designed that too?”
“She designed it. Back when they first started using her — back when she still built for them, if not by choice.”
A silence settles for a beat.
Then Shenua continues, thoughtful again. “If we scouted the southern node first, we'd still have time to prepare for the masquerade, right? We still have a few days.”
Iromae blinks, uncertain. “Assuming we did have time, what do you think we'd learn from the node?”
Vorenus nods. “Yes, let us examine the southern node. I'd be curious to see what we can find there, and I'm sure we would have time. You would come with us and show us, right?”
Lirae meets his gaze. “I can. I’ve been there before. Quietly. It isn’t heavily guarded, but it is watched. If anyone sees you, you’ll need a reason to be there.”
She turns to Iromae. “As for the routing sigils … I’ll try to help. But it’ll take time. And yes — you’ll need more than just masks and finery.”
As she speaks, she casts another glance toward Diego — not suspicious, not yet confronting, but watchful. Measured.
As her approach to Diego comes up completely empty, Iromae gives a sharp, questioning look at Shenua as if to say, 'Why did you have me talk to him?'
"Ok, it seems like we should check out this southern node. What do we need to do?" she asks. "Is this like the masquerade? We have to fake some echo to not be recognized as being out of place? Do we need some cover story as to why we're there? I don't even know where to start with something like that. Where exactly are we going?"
As she speaks, she still seems distracted by DIego's silence. And as she seems a little bit lost in her own thoughts, she takes several glances over at Vorenus as well.
The half-elf reaches out, brushing Diego’s sleeve. “Hey,” she says softly. “You’re being quiet. Taking it all in so you can write your next ballad?” Her smile is awkward, uncertain. It isn’t a joke, not really — more a lifeline tossed into murky waters.
Diego blinks as though startled, then glances at her hand. “I …” His voice falters, then steadies. “It’s a lot. I’m just — thinking.”
But even as he speaks, his eyes drift once again toward the sealed book still tucked under his arm. His fingers tighten slightly on the cover.
Vorenus uses that moment to reach out and touch Diego’s shoulder, looking at him in the face, reading his expression. “Hey man, I know that it’s a lot. I had trouble taking all of this in before, I’m still reeling myself. But we need you Diego, we need your thoughts and we need you to tell us what you know. Hey, let me have a look at that, what did you find here?” He gently takes the book that he has a death grip on and eases it out of his fingers, setting it on the table. He opens it and glances at what is there, periodically looking up at Diego from time to time. “Hey, uh, Diego. Are you from this timeline, my man? Do you remember? Can you tell us.. what you know?” Vorenus is tired of batting this around, they need to know, and he feels that asking him directly is the best approach.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Shenua can only reply to Iromae's questioning look with an apologetic shrug. She's just as dumbfounded as the cleric is when the bard doesn't respond to her questions either.
The tiefling is clearly concerned—and a bit disappointed—that the most open, most talkative of them all is choosing to remain silent. But since Vorenus has made his move to press further, she doesn't again—at least, not directly. Instead, she glances at the book when Vorenus picks it up, recognizing it as the one Iromae had examined earlier.
Iromae lifts the cover of one of the newer books. It opens without resistance — but the first few pages are blank. Only as she turns further does a single line of faint, silvery script appear, almost like thread sewn into parchment. But it's unintelligible. Not because it's a foreign language, but because the letters blur slightly when stared at too long, like a trick of the eye — or magic meant to protect its message.
“That volume is an older work. Protected more thoroughly — and not by me. That’s her warding. Your presence must have stirred the newer ones free, but that one’s still locked. If you can’t read it, it means the ward doesn’t recognize you.”
Iromae hadn't been able to read it. Lirae had said that meant the ward hadn't recognized her. Maybe Diego had managed to? What about Vorenus? And what about her? Curious, she walks up to the two men, peeks at the page Vorenus is reading, and tests whether she can read it herself. Then she asks Vorenus, "Can you read it?" Finally, she turns to Diego. "What about you? Were you able to make anything out? If so… could you share what it said?"
Regarding the masquerade and the southern node, the artificer says, "Okay, so we need costumes—not just the masks and clothes we bought. Lirae, where can we get those? I don't recall if the Raven & Thread sold costumes. Would that shop be okay or would we need to go somewhere else?"
"And about having a reason to access the southern node—what if we come up with something that isn't entirely true, but close to it? Like... we could say we're enthusiasts of Suzail's magnificent security systems, and that we want to study how they work to ensure only the Crown can access magic. ‘Blessed be the Crown!’ and all that,"she says sarcastically "We could even say we're from your former college, Lirae—the Royal Research College. Would something like that work, or is it too weak a reason?"
Lirae watches as Diego remains quiet, even after Iromae and Vorenus each try to draw him out. When Vorenus gently eases the sealed book from Diego’s hands and opens it, she shifts slightly — not to stop him, but to observe what happens next.
The moment the cover is lifted, the same silvery script shimmers faintly into view. It still warps slightly at the edges of the eye, as though resisting focus, but it’s no longer fully sealed. Something seems to have eased the warding. Not broken it, not fully — but shifted it.
Vorenus squints at the text. The letters blur for a moment … then begin to resolve. Slowly. Line by line. He can read it — haltingly, but enough.
Shenua approaches and glances over his shoulder. The text blurs again. Her vision swims, almost like trying to read underwater. She cannot make it out.
When she asks Diego if he had been able to read it earlier, he doesn't respond at first. But then, quietly, he says, “Only a few words. It didn’t stay long.”
He doesn’t elaborate further.
Lirae, still seated, turns to Iromae’s question about the southern node.
“It’s housed in the lower levels beneath the Old Tribunal Hall,” she explains. “That structure was once the central court of the realm, before the Crown consolidated its authority and moved operations to the Spire. Now it serves mostly as storage and bureaucratic overflow. But the node chamber — part of the old magical oversight system — remains buried below. They use it now as one of the anchor points for the sensors.”
She glances to Shenua and nods at her suggestion. “That cover might work. Pretending to be affiliated with the Royal Research College — especially if you pose as loyalist researchers studying anti-magical containment methods — could provide a good pretext. The catch is the timing.”
She holds up two fingers. “There are two windows of opportunity. The first is tonight. The hall is scheduled for light maintenance and will be largely empty, though a few staff may linger. You’d have to be careful, quick, and quiet — but there’d be less chance of running into guards.”
She lowers one finger. “The second is the day after tomorrow. Official inspectors from the Crown are scheduled to audit the node. If you slip in during that window, under the guise of adjunct scholars, you might be able to blend in more easily — but you’ll be surrounded by people who actually know what they’re doing. And any misstep will be harder to explain.”
She looks to each of you in turn. “It’s your choice. Quiet and risky tonight, or public and riskier later.”
Then, to Shenua’s question: “The Raven & Thread could suffice for costuming, yes. But if you want higher-tier disguises — something to pass scrutiny at the masquerade — you’ll want the tailor at Veil & Vellum. It’s more expensive, more exclusive, but they specialize in magical concealment work. I can get you a referral.”
Lirae’s gaze flicks back toward Diego as she says this, but she doesn't linger.
Finally, she rests her hands on the table, voice quieter now. “And yes … I believe Kalis left a loophole. Somewhere. She was too careful not to. But it won’t be obvious. She’s still in there — her mind, her defenses, her warnings. If we find a way in, we’ll have to do more than reach her …”
She hesitates, searching for the words.
“We’ll have to remind her who she really is.”
"Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll escort you to the Tribunal. Or help you prepare something more elaborate. Your path is your own.”
Her expression is calm — but behind it is something resolute.
Iromae steps away from Diego and Vorenus, coming over closer to Shenua. "Are we all going to find that none of us are who we used to think we were?" she murmurs, again looking at the two men for a moment. With a sigh she tries to focus back on what they are doing.
"Going tonight sounds best. We can tackle that and then higher-tier disguises tomorrow," she says firmly. "I guess tomorrow we get things for the Masquerade. I never picked up a mask or a dress at Ravel & Thread. I had thought we were going to the Feathered Silence as suggested, but you ended up leaving with dress and mask before I knew it." She looks slight embarrassed at the situation but turns to Lirae. "Veil & Vellum will have all that we need?" she asks. "And, how is there a shop that specializes in magical concealment? Do you mean it helps make magic practitioners harder to detect in the first place? Or helps conceal the use of magic while you wear it? Or... what exactly?"
“Just a few words, eh? Let me see…”. Vorenus is excited that he was able to see the letters. He continues to look at the book, trying to uncover what is hidden and see the rest of the writing in the book. He expends at least 10 min or so trying to flip through and read as much as he can.
He hears the questions asked of Lirae, he looks up and says “I agree with Iromae, we go tonight, that sounds better to me than waiting until tomorrow. Perhaps we should each get our - instruments - and be able to wear them if there is clothing that can hide the magical nature of things… that will be important.” He waits to hear the response to Iromae’s questions.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Vorenus says, “I don’t care if I won’t like it. We all need to know. So that we can understand what is happening here. Please explain further, I share Iromae’s concerns. Did you… were you somehow part of how this break occurred? What were you doing, exactly?” Vorenus does not move from his chair, he leans forward, intent on hearing all of it, before they make any other plans.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Shenua lets out a long sigh and quietly rolls up the sketch she had offered Vorenus. Then she rises to her feet and starts toward Lirae. As she moves, she muses towards Iromae and Vorenus, "You do understand she's a person, not an encyclopedia, right?"
She glances toward Diego, as well, eyebrows slightly raised in a silent plea: Time to work your charm, O Bard. Can you soothe the room a bit?
Reaching Lirae's side, she gestures to the sealed scroll tube. "May I see that, please?" The tiefling is hoping it contains something — anything — more about the node in the Crown Spire.
Like the others, Shenua wants answers about Kalis. Every detail Lirae can share. She simply isn't up for putting more pressure on someone who clearly hasn't been having the best time lately.
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
"Well of course she's a person!" Iromae replies to Shenua. "But it rather sounds like she was spying on us when Kalis with us. Her answers are a bit unclear. And she's already led with the fact that we won't like what she's about to say." She seems a bit exasperated that Shenua's comments seem contrary to what she and Vorenus have been saying. But she does also look at Lirae sympathetically. "I'm sorry if I sound harsh. I'm sure this must be difficult for you. And you are helping us. Thank you for that."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Shenua, Diego is looking at his hands. You're pretty sure he's listening, but he may be lost in his own thoughts.
Lirae listens through the mounting questions — the tone of them shifting between confrontation, confusion, and concern. She remains still as Iromae and Vorenus speak, but there’s a subtle hardening in her jaw. When Shenua rises and gestures toward the scroll tube, Lirae offers it without resistance — her eyes never leaving the others.
Inside the tube, Shenua finds a series of layered vellum sheets — diagrams of the Crown Spire’s interior, drawn by hand in remarkable detail. There are annotations around the foundations and inner halls, with one section at the base labeled simply "Node?". It appears the internal layout of the Spire has been mostly reconstructed from memory — or perhaps observed through magical means.
When Iromae levels her accusation, Lirae responds at last — and her voice, while calm, carries a weight it hadn’t before.
“I wasn’t spying,” she says. “I was studying. There’s a difference.”
She looks directly at Iromae, then Vorenus.
“I was part of the Royal Research College. Not your Guild. I lived here. In this version of Suzail. My research involved monitoring planar fluctuation signatures. I had tracked five overlapping magical pulses for months. I believed them connected. But I didn’t understand what I was watching. Not then.”
She steps back toward the chalkboard and picks up a piece of chalk, slowly circling the outer ring of one of the looping diagrams. “You weren’t from this world,” she says quietly. “Not originally. At least, not all of you.”
She lets that hang.
“I believe this city — this world — was sealed off for a reason. I believe the thread you found was part of that seal. But something … or someone … reached through. And when you five activated the runes — whatever that really was — it broke. Not completely. Not yet. But enough for one of you to slip through.”
She draws a short line. “Kalis.”
Then another. “And now … you.”
Lirae places the chalk down. “I didn’t know what it meant at the time. I didn’t even know your names. I only knew the signatures. And when they reappeared — last week — I knew you’d arrived.”
Her voice softens. “I’ve been watching this thread fray for six years. I don’t know what caused it, or how you all forgot her, but I believe Kalis is at the center of it. And if I didn’t tell you … it’s because I wasn’t sure you were ready to hear it.”
She looks down for a moment, then adds, “I didn’t bring you here. But I think you’re the only ones who can bring her home.”
Iromae had been bracing for something awful. And yes, she still wasn't completely happy with this woman 'studying' her and her friends. But perhaps it wasn't quite as intrusive as she first thought. As Lirae winds down her comments though she is uncertain. "You still haven't told us the part we're not going to like, have you?" She no longer has any hint of animosity, she is just genuinely curious about where the conversation is at.
As she talks about Kalis and about bringing her home, she thinks that is really what she wanted too. But the woman's comment that she hadn't brought them here made her start to recall what had led them here. "It's strange," she says in a more reflective voice. "Here we are, perhaps with the chance to get Kalis back. Even though we had just re-remembered our friend Kalis, it was actually that planar stabilizer that wasn't working right that led us on the path to get here." She then turns to Lirae, "And now you speak of broken threads. These breaks must somehow correspond to the disturbances in the Weave that were causing problems there. Or is it the damage the stabilizer caused that broke the thread?"
She doesn't know. But as she thinks more it just causes more and more questions to come Iromae's mind. How exactly were those two at the Guild related to all this? Who sent the letter to them originally to bring them together in Suzail?
Finally, she comes out of her thoughts and back to the present. "Wait a moment. Lirae, did you just say, 'You weren’t from this world. Not originally. At least, not all of you.' Are you saying one of us is originally from this world?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
(OOC: Two questions, please. 1) Where is the Masquerade taking place? Is it in the Crown Spire, or somewhere else? 2) I'm a bit unclear on the timeline. The day we found the runes, as students, and lost Kalis and our memories of her, that was six years ago? From that point, our paths diverged until we received the letters and met again like two or three days ago? Is this correct?)
Shenua is grateful to have the schematics from Lirae to focus on, as it gives her a reason not to take part in the confrontation directly. She scans them, though not in depth. There will be time for that later. Still, something nags at her. She glances at Diego. Why is he so silent all of a sudden?
She studies the schematics for a few seconds more, then tunes back into what Lirae and Iromae are saying. Wait. Is it possible that one of them isn't from the same Suzail they came from? Her turquoise-over-black eyes widen. She looks back at Diego.
This can't be. Can it..?
Shenua walks up to the bard and asks softly, "Diego? Are you okay?"
She doesn't ask the question truly weighing on her mind. Not yet.
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Vorenus is not as tactful as Shenua. The information they have been guessing at, curious about, seeking as hard as they could is now coming hot and heavy. He looks at Lirae, saying clearly "Who is it? Which one of us is it, Lirae, it seems that our memory of this, the memory of Kalis has been altered in our minds... other matters may have been altered as well. Such as, remembering that we were actually from here, from this timeline, this version of Suzail. So, please, can you tell us, who is it? Diego? Me? Iromae? Shenua? We may not even know." Turning, Vorenus sees Diego looking at his hands, lost in thought... "Or do we? Diego, my man? Something you want to tell us? Remember that time that you helped me out when I disguised myself as Professor Shushoff and went into the Professor's Lounge and left that rune on the main table at break, how you covered for me? We've been through it buddy, but you need to tell us if you know anything more about... this. Because frankly, my mind is blown right now, and somehow we need to pull it together if we are going to have a chance."
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
OOC: I don't think you know yet where the Masquerade is being held. (I tried to search, and of course, it didn't work.) Yes, roughly six years ago you were students, found the Silent Runes, something happened, Kalis vanished and was erased from your memories. You all graduated / drifted apart. Three days ago you reunited, attuned to the box, remembered Kalis (partially), investigated the planar stabilizer, and landed here.
Lirae watches Iromae with a look that is neither hostile nor warm— just measured, as if weighing every word before she speaks. “No,” she admits, “I haven’t told you the part you won’t like yet. I wanted you to want the answer first.”
Her hand drifts toward the chalkboard again, tapping the outer ring of the thread diagram. “You’re right about the planar stabilizer. What you’ve been dealing with back home is reacting to the same fracture I’ve been tracking here. Think of it as … feedback. A seal anchored across realities starts to fray; devices tied to the Weave on either side begin to misbehave. Your stabilizer didn’t cause the break, but it made it impossible to ignore.”
Iromae nods slowly, still uncertain. "Wait a moment. Lirae, did you just say, 'You weren’t from this world. Not originally. At least, not all of you.' Are you saying one of us is originally from this world?"
Lirae’s gaze lingers on the group. “When I first tracked the pulses six years ago, four of you registered as foreign signatures. One did not. When the event happened, that native signature shifted — its resonance rebounded through the breach and stayed where the missing one should have been. I can’t prove identity from resonance alone, but if you start remembering two versions of the same event — one with the person beside you, and one with someone else — that’s the thread I’d follow.”
Iromae:
While saying this, you noticed Lirae's eyes glance toward — and perhaps linger on — Diego.
A tense silence fills the room. Shenua studies Diego, who is leaning on the table, staring at his hands. “Diego? Are you okay?” she asks softly.
“Fine,” he answers too quickly. He taps his temple. “Just … taking notes up here.” His grin is thin, and for a half-second, it falters.
Vorenus frowns, leaning forward. "Or do we? Diego, my man? Something you want to tell us? Remember that time that you helped me out when I disguised myself as Professor Shushoff and went into the Professor's Lounge and left that rune on the main table at break, how you covered for me? We've been through it buddy, but you need to tell us if you know anything more about... this. Because frankly, my mind is blown right now, and somehow we need to pull it together if we are going to have a chance."
Diego forces a chuckle. “Right, the rune-on-the-lounge-table gag. Classic. Look, we’re all rattled. Let’s just hear the rest.”
Lirae folds her arms and regards them all. “You asked if I was watching you. I was doing my job. I was with the Royal Research College then — monitoring arcane activity beneath the Academy. I didn’t know your names until later, and I never reported what I saw. That’s why I’m here now.”
When Iromae presses about divine magic, Lirae shakes her head. “Divine channeling can slip through the net, but not always. A quiet blessing? Likely ignored. A full miracle? The sensors will notice.”
“The masquerade,” Lirae continues, “is in the Crown Spire — Grand Upper Rotunda. Invitations carry sigil-lacquer seals that match an echo signature at the gates. Stealing one isn’t enough — you’d have to spoof the echo.”
She nods to the brass key Vorenus pocketed earlier. “That key bypasses the first scanning ward. It won’t get you all the way inside, but it’s a start. You’ll need disguises — mundane is better — plus a plausible cover story. I might have old routing sigils to help with the rest.”
Finally, she sets the chalk down, her gaze tightening. “And here’s the part you won’t like: Kalis helped build the very cage she’s in.”
The words land like a blow. She continues before anyone can protest. “Not by choice. She arrived here — overpowered, unstable — and the Crown convinced her that if she didn’t help contain the Weave, entire districts could collapse. She agreed, just for a time. She created containment lattices and detection arrays — your sensors — thinking it was temporary. But the Crown used her work to consolidate their grip. Now she’s the face of their magical authority, trapped between exposure and complicity.”
Lirae’s tone softens, but it doesn’t lose its weight. “She’s alive. I know that much. But she’s been walking that edge for years, and it’s killing her spirit. If we’re to free her, it must be at the masquerade or through the sub-vault route.”
She looks at the group, her eyes steady. “So — do you want to plan for the masquerade tonight, or scout the southern node first? Either way, we don’t have much time.”
The fact that Diego evades both her and Vorenus’s approaches—even as the bard shows the faintest crack in his demeanor—only confirms Shenua's suspicions. Still, she says nothing and instead she turns to look at Iromae. If Diego won't open up to herself or Vorenus, perhaps he will with the cleric. It's clear the bard feels something for the half-elf, so the tiefling imagines it is better to give them space.
Shenua offers Iromae a faint smile, then subtly shifts away from Diego's side, her attention refocusing on Lirae. "So. No stealing the invitations. Good to know — that would've been a terrible mistake," she says, shrugging lightly to her companions. How was she supposed to know? Still, she's relieved they hadn't gone down that route after all.
"And you're right, Lirae — I don't like the sound of Kalis being trapped in her own work one bit. Knowing her, that means the defenses around her are going to be... difficult to bypass. As a student, she was nothing if not methodical." Despite her words, Shenua smiles softly, the memory of their friend momentarily warming her expression. But then she continues, "And yes — this only makes me more eager to see the Crown brought down," and this time, her voice cool. Her fury may not flare like Vorenus’s or Iromae’s, but it burns — steady, focused, and no less determined.
At Lirae's final question, the tiefling raises a clawed finger to her temple, rubbing it gently in thought. A loose strand of turquoise hair slips forward, and she absently tucks it behind a pointed ear as she speaks. "If we scouted the southern node first, we'd still have time to prepare for the masquerade, right? We still have a few days?" (ooc: Sorry, I don't remember either, and you are right, @ddp, with search being buggy, it's hard to double-check.)
She pauses, looking around at the others. "If that's the case, then I'd rather we investigate the node first. It might give us insight into how best to proceed later — or a backup option if things go wrong."
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Iromae catches Shenua's look at her, though she is a bit at a loss as to why. 'What does she expect...' she wonders. 'She was asking Diego if he was ok. Then Vorenus questioned him. Was he the one that was originally from here?' She had noticed Lirae also linger on Diego when she made her odd comment about remembering two versions of the same event. 'But even if it is Deigo, why should she be the one to talk to him?'
As Lirae goes on and Shenua seems to move away from Diego, she finds herself moving over closer to him. But she keeps on listening to the conversation. Feeling that she really ought to be speaking to Diego, she continues to focus on what Lirae had said. "Can you get the routing sigils to help us? We definitely will have to come up with something else if we don't have that!" She then adds, "What do you mean by disguises? Won't we be hidden by our masks and dressed up for the ball?" She sighs as she hears about Kalis and nods in agreement with Shenua's comment about Kalis being methodical. "But she was smart. If she was behind it, she'd have tried to work in a loophole or something."
When Shenua suggests they might have a few days, she jumps in. "Didn't Lirae say the masquerade was tonight. Or did she mean we should prepare tonight? Assuming we did have time, what do you think we'd learn from the node?" She also gives the others a weak smile. "And I knew that stealing invitations was a bad idea."
As a lull develops in the discussion, she reaches over to gently touch the Diego's sleeve to get his attention. "Hey, you are being kind of quiet there. Um, taking it all in to write your next ballad?" She again gives makes an awkward weak smile - jokes were not her thing. But she really didn't know what else to say. 'If there's anyone I don't understand it's Diego!'
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
"Ignore me," Shenua says with a wave of her hand. "I just remembered—the Masquerade's in three nights. The half-elf at the Raven & Thread told us that, didn't she?"
At this, the artificer arches a brow....
... but continues, "Well, I threw out an idea when we had little else to go on. It sounded like a possibility back then. Fortunately, we have better options now." She pauses, tapping her chin, "In any case ... matching invitations with sigil-lacquer seals that align with a guest's echo signature? That's brilliant, I have to say. And I'd be very interested in knowing how it works exactly." She turns to Lirae. "Kalis's invention as well?"
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
When Shenua mentions it, Vorenus pipes up, "Yes, let us examine the southern node. I'd be curious to see what we can find there, and I'm sure we would have time. You would come with us and show us, right?" Vorenus says to Lirae. He catches the looks back and forth and starts to watch Diego out of the corner of his eye. "Right... the rune on the table gag. Did you - you don't remember it going down any other way than that, do you?" He looks up at Lirae, saying - "That's when we will know we are close, when our memories start to diverge, right?" He looks back over to Diego, preferring to say what they are all thinking at this point. "Or do they diverge, if you are from here? Diego? C'mon good buddy. Tell us if you know something, we need all the cards out on the table at this point. Right? I told you guys about my, uh, errors. Misdirections." He looks down. "Failures. So, please share, if you're holding anything back.."
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The tension that had built since Lirae’s admission doesn’t immediately ease, though the questions have shifted. Iromae’s earlier suspicion lingers at the edge of her expression, even as she moves closer to Diego, instinct steering her more than certainty. She watches him sidelong as Shenua and Vorenus keep pressing Lirae for answers, trying to read the unspoken thoughts behind his silence.
Lirae notices. But she doesn’t press him. Not yet.
Shenua is the first to redirect the room, offering Iromae a faint smile before turning fully toward Lirae. “So. No stealing the invitations. Good to know — that would've been a terrible mistake,” she remarks dryly. Her tone suggests relief, not shame. “Fortunately, we didn’t actually go through with it.”
Then, more seriously: “And you’re right — I don’t like the sound of Kalis being trapped in her own work one bit. Knowing her, the defenses around her are going to ben… difficult to bypass.” Her voice softens briefly. “As a student, she was nothing if not methodical.”
“And smart,” Iromae adds. “If she had a hand in designing her prison, she’d have built in a loophole somewhere. We just have to find it.”
But it’s Vorenus who voices the central thread still unraveling in everyone’s minds. “So we keep hearing it — memories diverging, people not being who they thought they were. Lirae, that’s when it happens, isn’t it? When the false and the real start to separate?”
He looks to Diego, not with hostility, but a searching curiosity. “That rune trick, in the professor’s lounge. You helped me. Covered for me. You remember that, right? The way I remember it?”
Diego is still. Shenua watches him too, brow furrowed in concern. When he doesn't speak, she quietly slips away from his side, choosing to let Iromae close the gap instead.
The half-elf reaches out, brushing Diego’s sleeve. “Hey,” she says softly. “You’re being quiet. Taking it all in so you can write your next ballad?” Her smile is awkward, uncertain. It isn’t a joke, not really — more a lifeline tossed into murky waters.
Diego blinks as though startled, then glances at her hand. “I …” His voice falters, then steadies. “It’s a lot. I’m just — thinking.”
But even as he speaks, his eyes drift once again toward the sealed book still tucked under his arm. His fingers tighten slightly on the cover.
Lirae doesn’t interrupt the moment. She lets it pass before speaking again. “Three nights,” she confirms in response to Shenua’s earlier question. “The masquerade is in three nights, yes. That gives you time to prepare. And time to investigate the southern node, if you choose to.”
She nods toward Vorenus. “I can take you there. I’ve visited once before. Quietly. It’s not well-guarded, but it is observed. If anyone spots you, you’ll need a reason to be there.”
She glances to Iromae next. “As for routing sigils … I may be able to help with that. But I’ll need time. And a disguise — just a mask and finery won’t be enough. The sigil seals are keyed to the echo signature of your presence. That’s why stolen invitations wouldn’t work. Every invited guest is pre-encoded. The system is clever,” she adds, with a touch of pride. “Yes. It was Kalis’s idea.”
Shenua’s eyes flick with interest. “She designed that too?”
“She designed it. Back when they first started using her — back when she still built for them, if not by choice.”
A silence settles for a beat.
Then Shenua continues, thoughtful again. “If we scouted the southern node first, we'd still have time to prepare for the masquerade, right? We still have a few days.”
Iromae blinks, uncertain. “Assuming we did have time, what do you think we'd learn from the node?”
Vorenus nods. “Yes, let us examine the southern node. I'd be curious to see what we can find there, and I'm sure we would have time. You would come with us and show us, right?”
Lirae meets his gaze. “I can. I’ve been there before. Quietly. It isn’t heavily guarded, but it is watched. If anyone sees you, you’ll need a reason to be there.”
She turns to Iromae. “As for the routing sigils … I’ll try to help. But it’ll take time. And yes — you’ll need more than just masks and finery.”
As she speaks, she casts another glance toward Diego — not suspicious, not yet confronting, but watchful. Measured.
She doesn’t press him.
But it’s clear she knows something.
And she’s waiting.
As her approach to Diego comes up completely empty, Iromae gives a sharp, questioning look at Shenua as if to say, 'Why did you have me talk to him?'
"Ok, it seems like we should check out this southern node. What do we need to do?" she asks. "Is this like the masquerade? We have to fake some echo to not be recognized as being out of place? Do we need some cover story as to why we're there? I don't even know where to start with something like that. Where exactly are we going?"
As she speaks, she still seems distracted by DIego's silence. And as she seems a little bit lost in her own thoughts, she takes several glances over at Vorenus as well.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Vorenus uses that moment to reach out and touch Diego’s shoulder, looking at him in the face, reading his expression. “Hey man, I know that it’s a lot. I had trouble taking all of this in before, I’m still reeling myself. But we need you Diego, we need your thoughts and we need you to tell us what you know. Hey, let me have a look at that, what did you find here?” He gently takes the book that he has a death grip on and eases it out of his fingers, setting it on the table. He opens it and glances at what is there, periodically looking up at Diego from time to time. “Hey, uh, Diego. Are you from this timeline, my man? Do you remember? Can you tell us.. what you know?” Vorenus is tired of batting this around, they need to know, and he feels that asking him directly is the best approach.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Shenua can only reply to Iromae's questioning look with an apologetic shrug. She's just as dumbfounded as the cleric is when the bard doesn't respond to her questions either.
The tiefling is clearly concerned—and a bit disappointed—that the most open, most talkative of them all is choosing to remain silent. But since Vorenus has made his move to press further, she doesn't again—at least, not directly. Instead, she glances at the book when Vorenus picks it up, recognizing it as the one Iromae had examined earlier.
Iromae hadn't been able to read it. Lirae had said that meant the ward hadn't recognized her. Maybe Diego had managed to? What about Vorenus? And what about her? Curious, she walks up to the two men, peeks at the page Vorenus is reading, and tests whether she can read it herself. Then she asks Vorenus, "Can you read it?" Finally, she turns to Diego. "What about you? Were you able to make anything out? If so… could you share what it said?"
Regarding the masquerade and the southern node, the artificer says, "Okay, so we need costumes—not just the masks and clothes we bought. Lirae, where can we get those? I don't recall if the Raven & Thread sold costumes. Would that shop be okay or would we need to go somewhere else?"
"And about having a reason to access the southern node—what if we come up with something that isn't entirely true, but close to it? Like... we could say we're enthusiasts of Suzail's magnificent security systems, and that we want to study how they work to ensure only the Crown can access magic. ‘Blessed be the Crown!’ and all that," she says sarcastically "We could even say we're from your former college, Lirae—the Royal Research College. Would something like that work, or is it too weak a reason?"
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Lirae watches as Diego remains quiet, even after Iromae and Vorenus each try to draw him out. When Vorenus gently eases the sealed book from Diego’s hands and opens it, she shifts slightly — not to stop him, but to observe what happens next.
The moment the cover is lifted, the same silvery script shimmers faintly into view. It still warps slightly at the edges of the eye, as though resisting focus, but it’s no longer fully sealed. Something seems to have eased the warding. Not broken it, not fully — but shifted it.
Vorenus squints at the text. The letters blur for a moment … then begin to resolve. Slowly. Line by line. He can read it — haltingly, but enough.
Shenua approaches and glances over his shoulder. The text blurs again. Her vision swims, almost like trying to read underwater. She cannot make it out.
When she asks Diego if he had been able to read it earlier, he doesn't respond at first. But then, quietly, he says, “Only a few words. It didn’t stay long.”
He doesn’t elaborate further.
Lirae, still seated, turns to Iromae’s question about the southern node.
“It’s housed in the lower levels beneath the Old Tribunal Hall,” she explains. “That structure was once the central court of the realm, before the Crown consolidated its authority and moved operations to the Spire. Now it serves mostly as storage and bureaucratic overflow. But the node chamber — part of the old magical oversight system — remains buried below. They use it now as one of the anchor points for the sensors.”
She glances to Shenua and nods at her suggestion. “That cover might work. Pretending to be affiliated with the Royal Research College — especially if you pose as loyalist researchers studying anti-magical containment methods — could provide a good pretext. The catch is the timing.”
She holds up two fingers. “There are two windows of opportunity. The first is tonight. The hall is scheduled for light maintenance and will be largely empty, though a few staff may linger. You’d have to be careful, quick, and quiet — but there’d be less chance of running into guards.”
She lowers one finger. “The second is the day after tomorrow. Official inspectors from the Crown are scheduled to audit the node. If you slip in during that window, under the guise of adjunct scholars, you might be able to blend in more easily — but you’ll be surrounded by people who actually know what they’re doing. And any misstep will be harder to explain.”
She looks to each of you in turn. “It’s your choice. Quiet and risky tonight, or public and riskier later.”
Then, to Shenua’s question: “The Raven & Thread could suffice for costuming, yes. But if you want higher-tier disguises — something to pass scrutiny at the masquerade — you’ll want the tailor at Veil & Vellum. It’s more expensive, more exclusive, but they specialize in magical concealment work. I can get you a referral.”
Lirae’s gaze flicks back toward Diego as she says this, but she doesn't linger.
Finally, she rests her hands on the table, voice quieter now. “And yes … I believe Kalis left a loophole. Somewhere. She was too careful not to. But it won’t be obvious. She’s still in there — her mind, her defenses, her warnings. If we find a way in, we’ll have to do more than reach her …”
She hesitates, searching for the words.
“We’ll have to remind her who she really is.”
"Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll escort you to the Tribunal. Or help you prepare something more elaborate. Your path is your own.”
Her expression is calm — but behind it is something resolute.
Iromae steps away from Diego and Vorenus, coming over closer to Shenua. "Are we all going to find that none of us are who we used to think we were?" she murmurs, again looking at the two men for a moment. With a sigh she tries to focus back on what they are doing.
"Going tonight sounds best. We can tackle that and then higher-tier disguises tomorrow," she says firmly. "I guess tomorrow we get things for the Masquerade. I never picked up a mask or a dress at Ravel & Thread. I had thought we were going to the Feathered Silence as suggested, but you ended up leaving with dress and mask before I knew it." She looks slight embarrassed at the situation but turns to Lirae. "Veil & Vellum will have all that we need?" she asks. "And, how is there a shop that specializes in magical concealment? Do you mean it helps make magic practitioners harder to detect in the first place? Or helps conceal the use of magic while you wear it? Or... what exactly?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
“Just a few words, eh? Let me see…”. Vorenus is excited that he was able to see the letters. He continues to look at the book, trying to uncover what is hidden and see the rest of the writing in the book. He expends at least 10 min or so trying to flip through and read as much as he can.
He hears the questions asked of Lirae, he looks up and says “I agree with Iromae, we go tonight, that sounds better to me than waiting until tomorrow. Perhaps we should each get our - instruments - and be able to wear them if there is clothing that can hide the magical nature of things… that will be important.” He waits to hear the response to Iromae’s questions.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.