The light of dawn finds Shenua somewhat better—her wounds mostly mended, though she still feels the weight of a sleepless night. She had dozed briefly before dawn, but the weariness will certainly linger through the day.

When Iromae and Vorenus wake up, she approaches them. "Are you two all right?" She rubs at her eyes as she waits for their reply. "I couldn't sleep much, so I studied these." She shows them the broken piece of manacle she carried. "Though I can't say a lot, honestly. They were designed to last only a night, meant to dampen Weave-conduits. But with the node inert, most of their power has faded."

She glances at Vorenus. "Perhaps your shard will prove more useful."

Silence lingers for a moment before she asks the question on all their minds. "What now? We still have a Masquerade to attend, and mirrorcraft clothes to find. Without Lirae it won't be easy, but perhaps we can try the shop anyway. At the very least, we should look around—see if anyone's talking about what happened yesterday."

Iromae had also awakened with the early light of day. She greets Shenua with a slight smile, clearly feeling better than the night before. "I am doing well. Just worried about what might have happened to Lirae. And wondering who those people were. Do you suppose they will be looking for us now? Are the others besides just them that know something of our presence?" 

Her eyes move to Vorenus as Shenua asks him about the shard. "Do you know anything about it?" she asks him. "I'm afraid if you guys made any attempts to work on anything last night I was too intent on sleep to even realize what you might have been doing."  She peers at him, waiting for an answer. "Do you have any idea what happened there with the node? Did you send everyone away? Or did they escape using their own powers?"  She pauses a moment, thinking that over. "Clearly those folks understood something about the arcane. Do you suppose they actually could use magic as well?" 

Finally, she considers the last question. What now? "I do think we need to be ready to go to this Masquerade. We can try to find what we need on our own."  She pauses, looking around this place. "If there are any eyes out looking for us, I'd rather not reveal this spot if we don't have to. Could we find another place to lay low while we're here?" 

Vorenus wakes up after a deep sleep, smiling at Shenua and Iromae.  He’s still holding the shard in his hand, he looks down at it and then up locking eyes with them, scratching his head.  “I’m okay, what a day yesterday.”  He looks down at the shard, concentrating on it.  He has an idea and after standing and stretching, he goes over to his backpack, opening a compartment he finds the needle.  He holds it in his left hand, in his right he has the shard.  “I was wondering, what would happen if these two get closer together….”  He brings them together to see if he can feel anything.  

He looks up at Iromae and says “I did not send everyone away, I don’t think that was me.  I became a channel for raw power, I was full of such anger toward that man in the mask and our captors, I funneled all of that energy toward them, I wanted to see them burned away in a flash of light.  It became so intense… the man in the mask must be a magic user.  They teleported everyone away at the last moment.  I feel that is what happened.”  He looks down at the shard, saying “I don’t know why the node resonated with me so much, I was connected in such a way…”  

Vorenus agrees about going to the store to get the costume they need before the masquerade - -  he reaches into his pack again and pulls out his disguise kit, saying “I’ve used this in the past, to alter my appearance, to play up my “Great Vorenus” role.  Now we need it in a totally different manner.  I feel that we need to alter our appearance.  I can do that magically as well, but I feel that we should not use magic whenever possible.  If you will allow me….”  If everyone allows, he starts to alter their features with makeup, alter their appearance as much as he can, smiling and joking as he does so, just to make them look different than they appeared to their captors in that dark room.

"Yes," Shenua says, "They used teleportation magic to escape and take Lirae with them. I cast a detection spell there just before we left. I figured that with everything that happened, a little magic wouldn't be noticed. That's how I saw the traces of conjuration from the teleportation, abjuration on these—" she points at the shattered manacles— "and evocation in the shard of the node. Magic users, all right."

The artificer looks on expectantly as Vorenus brings his needle close to the node fragment. Later, when he offers to disguise them, she arches a brow, hesitant at first, but finally nods. "Just… don't go painting a mustache on me or anything, okay?" she laughs.

"Yea, much better to disguise ourselves without magic," Iromae says quietly. She would sit very patiently to allow Vorenus to help disguise her appearance. 

The soft light through the slatted shutters brings with it the quiet hum of the waking city. Somewhere in the city, a vendor shouts the first call of the day, but the noise seems strangely far away after the chaos of the night before.

Vorenus’ idea to test the shard comes first. As he brings his silver needle close to the charred fragment, the air between them hums faintly — a low resonance, like a plucked string under the skin. A faint spark of blue-white light arcs from the shard to the needle tip, then vanishes. It’s not dangerous, but it is real. The connection confirms the shard is still alive with residual power, perhaps even compatible with the artifacts you each once held. Vorenus can feel the rhythm echoing faintly in his pulse again, but fainter now, as if the thing were dormant — waiting.

When he turns to the disguise kit, the change in tone is palpable. The tension lightens. A little laughter, a little joking — small reliefs after a harrowing night. Using your combined skills (Vorenus’ performer’s touch, Shenua’s eye for fine detail, and Iromae’s calm hand steadying the work), the three of you manage makeshift disguises good enough to turn away casual glances. A passerby might think you travelers from out of town, or perhaps tradesfolk. Only someone searching for you specifically might look twice.

Shenua’s study of the manacle fragment reinforces her earlier conclusion: it’s inert, though the faintest residue of Weave-dampening enchantment remains. It could perhaps be repurposed or reforged, but only with substantial magical tools or aid.

The question now is what next. The day stretches before you. The Masquerade is two days away, and the Veil & Vellum shop awaits — if you dare to show your faces there without Lirae’s referral.

You’ve also raised good points about security. This safehouse was chosen for convenience, not secrecy. If you intend to relocate or scout for a secondary refuge, now is the time. The city outside bustles as though nothing unusual occurred in the night … but you can’t shake the feeling that the Tribunal incident has not gone entirely unnoticed.

At this point, each of you can choose a course of action for the day:

Vorenus: Continue studying or attuning to the shard? Investigate for signs of pursuit? Scout for a new hideout?

Iromae: Seek information, pray or commune for guidance, or focus on recovery and stability?

Shenua: Work on the disguise further, research the shard/manacle, or gather rumors about last night’s disturbance?

Or something completely different?

Once the costumes are completed, Iromae says, "I suppose we should get out and try to learn something."  She sighs, "I wish we knew more about the nods, more about the magic detectors. And how are we supposed to just walk into the Veil & Vellum blind? But even if Lirae came back, how would we even trust her? We've got to figure it out on our own."  There's a pause before she says, "May as well see about costumes now. If we can't manage it ourselves, then we'll still have tomorrow to pull out some miracle. Perhaps while we're out we figure out an alternate hideout?"