Vorenus takes it all in, this is apparently more complex than a simple saboteur.  He says quickly and without interruption to the flow, "Has anyone seen Grathna?  We should let her know.  Hope she isn't off at the bar having a drink!  Grathna!  Do any of you know where she is?"  Vorenus keeps a held ray of frost and glares menacingly at the two would be saboteurs, waiting for more information to come spilling out.

Diego looks to the man, Just how can the stabilizer be used to help the weave?

Iromae studies the man’s face and gets the sense that he has the hardened look of someone who has spent years navigating difficult decisions. There’s something vaguely familiar about him, but it’s elusive — like a face seen in passing, a name heard once and forgotten.

Shenua now recognizes the woman — not by name, but as someone who has attended Guild discussions before as an outsider. The woman carries herself like someone accustomed to being underestimated, but there's an intensity in her eyes that suggests she has her own agenda.

The man exhales slowly, glancing toward the woman beside him before returning his gaze to Iromae and Shenua. His expression is worn — fatigue, worry, or something deeper lurking behind his weathered features.

"You deserve answers," he says at last, his voice low but steady. "But you have to understand — we aren’t your enemies. The stabilizer is broken, yes, but it wasn’t sabotage. At least, not in the way you think." His scarred brow furrows. "It was failing on its own. The Weave is fraying in this region, and the stabilizer was making it worse. We had to intervene before it collapsed entirely."

The woman at his side finally speaks up, her voice edged with tension. "Do you really think the Guild has all the answers? This city — this plane — is connected to forces beyond your control. The stabilizer wasn’t just keeping things in balance. It was interfering with something older, something deeper. If we'd let it continue, the damage would have been irreversible."

The man raises a hand, as if calming the tension. "We didn’t do this lightly. But now, the situation is worse than we thought. Your missing friend? If they were caught in the collapse of the stabilizer’s field, they may not be in this plane anymore."

He looks to Diego, weighing his words carefully. "We had a theory — the stabilizer could be repurposed, not just to mend rifts, but to weave new ones. But now it’s unstable, and if we don’t act fast, it won’t just be a missing friend we’re dealing with."

He scans the group, then finally settles his gaze on Vorenus. "If you want to help, we need to find Grathna. She may have the last piece of the puzzle. If the stabilizer can still be salvaged, she might be the only one who knows how."

Then, quieter, he adds, "Before the ones truly responsible decide to silence us all."

Shenua exhales and lowers her eldritch cannon. She doesn't stow it away, but for now, she's not aiming it at either the man or the woman.

"Why not approach the Guild to explain what was happening, instead of intervening behind our backs? You must have known they wouldn't leave the planar stabilizer malfunctioning—that they would call upon someone to restart it if they couldn't do it themselves." She shakes her head and adds, "In any case, what's done is done. You'll have to tell us more. For example, how did you become involved in this? Have you lost anyone, too? And what do you know about the ones truly responsible? What can you tell us about them?"

She turns to the woman, a flicker of recognition crossing her face. "I recognize you now. You've attended Guild discussions before, haven’t you? May I know your name? I take it you're a scholar, same as us."

Regarding Grathna, she adds, "Grathna shouldn't be far from here. She knew we were expecting 'visitors' in the stabilizer room tonight. By now, she must have realized the alarms I set up went off." The tiefling strides across the room, opens the door leading to the Guild’s main hall, and calls for the half-orc. "Grathna? Are you there? Please come, we need to talk."

Iromae struggles to identify the man, failing to pinpoint why he seems familiar.  She feels a bit skeptical that these two know much about the runes. 'Or could they somehow know?' she wonders.  But perhaps he's right that their friend was on another plane. That part was possible.  But then he mentioned the part that really got her attention - 'the ones truly responsible'. "Who are these 'ones truly responsible' that you mention? How do you know about them?"  

Even as the words are out of her mouth, she regrets her curiosity got the best of her.  "Sorry, I guess that's something to discuss a bit later. First things first." She looks to Shenua as she calls out for Grathna. "Should we go look for her? Did she say where she'd be?"  She then looks at the man once again. "You are sure we must have Grathna? We can't figure this out without her?" 

Vorenus is standing silent for a moment, which is usually a rarity.  He's holding a thin piece of copper wire in his hand, he seems to be focusing, his lips moving for a bit, but no sound is heard.  

((Vorenus casts message, trying to contact Grathna, saying "Your presence is required in the portal room, please.  We have caught the parties red handed, and it is not... what we imagined.  Come here please!"))

Vorenus then shakes his head and pulls his hand through his unruly hair, focusing on the man, then the woman.  He nods when Shenua is speaking, saying afterward "Names, would go a long way.  As a start.  And some elaboration.  Who are the ones truly responsible?  Care to go a little further?"

The man watches as Shenua lowers her eldritch cannon but doesn’t fully relax. His gaze flickers toward the stabilizer, then back to the group. “Approaching the Guild?” he repeats, a trace of bitterness in his tone. “We tried. Or at least, some of us did. Not everyone in the Guild is as open-minded as you might hope. Some would rather preserve their reputation than admit they don’t understand what’s happening.”

The woman folds her arms, her expression sharp. “Not to mention, it’s hard to argue with people who believe their work is infallible. No one wants to hear that they might be making things worse.” She hesitates at Shenua’s next words, then nods. “You’re right. I have attended discussions before. My name is Elira Voss. Scholar, yes, but more importantly, a researcher of planar anomalies. The Guild has ... limitations in its thinking, but that doesn’t mean I was going to ignore the opportunity to learn from them.”

The man sighs, rubbing his temple. “As for me — Tavian. If my name means anything to you, I’d be surprised.” His tired eyes scan the group. “I became involved because I saw what was happening firsthand. I saw the damage the stabilizer was causing. And I’ve lost people before — I won’t let it happen again.”

At that moment, Vorenus’s message spell goes out. There’s a pause, and then a response — a low grumble in his mind, laced with irritation but also alertness.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. Almost there. Had to grab something first.”

Only seconds later, heavy footsteps echo down the hall, and then Grathna appears at the doorway. She looks between the restrained pair and the stabilizer, her thick brows drawing together.

“Alright,” she says, exhaling sharply. “Someone wanna tell me why the hells I got woken up for this?”

Iromae laughs lightly, hoping to diffuse Grathna's surly mood a little. "Sorry to disrupt your rest, but we've uncovered a bit about what is happening with the stabilizer. But it seems you are the only person with the right knowledge of the stabilizer." Her eyes drift towards the man - Tavian evidently. Hopefully he would explain how Grathna could resolve the puzzle at hand. 

Shenua gives an appreciative nod to Elira and Tavian after they introduce themselves. To Elira, she asks, "Do you mean that someone in the Guild knew about this and did nothing? That's awful. Safety should come before pride." The tiefling shakes her head. "Might I know who you approached? Also, do I understand there are more people involved apart from you two?"

To Tavian, she says, "I'm sorry for your losses. I really hope we can fix this and recover everyone we've lost..."

When Grathna enters the room, Shenua tilts her head. "You were sleeping? Really? I'd have thought you'd want to be awake, considering we were expecting company. Anyway. It would appear our dear stabilizer isn't stabilizing anything and is instead helping cause planar anomalies." She turns to Tavian and Elira. "Now's your chance—the Guild is listening. Tell us everything, and show us proof."

The artificer crosses her arms, watching the couple expectantly.

Tavian meets Iromae’s gaze, then looks to Grathna, rubbing the back of his neck. “Right. The stabilizer … it’s not just malfunctioning. It’s interfering with something buried deep in the Weave. That’s why we had to act before it got worse.”

Elira steps in, her tone sharp. “We aren’t the only ones who knew. Some of the higher-ranked members of the Guild dismissed the anomalies as mere fluctuations — temporary disturbances, nothing dangerous. I tried to push for a deeper investigation, but my concerns were ignored.” She exhales. “We aren’t alone in this. There are others — people who have been watching the Weave fray for years. Some within the Guild, some outside it.”

Tavian nods grimly. “The ones responsible aren’t just careless scholars. There are forces at work that want the Weave to break. We don’t know exactly who, but we’ve seen their influence.” His jaw tightens. “They knew the stabilizer was failing, and they let it happen. Maybe they even helped it along.”

Grathna, arms crossed, listens with increasing skepticism. “So let me get this straight,” she says, voice flat. “You’re telling me the device I helped build — which was working perfectly fine — was actually making things worse? And now you want me to help fix the mess you made?”

Tavian exhales, clearly expecting this reaction. “Not fix. Repurpose. The stabilizer can still be used to mend the damage — if we recalibrate it. But we need you because you’re the only one who knows the stabilizer’s inner workings.” He gestures toward the device. “We weren’t trying to destroy it. We were trying to force a reset before it tore open something that couldn’t be closed.”

Elira steps closer, glancing at the stabilizer with an almost reverent expression. “We have notes. Readings. Proof that the stabilizer’s energy field wasn’t containing the anomalies — it was feeding them.” She pulls a small notebook from her satchel and holds it out toward Shenua. “If you want evidence, here it is. The question is, do you actually want to see it?”

Shenua raises an eyebrow at Grantha when Elira mentions that some high-ranking members of the Guild knew about the malfunctions and dismissed them. Did the half-orc know anything about this? Her reaction suggests otherwise, but the tiefling can't help but wonder if she's telling the whole truth.

"If I want to see proof?" Shenua smiles wryly. "Do you really need to ask?" She takes the notebook and begins examining it thoroughly. Do the contents support Tavian and Elira's claims? She checks the texts, the formulas—everything—in search of the slightest miscalculation. The Gods know she would rather they were mistaken, that there was truly nothing wrong with the stabilizer. But she reads with an open mind, ready to point out any errors if they exist—or to accept the truth if that is the case.

"Why would we not want to see the evidence?" Iromae asks, shocked that anyone would not want to know the truth. She looks at Shenua, then over to Grathna. "Now that you've given over the information, I'm sure they will go over it and see if what you are saying is true." Clearly nobody would do anything contrary to that. 

"I don't quite follow you though, are you saying there are those that knew of the issue and willfully ignored it because they wanted the destruction?" And then, her mind goes back to something that was said that now draws in her attention.  She looks around at her friends, wanting to say something to them, but she's reluctant to say it here where others would hear it.  Instead, she turns to Tavian. "What do you mean that the stablizer is interfering with something buried in the Weave? What could be buried? Are you saying something is...  within the Weave?  Something that shouldn't be there?" 

Diego listens quietly, his mind swirling with thoughts but one thing keeps pushing it's way to the front. 

Forces at work to break the weave? We've recently had a shared experience, contacted by an unknown person and "tested", given some direction about the weave and tools to help mend it. It all goes back to an old, possibly forbidden tome we found during our time at the academy. While researching the tome, the runes, as much as a bunch of kids could have researched, we did something. One of our friends disappeared, not only from the prime material, but all thought and memory of her erased. Gone like she never existed.

His thoughts again trail off, trying to grab hold of any memory of her he might recall. 

How do we know we were actually helping and not harming the weave further? Can we trust these tools given to us as tools to repair?

Elira watches Shenua carefully, her expression unreadable. “Then read, and judge for yourself.”

The notebook’s pages are filled with complex arcane equations, planar energy field measurements, and notes written in a precise, flowing script. Some pages detail anomalies recorded near the stabilizer — fluctuations that shouldn’t have been possible. The stabilizer’s own readings show energy spikes that predate their intervention, suggesting it wasn’t just breaking — it was reacting to something. Something old.

Tavian listens to Iromae’s question, his fingers tightening into a fist. “We don’t have names, not yet. But yes. Someone allowed this to happen. Whether out of arrogance or intent, I don’t know. What I do know is that the stabilizer wasn’t failing on its own. It was responding to something. And now that it’s collapsed, whatever was buried is closer to the surface.”

Elira exhales. “We aren’t the first to notice. Others, before us, tried to understand what’s happening to the Weave. Most of their research vanished. Some of them vanished, too.”

At Diego’s words, Tavian’s eyes widen slightly. “You’ve been contacted?” He glances at Elira, and a silent exchange passes between them. “Then you already understand more than most. The Weave doesn’t just fray on its own. Something pulls at it. Alters it.” His expression darkens. “You say you lost someone. Gone from memory, from existence itself.” He hesitates, then says carefully, “That isn’t the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.”

Elira looks at Diego intently. “Your tools — did the entity who gave them to you tell you what they would do? Or just that they were meant to mend the Weave? Did they warn you about the cost?”

Tavian turns to Grathna, his voice measured. “You can see why we need you now. If there’s a way to recalibrate the stabilizer, we need to find it before whatever’s buried fully resurfaces. If it hasn’t already.”

Grathna, still holding onto skepticism but clearly troubled, grunts. “Dammit. If you’re right, I’ll need to see the stabilizer’s core.” She glares at Tavian and Elira. “But don’t think for a second this means I trust you.”

Shenua is deeply focused on the notebook's contents, a frown forming on her brow and deepening the more she reads. She lets out the occasional curse when she notices the fluctuations, and then, all of a sudden, she snaps the notebook shut.  

"They're right, Grathna. These energy spikes are worrisome. It seems that something out there—something old—caused the stabilizer to react beyond its intended capabilities."  

The turquoise-haired tiefling hands the notebook back to Elira. She doesn't need more proof. Then, when Tavian asks about their encounter with the crimson-cloaked figure and their devices, she pulls out her tuning fork for him to examine.  

"We received a parcel yesterday. When we attuned to the rune-etched box inside, we made contact with this crimson-cloaked figure. He told us about the tear in the Weave, that we could fix it—and recover what was lost. He took us to the Loom of Eternity, where we were tested. A test meant to mend the tear in the tapestry. And we did it… I think. It helped us remember our lost friend, Kalis. But we weren't able to bring her back completely.  Did…?" She hesitates. "...Did we do something wrong? But it can't be, can it? We repaired a tear, and we got our memories back!"  

Regarding the cost, Shenua looks at the tuning fork and says, "I was told attuning our threads to the Weave would have a cost. I felt as if my very essence traveled into it when I used the fork. But it didn't feel wrong." The artificer glances at her friends. "Were you told about a cost? Am I forgetting anything?"

Iromae's eyes first turn to Diego, then over to Shenua as they start to share a bit of the story of their missing friend and also the items they recently received. 'Do we really want to be revealing all of this to them now?' she wonders.  It's of course too late now to be worried about such things. "

Tavian carefully takes the tuning fork from Shenua, turning it over in his hands. His fingers trace the runes, and his expression darkens. "I’ve seen something like this before," he murmurs. "Not this exact design, but similar principles. A device meant to attune a person to the Weave’s deeper layers." He hands it back with an appraising glance. "And you say it let you remember someone lost to the unraveling? That means the tether still exists — frayed, but not severed."

Elira’s lips press into a thin line. "You say this crimson-cloaked figure spoke of fixing the Weave, of recovering what was lost. And yet, your friend remains beyond reach." She exhales sharply, choosing her words carefully. "The Weave is not just a tapestry — it is a living construct. It resists change. Mending it may not be as simple as stitching a tear closed."

Grathna crosses her arms, glowering. "That’s all very fascinating, but we still have a broken stabilizer, and we still don’t know what it’s reacting to." She jerks a thumb toward Tavian. "So tell me, genius — how do we stop it?"

Tavian glances at Elira. She nods, and he turns back to the group. "If we’re right about the stabilizer tapping into something buried in the Weave, then simply shutting it down won’t be enough. We need to recalibrate it, redirect its resonance before the tear it’s amplifying grows worse." His expression is grim. "And to do that, we need to understand what it’s actually connected to."

Elira folds her arms. "Which means one thing: we need to see it. Not just the stabilizer — we need to see what’s beneath it."

A silence hangs in the air.

Grathna grunts. "Well. That sounds perfectly safe."

Diego taps the directors baton in his belt, redirect the resonance? We might be able to help there.

At the mention of having to see what's underneath it he looks puzzled at Elira, you mean like what's in the basement?

"Beneath it?" Shenua looks puzzled at Elira as well. "Do you mean the specific part of the Weave that is causing the abnormal energy spikes? Hmmm... I'm not entirely sure how to do that."

She trails off, fingers drumming against the tuning fork as her mind races. Then her brow furrows with a sudden thought. "Unless..." She crouches beside the stabilizer, eyes narrowing as she examines it closely. "What if we attuned ourselves to the stabilizer? Like when we attuned our threads to the tapestry. Maybe then we wouldn’t just detect the energy signature — we might be able to feel which part of the Weave is drawing the energy."

The tiefling glances toward Diego's baton. "And if we can trace that connection... we might be able to redirect it. Recalibrate the stabilizer and nudge the resonance somewhere safer. That baton of yours," she nods at Diego, "sounds like the perfect tool for that, yes."

Shenua looks up at the others, a flicker of excitement crossing her features — quickly tempered by a shadow of doubt. "It's risky. We'd be aligning ourselves with unstable forces. But..." Her fingers tighten around the tuning fork. "It might just work."

Diego grins slyly at Shenua, I think I follow what you're getting at, but how do we tune ourselves to the stabilizer?