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Rhialto
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Any feedback on any portion of this adventure would be welcome.

Requires Relationship > 5 with Beatrix von Wetgen, PC does not have Heritage: Staadan.

Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 00 and 01

 

As the day advances, you find yourself with nothing to do. Well, you know that there is class work you could be studying – if not for this year then for next year – but there is nothing that you have to do and nothing that you want to do. Watch the rimbal players with Zorzi? Learn about new ways to study at an extremely rapid pace with Zoe? The extremes of unproductive and productive idleness that those students represent do not appeal to you, and neither does anything in between. Sure, you could try to create villains to fight like Prudence, or be a villain like Phillippe, but human interaction does not appeal to you much at all either.

As you are debating whether to go to sleep again – even though you are not tired – or play with your familiar – whom you have already looked after – you see a student, walking through the halls with great confidence and speed. Neither to left nor right looks the student, and given the hooded cloak that the student wears, this may not be safe. In fact, is the student not approaching you?

-          Shout out to the approaching student. [Auto]

Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 01

 

As you prepare to address the student – whether with mocking derision for wearing a cloak like that out of a play about spies or in simple desire to warn about possible collisions, you are not sure – the student throws the head back and the hood slips back a bit, revealing the surprised face of Beatrix von Wetgen.

Oh, [PC FirstName], I am so sorry. I was just going out on one of my little rambles – Professor Pachait gave me permission – and I was just so eager to go forth into the wilderness that I did not – I was not…”

After a bit more of this fumbling, she sighs and gives you a smile, pulling the hood fully back from her head.

Here, in order to make it up to you – and because you are my friend – I can take you on a walk with me. Would that be fair?”

Her face takes on a mischievous look and she says “There are many strange places in the imperial reserve, and I can show you a few of them if you want.”

Without even waiting for an answer, she walks towards the door outside and goes through it, leaving you to decide what to do.

-          Follow Beatrix into the imperial reserve?  No! [Auto]

[If male PC] You are not sure which aspect frightens you more – being given detention for going intro the imperial reserve, being accused of dating Beatrix as a first year, or possibly being dragged into whatever secretive thing has Beatrix being given permission to go into the imperial reserve. In any case, you do not want to risk anything. The next day, [Random Male Student from PC’s college] hands you a smudged note with the words “It is a shame that you did not trust me, [PC FullName]. I had a wonderful walk in the imperial reserve – Beatrix von Wetgen”. You are not sure what is worse – the sniggers about why she wanted to walk with you or the thought that she thinks less of your trust in her. [+1 stress, - 1 Relationship Beatrix von Wetgen, End Adventure]

[If female PC] You are not sure which aspect frightens you more – being given detention for going intro the imperial reserve, or possibly being dragged into whatever secretive thing has Beatrix being given permission to go into the imperial reserve. In any case, you do not want to risk anything. The next day, [Random Male Student from PC’s college] hands you a smudged note with the words “It is a shame that you did not trust me, [PC FullName]. I had a wonderful walk in the imperial reserve – Beatrix von Wetgen”. So she thinks less of your trust in her – at least you avoided possible detention. [- 1 Relationship Beatrix von Wetgen, End Adventure]

-          Negation. Is this really Beatrix, or some entity disguised as her? Best to find out! [Fitness, v 8]

[Success] As you hurry outside the door that Beatrix opened, you cast a spell to destroy any illusions that may be creating the form of Beatrix von Wetgen. The spell goes off flawlessly, and you do not see any difference in her hair or form. She could be wearing a wig, but…why be so paranoid? At least this spell has helped you to collect your nerves before you follow Beatrix outside. [+10% chance of success, +1 ss Negation Methods, choose another option]

[Failure] Casting spells while running through a door is not a good idea. The spell dispels no illusions, nefarious or otherwise, but blocks the sunlight that illuminates you as you advance. You gasp in shock, and hastily dispel your dispelling, but Beatrix turns at the noise and gives you a wave. She really is not far away. [+10% chance of success, +1 stress, choose another option]

-          Hunting. If Beatrix were prey, how would you find her? [Insight, v 3]

[Success] Ignoring a vague unease at imagining a fellow human as prey – would not dragons do that? – you set off in pursuit. If she were a deer, you would be baying for the hounds to help finish off the prey, so easily do you keep her in your sight. [+ 1 level Hunting, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] You fall to the ground and try to follow her prints like a dog, but she does not leave footprints that you can see on the ground. Finally, you hear laughter and look up to see Beatrix grinning at you.

Creative, but not good enough, [PC FirstName]. I will walk beside you, as I should have from the beginning.”

Grateful for her understanding, you walk beside her towards the imperial reserve. [+ 2 Stress, Advance to next stage]

-          Scouting. Where would Beatrix be going? [Insight, v 5]

[Success] Your study of the noble art of scouting helps you immensely. Recognizing the disturbed grass as marking where she went, you are able to follow her easily to the edge of the imperial reserve. When birds chirp, you join her in sighing at the beauty of their noises. [+ 1 ss Scouting, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] The best way to advance is over the easiest terrain, right? Having made that conclusion, you advance along the clear path, sure that you will see Beatrix at any second. After a few minutes of this, you hear her yell. You look up to see her waving to you.

Hey, [PC FirstName]! I should have made it clear that I was going off the path. I will walk beside you, as I should have from the beginning.”

Grateful for her understanding, you go over to her and walk beside her towards the imperial reserve. [+ 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

-          Explore. You are already familiar with the imperial reserve, and can use this knowledge to track her. [Insight, v 7]

[Success] All those hours of wandering around Academagia and its surroundings help you immensely. You know the best route to the imperial reserve from this part of Academagia, and you are able to follow it without even looking for Beatrix. As you meet her outside the imperial reserve, you hear her gasping in surprise at how well you know the route. [+ 1 ss Wilderness Survival, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] You think that you know the swiftest way to the imperial reserve from this part of Academagia, but your knowledge leaves much to be desired. As soon as you hear the call of hawkers selling their wares, you realize that you are in fact headed towards Mineta. Beatrix calls out to you at that time, and you thankfully turn to see her as she approaches you.

[PC FirstName]! I apologize again. I forgot that not all people are as knowledgeable of the imperial reserve as I am. I will walk beside you, as I should have from the beginning.”

Grateful for her understanding, you walk beside her towards the imperial reserve. [+ 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

Edited by Rhialto
I added another prerequisite.
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Again, any feedback is much appreciated.

Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 02

 

The two of you advance into the imperial reserve, and you try to talk to Beatrix.

“Thank you for taking me out into the imperial reserve, Beatrix. You won’t get in trouble if we’re caught, will you? I mean, you are well known for having permission to be in here, but I…”

“Don’t worry about it, [PC Firstname]. Professor Pachait almost laughed with joy when I requested his recognition of my going forth. He was eager for me to do something for him, and since it…since it was no diversion from my goals, I agreed. If we are caught out here and you lack permission – some people can gain it through various means – then we can pretend that I asked you to help me with Professor Pachait’s project.”

“But I have not heard what his plan is. What a ruckus that would raise: our being caught by someone in the imperial reserve, your telling about Professor Pachait’s project, and then my not being able to tell that person anything in harmony with the actual plan. That would cause both of us to get in trouble for telling a lie, and then any permission for being in the imperial reserve would be worth -”

Beatrix sighs and stops walking. “You really are no fun out here, stressing about being caught and punished. Maybe we would be caught by Professor Aventyrare! I’m sure she would be willing to overlook any such problems. She loves fun as much as we students do, and…”

“Or we could be caught by a ranger, or by Regent-Professor Storey. That man has a strange smile.”

Beatrix groans in sorrow. “Ah, Regent-Professor Storey! He could undermine my whole idea even if you were to have the story of Professor Pachait’s project as firmly ready to tell as a music box with a tune! He and Storey…they do not get along.”

You find yourself trying to comfort Beatrix. If she loses her nerves, she could get you into much trouble.

“Beatrix, Regent-Professor Storey is one man only. There are many other professors who could catch us, and they are more likely to trust your words without listening to me.”

“True enough. Still, I had better tell you something about what Professor Pachait sent me out  to do.”

“Shall I sit down, or is this a story that can be told while walking?”

“I would rather be still. Our talking while moving might frighten the animals. So. There was a man who dwelled in a charnel ground -”

You are fascinated to hear how Professor Pachait and the imperial reserve could be tied into such a lurid opening – while never doubting that Professor Pachait would indeed begin his request in such a way – but Beatrix is interrupted by shouting.

“Take those words back! You won’t get away with talking that way about my father!”

Both of your eyes widen, and Beatrix, through gestures, urges you to quietly follow her. You soon find yourself at the edge of a clearing, where you hear harsh words being spoken.

“…true that no one has heard of my family here, but at least I embody my college’s virtues. You are a disgrace to your college, with your attitude and filth! You should join Morvidus, and nest like the birds you so love!”

“My direct ancestor learned and embodied and taught those virtues, you fool! If you were concerned about anything other than picking fights and studying satyrs, you’d know that! Bah! Why do I even bother trying to be friendly to you! You’ll be gone before the end of next year, though to you it may seem like ten! Then you can try your befriending outcasts plan on better people, such as–”

“At least I have another way in life. Men will love me, come in time! But you are unlikely to have such blessings, for all your mother’s lineage! Another reason for you to go to Morvidus! You can learn about predators and prey better, which would be useful for you, since you seem destined to play the role of wolf or hare!”

Beatrix’s gasp is almost drowned out by a strangled noise. Beatrix taps your shoulder and hisses into your ear.

“Come on, we have to go! Those were serious words! A fight seems imminent!”

Although you cannot quite understand what is so offensive about being said to take on the role of a wolf – don’t all children who know about wolves and hares try to play as them at least once? – you do not dispute that a fight is developing behind you. And they are Academagia mages of some sort. That means that magic may be involved, and you do not want to get caught in that.

-          Listen. Whose words are you hearing? [Charm, v 9]

[Success] You realize that you are listening to Louise Kandinsky and Prudence Cossins. You are relieved to know that you are not dealing with professors or older students at Academagia – and even among first year students, you would be more wary about certain other students. [+10% Success Chance, Choose other option].

[Failure] Although your mind tells you, based upon what you have overheard, that you are listening to two female mages from Academagia, neither of whom seem to be from Morvidus, your ears cannot reveal anymore about them than that. You have no real idea how to adjust your strategies if you do not know whom you listen to. [Choose other option].

-          Mimicry. Impersonate a Satyr to distract them. [Charm, v 4]

[Success] Since one of the speakers seems to be interested in satyrs, perhaps pretending to be a satyr would distract them from fighting. Speaking in what you recall as a satyr’s voice, you call out “Hey, humans! Stop fight in imperial reserve. If you don’t stop, I get angry, and investigate, and then neither of you can study satyrs in the reserve!”

The fighting comes to an undignified and noisy halt, and you hear the fighters trying to apologize as they leave.

“Please forgive us, Mr. Satyr! We had no idea that we were interfering with your use of the imperial reserve.”

“Please do not hold this outburst of passion against us! I am much interested by satyrs, and would not disrespect you deliberately.”

As they stumble away, you hear Beatrix snorting as she tries to restrain laughter. “[PC FirstName], that was amazing! Such a swiftly devised ruse, and very effective. Now that we no longer have to deal with their fighting, we can go deeper into the reserve.”

The scent of flowers increases your joy as you follow her deeper into the imperial reserve. [+ 1 ss Mimicry, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] Since one of the speakers seems to be interested in satyrs, perhaps pretending to be a satyr would distract them from fighting. Unfortunately, you are so fixated on thinking about how to create the sound of their hooves on the ground as you stride forward that you voice comes out in an unconvincing way. “Hey, you humans! Stop fighting in the imperial reserve. If you don’t stop, I’ll get angry, and investigate, and then neither of you will be able to study satyrs in the Reserve as long as I have anything to say!”

The fighting comes to an undignified and noisy halt as the fighters are seized by laughter.

“You should go back to learning acting, fake satyr! But I do not want to be the victim of any such training by you.”

“Maybe if you had banged two coconuts together, you would have not needed to worry about the voice.”

The two fighters wander away, laughing and talking about how if they were wanting to be spied upon by pranksters, they would at least want them to be competent pranksters.

Beatrix pulls you towards her, wiping away sweat from her brow.

“That was an ingenious ruse, but alas it did not work quite as you wanted it to. Still, we need not fear their fighting now.”

The scent of flowers lies heavy on your nose as you follow her deeper into the imperial reserve. [+ 1 Stress, + 1 relationship between Prudence Cossins and Louise Kandinsky, Advance to next stage]

-          Voice. Pretend to be a singer practicing in the forest. Surely they would not fight with an audience. [Charm, v 6]

[Success] You begin trying a few vocal exercises, before launching into a rousing version of Kensab the Ilician – an appropriate song for a singer so athletic as to be in the imperial reserve, you hope – and hope for the best. Your efforts are soon rewarded.

“Fool! We can’t fight here! That singer will report us to the professors!”

“Are you too stupid to make a reference to my name? But you are right. I failed in making you my friend, but compounding this with detention for fighting is not…wise.”

“You are not capable of thinking me kind? But yes, let us go. If you insult him again, though, I will have revenge, even if the Praetexta Court were to be an audience from beginning to end.”

You hear them walking off through the reserve, and hope that it is more than your imagination that suggests that they are noisier than you and Beatrix were.

Beatrix pulls you towards her, laughing and wiping away sweat from her brow.

“That was an ingenious ruse! I wish that I had thought of it. It may be useful for me in some parts of my life.”

The scent of flowers increases your joy as you follow her deeper into the imperial reserve. [+ 1 ss Deceit, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] No sooner have you settled upon this ruse than you realize that you do not know how singers practice. You try to decide how singers practice before settling upon the alphabet song, but your singing is tuneless and causes your throat to give out before too long. Still, it gets the job done, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

“Hey, it seems that someone is spying upon us. Wouldn’t that be one of your nosy college mates, Lambda, or Lobo, or whatever?”

“It might be Lambert, yes, or perhaps someone hoping to trap him as he seeks conspiracies. But I will not give any clumsy spy satisfaction. Hey! Failed singer-impersonator! Aranaz is as weak as its so-called magical pillar. Anyone who seeks conspiracies from them would be better trying to learn where Professor Sido hides his teaching talent from dialectics students!”

“And we were not really fighting, just pretending in order to fool you. Pr…This...lady…and I can be the finest of friends.”

You hear them walking off through the reserve, and hope that it is more than your imagination that suggests that they are noisier than you and Beatrix were.

Beatrix pulls you towards her, wiping away sweat from her brow.

“That was an ingenious ruse, but alas it did not work quite as you wanted it to. Still, we need not fear their fighting now.”

The scent of flowers lies heavy on your nose as you follow her deeper into the imperial reserve. [+ 1 Stress, + 1 relationship between Prudence Cossins and Louise Kandinsky, Advance to next stage]

-          Satyric Revelry. Maybe some noise of wild partying will distract them. [v 8]

[Success] You use a few glamour phemes to simulate noise of liquid splashing and frenzied music before calling out in what you hope is a boisterous and adult – rather than terrified and child’s – voice “The glories of wine are wonderful, my friend! Can you list them in tune?”

Beatrix, with a puzzled smile, replies in a sing-song voice, “Certainly, I can list the glories of wine. The first glass is for the thirst, the second glass is for the taste, the third glass is for the warmth, the fourth glass is for the laughter...”

You are spared the need to worry about how long Beatrix can keep up her litany by a lull in the fight behind you.

“Say, it seems that we aren’t the only ones who are using the imperial reserve in efforts to meet secretly.”

“So the rumours are true, then. I wonder whether they would let us join them.”

“And risk running afoul of the Academagia staff and faculty who are united in denying us all alcohol? I doubt it.”

“You’re right. I would not expose my worst enemy to the wrath of Regents-Professors Briardi and von Rupprecht.”

Beatrix interjects then a very well timed (and well mimicked) “Darling, what are those nosy kids doing, trying to mooch from our wine?”

You hear two yelps followed by scrambling feet as the former fighters flee fast.

After you dispel the glamours, Beatrix smiles at you.

“That was some really good glamour work. I could almost smell the wine.”

Wondering how a fellow first year student at Academagia could have such intimate knowledge of such a smell, you follow Beatrix deeper into the reserve. [+1 ss Glamour Methods, + 1 level for PC and Beatrix in Satyric Revelry, Advance to next stage.]

[Failure] If the fighters were to hear a wild party in progress, they might decide to stop their fighting. Or so you hope. But then you realize that you have little understanding of what a wild party sounds like. Well, maybe they won't know what such things sound like either. With a sigh, you turn to Beatrix and shout out, “Smell this wine, my dear! Is it not reminding you of flowers and honey?”

Beatrix's eyes widen in shocked surprise, and she hisses to you “What are you doing? This is no way to stop a fight!”

You are spared the need to debate with her about your masterful deception by clear evidence that your deception, while successful, is...not exactly masterful.

“Some strange person here is pretending to have a satyric revel all alone. What a sad and possibly crazy life to lead!”

“Do you thing this solitary drinker dangerous? Could this be part of a feeble ruse to lure people in for wicked purposes?.”

“If so, then the lurer must be new to this. I could think of a thousand better ways to trick people.”

“Still, we had better be cautious. There are more dangerous and deceitful creatures in the imperial reserve than this. WE can have our fight elsewhere, where we are less likely to be spied upon.”

"Agreed. But let us mark the deceiver so that it will not be able to trick other for a while."

What? Oh no! Before you can move back from where you stand, you feel yourself being targeted by revision magic to cause you to sweat out much smelly sweat, followed by an incanted gust of wind to blow bits of soil and plant matter onto your skin. Then the two fighters walk away, arguing about how and where they should fight.

Beatrix grimaces and snorts as she edges away.

“They really made you smell, didn't they? Still, since you got them to avoid harming us through their fighting, I can at least help you to clean off.”

After showing you to a waterfall and insisting that you use it, Beatrix carefully moves upwind of you while you clean yourself. After a while, you call out that you are clean and decent, and she comes into view again.

"[PC FirstName], thanks for cleaning off. I am so glad that we can resume our journey into the imperial reserve." [+ 2 Stress, Inform Location Asastis Falls, Advance to next stage.]

Edited by Rhialto
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Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 03

 

After your needing to deal with two fighters whom you never saw, you worry that Beatrix will not be able to tell you what Professor Pachait sent her out to do. But she smiles, as if reading your mind, and says, “I am glad that that little interruption did not destroy my train of thought, although it may have destroyed at least one person’s dignity. But I do not want to stop advancing any more, since that interruption may have been the first of many that we will encounter.”

“That’s all right; the information matters more than how it is conveyed.”

“Good, because I will not drag this story out or pause to stand; the birds may be frightened, and the flowers trampled to release their scents in death, but I must press on. Professor Pachait is counting upon me!”

You are struck by Beatrix’s rising vehemence, and only gesture your assent. She increases her speed, and you make efforts to keep up with her while listening to her story.

“There was a man who lived in a charnel ground – the professor would not elaborate upon why – who had to contend with jackals who were scavenging for corpses. The man came to fear that the jackals would attack him, but the jackals smelled his fear and attacked him. He was frantic with worry until he remembered that he had perfume that gave him a different smell. He applied this to his body, and thereafter was not harassed by jackals even though they shared the charnel ground. The Professor had learned about this story – how, he did not say – and thought about how smell must apply to werewolves. He developed a theory about how werewolves must be driven away from satyrs in the imperial reserve by some scent that satyrs apply to themselves. So he sent me to complete a purchase of what a satyr swears is the oil that they use to repel werewolves. So that is why I am out here, and you are my body guard. Or at least, that is what we will say to any who find us out here and try to report us to the authorities. What do you think of that story?”

You are rather shaken –  by doubt or by the rough ground you are not certain – and must hesitate a bit before you reply.

-          Mammals. Does Professor Pachait’s tale seem plausible? [Intelligence, v 10]

[Success] The story that Beatrix is recounting would be very convincing – to any person with no knowledge of jackals. But you know that jackals are scavengers; as such, they are not the type of animal that would randomly attack humans, especially when there is carrion that can be eaten. With that aspect of Professor Pachait’s tale weakened, discovering other weak aspects of it may become easier. [+10% Success Chance, Choose other option].

[Failure] Jackals are like wolves, right? In body plan if nothing else, right? So of course it makes sense that they would attack humans like wolves. [Choose other option].

-          Perfumes. What use would a scented oil serve Professor Pachait? [Intelligence, v 5]

[Success] Scents are not really used to do serious magic by humans – rather, they are used to do non-essential things, such as make yourself seem more alluring at a dance. It strains your belief to the breaking point to believe that Professor Pachait would be relying upon scented oils in his stage of his career to deal with werewolves. If he were a new zoology professor or big-game hunter, you could believe that, but he is a scarred veteran of many expeditions.

You tell Beatrix this, and she sighs in resignation. “I thought the same, but that is what Professor Pachait told me, and that is what I tell you. Still, I do not believe that he is being fully honest either. But professors have their own secrets – not just Regent-Professor Storey with his securely and conspicuously locked office. I thought that in doing this I would fulfil…my own goals and gain favor with Professor Pachait, whatever his real goals are.”

“Yeah, Beatrix…What are your goals in going forth now?”

“I have a stock answer from which I will not deviate now. I am so responsible that the school granted me this privilege. And as for why I exercised it today, I wanted to get exercise. Is this not invigorating?”

With an anxious taste on your tongue – whether from the dishonesty of Beatrix or Professor Pachait you are not sure – you follow Beatrix as she leads you further into the imperial reserve. [+1 ss Perfumes, Advance to next stage].

[Failure] You babble on for a bit about how strange it is that a great wilderness explorer would care about perfumes before Beatrix, with an exasperated look, interrupts you.

“[PC LastName], if you were knowing more about my life, you would be less surprised at the attraction of perfumes to many. I doubt that Professor Pachait is being fully honest with me, but professors have their own secrets – not just Regent-Professor Storey with his securely and conspicuously locked office. I thought that in doing this I would fulfil…my own goals and gain favor with Professor Pachait, whatever his real goals are.”

“Yeah, Beatrix…What are your goals in going forth now?”

“Since you cannot even understand what is so suspicious about Professor Pachait’s story, you would probably react very strangely if I were to tell you my anything more than my stock answer. I am so responsible that the school granted me this privilege. And as for why I exercised it today, I wanted to get exercise. Is this not invigorating?”

With an anxious taste on your tongue – whether from the dishonesty of Beatrix or Professor Pachait you are not sure – you follow Beatrix as she leads you further into the imperial reserve. [+1 Stress, -1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage].

-          Scent Detection. How useful would a werewolf-repelling scent be? [Intelligence, v 7]

[Success] A werewolf-repelling scent would be useless against werewolves because they are intelligent. A beast may flee or be driven away by a disagreeable scent, but any werewolf would summon the pack in order to better investigate the source of such a scent. And once one has attracted such attention, the usefulness of an oil based scent would decline more, since it would wear off eventually, all while intelligent and angered werewolves investigate, who would seize the chance created by the weakening scent to attack. And such a scent would, due to its upsetting nature, be useless as a way to engage in stealth against werewolves.

You tell Beatrix this, and she sighs in resignation. “I thought the same, but that is what Professor Pachait told me, and that is what I tell you. Still, I do not believe that he is being fully honest either. But professors have their own secrets – not just Regent-Professor Storey with his securely and conspicuously locked office. I thought that in doing this I would fulfil…my own goals and gain favor with Professor Pachait, whatever his real goals are.”

“Yeah, Beatrix…What are your goals in going forth now?”

“I have a stock answer from which I will not deviate now. I am so responsible that the school granted me this privilege. And as for why I exercised it today, I wanted to get exercise. Is this not invigorating?”

With an anxious taste on your tongue – whether from the dishonesty of Beatrix or Professor Pachait you are not sure – you follow Beatrix as she leads you further into the imperial reserve. [+1 ss Scent Detection, Advance to next stage].

[Failure] You babble on for a bit about how the idea of a werewolf-repelling scent sounds like an absurdity from a children’s story about heroes before Beatrix, with an exasperated look, interrupts you.

“[PC LastName], just because a story is meant for children does not mean that it cannot include valuable truths. In this case you are right to suspect the Professor, but for the wrong reasons. I doubt that Professor Pachait is being fully honest with me, but professors have their own secrets – not just Regent-Professor Storey with his securely and conspicuously locked office. I thought that in doing this I would fulfil…my own goals and gain favor with Professor Pachait, whatever his real goals are.”

“Yeah, Beatrix…What are your goals in going forth now?”

“Since you cannot even understand what is so suspicious about Professor Pachait’s story, you would probably react very strangely if I were to tell you anything more than my stock answer. I am so responsible that the school granted me this privilege. And as for why I exercised it today, I wanted to get exercise. Is this not invigorating?”

With an anxious taste on your tongue – whether from the dishonesty of Beatrix or Professor Pachait you are not sure – you follow Beatrix as she leads you further into the imperial reserve. [+1 Stress, -1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage].

-          Perception. How guided by scent are werewolves? [Intelligence, v 9]

[Success] A werewolf-repelling scent would be useless against werewolves because they are to a greater degree than normal wolves guided by sight. A beast may flee or be driven away by a disagreeable scent, but any werewolf would summon the pack in order to better investigate the source of such a scent using the eyes. A visual investigation by any member of the pack would reveal that the offending creature was not a dragon or some other dangerous creature but a satyr. Of course, this scent could be used for communication rather than warding off, but this still leaves the issue of why gathering this scent would be so important. You are pretty sure that there has already been considerable research done into how to turn a human into a satyr using glamours, revision, and/or enchantment, meaning that this alleged werewolf-repelling scent must already be known about. It is easy to revise yourself into a satyr if you know the right revision magic, as Beatrix doubtlessly already knows.

You tell Beatrix this, and she beams in agreement. “I thought the same, but that is what Professor Pachait told me, and that is what I tell you. Still, I do not believe that he is being fully honest either. But professors have their own secrets – not just Regent-Professor Storey with his securely and conspicuously locked office. I thought that in doing this I would fulfil…my own goals and gain favor with Professor Pachait, whatever his real goals are.”

“Yeah, Beatrix…What are your goals in going forth now?”

“I have a stock answer from which I will not deviate now. I am so responsible that the school granted me this privilege. And as for why I exercised it today, I wanted to get exercise. Is this not invigorating?”

With an anxious taste on your tongue – whether from the dishonesty of Beatrix or Professor Pachait you are not sure – you follow Beatrix as she leads you further into the imperial reserve. [+1 ss Revision Spells, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage].

[Failure] You babble on for a bit about how werewolves do not use their noses to hunt before Beatrix, with an exasperated look, interrupts you.

“[PC LastName], humans use their noses to hunt, or have you never tried to follow the smell of a freshly made cake reserved for…certain occasions…at home? Werewolves have more powerful senses of smell than humans; of course they would use their noses at least in part to hunt. In this case you are right to suspect the Professor, but for the wrong reasons. I doubt that Professor Pachait is being fully honest with me, but professors have their own secrets – not just Regent-Professor Storey with his securely and conspicuously locked office. I thought that in doing this I would fulfill…my own goals and gain favor with Professor Pachait, whatever his real goals are.”

“Yeah, Beatrix…What are your goals in going forth now?”

“Since you cannot even understand what is so suspicious about Professor Pachait’s story, you would probably react very strangely if I were to tell you anything more than my stock answer. I am so responsible that the school granted me this privilege. And as for why I exercised it today, I wanted to get exercise. Is this not invigorating?”

With an anxious taste on your tongue – whether from the dishonesty of Beatrix or Professor Pachait you are not sure – you follow Beatrix as she leads you further into the imperial reserve. [+1 Stress, -1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage]

Edited by Rhialto
I fixed a typo.
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Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 04

Any feed back would be welcome.

 

Now that you finally understand something – although apparently not the whole truth – about why Beatrix and you are walking through the imperial reserve, you begin to relax. Certainly, you might be out here for an unknown and possibly illegal pair of purposes, but at least if you were to be caught, you would be able to provide a consistent explanation. You begin to talk to Beatrix in a more relaxed manner.

“The imperial reserve is beautiful! Look at all the berries. Do you know if any are edible? I wish that more students could come out here.”

“I agree that the imperial reserve is beautiful, and my knowledge of botany is good enough that I can identify edible berries in here. Those that are edible are often delicious.”

“And what about those that are not edible?”

“They are all right in their own ways – not all of them will kill you!”

Beatrix sticks out her tongue and laughs, and you ask her how difficult it would be for students without permission to get into here. Rangers are not everywhere, and professors – well, they vary in their effectiveness. Professor Knoht, for example, would be more likely to forget any intrusion than report it, you think.

“There are times, you know, when I think that all professors must be as absent-minded as she is, since there is so little effort at times to prevent students from getting into the imperial reserve. But wait, someone approaches!”

Beatrix motions you to be still, and without your conversation, it soon becomes apparent that at least two human-sized figures are approaching you through the forest.

“Beatrix, what should we do?”

She shrugs and stares ahead in the rough direction where the two figures seem to be approaching. “We should wait. I think that they may be the satyrs whom I was told to meet. The time is about right, and, unless I’m mistaken, we are very near the place where we were supposed to meet.”

“What should I do when they meet us? I barely know why we’re here.”

“You’re here as my body guard. Be silent and intimidating – as best as you can, at least. Ah, hello!”

Beatrix raises her hand in greeting as a satyr appears out of the trees just in front of you, soon after followed by another satyr. They are both wearing long brown hooded cloaks, making it difficult for you to see what else they are wearing or carrying, but their hooves are unmistakeable on the forest floor.

“Were you send by someone, or did you come on your own, greeter? Wanaxagoras, keep watch over the silent one!” Although his garments are not distinguished from those of his companion, the second satyr’s voice has an aura of command that you think even a dragon might respect. The first satyr, Wanaxagoras, immediately approaches you and snorts in a menacing way.

“Peace, peace, everyone! I was sent by another to purchase…the oils. I have his agreed payment here. But I would not mind looking at the other things that you have for sale, sir.” Beatrix’s voice sounds only a bit squeaky with fright, and you think that she may be telling some level of truth about being so responsible that Academagia would trust her.

“What is this one doing here?” Wanaxagoras’s voice surprises you, but you remind yourself that body guards need not be mute. You decide to take this as your cue to speak.

“Beatrix, recognizing the importance of her mission, chose me as her body guard during this journey.”

Beatrix nods enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s right! [PC FullName] is my body guard. And a very useful one this time, weren’t you? Now, Mita, let us make the agreed-upon exchange.”

The satyr with the commanding voice – Mita, Beatrix called him - comes closer to Beatrix and extends his arm so that the space between them is largely concealed from your view by his cloak. But then he says “It is not right, Beatrix, for the body guard to receive nothing. Wanaxagoras, give the body guard something to drink while we do our business.”

Wanaxagoras produces a leather flask from beneath his cloak and pours its content into a wooden cup that his other hand brings forth. He then thrusts the cup to wards you, saying “Take this cup, and drink from it, but then give the cup back to me. In this way we are hospitable, even though we were not told about needing to deal with two students from Academagia.”

Beatrix grimaces and says “Mitta, we do not need this hospitality.”

“Since your body guard would be denied the drink, let your body guard speak.”

It seems as if you are going to have to make the decision.

-          Brew. What is the satyr offering you to drink? [Insight, v 11]

[Success] You remember that satyrs do not give real alcohol to humans unless they have extraordinarily close bonds. However, they are more willing to give out a non-alcoholic, magical beverage, called whisper wine, to humans. Some humans do not know that it is non-alcoholic and get drunk off of even small amounts of it, which amuses the satyrs to no end. As you sniff the drink that Wanaxagoras is offering you, you are able to detect faint differences between this drink and real alcoholic wine. [+10% success chance, Choose other option]

[Failure] Wanaxagoras is a satyr. Satyrs love alcohol. Wanaxagoras is offering you a drink. Therefore, you think, one does not need to be an expert alchemist to conclude that Wanaxagoras is offering you wine. [Choose other option]

-          Willpower. Take the drink, and brace your mind against anything that may come. [Insight, v 6]

[Success] With what you hope seems to be nonchalant calmness, you seize the proffered cup from Wanaxagoras and drink it rapidly, bracing your mind against any intoxication. And, to your surprise, it works. The drink is wonderfully cool and sweet, but does not warm up your insides as it passes down your throat. Standing with no impaired senses, you are able to watch as Beatrix completes the trade.

“For your sender, I have this wrapped box if you have what he said he would give me.”

“Oh, yes, I have what was promised.” You wish that you could see what Beatrix is doing, but Mita’s cloak serves what purpose it was doubtlessly intended for: you only see the cloth flapping a bit as the transaction is made.

“If you damage the wrapping, the scent oils inside will be ruined. Now, do you want to make your own purchase?”

Beatrix looks at you, frowns, and shakes her head. “[PC FirstName] is sober and alert. I do not want news of this to spread abroad.”

Wanaxagoras surprises you by speaking up. “Well, I do not want to cause a war now, do I? So since your body guard stands steady, we must act accordingly. But it is a pity that you do not trust your subordinate enough to shop with us.”

“[PC FirstName] is not my subordinate, but my friend, and this is what friends do for each other.”

Mita drops his extended arm, and says, “You two can be siblings for all I care! The trade is done for your sender, but not for you. Will you be able to resume trade with us?”

Beatrix replies in a somewhat distracted voice as she places a parcel into one of her pockets, “As long as I am able to be here, I will be open to trading with you.”

Mita and Wanaxagoras reply in unison, as if reciting the conclusion to a formula, “May you be able to be here long, for everyone’s benefit.” Then they walk backwards a way into the forest until you can no longer see them. Which is not a long distance, in fairness.

Beatrix takes your hand in hers and squeezes it gently. “Those satyrs rather creeped me out. I am glad that I have you to be watching me. Let us go back to Academagia.”

With your feet hurting, you are very glad that you will not be required to advance any further into the imperial reserve with Beatrix. [+ 1 ss Willpower, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05A]

[Failure] With what you hope seems to be nonchalant calmness, you seize the proffered cup from Wanaxagoras and drink it rapidly, bracing your mind against any intoxication. And, to your surprise, it works. The drink is wonderfully cool and sweet, but only warms up your insides as it passes down your throat. Standing with no impaired senses, you are able to…

Your next comprehensible thought is that your head really hurts, the ground is really hard, and the hand of Beatrix von Wetgen is trying to pull you into standing.

You blink, and her concerned face comes into focus.

“[PC FirstName], [PC FirstName], are you all right? I am so sorry. I had no idea that they would give you...that drink, and I tried to persuade them not to, but you drank it, and then you began dancing and laughing, and stumbling, and collapsed, and they were laughing at your antics, and I was horrified, but I got my items, so there is no need for us to stay here any more and I will never again bring you to satyrs and - ”

“Just…help me to stand so that we can go. Please!”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Bracing yourself against Beatrix, you are able to stand, and with your arm against her back, you make a stumbling effort at walking. Thankfully, you are soon able to walk again without her support.

Beatrix takes your hand in hers and squeezes it gently. “Those satyrs rather creeped me out. I am glad that I have you to be watching me. Let us go back to Academagia.”

With your feet hurting, you are very glad that you will not be required to advance any further into the imperial reserve with Beatrix. [+ 1 Stress, - 1 Vitality, Advance to Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05B]

-          Endurance. Take the drink, and brace your body against anything that may come. [Fitness, v 8]

[Success] With what you hope is an appropriately fierce smile, you seize the proffered cup from Wanaxagoras and drink it rapidly, bracing your body against any intoxication. And, to your surprise, it works. The drink is wonderfully cool and sweet, but does not warm up your insides as it passes down your throat. Standing with no impaired senses, you are able to watch as Beatrix completes the trade.

“For your sender, I have this wrapped box if you have what he said he would give me.”

“Oh, yes, I have what was promised.” You wish that you could see what Beatrix is doing, but Mita’s cloak serves what purpose it was doubtlessly intended for: you only see the cloth flapping a bit as the transaction is made.

“If you damage the wrapping, the scent oils inside will be ruined. Now, do you want to make your own purchase?”

Beatrix looks at you, frowns, and shakes her head. “[PC FirstName] is sober and alert. I do not want news of this to spread abroad.”

Wanaxagoras surprises you by speaking up. “Well, I do not want to cause a war now, do I? So since your body guard stands steady, we must act accordingly. But it is a pity that you do not trust your subordinate enough to shop with us.”

“[PC FirstName] is not my subordinate, but my friend, and this is what friends do for each other.”

Mita drops his extended arm, and says, “You two can be siblings for all I care! Will you be able to resume trade with us?”

Beatrix replies in a somewhat distracted voice as she places a parcel into one of her pockets, “As long as I am able to be here, I will be open to trading with you.”

Mita and Wanaxagoras reply in unison, as if reciting the conclusion to a formula, “May you be able to be here long, for everyone’s benefit.” Then they walk backwards a way into the forest until you can no longer see them. Which is not a long distance, in fairness.

Beatrix takes your hand in hers and squeezes it gently. “Those satyrs rather creeped me out. I am glad that I have you to be watching me. Let us go back to Academagia.”

Although you feel that you could walk for hours more, you recognize that without Beatrix, you might get lost. So, with a shiver - Beatrix was right about how creepy the satyrs were – you prepare to make your way back to Academagia with Beatrix. [+ 1 ss Endurance, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05A]

[Failure] With what you hope is an appropriately fierce smile, you seize the proffered cup from Wanaxagoras and drink it rapidly, bracing your body against any intoxication. And, to your surprise, it works. The drink is wonderfully cool and sweet, but only warms up your insides as it passes down your throat. Standing with no impaired senses, you are able to…

Your next comprehensible thought is that your head really hurts, the ground is really hard, and the hand of Beatrix von Wetgen is trying to pull you into standing.

You blink, and her concerned face comes into focus.

“[PC FirstName], [PC FirstName], are you all right? I am so sorry. I had no idea that they would give you...that drink, and I tried to persuade them not to, but you drank it, and then you began dancing and laughing, and stumbling, and collapsed, and they were laughing at your antics, and I was horrified, but I got my items, so there is no need for us to stay here any more and I will never again bring you to satyrs and - ”

“Just…help me to stand so that we can go. Please!”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Bracing yourself against Beatrix, you are able to stand, and with your arm against her back, you make a stumbling effort at walking. Thankfully, you are soon able to walk again without her support.

Beatrix takes your hand in hers and squeezes it gently. “Those satyrs rather creeped me out. I am glad that I have you to be watching me. Let us go back to Academagia.”

Although you feel that you could walk for hours more now that you are no longer under the influence of that drink, you recognize that without Beatrix, you might get lost. So, with a shiver - Beatrix was right about how creepy the satyrs were – you prepare to make your way back to Academagia with Beatrix. [+ 1 Stress, - 1 Vitality, Advance to Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05B]

-          Diplomacy. Decline the drink. Politely, ideally. [Charm v 10]

[Success] “Although I would much desire to taste your drink, I fear that Academagia might punish me. So I must reluctantly decline.”

Mita and Wanaxagoras look at each other, then Wanaxagoras laughs and drinks the liquid in the cup. “More for me, ha! Wonderful!”

Standing with no impaired senses, you are able to watch as Beatrix completes the trade.

“For your sender, I have this wrapped box if you have what he said he would give me.”

“Oh, yes, I have what was promised.” You wish that you could see what Beatrix is doing, but Mita’s cloak serves what purpose it was doubtlessly intended for: you only see the cloth flapping a bit as the transaction is made.

“If you damage the wrapping, the scent oils inside will be ruined. Now, do you want to make your own purchase?”

Beatrix looks at you, smiles, and mods. “Since [PC FirstName] was clever enough to avoid your friend’s little trap, he is doubtlessly already aware of something of what I do. I will buy…that thing.” This time, the transaction is made so swiftly that the cloak that Mita holds out barely moves.

Wanaxagoras surprises you by speaking up. “I am glad that we were able to successfully complete these sales without causing sorrow.”

Mita drops his extended arm, and says, “The trade is done for your sender and for you. Be welcome to trade with us again.”

Beatrix replies in a confident voice, “As long as I am able to be here, I will be open to trading with you.”

Mita and Wanaxagoras reply in unison, as if reciting the conclusion to a formula, “May you be able to be here long, for everyone’s benefit.” Then, Mita approaches you.

“You did well in protecting Beatrix here, and without causing offence. I think that you would be an excellent person for other satyrs to know.”

He then proceeds to tell you about a place where Satyrs are known to gather in and meet with humans, and tells you that they are sure to enjoy your company.

Then he and Wanaxagoras walk backwards a way into the forest until you can no longer see them. Which is not a long distance, in fairness.

Beatrix then approaches you and shakes your hand.

“You handled that very well, [PC FirstName]. Wanaxagoras told me, while Mita was distracted in telling you about…that place, about an easier route by which we may make our way beck to Academagia.”

Hoping that the alternative route will be easier on your feet, you let Beatrix lead you in what you hope is an appropriate direction in the imperial reserve. [+1 Level Diplomacy, Inform location Satyrius, Advance to Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05B]

[Failure] “Academagia might punish me, and I don’t want to risk punishment for a drink like that.”

Mita and Wanaxagoras look at each other, then Wanaxagoras smacks the cup against your face. “You rude human, refusing our hospitality!”

“Be calm, Wanaxagoras!” Mita shouts.

“War tempts, but trade profits! Very well, human, for our trade’s sake, I apologize.”

Well, at least you got some apology, right? Standing with no impaired senses, but aware of Wanaxagoras’s glowering presence next to you, you are able to watch as Beatrix completes the trade.

“For your sender, I have this wrapped box if you have what he said he would give me.”

“Oh, yes, I have what was promised.” You wish that you could see what Beatrix is doing, but Mita’s cloak serves what purpose it was doubtlessly intended for: you only see the cloth flapping a bit as the transaction is made.

“If you damage the wrapping, the scent oils inside will be ruined. Now, do you want to make your own purchase?”

Beatrix looks at you, smiles, and mods. “Since [PC FirstName] was clever enough to avoid your friend’s little trap, he is doubtlessly already aware of something of what I do. I will buy…that thing.” This time, the transaction is made so swiftly that the cloak that Mita holds out barely moves.

Wanaxagoras surprises you by speaking up. “I am glad that we were able to successfully complete these sales while causing only a small amount of sorrow.”

Mita drops his extended arm, and says, “The trade is done for your sender and for you. Be welcome to trade with us again.”

Beatrix replies in a confident voice, “As long as I am able to be here, I will be open to trading with you.”

Mita and Wanaxagoras reply in unison, as if reciting the conclusion to a formula, “May you be able to be here long, for everyone’s benefit.” Then, Mita approaches you.

“You did well in protecting Beatrix here, and I apologize for the actions of my man Wanaxagoras. I can teach you something to settle our account.”

He then proceeds to tell you about a place where Satyrs are known to gather in and meet with humans, but warns you that they might not enjoy your company.

Then he and Wanaxagoras walk backwards a way into the forest until you can no longer see them. Which is not a long distance, in fairness.

Beatrix then approaches you and shakes your hand.

“I am sorry that your efforts to avoid drinking that went so poorly, [PC FirstName]. Wanaxagoras told me, while Mita was distracted in telling you about…that place, about an easier route by which we may make our way beck to Academagia.”

Hoping that the alternative route will be easier on your feet, you let Beatrix lead you in what you hope is an appropriate direction in the imperial reserve. [+1 Stress, -1 Vitality, Inform location Satyrius, Advance to Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05B]

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Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05A

Any feedback about this would be welcome.

 

As you set off back for Academagia with Beatrix, you cannot help but think of the package for Professor Pachait that she acquired.

“Do you think that the package contains anything…illegal?” Beatrix’s trembling voice brings pleasure to your mind as you realize that she is thinking about what you think.

“Illegal? Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know, things that would get you in trouble if caught. Such as…tracts condemning the King of Auncesay, or some book urging that humans submit to dragons again, or…could it be Gates related, do you think? Or Mastery?”

“Beatrix, you think of the strangest things when listing illegal goods.”

“Really? How so?”

“Well, Zorzi and probably Miya would be talking about cheating at rimbal, Cirillo would talk about rigged games, and most other students would probably talk about alcohol or some scandal among the professors…the kind that the newspaper group would love to write about…except for Joana. She’d probably try to use the contents as Mastery against Phillippe! But you, you leap right into the type of exotic ideas that Professor Sido may talk about.”

“Well, since I do not know what is in this package that I carry, my imagination is the limit. But here.” Beatrix stops abruptly and thrusts the package towards you. “You try to figure out what is in this package. But whatever you do, do not breach the wrapping.”

With numb shock, you find yourself holding the mysterious package that Beatrix has been seeking for, and you have little idea how you would deduce its content without breaching the wrapping.

-          Figure out what is inside a package without opening the wrapping!? This is madness that you cannot do. [Auto]

You frantically pass the package back to Beatrix. “If you are so keen to discover what this package’s secret is, then you try to figure it out. That way, if you damage the wrapping and the wrapping is important, you will have full responsibility for it. I think that Professor Pachait would take a very dim view if you were to tell him in honesty ‘Yes, I know that I was told to bring the package to you with its wrapping intact, but I was curious about it, so I invited my friend [PCFullName] to investigate it, and that investigation damaged the package.’ We’d both get in trouble for that.”

Beatrix roughly takes back the package as she bites out a retort, “I thought you were braver and better than this, [PCLastName]! I thought that if both Phillippe and Joana were thinking of using you, you must have some skill that would be useful for figuring out Professor Pachait’s real goal in sending me here. But I guess that I cannot feel too bad; I would not dare to go against any professor who  trains strange dragon-like beasts either! Come; let us go back to Academagia now.”

You think that you may have done something right as you dissuaded Beatrix from her rashness, although you wish that you could have done it in a better way. So your heart is heavy as you return with Beatrix to Academagia. [+ 1 Stress, - 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 1 level Temperance, Advance to next stage]

-          Puzzles. How can information be concealed within this package? [Finesse, v 7]

[Success] You realize that the best way to deal with any puzzle is to try, very carefully, to figure out the shapes of the pieces. With this in mind, you carefully stroke the package with your finger tips and hands, trying to figure out what shapes lies beneath the wrapping. At first, you are disappointed. The wrapping seems merely to enclose a simple box whose hardness and weight strongly suggest wood. But then, you realize that your skin is stroking something else; the cloth that the box is wrapped in has small lumps and ridges. Figuring that investigating this is better that investigating nothing, you stroke the package again, this time focusing you attention upon the texture of the wrapping. Now you are able to discover patterns that do not seem accidental.

“Help me, Beatrix! The wrapping cloth for this package seems to be encoding things in its texture.”

Beatrix frowns, but when she places her hands where you indicate, she soon realizes that you are onto something. The two of you feel the package together for a few minutes before Beatrix shrieks in excitement.

“[PCFirstName]! You are so clever. These ridges, carefully blending into the wrapping, are…well, I am not exactly sure what all of them mean, but some of them are hidden numbers and letters. They seem to be a listing of satyr communities and their populations. We can now go to Professor Pachait and give him his package, but little will he know that we figured out his secret purpose in sending me out.”

“But what would be the need for such secrecy?”

“Who cares? You can never really understand the ways of a beast lover, eh? Now let’s give the good Professor his package!”

She then takes the package and the two of you advance out of the imperial reserve. But as you walk, you cannot help but think about the strange habits of beast lovers…including Beatrix von Wetgen. You also wonder why Professor Pachait would be so secretive about learning about satyr populations. Judging by how slowly Beatrix sometimes walks, you figure that she also must be lost in thought about this matter…as well, perhaps, as others, such as the purchase for herself that she never made. [- 1 Stress, + 1 ss Puzzles, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Add Memory Professor Pachait’s Purpose, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] You realize that the best way to deal with any puzzle is to try, very carefully, to figure out the shapes of the pieces. With this in mind, you carefully stroke the package with your finger tips and hands, trying to figure out what shapes lies beneath the wrapping. But you are disappointed. The wrapping seems merely to enclose a simple box whose hardness and weight strongly suggest wood.

“Sorry, Beatrix! I cannot figure out anything about any secret within this package.”

Beatrix frowns, but her own efforts to join you in feeling the package only cause her to sigh in disappointment.

“[PCFirstName], thank you for trying to help me in figuring out the secret behind Professor Pachait’s purchase. We can now go to Professor Pachait and give him his package, but he can rest assured that we were unable to figure out his secret purpose in sending me out.”

“But what would be the need for such secrecy?”

“Who cares? You can never really understand the ways of a beast lover, eh? Now let’s give the good Professor his package!”

She then takes the package and the two of you advance out of the imperial reserve. But as you walk, you cannot help but think about the strange habits of beast lovers…including Beatrix von Wetgen. You also wonder why Professor Pachait would be so secretive about this purchase from satyrs. Judging by how slowly Beatrix sometimes walks, you figure that she also must be lost in thought about this matter…as well, perhaps, as others, such as the purchase for herself that she never made. [+ 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

-          Cryptology. What ways might this package conceal hidden messages? [Intelligence, v 9]

[Success] You realize that there are many ways through which information may be hidden from unauthorized view. You also remember reading once about messages that are written with invisible ink. And would not the best way to conceal a message be to distract people with something else? Such as, in this case, a box containing innocuous material while the wrapping contains a hidden message? Nearly shaking with excitement at your reasoning, you carefully stroke the wrapping with your finger tips and hands, trying to figure out whether any differences in texture may indicate hidden messages or invisible ink. You are able to discover patterns that do not seem accidental. By following them, you are able to trace out words and numbers on various portions of the wrapping.

“Beatrix! I’ve figured out what the package is. It’s a distraction. The real hidden thing is a secret message in the wrapping. The message seems to list satyr communities and their populations.”

Beatrix frowns, but when she places her hands where you indicate, she soon realizes that you are onto something. The two of you feel the package together for a few minutes before Beatrix shrieks in excitement.

“[PCFirstName]! You are so clever. These ridges, carefully blending into the wrapping, are…well, I am not exactly sure what all of them mean, but you are right about some of them. We can now go to Professor Pachait and give him his package, but little will he know that we figured out his secret purpose in sending me out.”

“But what would be the need for such secrecy?”

“Who cares? You can never really understand the ways of a beast lover, eh? Now let’s give the good Professor his package!”

She then takes the package and the two of you advance out of the imperial reserve. But as you walk, you cannot help but think about the strange habits of beast lovers…including Beatrix von Wetgen. You also wonder why Professor Pachait would be so secretive about learning about satyr populations. Judging by how slowly Beatrix sometimes walks, you figure that she also must be lost in thought about this matter…as well, perhaps, as others, such as the purchase for herself that she never made. [- 1 Stress, + 1 ss Cryptology, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Add Memory Professor Pachait’s Purpose, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] You realize that there are many ways through which information may be hidden from unauthorized view. You also remember reading once about messages that are written with invisible ink. And would not the best way to conceal a message be to distract people with something else? Such as, in this case, a box containing innocuous material while the wrapping contains a hidden message? Nearly shaking with excitement at your reasoning, you carefully stroke the wrapping with your finger tips and hands, trying to figure out whether any differences in texture may indicate hidden messages or invisible ink. But you are unable to discover patterns that do not seem accidental.

“Sorry, Beatrix! I cannot figure out anything about any secret within this package.”

Beatrix frowns, but her own efforts to join you in feeling the package only cause her to sigh in disappointment.

“[PCFirstName], thank you for trying to help me in figuring out the secret behind Professor Pachait’s purchase. We can now go to Professor Pachait and give him his package, but he can rest assured that we were unable to figure out his secret purpose in sending me out.”

“But what would be the need for such secrecy?”

“Who cares? You can never really understand the ways of a beast lover, eh? Now let’s give the good Professor his package!”

She then takes the package and the two of you advance out of the imperial reserve. But as you walk, you cannot help but think about the strange habits of beast lovers…including Beatrix von Wetgen. You also wonder why Professor Pachait would be so secretive about this purchase from satyrs. Judging by how slowly Beatrix sometimes walks, you figure that she also must be lost in thought about this matter…as well, perhaps, as others, such as the purchase for herself that she never made. [+ 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

-          Cartography. Might this package conceal a map? [Insight, v 11]

[Success] You realize that there are many ways through which information may be hidden from unauthorized view. You also remember reading once about messages that are written with invisible ink. And would not the best way to conceal a message be to distract people with something else? Such as, in this case, a box containing innocuous material while the wrapping contains a hidden message? And would not the wrapping be of good enough size to contain a map? Nearly shaking with excitement at your reasoning, you carefully stroke the wrapping with your finger tips and hands, trying to figure out whether any differences in texture may indicate hidden messages or invisible ink. You are able to discover patterns that do not seem accidental. By following them, you are able to trace out a schematized map of satyr communities relative to Mineta, with labels indicating their names, populations, and distance in miles from each other.

“Beatrix! I’ve figured out what the package is. It’s a distraction. The real hidden thing is a map hidden in the wrapping. The map shows satyr communities relative to Mineta and their populations.”

Beatrix frowns, but when she places her hands where you indicate, she soon realizes that you are onto something. The two of you feel the package together for a few minutes before Beatrix shrieks in excitement.

“[PCFirstName]! You are so clever. These ridges, carefully blending into the wrapping, are indeed a map of the sort that explorers would use as a preliminary basis and guide to better maps. We can now go to Professor Pachait and give him his package, but little will he know that we figured out his entire secret purpose in sending me out.”

“But what would be the need for such secrecy?”

“Who cares? You can never really understand the ways of a beast lover, eh? Now let’s give the good Professor his package!”

She then takes the package and the two of you advance out of the imperial reserve. But as you walk, you cannot help but think about the strange habits of beast lovers…including Beatrix von Wetgen. You also wonder why Professor Pachait would be so secretive about learning about satyr populations and locations. Judging by how slowly Beatrix sometimes walks, you figure that she also must be lost in thought about this matter…as well, perhaps, as others, such as the purchase for herself that she never made. [- 1 Stress, + 1 level Cartography, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Add Memory Professor Pachait’s Purpose, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] You realize that there are many ways through which information may be hidden from unauthorized view. You also remember reading once about messages that are written with invisible ink. And would not the best way to conceal a message be to distract people with something else? Such as, in this case, a box containing innocuous material while the wrapping contains a hidden message? And would not the wrapping be of good enough size to contain a map? Nearly shaking with excitement at your reasoning, you carefully stroke the wrapping with your finger tips and hands, trying to figure out whether any differences in texture may indicate hidden messages or invisible ink. You are able to discover patterns that do not seem accidental, but they form a pattern like no map that you are familiar with.

“Sorry, Beatrix! I cannot figure out anything about any secret within this package.”

Beatrix frowns, but her own efforts to join you in feeling the package only cause her to sigh in disappointment.

“[PCFirstName], thank you for trying to help me in figuring out the secret behind Professor Pachait’s purchase. We can now go to Professor Pachait and give him his package, but he can rest assured that we were unable to figure out his secret purpose in sending me out.”

“But what would be the need for such secrecy?”

“Who cares? You can never really understand the ways of a beast lover, eh? Now let’s give the good Professor his package!”

She then takes the package and the two of you advance out of the imperial reserve. But as you walk, you cannot help but think about the strange habits of beast lovers…including Beatrix von Wetgen. You also wonder why Professor Pachait would be so secretive about this purchase from satyrs. Judging by how slowly Beatrix sometimes walks, you figure that she also must be lost in thought about this matter…as well, perhaps, as others, such as the purchase for herself that she never made. [+ 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

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1 minute ago, Metis said:

The story so far has made me raise an eyebrow, though in a good way.

Care to elaborate? I confess that I have not played Beatrix von Wetgen's main adventure all the way through, so I worry that I may have made her out of character. But I was and am so intrigued at her - a wanderer of the wilderness who is permitted to do so yet does not reveal why - so I thought that I would write an adventure that dealt with this aspect of her character without providing a definite answer.

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Seeing the pieces of the puzzle that are visible on the table, but not knowing how they fit together. It's an odd change from what I'm used to, which is either already knowing how an adventure's pieces fit, or for my own adventures as I'm working on them, knowing that the pieces don't fit until I get to the point where I have to figure out a way to make them fit.

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Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 05B

As usual, feedback is welcome.

 

As you head back towards Academagia with Beatrix von Wetgen, your mind tries to understand what you have just witnessed. But then you realize that it is easier to focus upon one issue in particular: what Beatrix was buying. After all, to try to figure out Professor Pachait’s plan would be risky, since he is a professor. But Beatrix is a fellow student, and your friend. You turn to Beatrix, who appears to be deep in thought.

”Hey, Beatrix, may I ask you a question?”

“If I were not wanting to be questioned, your request would make me upset,” she giggles. “But sure. Go ahead and ask me a question. I will not guarantee that I will answer it, though.”

“What did you purchase from those satyrs? And how much about satyrs do you know?”

Beatrix jerks in surprise, then sighs.

“One sizeable thing I know about satyrs. They sent us on a wrong route to Academagia!”

She stretches her arms forward, and you realize to your shock that the path that the two of you are traveling along is blocked by a curtain of vines.

“Can’t we try to find our way around this?”

“And risk wasting hours in possible detours? No thanks. I think that the better way would be for you to push me through the vines, then I will try to help you get through. Two bodies are better than one!”

You agree to her plan, and, pushing against her back, help her to squeeze through a gap in the vines. Then she sticks her arm through the vines.

“Are you ready to try to get through? I will try to pull you through.”

-          “Can’t you use revision to help me get through? You are a Morvidus student.” [Auto]

[PC in Morvidus] “And so are you, [PC LastName]! So why didn’t you try revising the vines away before I went through?”

“Um…you suggested a non-magical solution and I agreed.”

“If I were to suggest that you try to eat candy in front of Joana, would you do that? Seriously, if you had the idea then, you could have suggested it and we could have both worked on trying to revise our way through the vines. Let’s do that now together.”

With sighs of concentration, the two of you set to work, writing phemes that twist the vines into lattice work that forms a gap through which even a tall adult could fit. Then you walk through, grateful that you do not have to worry about vines striking your head and body. Beatrix is less pleased, though.

“Honestly, I wish you had reminded me of revision before hand. Obviously, all this walking and secret purchasing has destroyed my intelligence, but one benefit of having a friend should be to have another mind to think things through with. Now come, let’s go back to Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, and given her pace and recent anger at your thoughtlessness, seems unlikely to do so now. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [+ 1 Stress, + 1 ss Revision Spells, - 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage]

[PC not in Morvidus] “Oh gods, how foolish I was, [PC LastName]! All this secret purchasing effort…makes a girl distracted, you know?”

“Well, it’s not too late for you to use revision magic still.”

“Yes, let me get right to that.”

You hear her sigh in concentration before she sets to work, writing phemes that twist the vines into lattice work that forms a gap through which a child or short adult could fit. Then you walk through, grateful that you do not have to worry about vines striking your head and body. Beatrix grins at you.

“Thank you very much for that reminder. Obviously, all this walking and secret purchasing has destroyed my intelligence, but one benefit of having a friend is having another mind to think things through with. Now come, let’s go back to Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, so you decide to try to ask her.

“So, um, Beatrix, what were you purchasing? From the satyrs, I mean? Back at our meeting?”

She gives a little sobbing sigh. “I suppose that I have really set myself up for this, haven’t I? I am a mystery – a student with free access to the imperial reserve – engaged in an enigmatic errand – purchasing a package for Professor Pachait that he justifies with a ridiculous story – and bringing back something for myself that I do not want to reveal to my friend whom I invited to come with me. I suppose that no amount of distracting obstacles could conceal the mysteriousness of my purchase from you.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“If I do that, you’ll doubtlessly somehow cause – accidently or on purpose, I don’t care - Rikildis and her swarm of friends – or worse yet, Lambert – to know that I was purchasing this for myself in great secrecy, and then the rumours will fly! A date? A lost scion of some great family? Secretly studying Gates or Mastery? Plotting with Vernin or Aranaz? Where would such rumours end? And how many of them would my…family believe, or the Praetexta Council? So no, I had better tell you, and if you want, you can tell the whole of the Empire of Man! If you want, you could even tell Malthezar, and let him take the tale of what Beatrix buys to Alesfa and beyond. Maybe Miya can even be telling more than one hair’s tip of truth about herself, in which case, go ahead! Tell her, and she can tell it to the dragon kings of her homeland!” Beatrix is shouting by the end of her speech, and she pants with exhaustion afterwards. But then she grins and laughs a bit.

“Honestly, the absurdity that is public opinion is almost enough to make one wish one could be like Uliva’s serpent, shedding its old, worn-out skin. But I am the human Beatrix, and I bought from the satyrs a book about pacifism.”

She pulls a book from beneath her cloak, and you see that it is leather-bound – in the skin of what creature you cannot clearly tell – and bears in copper lettering upon its cover the simple word “Pax”.

“That’s it? So much secrecy over a book about peace? Why?”

Her eyes flash a bit with anger, but then she laughs again. “It would not be good to begin studying this subject by getting angry with a friend, would it? No, I bought this book in such secrecy because I do not want to be linked to that flower-festooned fellow female Eliana Carosi. I cannot stand that one, and there would be bad consequences if people – who already seem to confuse us when they do not assume us to be the best of friends – were to think that that girl influenced me.”

“Why would it matter if people were to think you influenced by Eliana?”

“Umm, because I bathe regularly, wear shoes when not in coldest winter, and do not adorn my body with flowers. Seriously, just because we’re friends does not mean that we have to know everything about each other. Now come on – let’s go back to Academagia.”

As you head back to Academagia, you realize that even though you now know much more about Beatrix than you did before – such as why she went out in such secrecy to meet with satyrs – you still know very little about why she has such freedom of movement in the land surrounding Academagia. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [+ 1 level Revision Methods, + 1 level Revision Phemes, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Add memory Beatrix’s Secret, Advance to next stage]

-          Brute Strength. Just push hard against the vines. [Strength, v 7]

[Success] As easily as Phillippe Marchant charging against a foe, as easily as Joana Lio y Rossollo punching a girl who approaches Phillipe, so you advance through the vines, which seem to impede you less than glamours or the pleas of Avila alumnae that their college remain open for women only.

Beatrix looks impressed at you after you are done. “I barely needed to pull you through that. You are useful to have as a strong friend. Now come; we are nearly back at Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, and given her pace, seems unlikely to do so now. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [+ 1 level Brute Strength, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] As easily as Prudence Cossins winning a fight that she starts, as easily as Girars de Periarde convincing one of his friends to become vegetarian, so you struggle through the vines, which seem to impede you more than negation spells that increase your limbs’ weight or the insistence of Legate Orsi that First Year students cannot date without punishment.

Beatrix looks sympathetically at you after you are done. “I am glad that we were able to help each other get through that. Those vines were thick and their gaps were small. Now come; we are nearly back at Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, and given her pace, seems unlikely to do so now. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [- 1 Vitality, + 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

-          Wrestling. Struggle through the vines. [Fitness, v 9]

[Success] Applying your skill at wrestling may be strange when you are dealing with vines – if nothing else, they are much different in shape than the human body – but you are able to make it work, slipping and squeezing through the vines while avoiding letting them get a good grip upon your body.

Beatrix looks impressed at you after you are done. “That was an interesting approach that you used that made my pulling much easier. You are useful to have as an effective friend. Now come; we are nearly back at Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, and given her pace, seems unlikely to do so now. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [+ 1 level wrestling, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] Applying your skill at wrestling is very difficult when you are dealing with vines – if nothing else, they are much different in shape than the human body – and you are unable to make it work. All of your efforts to avoid getting entangled in the vines seem to have the opposite effect, and it if only through Beatrix’s pulling on your arm that you are finally able to get through.

Beatrix looks sympathetically at you after you are done. “I am glad that we were able to help each other get through that. Those vines were thick and their gaps were small. Now come; we are nearly back at Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [- 1 Vitality, + 1 Stress, Advance to next stage]

-          Acrobatics. Try a subtle approach. [Finesse, v 11]

[Success] You decide that getting through the vines should be done  in a way that is not only successful but stylish – and what could be more stylish than using the vines as if they were trapeze wires to swing through? You tell Beatrix to let go of your hand, and, using both hands, you take hold of a thick vine, make sure that it is securely attached to the tree and can bear your weight, and then run a bit back from the curtain of vines with your chosen vine still in your hands. Then you jump forward, and try to guide the vine with your body’s weight so that you swing completely through the other vines. The swing is tense, but to your great joy you make it through, after which you drop to the ground beside a startled Beatrix.

Beatrix looks at you after you are done with wide, stunned eyes. “That was incredible. Had I not seen that with my own eyes, and felt the vines and your body with my own flesh, I would have dismissed your feat as another one of Miya’s stories, like the one she tells about maidens dancing before dragons to avoid being sacrificed. Now if you or she were to tell me that you had helped Joana earn Phillippe’s undying love, I would consider believing it! Now come; we are nearly back at Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, so you decide to ask her about that.

“So, um, Beatrix, what were you purchasing? From the satyrs, I mean? Back at our meeting?”

She gives a little sobbing sigh. “I suppose that I have really set myself up for this, haven’t I? I am a mystery – a student with free access to the imperial reserve – engaged in an enigmatic errand – purchasing a package for Professor Pachait that he justifies with a ridiculous story – and bringing back something for myself that I do not want to reveal to my friend whom I invited to come with me. I suppose that no amount of distracting obstacles could conceal the mysteriousness of my purchase from you.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“If I do that, you’ll doubtlessly somehow cause – accidently or on purpose, I don’t care - Rikildis and her swarm of friends – or worse yet, Lambert – to know that I was purchasing this for myself in great secrecy, and then the rumours will fly! A date? A lost scion of some great family? Secretly studying Gates or Mastery? Plotting with Vernin or Aranaz? Where would such rumours end? And how many of them would my…family believe, or the Praetexta Council? So no, I had better tell you, and if you want, you can tell the whole of the Empire of Man! If you want, you could even tell Malthezar, and let him take the tale of what Beatrix buys to Alesfa and beyond. Maybe Miya can even be telling more than one hair’s tip of truth about herself, in which case, go ahead! Tell her, and she can tell it to the dragon kings of her homeland!” Beatrix is shouting by the end of her speech, and she pants with exhaustion afterwards. But then she grins and laughs a bit.

“Honestly, the absurdity that is public opinion is almost enough to make one wish one could be like Uliva’s serpent, shedding its old, worn-out skin. But I am the human Beatrix, and I bought from the satyrs a book about pacifism.”

She pulls a book from beneath her cloak, and you see that it is leather-bound – in the skin of what creature you cannot clearly tell – and bears in copper lettering upon its cover the simple word “Pax”.

“That’s it? So much secrecy over a book about peace? Why?”

Her eyes flash a bit with anger, but then she laughs again. “It would not be good to begin studying this subject by getting angry with a friend, would it? No, I bought this book in such secrecy because I do not want to be linked to that flower-festooned fellow female Eliana Carosi. I cannot stand that one, and there would be bad consequences if people – who already seem to confuse us when they do not assume us to be the best of friends – were to think that that girl influenced me.”

“Why would it matter if people were to think you influenced by Eliana?”

“Umm, because I bathe regularly, wear shoes when not in coldest winter, and do not adorn my body with flowers. Seriously, just because we’re friends does not mean that we have to know everything about each other. Now come on – let’s go back to Academagia.”

As you head back to Academagia, you realize that even though you now know much more about Beatrix than you did before – such as why she went out in such secrecy to meet with satyrs – you still know very little about why she has such freedom of movement in the land surrounding Academagia. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [+ 1 level Acrobatics, + 1 level Flawless Timing, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Add memory Beatrix’s Secret, Advance to next stage]

[Failure] You decide that getting through the vines should be done  in a way that is not only successful but stylish – and what could be more stylish than using the vines as if they were trapeze wires to swing through? You tell Beatrix to let go of your hand, and, using both hands, you take hold of a thick vine, make sure that it is securely attached to the tree and can bear your weight, and then run a bit back from the curtain of vines with your chosen vine still in your hands. Then you jump forward, and try to guide the vine with your body’s weight so that you swing completely through the other vines. The swing is tense, and ultimately a failure, as your vine gets tangled in other vines, which slap you very harshly. Beatrix is forced to grab your leg and pull you completely through and down.

Beatrix looks at you with a mixture of sympathy and exasperation after you are done. “Sometimes boldness is not the best way to take, especially when the bold option is not prudent. I am glad that we were able to help each other get through that. Those vines were thick and their gaps were small. Now come; we are nearly back at Academagia.”

As the two of you return to Academagia, you realize that Beatrix has not answered your earlier questions about her purchases, and given her pace, seems unlikely to do so now. Still, you think, it is all right for everyone to have secrets; you just hope that she did not deliberately lead you into the vines to serve as a distraction from your curiosity. [- 1 Vitality, + 1 Stress, - 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, Advance to next stage]

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Non-Adventures of Young Orso Orsi (10)

 

Professor Briardi sighs and says, “Well, Prudence and Flore, that was certainly an…informative presentation about Legate Orsi. I hope that you both learned something from it.”

The class laughs, but Briardi motions the students to silence.

“I’ll say we did,” Prudence replies cheerfully. “We learned that researching great people such as Orso Orsi can be interesting and teach valuable life lessons.”

“Such as how to run a good political campaign without being an inspiring leader or having a coherent platform,” Flore chimes in.

“Or how to achieve much success with minimum effort, leaving much time for relaxation,” Prudence says.

“Yeah. Hey…Cossins, whe – I mean if we get in trouble again, maybe we could research another professor together.”

"Doing this was certainly a lot more fun than detention, and a lot more informative," Prudence enthusiastically agrees.

“I will give no more alternatives to detention like this again,” Briardi says. “After this, I will find all detentions to be much more relaxing. Thank you for your presentation, girls. Now, let us resume our regular lesson plan.”

As the rest of the class groans, Prudence says, “If all of our assignments were as interesting as this one was, I would find lessons more interesting.”

“Don’t push your luck, Miss Cossins,” Briardi snaps.

Edited by Rhialto
I changed Regent to Legate.
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@Legate of Mineta: I have edited the Relaxation 10 Research lore again. This is the final version from me.

@Metis: I have written the final chapter of the adventure. It is more reactive than the other ones and so too much longer.

Wandering with Beatrix von Wetgen 06

 

Absorbed in thought by what you have experienced, it takes you a while to realize that Beatrix and you are no longer within the imperial reserve, but instead back within the campus of Academagia. Beatrix, however, soon reveals that she is not so slow-witted.

“Thank you very much for helping me during that trip through the imperial reserve, [PC Name]. I hope that it was enjoyable for you. I certainly delight in walking through the wilderness, even when said walking is motivated to some degrees by…other concerns.”

“Hmm, yes, I think that I enjoyed that walk. A pity we had so many interruptions. The fight, the satyrs, the vines…and that is not counting the mysteries that we had to deal with related to Professor Pachait.”

“Yeah…about Professor Pachait…do you think you could help me to take…what he wants to his office? That way, no person could accuse me of trying to hide your involvement in this scheme from him.”

“I guess.”

The two of you then head into the building where his office is located. As Beatrix approaches his door, you notice her getting tenser.

“Why the tension, Beatrix? Will he be angry at us, do you think, for making the purchase as a pair rather than with you alone?”

“Maybe, but I think not. I am more concerned about the proximity of his office to that of Regent-Professor Storey. Not only is the Regent-Professor constantly scheming and often opposed to Professor Pachait, but his office, with its obvious secrets, attracts strange students. The type who want to become spies, or are trying to locate a secret course in espionage that rumour says Academagia teaches, or who are convinced that they can read his papers and become great mages in secret magics. Those and other types of people tend to skulk around his office, and they creep me out. They may also spread rumours to the Logodedalo's Roar or worse…and that is not even counting the rumour that one of them is the Quiet Girl.”

“You think much about the woes that could be at a place that is not even where we are going.”

“True, but…Ah, here we are at Professor Pachait’s door.”

Beatrix raps upon the door in a pattern, and a booming voice comes from within.

“Ah! A student asking for something. I do hope that I can interest you in the time I trapped a bear…”

Footsteps advance and the door is jerked open, revealing Professor Pachait’s smiling face. Looking at you, his smile grows broader.

“Miss von Wetgen, I am so glad that you brought a friend. Does [PC LastName] want to hear about the joys of bear hunting?”

“Actually, professor, I brought [PC FirstName] with me as a trusted friend to help me in purchasing…what you asked me to buy for you.”

“Shh, not so loud in talking about the satyr scent! As for you, [PC FirstName], I trust Beatrix, and that means that Beatrix’s trust in you is all right in my mind. No worries. Now, the perfume for the payment, if you please.”

Beatrix hands over the package and he hands her a small pouch with his left hand as he takes the package with his right hand. “Enjoy the money, Beatrix and [PC FirstName]! Try not to fight over dividing it, and beware of bears!”

His booming laugh is cut off as he slams the door shut.

Beatrix looks at you before saying “That was quicker and smoother than I thought it would be. Let us get out of here.”

The two of you are walking away from Professor Pachait’s office when you hear a thud behind you. Beatrix turns around, and you hear a mixture of groans and laughter. Puzzled, you turn around and see a dusty and bruised Lambert Cobo rising from the floor, wearing a grey cloak and looking very pleased with himself.

“Lambert,” Beatrix sighs, barely holding back laughter, “I thought that Miya’s story of the mage who pretended to be a gibbon in order to spy upon enemies was crazy enough, but you seem to be giving me more reason to believe her. Using negation magic to float up to the ceiling and a grey cloak to blend in with the stonework? Are you really that desperate to find evidence for whatever half-cooked, probably anti-Aranaz, conspiracy you are investigating now? Or are you thinking of a career in theater if the Praetexta Court kick you out for being nosy enough to be noticed but not nosy enough to gain useful information?”

“Beatrix von Wetgen, [PC FullName],” Lambert tries to speak with smug dignity, which he almost manages even as he wipes more dust from his body and rearranges his clothes. “I would not dismiss my efforts as being half-cooked. Through my spying here, I learned about the two of you and your secret sale of satyr scent to Professor Pachait. And that is not to discount my other investigations! I am currently pursuing some absolutely fascinating research into the Silent Girl, I am almost on the verge of exposing a secret society of teachers of the frowned upon magics of drama, I have gathered convincing evidence that Aranaz’s deceptions are often plotted by a certain male student, and the secret friendship and conspiracies between Joana and Philippe are – Stop laughing!”

But Beatrix cannot restrain herself from laughing any more. “O, Lambert, you are so paranoid! The Quiet Girl is interesting, there may be secret teachers within this school, and Aranaz probably has some schemers. But Philippe and Joana as secret friends! That is too much! I would sooner believe that Magsa and Tabin – one of those hyper-intelligent Aranaz students whom you are so afraid of – are sworn brothers before I would believe that Philippe and Joana have any secrets not related to Joana’s trying to use astrology to bind them in some way.”

“Well, if you want to mock me, then let me expose you! I am sure that many people would love to hear about your visiting Professor Pachait to sell him perfume. I will not pretend to want to help the Logodedalo's Roar – incompetent pro-Aranaz propaganda, even if one writer is from Hedi – but others I could share this with. Your regent. Other professors. Your family.”

Beatrix’s horrified gasped is interrupted  by the brisk clicking of footsteps behind you. Lambert’s eyes widen in shock.

“Professor…I…Beatrix, nothing wrong was happening here, right, Beatrix? Just a little light-hearted joking.”

“Aymeri Couer,” Professor Marlein Knoht strides forward, nearly bumping into the now very nervous-looking Lambert. “Or are you Lambert Cobo? I can never remember. Anyway, which ever you are, stop harassing poor Miss Carosi here.”

“Um…” Beatrix frowns, her face caught between relief and annoyance, but Lambert is ready to seize whatever advantage he has.

“Professor, you must be confusing me for an Aranaz student and schemer. As a proud up-holder of the best traditions of King Durand, I would never stoop so low as to –”

“Lambert and Aymeri would be better suited as collegemates and friends, they are so alike, yet you – which ever one you are – persist in being a rival to the other. I don’t have time or desire to sort out which of you is the spy now – you are wearing Durand robes, but I cannot now remember which one belongs to which college. Your fear and falling I shall deem punishment enough. Now go! I have to discuss things with Carosi and [RandomStudentLastNamenotfromMorvidusnotPCLastName]. Or would you like to receive double detentions for the two people whom you might be?”

Lambert yelps in terror and flees with great speed. Professor Knoht sighs and shakes her head.

“I’ve probably created half a gross of rumours through my attempted kindness here. Still, maybe this will stop at least one of the spies from the student body from spying so much. Now come. Carosi, [RandomStudentLastNamenotfromMorvidusnotPCLastName], I have received some strange news about you.”

Feeling trapped, the two of you follow Professor Knoht as she leads you…where will she lead you, actually? Your thought that you might be led to two professors’ offices in one day is destroyed when she leads you into an empty class room and sits down at a desk, indicating that both of you are to remain standing in front of her.

“This is the Incantation class room. I much prefer thinking here rather than any other place in the school.”

Beatrix brightens when she realizes where she is, and she says “Yes, I study incantation under you, Professor. I am actually Beatrix von Wetgen, not,” and here her lip briefly twists a bit in contempt, “Eliana Carosi. Though I admit that our love of wilderness wanderings makes us seem similar.”

“Ah, yes, I though you were smelling pleasanter than she does. And you are wearing shoes. But who, Miss von Wetgen, is your companion on this…troubled trip that was reported to me?”

“This is [PC FullName], but - ”

“Say nothing about who bore more blame until you know what I will say. Maybe I want to praise the two of you – have you considered that?”

Both of you are so startled that you only manage to choke out “Praise – professor, why?”

“I was called upon to deal with Incanted fireworks being sent towards the imperial reserve, and the girl who was doing that – Patience, if I recall right – said that she was doing it to drive back entities who had been harassing her within the reserve. So I thought that knowledge about what went on within the Imperial Reserve was more important than skillful use of Incantation magic – after all, Patience was carefully jetting out any sparks that landed upon the ground or trees – so I contacted the rangers, and the rangers told me that one of them had seen students of your description intervening to prevent a fight between Patience and…what was her name? Basia, I think. So I assigned detention to both students because neither had permission to be in the imperial reserve, and fighting while using fire in a forest – even Patience could have been burned alive there! But both of you stopped the fight, as well as what could have been a major loss of life and property. So I was thinking that I should reward you.”

Beatrix looks stunned, and mouths out the words “Reward us, professor?”

“But then I realized that the two of you were apparently engaged in some smuggling for Professor…Pachait, right? Now, smuggling may be acceptable, such as when one wants to bring legal yet intimate correspondence from the mail box to one’s writing desk without arousing rumors or distraction, or it may be unacceptable, such as bringing powerful books about gates magic to one’s friend, a powerful mage. I am not wanting to inquire into another professor’s affairs, but I think that the two of you should be taught to use your legs for less covert activity. A well-centered, well-controlled, well-trained mind is more of a treasure than a fit body, especially when that body is used to smuggle things for other people. As a professor not associated with rimbal or athletics, I can and must instruct both of you mentally. So I figure that the best way for me to do this would be to give you a light punishment of your choosing. Nothing formally related to your actions in smuggling, of course, but you can well remember why you were punished, I think?”

The trailing question in Professor Knoht’s voice, in combination with her repeated inability to remember names, makes you realize how strange this all is – a professor with a flawed memory trusting – no, hoping – that her students have better memories than she does. Shouldn’t it be the other way around, with professors assuming that their students are less competent? But Beatrix cuts short your thoughts with a sigh.

“Professor, I was paid money for this smuggling. I shall give it all to [PC FullName] in your presence. And I today shall wear no shoes and adorn myself with flowers and try to hang out with Eliana Carosi.”

Professor Knoht’s eyes widen, and she strokes one hand through her messy hair, murmuring “Gods, what a problem! Yet more difficulty in telling them apart.” But then she jerks and lowers her hand and says, in a normal voice, “Yes, that seems reasonable. Now give [PC FullName] the money pouch and go.”

Beatrix hands you the money pouch and leaves the room, looking nervously at you before closing the door.

Professor Knoht then stares at you for a while, saying nothing, and your mind boils with emotions. Is she thinking of what she wants you to do? Does she want you to address Prudence by her name without a wand and ask her to punch you? Does she want you to eat candy in front of Joana? Does she want you to help Lambert and Aymeri in their strange and incompetent spying and attempts to uncover secrets?

Your thoughts are cut short when Professor Knoht giggles. What does this mean?

“O [PC FullName], [PC FirstName]…[PC LastName] – I really must remember your name from now on. Thank you for helping me to have some waking excitement in my life that does not involve staggering away from the Fires of Creation, wondering whether the wine or other issues are causing me more forgetting of what I talked about with the alleged Retired Regent of Godina, or risking life in battle! That von Wetgen girl, she has secrets, probably within her bones, and I wish that I could crack her open and read her secrets. But I have no such luck in that, and probably would not remember her secret if I could discover it. But I must give you some punishment now, lest others think that I have some vendetta against her. So, choose your punishment.”

You are really not knowing how to reply, but then you have to make a choice.

-          “I can be a torch-bearer and attendant to you at the Fires of Creation once.” [auto]

 

She sighs. “Very well, but do not expect me to help you get any alcohol. You are a student. But wear inconspicuous clothing.”

A few hours later, while the sky is dark, you hear knocking at your dorm-room door. You rouse yourself from bed, slip into street clothes, and slip to the door. Opening it, you see Professor Knoht dressed similarly. She slips you a torch and beckons for you to follow her. You light the torch with a quick incantation and follow her out of Academagia and through the streets of Mineta. The Fires of Creation is not a very imposing place, despite its name – although arguably no place could live up to  that name – but Professor Knoht walks through its rather shabby entrance with the mien of one used to entering it. After you extinguish your torch, you follow her in. The interior is dark and smoky, litten by poorly placed torches, but Professor Knoht again hesitates not before she sits down at a table. As you approach the table, she tells you that your job is to watch her and purchase the wines that she wants.

You soon learn that she wants only one wine – but a bottle of it, and since the bottle is sealed when you buy it and she glares at its neck to make sure that it is sealed when you bring it over to her, you have no opportunity to taste it. She, however, does more than taste it. Yet despite her constant consumption of the wine, she does not embarrass herself. Rather, she takes out her wand and, with only a little slurring near the end, talks to you about the beauty of incantation magic. When she has drained the bottle of its last drops, she stands up and walks out of the place with only a slight weave to her walk, after which you light her way back to the campus with your torch. Once she has reached the campus, she turns to you and says “At times like this, I realized that incantation magic is making it all worth-while. If only I did not have to keep track of so many students!” Then she gives a gasping giggle and rushes away, calling out farewells to you. The bed to which you return is not is not a shelter for long enough as the sun and rousing students awaken you. Nonetheless, you think that you have gained much insight into Professor Marlein Knoht, even though you have not been able to gain an understanding of Beatrix von Wetgen or Professor Pachait. [+ 1 level Minetan Swagger, + 1 level Temperance, + 1 level Theory of Incantation, + 1 level Incantation Spells, + 5 Relationship Marlein Knoht, + 5 Stress, + 70 pims, inform location Fires of Creation, End adventure]

-          [PC has Memory Professor Pachait’s Purpose] “I can tell you what Professor Pachait was wanting from us.” [auto]

 

“Really?” Professor Knoht sounds skeptical.

“Yes. Beatrix and I felt the package, and we learned that the content of the package is a distraction – the real value is what the wrapping cloth conceals.  And that is a list of satyr communities and their populations and –”

“Ahh,” Professor Knoht groans. “So the Professor was purchasing a map of the satyr communities. A hidden map, of the type spies often use. Tell me, [PC FirstName], do you have any idea about why this type of information would be so sensitive?”

“No.”

“Satyrs are a secretive type. Certainly, many of them like to be in close proximity to humans – go to Satyrius if you want to see many like that – but they like their privacy. Many of them fear that if the precise locations and populations of all of their settlements were known, then it would be only a short while before their subjugation as tax-payers and subjects of levies. And that would reduce their freedom and culture, and they do not want that. So they take a dim view of any who try to discover their communities and populations, unless the census be taken at Satyrius only.”

“Why would Professor Pachait care about Satyr populations?”

“That’s one of his jobs, aside from teaching zoology and supervising animals. He has made some amazing deals with werewolves, so I guess that he has now made a similar deal with satyrs. That professor has many talents. Ah, I wish that I could talk to you about more of this, but you cannot talk your way out of a punishment. You reveal yourself to be very shrewd, so I will let you…clean my quarters!”

She leads you to her quarters, which are in Bel Alze Tower. They are as messy and disheveled as their occupant. She tells you that you cannot in any circumstances open any doors that are closed, but aside from that, you should dust, tidy, and clean. Her rooms are surprisingly sparsely occupied, once the dust is removed and the bedding re-established in orderliness. There are no books that you can see, though they might be hidden within the numerous sealed cabinets. The only touch of Professor Knoht’s personality that you notice – for all of the furniture and much of the bedding is Academagian standard – is an Ivrian quilt upon her bed. But you would not dare to investigate it or any other thing in Professor Knoht’s quarters too closely, because she is constantly watching you.

“Thank you for helping me clean my quarters, [PC FullName]. They really needed to be cleaned, and you did that so well. Now run off, be a good student, and be careful about getting involved in smuggling. And if you ever need help from me, I am available.” [+ 1 level Aesthetics, + 1 level Temperance, + 1 level Politics, + 10 Relationship Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, inform location Bel Alze Tower, End adventure]

-          [PC has Memory Beatrix’s Secret] “Professor Pachait was not the only person who wanted a secret purchase from the imperial reserve.” [auto]

 

[PC has Completed Adventure The House in the Bog]

 

“Really?” Professor Knoht sounds excited.

“Yes. Beatrix bought a book about peace – a really beautiful book – but she was trying to keep it secret from everyone because she fears that she will be accused of being like Eliana Carosi.”

“Ahh,” Professor Knoht groans. “So Beatrix recognizes something about the difficulty surrounding distinguishing her from Carosi. Tell me, [PC FirstName], do you have any idea why Beatrix might be so unwilling to be mistaken for Eliana?”

“I imagine that she must have some reason for thinking so that makes sense to her, and maybe it makes sense to others as well.” Your mind is carried back to that time when you followed your parents’ instructions and went into the bog, and learned secrets that you dare not reveal to even your closest clique-mate – secrets that have taught you that there are few limits that you should place upon ensuring that you are alone when you go into the bog and gain some measure of comfort from what others might fear and would probably kill you for. Maybe Beatrix has some secret like that, except limited to Eliana.

“People have various reasons why they do not want to be thought to be conforming to other people’s ways of living. Some may truly desire to be thought independent, and others want to be regarded as leaders rather than followers of others.”

“What about Beatrix and Eliana?”

“Even if I could, I am not about to reveal anything that your friend Beatrix does not want to reveal to you – they are her secrets that she is entitled to keep. As for Eliana, she acts like a holy person, but holy people are not regarded well by the non-holy – may people would prefer to leave divine love and divinely encouraged peace out of their hateful, violent calculations in life. Plus, Eliana smells in a way that her flowers cannot conceal. Maybe Beatrix just prefers friends who bathe or use stronger perfume. I wish that I could talk to you about more of this, but you cannot talk your way out of a punishment. You reveal yourself to be very shrewd, so I will let you…clean my quarters!”

She leads you to her quarters, which are in Bel Alze Tower. They are as messy and disheveled as their occupant. She tells you that you cannot in any circumstances open any doors that are closed, but aside from that, you should dust, tidy, and clean. Her rooms are surprisingly sparsely occupied, once the dust is removed and the bedding re-established in orderliness. There are no books that you can see, though they might be hidden within the numerous sealed cabinets. The only touch of Professor Knoht’s personality that you notice – for all of the furniture and much of the bedding is Academagian standard – is an Ivrian quilt upon her bed. But you would not dare to investigate it or any other thing in Professor Knoht’s quarters too closely, because she is constantly watching you.

“Thank you for helping me clean my quarters, [PC FullName]. They really needed to be cleaned, and you did that so well. Now run off, be a good student, and be careful about getting involved in smuggling. And if you ever need help from me, I am available.” [+ 1 level Aesthetics, + 1 Stress, + 1 level Temperance, +1 level Danger Sense, + 10 Relationship Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, inform location Bel Alze Tower, End adventure]

[PC has not Completed Adventure The House in the Bog]

 

“Really?” Professor Knoht sounds excited.

“Yes. Beatrix bought a book about peace – a really beautiful book – but she was trying to keep it secret from everyone because she fears that she will be accused of being like Eliana Carosi.”

“Ahh,” Professor Knoht groans. “So Beatrix recognizes something about the difficulty surrounding distinguishing her from Carosi. Tell me, [PC FirstName], do you have any idea why Beatrix might be so unwilling to be mistaken for Eliana?”

“I imagine that she must have some reason for thinking so that makes sense to her, and maybe it makes sense to others as well.” Although you are trying to be non-committal, you think that the reason may be Eliana’s smelliness, love of flowers, and pacifism, all of which Beatrix seems to be repulsed by.

“People have various reasons why they do not want to be thought to be conforming to other people’s ways of living. Some may truly desire to be thought independent, and others want to be regarded as leaders rather than followers of others.”

“What about Beatrix and Eliana?”

“Even if I could, I am not about to reveal anything that your friend Beatrix does not want to reveal to you – they are her secrets that she is entitled to keep. As for Eliana, she acts like a holy person, but holy people are not regarded well by the non-holy – may people would prefer to leave divine love and divinely encouraged peace out of their hateful, violent calculations in life. Plus, Eliana smells in a way that her flowers cannot conceal. Maybe Beatrix just prefers friends who bathe or use stronger perfume. I wish that I could talk to you about more of this, but you cannot talk your way out of a punishment. You reveal yourself to be very shrewd, so I will let you…clean my quarters!”

She leads you to her quarters, which are in Bel Alze Tower. They are as messy and disheveled as their occupant. She tells you that you cannot in any circumstances open any doors that are closed, but aside from that, you should dust, tidy, and clean. Her rooms are surprisingly sparsely occupied, once the dust is removed and the bedding re-established in orderliness. There are no books that you can see, though they might be hidden within the numerous sealed cabinets. The only touch of Professor Knoht’s personality that you notice – for all of the furniture and much of the bedding is Academagian standard – is an Ivrian quilt upon her bed. But you would not dare to investigate it or any other thing in Professor Knoht’s quarters too closely, because she is constantly watching you.

“Thank you for helping me clean my quarters, [PC FullName]. They really needed to be cleaned, and you did that so well. Now run off, be a good student, and be careful about getting involved in smuggling. And if you ever need help from me, I am available.” [+ 1 level Aesthetics, + 1 Stress, + 1 level Temperance, +1 level Perfumes, + 10 Relationship Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, inform location Bel Alze Tower, End adventure]

-          [PC has Completed Prudence Cossins’s Y1 Adventure] “Please do not let Prudence suffer alone.” [auto]

 

[If male PC]

 

“Whom are you referring to?”

“The girl whom you investigated for firing incantation-enhanced firecrackers in the direction of the imperial reserve.”

“O, don’t you mean Patience…but no, I guess you are right. You are very loyal to your friend Prudence, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends…and nothing more yet. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

“So, what did you do to get into the presence of this…”

“Both of you, come in. There will be no talking. Write these words.” Regent-Professor von Rupprecht opens the door to his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two little books have been prepared.

As far as detentions go, you and Prudence do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from his books (hers an account of a journey to Oursouk, yours a copy of a journey to Alesfa) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Prudence begins. “WHY ARE YOU IN DETENTION NOW?”

“LONG STORY. I WAS 1 OF THOSE WHO CAUGHT YOU & LOUISE FIGHTING IN THE RESERVE, & IT WENT FROM THERE. I HAD TO BE PUNISHED FOR THAT TRIP INTO THE RESERVE SO I ENDED UP HERE.” You reply.

“THANKS! I WAS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE LOUISE TO JOIN THE BELONGING BRETHREN, BUT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO JOIN EVEN THAT. BITTER, CRAZY GIRL. & WHEN I TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER SHE…WELL, THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A HELP TO ME.”

“IF SHE DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW THE GOODNESS WITHIN YOU, THAT IS HER PROBLEM.”

“YA, & YOU HELPED ME TO BRING IT OUT. THE WORLD IS CONFUSING, WITH ITS LOUISES & ITS RIMBAL PLAYERS & ITS CONFORMITY, BUT YOU & I & SOME FRIENDLY AUTHORITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY, & WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF.”

“& WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF NOW. WE WILL SOON BE DONE THESE COPYING THESE BOOKS.”

“I’D BETTER ADD TO YOUR PUNISHMENT, TO KEEP TO MY PRUDENCE REPUTATION. SO…I’LL TELL YOU VERY CLEARLY THAT WE WERE NOT FIGHTING OVER WHICH 1 OF US WOULD GET TO DATE YOU DURING Y3!”

“& I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE PERSON WITH ME IN THE RESERVE WAS FLORE!”

“AM I JUST ANOTHER BLONDE DURAND GIRL WHO IS BAD AT DIALECTIC TO YOU? & ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“I JOKE. I WAS WITH BEATRIX, BUT ONLY BECAUSE SHE KNOWS THE IMPERIAL RESERVE LIKE HER HAND. & YOU ARE BETTER THAN FLORE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DISRUPTING CLASS IN A BORING WAY. SHE COULD USE YOUR LOVE OF PEBBLES.”

“& I COULD USE LAMBERT, PERHAPS, TO SHOW ME HOW TO BE SNEAKY AGAINST ARANAZ. MAYBE I COULD LIVE UP TO MY NAME.”

“THE DRAGONS WOULD BECOME CATTLE TO US BEFORE THAT, PRU! YOU WERE THIS AFTERNOON SHOOTING FIRECRACKERS INTO THE RESERVE & BABBLING ABOUT PEOPLE SPYING ON YOU FROM THE RESERVE WHO HAD TO BE FRIGHTENED AWAY!”

“WELL, INCANTATION SPELLS ARE FUN FOR ME TO USE WHEN I AM ALONE, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT BEING PURSUED. I JUST GAVE THE FIRST EXPLANATION THAT POPPED INTO MY MIND, HOPING THAT IT WOULD DELAY OR REDUCE MY PUNISHMENT IF THEY THOUGHT ME TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“LITTLE GOOD THAT DID FOR YOU.”

“NOT SO! MY PUNISHMENT WAS DELAYED & YOU GOT TO JOIN ME.”

“I CHOSE TO JOIN YOU, THINKING THAT I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU.”

“THE WORDS OF A BELONGING BRETHREN & FRIEND TO PRUDENCE!”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Prudence carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and incinerates them with a quick spell before sending from her wand a jet of water to douse the flames, then hands the completed manuscripts to the scowling Regent-Professor. Maybe she will live up to her name, come in time. [+ 1 level Bluff, + 1 level Orthography, +1 level Flirting, + 1 level Tease, +1 Relationship with Prudence Cossins, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, End adventure]

[If female PC]

 

“Whom are you referring to?”

“The girl whom you investigated for firing incantation-enhanced firecrackers in the direction of the imperial reserve.”

“O, don’t you mean Patience…but no, I guess you are right. You are very loyal to your friend Prudence, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

“So, what did you do to get into the presence of this…”

“Both of you, come in. There will be no talking. Write these words.” Regent-Professor von Rupprecht opens the door to his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two little books have been prepared.

As far as detentions go, you and Prudence do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from his books (hers an account of a journey to Oursouk, yours a copy of a journey to Alesfa) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Prudence begins. “WHY ARE YOU IN DETENTION NOW?”

“LONG STORY. I WAS 1 OF THOSE WHO CAUGHT YOU & LOUISE FIGHTING IN THE RESERVE, & IT WENT FROM THERE. I HAD TO BE PUNISHED FOR THAT TRIP INTO THE RESERVE SO I ENDED UP HERE.” You reply.

“I WAS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE LOUISE TO JOIN THE BELONGING BRETHREN, BUT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO JOIN EVEN THAT. BITTER, CRAZY GIRL. & WHEN I TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER SHE…WELL, THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A HELP TO ME.”

“IF SHE DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW THE GOODNESS WITHIN YOU, THAT IS HER PROBLEM.”

“YA, & YOU HELPED ME TO BRING IT OUT. THE WORLD IS CONFUSING, WITH ITS LOUISES & ITS RIMBAL PLAYERS & ITS CONFORMITY, BUT YOU & I & SOME FRIENDLY AUTHORITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY, & WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF.”

“& WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF NOW. WE WILL SOON BE DONE THESE COPYING THESE BOOKS.”

“I’D BETTER ADD TO YOUR PUNISHMENT, TO KEEP TO MY PRUDENCE REPUTATION. SO…I’LL TELL YOU VERY CLEARLY THAT WE WERE NOT FIGHTING OVER WHICH 1 OF US WOULD BE A BETTER FRIEND TO YOU!”

“& I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE PERSON WITH ME IN THE RESERVE WAS FLORE!”

“AM I JUST ANOTHER BLONDE DURAND STUDENT WHO IS BAD AT DIALECTIC TO YOU? & ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“I JOKE. I WAS WITH BEATRIX, WHO KNOWS THE IMPERIAL RESERVE LIKE HER HAND. & YOU ARE BETTER THAN FLORE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DISRUPTING CLASS IN A BORING WAY. SHE COULD USE YOUR LOVE OF PEBBLES.”

“& WE COULD BOTH USE LAMBERT, PERHAPS, TO SHOW US HOW TO BE SNEAKY. IF WE HAD BEEN SNEAKY, WE WOULD NEITHER BE IN DETENTION NOW. MAYBE I COULD LIVE UP TO MY NAME.”

“THE DRAGONS WOULD BECOME CATTLE TO US BEFORE THAT, PRU! YOU WERE THIS AFTERNOON SHOOTING FIRECRACKERS INTO THE RESERVE & BABBLING ABOUT PEOPLE SPYING ON YOU FROM THE RESERVE WHO HAD TO BE FRIGHTENED AWAY!”

“WELL, INCANTATION SPELLS ARE FUN FOR ME TO USE WHEN I AM ALONE, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT BEING PURSUED. I JUST GAVE THE FIRST EXPLANATION THAT POPPED INTO MY MIND, HOPING THAT IT WOULD DELAY OR REDUCE MY PUNISHMENT IF THEY THOUGHT ME TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“LITTLE GOOD THAT DID FOR YOU.”

“NOT SO! MY PUNISHMENT WAS DELAYED & YOU GOT TO JOIN ME.”

“I CHOSE TO JOIN YOU, THINKING THAT I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU.”

“THE WORDS OF A BELONGING BRETHREN & FRIEND TO PRUDENCE!”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Prudence carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and incinerates them with a quick spell before sending from her wand a jet of water to douse the flames, then hands the completed manuscripts to the scowling Regent-Professor. Maybe she will live up to her name, come in time. [+ 1 level Bluff, + 1 level Orthography, +1 level Relaxation, + 1 level Tease, +1 Relationship with Prudence Cossins, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, End adventure]

[If male PC has Completed Louise Kandinsky’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“Whom are you referring to?”

“The girl whom you investigated for firing incantation-enhanced firecrackers in the direction of the imperial reserve.”

“O, don’t you mean Patience…but no, I guess you are right. You are very loyal to your friend Prudence, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends…and nothing more yet. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

“So, what did you do to get into the presence of this…”

“Both of you, come in. There will be no talking. Write these words.” Regent-Professor von Rupprecht opens the door to his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two little books have been prepared. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

As far as detentions go, you and Prudence do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from his books (hers an account of a journey to Oursouk, yours a copy of a journey to Alesfa) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Prudence begins. “WHY ARE YOU IN DETENTION NOW?”

“LONG STORY. I WAS 1 OF THOSE WHO CAUGHT YOU & LOUISE FIGHTING IN THE RESERVE, & IT WENT FROM THERE. I HAD TO BE PUNISHED FOR THAT TRIP INTO THE RESERVE SO I ENDED UP HERE.” You reply.

“THANKS! I WAS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE LOUISE TO JOIN THE BELONGING BRETHREN, BUT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO JOIN EVEN THAT. BITTER, CRAZY GIRL. & WHEN I TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER SHE…WELL, THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A HELP TO ME.”

“BUT LOUISE REALLY LOVES HER FATHER MORE THAN ANY OTHER MAN. LIKE, BEFORE WE FOUNDED THE BELONGING BRETHREN, YOU HATED TO BE CALLED PRUDENCE, RIGHT? SAME FOR INSULTING LOUISE’S FATHER.”

“WOW, I HAD NO IDEA. BUT SHE PROBABLY KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT MY FORMER DISLIKE OF MY NAME. THE WORLD IS CONFUSING, WITH ITS LOUISES & ITS RIMBAL PLAYERS & ITS CONFORMITY, BUT YOU & I & SOME FRIENDLY AUTHORITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY, & WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF, SUCH AS CREATE FRIENDSHIPS & REPAIR QUARRELS.”

“& WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF NOW. WE WILL SOON BE DONE THESE COPYING THESE BOOKS.”

“I’D BETTER ADD TO YOUR PUNISHMENT, TO KEEP TO MY PRUDENCE REPUTATION. SO…I’LL TELL YOU VERY CLEARLY THAT WE WERE NOT FIGHTING OVER WHICH 1 OF US WOULD GET TO DATE YOU DURING Y3!”

“& I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE PERSON WITH ME IN THE RESERVE WAS FLORE!”

“AM I JUST ANOTHER BLONDE DURAND GIRL WHO IS BAD AT DIALECTIC TO YOU? & ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“I JOKE. I WAS WITH BEATRIX, BUT ONLY BECAUSE SHE KNOWS THE IMPERIAL RESERVE LIKE HER HAND. & YOU ARE BETTER THAN FLORE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DISRUPTING CLASS IN A BORING WAY. SHE COULD USE YOUR LOVE OF PEBBLES.”

“& I COULD USE LAMBERT, PERHAPS, TO SHOW ME HOW TO BE SNEAKY AGAINST ARANAZ. MAYBE I COULD LIVE UP TO MY NAME.”

“THE DRAGONS WOULD BECOME CATTLE TO US BEFORE THAT, PRU! YOU WERE THIS AFTERNOON SHOOTING FIRECRACKERS INTO THE RESERVE & BABBLING ABOUT PEOPLE SPYING ON YOU FROM THE RESERVE WHO HAD TO BE FRIGHTENED AWAY!”

“WELL, INCANTATION SPELLS ARE FUN FOR ME TO USE WHEN I AM ALONE, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT BEING PURSUED. I JUST GAVE THE FIRST EXPLANATION THAT POPPED INTO MY MIND, HOPING THAT IT WOULD DELAY OR REDUCE MY PUNISHMENT IF THEY THOUGHT ME TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“LITTLE GOOD THAT DID FOR YOU.”

“NOT SO! MY PUNISHMENT WAS DELAYED & YOU GOT TO JOIN ME.”

“I CHOSE TO JOIN YOU, THINKING THAT I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU.”

“THE WORDS OF A BELONGING BRETHREN & FRIEND TO PRUDENCE!”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Prudence carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and incinerates them with a quick spell before sending from her wand a jet of water to douse the flames, then hands the completed manuscripts to the scowling Regent-Professor. Maybe she will live up to her name, come in time. [+ 1 level Bluff, + 1 level Orthography, +1 level Flirting, + 1 level Tease, +1 Relationship with Prudence Cossins, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, +1 relationship between Prudence Cossins and Louise Kandinsky, + 100 pims, End adventure]

[If female PC has Completed Louise Kandinsky’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“Whom are you referring to?”

“The girl whom you investigated for firing incantation-enhanced firecrackers in the direction of the imperial reserve.”

“O, don’t you mean Patience…but no, I guess you are right. You are very loyal to your friend Prudence, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

“So, what did you do to get into the presence of this…”

“Both of you, come in. There will be no talking. Write these words.” Regent-Professor von Rupprecht opens the door to his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two little books have been prepared.

As far as detentions go, you and Prudence do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from his books (hers an account of a journey to Oursouk, yours a copy of a journey to Alesfa) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Prudence begins. “WHY ARE YOU IN DETENTION NOW?”

“LONG STORY. I WAS 1 OF THOSE WHO CAUGHT YOU & LOUISE FIGHTING IN THE RESERVE, & IT WENT FROM THERE. I HAD TO BE PUNISHED FOR THAT TRIP INTO THE RESERVE SO I ENDED UP HERE.” You reply.

“I WAS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE LOUISE TO JOIN THE BELONGING BRETHREN, BUT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO JOIN EVEN THAT. BITTER, CRAZY GIRL. & WHEN I TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER SHE…WELL, THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A HELP TO ME.”

“BUT LOUISE REALLY LOVES HER FATHER MORE THAN ANY OTHER MAN. LIKE, BEFORE WE FOUNDED THE BELONGING BRETHREN, YOU HATED TO BE CALLED PRUDENCE, RIGHT? SAME FOR INSULTING LOUISE’S FATHER.”

“WOW, I HAD NO IDEA. BUT SHE PROBABLY KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT MY FORMER DISLIKE OF MY NAME. THE WORLD IS CONFUSING, WITH ITS LOUISES & ITS RIMBAL PLAYERS & ITS CONFORMITY, BUT YOU & I & SOME FRIENDLY AUTHORITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY, & WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF, SUCH AS CREATE FRIENDSHIPS & REPAIR QUARRELS.”

 “& WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF NOW. WE WILL SOON BE DONE THESE COPYING THESE BOOKS.”

“I’D BETTER ADD TO YOUR PUNISHMENT, TO KEEP TO MY PRUDENCE REPUTATION. SO…I’LL TELL YOU VERY CLEARLY THAT WE WERE NOT FIGHTING OVER WHICH 1 OF US WOULD BE A BETTER FRIEND TO YOU!”

“& I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE PERSON WITH ME IN THE RESERVE WAS FLORE!”

“AM I JUST ANOTHER BLONDE DURAND STUDENT WHO IS BAD AT DIALECTIC TO YOU? & ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“I JOKE. I WAS WITH BEATRIX, WHO KNOWS THE IMPERIAL RESERVE LIKE HER HAND. & YOU ARE BETTER THAN FLORE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DISRUPTING CLASS IN A BORING WAY. SHE COULD USE YOUR LOVE OF PEBBLES.”

“& WE COULD BOTH USE LAMBERT, PERHAPS, TO SHOW US HOW TO BE SNEAKY. IF WE HAD BEEN SNEAKY, WE WOULD NEITHER BE IN DETENTION NOW. MAYBE I COULD LIVE UP TO MY NAME.”

“THE DRAGONS WOULD BECOME CATTLE TO US BEFORE THAT, PRU! YOU WERE THIS AFTERNOON SHOOTING FIRECRACKERS INTO THE RESERVE & BABBLING ABOUT PEOPLE SPYING ON YOU FROM THE RESERVE WHO HAD TO BE FRIGHTENED AWAY!”

“WELL, INCANTATION SPELLS ARE FUN FOR ME TO USE WHEN I AM ALONE, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT BEING PURSUED. I JUST GAVE THE FIRST EXPLANATION THAT POPPED INTO MY MIND, HOPING THAT IT WOULD DELAY OR REDUCE MY PUNISHMENT IF THEY THOUGHT ME TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“LITTLE GOOD THAT DID FOR YOU.”

“NOT SO! MY PUNISHMENT WAS DELAYED & YOU GOT TO JOIN ME.”

“I CHOSE TO JOIN YOU, THINKING THAT I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU.”

“THE WORDS OF A BELONGING BRETHREN & FRIEND TO PRUDENCE!”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Prudence carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and incinerates them with a quick spell before sending from her wand a jet of water to douse the flames, then hands the completed manuscripts to the scowling Regent-Professor. Maybe she will live up to her name, come in time. [+ 1 level Bluff, + 1 level Orthography, +1 level Relaxation, + 1 level Tease, +1 Relationship with Prudence Cossins, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, +1 Relationship between Louise Kandinsky and Prudence Cossins, + 100 pims, End adventure]

[If male PC has Completed Louise Kandinsky’s Y1 Adventure and has Family: The Secret Heritage]

 

“Whom are you referring to?”

“The girl whom you investigated for firing incantation-enhanced firecrackers in the direction of the imperial reserve.”

“O, don’t you mean Patience…but no, I guess you are right. You are very loyal to your friend Prudence, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends…and nothing more yet. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

“So, what did you do to get into the presence of this…”

“Both of you, come in. There will be no talking. Write these words.” Regent-Professor von Rupprecht opens the door to his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two little books have been prepared. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

As far as detentions go, you and Prudence do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from his books (hers an account of a journey to Oursouk, yours a copy of a journey to Alesfa) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Prudence begins. “WHY ARE YOU IN DETENTION NOW?”

“LONG STORY. I WAS 1 OF THOSE WHO CAUGHT YOU & LOUISE FIGHTING IN THE RESERVE, & IT WENT FROM THERE. I HAD TO BE PUNISHED FOR THAT TRIP INTO THE RESERVE SO I ENDED UP HERE.” You reply.

“THANKS! I WAS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE LOUISE TO JOIN THE BELONGING BRETHREN, BUT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO JOIN EVEN THAT. BITTER, CRAZY GIRL. & WHEN I TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER SHE…WELL, THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A HELP TO ME.”

“BUT LOUISE REALLY LOVES HER FATHER MORE THAN ANY OTHER MAN. LIKE, BEFORE WE FOUNDED THE BELONGING BRETHREN, YOU HATED TO BE CALLED PRUDENCE, RIGHT? SAME FOR INSULTING LOUISE’S FATHER.”

“WOW, I HAD NO IDEA. BUT SHE PROBABLY KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT MY FORMER DISLIKE OF MY NAME. THE WORLD IS CONFUSING, WITH ITS LOUISES & ITS RIMBAL PLAYERS & ITS CONFORMITY, BUT YOU & I & SOME FRIENDLY AUTHORITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY, & WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF, SUCH AS CREATE FRIENDSHIPS & REPAIR QUARRELS.”

“& WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF NOW. WE WILL SOON BE DONE THESE COPYING THESE BOOKS.”

“I’D BETTER ADD TO YOUR PUNISHMENT, TO KEEP TO MY PRUDENCE REPUTATION. SO…I’LL TELL YOU VERY CLEARLY THAT WE WERE NOT FIGHTING OVER WHICH 1 OF US WOULD GET TO DATE YOU DURING Y3!”

“& I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE PERSON WITH ME IN THE RESERVE WAS FLORE!”

“AM I JUST ANOTHER BLONDE DURAND GIRL WHO IS BAD AT DIALECTIC TO YOU? & ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“I JOKE. I WAS WITH BEATRIX, BUT ONLY BECAUSE SHE KNOWS THE IMPERIAL RESERVE LIKE HER HAND. & YOU ARE BETTER THAN FLORE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DISRUPTING CLASS IN A BORING WAY. SHE COULD USE YOUR LOVE OF PEBBLES.”

“& I COULD USE LAMBERT, PERHAPS, TO SHOW ME HOW TO BE SNEAKY AGAINST ARANAZ. MAYBE I COULD LIVE UP TO MY NAME.”

“THE DRAGONS WOULD BECOME CATTLE TO US BEFORE THAT, PRU! YOU WERE THIS AFTERNOON SHOOTING FIRECRACKERS INTO THE RESERVE & BABBLING ABOUT PEOPLE SPYING ON YOU FROM THE RESERVE WHO HAD TO BE FRIGHTENED AWAY!”

“WELL, INCANTATION SPELLS ARE FUN FOR ME TO USE WHEN I AM ALONE, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT BEING PURSUED. I JUST GAVE THE FIRST EXPLANATION THAT POPPED INTO MY MIND, HOPING THAT IT WOULD DELAY OR REDUCE MY PUNISHMENT IF THEY THOUGHT ME TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“LITTLE GOOD THAT DID FOR YOU.”

“NOT SO! MY PUNISHMENT WAS DELAYED & YOU GOT TO JOIN ME.”

“I CHOSE TO JOIN YOU, THINKING THAT I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU.”

“THE WORDS OF A BELONGING BRETHREN & FRIEND TO PRUDENCE!”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Prudence carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and incinerates them with a quick spell before sending from her wand a jet of water to douse the flames, then hands the completed manuscripts to the scowling Regent-Professor. Maybe she will live up to her name, come in time. And as an added bonus, you’ve gotten Prudence thinking about the Kandinsky family’s father-daughter bond rather than your family and…whatever is going on with it. [+ 1 level Bluff, + 1 level Orthography, +1 level Flirting, + 1 level Tease, +1 Relationship with Prudence Cossins, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, +1 relationship between Prudence Cossins and Louise Kandinsky, + 100 pims, -1 Stress, End adventure]

[If female PC has Completed Louise Kandinsky’s Y1 Adventure and has Family: The Secret Heritage]

 

“Whom are you referring to?”

“The girl whom you investigated for firing incantation-enhanced firecrackers in the direction of the imperial reserve.”

“O, don’t you mean Patience…but no, I guess you are right. You are very loyal to your friend Prudence, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor von Rupprecht’s office, Prudence raises an eyebrow and grimaces at you.

“So, what did you do to get into the presence of this…”

“Both of you, come in. There will be no talking. Write these words.” Regent-Professor von Rupprecht opens the door to his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two little books have been prepared.

As far as detentions go, you and Prudence do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from his books (hers an account of a journey to Oursouk, yours a copy of a journey to Alesfa) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor von Rupprecht, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Prudence begins. “WHY ARE YOU IN DETENTION NOW?”

“LONG STORY. I WAS 1 OF THOSE WHO CAUGHT YOU & LOUISE FIGHTING IN THE RESERVE, & IT WENT FROM THERE. I HAD TO BE PUNISHED FOR THAT TRIP INTO THE RESERVE SO I ENDED UP HERE.” You reply.

“I WAS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE LOUISE TO JOIN THE BELONGING BRETHREN, BUT SHE DIDN’T WANT TO JOIN EVEN THAT. BITTER, CRAZY GIRL. & WHEN I TALKED ABOUT HER FATHER SHE…WELL, THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A HELP TO ME.”

“BUT LOUISE REALLY LOVES HER FATHER MORE THAN ANY OTHER MAN. LIKE, BEFORE WE FOUNDED THE BELONGING BRETHREN, YOU HATED TO BE CALLED PRUDENCE, RIGHT? SAME FOR INSULTING LOUISE’S FATHER.”

“WOW, I HAD NO IDEA. BUT SHE PROBABLY KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT MY FORMER DISLIKE OF MY NAME. THE WORLD IS CONFUSING, WITH ITS LOUISES & ITS RIMBAL PLAYERS & ITS CONFORMITY, BUT YOU & I & SOME FRIENDLY AUTHORITY, WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY, & WHEN WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF, SUCH AS CREATE FRIENDSHIPS & REPAIR QUARRELS.”

 “& WE CAN DO GREAT STUFF NOW. WE WILL SOON BE DONE THESE COPYING THESE BOOKS.”

“I’D BETTER ADD TO YOUR PUNISHMENT, TO KEEP TO MY PRUDENCE REPUTATION. SO…I’LL TELL YOU VERY CLEARLY THAT WE WERE NOT FIGHTING OVER WHICH 1 OF US WOULD BE A BETTER FRIEND TO YOU!”

“& I WILL TELL YOU THAT THE PERSON WITH ME IN THE RESERVE WAS FLORE!”

“AM I JUST ANOTHER BLONDE DURAND STUDENT WHO IS BAD AT DIALECTIC TO YOU? & ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“I JOKE. I WAS WITH BEATRIX, WHO KNOWS THE IMPERIAL RESERVE LIKE HER HAND. & YOU ARE BETTER THAN FLORE, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT DISRUPTING CLASS IN A BORING WAY. SHE COULD USE YOUR LOVE OF PEBBLES.”

“& WE COULD BOTH USE LAMBERT, PERHAPS, TO SHOW US HOW TO BE SNEAKY. IF WE HAD BEEN SNEAKY, WE WOULD NEITHER BE IN DETENTION NOW. MAYBE I COULD LIVE UP TO MY NAME.”

“THE DRAGONS WOULD BECOME CATTLE TO US BEFORE THAT, PRU! YOU WERE THIS AFTERNOON SHOOTING FIRECRACKERS INTO THE RESERVE & BABBLING ABOUT PEOPLE SPYING ON YOU FROM THE RESERVE WHO HAD TO BE FRIGHTENED AWAY!”

“WELL, INCANTATION SPELLS ARE FUN FOR ME TO USE WHEN I AM ALONE, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT BEING PURSUED. I JUST GAVE THE FIRST EXPLANATION THAT POPPED INTO MY MIND, HOPING THAT IT WOULD DELAY OR REDUCE MY PUNISHMENT IF THEY THOUGHT ME TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“LITTLE GOOD THAT DID FOR YOU.”

“NOT SO! MY PUNISHMENT WAS DELAYED & YOU GOT TO JOIN ME.”

“I CHOSE TO JOIN YOU, THINKING THAT I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU.”

“THE WORDS OF A BELONGING BRETHREN & FRIEND TO PRUDENCE!”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Prudence carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and incinerates them with a quick spell before sending from her wand a jet of water to douse the flames, then hands the completed manuscripts to the scowling Regent-Professor. Maybe she will live up to her name, come in time. And as an added bonus, you’ve gotten Prudence thinking about the Kandinsky family’s father-daughter bond rather than your family and…whatever is going on with it. [+ 1 level Bluff, + 1 level Orthography, +1 level Relaxation, + 1 level Tease, +1 Relationship with Prudence Cossins, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, +1 Relationship between Louise Kandinsky and Prudence Cossins, -1 Stress, End adventure]

-          [PC has Completed Louise Kandinsky’s Y1 Adventure] “Please do not let Louise suffer alone.” [auto]

 

[If male PC]

 

“Louise? Who is that?”

“The girl whom you sent to detention for fighting in the imperial reserve…Louise Kandinsky.”

“O, don’t you mean Basia…but no, I guess names from the vicinity of Plezyca are difficult for me to remember and tell apart. You are very loyal to your friend Louise, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor Massioti’s office, Louise is already there, scowling at the ground. You can only hear snatches of her words, but perhaps you should be glad that you cannot heart more, given the little that you can hear.

“…not fair…insulted my father, insulted me, that…”

“Louise, life is like a rimbal game sometimes; people don’t care who started it, only that it was started and you were involved. And, um, that applies to you too, [PC FirstName]. So come on in, both of you, and deal with your punishments. I have some rimbal notes from some of my coaching sessions that I want both of you to copy down for me; some of my players find my writing difficult to read, and, well, I need to find a way to occupy your detentions.” Having made this lengthy series of remarks after leaving his office, Regent-Professor Massioti leads the two of you into his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two notebooks have been assembled in a vaguely organized way.

As far as detentions go, you and Louise do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from the notebooks (all about rimbal, written in Massioti’s distracted handwriting) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor Massioti, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Louise write to you first. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“LONG STORY. BEATRIX & I WERE DOING SOMETHING A BIT UNDERHANDED IN THE IMPERIAL RESERVE. WE CAUGHT YOU FIGHTING WITH PRUDENCE.”

“SPYING ON US? FROM MY LOVING MOTHER?” As she passes you this piece of paper, Louise’s mouth twists in a wry grimace.

“WHAT? NO. WE JUST PASSED WHERE YOU WERE, & BEATRIX DID NOT WANT US TO BE HARMED BY ANY MISCAST MAGIC, SO I INTERVENED.”

“I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT ON MY OWN. PRUDENCE HAS NO SUBTLETY. BLUNTLY TRYING TO MAKE ME HER FRIEND, BLUNTLY INSULTING ME – WHEN SHE FIGHTS, SHE OFTEN SEEMS TO FORGET HER WAND!”

“PRUDENCE IS A PIECE OF WORK, ALL RIGHT – SURPRISED THAT SHE ISN’T IN GODINA TRYING TO WRESTLE & PLAY RIMBAL.”

“WOULD I DO BETTER IN MORVIDUS? ASIDE FROM PHILLIPPE & JOANA?”

“DID YOU LET PRUDENCE’S INSULTS ABOUT YOU GET TO YOU?”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT ASPECT. I’M HERE BECAUSE OF MY MOTHER, & I MAKE THE BEST OF IT BY LEARNING ABOUT MY INTERESTS, NOT FALLING INTO SOME MODEL OF VERNIN ARTISTRY OR MORVIDUS NATURE LOVE!”

“IF THAT BE THE CASE, STAY IN VERNIN. UNLESS YOUR FAMILIAR GETS WORSE - BUT THAT WOULDN’T BE YOUR FAULT.”

“NO, BUT MY BEING A WOLF OR HARE WOULD BE ME.”

“I DON’T GET THE INSULT THERE. TO ME, YOU CAN BE A WOLF OR HARE ANY TIME YOU WANT, SO LONG AS YOU REMAIN MY FRIEND.”

“YES. FRIENDS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT DIFFICULT TO FIND & KEEP, ESPECIALLY WHEN FAR AWAY FROM MY FATHER IN A FOREIGN LAND. THANKS FOR BEING MY FRIEND, UNLIKE PRUDENCE.”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Louise carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and revises them into dust, which she scatters across the floor, then hands the completed manuscripts to Regent-Professor Massioti. You may not understand exactly what about Prudence’s insult made Louise so upset, but you are glad that you have been able to maintain a fine relationship with a friend. [+ 1 level Innuendo, + 1 level Decipher Handwriting, +1 level Rimbal Tactics, + 1 level Conversation, +1 Relationship with Louise Kandinsky, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, -1 Stress, End adventure]

[If female PC]

 

“Louise? Who is that?”

“The girl whom you sent to detention for fighting in the imperial reserve…Louise Kandinsky.”

“O, don’t you mean Basia…but no, I guess names from the vicinity of Plezyca are difficult for me to remember and tell apart. You are very loyal to your friend Louise, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor Massioti’s office, Louise is already there, scowling at the ground. You can only hear snatches of her words, but perhaps you should be glad that you cannot heart more, given the little that you can hear.

“…not fair…insulted my father, insulted me, that…”

“Louise, life is like a rimbal game sometimes; people don’t care who started it, only that it was started and you were involved. And, um, that applies to you too, [PC FirstName]. So come on in, both of you, and deal with your punishments. I have some rimbal notes from some of my coaching sessions that I want both of you to copy down for me; some of my players find my writing difficult to read, and, well, I need to find a way to occupy your detentions.” Having made this lengthy series of remarks after leaving his office, Regent-Professor Massioti leads the two of you into his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two notebooks have been assembled in a vaguely organized way.

As far as detentions go, you and Louise do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from the notebooks (all about rimbal, written in Massioti’s distracted handwriting) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor Massioti, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Louise write to you first. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“LONG STORY. BEATRIX & I WERE DOING SOMETHING A BIT UNDERHANDED IN THE IMPERIAL RESERVE. WE CAUGHT YOU FIGHTING WITH PRUDENCE.”

“SPYING ON US? FROM MY LOVING MOTHER?” As she passes you this piece of paper, Louise’s mouth twists in a wry grimace.

“WHAT? NO. WE JUST PASSED WHERE YOU WERE, & BEATRIX DID NOT WANT US TO BE HARMED BY ANY MISCAST MAGIC, SO I INTERVENED.”

“I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT ON MY OWN. PRUDENCE HAS NO SUBTLETY. BLUNTLY TRYING TO MAKE ME HER FRIEND, BLUNTLY INSULTING ME – WHEN SHE FIGHTS, SHE OFTEN SEEMS TO FORGET HER WAND!”

“PRUDENCE IS A PIECE OF WORK, ALL RIGHT – SURPRISED THAT SHE ISN’T IN GODINA TRYING TO WRESTLE & PLAY RIMBAL.”

“WOULD I DO BETTER IN MORVIDUS? ASIDE FROM PHILLIPPE & JOANA?”

“DID YOU LET PRUDENCE’S INSULTS ABOUT YOU GET TO YOU?”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT ASPECT. I’M HERE BECAUSE OF MY MOTHER, & I MAKE THE BEST OF IT BY LEARNING ABOUT MY INTERESTS, NOT FALLING INTO SOME MODEL OF VERNIN ARTISTRY OR MORVIDUS NATURE LOVE!”

“IF THAT BE THE CASE, STAY IN VERNIN. UNLESS YOUR FAMILIAR GETS WORSE - BUT THAT WOULDN’T BE YOUR FAULT.”

“NO, BUT MY BEING A WOLF OR HARE WOULD BE ME.”

“I DON’T GET THE INSULT THERE. TO ME, YOU CAN BE A WOLF OR HARE ANY TIME YOU WANT, SO LONG AS YOU REMAIN MY FRIEND.”

“YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT.”

“MAYBE PRUDENCE DIDN’T EITHER. MAYBE SHE JUST TRIES TO USE INSULTS SHE HEARS OR READS WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEM.”

“I UNDERSTAND THE MEANING, EVEN IF SHE DIDN’T & YOU DON’T. JUST BECAUSE I AM NOT TRYING TO SKIRT RULES AGAINST DATING DOESN’T MAKE ME A WOLF OR A HARE, AS THE INSULT WOULD HAVE IT. I MEAN, THAT BOY FROM AVILA – HE IS ONLY ONE FROM OUR YEAR. TRUE, JOANA LOVES PHILLIPPE, & SIMA IS SIMA, BUT WE ARE ALL SO YOUNG. I WILL BE SETTLED IN MY WAYS WHEN OLDER.”

“& I WILL SUPPORT YOU HOWEVER YOU GO.”

“I’LL HOLD YOU TO THAT.”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Louise carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and revises them into dust, which she scatters across the floor, then hands the completed manuscripts to Regent-Professor Massioti. You are glad that you have some better understanding about why Prudence’s insult made Louise so upset, and you are glad that you have been able to maintain a fine relationship with a friend. [+ 2 levels Innuendo, + 1 level Decipher Handwriting, +1 level Rimbal Tactics, + 1 level Conversation, +1 Relationship with Louise Kandinsky, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, -1 Stress, End adventure]

[If male PC has Completed Prudence Cossins’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“Louise? Who is that?”

“The girl whom you sent to detention for fighting in the imperial reserve…Louise Kandinsky.”

“O, don’t you mean Basia…but no, I guess names from the vicinity of Plezyca are difficult for me to remember and tell apart. You are very loyal to your friend Louise, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor Massioti’s office, Louise is already there, scowling at the ground. You can only hear snatches of her words, but perhaps you should be glad that you cannot heart more, given the little that you can hear.

“…not fair…insulted my father, insulted me, that…”

“Louise, life is like a rimbal game sometimes; people don’t care who started it, only that it was started and you were involved. And, um, that applies to you too, [PC FirstName]. So come on in, both of you, and deal with your punishments. I have some rimbal notes from some of my coaching sessions that I want both of you to copy down for me; some of my players find my writing difficult to read, and, well, I need to find a way to occupy your detentions.” Having made this lengthy series of remarks after leaving his office, Regent-Professor Massioti leads the two of you into his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two notebooks have been assembled in a vaguely organized way.

As far as detentions go, you and Louise do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from the notebooks (all about rimbal, written in Massioti’s distracted handwriting) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor Massioti, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Louise write to you first. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“LONG STORY. BEATRIX & I WERE DOING SOMETHING A BIT UNDERHANDED IN THE IMPERIAL RESERVE. WE CAUGHT YOU FIGHTING WITH PRUDENCE.”

“SPYING ON US? FROM MY LOVING MOTHER?” As she passes you this piece of paper, Louise’s mouth twists in a wry grimace.

“WHAT? NO. WE JUST PASSED WHERE YOU WERE, & BEATRIX DID NOT WANT US TO BE HARMED BY ANY MISCAST MAGIC, SO I INTERVENED.”

“I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT ON MY OWN. PRUDENCE HAS NO SUBTLETY. BLUNTLY TRYING TO MAKE ME HER FRIEND, BLUNTLY INSULTING ME – WHEN SHE FIGHTS, SHE OFTEN SEEMS TO FORGET HER WAND!”

“I KNOW THAT PRUDENCE HAS ISSUES, BUT THEY ARE ISSUES THAT SHE IS TRYING TO WORK THROUGH. IF YOU LOOK BEOND HER ISSUES, SHE IS A GREAT FRIEND – LOYAL BEYOND BELIEF & WILLING TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO HELP THEM.”

“HOW IS SHE WORKING ON HER ISSUES? BRAWLING?” As she passes you this piece of paper, Louise gives a sarcastic snort.

“SHE ONLY BRAWLS AGAINST THOSE WHO OPPRESS OTHERS NOW. SHE & I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO HELP HER MEET UP WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE IN A GROUP CALLED THE BELONGING BRETHREN – THOSE WHO DON’T LIKE BEING FORCED TO CONFORM TO 1 SOCIAL ROLE HERE, SUCH AS RIMBAL PLAYER OR FASHION-LOVER OR LOVER OF STUDYING.”

“OR DISCIPLINED HELPFUL DURAND STUDENT OR ARTISTICALLY FOCUSED VERNIN STUDENT! I THINK THAT I NOW UNDERSTAND WHY PRUDENCE WANTED TO BEFRIEND ME – & MAYBE I WAS TOO QUICK TO CONDEMN HER EFFORTS HARSHLY, & THEN I INTERPRETED HER REMARK ABOUT MY FATHER’S TEACHING ME MY BAD MANNERS AS AN INSULT. BUT WHAT ABOUT HER REMARK THAT I WOULD BE BETTER AS A WOLF OR HARE?”

“YOU & BEATRIX SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT YOU ARE BOTH VILOCIAN. PRUDENCE IS AUNCISH. SHE READS ABOUT EXPRESSIONS FOR RHETORIC & GRAMMAR CLASSES, BUT DOES NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND MUCH ABOUT THEIR DEEPER MEANINGS. IT WAS PROBABLY SOMETHING THAT SHE JUST CAME UPON IN THE VENALICIUM WITHOUT KNOWING ITS MEANING – I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.”

“STAADAN I AM, BUT SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE BOTH OF OUR FRIENDS, I WILL TRUST YOUR ACCOUNT OF HER. SHE USES INCANTATION MAGIC SO OFTEN & IS SO ATHLETIC – I AM SURPRISED THAT SHE IS NOT IN GODINA.”

“SHE DOESN’T LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THAT, BUT I’VE NOTICED THAT ALSO.”

“SO, ANOTHER REASON – FELLOW OUTCASTS FROM OUR COLLEGES. WOULD I DO BETTER IN MORVIDUS,  LIKE PRUDENCE SUGGESTED? ASIDE FROM PHILLIPPE & JOANA?”

“DO YOU THINK THAT PRUDENCE MAY HAVE GOOD POINTS?”

“MAYBE. I’M HERE BECAUSE OF MY MOTHER, & I MAKE THE BEST OF IT BY LEARNING ABOUT MY INTERESTS, NOT FALLING INTO SOME MODEL OF VERNIN ARTISTRY OR MORVIDUS NATURE LOVE!”

“IF THAT BE THE CASE, STAY IN VERNIN. UNLESS YOUR FAMILIAR GETS WORSE - BUT THAT WOULDN’T BE YOUR FAULT.”

“NO, BUT MY BEING A WOLF OR HARE WOULD BE ME.”

“I DON’T GET THE INSULT THERE. TO ME, YOU CAN BE A WOLF OR HARE ANY TIME YOU WANT, SO LONG AS YOU REMAIN MY FRIEND.”

“YES. FRIENDS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT DIFFICULT TO FIND & KEEP, ESPECIALLY WHEN FAR AWAY FROM MY FATHER IN A FOREIGN LAND. THANKS FOR BEING MY FRIEND – MAYBE PRUDENCE CAN ALSO BE MY FRIEND.”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Louise carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and revises them into dust, which she scatters across the floor, then hands the completed manuscripts to Regent-Professor Massioti. You may not understand exactly what about Prudence’s insult made Louise so upset, but you are glad that you have been able to maintain a fine relationship with a friend– maybe helping her to expand her own circle of friends in the process. [+ 1 level Innuendo, + 1 level Decipher Handwriting, +1 level Rimbal Tactics, + 1 level Conversation, +1 Relationship with Louise Kandinsky, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, +1 Relationship between Louise Kandinsky and Prudence Cossins, End adventure]

[If female PC has Completed Prudence Cossins’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“Louise? Who is that?”

“The girl whom you sent to detention for fighting in the imperial reserve…Louise Kandinsky.”

“O, don’t you mean Basia…but no, I guess names from the vicinity of Plezyca are difficult for me to remember and tell apart. You are very loyal to your friend Louise, [PC FirstName]…or I hope that you are friends. Very well. I will informally send you to do detention with her. Obey the rules, though, or I will make another detention for you official.”

When you show up later that day at Regent-Professor Massioti’s office, Louise is already there, scowling at the ground. You can only hear snatches of her words, but perhaps you should be glad that you cannot heart more, given the little that you can hear.

“…not fair…insulted my father, insulted me, that…”

“Louise, life is like a rimbal game sometimes; people don’t care who started it, only that it was started and you were involved. And, um, that applies to you too, [PC FirstName]. So come on in, both of you, and deal with your punishments. I have some rimbal notes from some of my coaching sessions that I want both of you to copy down for me; some of my players find my writing difficult to read, and, well, I need to find a way to occupy your detentions.” Having made this lengthy series of remarks after leaving his office, Regent-Professor Massioti leads the two of you into his office and directs you to sit at a table in front of his desk, where quills, ink, paper, and two notebooks have been assembled in a vaguely organized way.

As far as detentions go, you and Louise do not have a difficult one. Sitting side by side at the table, copying out words from the notebooks (all about rimbal, written in Massioti’s distracted handwriting) onto your papers, gives you much chance to write to her and her to reply to you on spare pieces of paper. Regent-Professor Massioti, for his part, is so absorbed in his own work that so long as you keep writing, he does not mind.

Louise write to you first. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“LONG STORY. BEATRIX & I WERE DOING SOMETHING A BIT UNDERHANDED IN THE IMPERIAL RESERVE. WE CAUGHT YOU FIGHTING WITH PRUDENCE.”

“SPYING ON US? FROM MY LOVING MOTHER?” As she passes you this piece of paper, Louise’s mouth twists in a wry grimace.

“WHAT? NO. WE JUST PASSED WHERE YOU WERE, & BEATRIX DID NOT WANT US TO BE HARMED BY ANY MISCAST MAGIC, SO I INTERVENED.”

“I COULD HAVE HANDLED THAT ON MY OWN. PRUDENCE HAS NO SUBTLETY. BLUNTLY TRYING TO MAKE ME HER FRIEND, BLUNTLY INSULTING ME – WHEN SHE FIGHTS, SHE OFTEN SEEMS TO FORGET HER WAND!”

“I KNOW THAT PRUDENCE HAS ISSUES, BUT THEY ARE ISSUES THAT SHE IS TRYING TO WORK THROUGH. IF YOU LOOK BEOND HER ISSUES, SHE IS A GREAT FRIEND – LOYAL BEYOND BELIEF & WILLING TO DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO HELP THEM.”

“HOW IS SHE WORKING ON HER ISSUES? BRAWLING?” As she passes you this piece of paper, Louise gives a sarcastic snort.

“SHE ONLY BRAWLS AGAINST THOSE WHO OPPRESS OTHERS NOW. SHE & I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO HELP HER MEET UP WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE IN A GROUP CALLED THE BELONGING BRETHREN – THOSE WHO DON’T LIKE BEING FORCED TO CONFORM TO 1 SOCIAL ROLE HERE, SUCH AS RIMBAL PLAYER OR FASHION-LOVER OR LOVER OF STUDYING.”

“OR DISCIPLINED HELPFUL DURAND STUDENT OR ARTISTICALLY FOCUSED VERNIN STUDENT! I THINK THAT I NOW UNDERSTAND WHY PRUDENCE WANTED TO BEFRIEND ME – & MAYBE I WAS TOO QUICK TO CONDEMN HER EFFORTS HARSHLY, & THEN I INTERPRETED HER REMARK ABOUT MY FATHER’S TEACHING ME MY BAD MANNERS AS AN INSULT. BUT WHAT ABOUT HER REMARK THAT I WOULD BE BETTER AS A WOLF OR HARE?”

“YOU & BEATRIX SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT YOU ARE BOTH VILOCIAN. PRUDENCE IS AUNCISH. SHE READS ABOUT EXPRESSIONS FOR RHETORIC & GRAMMAR CLASSES, BUT DOES NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND MUCH ABOUT THEIR DEEPER MEANINGS. IT WAS PROBABLY SOMETHING THAT SHE JUST CAME UPON IN THE VENALICIUM WITHOUT KNOWING ITS MEANING – I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.”

“STAADAN I AM, BUT SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE BOTH OF OUR FRIENDS, I WILL TRUST YOUR ACCOUNT OF HER. SHE USES INCANTATION MAGIC SO OFTEN & IS SO ATHLETIC – I AM SURPRISED THAT SHE IS NOT IN GODINA.”

“SHE DOESN’T LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THAT, BUT I’VE NOTICED THAT ALSO.”

“SO, ANOTHER REASON – FELLOW OUTCASTS FROM OUR COLLEGES. WOULD I DO BETTER IN MORVIDUS,  LIKE PRUDENCE SUGGESTED? ASIDE FROM PHILLIPPE & JOANA?”

“DO YOU THINK THAT PRUDENCE MAY HAVE GOOD POINTS?”

“MAYBE. I’M HERE BECAUSE OF MY MOTHER, & I MAKE THE BEST OF IT BY LEARNING ABOUT MY INTERESTS, NOT FALLING INTO SOME MODEL OF VERNIN ARTISTRY OR MORVIDUS NATURE LOVE!”

“IF THAT BE THE CASE, STAY IN VERNIN. UNLESS YOUR FAMILIAR GETS WORSE - BUT THAT WOULDN’T BE YOUR FAULT.”

“NO, BUT MY BEING A WOLF OR HARE WOULD BE ME.”

“I DON’T GET THE INSULT THERE. TO ME, YOU CAN BE A WOLF OR HARE ANY TIME YOU WANT, SO LONG AS YOU REMAIN MY FRIEND.”

“YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT.”

“NEITHER DOES PRUDENCE. SHE JUST TRIES TO USE INSULTS SHE HEARS OR READS WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEM.”

“I UNDERSTAND THE MEANING, EVEN IF SHE DIDN’T & YOU DON’T. JUST BECAUSE I AM NOT TRYING TO SKIRT RULES AGAINST DATING DOESN’T MAKE ME A WOLF OR A HARE, AS THE INSULT WOULD HAVE IT. I MEAN, THAT BOY FROM AVILA – HE IS ONLY ONE FROM OUR YEAR. TRUE, JOANA LOVES PHILLIPPE, & SIMA IS SIMA, BUT WE ARE ALL SO YOUNG. I WILL BE SETTLED IN MY WAYS WHEN OLDER.”

“& I WILL SUPPORT YOU HOWEVER YOU GO – HOPE THAT PRUDENCE CAN ALSO.”

“I’LL HOLD YOU TO THAT, & SHALL TRY TO RE-ORIENT MY RELATIONSHNIP WITH PRUDENCE.”

Through this and similar conversations, you are able to keep yourselves entertained as you copy out the books. When detention is over, Louise carefully places all of the papers that you used to communicate with each other on the floor and revises them into dust, which she scatters across the floor, then hands the completed manuscripts to Regent-Professor Massioti. You are glad that you have some better understanding about why Prudence’s insult made Louise so upset, and you are glad that you have been able to maintain a fine relationship with a friend – maybe helping her to expand her own circle of friends in the process. [+ 2 levels Innuendo, + 1 level Decipher Handwriting, +1 level Rimbal Tactics, + 1 level Conversation, +1 Relationship with Louise Kandinsky, +1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 100 pims, +1 Relationship between Louise Kandinsky and Prudence Cossins, End adventure]

-          “Let me go with Beatrix, please.” [auto]

 

[If male PC]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. Still, I would not put too much hope in her. There are matters, some would say, that predate the dragons, and even great mages cannot change them. She might be like that…” Professor Knoht’s voice trails off and she stares past you for a few seconds, then shakes her head. “Maybe you do not need this advice. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way. But I would like you to do something else for me.” She looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Umm…if we were to go in together, people might get the wrong idea about us – think we were dating – and that might get back to Academagia – Professor Vickery shops here, sometimes – and then we might get in trouble. Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you will not be my friends after you finish helping me with this.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the two of you cannot come with me, because neither of you are sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FirstName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FirstName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +1 level Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 1 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If female PC]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way. But I would like you to do something else for me.” Professor Knoht looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers, more quickly alone. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you will not be my friends after you finish helping me with this.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the two of you cannot come with me, because neither of you are sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FirstName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FirstName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +1 level Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 1 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If male PC has Completed Eliana Carosi’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. Still, I would not put too much hope in her. There are matters, some would say, that predate the dragons, and even great mages cannot change them. She might be like that…” Professor Knoht’s voice trails off and she stares past you for a few seconds, then shakes her head. “Maybe you do not need this advice. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way. But I would like you to do something else for me.” She looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Umm…if we were to go in together, people might get the wrong idea about us – think we were dating – and that might get back to Academagia – Professor Vickery shops here, sometimes – and then we might get in trouble. Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you, Beatrix, will not be my friend after you finish helping me with this.” Then she smiles at you and says “But you, [PC FirstName], will always be my friend, since you have fought for me to create pleasant bowers of fine flowers to relax in.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the you cannot come with me, Beatrix, because you are not sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. But you can come with me, [PC FirstName], my friend, if you want.”

“Um, no thanks. I am not used to walking without shoes, and my feet are very sore.”

Eliana’s face falls. “I am sorry that you cannot come with me to the temple. Still, both of you have done great work in Iudocia’s eyes. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FirstName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FirstName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +2 levels Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 2 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If female PC has Completed Eliana Carosi’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way. But I would like you to do something else for me.” Professor Knoht looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers, more quickly alone. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you, Beatrix, will not be my friend after you finish helping me with this.” Then she smiles at you and says “But you, [PC FirstName], will always be my friend, since you have fought for me to create pleasant bowers of fine flowers to relax in.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the you cannot come with me, Beatrix, because you are not sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. But you can come with me, [PC FirstName], my friend, if you want.”

“Um, no thanks. I am not used to walking without shoes, and my feet are very sore.”

Eliana’s face falls. “I am sorry that you cannot come with me to the temple. Still, both of you have done great work in Iudocia’s eyes. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FirstName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FirstName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +2 levels Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 2 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If male PC with Station: Nobility]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. The ways of the world are strange and complex, and the sooner one starts trying to deal with them, the better everything will be…” Professor Knoht’s voice trails off and she stares past you for a few seconds, then shakes her head. “Maybe you do not need this advice. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way, and I should not – must not! – interfere in healthy relationships. But I would like you to do something else for me.” She looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Umm…if we were to go in together, people might get the wrong idea about us – think we were dating or something even crazier – and that might get back to Academagia – Professor Vickery shops here, sometimes – and then we might get in trouble. Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you will not be my friends after you finish helping me with this.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises, like a fine horse that is rubbed down in its stable. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the two of you cannot come with me, because neither of you are sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FullName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FullName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +1 level Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 1 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If male PC with Station: Nobility has Completed Eliana Carosi’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. The ways of the world are strange and complex, and the sooner one starts trying to deal with them, the better everything will be…” Professor Knoht’s voice trails off and she stares past you for a few seconds, then shakes her head. “Maybe you do not need this advice. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way, and I should not – must not! – interfere in healthy relationships. But I would like you to do something else for me.” She looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Umm…if we were to go in together, people might get the wrong idea about us – think we were dating or something even crazier – and that might get back to Academagia – Professor Vickery shops here, sometimes – and then we might get in trouble. Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you, Beatrix, will not be my friend after you finish helping me with this.” Then she smiles at you and says “But you, [PC FirstName], will always be my friend, since you have fought for me to create pleasant bowers of fine flowers to relax in.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises, like a fine horse that is rubbed down in its stable. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the you cannot come with me, Beatrix, because you are not sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. But you can come with me, [PC FirstName], my friend, if you want.”

“Um, no thanks. I am not used to walking without shoes, and my feet are very sore.”

Eliana’s face falls. “I am sorry that you cannot come with me to the temple. Still, both of you have done great work in Iudocia’s eyes. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FullName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FullName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +1 level Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 2 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If female PC with Station: Nobility]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way, and I should not – must not! – interfere in healthy relationships. But I would like you to do something else for me.” Professor Knoht looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Umm…if we were to go in together, people might get some idea that we were involved in an illicit action such as what Miya alleges that she does – people can be so strange in their thoughts – and that might get back to Academagia – Professor Vickery shops here, sometimes – and then we might get in trouble – after all, Professor Knoht punished us just for taking in secrecy as he wanted something probably not illegal to Professor Pachait. I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of risk again. Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you will not be my friends after you finish helping me with this.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises, like a fine horse that is rubbed down in its stable. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the two of you cannot come with me, because neither of you are sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FullName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FullName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +1 level Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 2 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

[If female PC with Station: Nobility has Completed Eliana Carosi’s Y1 Adventure]

 

“You are certainly very loyal to your friend – I hope she is your friend. Loyalty and firm friendships are wonderful treasures, and since she is not…um…one of those bad students, such as…huh…Cirillo…or…um…Miya, I can think of no real reason why you should not do your punishment that way, and I should not – must not! – interfere in healthy relationships. But I would like you to do something else for me.” Professor Knoht looks at you, concern in her eyes.

What does she want you to do? Try to break up one of Cirillo’s gambling operations? Discover Miya’s real origins? Stalk bad students whose names she clearly cannot remember? All three?

Your frantically racing thoughts are interrupted when Professor Knoht says, quietly, “Take the money that Beatrix gave you and use it to purchase flowers of different colors to adorn Beatrix and Eliana. I mean…if Beatrix be adorned with red flowers, Eliana should not be adorned with red flowers also. Maybe white or blue or yellow.”

Amazed at this simple request, you eagerly agree, causing the Professor to smile wearily. As you leave her presence to rush after Beatrix, you hear her murmuring about identities.

“Hey, Beatrix! Wait for me!”

Beatrix turns to shush you, but her eyes brighten when she sees you.

“Yeah, [PC FirstName]? Has Professor Knoht decided to cancel our punishments?”

“No, but I chose to do what you were doing. I am to use the money that you gave me to buy flowers for all of us.”

“Really? Your presence may make this more enjoyable. Thank you so much. We should meet in the Great Hall after we put our shoes away. Then we can buy flower wreaths from Mineta – I know the expensive florists – and look for Eliana to give them to her.”

After you re-meet with Beatrix in the Great Hall, the two of you go to Mineta to buy flowers. Beatrix seems to know her way to a certain location within the city rather well, and you ask her about it, hoping to distract yourself from discomfort in your feet.

“Are we going to an expensive florist, Beatrix? You know the way very well to…wherever you are going.”

“Ah, [PC FirstName], when one wanders about as much as I do, one learns how to find one’s way easily. Yes, we are going to a very good florist – I learned about it through my botany studies. Academagia’s green-houses do not contain all of the best flowers in the world – don’t tell Professor Vickery that I said that.”

You are so distracted by this and other remarks that she makes along the way that you realize that you would have no way to rediscover where you are going – and your conclusion is strengthened when Beatrix stops in front of a non-descript door in a non-descript building and says “Here is the place. Give me the money and I will get the flowers.”

“Why? Can’t we go in together?”

“Umm…if we were to go in together, people might get some idea that we were involved in an illicit action such as what Miya alleges that she does – people can be so strange in their thoughts – and that might get back to Academagia – Professor Vickery shops here, sometimes – and then we might get in trouble – after all, Professor Knoht punished us just for taking in secrecy as he wanted something probably not illegal to Professor Pachait. I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of risk again. Since I am familiar with the place, I can buy the best flowers. Any instructions from you?”

“Professor Knoht wants you and Eliana to have different colors of flowers.”

“Figures. That woman…wonderful teacher of incantation, very bad with so much else…Still, she is a professor, so I will do it.”

Beatrix then rushes towards the door, opens it, and swiftly closes it behind her. A few minutes later, she rushes out with equal speed and efficiency, bearing three wreathes impaled upon one arm – red, white, and yellow flowers.

“So, I got the flowers for 33 pims each and gave the last pim to the shop-boy as a tip. Let’s go.”

“I trust that you aren’t tricking me,” you reply as the two of you walk back to Academagia.

“Thank for the confidence, [PC LastName]. I assure you, these are really 33 pims of flowers. Take them and adorn yourself with them.” Beatrix thrusts the yellow flowers at you, and you begin plucking excess flowers and putting them upon your clothes, before placing the more manageable wreath upon your head. But you realize that the flowers are not ordinary. They have a smell that you have never smelled before, and they produce a strange sticky oil that is pleasant upon your skin.

“Well, these flowers are certainly unusual enough to be worth 33 pims where a wreath would normally sell for 10 pims – 20 at most.”

“I know. The seller swore that they were not Oursouki, but came from even more distant lands. But then, he would say that, lest he be condemned as a dealer in Gates magic and Draconic plots. Ah, I see Eliana over there. Let us meet her.”

Beatrix puts her own white garland of flowers upon her head, and the two of you approach Eliana, who stands with her back to both of you. But still, she cannot be missed. Other female students have blonde hairs, but only she has a long cascade that shadows her back, within which are always to be found multiple flowers.

“Be healthy, daughter of a good mother,” Beatrix says, her listless voice contrasting sharply with her ornate words. “I and my friend, [PC FirstName], have been assigned by a great authority to join you in your sigh-inducing work for the rest of the day.”

Eliana turns around, and you see her eyes glisten. But faced with the reluctance of Beatrix to help her, she does not jerk into overt negativity. “You led [PC FirstName], filled with confidence in you, to some sort of bad thing, eh, Beatrix, and now you are both in trouble, right? Well, the imperial reserve is no place of beauty, like the grounds of Academagia – it bristles with danger like a hedgehog with quills, and we cannot all be cunning when it counts in that place. But what of it? Both of you will be helping me with good work, and will attract divine blessings – the gods bless all who follow their instructions. But you, Beatrix, will not be my friend after you finish helping me with this.” Then she smiles at you and says “But you, [PC FirstName], will always be my friend, since you have fought for me to create pleasant bowers of fine flowers to relax in.”

Beatrix, scowling, places the red wreath upon Eliana’s head, and Eliana makes contented noises, like a fine horse that is rubbed down in its stable. “Beautiful flowers. Now let us go. I do not expect to turn goats into fish, but you two can at least provide some support as I do useful work. Where one person is easily battered by waves, three have more power, and may more easily gain glory, making more people support them.”

There follows a blur of walking around trying to do what Eliana wants to do most. The three of you try to dissuade Vincent Warrender from his love of dueling, report Phillippe Marchant for being violent towards Sheary Warrington – that at least gets all of you Sheary’s gratitude – and try to interest various students, even those older than you, in Eliana’s ongoing efforts to ban dueling. The greatest success that all of you have is in getting Gwendy Zuyder to stop hunting, but that is only for the rest of the day and may have more to do with the fact that Eliana led you and Beatrix to join Girars de Periarde in his already ongoing effort against her. At least all three of you got some meat-and-egg-free food from Girars, who delights in telling all who will listen about his efforts to avoid exploiting animals.

“Well, thanks for your help,” Eliana smiles after all three of you manage to avoid one of Girars’s experimental meals of magical energy. “We must have gotten at least half a dozen signatures for my petition, Sheary’s nose was not mangled by magic or might, and that egg-free bread was very delicious. Now I am going to bed for the night.”

“We also gained the enmity of Philippe Marchant, Gwendy Zuyder, Vincent Warrender, and just about everyone in this school who duels or wishes to duel – in other words, a lot of people. At least you let us go earlier than you could have,” Beatrix grumbles.

Eliana’s eyes widen, and she says, “You are right, Beatrix! A pacifist’s work is never done while there is war and combat! I must at least go to the Temple of Iudocia to present this petition. Maybe this will persuade some formal priests to join me in my efforts. But the you cannot come with me, Beatrix, because you are not sufficiently respectful of the Goddess. But you can come with me, [PC FirstName], my friend, if you want.”

“Um, no thanks. I am not used to walking without shoes, and my feet are very sore.”

Eliana’s face falls. “I am sorry that you cannot come with me to the temple. Still, both of you have done great work in Iudocia’s eyes. Have a peaceful night!” And with those words, she rushes off into the night, leaving you and Beatrix alone.

“That Eliana…so similar, yet so different…” Beatrix murmurs. “I am glad that I will not be spending more time with her doing those activities. [PC FullName], I am sorry that my efforts to show you the wonders of the imperial reserve ended up getting us both such trouble.”

“Beatrix, you meant well, and Professor Knoht meant well – in her confused way – and Eliana certainly means well. The only one who possibly didn’t mean well was Professor Pachait, but even he gave you permission to go on your ramble. I am honored to have been in the company of Beatrix von Wetgen! A fine friend and wilderness explorer!”

Beatrix looks at you with a trembling smile. “Thanks, [PC FullName]. That means a lot to me.”

On that cheerful note, the two of you go your separate ways. You do not know about Beatrix, but you want to treat your feet. All of that walking, often over rough ground, some of it bare-footed, has really hurt them. Still, you are glad for all of that that you have had this wonderful and complicated experience with your friend Beatrix. [+1 level Flowers, +1 level Oratory, +1 level Recipes, +1 level Ethics, +1 level Piety, +1 level Bureaucracy, + 1 Relationship with Beatrix von Wetgen, + 2 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 Relationship with Marlein Knoht, + 1 Relationship with Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship with Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship with Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship with Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship with Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Beatrix von Wetgen and Vincent Warrender, + 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Sheary Warrington, +1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Girars de Periarde, - 1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Phillipe Marchant, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Gwendy Zuyder, -1 Relationship between Eliana Carosi and Vincent Warrender, - 1 Vitality, + 3 Stress, End adventure]

 

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@Metis: Thank you for the useful feed-back. I really it when Academagia adventures take into account PC status by presenting other options, so I followed that in my last stage of the adventure. I take it that you know the connection between nobility and Beatrix and nobility and Knoht, so I figured that the adventure should reflect that.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thank you very much for the feedback. Here is a new version, which, I hope, has better spoiler tags:

Random Event: Meeting Miya while Patrolling

 

While you enjoy many aspects of your life studying at Academagia, there are some parts that you do not like, such as hall patrol at nights. Not only are you forced to be walking through the corridors looking for trouble when you could be doing something more productive, but what you discover may be hazardous to your health. One does not need to worry about the night-demons that Flore Yveuillet claims to have encountered to worry about other things, such as senior students doing forbidden things or professors doing illegal things and deciding to threaten or attack patrollers who discover them. And that is not even considering what your peers might do. All things considered, an ideal patrol for you would involve your just discovering some frightened first year student of no great lineage trying to break curfew whom you could easily report upon. That way, your patrol would at least gain you favor with the regents as you wish you could do something else.

Alas, tonight’s patrol has not been so simple. But then, what involving Miya Hikari is simple? Aside from her name?

Miya is wandering the halls wrapped within a standard school blanket. That would not be strange on its own – at night, the corridors can get cold – but Miya is not wearing the blanket for warmth. Rather, she wears it as if it were a cape. You are no expert about school rules, but something does not need to be against any rule or law to be strange. Will she get angry at you for catching her doing something more suitable for children or cheap actors?

“Ah, [PCLastName]! This blanket causes you bafflement, yes? Do you think, do you ponder “Is Miya joining the actors or among the children still”?”

“Um, no, Miya! I was just thinking that I don’t know how to deal with this sort of thing on patrol.”

“Are you afraid that you stumbled upon an initiation ritual into the way of the ninja?”

Um…what? Miya’s claims are so strange that you find yourself saying or thinking um a lot with her. She sees your confusion and continues “Because I assure you that I am not being initiated into any such order – but this humble story-teller would give much to undergo such a rite.  Rather, I am reminding myself of my homeland.”

“How?”

“Where I was born, not all blankets draped and fell limply like this. We had blankets that moved and responded to commands. Animated by magic and made from the finest silks, they would cover one as much as one wanted, waiting only for one’s call. Of course, such things are not cheap, but to me they were as common as the cloth blankets that merchants sell in Valvili for walrus ivory. That is the way of the world when one is a princess, as I am.”

She looks at you with smug satisfaction, and you feel compelled to give a witty retort.

 

-          But you cannot. [auto]

 

What are you to do when confronted with such claims? You cannot think of anything appropriate, so you leave, mumbling vague platitudes. Soon after, you come upon Zorzi muttering about initiation rites for new rimbal  players, but you are so shaken by your encounter with Miya that you do not bother to ask him about what he means [+ 2 Stress, End Event]

-          [PC is in Vernin] “Bah! We make such mobile blankets all the time in Vernin!” [auto]

 

Miya blinks. “So…I  guess that there are reasons to go to other colleges, if one is hopeless at the noble arts of athletics, music, incantation, and rimbal.”

“That’s all you want to say?”

“Well, since you reply to my claim with contempt, forgive me for not falling down in awe and saying ‘How wonderful Vernin is! All other feats of magic should be measured against enchantment!’”

“Well, you are known for your stories and desire to be on the team, not for deep thought about matters.”

“What about Durand the student? As thoughtful as a professor, yet he is in Durand the College!”

“Well, other colleges have their use also. As farmers, or husband-people, or mercenaries.”

“I am a princess, not a mercenary, but I know some mercenaries’ skills! Hiya!”

Miya’s sudden blow leaves you dazed as she runs off. Still, you consider it a good experience from a certain perspective. At least you defended the best traditions of Vernin College, making your patrol more interesting. [+ 1 Stress, -1 Vitality, - 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +3 skill steps Insult, End Event]

-          [PC is in Vernin] “I can help you with such a blanket.” [auto]

 

Miya looks thoughtful for a bit, then smiles. “You’re right! Vernin can make such blankets. When I first came here, you know, I thought that Godina was the most magical college, but now I realize that all colleges have their contributions to the art of magic.”

“You sound like you are practicing for some presentation about the richness of Academagia’s tradition, or some other set of words that Regent di Lucca Alazzo is often talking about.”

“How do you know that I’m not? Other colleges have alumni to deal with and finances to deal with, and rimbal is only one way to be successful in these areas.”

“What about the magic blanket that you were just talking about?”

“What about that? I cannot recapture my lost childhood. My mother claims that there would be soldiers in our palace who would capture us instead.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to your...childhood memories, or fundraising pitches, or whatever you will claim it to be next. You are strange, but you are not breaking any rules.”

“Better to be strange than hated, as my father said.”

Miya’s laughter follows you as you resume your patrol. Miya is strange and prone to telling wild stories, which you find very disconcerting, but you are just glad that you are not being called upon to actually make such a blanket; you are not sure that you could. [+ 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Negotiate, End Event]

-          [Male PC has Station: Merchant] “This merchant’s son can give you ivory, but Princess Miya must remember magical blankets by wearing a blanket like a child or cheap actress!” [auto]

 

Without missing a beat, Miya replies, "Very well, show me your ivory."

You are forced to stutter through a discussion of how Ivory, due to its rarity, isn't the sort of thing that your family would just give to you in sufficient quantity for you to have a portion with you on patrol that you could just give her, but if she will just wait a few weeks until a vessel bound for Valvili would sell shares, then you are sure that...

Miya cuts you off with a laugh and a yawn. "No, it's all right. You don't need to give me ivory. But your family connections allow you to have the potential to get ivory, and you know how to get it. It is the same with me. If I were to return to my homeland as a fully trained mage, skilled in battle, I could, through family connections, regain my family's titles and property. So we both are shaped by our families, whose legacies could lead us to success if we do things right."

"It is easier to be a merchant than an exiled noble returning to regain her patrimony."

"Indeed, which is one reason why I think about the magical blankets of my childhood rather than trying to gain new ones."

"Dreams that are impossible have never led people to wealth."

"What abut the great authors whose books about mages enslaving dragons, the events upon the surface of Cyve, and the astronaut-warriors are so popular?"

"Such people write their stories, rather than acting like young children."

"I am not acting as a child, but as a princess with a magical blanket."

"Princess or not, you cannot turn a blanket magical, but I can get ivory."

"But as a princess I could command others to make magical blankets, but you must work through money."

"Money works everywhere, but being a princess works in only parts of the world."

"Good thing I'm not just a princess, then," Miya giggles. "I will become a great mage and rimbal player, and I will be so popular that you would give me ivory to be known as a friend to such a person even if I were only a diver's daughter."

"I would trade quips with you all night, Princess - and learn about divers' daughters - but I must resume my patrol."

"Farewell, then, great merchant, and be glad that you have gained a royal patron."

As you walk away from her, you cannot decide which part of Miya is more interesting to consider - her fascinating stories, or the fact that she has such ambitions and may be capable of pulling them off. [+ 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Transport, End Event]

-          [Female PC has Station: Merchant] “This merchant’s daughter can give you ivory, but Princess Miya must remember magical blankets by wearing a blanket like a child or cheap actress!” [auto]

 

Without missing a beat, Miya replies, "Very well, show me your ivory."

You are forced to stutter through a discussion of how Ivory, due to its rarity, isn't the sort of thing that your family would just give to you in sufficient quantity for you to have a portion with you on patrol that you could just give her, but if she will just wait a few weeks until a vessel bound for Valvili would sell shares, then you are sure that...

Miya cuts you off with a laugh and a yawn. "No, it's all right. You don't need to give me ivory. But your family connections allow you to have the potential to get ivory, and you know how to get it. It is the same with me. If I were to return to my homeland as a fully trained mage, skilled in battle, I could, through family connections, regain my family's titles and property. So we both are shaped by our families, whose legacies could lead us to success if we do things right."

"It is easier to be a merchant than an exiled noble returning to regain her patrimony."

"Indeed, which is one reason why I think about the magical blankets of my childhood rather than trying to gain new ones."

"Dreams that are impossible have never led people to wealth."

"What abut the great authors whose books about mages enslaving dragons, the events upon the surface of Cyve, and the astronaut-warriors are so popular?"

"Such people write their stories, rather than acting like young children."

"I am not acting as a child, but as a princess with a magical blanket."

"Princess or not, you cannot turn a blanket magical, but I can get ivory."

"But as a princess I could command others to make magical blankets, but you must work through money."

"Money works everywhere, but being a princess works in only parts of the world."

"Good thing I'm not just a princess, then," Miya giggles. "I will become a great mage and rimbal player, and I will be so popular that you would give me ivory to be known as a friend to such a person even if I were only a diver's daughter."

"I would trade quips with you all night, Princess - and learn about divers' daughters - but I must resume my patrol."

"Farewell, then, great merchant, and be glad that you have gained a royal patron."

As you walk away from her, you cannot decide which part of Miya is more interesting to consider - her fascinating stories, or the fact that she has such ambitions and may be capable of pulling them off. [+ 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Transport, End Event]

-          [PC has Station: Nobility] “If your parents were as vulgar as you are, no wonder you had to go into exile!” [auto]

 

“Vulgar?” Miya looks a bit puzzled, but then she smiles. “Ah! Vulgar as in like ordinary people. My parents are like ordinary people in  that they must work for their livings, but that is the lot of all who are useful in society. Even the Emperors of Man, so called, had to work at wars, laws, security, and other complicated affairs.”

“It is one thing to work in such suitable areas, but another to want to be some type of actress-athlete as you do. Such a noble loses the respect of the people, and her lineage counts fore nothing to them. Sometimes that noble is expelled by her subjects, as happened in Pievre. Did your parents prefer to be cargo haulers and pilots rather than nobles?”

Miya grimaces as she replies, “You have such little imagination, assuming that one cannot be both! If no one is such here, then may I be the one to show it possible.”

“Good luck in that when Catherine Chard and people like her make nobles seem so close  minded.”

“I take it that your switching from abstract discussions of nobility to Catherine represents where your tutoring ends and your experience begins.”

“At least I have had tutors to teach me about such things. You have been taught only in the ways of sailors and actors outside this school.”

“And I know how to value such people, unlike you!”

With that cold retort, Miya stalks off, her blanket swishing around her ankles. Miya is either a pretend noble or a very strange noble, as far as you are concerned. But then, maybe the nobles are different in her land. Humans alone are able to conceive of and implement rule without nobles where they once had nobles, strange as that may seem, so who knows how humans under the influence of dragons treat their nobles? With that rather disturbing thought, you resume your patrol, glad that dragons are no threat in the Empire of Man. [- 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Wordliness, +1 Stress, End Event]

-          [PC has gained admission into Schohanwicht] “I can create such an item for you easily, Princess.” [auto]

 

“You can? Really? How?” Miya’s eyes glisten with excitement.

Oops. Too late, you realize that talking about gates magic – even with a fellow student of uncertain honesty – may not be the smartest thing that you have done – aside from studying gates magic, perhaps. So you have to lie, quickly!

“Ah, there are strange books about advanced enchantment found in certain parts of the Venalicium that seem to be rarely consulted. I found one, quite by chance, once, and it discussed how to make enchanted blankets and cloaks and tapestries. I know where it is, and can try to get it for you.”

Miya frowns, and a tremor grows in your throat. Does she doubt you? But her answer puts you at ease.

“You know, going into rarely used parts of the Venalicium is not a good thing. Whether it is Louise trying to research birds, or Uliva dealing her very strange obsession with snakes, or Sima in her constant efforts to learn about jewelry, or Alan trying to locate some buried cache, or Durand the student researching history, or Aaran considering the delicts that he has caused or not caused, I always come upon somebody in that library who is eager to talk and wants help, even if the plan is dangerous. Why, just last night, Aaran almost caused a delict against me when the chair that he offered to me to sit in collapsed. So, thanks for the offer, but I don’t want you risking yourself in that.”

“Well, I am sure that I can handle a bit of bad luck, but I will not do it, because you have said so.”

Miya laughs and you resume your patrol, glad that you have been able to avoid revealing the secret of Schohanwicht. [+ 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Lie, +1 Stress, End Event]

-          [PC has gained admission into Schohanwicht] “I could create such an item for you easily, Princess.” [auto]

 

“You can? Really? How?” Miya’s eyes glisten with excitement.

Too late, you realize that talking about gates magic – even with a fellow student of uncertain honesty – may not be the smartest thing that you have done – aside from studying gates magic, perhaps. Still, you weren’t planning on revealing such a thing at all. The point is to dangle a tempting offer, then deny it.

“Well, there are strange books about advanced enchantment found in certain parts of the Venalicium that seem to be rarely consulted. I found one, quite by chance, once, and it discussed how to make enchanted blankets and cloaks and tapestries. I know where it is, and could try to get it for you.”

Miya frowns, and a tremor grows in your throat. Does she doubt you? But her answer puts you at ease.

“You know, going into rarely used parts of the Venalicium is not a good thing. Whether it is Louise trying to research birds, or Uliva dealing her very strange obsession with snakes, or Sima in her constant efforts to learn about jewelry, or Alan trying to locate some buried cache, or Durand the student researching history, or Aaran considering the delicts that he has caused or not caused, I always come upon somebody in that library who is eager to talk and wants help, even if the plan is dangerous. Why, just last night, Aaran almost caused a delict against me when the chair that he offered to me to sit in collapsed. So, thanks for the offer, but I don’t want you risking yourself in that.”

“I am glad that you don’t want me to retrieve the book, because I would not get it for you!”

Miya gives an angry squawk and stalks away, leaving you to resume your patrol, glad that attending Schohanwicht has given you a way to have fun that does not involve practicing Gates magic in front of others. [- 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Planning, End Event]

-          [PC has completed Miya’s Y1 adventure] “Are you not content with theft alone?” [auto]

 

Miya looks genuinely baffled. “What does a magical blanket have to do with crime? Not that I would admit to any such thing.”

“One way to create such a blanket would be through Gates magic. Of course, enchantment could also work, but you seem to prefer the illegal route to the legal in every case. Want a bracelet? Steal it rather than getting a job to raise the money. Get in trouble with the thieves guild? Try to make the thieves your allies rather than asking for help from the city guard, the teachers, or even some Durand vigilantes. So I figure that you want the Gates way, and plan to keep that blanket hidden from any negation magic.”

Miya sighs. “Well, if you will always assume such negative things about me, then I shall not talk to you.”

“That would be best, since otherwise, I might have to shed a tear when you receive some punishment, or laugh with joy at your being kidnapped to serve as crew on some merchant vessel – better to be crossing the sky on a voyage to Valvili or Oursouk as an unwilling crew member than facing the prospect of punishment as a thief in Mineta!”

You walk off, chuckling at your own words. Miya must learn that the world has no place in it for lawbreakers such as she is, and it would be better for her to receive such wisdom from a peer than a professor – or a guard or a magistrate. [- 2 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Criminal Law, + 1 skill step Dispassion, End Event]

-          [PC has completed Miya’s Y1 adventure] “If you need help with such a blanket, I can help.” [auto]

 

Miya looks surprised. “Um, thanks for the offer, but I am not that desperate for such a blanket.”

“There’s no need to be shy, Miya. I’ve helped you in some of your…less legitimate ventures.”

“Just because I got into one scrape with the thieves guild, you assume that I constantly think about crime?”

“Miya, I am so sorry! I did not mean that I assumed that you were wanting to break the law! My point was merely that I am no zealous adherent to rules who would report every deviation from Academagia rules that you might make to create such a blanket.”

“Ah, thanks for the clarification. I guess that given what we’ve been through, you had a right to think that I tend to…get a bit over my head in terms of rules. But no, I have other big plans this year for which your help would be useful.”

“Whatever they are, I will try to help you as best as I can.”

“Thank you. But now I must go to bed now, and you have a patrol to complete.”

You resume your patrol, glad that Miya still trusts you enough to talk to her about her plans. They may not involve magical blankets, but they will doubtlessly be fun. [+ 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Relaxation, End Event]

-          [PC has completed Miya’s Y1 adventure and has gained admission into Schohanwicht] “I can help you with such a blanket.” [auto]

 

Miya looks surprised. “Um, thanks for the offer, but I am not that desperate for such a blanket.”

“There’s no need to be shy, Miya. I’ve helped you in some of your…less legitimate ventures, and I have my own connections that could be of use.”

“Just because I got into one scrape with the thieves guild, you assume that I constantly think about crime? And what’s this about your connections?”

“Miya, I am so sorry! I did not mean that I assumed that you were wanting to break the law! My point was merely that I am no zealous adherent to rules who would report every deviation from Academagia rules that you might make to create such a blanket. And my connections are extremely secretive, so I cannot go into much detail about them.”

“Ah, thanks for the clarification. I guess that given what we’ve been through, you had a right to think that I tend to…get a bit over my head in terms of rules. But no, I have other big plans this year for which your help would be useful. And you should not risk your secret society or whatever on my desire for a blanket that I could command. Keep it for a real issue, such as a new pirate attack or something worse.”

“Whatever your plans are, I alone will try to help you as best as I can.”

“Thank you. But you have a patrol to complete. Hey, wanna know why I’m out here?”

“Aside from your being given to thinking about childhood? Sure.”

“It’s a rimbal initiation thing. I was told that I would have to walk through the halls wearing a blanket like a cloak. But,” and here Miya laughs, “the rimbal team members did not specify when I had to do this. So I do this at night except for a hidden observer from the team, free from the humiliation of friends and the punishments of professors.”

“So, your story about magical blankets – is that just a cover story?”

“If it were only that, would I be able to earn your trust?”

Miya then rushes away laughing. You resume your patrol, wondering whether Miya was telling the truth in any of that. Still, you are glad that Miya still trusts you enough to talk to her about her plans. They may not involve magical blankets, but they will doubtlessly be fun, and you are glad that you will not be expected to involve Schohanwicht. [+ 2 Relationship Miya Hikari, +1 skill step Storytelling, + 1 skill step Negotiate, + 1 Stress, End Event]

-          [PC has completed Miya’s Y1 adventure and has gained admission into Schohanwicht] “My secret society would not help you, Princess.” [auto]

 

Miya looks skeptical. “You, a member of a secret society? I could believe that about Sima and Alan, but they at least engage in mysterious deeds. You are –”

“Miya, if you were truly streetsmart, you’d know that the best members of secret societies are those whom no-one suspects. In any case, you are so boastful and conspicuous that the secret society that I belong to would never accept you as a member. Indeed, I think that you had best be wary about your secret society’s silencing you.”

“Is there a purpose to your words beyond insulting me?”

“Well, since you seemed to be engaging me in conversation only because you wanted to lie about your family and the like, no, there is not.”

“Thanks for the clarification. I guess that I can now look for other people to be my friends.”

“If you cannot be at least inconspicuous in your dishonesty, I will not be interested in your friendship.”

You resume your patrol as Miya goes off on her own way. You wonder whether Miya was telling any truth about her childhood. It doesn’t really matter, you figure, since you hope to avoid getting involved with Miya any more. Studying at the Schohanwicht is hard enough without a blabbermouth friend who loves telling stories about strange and illegal things. [- 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, - 1 Stress, End Event]

-          “Others may call you a liar, but I call you a great actress.” [auto]

 

“Actress!” Miya gasps. “I am more than an actress! I am a teller of true tales, an aspiring mage, and a future rimbal player! To be dismissed as an actress alone is…”

But you don’t hear what else she says, as she races away from you down the corridor, giving gasping sobs. Miya is strange. What did she expect would happen if she were to say those words about her lineage while dressed like an actress from a poor acting company? Still, as you resume your patrol, you wonder whether you could not have replied to her better. [- 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, + 1 skill step Etiquette, + 1 Stress, End Event]

-          “I would trust Flore’s condemnations of Catherine before I would trust you!” [auto]

 

“Really?” Miya giggles. “The same Flore who condemns the Chards as the offspring of mercenaries married to members of the Golden Families of Mineta? And who is condemned by Catherine as one who yearns to practice Gates magic? [PC FirstName], I am deeply honored!”

Now your bafflement is doubled. How can Miya take your words positively?

Reading your face’s confusion, Miya explains “It is the privilege and right of nobles to think each other liars, doubt their peers’ claims, and lower their rivals lineages in their own thoughts. Not in public, though, unless they want to go before the courts or face a duel. By placing me within such a context of aspersion of aristocratic pedigrees, you acknowledge me as their fellow noble! I simply must tell Zorzi of this. He will be so surprised!”

Without giving you a chance to reject her interpretation, Miya rushes off down a corridor. As you resume your patrol, you think that this patrol encounter has gone well, all things considered. Miya now thinks that you were praising her, and so a fight was avoided. Still, you cannot help but worry about other misinterpretations of your words causing worse outcomes. [+ 1 Relationship Miya Hikari, + 1 skill step Politics, +1 skill step Civil Law, + 1 Stress, End Event]

Edited by Rhialto
I completed the random event.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have finally competed my second random event. Next week, I hope to start working upon a short adventure dealing with the Triplets. Any feed back about this random event would be very welcome.

Random Event – Puppet Show

 

You don’t remember quite how you came to be in the Dimmae Theater – or is this another room within the school that has been decorated to look like the Dimmae? Academagia is large enough that the latter is a distinct possibility.

But then you realize that the noise from the seated crowd and the bright cloth that attracted you through this doorway are both less than would be within the Dimmae. The cloth is not heavy velvet but cheap canvas poorly dyed, the crowd is seated in repurposed classroom chairs, and the stage that the crowd looks at and the bright cloth decorates is – a fold-up wooden puppet theater? What is this all about?

Just as you are wondering what to do, a first year student, wearing Durand robes and a cheap white cloth mask with a clown’s face painted upon it in red and blue and yellow, comes up to you and recites a spiel in a song-song voice.

“Welcome to “The Monarch of Plezyca,” a tale of treachery, comedy, and drama! Produced, written, and acted with puppets by members of Durand College for the amusement of all who can pay. Price of a seat is only 5 pims; show starts in 2 minutes.”

“Who wrote it?” You hope that Durand the Student has not turned to writing fiction for Durand the College; you well remember that he has the ability to turn even the exploits of Noemia the New Goddess boring.

“Ah, some upper year student who doesn’t want to be known. The story is really…quite good. Only 5 pims, and you can sit next to anyone with an empty seat. Seating is not reserved.”

With time running out, you look over the crowd. There are around 30 seats set up in front of the puppet theater, of which many are empty. Still, you can see many people whom you recognize.

“Please! Make up your mind!”

With time running out along with the patience of your guide, you must decide.

 

-          A cheap puppet show, by an unknown author, hawked by a student who will not even show a face? This is a bad idea. [Auto]

 

You rush out of the room, ignoring the puppet show that you would miss. It is probably as badly written and performed as its setting has been prepared, you tell yourself. There are better things to do in terms of relaxation.

Later that day, however, you hear rumors about how funny the performance was, how cleverly the performers used and left an abandoned classroom, and how skillful the incantation magic for providing special effects was. So maybe you missed a wonderful show. At least you saved five pims! [+1 skill step Relaxation, + 1 stress, End Event]

-          Five pims? Five whole pims!? You can’t afford that kind of luxury! [Auto]

 

Stuttering apologies, you leave the make shift puppet theater, hoping that no one will draw bad conclusions about you from your awkward withdrawal.

Later that day, however, you hear rumors about how you are completely without money, for reasons ranging from the strange yet plausible (bad luck in a game of pick-up bones) to the impossible and absurd (needing to eliminate a curse imposed by a summoned dragon by buying Joana some Oursouki candy) – although you are quite partial to the story involving the talking squirrel, the stolen guide book to Mineta, and the ivory statue of a goblin.

The bad news is that you are surrounded by mutters, and librarians scowl at you more harshly. On the other hand, Catherine Chard, muttering about how it is better than going to Beggar’s Corner, very publicly gives you a fair sum of money while talking about helping the less fortunate whom she shares the school with. [+1 skill step Storytelling, + 1 stress, + 1 Relationship with Catherine Chard, + 50 pims, - 50 pims for Catherine Chard, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Aaran Ledale. [Auto]

 

[PC has completed Ana Flavia Bessa‘s Y1 Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Aaran and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame from one of the puppeteers) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you ask Aaran whether he enjoyed  it.

“Oh, I supposed that I must enjoy it. After all, I was responsible for it.”

“What?”

“Well, I did not write it, but, well, when one has a reputation, people ask for things, and this may not be good.”

You are not sure what Aaran means, and tell him as much.

“Well, if a student were wanting to gamble at a place much easier to get to than Feng’s Parlour – wonderful place whose owner I know – he or she would go to Cirillo. But there is more to Cirillo than gambling – he has great ambitions as a business owner. Or take you – one tense meeting with magicians on Workshop Day during your first year, and you become known as a great solver of other people’s problems – although given that you removed Ana’s curse, maybe you deserve that reputation.”

“Thank you for the kind words. But what has this to do with the puppet show?”

“I am associated by certain other students with law. I am often to be found in the Venalicium reading about that topic, so students tend to assume that I must be to the law what Katja Quinnecht is to the violin, even though this is not true – I study the law for its moral richness, not for legal purposes. Nonetheless, my reputation persists. So when Flore Yveuillet wanted to write a puppet show, she asked me whether her ideas would be legal. How could I refuse a student with her links to power? So I reluctantly gave her my advice. Her original story was not legally sound. Its caricature of Professor Sido as a man whose outrageous lies allow him to become king of Auncesay was lese-majesty, and she would have probably been exposed to harsh punishment within Academagia if she had dared to so satirize a teacher. To her credit, she listened, and, I presume, re-wrote her idea to deal with a caricature of a student at Academegia.”

As Aaran walks away after his explanation, you are not sure what puzzles you more: the fact that no accident befell you despite your proximity to him, or what lese-majesty is. [+ 1 Relationship with Aaran Ledale, + 1 skill step Criminal Law, - 1 Stress, - 5 pims, End Event]

[PC has not completed Ana Flavia Bessa’s Y1 Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Aaran and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you ask Aaran whether he enjoyed  it.

“Oh, I supposed that I must enjoy it. After all, I was responsible for it.”

“What?”

“Well, I did not write it, but, well, when one has a reputation, people ask for things, and this may not be good.”

You are not sure what Aaran means, and tell him as much.

“Well, if a student were wanting to gamble at a place much easier to get to than Feng’s Parlour – wonderful place whose owner I know – he or she would go to Cirillo. But there is more to Cirillo than gambling – he has great ambitions as a business owner. Or take you – one tense meeting with magicians on Workshop Day during your first year, and you become known as a great solver of other people’s problems – although as far as I know, you have not solved any major issues.”

“But what has this to do with the puppet show?”

“I am associated by certain other students with law. I am often to be found in the Venalicium reading about that topic, so students tend to assume that I must be to the law what Katja Quinnecht is to the violin, even though this is not true – I study the law for its moral richness, not for legal purposes. Nonetheless, my reputation persists. So when Flore Yveuillet wanted to write a puppet show, she asked me whether her ideas would be legal. How could I refuse a student with her links to power? So I reluctantly gave her my advice. Her original story was not legally sound. Its caricature of Professor Sido as a man whose outrageous lies allow him to become king of Auncesay was lese-majesty, and she would have probably been exposed to harsh punishment within Academagia if she had dared to so satirize a teacher. To her credit, she listened, and, I presume, re-wrote her idea to deal with a caricature of a student at Academegia.”

As Aaran walks away after his explanation, you are not sure what puzzles you more: the fact that no accident befell you despite your proximity to him, or what lese-majesty is. [+ 1 Relationship with Aaran Ledale, + 1 skill step Criminal Law, - 5 pims, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Tabin Furenzti. [Auto]

 

[PC has completed the Triplets Y1 Main Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Tabin and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you hear Tabin muttering.

“Durand students…thinking themselves better than Aranaz.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Pievrian Captain is a caricature of the Pievran Aranaz student Milena di Montors, and the Queen of Plezyca is a caricature of the Plezycan Aranaz student Basia Rydz. I am not inclined to get too involved in rivalries between colleges for reasons that you may guess from our great adventure last year, but to portray two ambitious, high-achieving Aranaz students as nagging, scheming, incompetent perfectionists – well, I can understand how the hatred grows out of insults such as this, going all the way back to those two kings, their differing approaches to dragons, and the accusations that each made against the other.”

Before he leaves, he slips you a note, upon which is written “I will talk to Magsa about this, and will not blame him even if he was involved with this. Sima wishes you well. Destroy this message after reading it.” Shrugging, you rip the message to shreds and go on your way. [+ 1 Relationship with Tabin Furenzti, + 1 skill step Conceal, + 1 skill step Honor of Mallen Field, - 5 pims, End Event]

[PC has not completed the Triplets Y1 Main Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Tabin and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you hear Tabin muttering.

“Durand students…thinking themselves better than Aranaz.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Pievrian Captain is a caricature of the Pievran Aranaz student Milena di Montors, and the Queen of Plezyca is a caricature of the Plezycan Aranaz student Basia Rydz. I am not inclined to get too involved in rivalries between colleges – I have better things to do for myself and for Aranaz – but to portray two ambitious, high-achieving Aranaz students as nagging, scheming, incompetent perfectionists – well, I can understand how the hatred grows out of insults such as this, going all the way back to those two kings, their differing approaches to dragons, and the accusations that each made against the other.”

Shrugging at Tabin’s analysis, you go on your way. [+ 1 Relationship with Tabin Furenzti, + 1 skill step Honor of Mallen Field, - 5 pims, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Magsa Nembo. [Auto]

 

[PC has completed the Triplets Y1 Main Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Magsa and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you join Magsa in leaving. As you do, you ask him about whether he liked the puppet show.

“I just hope that it is not interpreted as anti-Plezycan, for several reasons.”

“Is that all that you care about in the show?”

“No, but that is my big worry. There is a Plezycan upper year student in Durand, Dobry by name, who might take offense at this whole play – and given its secretiveness, he might think that I was involved in it. This could in turn motivate him to harass me. [PC FirstName], please tell any person who asks that as far as I know, the writers of this show were not targeting Plezyca as a whole, let alone Dobry. Rather, their target was the Plezycan Basia Rydz from Aranaz.”

“Magsa, you should consider Lambert’s successes and failures in reporting information and name who wrote the puppet show. That way, people would give your story more credibility.”

“But if I reveal who wrote it, then I would be revealed as one who cannot keep secrets.”

“You seem to be keeping your closest relationships secret.”

Magsa beams at you and, after making sure that you are more or less alone in the corridor, he whispers, “Prudence and Flore wrote it together, and I think performed as puppeteers. I learned this because, while searching for a source about Oncestrian thieves’ cant, I found them arguing about how to treat Plezyca in their story. Flore was all in favor of making all of its inhabitants fools, but Prudence wanted to avoid insulting Dobry, whom she seems to admire.”

“Well, you should tell Dobry this yourself. Otherwise, people might think of us as smearing two innocent Durand girls’ reputations.”

Magsa laughs aloud, causing at least one passing student to jerk in surprise, but hen he whispers, “Easier to discover my dearest partners than to believe that those two students are merely innocent girls.”

Magsa leaves smiling and jaunty. You are so glad to have helped Magsa to deal with a problem that you nearly forget to wonder why he – or perhaps one of the other Triplets – would need knowledge of Oncestrian thieves’ cant. [+ 1 Relationship with Magsa Nembo, + 1 skill step Danger Sense, + 1 skill step Journalism, - 5 pims, End Event]

[PC has not completed the Triplets Y1 Main Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Magsa and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you join Magsa in leaving. As you do, you ask him about whether he liked the puppet show.

“I just hope that it is not interpreted as anti-Plezycan, for several reasons.”

“Is that all that you care about in the show?”

“No, but that is my big worry. There is a Plezycan upper year student in Durand, Dobry by name, who might take offense at this whole play – and given its secretiveness, he might think that I was involved in it. This could in turn motivate him to harass me. [PC FirstName], please tell any person who asks that as far as I know, the writers of this show were not targeting Plezyca as a whole, let alone Dobry. Rather, their target was the Plezycan Basia Rydz from Aranaz.”

“Magsa, you are very concerned about Dobry’s thoughts about this. Maybe he will not even know or care about this puppet show.”

Magsa beams at you and replies, “The world has many secrets, but I guess it is best to focus only upon those that we know are against us.”

Magsa leaves smiling and jaunty. You are so glad to have helped Magsa to deal with a problem that you nearly forget to wonder how he developed such worry. [+ 1 Relationship with Magsa Nembo, + 1 skill step Danger Sense, - 5 pims, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Cirillo Laziosi. [Auto]

 

[PC has completed Cirillo Laziosi’s Y1 Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Cirillo and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you notice that Cirillo is looking glum.

“Cirillo, did you not enjoy the show?”

“Yeah, I enjoyed the show, and that’s the problem.”

“How so?”

“If this puppet show type of entertainment continue and gain popularity, then fewer students will want to gamble with me or will not afford gambling as much.”

“Ah, you shouldn’t feel so bad. We set up a casino last year. Surely we could do such again.”

“And risk tangling with the thieves and cardsharps who monopolize that trade again? Such cannot be done on a whim, unlike setting up a pick-up bones game. I have to keep my options open, and this includes keeping track of popular alternatives to gambling at Academagia.”

“Well, maybe you can get one of the targets of the puppet show to complain. Setting up this cast of puppets and writing this script was more than a whim, so if this puppet show be shut down, there are unlikely to be any puppet shows from these puppeteers for a while.”

“[PC Name], you’re brilliant! Miya Hikari, my fellow Godina student, was mocked in this show. I’ll tell her about this, and then – I can get bets about what she does.”

Cirillo rushes off. Later, though, you hear that Miya and Flore had a very big fight, and Cirillo cheerfully hands you five pims as a cut of his share in a betting pool that had he set up. [+ 1 Relationship with Cirillo Laziosi, + 1 skill step Gambling, + 1 skill step Minetan Swagger, - 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Flore Yveuillet, End Event]

[PC has not completed Cirillo Laziosi’s Y1 Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Cirillo and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you notice that Cirillo is looking glum.

“Cirillo, did you not enjoy the show?”

“Yeah, I enjoyed the show, and that’s the problem.”

“How so?”

“If this puppet show type of entertainment continue and gain popularity, then fewer students will want to gamble with me or will not afford gambling as much.”

“Well, maybe you can get one of the targets of the puppet show to complain. Setting up this cast of puppets and writing this script was more than a whim, so if this puppet show be shut down, there are unlikely to be any puppet shows from these puppeteers for a while.”

“[PC FirstName], you’re brilliant! Miya Hikari, my fellow Godina student, was mocked in this show. I’ll tell her about this, and then – I can get bets about what she does.”

Cirillo rushes off. Later, though, you hear that Miya and Flore had a very big fight, and Cirillo cheerfully hands you five pims as a cut of his share in a betting pool that had he set up. [+ 1 Relationship with Cirillo Laziosi, + 1 skill step Gambling, - 1 Relationship between Miya Hikari and Flore Yveuillet, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Everwine von Zoedorf. [Auto]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Everwine and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you notice that Everwine is looking intently at the backdrop of the puppet theater.

“I know that artists can be strange, Everwine, so maybe you can tell me what you find so interesting about the backdrop for puppet show. Is it a source of artistic inspiration to  you?”

“What? No, I just thing that it is a pity that they had Rixenda la Serena do the backdrop. I mean, I do better with human form, but since they got Cordelia Troublepot to make the puppets, surely they could have gotten some student better than Rixenda – or me – to do the backdrop. It looks like something that even an apprentice painter would feel embarrassment over. Yet to Rixenda, of course, it is great art. Must her artistic lunacy gain supporters?”

“Maybe the puppeteers chose the backdrop because it seemed childish.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Perhaps they thought that a childish backdrop would suit the puppet show they were doing better.”

“You’re right, [PC FirstName]! Artists must suit their clients. I just hope that Rixenda does not become the founder of the next popular art movement. That would put all of my training to waste.”

Everwine goes away, rubbing his hands as if in preparation for sketching. Given the thoroughly marginal popularity of Rixenda’s work, you doubt that he has much to worry about. [+1 Relationship with Everwine von Zoedorf, + 1 skill step Art Appreciation, - 5 pims, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Malthezar Mhadi. [Auto]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Malthezar and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you join Malthezar in leaving.

“How did you find the puppet show, Malthezar?”

“Thank you for not asking me about puppet shows in Alesfa. I was bracing myself to have to answer a good faith yet utterly insulting question along the lines of ‘do you have puppet shows in Alesfa?’. The thing is, I would gladly tell all people about Alesfan puppetry – it is an interesting tradition – but not when asked such patronizing questions.”

“Um, you didn’t answer the question.”

Malthezar laughs and says “You’re right, I didn’t. I was so absorbed in expected questions and answers that I forgot. I found this puppet show to be very horizon-opening for me.”

“Really?” You find it hard to imagine how a students’ cheap amateur puppet show could be so profound.

“Yes. This puppet show reveals that Alesfa is not the only exotic land to Minetans. There is Plezyca, of course, but then there is Pievre, which, although long a core part of the Empire of Man, has made itself foreign to others through its deliberate abandonment of tradition. I mean, Pievrians speak a very common language, yet they are regarded as not only very foreign but as almost as dangerous as the Oursouki. Truly, the threat of the dragons makes us often forget than people are often the measure of what is normal, no matter what laws and gods say.”

As Malthezar leaves, you remember, not for the first time, how wonderful studying at Academagia – and learning about, from, and with such diverse people – is. [+1 Relationship with Malthezar Mhadi, + 1 skill step Worldliness, - 5 pims, End Event]

-          [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Iustus Venture. [Auto]

 

[PC has completed Sima Venesico’s Y1 Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Iustus and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you note that Iustus appears to have fallen asleep.

“Um, maybe you should find a better place to sleep in than this, Iustus.”

Iustus stirs and answers “Why should I move? I was here first, then these masked puppeteers set up their theater. I had to pay them my fare, but then I went to sleep as best as I could. Now leave me alone.”

“Haven’t you thought of moving to another place where you can sleep in greater peace? Surely Hedi College or a library would be more restful for you.”

“I don’t want to spend much time away from classes, so this rarely used classroom was convenient for me. Apparently, the puppeteers thought it convenient also.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to rest as well as you are able.” You are glad that you don’t have to deal with the great need for sleep that Iustus does.

“Hey, you didn’t annoy me too much. Certainly, you caused me much less annoyance than Sima did when she tried to hypnotize me. But now she seeks you whenever she needs help, so I can forgive much from you.”

As you leave Iustus to his sleep, you reflect upon Sima’s efforts to get him to pay attention to her, and how calmly he has accepted them. If only more people could be more like that, rather than prone to fight first and ask questions later. [+1 Relationship with Iustus Venture, + 1 skill step Curiosity, + 1 skill step Dispassion, - 5 pims, End Event]

[PC has not completed Sima Venesico’s Y1 Adventure]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Iustus and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

After the puppet show is over and the audience is leaving the room, you note that Iustus appears to have fallen asleep.

“Um, maybe you should find a better place to sleep in than this, Iustus.”

Iustus stirs and answers “Why should I move? I was here first, then these masked puppeteers set up their theater. I had to pay them my fare, but then I went to sleep as best as I could. Now leave me alone.”

“Haven’t you thought of moving to another place where you can sleep in greater peace? Surely Hedi College or a library would be more restful for you.”

“I don’t want to spend much time away from classes, so this rarely used classroom was convenient for me. Apparently, the puppeteers thought it convenient also.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to rest as well as you are able.” You are glad that you don’t have to deal with the great need for sleep that Iustus does.

“Hey, you didn’t annoy me too much. You asked legitimate questions and you asked them politely, which is better than many others will. They see me struggling with tiredness, so then they think me lazy or up all night doing bad things.”

As you leave Iustus to his sleep, you reflect upon how calmly he has accepted the difficulties that his great need for sleep creates. If only you could be sure that you would be as calm as he is if you were to have his problems. [+1 Relationship with Iustus Venture, + 1 skill step Curiosity, - 5 pims, End Event]

-          [PC has completed the Y1 adventure Clockmaker Adventure] [PC has at least 5 pims] Pay your fare and sit beside Pelia. [Auto]

 

[PC has completed the Y1 Adventure Studies in Hunger]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Pelia and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

No sooner has the puppet show ended then Pelia rushes out of the room. Puzzled, you follow her.

“Pelia, why are you in such a hurry? Are you in trouble or late?”

“[PC FirstName]! Why do you presume that you can help me? Just because you helped me last year doesn’t mean that you are the only one who can help me.”

“No, but I have helped you before, and I was hoping that my previous experience with you may help you again.”

Pelia turns towards you, her eyes glistening with tears. “Who am I, who must be helped by others? That is what I find so upsetting. This puppet show we watched: was I laughing at it for the same reasons that they were laughing at it? I know Mineta, the gods old and new, the dragons, and the Empire of Man, and I have great skill in alchemy and revision magic, but the little things are unknown to me. I have never heard of almost all of the books that first year students like to read when not studying, I know almost nothing about BattleMace, and Walking Talking Sneezing Bear is a sad reminder of my former isolation and severance from the world. And what am I, student-wise? I am thirteen, but I was twelve for years; my revision magic and alchemy skills are at prodigy levels, but I am in almost all other subjects a first year student in skill. So the teachers are confused about me, students are so confused about me that I seem to have no friends, and Regent Storey would rather have Eliana focus her kind attentions upon Garithinnia. Certainly, Garithinnia is worse off than I am, but she is also more isolated from me. She is older, and she was trapped for so long that I would not be surprised if she were thinking that Orthography is still a pillar of magic, or some other faux pas. I do not need help, but I want help, and I cannot find it within my college, except from you.” Pelia is sobbing by the end of her words, and she strokes her hair as if looking for goggles that she no longer has.

“Pelia, you have many difficulties, and I am sorry that Regent Storey is not helping you as well as he could. I will personally try to have Eliana take some time to talk to you – she is kind enough that I would be shocked if she would not help you at least a bit. But, you know what I find helps in dealing with problems?”

“What?” Pelia sounds hopeful.

“Realizing that I am not alone in my issues. We all, as students, have to deal with remote, unhelpful superiors, whether in the form of senior students or professors or Minetan authorities. And some students are arguably even more isolated from social trends than you are. Take Zoe Melis. Brilliant student – but you are better than she is as a prodigy – but she has long been cut out of society. Not by magic, it is true, but by terrible sickness that forces her to spend much of her time reading and studying.”

“So, what? Am I supposed to feel inferior to Zoe for not bearing my suffering even though she can?” Pelia sounds a bit hurt.

“I don’t see it that way – rather, I see it as recognizing that other are succeeding with similar challenges. This in turn means that you can succeed like them. Also, studying what they have done may give you guidance about what to do.”

“You really need to improve your advice giving skills, [PC FirstName]. Still, you have tried to help me, and that is more than Regent Storey has done for me. Thank you so much!” Pelia hugs you and walks away, smiling.

Later, you ask Eliana to chat with Pelia about her isolation issues. Eliana agrees to talk to Pelia, praising you for your concern for Pelia’s well-being. [+ 1 Relationship with Eliana Carosi, + 1 skill step Conversation, + 1 skill step Listening, + 1 skill step Temperance, - 5 pims, End Event]

[PC has not completed the Y1 Adventure Studies in Hunger]

 

After you pay the fee, you sit down beside Pelia and watch the puppet show. The backdrop in front of which the puppets move is very crudely yet energetically painted to show a sun at the horizon. Although the puppets are only hand puppets, they are well-made, with eyes that can blink whenever the two puppeteers who work them need them to. The story is surprisingly complex.

A braggart, Yami Wanassa, is about to graduate from Academagia, where she has told her fellow students that she is really the rightful ruler of a distant land. Mocked upon her graduation for her absurd tales, she afterwards joins a mercenary company commanded by a scheming Pievrian, whose obsession with converting all distances precisely into meters and millimeters is a constant source of humour. This Pievrian Captain, hearing Yami’s boasting of royal ancestry and realizing it to be false but useful, decides to present herself as more than a mere mercenary commander; she becomes the leader of an army dedicated to restoring Yami to her rightful throne in Plezyca – a land that neither Yami nor she have been to. This army is able to compel the ruling monarch to abdicate only because she is too obsessed with ensuring that her forces are perfect to lead them to fight the enemy. A wandering dragon (accompanied by bursts of incanted smoke and flame) tries to take advantage of the chaos to enslave Plezyca, meaning that Queen Yami, as an allegedly great mage from Academagia, is called upon to stop this. Yami tries to tell the dragon a lie about how she can defeat dragons easily, but the dragon is not fooled. However, the dragon laughs to death upon hearing Yami’s absurd claims. In the end, Yami is betrayed by the Pievrian Captain, who, realizing that an unskillful liar is a bad monarch, defects to join the deposed former Queen of Plezyca. Yami tries to escape by making them both laugh, but they are too humorless to laugh. She is spared when she reluctantly agrees to turn her talents to glorifying the Queen of Plezyca, while the Pievrian Captain is tormented at being required to survey Plezyca in yards, miles and inches, to the Queen’s great joy – she will soon know how large her realm is.

No sooner has the puppet show ended then Pelia rushes out of the room. Puzzled, you follow her.

“Pelia, why are you in such a hurry? Are you in trouble or late?”

“[PC FirstName]! Why do you presume that you can help me? Just because you helped me last year doesn’t mean that you are the only one who can help me.”

“No, but I have helped you before, and I was hoping that my previous experience with you may help you again.”

Pelia turns towards you, her eyes glistening with tears. “Who am I, who must be helped by others? That is what I find so upsetting. This puppet show we watched: was I laughing at it for the same reasons that they were laughing at it? I know Mineta, the gods old and new, the dragons, and the Empire of Man, and I have great skill in alchemy and revision magic, but the little things are unknown to me. I have never heard of almost all of the books that first year students like to read when not studying, I know almost nothing about BattleMace, and Walking Talking Sneezing Bear is a sad reminder of my former isolation and severance from the world. And what am I, student-wise? I am thirteen, but I was twelve for years; my revision magic and alchemy skills are at prodigy levels, but I am in almost all other subjects a first year student in skill. So the teachers are confused about me, students are so confused about me that I seem to have no friends, and Regent Storey seems more preoccupied with his own magical studies than interested in helping me. I do not need help, but I want help, and I cannot find it within my college, except from you.” Pelia is sobbing by the end of her words, and she strokes her hair as if looking for goggles that she no longer has.

“Pelia, you have many difficulties, and I am sorry that Regent Storey is not helping you as well as he could. But, you know what I find helps in dealing with problems?”

“What?” Pelia sounds hopeful.

“Realizing that I am not alone in my issues. We all, as students, have to deal with remote, unhelpful superiors, whether in the form of senior students or professors or Minetan authorities. And some students are arguably even more isolated from social trends than you are. Take Zoe Melis. Brilliant student – but you are better than she is as a prodigy – but she has long been cut out of society. Not by magic, it is true, but by terrible sickness that forces her to spend much of her time reading and studying.”

“So, what? Am I supposed to feel inferior to Zoe for not bearing my suffering even though she can?” Pelia sounds a bit hurt.

“I don’t see it that way – rather, I see it as recognizing that other are succeeding with similar challenges. This in turn means that you can succeed like them. Also, studying what they have done may give you guidance about what to do.”

“You really need to improve your advice giving skills, [PC FirstName]. Still, you have tried to help me, and that is more than Regent Storey has done for me. Thank you so much!” Pelia hugs you and walks away, smiling. [+ 1 skill step Conversation, + 1 skill step Listening, + 1 skill step Temperance, - 5 pims, End Event]

Edited by Rhialto
Added a brief prologue.
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  • 3 months later...

Well, I have finally completed the first half of a Y2 adventure dealing with the Triplets. Feedback is welcome.

Sima’s Summons 0 [Prerequisites: must have completed the Triplets’ Y1 Adventure, must have completed Sima Venesico’s Y1 adventure, must not have completed Zoe Melis’s Y1 adventure, relationship with Zoe > 0]

You are just finishing another day of gruelling studying – even on days with no classes there is always another fact to be memorized or pheme to learn – when a student in Hedi robes – younger than you are, you idly note – rushes up to your table.

“[PCFirstName]…are you [PCFirstName]?”

After you assure her that you are, she sighs and gives you a note.

“Thank you for accepting this note. Please put in a good word for me with Sima, if you wouldn’t mind. She has such…power and I would love to learn how to use it.”

Hoping that Sima’s power is nothing illegal or dangerous this time, you soothingly dismiss the messenger and open the note.

“[PCFirstName], I have a problem with Zoe Melis. Your help is needed. Meet me outside the Great Gate.”

Now it is your turn to sigh. Sima can be so demanding. Still, given the adventures that the two of you got up to last year, you cannot feel it in you to ignore her summons. Maybe she has taken an interest in Gates magic after her experiences with spirits. That could be disastrous. Besides, meeting with her would be better than more studying.

-          What does Sima want? [Auto, leads to Sima’s Summons 1]

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And here is the opening of the adventure proper. Feedback is welcome.

 

Sima’s Summons 1

Outside the Great Gate of Academagia, you see Sima standing alone. She swiftly beckons you over with a gesture that seems to combine casualness and urgency – which you would have once thought impossible. But after you approach her, you see that she was more than gesturing – her forearm was hiding her wand, with which she carefully writes phemes. You begin to panic. But she raises a finger to her lips and speaks.

“By the bond of friendship we share, [PCFirstName], I am just creating some protection against Grainne Inneith or some other gossiper. And don’t worry about Lambert Cobo – he is busy trying to investigate some rumour about some plant, some place, and some professor. Your help will be very useful. Zoe has written the most outrageous things in a manuscript that she showed me. Investigate her.”

“Why can’t you investigate? You received the manuscript.”

“If word were to spread abroad that I were caring about what Zoe wrote, I would be weakened. Zoe’s writings would become valuable to ou – my – en – rivals. And even if no one were to care about the scribblings of a sick scholar, how would my reputation fare among others? I cannot maintain my position as peer to Cyrus Dawes if people were to learn that the writings of even a social zero such as Zoe cause me to, like a suspicious spy, investigate the claims.”

“But why me? Why not some other -”

“Because – well, just look through the manuscript. It has very sensitive material in it.”

She passes you a notebook and mimes opening it.

But you have better things to do with your time.

[If PC completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure, the Y1 adventure A Visitor, and has memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You are sure that you have some ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, her concern could have ranged in seriousness from Beatrix von Wetgen’s reluctance to be associated with Eliana Carosi to Regent Briardi’s youthful indiscretion that the law would execute her for. [+ 1 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has not completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure but has competed the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You have only the vaguest, most unsettling ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, her concern could have ranged in seriousness from Beatrix von Wetgen’s reluctance to be associated with Eliana Carosi to Regent Briardi’s youthful indiscretion that the law would execute her for. [+ 2 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has not completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure nor the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You have only the vaguest, most unsettling ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, you doubt that her concern was as minor as Beatrix von Wetgen’s reluctance to be associated with Eliana Carosi. [+ 2 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has not completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure nor the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has no memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You have only the vaguest, most unsettling ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, perhaps it is better not to know. [+ 2 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has not completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure but has completed the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has no memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You have only the vaguest, most unsettling ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, you hope that it does not involve some youthful act punishable by death – but then, Regent Briardi’s past suggests that such is possible. [+ 2 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure but not the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has no memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You are sure that you have some ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, perhaps it is better not to know. [+ 2 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure but not the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You are sure that you have some ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, you doubt that her concern was as minor as Beatrix von Wetgen’s reluctance to be associated with Eliana Carosi. [+ 1 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

[If PC has completed Tabin Furenzti’s Y1 Adventure and the Y1 adventure A Visitor and has no memory Beatrix’s Secret]

You realize that you have had it with Sima’s strange demands, unexplained desires, and insistence that you get involved with her efforts. With a brief jerk, you thrust the notebook back to her, saying as you do, “If you were wanting such obedience from me, turn yourself into a dragon in some way! I will not help a person who will not even explain what help she needs!”

Sima, to her credit, betrays no anger, but simply sighs out in reply “You will soon see the benefit of helping me – and the bane of hindering me.”

You leave her there. For the next while, you fear that something bad will happen, either to Zoe or you, but the resolution, when you hear about it from a gasping Grainne, is strange in a way that only Sima could be associated with.

Phillippe Marchant, dressed in very fine clothes, approached Joana Lio y Rossollo and asked her to walk and talk with him. But this walk, passing by Gressel's Medications, encountered Zoe Melis, who began to flirt with Phillippe. The poor girl’s hospitalization (and Joana’s detention) was soon followed by Zoe’s announcement that she was giving up writing about situations related to her life (which was so complicated) in favour of trying to study the languages that Miya seemed to speak – anyone who had any of her manuscripts was now welcome to have them as detritus from a confused and closed chapter in her life.

You are sure that you have some ideas about how Sima achieved this, but you are glad that she only decided to make an example for you, rather than an example of you. You may not know what she was so concerned about, but given what you know about her, you hope that it does not involve some youthful act punishable by death – but then, Regent Briardi’s past suggests that such is possible. [+ 1 Stress, - 3 relationship with Sima Venesico, + 1 Skill Step Intrigue, Detention for Joana Lio y Rossollo, + 500 pims for Phillippe Marchant, - 500 pims from Sima Venesico, + 1 relationship between Miya Hikari and Zoe Melis, - 1 relationship between Joana Lio y Rossollo and Zoe Melis, - 2 Stamina to Zoe Melis, + 4 Stress for Zoe Melis, - 3 merit for Morvidus, End Adventure]

Research. Read the book’s text carefully.

[Failure]

[– If PC has background – Sky Pirates]

You try to read through Zoe’s rather shaky handwriting – surely hours in the Venalicium have taught you about messy handwriting – and you are able to piece together a story about a pirate’s Cassettan daughter – who is described in terms making her sound very similar to Zoe Melis – whose First Year studies at Academagia are made difficult by pirate raids and trying to choose which boy she will date. Ignoring the many inaccuracies – pirate gangs do not work as Zoe thinks they do, and not even Cyrus Dawes can date before Year 3 – you think you are able to find the controversial passage.

“Sima, I guess that you must be working for Flore Yveuillet.”

“Why do you think this?”

“The scene in which  character proclaims ‘I may be a Castellan’s daughter, but I am also a Gates Mage!’ – surely this is the controversial claim.”

Sima sighs and takes the manuscript back from you.

“While this is a controversial claim – and you truly understand how to look through the manuscript – I am interested in another portion of the text.”

Your heart sinks at the thought that you have not understood what Sima wants from you. [+1 stress, pause adventure]

[ – If PC has no background – Sky Pirates]

You try to read through Zoe’s rather shaky handwriting – surely hours in the Venalicium have taught you about messy handwriting – and you are able to piece together a story about a pirate’s Cassettan daughter – who is described in terms making her sound very similar to Zoe Melis – whose First Year studies at Academagia are made difficult by pirate raids and trying to choose which boy she will date. Ignoring the many inaccuracies – not even Cyrus Dawes can date before Year 3 – you think you are able to find the controversial passage.

“Sima, I guess that you must be working for Flore Yveuillet.”

“Why do you think this?”

“The scene in which  character proclaims ‘I may be a Castellan’s daughter, but I am also a Gates Mage!’ – surely this is the controversial claim.”

Sima sighs and takes the manuscript back from you.

“While this is a controversial claim – and you truly understand how to look through the manuscript – I am interested in another portion of the text.”

Your heart sinks at the thought that you have not understood what Sima wants from you. [+1 stress, pause adventure]

[Success]

[– If PC has no background – Sky Pirates]

You try to read through Zoe’s rather shaky handwriting – surely hours in the Venalicium have taught you about messy handwriting – and you are able to piece together a story about a pirate’s Cassettan daughter – who is described in terms making her sound very similar to Zoe Melis – whose First Year studies at Academagia are made difficult by pirate raids and trying to choose which boy she will date. Ignoring the many inaccuracies – not even Cyrus Dawes can date before Year 3 – you think you are able to find the controversial passage.

“Sima, do you not want to be associated with…two people?”

“Explain.”

“There is a scene in which the Cassetan student, while being enraptured by the story telling of a student named Aranaz during the Dance of Fools, mentions seeing a female Hedi student named Masi engaged in intense conversation with Aranaz student Nibat and Durand student Asgam. Zoe may be a brilliant student, but she needs to brush up on cryptography. Am I right?”

Sima gives a small smile and takes the manuscript back from you.

“Since you are able to understand the significance of this manuscript. To be linked in any close way with those two would be…unfortunate. On many levels. So I need you to ask Zoe how she got such an idea and learn her answer and report her answer to me. Under no circumstances confirm the claim, nor even mention my concern about it, but treat it as a falsehood that you want to know the origin of. You helped me last year with  something, as far as others know – and by the way, to me you provided very valuable help. People would not find suspicious the idea that I would share Zoe’s manuscript with you and you would care about it. And you are not an enemy to Zoe, which would allow you to approach her.”

Sima’s words are becoming vague and disconnected as she answers your question - evidence that this matter is truly stressing her. You soothingly murmur assent to her, to which she gives a tired nod and rushes off. [+1 skill step Innuendo, unlock stage Plotting Against Zoe]

[If PC has background – Sky Pirates]

You try to read through Zoe’s rather shaky handwriting – surely hours in the Venalicium have taught you about messy handwriting – and you are able to piece together a story about a pirate’s Cassettan daughter – who is described in terms making her sound very similar to Zoe Melis – whose First Year studies at Academagia are made difficult by pirate raids and trying to choose which boy she will date. Ignoring the many inaccuracies – pirate gangs do not work as Zoe thinks they do, and not even Cyrus Dawes can date before Year 3 – you think you are able to find the controversial passage.

“Sima, do you not want to be associated with…two people?”

“Explain.”

“There is a scene in which the Cassetan student, while being enraptured by the story telling of a student named Aranaz during the Dance of Fools, mentions seeing a female Hedi student named Masi engaged in intense conversation with Aranaz student Nibat and Durand student Asgam. Zoe may be a brilliant student, but she needs to brush up on cryptography. Am I right?”

Sima gives a small smile and takes the manuscript back from you.

“Since you are able to understand the significance of this manuscript. To be linked in any close way with those two would be…unfortunate. On many levels. So I need you to ask Zoe how she got such an idea and learn her answer and report her answer to me. Under no circumstances confirm the claim, nor even mention my concern about it, but treat it as a falsehood that you want to know the origin of. You helped me last year with  something, as far as others know – and by the way, to me you provided very valuable help. People would not find suspicious the idea that I would share Zoe’s manuscript with you and you would care about it. And you are not an enemy to Zoe, which would allow you to approach her.”

Sima’s words are becoming vague and disconnected as she answers your question - evidence that this matter is truly stressing her. You soothingly murmur assent to her, to which she gives a tired nod and rushes off. [+1 skill step Innuendo, unlock stage Plotting Against Zoe]

Sleuthing. Try to figure out what part of Zoe’s writing would so upset Sima.

[Failure]

So. Sima wants you to figure out which portion of Zoe’s manuscript is upsetting to her. This seems like a job for a detective – and you have just the skill for it! Or so you hope, as you read the notebook.

The handwriting is difficult for you to read, and the story is rather strange – there is nothing wrong with writing a story so full of dances and social gatherings between Academagia students, as Zoe has done, but she had little clue, it seemed, how such things happened. Finally, you look up at Sima, determined to reveal your skill.

“Sima, you do not want to be seen as relying on Reitz von Lutersee.”

“Please explain,” Sima replies, her face expressionless.

“Well, around Chapter 4, when the Cassettan student heroically defuses a fight between street magicians and mages, Masi – Zoe really needs to be more subtle with her names – asks Lucius of the Waters why the Cassettan student, although a pirate’s daughter and from Cassetta, is being praised by other students after the Workshop Day. And Lucius gives her the correct answer about the Cassettan student’s beauty, charm, and skill in illusions pacifying both sides. And I can understand why you would not want to be associated, even in this thinly disguised fantasy, with him.”

Sima sighs and takes the manuscript back from you.

“You truly understand how to look through the manuscript, and I would trust some mastery mages from horror stories before I would trust the so-called von Lutersee. But I have another passage in mind.”

Your heart sinks at the thought that you have not understood what Sima wants from you. [+1 stress, pause adventure]

[Success]

Sima wants you to find a portion of Zoe’s manuscript is upsetting to her. This seems like a job for a detective – and you have just the skill for it! Or so you hope, as you read the notebook.

The handwriting is difficult for you to read, and the story is rather strange – there is nothing wrong with writing a story so full of dances and social gatherings between Academagia students, as Zoe has done, but she had little clue, it seemed, how such things happened. Nonetheless, once you understand that Zoe’s story is filled with clumsily disguised versions of fellow Academagia students, you are able to discover what you think is Sima’s problem.

“Sima, you want to be known for associating only with certain people, right?”

“Please explain,” Sima replies, her face expressionless.

“There is a scene in which the Cassetan student, while being enraptured by the story telling of a student named Aranaz during the Dance of Fools, mentions seeing a female Hedi student named Masi engaged in intense conversation with Aranaz student Nibat and Durand student Asgam. Zoe may be a brilliant student, but she needs to brush up on cryptography. Am I right?”

Sima gives a small smile and takes the manuscript back from you.

“Since you are able to understand the significance of this manuscript. To be linked in any close way with those two would be…unfortunate. On many levels. So I need you to ask Zoe how she got such an idea and learn her answer and report her answer to me. Under no circumstances confirm the claim, nor even mention my concern about it, but treat it as a falsehood that you want to know the origin of. You helped me last year with  something, as far as others know – and by the way, to me you provided very valuable help. People would not find suspicious the idea that I would share Zoe’s manuscript with you and you would care about it. And you are not an enemy to Zoe, which would allow you to approach her.”

Sima’s words are becoming vague and disconnected as she answers your question - evidence that this matter is truly stressing her. You soothingly murmur assent to her, to which she gives a tired nod and rushes off. [+1 skill step Sleuthing, unlock stage Plotting Against Zoe]

Study Habits. Focus on what Sima would care about – although that may be difficult.

[Failure]

[If PC has completed the Y1 Adventure It's Not Like You Even Meant to Hurt That Hat...]

Sima is giving you a book to read, and when there are books, skills developed in studying can always be useful…right?

With this as your frantic belief, you struggle to read Zoe’s messy handwriting, figure out the story – something about pirate attacks on Academagia – and figure out what Sima could object to. Finally, you think you have figured it out.

“Sima, you must not like the way she portrays Thibault Pluiete or his grammar class.”

You had not thought it possible that you could startle Sima Venesico, but her surprised and amused jerk demonstrates that you have this talent.

“Why would I care about how she portrays a grammar teacher as the most boring, inoffensive, useless, professor in the school? I happen to agree with her about this, even me with my knowledge.”

“Well, I know that he has an interesting and complicated family that sometimes forces him to do strange things – rather like you. But I am sorry that I was unable to figure out the incriminating passage.”

As Sima sighs and retrieves the notebook, you think that you see a gleam of admiration for you in her eyes. Perhaps she does not know about the Pluiete family’s traditions. [pause adventure]

[If PC has not completed the Y1 Adventure It's Not Like You Even Meant to Hurt That Hat...]

Sima is giving you a book to read, and when there are books, skills developed in studying can always be useful…right?

With this as your frantic belief, you struggle to read Zoe’s messy handwriting, figure out the story – something about pirate attacks on Academagia – and figure out what Sima could object to. Finally, you think you have figured it out.

“Sima, you must not like the way she portrays Thibault Pluiete or his grammar class.”

You had not thought it possible that you could startle Sima Venesico, but her surprised and amused jerk demonstrates that you have this talent.

“Why would I care about how she portrays a grammar teacher as the most boring, inoffensive, useless, professor in the school? I happen to agree with her about this, even me with my knowledge.”

“Well, I am sorry for not being able to figure out the incriminating passage.”

As Sima sighs and retrieves the notebook, you wonder what could be more ridiculous – the idea that Sima would care about Zoe’s insulting portrayal of Professor Pluiete or the idea of Professor Pluiete as an interesting person. [+ 1 Stress, pause adventure]

[Success]

Sima is giving you a book to read, and when there are books, skills developed in studying can always be useful.

With this as your frantic belief, you struggle to read Zoe’s messy handwriting, figure out the story – something about pirate attacks on Academagia and a Cassettan student’s search for social acceptance – and figure out what Sima could object to. Finally, you discover what you think is the right passage.

“Sima, you want to be known for associating only with certain people, right?”

“Please explain,” Sima replies, her face expressionless.

“There is a scene in which the Cassetan student, while being enraptured by the story telling of a student named Aranaz during the Dance of Fools, mentions seeing a female Hedi student named Masi engaged in intense conversation with Aranaz student Nibat and Durand student Asgam. Zoe may be a brilliant student, but she needs to brush up on cryptography. Am I right?”

Sima gives a small smile and takes the manuscript back from you.

“Since you are able to understand the significance of this manuscript. To be linked in any close way with those two would be…unfortunate. On many levels. So I need you to ask Zoe how she got such an idea and learn her answer and report her answer to me. Under no circumstances confirm the claim, nor even mention my concern about it, but treat it as a falsehood that you want to know the origin of. You helped me last year with  something, as far as others know – and by the way, to me you provided very valuable help. People would not find suspicious the idea that I would share Zoe’s manuscript with you and you would care about it. And you are not an enemy to Zoe, which would allow you to approach her.”

Sima’s words are becoming vague and disconnected as she answers your question - evidence that this matter is truly stressing her. You soothingly murmur assent to her, to which she gives a tired nod and rushes off. You are glad that you were able to help Sima in such short time when dealing with such a long manuscript. [+1 skill step Test Taking, unlock stage Plotting Against Zoe]

Wit. “Zoe’s words must be truly dangerous if you will not even tell me what they are.”

[Failure]

[If PC has Wit Research Level 10]

Sima frowns at you. “Just because you helped me in two very important ways last year does not mean that you can do everything. This is a very delicate thing that I need help with from you, so you must demonstrate some competence before I tell you more about it.”

“Was I not competent when I helped you with the elementals? With the pirates and their island?”

“Those were different types of deeds. I need your help with social matters now.”

“And yet I, though called upon to be a jeweler’s apprentice to you, had to deal with some form of Mastery. Things may not end as what they originated as, Sima – otherwise, the world would be unified and your jewelry would be made for dragons.”

Sima laughs then, a sound like tinkling bells, but then she sighs. “Thank you very much for your diverting arguments, [PCFirstName], but it will take more than great wit to persuade me to be so careless in entrusting this to you. So much could go wrong in how you deal with this – and that is not saying anything about the origin of the issue.”

“Sima, my dear, I thought that since you had used your wit to outwit even the Legate of Academagia, you might appreciate my own attempt at such.”

“So you have been hanging around the Dimmae Theater’s Green Room, eh? I love witty things but that knowledge is not enough to ensure skill. See, I have to meet with some friends – we are learning about make-up – so give me back the notebook and I can go. You can always try again.”

Your heart sinks at the thought that you have not understood what Sima wants from you, but you give her the notebook and wish her well.  [+1 stress, pause adventure]

[If PC has Wit Research Level 9 or Lower]

Sima frowns at you. “Just because you helped me in two very important ways last year does not mean that you can do everything. This is a very delicate thing that I need help with from you, so you must demonstrate some competence before I tell you more about it.”

“Was I not competent when I helped you with the elementals? With the pirates and their island?”

“Those were different types of deeds. I need your help with social matters now.”

“And yet I, though called upon to be a jeweler’s apprentice to you, had to deal with some form of Mastery. Things may not end as what they originated as, Sima – otherwise, the world would be unified and your jewelry would be made for dragons.”

Sima laughs then, a sound like tinkling bells, but then she sighs. “Thank you very much for your diverting arguments, [PCFirstName], but it will take more than great wit to persuade me to be so careless in entrusting this to you. So much could go wrong in how you deal with this – and that is not saying anything about the origin of the issue.”

“Sima, my dear, I want to help you in your social problem, but I feel that I should not have to flip through a notebook that you have already read and been upset by.”

“Wit alone – especially failed wit – is not enough to avoid pressures of life. You do not want to read through the notebook, but I did not want to face the elementals – yet you helped me with both. See, I have to meet with some friends – we are learning about make-up – so give me back the notebook and I can go. You can always try again.”

Your heart sinks at the thought that you have not understood what Sima wants from you, but you give her the notebook and wish her well.  [+2 stress, pause adventure]

[Success]

[If PC has Wit Research Level 10]

Sima frowns at you. “Just because you helped me in two very important ways last year does not mean that you can do everything. This is a very delicate thing that I need help with from you, so you must demonstrate some competence before I tell you more about it.”

“Was I not competent when I helped you with the elementals? With the pirates and their island?”

“Those were different types of deeds. I need your help with social matters now.”

“Funny that your test for helping me with social matters involves my reading a book. If Milena di Montors or Courtenay de Surval had become your friends due to last year’s events, they would have soared through Zoe’s notebook and probably could have identified multiple problematic parts, yet they could not make themselves socially competent for any save a dragon or a mastery mage – and perhaps not even then!”

Sima laughs then, a sound like tinkling bells. “Your witty argument is so true, [PCFirstName]. I am really stressed out and this must be why I am giving you such a disconnected test of your competence. But I will tell you straight now.”

“Sima, my dear, I thought that since you had used your wit to outwit even the Legate of Academagia, you might appreciate my own attempt at such.”

“So you have been hanging around the Dimmae Theater’s Green Room, eh? I love witty things, and am glad that your wit helped me to better understand how to talk about this with you. So. This manuscript. It links me with Magsa Nembo and Tabin Furenzti. To be linked in any close way with those two would be…unfortunate. On many levels. So I need you to ask Zoe how she got such an idea and learn her answer and report her answer to me. Under no circumstances confirm the claim, nor even mention my concern about it, but treat it as a falsehood that you want to know the origin of. You helped me last year with  something, as far as others know – and by the way, to me you provided very valuable help. People would not find suspicious the idea that I would share Zoe’s manuscript with you and you would care about it. And you are not an enemy to Zoe, which would allow you to approach her.”

Sima’s words are becoming vague and disconnected as she answers your question - evidence that this matter is truly stressing her. You soothingly murmur assent to her and return the manuscript to her, to which she gives a tired nod and rushes off. [+1 skill step Wit, add memory Sima’s Wit, unlock stage Plotting Against Zoe]

[If PC has Wit Research Level 9 or Lower]

Sima frowns at you. “Just because you helped me in two very important ways last year does not mean that you can do everything. This is a very delicate thing that I need help with from you, so you must demonstrate some competence before I tell you more about it.”

“Was I not competent when I helped you with the elementals? With the pirates and their island?”

“Those were different types of deeds. I need your help with social matters now.”

“Funny that your test for helping me with social matters involves my reading a book. If Milena di Montors or Courtenay de Surval had become your friends due to last year’s events, they would have soared through Zoe’s notebook and probably could have identified multiple problematic parts, yet they could not make themselves socially competent for any save a dragon or a mastery mage – and perhaps not even then!”

Sima laughs then, a sound like tinkling bells. “Your witty argument is so true, [PCFirstName]. I am really stressed out and this must be why I am giving you such a disconnected test of your competence. But I will tell you straight now.”

“Sima, my dear, there is no need to apologize. Strange tests seem to be a hazard of being associated with you.”

“I know, and I wish that I could avoid such, but, well, you know…my family is not as bad as Catherine Chard’s, but it has expectations for me. So. This manuscript. It links me with Magsa Nembo and Tabin Furenzti. To be linked in any close way with those two would be unfortunate. On many levels. So I need you to ask Zoe how she got such an idea and learn her answer and report her answer to me. Under no circumstances confirm the claim, nor even mention my concern about it, but treat it as a falsehood that you want to know the origin of. You helped me last year with  something, as far as others know – and by the way, to me you provided very valuable help. People would not find suspicious the idea that I would share Zoe’s manuscript with you and you would care about it. And you are not an enemy to Zoe, which would allow you to approach her.”

Sima’s words are becoming vague and disconnected as she answers your question - evidence that this matter is truly stressing her. You soothingly murmur assent to her and return the manuscript to her, to which she gives a tired nod and rushes off. [+1 skill step Wit, unlock stage Plotting Against Zoe]

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