Fiction:Doctrina Venefica/Second Term

9/1/35: It Begins Again
Second Week of Crepuscular Light, 35 New Age, Mid-Morning: Central Atrium

Rows of seats and benches filled the main hall at the centre of the Collegium's ground floor, with a raised stage supporting a podium and various other chairs having been positioned against a nearby wall so that students, adjutors, and tutors could watch the reopening announcement and ceremony that was scheduled to occur in some minutes from now. While such an occasion would have otherwise been held within the walls of the Hall of Ceremonies, it was clear to all present that due to the fresh, traumatic memories brought on by the events of the prior month and the damage ravaged from said events, there had been some reconsideration among the higher-ups regarding allowing the ceremony to run its course there; for now, the locale had been blocked off while it underwent significant repairs, although the Collegium's inhabitants would not find themselves without a welcoming announcement back to the school in order to continue their studies and training. In spite of being located within such an open area as the atrium, the temperature was inviting by comparison to the biting cold outside, perhaps through some inherent arcane means, and young Clothovera did not feel too physically stirred as she sat with her belongings, contained in a case, at her feet.

There were figures that the witch had either seen sparsely throughout her time spent at the Collegium or had never seen at all, each radiating with mystery or malignancy to their character; humans and elves, specifically members of the Esoteric Order, of which Clothovera's knowledge was sparing, sat quietly upon the stage, some of them hiding their faces beyond bizarre, almost intimidating yet ornately crafted masks, which caused their unnerving presence to stand out as they neighboured more familiar individuals, such as tutors Ennea, Prisieth, and Delmar - the greater latter unsurprisingly appearing to blend in almost perfectly with the various new "faces" that had made themselves present at the school today. Clothovera had been assigned to sit beside her colleagues Szalvetha and Teael, very much like the year before when she attended her first day within the Collegium's doors, and she could keenly peek glances of Damon, Pyrath, and Heilen sitting some distance away from them, while Vhalra and Kyrie had been seated away from the members of either division of friends - not through their own volition, most likely. A podium overlooked the crowd of students, with a moderately sized depiction of the emblem of the academy - a tree with roots and branches extending outwards into a circle - etched into the front of the wooden material. When she had come to attend her first day, Clothovera had seen the late Archtutor Selsor Granvinran standing at the podium, although now there was a nearly daunting absence of a figure of authority to assume the place he had stood in before.

Among chatter and talk between many of the students, Teael had taken the opportunity to pull a slice of freshly baked cornbread from her pocket, steaming with heat and wrapped in a small, fine cloth to retain its warmth and flavour; since the ceremony was not scheduled to open for another few minutes, the swordmage ate to her heart's content, clearly hungry from either having overslept and rushing to the school in order to retain punctuality, sacrificing breakfast in the process, or her nerves beginning to get to her, memories of the events of the year before still fresh on her mind while she dreaded whatever horrid experiences were yet to come. Or both. Clothovera could not help but be distracted by her eating in the middle of the event, feeling somewhat embarrassed while Szalvetha looked upon the Tutors and those who accompanied them with narrowed eyes - anyone of them could be behind the so-called conspiracy, and anyone of them could suddenly jump at them and attack, she thought. As Clothovera glance towards Teael to observe her eating, the Aithrenan was swift to catch her gaze before proceeding to pull another wrapped slice of cornbread from her pocket and reaching a generous hand to the half-elf, otherwise oblivious to the girl's embarrassment from her rather voracious eating habits.


 * Teael - You're hungry as well, eh?
 * Clothovera - We shouldn't be eating in a ceremony like this.
 * Teael - Why not? Ceremony's not started yet and I can't dream of having to sit through these on an empty stomach. ... Besides, you know me. I can't help but eat when I feel nervous. Have you seen those guys?
 * Clothovera - I've no idea who any of these people are. Are they the new security?
 * Teael - If so, they're a big step up from dwarves. Those guys are members of the Esoteric Order, across multiple Sects. I dunno who any of them are exactly, but I think they're here to officialise the new Acting Archtutor.
 * Szalvetha - We all know how this is going to go.
 * Teael - That's kinda the thing; we don't. We're expecting Osvernal to get officialised as Acting Archtutor, since he was the Vice-Archtutor while Granvinran was in charge of things. Usually the decision to elect a new, proper Archtutor begins after six months of the Acting Archtutor being instated, decided among the higher-ups in the Collegium. ... But I've heard that the elite within the Esoteric Order have the power to overrule that process and elect a new true Archtutor as quick as they please. The Collegium is owned, funded, and maintained by them after all.
 * Clothovera - So these guys are the ones in charge?
 * Szalvetha - They rule magic in the Sovereignty.
 * Teael - Yeah, basically. A couple of Tutors here are actually members of the Order, like Ennea and Osvernal, but as far as I know, they weren't members of the elite; the Greater Magisters, who govern each of the Sects within the Order, which is ultimately headed by the Lord Highmage. ... Or, well, just High Mage. It's those guys who have full contact with the Sovereignty's government, you know? So it's a big deal if they're here.
 * Szalvetha - The rabbit hole goes extremely deep.
 * Teael - I'm really not looking forward to this year. I don't think I could cope with another few months of conspiracy theories, assignments, vampires, extremists, and all that other crap we've been dealing with.
 * Clothovera - Ngh...

As Clothovera turned her head back towards the stage, she could see the room begin to darken, with the light beaming through the windows being obscured by large drapes so as to focus attention onto the stage, which soon lit up with an arcane light - a spotlight, which gleamed upon the podium at the front of the stage. The crowd of students gradually hushed until there was naught else but silence, with Teael swiftly consuming what was left of her cornbread as she, and everyone else present, heard the sound of footsteps upon the stage, approaching the beam of magical light which encompassed the front rows of the crowd alongside the podium. Stepping out from the darkness beyond the light, much to Clothovera's chagrin, was the familiar, slender form of the Aithrenan umbramage, Osvernal Eilenneim; a black robe flowing at his back and a rather fancy, expensive outfit consisting of a dark overcoat fitted with silver buttons, a black collared shirt decorated with swirling, typical elvish patterns of green, and a pair of dark trousers, held by multiple leather belts, being tucked within a set of light boots, with various noble accessories and jewellery scattered upon his person, it was clear that the man was dressed to impress those that would very shortly become his direct superiors. As he approached the stage, he did not wear a smile, but an otherwise neutral expression - as if, in spite of his attire, he felt this ceremony was much more casual than it was intended to be.

Arching his back forward somewhat and laying his hands upon the podium, his clawed nails digging ever so slightly into the wood, Osvernal eyed the rows of students with a cold, fierce glare, before standing upright once more and letting his arms fall to his sides, instead clasping at his waist - specifically his hips - in a rather effeminate, flamboyant manner as he opened his mouth to begin to address his audience;


 * Osvernal - Greetings, young apprenti, and a warm welcome to all who have come to join us. To those who do not know me, I am Osvernal Eilenneim; until now, you have known me as your Vice-Archtutor, working on behalf of the late Selsor Granvinran, whose career as Archtutor was, unfortunately, cut so soon after taking the reins from the man that came before him, Archtutor Eigeyem. As of now, during the course of your winter break, I have been elected to stand as Acting Archtutor of the Grand Sovereign State-College of Magicka for, as thus far predicted, the following six months. ... And, should those who have come from the upper hierarchy of the Esoteric Order today officialise my elected position, I shall ensure that from now on, this academy will remain a safer, far more hospitable environment. ... Before then, however, I would appreciate if you all offered a prayer in memory of those who so tragically lost their lives near the very end of the previous term, taken by those who align their souls with the touch of evil and darkness.

Clothovera could not help but struggle to find sincerity in the elf's voice, for since the day she had first laid her eyes upon him, she could sense a fierce, dark aura surrounding him; a product of something within his soul rather than within the magic that he wielded, with his behaviour and demeanour always coming off to her as suspicious, deceptive, or sly. The thought of such a figure asking for his students to pray for those who had been taken by the assassination incident almost sickened her to her stomach, and while she was certain that her friends felt the same way, she could only watch as Teael begrudgingly tilted her head downwards and laid her hands over one another upon her chest - directly over her where her heart resided. Rows of students performed the same gesture, some form of custom pertaining to Sovereignty culture and society as this was not how humans prayed, and kept this stance for at least a minute before allowing themselves to rest, content with their prayer.Clothovera had not done the prayer out of confusion for its meaning until it was too late, while Szalvetha had joined and done the same gesture. While she could see her brother and male friends doing the same, Heilen had not done anything - he was asleep already.


 * Osvernal - ... Now, let us proceed with the promotion, before I address any other matters that shall become relevant to you as of this year. I would like you all to provide a warm and gracious welcome for the Greater Magister tasked with officialising your new, elected Acting Archtutor - Greater Magister Ediminas of Altava.

As he spoke the name, Osvernal stepped to the side of the podium, allowing for the aforementioned individual, a highly-influential figure within the Esoteric Order as well as one of the leaders and representatives of its Arcane Sect, to arise and stand before the crowd of students so that he could bestow the Vice-Archtutor with the blessing of the organisation and allow for his promotion to Acting Archtutor to proceed as was intended. It was becoming apparent that Osvernal sounded neither enthusiastic or excited for his ascension in rank, although the man was known to never show the true extent of his emotions when faced with a large crowd, and he turned his gaze sharply towards the Greater Magister whose presence he had announced to his audience. Rising to his feet was a who wore a distinct mask which obscured all but his eyes - a common trait in Vila culture - and he approached the podium with a stern expression. Ediminas was a mysterious individual, having been a member of the Esoteric Order for three hundred years, yet none knew of anything regarding his background or origins. His fellow members of the Order were not aware of any family he could belong to. As he reached the podium, he placed his hands upon it as he begun to speak.


 * Ediminas - The events which have transpired a month ago were a tragedy which should not have occured. Its consequences weigh upon the entirety of our nation, from the far west at the Verdant Kingdom to the far east at the province of the Hikamerans. The Esoteric Order is here to assure you all, future mages, wizards, warlocks and sorcerers, that such a thing will not happen again; we are doing all in our power to provide you with the best security possible, so that this... despicable waste of life never again occurs inside our walls. In the meantime, I would also like to call out the merits of certain members of the Collegium's staff, whose support has proven them to be fundamental part of this organization. Ennea Ignaura of the arts of fire, who risked her life defending Archtutor Selsor, as well as Riomara Acquae of the arts of water, who has returned to us with the impressive news of the retaking of Visonia, former territory of the humans of the far east, further improving our relations. It would take too long to speak of all I would like to, which is why we will be doing so in private instead.

The crowd began to applaud for Ediminas, the sounds of clapping filling the air while Osvernal glanced towards the Greater Magister, looking him up and down before approaching him from behind, his hands still set upon his hips; he brought one to his mouth and feigned a cough in order to grasp the Vila's attention amidst the applause, appearing somewhat more eager now than before to go underway with officialising and recognising his ascension as the new highest authority over the Collegium for the following months. In an act thought otherwise unthinkable to many, given Ediminas' intimidating appearance and enigmatic nature, the umbramancer laid a hand upon the elf's shoulder in a gesture mocking that of friendship or acquaintanceship, again gesturing for the elf to make haste with the formalities. Ediminas responded by throwing a hand back to get Osvernal's away, his face turning to the Aithrena's and allowing him to take a brief glance at his features; a frown dominated his expression, and his pupils were not circular, like those of an elf. Instead, they were narrow and sharp, like those of a reptile. Osvernal almost cussed as Ediminas reacted, his ears rising and a scowl writing itself onto his face as he looked into the Vila's eyes without fear, glaring back at the ominous, reptilian stare that he was met with.


 * Osvernal - We do not have all day to ourselves, Magister Ediminas. We should begin to make haste.
 * Ediminas - Watch your tone. Have you forgotten who you are speaking to?
 * Osvernal - ... Not at all. Magister.
 * Ediminas - The Collegium belongs to the Greater Magisters and the High Mage. I will take as much time to address the students as I please. Now, if you would allow me to continue.

Osvernal remained quiet, their brief exchange hidden by the applause, before he stepped away from the mysterious elf and lowered his ears; the Aithrenan struggled to keep his lips sealed, both figuratively and literally, as it was clear that his upper lip twitched from the anger that seethed from his presence. He moved his hands into his pockets in order to avoid anyone seeing them begin to aggressively shake and clench out of some primal instinct, while his gaze never left Ediminas, sure to watch his every move and listen upon every word he had to say. Turning back to the crowd, the Vila elf raised both hands, wordlessly casting arcane energies through them as over their heads, a great show of lights manifested - it was as if they were looking upon a clean, starry sky. Clothovera and her companions could not help but be awed by the display of magic, the Greater Magister so simply demonstrating his mastery over the arts of arcane spellcraft with a conjuration technique that would have taken the average mage years to accomplish to such an extent, even longer to learn to do without the use of incantations. Even among the Tutors, they could see Delmar Crowfeather, who taught arcane magic, putting his arms together and clapping his hands in a quick manner.


 * Ediminas - Know that the Esoteric Order is here for you all. We shall do our best to ensure this new term will be one to be remembered fondly for the rest of our lives.
 * Szalvetha - He is just pretending to be nice, I bet.
 * Clothovera - I dunno, he seems like a sweet guy. Hey Teael, maybe when you graduate, you'll be able to do this stuff!
 * Teael - Heh, I wish. I was dumb and chose to be a swordmage, so I wouldn't be able to pull off anything nearly this impressive since I gotta balance it with practicing martial arts and all that stuff. ... Still, it's like he turned this place into some kind of small dreamscape. Stars... inside the room.

After allowing the students to admire his illusion for a few more moments - almost as if prolonging the ceremony on purpose - the Greater Magister allowed it to dissipate as he rested his hands upon the podium once again.


 * Ediminas - ... Now. For the matters of leadership... Indeed, the Esoteric Order has agreed to give the position to Mr. Osvernal Eilenneim. He shall serve as the Archtutor for the next half of a year, and depending on his performance, he may or may not be given the title permanently.
 * Teael - Phew, looks like the Order didn't overrule the process this time. This could mean that they're not involved in whatever it is Osvernal might be getting up to. He might not be holding a lot of sway with them right now.
 * Ediminas - However, Mr. Eilenneim must be well aware of the following; following the revolting incident that transpired, the Order will be watching him and his performance particularly closely. Should another incident of this magnitude and nature take place, there will be dire consequences for his career. Among other things.

The Aithrenan stepped forward, standing beside Ediminas as he looked over the sea of students, still struggling to hide his apparent rage from their eyes before taking a moment to compose himself and utter a response to Ediminas' statements, his voice slow and breath heavy as he made an effort to appear calm and erase any hint of his tone being unnecessarily raised, although he still passed a rather inhospitable glare towards the Greater Magister for a brief instance.


 * Osvernal - ... I swear an oath to you all, upon the pride and dignity upheld by the late Archtutor Aesleith Eilenneim, my very own dear sister and Archtutor Eigeyem's noble predecessor, I will do everything within my power to never allow another stain of such awful significance upon the clean and bright reputation of my Collegium - of our Collegium. I will never forget the sacrifices Aesleith made to attain this position and the sacrifices she made to both retain it and better our school; I am deeply honoured to walk within her shoes and guide the generations to come upon the path of excellence. The future before us shall be a bright one, I promise you, and even while the Order glares into the open maw of darkness, we shall not falter. We shall make those same sacrifices to keep you from harm and ensure a... better Grand Sovereign State-College.

Ediminas said nothing as he simply stepped back and returned to his seat among the other members of the Esoteric Order, while Osvernal's speech was met with applause from many of the rows of students, alongside various Tutors who had been swayed by the Aithrenan's ambitious promise - Ennea, however, was not one of them, as she only feigned slight, reserved clapping for the man as he bathed in the audience's show of praise. Clothovera, nor any of her companions, brought themselves to clap sincerely for the new Archtutor, for they fervently thought that they knew better than to trust his word, and instead either refused to clap entirely or merely made empty, unenthusiastic gestures. Once the cheer began to die down, Archtutor Eilenneim spoke once more;


 * Osvernal - Now that all is said and done, there is but one more matter I wish to address. As I have ascended to the position of Archtutor, I shan't be teaching the Arts of Umbramancy classes any longer; instead a new tutor, Magister Colgrelaine Dustmourne, shall be assuming my previous position. I shall also be appointing Delmar Crowfeather and Prisieth Faemyar as my joint Vice-Archtutors, for I trust in their merit, talent, and skill entirely to craft and nurture our students into unlocking their true potential and becoming fine magi. ... Oh, yes. There are also numerous other tutors whom we have inducted into our staff, each cautiously tested and selected, to assume the roles of those whose lives were cut short by last term's travesty. I suggest you make yourselves familiar with them, but in the meantime, there are other pressing matters that I must attend to. ... Let us all hope for a fortunate term for everyone. You are now free to find your dormitories and make yourselves at home once again.

With that, Osvernal turned and merged back into the shadows, vanishing from the arcane spotlight which was soon dispelled as the drapes were raised, allowing the sunlight to gradually make its way back into the atrium. An uneasy sensation overcame each member of Clothovera's circle, including herself, as their nightmare of Osvernal ascending to the rank of Archtutor had been realised - albeit, under the watchful eye of the Esoteric Order, although it was still uncertain to her, alongside a number of other people, as to whether this was a good thing or not, especially given the enigmatic nature of the Vila Ediminas. Students began to raise from their seats, grasping their cases and belongings and each either made their way to their dorm rooms or remained in the atrium to talk with their colleagues; Clothovera and her group, meanwhile, made their way to the mess hall.

Sat around a table, plates of food and mugs of warm drink placed in front of them, the group began to reflect upon the reopening ceremony and the academic coronation of Osvernal to the position of Archtutor of the Collegium. While Teael was swift and eager to eat her food, Pyrath took the time to adjust his hair, remaining somewhat quiet on the subject as he attempted to remain focused. Damon and Clothovera both spent their time drinking from what they were provided, while Szalvetha quietly ate as she read a new book she had taken from the library. Heilen, meanwhile, had a finger in his ear as he appeared to scratch it, an expression of content indifference on his face as he appeared to not care for the whole ceremony that had happened.


 * Teael - What do you think of that Ediminas guy, anyway? Something's gotta be up with him; I don't know anyone who could conjure a bunch of stars in the middle of the main hall like that, not even Delmar.
 * Damon - Ennea's told me about him before. He's a pretty big deal, apparently. As for the spell, it was probably just an illusion. A pretty big one, granted.
 * Pyrath - I just think it was kinda tasteless that Osvernal kept bringing up what happened and paraded it around to try and make himself look like a good guy. Like, some of us don't like to be reminded of that crap, ya know? Just... Some people don't like thinking about it, yet there he is mentioning it at every opportunity.
 * Szalvetha - He did it. I am convinced.
 * Teael - We don't have any actual proof to prove he did it, though. I don't like the guy, but I'm not convinced that he would attack Ennea and then himself. Ennea said she can't remember what happened that evening anyway; you think Osvernal has the power to wipe memories or something? Seems just a little far fetched.
 * Clothovera - Ngh. Change subject, please.
 * Heilen - Well, okay. So what about them owl men who live south of here, eh? They look kinda dumb. You think they can spin their heads like normal owls?
 * Teael - I asked Clotho a similar question the other day. I asked that if I was to chop Hachi's foot off, would it bring me good luck? Simple enough question, right? And then I'm the one made out to be the bad guy.
 * Clothovera - You're talking about mutilating my boyfriend!
 * Teael - Anyway; you know normal owls can't really spin their heads around like in the stories, right Len? That's just kinda children's myths.
 * Heilen - Man. Owls suck.

The sound of footsteps was swift to fill their ears; heels clacking against the stonework tiles of the dining hall floor, to be precise, approaching Clothovera's table with an elegant and graceful stride in their steps. Prisieth Faemyar, her hands resting at her sides, strolled through the mess hall with a cheery grin upon her face as she glanced upon each of the students - barring Szalvetha, who she did not even think to grace with even a mere, brief gaze given how inhospitable the Derevar has proven to be towards her. Her hips swayed as she walked towards them, before eventually coming to a stop, looming over the table and the people seated at it as she stood tall with her full, elven stature enhanced by her heels while she rested her hands upon her wide hips. Clothovera, Teael, and Heilen would look at the arriving woman with some curiosity, while Damon would show some reluctance in his expression as he turned his eyes to her. Like she had not gazed at Szalvetha, the Derevar refused to even glance at her, keeping her eyes on her book.


 * Heilen - Hey hey, it's our boss and new Vice-Archtutoress lady.
 * Prisieth - Mhm, why, thank you kindly, Heilen. You would be the first student to congratulate me on my promotion today, you lucky boy. But... do you really think I'd make for a good Vice-Archtutor to a man like Eilenneim? Truthfully, I find him a little intimidating to work with...
 * Heilen - Hey, you're both adults so I'm sure you can figure something out. Remember my congratulations when deciding my grades, heh.
 * Prisieth - Teehee! Well, while I appreciate the sweet thoughts, I've actually come here to sort of... apologize in advance. I am afraid that the quests I have been given to assign to student groups have been getting a fair deal more difficult or tedious as of late, so this term will most certainly be a tiring one.
 * Clothovera - Couldn't you just send us to... not difficult and fun quests?
 * Prisieth - Believe me, if I could, I would. But! This is what happens when a student group has a high success rate and maintains good grades, you see. You are given many of the more difficult tasks to accomplish.
 * Szalvetha - What choice is there when failure means death...
 * Prisieth - Oh, you needn't worry about that anymore. Thanks to some insightful outside help and innovative thought, the Collegium has finally managed to begin mass manufacturing items that will allow for long ranged teleportation to be used by students and adjutors, which is convenient in both ensuring students' safety and cuts down on costs for students returning from outside Sovereignty territory.
 * Heilen - Man. Took it this long for you guys to store teleportation scrolls.
 * Prisieth - Mhm, nope. Not teleportation scrolls, per se.
 * Clothovera - Well, it'll save us time, for sure.

Reaching a hand outwards, Prisieth allowed a set of golden rings, each embedded with a silver gemstone which was marked with a particular rune, to fall from her grasp and onto the table for the group of students to see; Clothovera, due to her experiences throughout her travels, instinctively remembered the enchanted teleportation rings that were used by the Warriors of Dar-Nahalant to return to their headquarters following quests, adventures, and missions to lands elsewhere.


 * Clothovera - Ooh, teleportation rings?
 * Prisieth - Mhm. The Sovereignty could produce a number of these before for adept mages and members of the Esoteric Order, but only recently were we able to craft them for student use using more efficient methods. Each ring is instilled with a set number of charges and are commanded very specifically to return to the Collegium, with the wearer having to utter a vocal command in order for it to activate. Also, this should be obvious, but they do not work while already on the grounds of the Collegium.
 * Heilen - Heh. Not having to walk back is a plus I'm okay with.
 * Prisieth - Oh, also. Moirai, I'd like to speak to you in my office at some point.
 * Damon - ... Eh. Is this another one of those "favours"? Because, urm... I can't really do those anymore.
 * Prisieth - Well, it wasn't one of those, but now you have me curious as to why you're incapable of "assisting" me anymore.
 * Damon - Well, I kind of... got other things to attend to. So I can't really do Adjutor stuff to you anymore. I'm sure you can find someone else.
 * Prisieth - Hm, is that right...? ... Hehe! Oh well, I still enjoy the extra time we spent together while you working as my Adjutor. What I actually needed you for was to give you a list of quests and assignments that this student group will be undertaking for the following three months.
 * Damon - Right, I can do that. But after that, I'll be going back to following Ennea's orders.
 * Prisieth - ... You're going to make me have to speak through Ennea for assignments? Gah, alright.
 * Damon - Well, no. Just do it yourself. Or give them to me. But that's all I can do for you for now on.
 * Pyrath - ... W-What kinda stuff were ya doing before, D?
 * Damon - Adjutor stuff. I gotta go back to the Tutor I'm actually assigned to. Prisieth has adjutors of her own, I was just, eh, giving a hand before.
 * Prisieth - Yes, my other adjutors were either being uncooperative or were absent and unreliable, but it would seem that they are starting to fall in line again now that I have had a firm talking to with them and the holidays are over. ... Moirai, meet me in my office in the next ten minutes. It shan't take long.
 * Damon - Yeah yeah, I'm gonna head there now. I'll see you guys once I'm done.
 * Teael - Cya, D. Good luck with the... "Adjutor stuff".
 * Pyrath - Can ya ask Prisieth if I can fill in her for adjutor at some point?
 * Heilen - Dude, she's right here. Just ask her.
 * Pyrath - Can't do that, man. I get a bit nervous talking to beautiful women. Plus I'm not even an Adjutor yet.
 * Heilen - Wow, you gals. Pyrath just called you ugly.

Teael glared towards Pyrath with an aggressive, primal glare in her eye, while the Erylian began babbling and stumbling over himself in an attempt to make a swift getaway as he also tried to explain and justify the meaning of what he had said, although it was clear that Teael was not listening as she leaped over the table with a rather impressive bound and pursued him. Clothovera looked at the whole scene in confusion, while Szalvetha paid no mind as Damon rose from his seat and followed Prisieth to her office, his face still displaying some reluctance. Whatever it was that he used to do for her until the holiday, he did not want anymore of it for reasons only he knew.

11/1/35: Familiar Face
Second Week of Crepuscular Light, Early Afternoon: Central Atrium

At the far corner of the central hall of the school, gathered around a table and sat upon wooden seats and benches, the group of students basked in the aroma of fresh, hot food following a seemingly long morning of re-adjusting to lesson schedules and meeting with new Tutors who had been brought in to replace those lost in the tragedy that had occured the year before. Colgrelaine Dustmourne, the human umbramancer who had been assigned to assist in teaching the Arts of Umbramancy classes, was a welcome change from Osvernal, whose new responsibilities as Archtutor inhibited his ability to teach lessons and bestow assignments directly to his students; a quiet, almost sombre man, Clothovera had yet to garner an informed opinion on her new Tutor, although he was something of an improvement given that he had not taken the opportunity to antagonize or humiliate her upon their first encounter. Overall, the start of the new term had been quiet thus far other than Osvernal's promotion, allowing the group some time to reflect on the possibilities, both benign and hostile, that lie in wait ahead of each of them.

However, it was not merely Clothovera's usual circle that sat around the table in the far left corner of the Collegium's atrium, as accompanying the group of friends were Vhalra, who had remained somewhat quiet around her peers even though both parties had made an effort to make amends two weeks before at the New Year's party, and Kyrieleth, who had returned to Purity's Apogee from her father's estate in the Polar Lands the day before the school's re-opening; with the rays of the sun beaming through the windows into the hall, the Succubus was sure to keep her cloak upon her shoulders and wore a hat, similar in style to that worn by Szalvetha, albeit with a wider brim, in order to protect her neck as she faced away from the light while she drank from a flask, the contents of which could be easily guessed by those who were aware of the girl's true, vampiric nature, and ate from a plate carrying a thick cut of steak and additional greenery at the sides. While there was little change among them in the past two days, Damon in specific had an unusual expression on his face; a constant, uncharacteristic smile as his roommates noticed him becoming far more open to conversation than usual. It particularly bothered Heilen, who had been forced to hear him talk far more than he wanted to hear, while Pyrath was more than eager to engage with Damon - if anything, to find the root of the cause for why the half-elf had awoken in such an optimistic, far more extroverted mood than what was typical of him. Teael was noticeably unsettled by Damon's cheerier demeanour, although her mild concern was offset by the presence of their Succubus companion at the table and the fact that she had managed to seat herself directly beside Szalvetha and Clothovera rather than having to sit next to the slighly aggravated Heilen or the two other boys in the group who currently engaged in endless, irritating conversation.


 * Clothovera - I've never seen Damon so... cheerful before. What happened?
 * Heilen - Whatever it was, it needs to stop. He won't shut up.
 * Teael - You reckon he's on drugs right now or what? Think that the apothecaries have got him on some merryweed extract? Because this is new to us as well.
 * Damon - You people are an amazing encouragement, really. Perhaps I just woke up in a very, very good mood today and I don't want to waste it.
 * Pyrath - Heh, with Osvernal in the running for remaining as the Archtutor, I'm surprised ya in such a happy state. Haven't ya also got a boatload of work to do for the next couple months?
 * Damon - Well, don't we all?
 * Vhalra - Is there any particular reason as to why you've been coloured jolly this morning? Did you experience pleasant dreams or do you always become this delighted when you manage to allow your make-up to look so precise and refined?
 * Damon - I don't get why you people keep insisting I use make-up when I don't. But regarding why I feel good, I just... feel good. I don't know why. I just feel lighter.
 * Kyrieleth - Oh, you should be cautious. It would not be healthy for you to begin losing weight when you are already so thin and lithe.
 * Damon - Not what I meant but I'm feeling so good, I won't even mind it.
 * Teael - ... I reckon someone's cast a spell to switch Len and D's personalities in the night. Look at him; I've never seen Fatty looking so irritated. He looks all sulky and moody.
 * Heilen - Damon won't let me sleep in peace.
 * Damon - Oh, come on. Turn that frown upside down.
 * Heilen - I would but you won't shut up. Can't you at least be super-talkative but far away from me when I'm trying to take a nap?
 * Pyrath - ... I'm honestly surprised ya haven't teleported away yet. Why'd ya need to sleep around us, anywho?
 * Heilen - You people make me company in my dreams. But you're not supposed to wake me up during it.
 * Teael - That's super weird. Perhaps you can catch some shut-eye when it's time for your next class; you don't really need to learn anything today, you can afford to actually sleep during lesson time this time around. It's only gonna be more tutor introductions and all that crap.

As the group spoke, Kyrieleth rose to her feet in a sudden burst of movement, causing Teael to panic for a brief moment as the Succubus eyed her surroundings. While she had appeared tranquil and calm the minute before, now she appeared rather wary and a little paranoid, sniffing the air while her pointed ears twitched to analyze her surroundings beyond merely sight; it was as if she had detected something that the others could not, causing her to instinctively stand upright and ready herself to either fight or flee, in turn detracting attention away from Damon's unusually happy mood and towards herself as, without a word, she began to fiercely leer from right to left across the atrium, unnerved and alarmed. As Teael followed her example and stood, reaching for her sheathed blade, and Pyrath conjured a small fireball between his fingertips in preparation, the vampire began to mutter to herself;


 * Kyrieleth - It's faint, but it's there. The blood... I can sense it. That's not usual, that should not be here. It's faint, but it's there. The blood... Is one of them really here...?
 * Szalvetha - What do you think you are doing?
 * Kyrieleth - There's a new scent... Blood from the ancient world, yet here, fresh and young... It shouldn't be here, it doesn't belong in this world anymore. I smell it, yet I was told their blood was drained many generations ago...
 * Clothovera - Are you quite alright? You're mumbling.
 * Kyrieleth - C-Can you not feel it, M-Miss Moirai? I am aware that it's faint, but it's there... And it would happen to be coming t-this way...!
 * Clothovera - Of course I can't feel it. I'm not a... you know.
 * Teael - What in the world is she talking about? Is she on merryweed extract?
 * Kyrieleth - The mess hall... The m-mess hall... I thought that magic was dead, Father always told me so... Clothovera! There's an elf in the mess hall! An old elf! And he's coming our way!

From the entrance of the hall, came a figure. Taller than any other elf there present - perhaps twice as much, the figure had skin that shone like gold in darkness, and the glint of platinum in light. The very sight of the elf caused some of the students to stop their activities entirely, whilst those who had already seen him once before did their best to avert their eyes from him and continue with their morning rituals. As the students in the far corner inspected his presence, they noticed his face at first. It was as hard as stone; a very severe look upon the elf's face that without any further inspection breathed an ancient nature about him. His hair was a silvery white that fell slightly below his shoulders, and appeared like a mane of hair on a lion. However, he wore a strangely modern sort of finery - a crimson red tunic underneath, marked in gold linings with a larger robe of a similar colour and lining that he wore over it. His eyes peered over his aquiline nose - royal in expression - as he looked over the students, observing them like a hawk. He was nevertheless an example of the ancient beauty that their culture was known for, despite the ferocity that his face captured.

Teael eyed the figure in silence, her mouth left agape as she caught the strange, seemingly celestial elf within her gaze, while the fireball conjured at Pyrath's fingertips faltered and withered out of existence once he had caught sight of him; while he could not feel what their vampiric companion was feeling in regards to the aura radiating around the figure, he could certainly understand why she reacted the way she did purely from the elf's image and appearance, leaving him bewildered and confused as he had never laid his eyes upon an elf such as this before. Vhalra gasped briefly, analyzing the giant of an elf from head to toe, before attempting to utter a statement to reconfirm to herself her suspicions about what exactly she was seeing stand so elegantly before them, while Kyrieleth took a step back and seemed to freeze in place, her fangs revealed as she held an expression of what one could assume to be despair. Clothovera reacted to the elf's presence by gritting her teeth in what looked like apprehension, while Damon raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Szalvetha took a glance at the elf before returning to her book.


 * Heilen - Man, that's the ugliest Hikemera I've ever seen.
 * Vhalra - That... T-That's an A-Aurelian! A-An O-Orichalcum Elf! I... I thought they had all either dead or sold their souls to the Void...
 * Clothovera - Ngh... Why is he here? I don't want anything to do with Dar-Nahalant anymore.
 * Vhalra - You know him?!
 * Clothovera - I had to work with him before I came here.
 * Damon - Interesting! A new friend!
 * Clothovera - Gods, no.
 * Pyrath - ... For an Orichalcum Elf, I thought his magic aura would be stronger. Kyrie's reacting to it like she looked into the eye of the Adversary herself yet I ain't really feeling anything from him.
 * Teael - Nah man, his magic is probably so advanced that we students can only barely comprehend even a fragment of its power, so to us, it's like we can't feel much about him.
 * Szalvetha - Or she feels it because she is a creature of the night, weak to his power.
 * Kyrieleth - T-This is a nightmare... D-Does he know what I really am? C-Can he see beyond the masquerade?
 * Clothovera - I just hope he doesn't notice us.

Unfortunately, - the Orichalcum Elf in question, had entered the hall specifically to find Clothovera. He knew that his former team mate had become a student in this college, and believed it was an opportunity to speak to her on less than sombre ground than the years before. His eyes picked upon the particularly unusual group of elves in the corner, and strolled over there in a strangely controlled gait, as if it were something that he learned to do in his youth and had never grown out of it. As he approached, the half-human witch reacted with a quiet groan to herself.


 * Septimus - Clothovera. I imagined I would find you here.
 * Clothovera - ... Septimus.
 * Heilen - Hey, weirdo. You're a little misplaced here.
 * Septimus - I would remind you to not speak out of line in the presence of your elders, Heilen Shinerun.
 * Heilen - Oh, he knows my name. Okay. I'll try and remember that.
 * Clothovera - I hope you're not here to take me away for another suicide mission, because I'm not interested.
 * Septimus - On the contrary, Clothovera. My days in that...lifestyle are also over.
 * Clothovera - Eh? Why are you here then?
 * Septimus - In the days after our departure, I was faced with the question of what I would do after my fight had ended. The road that I walked on led me to the decision that, perhaps with what I have seen in my life, it would be ideal to pass that knowledge on. And so, here I stand.
 * Vhalra - ... H-Holy shit, an Aurelian is working as a teacher at our school?!
 * Septimus - Indeed. I have been accepted in the post of Tutor for History.
 * Clothovera - Huh. I guess being 5000 years old does give you a lot to talk about.
 * Septimus - ...Yes. Six thousand, in fact.
 * Heilen - You look good for a six thousand year old. I hope I look that good at that age.
 * Septimus - ...Hm. Yes.
 * Kyrieleth - ... S-Sun magic. H-Heliomancy. Y-You... You only faintly radiate with it. A-Are you not a member of the ancient Order of Sol...? S-Surely, an Aurelian such as y-yourself must be capable of... d-devastating solar spellcraft...
 * Septimus - No. The knowledge of such magic rests with another. I have small knowledge of the magic, yet none of such a degree to be named as a part of the Order of Sol.
 * Clothovera - You didn't bring with you, right? He'd bring the place down.

Septimus chuckled under his breath, trying his best not to laugh in response to Clothovera's remark.


 * Septimus - Of course not.
 * Clothovera - Okay good. Putting Longinus as a Tutor would be as good as putting a berserking orc.
 * Septimus - In fact he would be rather proficient as a Tutor for Martial Arts, although I could not ask him to do so. He is preoccupied as of late.
 * Heilen - No helio-whatever for us then. Shame.
 * Septimus - Enough of me talking; I arrived here to ask of you and your new-found friends.
 * Clothovera - Oh, urm... these are my roommates. And this is my brother Damon.
 * Damon - Hello!
 * Septimus - Brother? How interesting.
 * Damon - Indeed, we thought each other dead until last year. Fate smiled upon us both.
 * Teael - I'm... Teael. Teael Sehenem-- Oh wait, you probably already know our names.
 * Septimus - That should not deny you the courtesy of introducing yourselves.
 * Heilen - Well, you already know me somehow, which is just slightly creepy.
 * Szalvetha - Szalvetha Vairadi.
 * Septimus - The magic of my kind developed beyond that of heliomancy, if that is what you are wondering. Some of us, such as myself, can acquire knowledge without asking for such. Others, Longinus for example, has the ability to read the minds of others. To a degree. The skill is known as psychometry in your more modern studies.
 * Pyrath - Pyrath Cindraech, of the clan Cindraech; alchemist-pyromancer extraordinaire, most stylish and handsome student among the Second Years, and future High Mage of the Sovereignty, pleased to make ya acquaintance!

Septimus' brow raised in a degree of disbelief, though retained his composure somewhat.


 * Septimus - ...Yes. Likewise.
 * Vhalra - Vhalra Kasalsain, of the Kasalsain family of Archlore. Second Year student of the Arts of Umbramancy and one of Clothovera's colleagues...
 * Kyrieleth - ... K-Kyrieleth Morlana of the N-Noble House of M-Morlana, F-First Year...
 * Septimus - I am aware, Kyrieleth. And there is no need for concern. I am not an operative of Fangbane nor any inquistorial method towards the persecution of your kind. In fact, I have been acquainted with your family more than once.
 * Kyrieleth - ... Please tell me that you are acquainted with my father rather than either my mother or her sisters.
 * Septimus - The lure of a Succubus is not particularly strong upon me; perhaps that will answer your question.
 * Teael - Hey, Clotho. You know and trust this guy, right? Perhaps he can help us with our little... problem, since he seems to be in contact with Osvernal and the other Tutors.
 * Clothovera - Uh? .. Oh. Yes, probably. Look Septimus, don't tell anyone we told you this, but there are bad things happening in the Collegium. Things like students disappearing and probably ending up dead.
 * Szalvetha - The conspiracy. I cannot suspect him from being part of it if he just arrived.
 * Septimus - I believe you still have a set of questions to ask me regardless.
 * Clothovera - Well, if you notice anything unusual, you should let us know, and vice-versa for us. Some months ago, we actually nearly got assassinated.
 * Septimus - I heard. It was part of the conversations I had with the Tutors prior to accepting this post. An Undine assassin, am I correct?
 * Szalvetha - Yes, but she was a pawn. Whoever is behind it disposed of her when she got captured.
 * Septimus - And who captured her, may I ask?
 * Heilen - Pyrath and Vhalra did, actually.
 * Vhalra - Pyrath engaged the assassin when he found her disposing of the previous Archtutor, Selsor Granvinran, with Osvernal and Tutor Ennea Ignaura being found nearby, wounded and covered in claw wounds - wounds not typical of the attack method the assassin used against us. Once I arrived and subdued her, she was to be taken to Fangbane to be interrogated... Most of us are certain she never made it beyond the town's walls before she was executed, leaving everyone without answers.
 * Clothovera - One of our suspicions is this is the work of some kind of elder vampire. So you should probably be careful.
 * Septimus - I believe you should be more careful than myself, Clothovera. If the devils are within the walls, then they are at least aware of what you know.
 * Heilen - Fantastic place for history lessons, eh?
 * Septimus - I have had worse; trust me upon that. Hm. How time has gone by so quickly. Well, I should perhaps introduce myself formally as well. My name is Septimus Castus Matthias Laurentius, and I am your new Tutor of History.
 * Teael - And they say that Aithrena have complicated names. ... Heh, wonder what other reinforcements you can bring in for us, Clotho. I think I remember you telling me that you've ridden a couple of dragons before and worked alongside some ethereal knight guy. A dragon Tutor would be so fucking awesome, dude.
 * Septimus - ...Just how much have you told your friends of your ventures, Clothovera?
 * Clothovera - Well, most of the parts I don't hate remembering.
 * Septimus - A good answer. As for...reinforcements, Miss Teael. There are things you should perhaps not pry into.
 * Kyrieleth - ... Mister Laurentius, is this your first day working as the Tutor of the Studies of History class?
 * Septimus - You have a question, Miss...Morlana?
 * Kyrieleth - Are you aware that we have all been inadvertently eating into each of our lesson times, thus we are all rather late for classes - including yourself, Mister Laurentius?

Septimus looked around, noticing that the students had left the hall, leaving them alone. His eyes narrowed into sword-like sharpness, turning his head back to Kyrieleth.


 * Septimus - If that is the case, advise your tutors that you were in discussion with me, and do not give them the courtesy of believing otherwise. ...Good day.

Septimus turned around with a vicious movement, almost fast enough to have swept any loose papers from the table in front of him to the ground. He used his great size to move through the hall at an impressive pace, one that others would have struggled to keep up with, until he left the hall. Kyrieleth sighed a breath of relief, still standing as she laid her hands upon Vhalra and Clothovera's shoulders, her worried, panicked expression having vanished and since been swiftly replaced by her usual cheery, sweet demeanour as she happily insisted for her friends to follow Septimus' example and make haste.


 * Kyrieleth - Teehee, we should get moving as well, friends, otherwise no excuse shall save our skins from the Tutors' fury.
 * Damon - ... Before we go. Teael, Pyrath, when the class is over, I need you to find me at the dormitory. I got important... questing information for you both in specific.
 * Teael - Eh? ... Just me and Pyrath? Why can't Clotho and Szal and the others come along--
 * Damon - They'll have their turn. But not yet. For now, just the two of you.
 * Pyrath - ... Well, alright. Whatever ya say, D. Guess... I'll be... seeing ya... later?
 * Teael - If this is another one of you and Len's pranks, boys, I swear to Isiris that I am going to hang your genitals on my bedroom wall as trophies.
 * Szalvetha - Crude. We are late.

Thus, the group made haste, going their separate ways once more to attend each of their lessons while Damon, his oddly carefree and jovial attitude persisting, attended to whatever duties Ennea had laid out for him for today - largely assisting in her aeromancy classes, keeping record of important documents on her behalf, and collecting and transporting messages between herself and other Tutors until this afternoon's lessons concluded. Tutor Septimus Laurentius, one of the newest and perhaps most bizarre additions to the Grand State-College's roster of staff, would find himself only ten or so minutes late for his first bout of teaching and lecturing, and while it brought some comfort to know that yet another familiar face had made themselves known to her, Clothovera could not help but feel, deep within, that remnants of her past life of adventuring and fighting the forces of the Void and other great evils leaking into her new life as a student of the magical arts was, to some extent, a bad omen for what the future held for her.

13/1/35: A Day in Vhalra's Life
Second Week of Crepuscular Light, Mid Morning: Tutor Acquae's Private Office

Perched with her back against a nearby wall, Vhalra Kasalsain, Second Year student of the Arts of Umbramancy and Cryomancy, stood within the rather odd confines of her quest-giver's office, dressed in her scholarly robes of dark material and white lining as she eyed the other students who had come to receive their latest mission brief - the people who constituted the other members of Vhalra's team, a couple of them residing within the Collegium's halls of residence as the Aithrenan noble's roommates. The office was evidently different and enchanted in some manner, for while the furniture placed throughout the room, including a desk, several benches and seats, and cabinets and shelves among other things, were otherwise typical of a Tutor's quarters, the walls and ceiling of the room did not align with the architectural structure and design of the rest of the school building, as it seemed that Tutor Acquae had managed, through some inherently magical means, to convert her office into some form of aquarium; layers of transparent glass separated the office from the untold amount of water that the office seemed to be submerged beneath, with the students' eyes gazing upon tropical fish and other exotic aquatic species as they awaited their Tutor's arrival, the room lit with some seemingly artificial light that beamed down from above, casting fluid ripples of light upon the room's inhabitants.

Sat with her entire body separated from the ground and any other solid objects around her, an Erylian elf seemed to levitate with her legs folded above the ground, appearing to have sat herself upon a seat of wind while she wore a somewhat more revealing, red equivalent of Vhalra's attire, which was decorated with feathers while she wore a necklace consisting of bird talons upon string around her neck. Her blonde hair and bright eyes were an almost stark contrast to her skin tone of darker, southerly red, which implied that she had come from the Sovereignty's further southeastern settlements extending into the Tropical Lands, as she was darker than the other, slightly older male Erylian who stood adorned in a chain shirt and rested himself upon the butt of a double bit axe, its head decorated with enscriptions and patterns denoting an eastern origin. The young Erylian man wore his dark red hair in a dreaded mohawk - a "dreadhawk", as the youths called it - and had placed red war paint upon his face, resembling bloody claw marks across his cheeks and upon and beneath his brow, clearly far more of a warrior than a typical mage while his appearance paid homage back to his tribal ancestors prior to the unification of the Erylia. Seated next to him upon a wooden chair was the large, muscular form of another deiwos, albeit one not commonly seen within Sovereignty territories let alone within the walls of the Collegium; a Black Orc, his skin resembling the dark material of ebony while his hair, braided into long strands, matched almost perfectly the colour of his dark, obsidian eyes.

His size, combined with the perhaps somewhat wrongfully-attributed reputation of his race being violent, bloodthirsty barbarians, caused him to appear intimidating and fierce towards others, incapable of wiping away the inherently murderous glare written upon his face at all times while he sat quietly, dressed in a cloak and modified scholarly robes of earth brown, lined with patterns sewn with threads the colour of dark swamp mud, which marked him as a student of the Arts of Geomancy, alongside the small shard of obsidian which floated peacefully above his open left palm. Sat by his side was a Hikameran dressed in blue who wore her hair in a short ponytail, who was largely distracted by the fish swimming through the aquarium Tutor Acquae had created, while the last chair was occupied by a young Aithrenan woman who wore a white dress over her delicate pale skin, while a blindfold covered both of her eyes. Despite that, however, a blind light could be seen under it, giving the impression of sclera over the piece of cloth which covered her eyes. The office was quiet, as Tutor Acquae had yet to arrive, and there was a slightly discomforting atmosphere as the students merely sat around, awaiting their orders while having to spend time in one another's company for the first time following the end of the holiday. Vhalra's ears perked as the gravelly, deep voice of the orc ran through her ears, and it would have been surprising for anyone who was not familiar with this particular student to hear an orc - a creature reviled for its lust for violence - attempt to speak softly to the elven women sat beside him.


 * Kogac - ... I hear that today is Mrs. Acquae's first day back at the college where she is continuing her work. I remember seeing her at the reopening ceremony, but it seemed she left soon afterwards.
 * Lineya - It's difficult to get her now that she's, like, a celebrity or a heroine or whatever. Man, I wish I was a celebrity.
 * Kogac - What would you like to be famous for? Something related to your magic school?
 * Lineya - Considering I'm not really good at anything else, probably.
 * Kogac - You could make for a wonderful marine biologist. I hear there are many types of undiscovered fish and aquatic beasts at the Western Sea that have yet to be documented by Easterners.
 * Lineya - The west sounds so weird. I hear the marshes there have sharks with arms. Can you believe it? Sharks! With arms!

The orc briefly chuckled before turning his head away from the Hikamera to to glance at his other teammates; he was not roommates with any of them, instead being granted a small, spare apartment for himself without need for sharing with anyone else, yet it seemed he had taken an interest in the other young men and women he had been assigned to working on assignments with.


 * Kogac - If you were to be famous, what would you all be famous for? I'd like to travel to the west and study the metals and ores there. Ooh, or being one of the few who could manipulate darkstone or Qliphoth steel with earth magic.
 * Aelynthi - Please don't become involved with demonic rock. I would hate to learn you became corrupted.
 * Kogac - Worry not, Miss Miranorin, for the Cosmic King assures safety and fruit for the endevours of those He favours. ... That said, I've never seen a daemon with my own two eyes before. I wonder if the higher-ranking students have to go out and fight stuff like that.
 * Lineya - Well, I've told you guys about that weirdo called Heilen Shinerun who pops up every once in a while. He actually told me older students are sent to fight other mages. Dangerous mages who probably bind demons to their will.
 * Aelynthi - Is that man not a second-year student?
 * Lineya - Oh no, he's been here for at least 4 years. But he keeps failing his classes. Tutors must hate him.
 * Vhalra - While he lacks focus, he is at the very least somewhat entertaining to spend time with. He is smarter than he lets on to others, so he probably fails his classes intentionally in order to keep company.
 * Lineya - Oh, the ice queen's finally speaking! That sounds like a waste of money, though. How do you know him anyway? I do because he keeps trying to ask me out.
 * 'Vhalra - I know him through a... good friend of mine. Heilen frequents his presence and I have gotten to know him somewhat through being in his company. Hm, a humorous fellow.
 * Lineya - You got good friends now? Seems your New Year was pretty damn good then.
 * Aelynthi - I have always considered Vhalra a good friend.
 * Meira - Pfft. I'm surprised you forgave her for that one time where she provoked some of the new students into breaking into our room and damaging all our stuff.
 * Lineya - Man, disregarding all the trouble we got into, it was pretty funny. I'd do it again but I'd not want to see Tutor Crowfeather pissed off again.
 * Aelynthi - We all make mistakes. None of us are perfect. I know Vhalra is a good person deep down.
 * Lineya - You're a beautiful cinnamon roll, Aelynthi. Too pure for this world.

Meira, the Erylian aeromancer, dispelled the seat of winds she sat herself upon to make contact with the ground, leaning aginst one of Tutor Acquae's cabinets as she glanced towards the Aithrenan cryomancer while the Erylian axe-mage, Taegen, hoisted his weapon over his shoulder and chuckled to himself as he watched the two girls exchange glares.


 * Taegen - A good person deep down, alright. So deep down you'd need a pickaxe to actually get to the good part and get past all the cold, soulless dry ice inside of her.
 * Aelynthi - You seem to forget. I see souls. I know a person's true nature on first sight.
 * Taegen - I know, I know, gal. I can get behind our Ice Queen turning herself around and deciding to be a decent gal for us for once.
 * Meira - ... Who's this "good friend" that you met, eh? You say that Heilen hangs out with them a lot; is it that Pyrath guy? The one who can turn into a dragon?
 * Lineya - Sincerely hope not. I really don't like that guy's hair style.
 * Kogac - Please, Miss Asherath. You are perhaps prying too deep and too quickly into Miss Kasalsain's personal life.
 * Lineya - You'd make a terrible girl, Kogac. Be glad your Wyrm made you be born a boy.
 * Kogac - Hmm. I do not quite see what you are insinuating, Miss Fallstrider. Black Orc women are as reseved and disciplined as the men in our society.
 * Lineya - Man, you guys sound so boring... No offense.
 * Riomara - Dear me, I'm sorry for making you wait.

At that moment, Tutor Acquae entered the officer, carrying with her a stack of paper under her arm. The students turned to face her, with Vhalra releasing a small sigh of relief as the Tutor had arrived at the best possible moment in order to detract focus and attention away from herself and her new relationships beyond this "circle" of acquaintances and associates - she would hesitate to call any of them, barring Aelynthi, true friends due to the barriers and distance between their personalities and interests. It was a far more awkward and uncomfortable sensation for her than when she spent time with Damon and his own companions. Kogac bowed his head to the Tutor respectfully, while Vhalra rested her arms at her sides so as to not appear so stressed or closed-off. Riomara herself walked in and placed the stack of paper on her desk, before turning to the students with a look of mild worry on her face.


 * Vhalra - Good morning, Tutor Acquae. There is no need to apologise, we are more than happy to wait.
 * Riomara - Your quest today was going to be about gathering some special gems, but something came up just a few minutes ago. I'm afraid you won't be getting an easy one this time.
 * Lineya - Aww.
 * Taegen - Ah, sweet! I was worried I was gonna get bored on this one.
 * Kogac - A shame. I was hoping to be able to expand my knowledge on gemstones and magic materials at some point, although it looks like it shall have to wait until later.
 * Meira - What's our new quest instead, Miss?
 * Riomara - You will be investigating a magical explosion which happened in the western outskirts of the Sovereignty. Witnesses reported a powerful electrical blast coming from a nearby cavern. Normally, a group of trained soldiers would be sent to find out what caused it, but I believed it to be a good way to test you.
 * Meira - ... What if it's a rabid magical beast?
 * Taegen - Or a rogue electromancer terrorist?
 * Riomara - Nalgral will be accompanying you to make sure you are safe. But yes, I have reasons to believe this is going to be a dangerous task. The villagers of the area also reported the presence of shady, robed individuals these last few days. If this was caused by mages which could prove a threat to your lives, return to the Collegium immediately.
 * Vhalra - A good thing that the Collegium began handing out those teleportation rings to students at long last. I suppose that gives them something of an excuse to send us on higher-profile missions in the event that something goes wrong on our end and we need a swift escape.
 * Riomara - Indeed, but you must only use it under absolute circumstances. Nalgral will warn me if you use it to fake a quest success.
 * Taegen - Oh please, Miss. What do you take us for, eh? Like we'd ever fake a quest success--
 * Kogac - Well, there was that one time where Miss Fallstrider had us paint some fish and disguise them as the species that we were supposed to catch while we were travelling in the Tropical Lands because she became too frustrated looking for them.
 * Lineya - Oh come on, that was like, five months ago.
 * Riomara - Case in point. Prepare yourselves to depart, and be safe.
 * Taegen - Safe is my middle name, Miss.
 * Meira - I thought it was Conflaeon?
 * Taegen - Not... Not quite what I meant, Meira.

Using the magical rings allowed students to arrive to their objectives much faster, and it was the first time the group could get the feeling of such as they arrived to their destination in a matter of seconds. Accompanying them was their own dwarven bodyguard, a young man named Khormoth Nalgral, who nonetheless possessed a great beard and carried an equally big warhammer. Unlike Vhalra's "second group of friends", their dwarf was gifted with a much more cheerful disposition, and he would be the first to point to the cavern they were meant to enter over the distance. They could see how the entrance was charred, the stones and earth covered in black by the electrical explosion they were supposed to investigate.


 * Nalgral - Alright, laddies! Hope none of ye is afraid of the dark, cause the place is right over there!
 * Aelynthi - I'm blind, though. I can't be afraid of the dark when everything is already dark.
 * Taegen - Sounds like Aelynthi is already one step ahead of all of us.
 * Vhalra - An umbramancer afraid of the dark? No, but it is what lies within the dark that causes me concern.
 * Nalgral - Don't worry yer pretty pointed ears, miss. Us Khargrim can see in the darkness. Just follow me and we'll be done with this in time for an afternoon snack.

As the students approached, Kogac, through his geomantic training, influenced the earth around them to begin to rise and float in midair, before circling around his muscular body and proceeding to form a set of natural armour around his torso and limbs in preparation for whatever it was they were to find residing within the cave; he also drew a shortsword from his belt, its blade constructed of refined obsidian. From one of her pockets, Lineya revealed a wand which she twirled around her fingers, while Aelynthi reached to Meira and held on one of her hands in order for her to guide the blind Aithrena through the area. The Erylian wind mage smiled faintly as she clasped the Aithrena's hand, moving potential obstacles from their path with short, brief gusts of concentrated wind, while Vhalra stood near Nalgral's rear, conjuring flakes of snow radiating with dark magic from her pale fingertips as Taegen kept himself some distance behind the Aithrena so as to ascertain a reasonable view of both the area ahead of him and the umbramancer's rear.


 * Taegen - Hey gal, hope you don't mind me sticking near your rear in case anything pops out from behind you, eh?
 * Lineya - Watch out, big guy. You might upset Vhalra's new good friend.
 * Vhalra - It's not my friend he should be worried about upsetting. You ever see what happens to an Erylia when they spend too much time in the far north?
 * Taegen - No?
 * Vhalra - Would you like to? If not, I suggest going ahead of me.
 * Nalgral - Shut yer elven prancies, will ya? Blood hell. Just follow me.

As the group entered the cavern, the dwarf had taken out a torch in order to illuminate the path - not for himself, but for the students who lacked his enhanced dark vision. The path deeper into the cliff the cavern was located at appeared otherwise unremarkable, save for the obvious damage caused by the electrical blast they had been sent to investigate. It appeared to be some sort of long-abandoned mine, by the way its corridors stretched. Kogac sniffed the air as he walked, somewhat discomforted;


 * Kogac - The damage is most certainly of magical origin, matched by the power of lightning bolts during storms; an otherwise conventional explanation were it not for the fact that this power is being generated underground, where lightning cannot reach.
 * Lineya - I hope this ain't another kirin. Capturing that one that time was difficult enough.
 * Taegen - Ngh, please don't remind me of that time, gal. I never thought I was gonna recover after it rammed its horn up inside where the sun doesn't shine. Was locked in the infirmary for weeks.

As the group continued to walk, minutes passed until something unusual came to view; light sources, most specifically torches, which burned purple-coloured flames. The dwarf bodyguard rose an eyebrow as he took out his own torch, while Aelynthi tugged on Meira's arm so she would stop on her tracks.


 * Aelynthi - Everyone stop!
 * Meira - What is it, Lyn?
 * Aelynthi - I can sense a pair of souls ahead. And one of them... one of them is the largest soul I've ever felt.
 * Taegen - W-What? L-Largest soul...? W-What's that supposed to mean, gal?
 * Lineya - I take that means something incredibly powerful is ahead. Are you seeing those torches ahead? Place's totally inhabited.
 * Nalgral - Aye, but fire isn't dark purple.
 * Vhalra - This is not fire. It is dark energy shaped and moulded to serve the purpose of fire, and while it may provide a source of light, it does not generate heat. Notice that no matter how close you are to these torches, you shall feel no warmth radiating from them.
 * Lineya - Did you say two souls, Lyn? Can you elaborate on them?
 * Aelynthi - The giant one is electrical. It emits a great aura of lightning magic. The other... the other is as black as the void.
 * Vhalra - Are they mortals or animals?
 * Aelynthi - I... I can't tell the races. They're nothing I've ever felt before.
 * Taegen - Looks like we'll just have to find out for ourselves, eh, ladies?
 * Nalgral - Stay behind me, you all. Seems things're about to get messy in this hole.

Taegen swung his axe to the side with one hand, allowing the patterns and enscriptions upon the blade to glow with a warm, orange light while a burning fire radiated outward from the weapon's sharpened edges, before clasping his weapon with a second hand and holding it close to his person, savouring the heat emerging from its aura. Vhalra conjured a series of icicles between her fingers, readying herself to throw them like daggers in the event of a hostile confrontation while her own dark energy coursed through her body and into the ice that she brought into existence through her magical training. Slowly, the dwarf led the students ahead, following the dark torches until they found themselvs entering a much larger chamber, and they finally understood what their blind companion had meant when she described a large soul.

Bound by dark magical chains was a massive serpent, its bright yellow scales covered in wounds as the antlers on its head laid broken on the ground. There was no mistaking it; it was a, and a very wounded one at that. Around the chamber were several dozen eggs, all of them broken open while in the center, facing the dragon, was a tall robed figure who waved his hands, casting dark energies as he let out quiet murmurs. The sight of the serpentine dragon caused the students and their bodyguard to freeze for a moment, hesitating as they glanced around the chamber and saw the cold, emptied eggs, before Vhalra, acting out of some form of instinct, stepped ahead and sent forward an open palm in order to unleash a cone of freezing magic from her palm towards the cloaked figure standing before the captive Lightning Drake.


 * Vhalra - Stop right there!

However, before any harm could come to the figure, it turned to the group and with one hand, created a barrier of dark magic in front of itself which blocked Vhalra's attack. The move caused the figure's hood to be thrown back, revealing it to be a, who glared at the students in visible anger.


 * ??? - What is this? Who dares interrupt?
 * Vhalra - On behalf of the Sovereignty of Dryada and the Grand Sovereign State-College of Magicka, I, Vhalra Kasalsain, pronounce you under arrest!
 * Lineya - Yeah, what she said!
 * ??? - ... Hah! Hah hah! You children have no idea who you're dealing with.
 * Nalgral - ... Oi! I'd recognize those symbols on the robe anywhere! Yer a bloody lackey of the Cult of the Eclipse!
 * Kogac - A servant of the Writhing Comet? Here?! Hmph, we should have known when Tutor Acquae described recent sightings of shady, cloaked figures.
 * Cultist - My dear colleagues. The dragon's last attempt to escape turned them into ashes. But once I finally break its mind, it will serve as a perfect servant for the Master Apostle. I will be greatly rewarded!
 * Vhalra - Hmph. Let us see how your Master Apostle rewards you... in Hell.

Vhalra launched the icicles clasped within her fingers, although it would seem that her aim had been off as they moved past the occultist without him having to evade the attack. Taegen and Kogac both glanced towards Vhalra with a look of confusion as they clasped their weapons, while the elf only began to smile - even after missing her target.


 * Cultist - You will not escape to tell this tale!

The Eclipse cultist snarled as he clenched his fists, before throwing his arms away, with them appeared to explode as they were replaced by several pairs of writhing, scaled tentacles. Nalgral, offended by the imprisonment of a dragon such as a Lightning Drake, roared out a battlecry as he charged at the Merovar, only to be bashed aside as the tentacles struck him across the side. Taegen roared as he followed after Nalgral, sending his burning axe at the occultist's slithering, unnatural tendrils while Kogac channelled his magic to arm his fists with spiked gauntlets constructed from the metallic elements around him before moving to reinforce the group's offence, striking at the Merovar with his obsidian blade and enhanced punches. Meira sent discs of wind magic spinning in the beastman's direction, while Vhalra unleashed another ray of freezing magic and a flurry of icy missiles - both of which missed one after the other as Vhalra continued overestimating her air, passing the cultist harmlessly. The cultist defended himself by swinging his new appendages at the students, each of them launching blasts of dark magic in order to retaliate against their blows, while Lineya, with a wave of her wand, enveloped each of them in shields made of water.


 * Lineya - Damnit, Vhalra! Your aim sucks!
 * Vhalra - Oh, does it now, Fallstrider? I feel as if my aim is perfectly precise.
 * Cultist - Stand still, you meddling pests. Surrender, and I can grant you a new life under the wing of the Eclipse!
 * Taegen - How about you say your prayers and shut your mouth!
 * Cultist - You children are naive to believe you can overpower me!

Taegen found himself thrown against a wall, his body wounded with dark magic as he was cast aside by the cultist's tendrils, while Kogac was fortunate enough to grasp one of the eerie appendages in his closed, stone fist and made an effort to try and cut through it with the sharp edge of his obsidian sword. Meira attempted to use her magic to get behind the Merovar occultist and send more discs of wind and shots of concentrated air at him from behind, while Vhalra took several steps forward and sent yet another cone of freezing magic over the Eclipse cultist's head and followed through with yet more missed missiles of sharp, dry ice. The cultist yelled in pain as the orc severed one of the several tentacles emerging from where his left arm used to be, distracting him enough to not notice Nalgral rise to his feet and deliver a punch to his jaw, sending the Merovar stumbling back.


 * Vhalra - You will face your end this day, daemon-slave, and it is through me that your life shall be cut short.
 * Cultist - You think a mere severed tendril will deter me, when I can grow more?
 * Vhalra - Do as you please, for it will not save you, cultist.
 * Aelynthi - Why are you saying such mean things? Even in this context, you sound so... cruel.
 * Vhalra - ... Lyn, people like this cannot be allowed to live, as they pose a threat to the lives of others for as long as they persist. I am cruel perhaps, but I see now that there are directions where I should set my cruelty, and it is not towards you or our companions any longer. ... That aside, it seems that the cultist has fallen into my ploy.
 * Cultist - I will not be denied of my reward by mere children!

Vhalra smirked as she raised her hand and fired another cone of freezing magic past the occultist, and it was in the moments following this exchange that it began to become clear to everyone present why the Aithrena had been missing her attacks; as she followed through with another set of thrown icicles rushing past the occultist, avoiding him harmlessly, their ears were met with the sound of metal loosening, creaking, and shattering as a chain that tethered the Lightning Drake was unmade by Vhalra's magic, along with a number of the other chains that had once kept the dragon captive and trapped. She had been intentionally evading the Eclipse cultist in order to set free the struggling, enraged and wounded dragon whose mind he and his companions had been attempting to break before the students had arrived. As the dark chains which held it down were broken, the Lightning Drake let out a furious roar, causing the cultist to turn back in surprise as the dragon immediately chomped down on him; he screamed in terror as the creature's razor sharp teeth dug into his body, and the dragon shook the cultist in anger before swallowing him altogether.

Vhalra lowered her arm, standing triumphant with a smirk on her face as she watched the dragon enact furious revenge upon its jailor, before opening her mouth to speak as black blood was sent spraying and spilling across the chamber amidst the sounds of bones and flesh being torn through;


 * Vhalra - You have been... rightfully rewarded.

Nalgral, putting himself back together, let out a laugh as he put his hands on his hips, while Lineya sat on the ground, panting in relief that their enemy had been dealt with. Aelynthi, meanwhile, kept back, holding her hands over her mouth in what appeared to be disbelief and fear - she had never seen someone die before. Taegen clasped his wound and panted - a comparatively minor injury that he could undoubtedly recover from - while Kogac threw the dismembered tendril to the ground, analysing his companions and watching as Aelynthi seemed to cower away while Vhalra cautiously approached the Lightning Drake as it swallowed what had been left of their enemy. Meira, almost stunned by what she had seen take place, rushed towards Aelynthi to ensure that she would not fall over herself, while Vhalra, her face dirtied with a small splattering of blood, glanced over the Lightning Drake's state. Having risen from the ground with its arms, after several moments, the dragon then fell again, causing a thud as it appeared only partially conscious. It glanced back at Vhalra in silence until its voice was heard for the first time.


 * Drake - Thank... you... elf...
 * Vhalra - ... Just stay awake for some minutes more. I have company with me... I can send them back to retrieve help for you. ... We can heal you back to health--
 * Drake - You cannot... I am... beyond help...
 * Vhalra - But... But we saved you. ... The cultist brought you to the very brink of death in... in order to try and corrupt you?
 * Drake - The demon worshipers... twisted my mind... and body... Consciousness... already escapes me...
 * Lineya - Damnit! Damnit all! If only we got here sooner!
 * Vhalra - ... Very well. T-Tell us your name, drake... a-and you can trust us to remember your... r-remember your struggle. ... W-We shan't allow you to fade into lost memory.

Vhalra had turned away from the rest of her group, a whimper making its way into her voice as she communed with the dying beast; a creature of such power and magnificence as a Lightning Drake would be so grateful to their efforts as to honour her with its final words spoken in the living world, and while she could not fully understand or explain why, there was something innately tragic watching such a majestic beast, tortured and denied of its strength, die before their every eyes.


 * Drake - I do not... wish to be... remembered this way... There is... another way... you can help...
 * Vhalra - ... A-Another way?
 * Drake - The demon worshipers... took my clutch... twisted them... trying to corrupt them... All died... but one...

The Lightning Drake struggled to move one arm, which it pointed to one corner of the room which the group had been too distracted to notice; among the broken eggs was an intact one, devoid of any scratches or cracks. Vhalra eyed the egg, glancing at it curiously before looking back towards the fallen drake, its dying breaths ringing through her mind.


 * Vhalra - ... W-We... We understand.
 * Drake - My final child... give... it... a... home...

With its last breath, the Lightning Drake's eyes closed as life finally escaped it, its scales slowly turning grey as the dragon died. There was a solemn silence that overcame the chamber as the majestic, ancient dragon met with Death, before Meira wordlessly assisted Vhalra in transporting her upon a gust of wind towards the unscathed egg. Aelynthi had sensed two powerful souls present within the chamber upon the journey here, yet she would leave in the knowledge that she had also watched both souls wither and vanish before her blind eyes - a devastating and jarring thought for a young woman such as herself, while Taegan seemed somewhat shaken alongside, having only been used to killing monsters with his axe rather than other people. The dwarven mercenary had his hands over his eyes as he wept rather loudly at the sight of the dead dragon; the first Lightning Drake he had ever seen, a creature deemed sacred by the Khargrim, would die right in front of him.

Vhalra approached the egg, noticing its rather large size due to it housing a draconic offspring, before reaching down to place both hands upon it and raise it close to her chest, proceeding to incubate it with her scholar's cloak in order to keep it warm. She did not need to fulfil the dragon's last wish, and in all likelihood the egg would be confiscated from her possession should it be discovered by the Tutors anyway, yet she felt a sense of obligation - and honour - in being handed the responsibility to care for the fallen drake's young.

Using the rings, the group returned to the Collegium where Tutor Acquae waited for them at her office. The undine held a hand over her mouth as they told her what happened, not just for the dragon egg they had brought with them but for attempting to fight - and actually defeating - a member of the Cult of the Eclipse. However, it was clear Aelynthi was still in shock over the entire incident, as she refused to say a word, while Taegen seemed distant and quiet as he rested upon his axe, although Kogac appeared only midly stirred by the events that had unfolded before them. Vhalra had kept the egg closed to her person, its shell wrapped in her cloak while she seated herself in the office, glancing down at the undine's desk as she contemplated the day's events.


 * Nalgral - ... and then, chomp! The dragon eats the Merovar. Gruesome. Impressive, but also gruesome. And then it died... or she. It was probably a she.
 * Riomara - By Isiris... you should not have charged into a member of the Cult of the Eclipse like that! We could have lost all of you! They are an exceptionally dangerous enemy!
 * Vhalra - You talk as if you have faced their kind before, Miss Acquae. You have experience with their dreaded number?
 * Riomara - ... Yes. Yes, I have. When I served in the band of the Goldhawks.
 * Taegan - It always eludes me that we have one of the old Goldhawks teaching at our school - nevermind meeting with us for mission briefing.
 * Vhalra - I could sense how strong the occultist was due to the dark energy radiating from his person and Aelynthi's warning allowed me to attempt to think of a plan and improvise ahead of time. I knew that with my lack of experience, I could not hope to a more powerful dark mage in a direct confrontation.
 * Lineya - Yeah, well. Let's never do that again, please.
 * Riomara - Now... what to do with the dragon's egg...
 * Kogac - Hm. The dragon said that its dying wish was to give its last child a home. We could always gift this egg to Tutor Ignaura, as I am aware that she is very fond of animals both mundane and magical.
 * Riomara - Dragons are as intelligent as you and I are. They are definitely not to be treated like animals. Besides, Ennea already has to take care of that giant dire wolf.
 * Meira - We could gift it to the Greatholds. I know that the Khargrim consider Lightning Drakes to be sacred beasts that are aligned with their god or something like that.
 * Vhalra - Or... I could look after it.
 * Lineya - You? Taking care of a freaking dragon?
 * Vhalra - Would you want to look after it?
 * Lineya - Heck no, I'm terrible with pets.
 * Aelynthi - ... The baby's soul is awakening.

Vhalra glanced towards the eggs clasped in her arms and began to unfold the cloak wrapped around it as she began to feel the natural container beginning to shake and move upon her lap, a sign that could imply little else other than the offspring inside beginning to resist its slumber any longer. A small hole had been made through the surface of the egg, and a small horned snout forced itself out of it, eventually revealing the head of the Lightning Drake hatchling, which was decorated with a tiny, round set of antlers. It looked up to Vhalra and blinked - she was the first thing it saw. The elf blinked back as she gazed into the hatchling's eyes, a moment of silence exchanged between them as it seemed that, upon first sight of the small dragon, Vhalra found herself hopelessly enamoured with its frail, delicate, and rather adorable serpentine appearance, causing her to wordlessly lift the cracked, broken egg closer to her chest.


 * Taegan - ... You gotta be kidding me, gal.
 * Riomara - Ooh! It's hatched! It's... adorable!
 * Nalgral - By the Thunderous Hammer! The lads ain't gonna believe it when I tell 'em.
 * Vhalra - ... Hello, scaly baby. Welcome to the world...

The Lightning Drake whelp squeaked at Vhalra, forcing itself out of its egg completely as it begun wrapping its body around the elf's arm, seemingly cuddling her. Vhalra, in spite of her history of appearing cold, cruel, and uncaring towards others, perked a warm smile as the whelp imprinted itself onto her, causing her to stroke her finger along its long, winding back downwards from the back of its draconic head; for the first time in front of her student group, she seemed to display warm affection and kinship with another being.


 * Lineya - Man, nice! ... But is it a boy dragon or a lady dragon? I can't tell.
 * Aelynthi - It has a female soul. It is a she.
 * Vhalra - ... Tutor Acquae. I wish to take responsibility in rearing this drake whelp into maturity; I shall care for it, feed it, and keep it out of harm's way, and I shall treat it with the same love and affection I would my own child.

The undine Tutor looked into the eyes of the Aithrena before gazing back at the baby dragon, who appeared to have fallen asleep wrapped around her arm. A smile grew on Riomara's face as she was reminded of the time she met a Lightning Drake of her own during her adventures under the Goldhawks.


 * Riomara - Mhm. Very well, Miss Kasalsain. You have my permission to take care of this baby drake. I believe it trusts you enough already.
 * Vhalra - Aah... T-Thank you, Tutor Acquae. And... you would not happen to have ideas for names for her, would you?
 * Riomara - From my knowledge, Lighting Drakes typically have names ending with an -u.
 * Nalgral - Sucks that her mum chose to not name herself. Otherwise ye could've named her after her mum.
 * Riomara - She likely did this on purpose. Allow her offspring a life of her own rather than be reminded of her deceased mother who never met her.
 * Nalgral - Ah, ye got a point, Miss Acquae. What do I know, eh? First time I see a dragon in me life.
 * Taegan - Suppose it's your second time now that she's hatched.
 * Nalgral - Ye get what I mean, ya smartass.
 * Vhalra - Mhm. First things first, however, the rest of you should leave and recover for the rest of the day. I would accompany you back to the dormitory, Aelynthi, but I must remain with Tutor Acquae to consult with her about... Lightning Drake whelp necessities.
 * Aelynthi - I require time alone... I have never seen anyone die before... Meira, can you guide me back to our room?
 * Meira - S-Sure... Perhaps when we get back, we should clear a space and get a litter box now that it looks like we've gotta new pet.
 * Lineya - You gals have fun with that. I'm gonna get myself something to eat. You boys wanna come along?
 * Kogac - I am certain it would be most enjoyably, Miss Fallstrider--
 * Taegan - It would be my pleasure, gal. Perhaps you should walk ahead and guide me there, I get lost easily, gal.
 * Lineya - Hey. Eyes where I can see them.
 * Taegan - You can see my eyes, but that doesn't mean I got to see yours, gal.
 * Lineya - It does unless you want me to remove any trace of fire in your body.
 * Taegan - ... On second thoughts, you got nice eyes, gal.

Later that day, after having left the baby dragon in the security of her dormitory, Vhalra would find herself alone, walking through the corridors to the direction of the atrium, where she hoped to find Damon once again. However, it appeared he found her first as she saw him coming down the hallway, followed by the rest of his companions - with the notable exception of Szalvetha. Heilen and Clothovera's expressions showed some confusion while Pyrath and Teael both seemed to be rather happy to see the Aithrenan umbramancer, with the sword-mage swiftly engaging her with a firm handshake and pat on the shoulder while Pyrath, overcome with some form of excitement, gave her a brief, almost brotherly embrace that seemed to take Vhalra off-guard - the change in attitude among her new friends was rather sudden and unexpected, although not entirely unwelcome.


 * Damon - There you are, love! I've been looking for you all day!
 * Vhalra - L-Love? ... You've become even cheerier than yesterday, Damon, heh.
 * Heilen - The cheeriness is spreading, send help.
 * Teael - You had a mission today or something? You smell like a mine. Good to see you're alright if they sent you out on one of those more dangerous and questionable quests they have lined up.
 * Clothovera - Uh... Damon says he's got something to show us, and he wanted you involved.
 * Damon - Yep! You, Clotho and Heilen just have to see this!
 * Vhalra - ... W-What ever are you talking about, Damon? You know I'm not all too fond of surprises. That said, I have something to show you myself--
 * Damon - Later, later. For now, just follow me. All of you.
 * Heilen - You're dragging us by the arm so it's not like we got a choice.
 * Pyrath - Trust D, gal; if he's gotta surprise for us, then it has got to be a good one, alright.
 * Teael - Yeah, come on! We can't keep standing around and waste anymore time when D's got something great to show us! Gah, I can barely contain myself!
 * Clothovera - Why do I got a bad feeling about this?
 * Damon - Because you're dumb. Come on, Vhalra. This way.
 * Vhalra - ... Alright. I do not see the harm in an innocent surprise, after all. It could be fun, perhaps.

15/1/34: [No Name Given]
End of the Second Week of Crepuscular Light, Early Evening: East Wing of the Grand State-College Main Building

Szalvetha had chosen to evade her friends in the last few days. Their seemingly constant cheerful demeanor was becoming increasingly annoying; first Damon, then Teael and Pyrath. Now, it appeared Heilen and Clothovera too had become infected with a constant good mood, much to the Derevar's chagrim; it was not that she disliked her friends being happy, but they were too happy for no reason. As she walked back to her dormitory, having finalized her homework for the day, she hoped Teael and Clothovera were away so she would not have to listen to their constant talking. Fortunately for her, the walk back to her quarters was a quiet one, with many students either making use of the opportunity to begin rounds of snowball fights throughout the town with one another before starting another week of work and study or keeping to the warmth of their own dormitories in order to conclude leftover work and evade the biting cold that had overcome Purity's Apogee as of recent, with claims being made that the Winter of 34 NA has been perhaps the coldest throughout the Eastern Continent since the lost records of ancient times, long before the onset of the Old Age. The sky grew depressingly dark almost unreasonably early during the course of the transition into the New Year, although the corridors and hallways remained lit by torches fixtured to the walls and illuminated with a minor pyromancy spell - an enchantment to provide heat and light yet not the destructive properties of actual fire - thus allowing the Derevar to remain observant and not force herself to peer through darkness to find her way back.

As she approached the door to Dormitory CVI after turning from one hallway to another, she could not help but feel a brief realization fall upon her now that she had spent such an amount of time away from the rest of her friends - that, in spite of her absence, it seemed that not a single one of her friends had taken the time or effort to approach her or find her while she isolated herself, with even Teael, who spent perhaps an excessive amount of time in the Derevar's company, appearing to not have thought about, or cared for, her time away from the circle. Maybe it was better that way, as she cared not for their vomit-inducing geniality and held little desire to be involved in it, although there happened to be a rather odd contrast when she thought back to the time where she had almost departed from the Collegium entirely, an endevour she would have wholeheartedly carried through were it not for her friends' intervention. Standing just ahead of the residence's entrance with a key clasped between her fingers, she could not hear the voices of either Clothovera or Teael, giving her an implication that they were either not inside at this very moment in time or had fallen eerily quiet for whatever nonsensical reason, although she felt that the silence was enough encouragement regardless to enter and move swiftly to her room to retreat for the rest of the night. Carrying her homework under her arm, the Derevar opened the door and made her way inside, letting out a short yawn as she did so.

Without turning back, she loosely shoved the door to closed before making her way to her room, so she could let go of her homework and change clothes to something more comfortable. Even in the privacy of her dorm room, Szalvetha proved the subdued, conservative sort, her choice of casual attire barely showing much skin at all - she valued sleeves and trousers rather than frocks, gowns, skirts, or anything of the sort, although she retained her affection for cloaks and robes outside of her own scholar's uniform and felt no qualms adorning herself in such when she felt like it, whether she was meeting with her friends or Tutors or simply spending time by herself. While practical and largely utilitarian in nature, her room was undoubtedly cosy, having filled it with a mahogany desk positioned against the opposing wall while her bed, dressed in dark covers to match the rest of the umbral aesthetic, was perched against the wall beside her door, allowing her to simply walk in and fall to her side to sink into its thick, warm sheets on particularly stressful or exhausting days. At the center of her room was a large black cauldron, which she used to brew most of her potions outside of her alchemy class, and many of her already-made concoctions could be seen on top of her desk, each carefully labelled by its effects. From a cabinet near her bed, the Derevar would take a book and lay down in order to read it comfortably, allowing her mind to escape into a world of alchemical solutions, recipes, and information regarding the ingredients she required for her substances and forget about the recent toxic mirth her friends seemed to be experiencing.

It was not long into turning the pages of her book that Szalvetha's ears were met with the sound of the dormitory's front door being calmly unlocked and opened, with footsteps tapping against the wooden floor of the residence as the door was soon shut behind whoever had just entered. At first, she off-handedly assumed it to be Clothovera and Teael returning from wherever they had gone to spend time together, although once she paid more attention and glanced briefly away from her codex, she thought that she could only hear one set of footsteps in the main room neighbouring her bedroom - either Teael or Clothovera, who, for reasons beyond her, returned on their own not long after herself while the other remained elsewhere. That was what it would have been reasonable to believe, considering only herself, her roommates, and their Tutors held access to their dormitory keys, yet as she laid there, resting atop the sheets of her bed with a book in hand and the smell of her cauldron passing through her nostrils, it was only when she heard that same set of lone footsteps approaching the door to her bedroom that it dawned on her that, in her mildly stressed, tired, and irritated state, any thought of locking the front door behind her as she entered had not crossed her mind - although, instead of allowing herself to rise into a panic, she instead rationed that nearly no one would expect for her front door be remaining open and unlocked and that whichever roommate had returned likely would have locked it on her behalf, granted that they would likely find it strange or worrying that the door was open.

She was expecting a knock once the footsteps came to a stop just beyond her door, although as her eyes scrolled the contents of her book, the anticipation began gradually become unsettling, or more appropriately for her, annoying. She was certain that one of her roommates had approached her room rather than retreat to their own or remain in the central living area of their shared residence, meaning that, if she had been paying attention correctly, someone was simply standing just in front of the door, quiet and completely still; if it was one of her roommates, she thought once more, then surely they would have knocked or called to check whether she was present or not, as Teael was surely never so hushed and Clothovera would surely have second guessed an unlocked front door due to the incident last year. Instead, the Derevar alchemist found her anticipation met with a troubling, almost distressing, dead silence. Growing annoyed over the atmosphere, Szalvetha rose from her bed and decided to investigate, reaching for the door of her room to open it and check on who had arrived.

There was a crash as the Derevar was forced backwards against the wall, her door throwing itself open as a hand clasped her throat during the initial moment of shock before Szalvetha found her assailant's body pressing up against her own, keeping her pinned to the wall while it seemed they used their free hand to reach for an item upon their belt; an Aithrena, the alchemist could see, although their strength was almost unnatural for their race as they held her neck in a tight, nearly crushing grasp and kept her smaller frame held against the wall, their eyes wide as if enraged to the point of sheer, unrelenting madness. Szalvetha's own eyes widened in surprise as she tried to fight back against her attacker, finding herself overpowered despite her best efforts to break free of her grasp. It would take her a moment to realize she had been tackled by none other than Vhalra, her teeth gritted and red lips parted into a fierce scowl while strands of her blonde hair, kept in a ponytail today, ran down her face.


 * Szalvetha - W-what in the Hells?!

The elf said nothing in response, merely grunting as she continued forcing the Derevar to be forcefully pinned against the wall while she drew forth a cloth from a pouch upon her pocket. In the midst of the struggle, Szalvetha could see that some substance, coloured an amber green, had been applied to the fabric before Vhalra began aiming to seemingly her victim's face with the evidently drugged cloth in hand; the scent, while subdued due to her own Derevar senses, she recognised as being a form of alchemical incapacitation agent utilising ketamine as a basis, concocted for the swift relief of pain, alongside other senses, and to place the receiver into a prolonged unconscious state. The type of substance that would be used in medical application and handled most certainly by apothecaries to treat others. Szalvetha struggled, putting her face away from the drugged cloth as much as she could, though she realized she could not match Vhalra's newfound physical prowess.

However, the Aithrena would feel a sharp pain across her right leg as something clenched into it; most specifically, Nyakik, Clothovera's familiar cat, dug her teeth into it while pressing her claws at her to maintain hold. Vhalra arched backwards from the pain, her fingertips briefly loosening which caused her to drop the drugged fabric and release Szalvetha from her tight grasp, allowing the Derevar to retaliate while she proceeded to send her leg forth towards the wall in order to send Nyakik and her small body colliding into the surface with a powerful, merciless kick, devoid of any form of empathy for the familiar. As she did, her eyes, glimmering an ethereal green, opened wider and she almost howled in raw anger that seemed so random and misplaced, for neither Szalvetha or Nyakik had done anything to her following her seemingly sincere reform.

However, before her leg collided with the wall, the Aithrena found her body engulfed in a aura of blue as she was completely paralyzed in place while Nyakik's eyes shone an intense light; she used her telekinetic powers to freeze Vhalra in place, while Szalvetha, gritting her teeth in rage, reached for the wooden ladle she used to mix the ingredients of her cauldron and swung it at the Aithrena's head. A loud, almost bone-cracking impact followed Szalvetha's retaliatory strike, knocking Vhalra, her forehead heavily bruised, off her feet and sending her against the wall immediately to her right while Nyakik was fortunately spared from facing the full impact of what would have been a disastrous and bloody collision, instead being sent into several empty glass vials upon the Derevar's desk as she was dislodged from the Aithrena's leg due to momentum. As she fell, Szalvetha immediately jumped on top of her, focusing her anti-magical aura as to cause as much discomfort as possible as she attempted to keep Vhalra immobilized, while Nyakik backed away, licking her own teeth in order to clean the blood drawn by her bite.


 * Szalvetha - You have nerve, trying to do this. I did not want to go back to these kinds of thoughts... but if you force my hand, you will give me no choice.

Szalvetha was not graced with a response beyond Vhalra glaring up at her, her eyes, clearly glowing an enchanting, bizarre emerald green where usually they were red, narrowed in a berserk rage and her forehead bruised red like a fruit while she growled and hissed in a manner not unlike a wild animal, before sending a fist to the Derevar's cheek with her somehow enhanced strength - although, once her fist collided with the dark skin of her face, Szalvetha could tell that the umbramancer had either grown tired and weary or her antimagic field was doing as she intended it to do, which in turn also caused her own stamina to gradually slip away as she focused and channelled it. The Derevar nonetheless gasped in pain from the strike, and retaliated by reaching over to the drugged cloth, the same Vhalra tried to use on her, and took it in order to press it on to the Aithrena's own face. She knew not to clasp it for too long and only for a few brief moments in concern for Vhalra becoming far too exposed to the substance and becoming incapable of awakening, yet she could not help but keep it held against her fellow student's face as she continued to react and retaliate for some seconds more than what was usual and expected for an elf of Vhalra's kind. Soon, Vhalra's fingers twitched and the muscles throughout her body momentarily tensed up, before the Aithrena dropped limp and unconscious, her arms collapsing to the floor while her body slumped over to the side, incapable of holding itself up any longer as her muscles and tendons were forced to relax. Szalvetha finally threw the cloth away as she rose back to her feet, holding her now-bruised cheek as she looked down at the Aithrena, a mix of emotions flowing through her mind as she had difficulty grasping what had just happened. Nyakik continued alert, hissing at the unconscious Vhalra while maintaining a battle-ready stance.


 * Szalvetha - Why would you... do this to me?
 * Nyakik - What is the meaning of this?! I thought you made amends with this woman!
 * Szalvetha - We did... or so I thought... Why, I should... I should...

As Szalvetha shook and twitched in place from the near-ceaseless anger and distressing confusion hidden behind her inhibitive Derevar exterior, unsure of how to piece together the motivation for the scuffle, the adrenaline in her system began to gradually ease itself enough to allow her to regain focus. There were several patches of blood splattered across the walls from where they had struck one another, with Vhalra's punch causing Szalvetha to bite and tear her gum by accident while the impact of the ladle against the Aithrena's head caused her to bleed from the nose and mouth, and in the blood that Szalvetha could recognise as only coming from Vhalra, based on its landing point and the trajectory it must have taken end there, she saw something rather peculiar. Her blood seemed to glisten or sparkle, very much like the small light fae that danced and played above the frozen lake at the centre of Olnah, except with what appeared to be green, bright glitter - a trait not typically exhibited by the Aithrena. Closer inspection also revealed that the green shimmer had fallen to the floor or stuck to the walls outside of Vhalra's blood, as if she had been carrying whatever this substance was in her hair or on her skin prior to sustaining injury from her conflict in the bedroom. Szalvetha leaned down and passed a finger through the fallen Vhalra's glittering blood and bring up to her face to inspect it more closely, while Nyakik watched with some curiosity. The Derevar's eyes glanced around the room, analyzing the situation carefully before she placed the bloodstained finger onto her tongue, spitting it out quickly after.


 * Szalvetha - Hm. It appears she has been poisoned with something.
 * Nyakik - Poisoned?
 * Szalvetha - She is carrying something in her. This is not normal for elf blood.
 * Nyakik - You say that, I found her tasting much like recently-cut grass when I bit her.
 * Szalvetha - ... Someone took over her actions and sent her to get me.
 * Nyakik - Oh! And her eyes were shining in green. That was not something I have seen before.
 * Szalvetha - Taste of grass, green magical glow... A floramancer. ... Nyakik. Search for the potion of awakening on my desk and bring it to me.
 * Nyakik - You want to wake her up? What if she attacks us again?
 * Szalvetha - I am going to assume the body trauma will help her regain her senses.

Reluctantly, Nyakik jumped on top of Szalvetha's desk and begun looking through her concoctions, eventually finding the blue-coloured potion of awakening - made for the purpose of countering potions of sleeping - which she levitated up to the Derevar with the use of her magic. Keeping herself on top of the Aithrena, locking her arms under her legs, Szalvetha carefully allowed the contents of the vial to go into Vhalra's mouth. As she poured the liquid into Vhalra's mouth, resting and influencing the movements of her head in order to ensure that she would not choke and suffer further harm, the Aithrena began to stir before breaking into a fit of coughing and spluttering, regurgitating some of the foul substance that she had been made to drink in her unconscious state alongside traces of her own blood and saliva. The green glow that had been present in her eyes did not reawaken with her, remaining scarlet red as the elf saw herself beneath Szalvetha, trapped underneath her and between her legs.


 * Vhalra - ... V-Vairadi...? I-Is that... you?
 * Nyakik - Do not play dumb, woman! You know exactly where you are!
 * Vhalra - Is that... Moirai's f-familiar I hear...? ... W-Wait, these are not my quarters. S-Szalvetha, what am I doing here, of all places...? Is this not your room...?!
 * Szalvetha - Yes. My room. Which you came into trying to drug me for the purpose of Twelve Pagans knows what.
 * Vhalra - W-What are you-- I would never do such a thing...! I have learned to mind my own business when it comes to the quarters and residences of others, and it would be infinitely far beneath me to even think about intoxicating another person! ... W-Why are you on top of me?
 * Szalvetha - To hold you down. You attacked me and Nyakik.
 * Nyakik - You tried to bash me into a wall!
 * Vhalra - ... Y-You are playing a trick, yes? Or am I merely in the midst of a lucid dream? It... feels as if I was asleep but just moments ago, and now, I am being contained within your quarters, pinned between your legs, and my head is positively murdering me. ... I've never been known to be a sleepwalker...
 * Szalvetha - You nearly drugged me, so I had to defend myself. I hit you across the head. But now I see the green glow over your eyes is gone. I believe you were under the control of someone else.
 * Vhalra - W-Wait, that bruise upon your cheek... I could not possibly have done that, Szalvetha, you must believe me! I've neither the strength or the desire to do so...! ... W-What do you mean when you mention a 'green glow'? My eyes have been scarlet for as long as I remember... Mayhaps I was possessed, yet it all feels like a loose dream, and I cannot remember how or when I came to be here.
 * Szalvetha - Your eyes glew green, and your blood has a bitter, sappy taste to it. I have reasons to believe floramancy is involved, but it is a guess as I cannot tell one magic from another.
 * Vhalra - Floramancy...? ... I know not any floramancers other than Tutor Faemyar. And I have not met with her at all today from what my memory allows me to see...
 * Szalvetha - Prisieth...

The Derevar huffed and frowned as the Tutor was mentioned. She had never liked the woman, believing her to hide something which the others glanced over due to her attractive appearance, but the dots were connecting in her head. However, she also realized it would take more than just her and the still-disoriented Vhalra to confront the Tutor. And there was only one person she knew outside of her circle of friends who could lend a hand, as much as she hated the thought.


 * Szalvetha - Nyakik. Find Kyrieleth and bring her here.
 * Nyakik - The vampire? Why do you want her?
 * Szalvetha - There is no one else who can help us. If Prisieth did this to Vhalra... maybe the others are also under her grasp... Maybe that is why they are so "cheerful".

The familiar nodded as she ran out of the room to find the vampiress, while Vhalra winced as she felt a harsh, stinging ache across her forehead, and as she began to realise that the events unfolding around her were a product of reality rather than a meagre sequences of random events within a dream, tears started to form within her eyes; tears that carried the same shining, green sparkle that was present in her blood and hair, which caught Szalvetha's attention rather swiftly.


 * Vhalra - S-Szalvetha, I... I hope you understand that I did intend to... t-to harm you...
 * Szalvetha - I can see you were not acting on your own will. Your tears too have the green sparkling which makes me think a floramancer - Prisieth - is behind this.
 * Vhalra - ... If the green magic continues to persist, Szalvetha... t-then you know what must be done, yes?
 * Szalvetha - I do not. I do not know what exactly happened to you. I hope Kyrieleth helps put some light into it... as much as I loathe to work with a vampire.
 * Vhalra - ... If Prisieth is somehow the root of this problem, then she must be confronted. I remember what Tutor Laurentius said; now that you believe you are aware of a conspiracy surrounding the college... then the enemy likely also knows that you are aware... and holds reason to try and be rid of you before you can stop or expose them.
 * Szalvetha - There was something off about Prisieth from the moment I first saw her. I knew she was evil. The others were too busy staring at her chest and posterior to pay any attention, but I knew there was something. And now we have the proof. She is part of it all.
 * Vhalra - ... Derevar are largely resistant, if not immune, to many spells and forms of magic. Perhaps she knew that you could not be tamed and controlled... thus she decided to try and manipulate old feelings to use me against you... When all I am trying to do is become a better person...!
 * Szalvetha - You must help me confront her. For this, and also because she likely has Damon under her control.
 * Vhalra - Damon...

Vhalra clenched her fists and gritted her teeth between sobbing and panting, shredding tears of anger while pain continued to rush through her system, causing her to quiver and tremble where she laid as she attempted to stand once more. Szalvetha got off of Vhalra in order to allow her to stand up freely, reaching over to her hat and robes in order to dress herself once more.


 * Vhalra - Grr... I'll not be a tool for other people's dirty work... I was only aware of the fringes of how far this conspiracy goes before, with little concern for it, but now... Now it has gone too far for me not to care any longer. No one... no one... shall control me and dictate my path ever again...!
 * Szalvetha - Drink the green healing potion on my desk. It will heal the wound on your head and leg.

The Aithrena limped weakly towards the desk, resting a hand upon it to balance herself as she pulled her head back and reached for the vial of bright, acidic green liquid that sat within a tube rack, before bringing her head back and drinking and swallowing its contents without hesitation in spite of the sudden rush of vile, nauseating flavour that came with it; slamming her other hand upon the desk, clenched around the emptied vial, Vhalra's wounds began to fade and wither out of existence, while the elf growled and defiantly raised her head as she awaited the conclusion of the somewhat agonizing healing process.

Watching Vhalra endure the alchemical healing process, as she had consumed an experimental solution designed to heal wounds of a more significant nature, Szalvetha observed the effects in order to remember them for later so that she can correct and amend her work at a later time, before hearing a second set of footsteps - rushed and hurried this time - moving through the main living space of the dormitory and towards the bedroom, with Kyrieleth eventually poking her head through the doorway and entering of her own accord when she saw the two girls, each of them bruised and injured. Right after, Nyakik appeared as well, followed by Damon's own familiar Felvinus, who she appeared to have brought along the way.


 * Szalvetha - Kyrieleth. I need your help.
 * Kyrieleth - My goodness, Miss Vairadi, Miss Kasalsain... Are you two quite alright...? Nyakik only informed me of the basic details of what happened before I decided to come here and see for myself.

The Derevar proceeded to explain to Kyrieleth the events which had transpired; Vhalra's attack on her, the green magic permeating from her hair and bodily fluids, and her belief that Prisieth was behind it. As she did so, she reached a hand to an unlabelled vial on her desk, filled with black liquid, which she placed inside of her robes. The vampiress listened contently, contemplating Szalvetha's words and record of the event, before coming to respond;


 * Kyrieleth - ... Yes, I am afraid that I am familiar with this magic. You are correct in assuming that this is the work of floramancy, and Tutor Faemyar may very well be, excuse my pun, at the root of it. I have attempted to infiltrate the confines of her office and quarters before, yet my familiars will always be repelled elsewhere once they have entered without explanation. ... Mistress, my dear aunt, is very fond of this spell. She is capable of producing magical spores and pheromones from her body which are able to influence people in various ways depending on how potent the spellcaster is. This can range from subconscious actions to outright controlling their movements and thoughts directly.
 * Nyakik - She infected the Vhalra person with spores... Did she do the same with Clotho and the others?
 * Felvinus - Prrr, I knew Damon's "visits" to that woman would bring bad tidings...
 * Kyrieleth - She has only been interacting with Mister Moirai in private for the past week. I feel it is likely that she has entrusted him to not only serve as a drone for her, but also as a carrier to bring more of us beneath her fold; the people who are aware of the conspiracy and other goings-on behind closed doors. She likely could not infest you at all, Miss Vairadi, thus she influenced Miss Kasalsain in attempting to dispose of you.
 * 'Szalvetha - We need to confront her. The five of us, with our abilities, should be enough. She must be sent to Fangbane... or worse.
 * Vhalra - I do not know if we should, Szalvetha. She influenced me directly to attempt to incapacitate you and perhaps even outright end your life; what is there to say that she shan't use your friends against us? What if she would have you fight Pyrath, or Teael, or... Damon...
 * Szalvetha - I am not going to sit idle to her threats against my life. If she... had the nerve... of corrupting my friends, then I will get her, even if I have to knock them out of the way to do so. I am going with or without you... but your help would be appreciated.
 * Vhalra - ... R-Right. If that is the case, Szalvetha, then I will lend to you all of the strength and power I can.
 * Nyakik - I am going to make the woman pay for taking Clotho away from me!
 * Felvinus - In situations like this, remember: go for the eyes.
 * Kyrieleth - ... First, Miss Vairadi, there is something that you must do. Something... unpleasant, both for you and for Miss Kasalsain.
 * Szalvetha - What is that?
 * Kyrieleth - ... To ensure that Miss Kasalsain does not once more succumb to Miss Faemyar-- ... Prisieth's influence and control, you must be certain to erase any trace of her spores from her body. You must use your field of iconoclasm to destroy the spores still left within Miss Kasalsain's system.
 * Szalvetha - That should not be too difficult.
 * Kyrieleth - ... You will be bringing upon Miss Kasalsain tremendous pain. And you will likely wear your own stamina down in the process. I am aware that you have been meaning to practice and master your field of iconoclasm, Miss Vairadi, so now is the time where you must hold confidence in your abilities and put it to use, for it is most important.

Szalvetha eyed Kyrieleth before turning her gaze to Vhalra. Perhaps for the first time, the Aithrena saw reluctance in the Derevar's expression.


 * Vhalra - ... You know it must be done. And if these are the measures we must put ourselves through to save your friends... then I am more than willing to trust you, no matter how painful this experience shall be.
 * Szalvetha - These friends are not just mine.
 * Vhalra - ... It means a lot to me to hear you say that. You are many things, Szalvetha Vairadi, not all of them good, but you are sincere and you cannot be taken for a liar. And it is because of your sincerity... that you are something to be admired.

The Derevar's eyes looked down, still somewhat reluctant until she reached her hands to tightly grasp on Vhalra's shoulders. She narrowed her eyes as she put all of her focus into her field of iconoclasm so that it would completely overwhelm Vhalra and the spores inside of her. As the antimagical barrier that surrounded Szalvetha began to expand and radiate outwards, Vhalra could feel an indeed unpleasant, numbing sensation begin to overcome her, causing her to wince and bite her lower lip as her breathing began to grow heavy and sweat gradually slid from her forehead, while the familiars present within the bedroom had to retreat outside into the living room so as to remain unaffected by the invisible, magic-devouring void growing from Szalvetha's core; the Aithrena felt the air grow thin around her, her heartbeat increasing as soon the numbing sensation became a sudden cold sting that encompassed the entirety of her body, causing her to collapse onto a knee while her form grew weak and her very soul seemed to agonizingly dissipate, struggling to keep itself whole in the face of the true curse carried by the entirety of the Derevar race - the very reason for which their species is so feared and so desperately oppressed.

Szalvetha could not help but glance to Vhalra's face once blood began to leak and drip from her nose, carrying with it accursed green, glowing spores which were quick to fizzle and dissolve out of existence as the Derevar's iconoclastic field consumed and utterly destroyed them. It was when Vhalra could not persist any further without screaming and sobbing that she had to close her eyes once again. Szalvetha panted, finally letting go of the Aithrena as the green nature magic dissipated before her eyes, her expression locked in reluctance over having forced Vhalra to go through that - never in her life had she forced her anti-magical existence into someone that strongly, and as it turned out, it was not something to be proud of.


 * Vhalra - S... S... S-Szal... S... S-Szalvetha...
 * Szalvetha - You... should be cured now. Drink from my brews to heal yourself. Take as many as you need.
 * Vhalra - A-Are you... a-alright...? How... H-How can you l-live with... s-something like that...
 * Szalvetha - ... My kind has no choice.

Once they were prepared, and both Vhalra and Szalvetha had been given time to recover from what they went through with the use of the latter's potions, the trio of elves and the pair of magical cats accompanying them proceeded through the corridors of the Collegium, making their way to Tutor Faemyar's office. Those who watched them walk past could easily see the growing anger in the Derevar's expression, enough that most students in the way quickly gave them room to proceed unhindered. It was not a hot-blooded rage as was to be expected of young, spry students, for it was perhaps impossible for Derevar to demonstrate fury in such a manner, but instead it was a cold, sinister form of resentment - almost murderous as Szalvetha's piercing gaze remained straight and undeterred. Vhalra struggled to hide her emotions, however, as she showed so clearly through heavy, adrenaline-filled breaths of sheer outrage and disgust and a fierce, cruel scowl while dark magic essentially dripped from her tingertips in the form of sharp, black flakes of snow.

As they arrived to the door of Prisieth's office, Szalvetha wasted little time and opened it so they could finally confront the treacherous woman, as quickly and as quietly as possible - she did not want other Tutors or students involved, lest they try and stop them. They were met with a marble walls, flooring, and pillars, all dressed with coiling, twisting roots and vines, supporting a ceiling infested with a diverse range of flora, with an untold amount of insectoid fauna inevitably living among the exotic, alien greenery; Tutor Faemyar's office had since been upgraded following her promotion to the role of Vice-Archtutor, granting her more space and freedom to seed more forms of larger and stranger plantlife throughout her quarters, with grass coating almost the entirety of the floor on which they stood while trees and fungi were proliferated in the corners and sides of the chamber. To such an extent had she seemed to turn her office into a floral reserve that wild fae danced between flowers, oblivious to the inevitable confrontation, while at the far end of the office, opposing the door, was a large wooden desk, alongside several cabinets and shelves, holding Prisieth's belongings, documents, and equipment as the Tutor herself sat with her feet placed upon the desk's surface. As was to be expected, Szalvetha's eyes glared furiously as the sight of her friends and companions - Teael, Clothovera, Damon, Pyrath, and Heilen - met her gaze, watching as the half-elven adjutor massaged the Aithrenan Tutor's toes while the elven sword-mage stood tall and straight, her face locked into a perpetual, aggressive frown aimed towards the Tutor's new guests as she clasped the sheathed blade at her belt.

Pyrath was running a brush through Prisieth's hair, the Aithrenan perhaps refusing to acknowledge the presence of her new arrivals for a few moments before passing to them a dire, baleful glance while a smile crept its way upon her dark green lips. Clothovera appeared to be in agony as she stood in a pained, contorted pose, as if trying to resist the spores which were now inside of her while Heilen, perhaps unsurprisingly, had a finger up his nose and a disinterested expression, reacting to Szalvetha's arrival with a mere glance.


 * Szalvetha - Aithrenan whore. Let go of my friends.
 * Prisieth - Mhm, such nerve, Szalvetha. I held a suspicion that you somehow managed to thwart the plans I held for you when I could no longer feel Vhalra's presence tied to mine, but... Well, you coming directly to me has spared me from reconsidering my approach. A smart girl like you should know that coming here was not a smart decision.
 * Szalvetha - A smart person would not harm my friends. You are evidently not smart... You tried to kill me, now it is time for payback.
 * Prisieth - Oh, Szalvetha. Kill is such a strong word and a rather barbaric course of action... No, you misunderstand. I was not aiming to kill you, but simply to stop you from being my problem any longer, just as I did with your friends. ... You thought you could scheme and conspire without anyone taking notice? You are not the first to step beyond your boundaries, and given my evident misfortune, you shan't be the last, either.
 * Szalvetha - I will be the last Derevar you will ever see.
 * Prisieth - ... Ugh. It seems you are in no mood to entertain me, so let us cut this pointless chit-chat and just get to the climax, hm? Teael, Damon, Heilen, Pyrath, Clothovera; deal with this verminous rat for me. Their presence is unsightly in my garden.
 * Felvinus - Wretched woman. Purrr, no one takes control of Damon but yours truly...
 * Nyakik - You will feel the wrath of Nyakik!

The doors that the group had entered through suddenly slammed shut, thick roots, influenced into motion by the Tutor's floramancy, keeping the entrance blocked for anyone who wished to leave or enter; the possessed students' gaze lifted from their Aithrenan controller to their new oppoisition, with Vhalra quivering and shaking in anger as she watched Damon, without hesitation, begin to cast his magic against his friends while Pyrath reached for a vial hanging from his waist as he coldly glanced at the enemy students and the familiars that had come to reinforce them. Teael, entirely entranced with Prisieth's command, stepped towards Szalvetha and went to slide her curved blade from its sheath, before Prisieth, an amused tone carried on her voice, called to the sword-mage, which caused to reconsider drawing the weapon;


 * Prisieth - Teael, try not to make a mess, sweetheart. I've only just settled into this office, I need not the stench of Derevar blood when I have work to do tomorrow.
 * Szalvetha - Take them out. Prisieth is mine. Kyrieleth, show the whore what she is dealing with.

The Aithrenan umbramancer to Szalvetha's side nodded with confidence as she launched a cone of freezing magic in the direction of Damon as he prepared to engage the group, although it was swiftly rendered useless as Pyrath, sent a ray of embers swiftly ahead of his companion in order to defend him from Vhalra's cryomancy techniques. Taking a deep, reluctant breath and closing her eyes, Kyrieleth allowed herself to partially change, extending her fingers into claws while batlike wings akin to the fabled daemons of lore erupted from her back, exposing a fraction of her true vampiric Pureblood nature while Pyrath, with an undeterred stride, drank the vial at his side and began his own transformation, scales emerging from his flesh while his eyes and pompadour ignited with green, ethereal flames - in fact, those students who Prisieth puppeteered all demonstrated the same glowing, green eyes displayed by Vhalra during her struggle with Szalvetha sometime earlier. There was a collision as Kyrieleth and Pyrath met in battle, their clawed fists slamming against one another as the two transformed students aimed to incapacitate one another.


 * Prisieth - Ah, so we've a vampire infiltrator. How curious... Mhm, how desperate of you to align yourself, a Derevar, with the likes of a vampire Pureblood, Szalvetha. I am impressed.

Szalvetha did not respond as she merely prepared herself to face Teael, while Damon jumped from his position and sent a gust of wind towards Vhalra with a thrust of his arm. Clothovera and Heilen, however, did not act as their 'mistress' had ordered them; the former continued to groan and shiver in agony, while the latter ignored her entirely. Vhalra, acting swiftly, raised a barrier of shadowy darkness to defend herself and the small familiars from the aeromancer's assault, her robes and hair flowing in the powerful breeze as his spell made contact with her shield and caused it to swiftly crack and falter. Meanwhile, Teael dashed for Szalvetha, and while she was ordered not to draw her sword, she did not prove any less dangerous as she sent the hard wooden sheath at the Derevar, aiming to club her with the same swift, unrestrained movements that Szalvetha had seen her use on assignments many times before - she had gone to deliver a powerful blow to the alchemist's upper body. Having seen her fight for so long, however, allowed the Derevar to know how to evade her blows, creating distance between herself and Teael before taking out a vial of liquid from her robes and throwing its contents at the Aithrena sword-mage; not a potion of any sort, but rather a vial filled with acid, Szalvetha's favorite form of self-defense.


 * Szalvetha - I apologize in advance.

As Damon attempted to attack Vhalra again, the half-elf saw his arms locked in place as Nyakik's eyes shined in blue, while his own familar Felvinus appeared to brace himself as he charged his body with arcane energies. None of Damon's friends had ever seen Felvinus in combat, meaning there was no telling what he had in mind. Vhalra took the opportunity to send a sharp icicle of frozen magic towards the adjutor's leg, which would hopefully freeze him in place where he stood and incapacitate him from using his wind-empowered movements to evade the spells posed against him. Teael glanced as the acid was flung through the air and was quick to manoeuvre herself backwards with a short leap; as a warrior, she was trained to observe the movements of both her friends and foes, allowing her to avoid much of the attack although she nonetheless winced at the steaming droplets that landed upon her forearm, before returning to carrying through an attack and aiming to strike the Derevar across her hip with her sheathed weapon.

As Szalvetha and Vhalra challenged their friends, there was a crash as Kyrieleth threw the drakeblood-shifted form of Pyrath against a wall, cracking the marble material, before the quarterdrake pyromancer proceeded to send his knee into the succubus' abdomen, opening her up for a swift punch across the side of her face which she soon reeled into an uppercut against the transformed Erylian. As Teael approached again, Szalvetha took another vial from her robes and drunk its contents before spitting them out; as she did so, a stream of flame came out of the Derevar at the Aithrena's direction. Meanwhile, finding himself immobilized by Vhalra and Nyakik, Damon appeared to have been rendered defeated, yet his familiar continued to charge himself in magic.


 * Felvinus - I recommend you back away from me, little woman.
 * Vhalra - That's rich coming from one as small as you, familiar... Try not to hurt him too much.
 * Nyakik - What are you intending, brother?
 * Felvinus - Watch and learn, sister. This is what awaits you when dear Clothovera masters her skills.

With this, Felvinus' body grew considerably in size, knocking both Vhalra and Nyakik away as he took the form of a much more massive feline; the small cat had been transformed into a powerfully-built tiger, his canine teeth protruding out of his mouth as he let out a deep roar at Prisieth and Damon's direction. Prisieth perked a grin as she watched the familiar, almost impressed by the small feline's transformation, before stretching an arm and motioning her fingers, bathing in green aether, with claw-like motions - from the floor at Damon's feet, vines, protruding with thorns, wrapped themselves around his limbs and forced him to move, serving as an outside force to overcome the issues of immobilisation that had been imposed on him and assisting him with his potent spellcasting as his familiar revealed its true, empowered self to defeat him. Freed from the ice which trapped him, Damon attempted to attack Vhalra once again, only for Felvinus to leap forward and swing a paw at his possessed master; the strength of the familiar was such that Damon was sent flying backwards, the vines around his limbs snapping as he crashed against Prisieth's desk, breaking it in two and knocking the half-elf unconscious.

Relentless and wholly dedicated to her mistress' order, Teael remained at a distance from Szalvetha, switching her usual swordfighting style in order to cast a spell; she raised an arm and shot invisible blasts of raw, arcane kinetic force at Szalvetha, with the Derevar being unable to feel the blows against her body due to the antimagic field which persisted around her body. Or rather, that was what she reasoned to be the cause for not feeling the arcane blasts, until she felt and heard glass shatter at her hip and the liquids and solutions that were stored in a number of her vials exploded outward as their containers were destroyed. Her eyes widened as she became drenched in magical liquids, and she felt she had to react quickly lest Teael destroy all of her concoctions; reaching a hand down, she took shards of broken glass and threw them at the Aithrena's leg, causing Teael to wince and glance down as her trousers had not protected her from the sharp fragments, thus distracting her for a brief, vital moment before she glanced upwards once again to watch Szalvetha in the midst of commencing her next move. Taking the chance, the Derevar sent a foot to kick Teael between her legs in hopes that it would finally incapacitate her.

The Aithrena gasped as pain travelled upwards throughout her body, causing her to drop her sheathed weapon in a moment of lost control before collapsing onto her knees, only to use her arm to swipe the Derevar's legs out from underneath her so that, even in her pained, partially crippled state, her target would not be allowed an advantage over her, with her prime opportunity to incapacitate Szalvetha emerging now that the distance had been closed between the two. In a desperate move, taking out one of the few vials still intact on her robes, the Derevar swung it down and broke it over Teael's head before she could knock her to the ground. Teael's sweep was loose, missing Szalvetha by some inches as the glass container was shattered with enough force to daze her while she became coated in the magical substance which was being stored within the vial prior to it being used as a weapon, suffering whatever effects came packaged with the liquid Szalvetha drenched her with. In this case, the Aithrena sword-mage found her skin covered in blisters, as if she had been struck by pox. Without anything else in hand, Szalvetha could do little but deliver punches to Teael's head in hope that she would finally go down.

The irritated blisters and the force of Szalvetha's punches caused Teael to commit to one last act of desperation, as it seemed that she would not be capable of keeping up her assault for much longer; she reached for her weapon and slammed the butt of her blade's hilt into the Derevar's side to attempt to gain an opportunity to recuperate, although not long after the attack she could not help but bring her hands to her face to try and scratch and itch, remaining unable to stand from the remaining pain of having been devastatingly kicked in the centre of her crotch. She bent down with her face against the ground, desperately clawing at the blisters that had developed upon the skin of her face as an immense burning sensation overcame her - as far as she knew, she had almost instantaneously contracted an intensive case of some sickening, often non-fatal yet excessively irritating disease. Holding her side in pain from the blow she had received, Szalvetha stepped over Teael's fallen body as she watched the others, turning her eyes to Kyrieleth as she realized Vhalra and the familiars had taken care of Damon. The succubus sent Pyrath's body slamming against a pillar near the entrance, the disturbing cracking of bones following soon after as the Erylian slumped down, the green fire in his eyes beginning to fade as it seemed his transformation was soon to come to a conclusion while Kyrieleth clasped him by his neck with her devilish tail and ensured that he remained down by pummeling his partially-draconic face with a barrage of fists.


 * Kyrieleth - P-Please do not make me keep having to do this, M-Mister Cindraech...!
 * Heilen - Man. They got their asses kicked. Glad I'm not involved in this whole thing.
 * Prisieth - Hmph. Shinerun, Moirai, do your mistress a favour and dispose of them while they're recovering.
 * Heilen - Not feeling up to it, babe. I like my face without punch marks.
 * Prisieth - ... At the very least, you are assisting me by being useless to them as well. Clothovera, cast the shadow magic you've learned from your tome and destroy these vermin for your new mistress! ... Eh?

Clothovera struggled to step ahead, shivering and groaning, the sight which caused Szalvetha and the familiars to look at her with some reluctance. The green glow in the witch girl's eyes begun to darken as it transitioned into the colour of red blood, and she begun to scream as she brought her hands to her head. Vhalra stepped back while Kyrieleth's barrage was swiftly halted, the succubus turning quickly to glance upon the screaming half-elven witch before allowing Pyrath, only half-conscious, to collapse to the ground. Prisieth's smirk turned into a scowl as she stood from her seat and approached Clothovera, flowers and grass sprouting from her footsteps with each moment she walked towards her servant; green magic flowed at Tutor Faemyar's fingertips, while her brow lowered furiously as she became utterly unamused.


 * Prisieth - What is the meaning of this, Clothovera?!

The half-elf's head arced forward as a stream of blood suddenly poured out of her mouth, with it gleaming in the green spores which were meant to infect her body, until she fell to her knees and lost consciousness entirely. Nyakik's eyes widened in terror over the scene, while Szalvetha stepped back, unsure of what was happening. Prisieth winced as the possessed students were now either uncooperative or incapacitated, and it was clear to her that for whatever reason Clothovera suddenly began to regurgitate the spores and fall out of the waking world, it had something to do with powerful magic; she had certainly been afflicted with her mind controlling spores, yet something, manifesting as an illness, was resisting against the Aithrena's control. This something revealed itself as a deep, elderly voice rung across their ears. A voice Kyrieleth could recognize.


 * ??? - Insolent, insignificant mortal...
 * Kyrieleth - ... T-The... The Blood God...?!
 * Szalvetha - ... What?
 * Kyrieleth - That voice... is the voice of Analuhati..., the God of Blood and Vampires...!
 * Zran Kar - You dare... try and take control of another's possessions?!
 * Prisieth - No... How could this be...?! The ancient curse of the Moirai Clan... I-It runs with her, too?!
 * Zran Kar - This child... is mine!

From the pool of Clothovera's blood, a tall, lean figure begun to manifest, towering over Prisieth as it looked down at her with two pairs of reddened eyes. The Blood God grew massive horns and wings which opened wide, his vampiric fangs protruding from his mouth as he glared at the Aithrena in annoyance. Prisieth stepped back, dumbfounded, shocked, and horrified at the sight which unfolded before her, while vines began to slither and crawl around her as she cast defensive magic, moving, writhing, and patrolling like snakes or tendrils in the grass.


 * Zran Kar - You have affronted me... None may have control of Clothovera... but me.
 * Prisieth - Grr... Just my fortune to have... the God of Blood manifest before me from one of my pawns...!
 * Zran Kar - This pawn is not yours... you insolent gnat.
 * Prisieth - ... F-Fine, keep the girl! I-It shan't happen again... because I don't need Moirai to see my plans through... Z-Zran Kar... Please, allow me this chance to end the lives of these... miserable companions of your servant...!

The Demon God looked at the Aithrena in silence before letting out a sharp, malevolent chuckle.


 * Zran Kar - You speak of plans... pawns... yet, you are little more than a stepping stone in Ramainaualmari's goals for this city...
 * Prisieth - Ramainaualmari... What does he have to do with anything...? I'm no servant of the Eclipse Cult...
 * Zran Kar - You will die longing for an explanation... I shall watch these mortal children... put you in your place... For your affront, you will perish plagued by these questions.

With this, Zran Kar beat his massive wings, causing his form to suddenly turn back into normal blood which was launched at Prisieth's direction, drenching the Aithrena with it and causing her to become momentarily blinded as the substance found its way into her eyes. The Tutor took another step back, clearly shaken by the experience of being confronted by an Outer God of the realms beyond the world, for she trembled and quivered where she stood - she knew the Blood God was a deity who embodied knowledge and could observe fates as they unfolded, yet surely he must have been lying to taunt or trick her, for there was little that children - students - could do to directly oppose her. As the demon vanished, Szalvetha snapped back to her senses as she realized the Tutor was left vulnerable. Open for them to finally take a blow at her.


 * Szalvetha - Take her down!

An icy missile found its way penetrating through the flesh of Prisieth's inner thigh, causing part of her waist to begin to freeze and immobilise while the floramancer growled and winced from the attack, before Prisieth was struck backwards by a fierce blow to her gut as Kyrieleth yelled out with a seemingly newfound fervor; she had too been shaken by the experience with the sudden manifestation of the Blood God, yet she could not allow it to stop her from doing what she and her friends had come here to accomplish. The Aithrena collided with a wall, spitting blood from between her lips as her body sustained injury, although she did not cower or surrender in the face of opposition even if her servants had been incapacitated. Instead, she clenched her fists and scowled as thorns began to emerge from beneath her skin, erupting across her body as spiked protrusions dripping with her own blood while the ice that had manifested around her inner thigh was shattered.


 * Prisieth - Hrgh... An admirable attempt... But you'll regret not outright killing me while I gave you the chance. Szalvetha, Vhalra, Kyrieleth... I was not made a Tutor of this college for nothing! And it is now, in this moment, that I shall show you why you will regret crossing me!
 * Szalvetha - I will give you a fate worse than death.

The Derevar begun to walk to the Tutor's direction, while a roar came out of the massive Felvinus as he leaped at Prisieth's direction, his claws stretched as he aimed to dig them into the wicked woman.


 * Prisieth - I've had enough of this childish familiar... Begone!

In a brief instance, the beastly tiger that Felvinus had become found itself swiftly pummelled across its face by a fist armed with fierce, sharp thorns; across Prisieth's body, vines and roots wrapped around her chest and limbs while her parts of her skin transitioned from flesh into plates of thick tree bark, serving as a form of magical, organic armour that both enhanced her physical prowess and allowed her improved durability comparable to heavy, full plate while appearing to allow her the mobility of being naked. The elf's eyes, erupting with a green magical glow, soon disappeared behind a wooden helm, shaped to resemble the upper jaw and skull of a Flora Drake, that obscured all but the lower half of her face as she gave a bloody, malevolent smirk to the students who had come to confront her, before spreading her arms to her sides and allowing them to admire the full extent of her magical transformation.


 * Prisieth - Mhmhm... Behold! You stand before the might and beauty of Prisieth Faemyar, Tutor of the Arts of Floramancy, Vice-Archtutor of the Grand Sovereign State-College of Magicka... and Lesser Magister of the Florescent Sect of the Esoteric Order! You should be grateful for this, for I have granted you the kindness to look upon the greatest example of synthesis between elven magic and natural beauty that your eyes shall ever be graced with while I break every bone in each of your bodies!

Green energy radiated outwards from the Aithrena's empowered form, the flora around her becoming active as they were filled with copious amounts of life energy while it seemed that Prisieth's long, green hair had becoming a flowing, lively mass of vines that moved with a will of their own, flowing with the magical aura that surrounded the Tutor. Where once she had been almost entirely nude, she now stood dressed in a suit of reinforced wooden armour that fitted her lithe and very feminine form while her eyes glistened with power through her skull-like draconic helmet. Vhalra stood stunned by the transformation, the elven goddess of beauty becoming an armoured warrior before their eyes, while Kyrieleth wasted little time and sent forth her swarm of crimson bat familiars to attack their target.

Her body covered in thorned armour, the bats found it difficult to grasp and gnaw upon the plates of tough, enchanted bark that dressed her form before Prisieth could swipe them away with hands armed with wooden claws, and while Vhalra made an effort to attempt to launch freezing magic at the Lesser Magister, she was quickly met with a set of four thorns becoming embedded into her upper torso as Prisieth shot them from her fingertips. Felvinus had collided with the ground after being struck back, landing on his paws with a powerful thud as he shook his head to regain his composure. The magical tiger begun inhaling before letting out another roar, blasting a beam of arcane energy from his mouth at the floramancer's direction. Reaching for the broken halves of what was her desk, Prisieth used them as a form of shield against the blast, reinforcing the wooden material with her green magic to withstand the brunt of the arcane blast while gradually stepping closer to the familiar, beginning to overcome the force and strength of his attack before launching one of the reinforced desk halves at him with an empowered swing. The familiar struck the desk with his claws, causing it to shatter across the room at the cost of forcing him to cease his attack on the Tutor for the time being.

Reaching out both arms, Prisieth fired thorn-like projectiles from all ten of her fingertips at the tiger in a manner similar to bullets, taking advantage of his new, muscular bulk to ensure that he would prove as a large target, while Kyrieleth threw a punch at the Tutor's head, causing her to wince for a moment before recovering with a powerful strike that knocked the succubus against a wall, before having her limbs entangled by vines extending from the Aithrena's "hair". The tendrils which came out of the ears of the feline familiar retreated into his head as he took the blunt of Prisieth's attack, growling as the thorns became stuck to his fur until a barrier of psychic energy formed in front of him, shielding Felvinus from further damage; Nyakik emerged on top of his back, using her own magic to help her brother.


 * Prisieth - You should have heeded my warning that your decision to come here was unwise... I shan't allow you to escape your retribution so easily.
 * Nyakik - Be quiet! You shall feel the fury of the great Nyakik!
 * Felvinus - Underestimate us at your own peril.

Felvinus watched as Prisieth dashed towards the arcane barrier he and his sister had established around them in order to recover, and with swift, powerful, and mighty blows, the Lesser Magister mercilessly pummelled the force field with armoured, spiked fists; she was on the offensive, making use of her elven dexterity and newfound magical power to attempt to break through the familiar's defenses in order to get at him with the full, unrelenting power of her attacks. As she attempted to get to him, a grin suddenly grew on Felvinus' face as him and Nyakik then disappeared before Prisieth's eyes, only to reappear behind her moments later; the empowered feline sent his jaws at the elf, aiming for her neck. In an act of desperation, Prisieth launched her arm towards Felvinus' mouth to protect her neck as she twisted her body around, allowing his jaws to catch her armoured forearm and crack the reinforced bark that served as her protection. Blood spat from the wounds punctured into her arm as the tiger clamped down, causing the elf to wince before sending her other arm into an upper cut against the familiar in a move determined by anger at being briefly outsmarted and outmaneuvered by the magical beast. As she tried to fight back, Felvinus continued clenching his teeth into her arm as he begun forcing himself into her, in an attempt to throw her into the ground. While this took place, Nyakik jumped onto the armored head of the Tutor and let out a hiss as she begun clawing it, trying to get to her eyes.


 * Prisieth - Hmph... You shan't get the best of me, mere creature!
 * Nyakik - Stop hiding beneath that bucket and let me scratch your eyes!

With that, instead of attacking Felvinus, Prisieth sent her clawed hand to the arm that the tiger had dug his jaws into, proceeding to slice through broken bark, flesh, bone, and tendon in order to tear off her own limb and free herself from the beast's grasp, before leaping backwards to gain distance between the two. Utilising control of her hair, Prisieth ripped off the draconic helmet she wore and sent vines to entangle and crush the small feline's body as she assaulted her face, leaving her with fresh, bloody claw marks around her brow while her eyes furiously glowed with nature magic, before raising her remaining arm and sending another round of thorn projectiles at Nyakik's elder sibling. Being taken by surprise over Prisieth's sudden self-dismemberment, Felvinus was left vulnerable as the thorns penetrated his thick hide, causing the familiar to roar in pain as he threw the Aithrena's severed arm away. Nyakik struggled in the vines' grasp, feebly trying to reach Prisieth's head with her claws in order to keep scratching her.


 * Nyakik - Get your filthy, bad-smelling weeds away from me!
 * Prisieth - As... you... wish!

Throwing her head forward, she sent the entangled Nyakik crashing into the floor, before wildly throwing her upper body from left to right, continuing to smash the small cat familiar against the marble tiled floor until eventually whipping her hair around and releasing her grasp upon the cat, sending her towards Vhalra. Still recovering from having been shot in the torso by the floramancer's thorn projectiles, she was in no position to evade the familiar that had just been launched towards her; upon impact, Nyakik's form exploded in a small blast of arcane energy - as a familiar, she could not be "killed", and was rather banished back to the confines of Clothovera's mind. Vhalra was knocked to her feet in the process, stunned as she watched Nyakik's body burst and vanish before her eyes, and found herself becoming weaker as she then gazed upon Prisieth approaching the arm that she had dismembered and beginning to reattach it through her floramancy, summoning many small, wiry vines to replace lost tissues and muscles and allow her to regain some form of control over her limb.


 * Prisieth - Urgh... I was not aware that Damon possessed such a potent familiar. I was almost worried that I was going to lose when you first teleported, although that trick shan't work... urgh, a second time.
 * Felvinus - I would have swallowed that arm, but the taste was despicable.
 * Prisieth - ... You're growing weaker. How long can you sustain that form for, familiar? Longer than I can sustain this... Synthesis Mode? I doubt that; you are a strong familiar, but you are young and have yet to reach your full potential.
 * Heilen - That's why my boss is cool. She does cool things and makes armor out of trees and beats up innocent cats. Also nice tits.
 * Prisieth - Mhmhm... The only thing that stands between me and disposing of the rest of your friends, Szalvetha, is this weakened familiar of Damon's. He could have perhaps won if he had entered his empowered state later rather than sooner, maybe he would have outlasted my Synthesis Mode... But my patience has been worn thin now and I've grown tired of these games. I'm a busy woman and I've not the time to play with you all night.

The Derevar, devoid of any weapons and with only one potion left on her robes, looked around the room. She saw her unconscious friends, wounded from being forced to fight under Prisieth's control, and the allies she had brought to confront her had all but fallen. Szalvetha's fists clenched as she begun to shake, and from her, the Aithrena floramancer could swear she could hear the faint sound of weeping. A wicked smile found its way onto the floramancer's lips as she placed her hands upon her hips, swaying as she stepped towards the defeated Szalvetha and glanced down at her rather pitiful state; left seemingly alone while Felvinus and Vhalra required time to recuperate, and with Kyrieleth weakened from her conflict with both Pyrath and Prisieth's enhanced states, there was little else stopping the floramancer from doing what she initially set Vhalra out to do and find a means to dispose of the Derevar who could not be controlled or manipulated through her spores.


 * Prisieth - So... You've decided to smarten up and accept what's coming to you, hm? That's a good girl... You're saving both of us time by not attempting to resist. I cannot find it within my heart to kill a student, honestly, but I suppose there are other ways to keep you from interfering.

Szalvetha then looked up, allowing Prisieth to see her face. The Derevar were not known for their emotions, in fact being infamous for their stoicism. Yet, there was a clear expression on Szalvetha's face, and it was not defeat; it was hate. She wept not out of sadness, but out of her pure, unrelenting hatred for Prisieth's person. Around the Derevar, the very light around her appeared to be devoured as an aura of pure, black nothingness manifested, the vines and plants around her quickly withering and dying as her field of anti-magic flared up to truly unnatural proportions - it devoured the very Source around her. The floramancer's smirk gradually shifted into a perplexed expression, furrowing her brow as she watched the life become sapped from the flora at Szalvetha's feet, and it was not long until Prisieth gasped in surprise as she looked down and saw that the armour that constituted her Synthesis Mode began to crack and darken, withering and slowly breaking away as Szalvetha approached her.


 * Prisieth - W-What...?! ... Szalvetha! You... I was told you could not yet control your field of iconoclasm! What is the meaning of this...?!

As she was taken back, Prisieth was left vulnerable for the Derevar to throw her hands forward and clasp the Tutor by the neck; the black void which enveloped Szalvetha quickly crept into the Aithrena, whose very soul found itself assaulted by it.


 * Szalvetha - SUFFER.

Prisieth reached for Szalvetha's hands as they wrapped around her neck, desperately clenching around her wrists in an effort to try and pull away, yet the numbing sensation that overcame her, followed by an immense, stinging pain that struck her at the very core of her being, caused her to tremble and swiftly lose the strength to resist the Derevar's attack. Collapsing onto her back, with Szalvetha falling on top of her, the Aithrena's breaths became desperate and heavy, as if the air was being ripped straight from her lungs to elsewhere, and her hair began to darken, dry, and whither much like the rest of the plants throughout the office as she found herself choked and pressurised by the null field that radiated outward from the student; it was within these moments that she realised that Szalvetha could not control her antimagic aura, for it expanded outwards enough that it began to engulf her unconscious and fallen friends and cause them to writhe in pain and toil alongside. Felvinus begun groaning as he backed away, with this aura of "nothing" being particularly harmful for a being made of magic like himself, while Heilen finally rose from his spot and begun running to the walls to try and keep himself safe from Szalvetha's rage. The Derevar was relentless as she continued to overwhelm Prisieth, only letting go of her neck in order to clench her fists and send them straight to her jaw one after the other.

The Aithrena attempted to speak in order to attempt to appeal to Szalvetha, yet the punches that were being sent mercilessly at her face, combined with the Source-devouring bubble that expanded from where Szalvetha resided, kept her incapable of doing so; her face and her soul were being bombarded with blunt, raw pain, and she did not have to wait for the inevitable nosebleed that Vhalra had attained earlier from a similar, albeit lesser experience to find herself starting to become splattered ith blood. Not only did Prisieth bleed from her lips and nose, but Szalvetha had managed to damage the skin upon her own knuckles while attempting to gradually beat the Aithrena's face into a bloody mess, causing the Aithrena's face to soon resemble a bruised, bloodied fruit as swelling began to set in upon the floramancer's cheeks and jaw.

The anti-magical aura's sheer intensily utterly destroyed all traces of the mind-controlling spores in the Derevar's allies, and both Damon and Clothovera, alongside the rest of their friends and companions, woke up out of the sudden feeling of pain now coursing through them, forcing them to become alert once again. Vhalra, meanwhile, struggled to stand as she approached Szalvetha from behind, crawling towards her as she found herself unable to stand from the the immense pressure the field placed upon her, inhibiting her with a feeling in her soul that she was being slowly crushed flat despite her body being otherwise unaffected by the Derevar's void. As she rose a fist to punch Prisieth again, Szalvetha took notice of the approaching Vhalra and turned her head to look at her, crawling and overwhelmed by the alchemist's fury. The sight would help her regain her senses as the aura of iconoclasm slowly begun to subside, the nothing surrounding Szalvetha dissipating.


 * Vhalra - S-Szal... Y-You've already... won...
 * Szalvetha - ... I do not know... how I managed that.
 * Felvinus - If all Derevar do this kind of thing when their emotions overwhelm them, I'm glad you are all emotionless.
 * Damon - B-Bloody hell, my back!
 * Teael - Ngh...! W-Why does everything hurt! M-My skin... I-It itches really badly!
 * Heilen - ... Hey. I can think straight again. Thanks, Szal, you monstrous abomination you.

Szalvetha panted heavily, clearly strained from the incident as she got up from the floor, leaving the clearly overwhelmed and hurt Prisieth where she laid. Clothovera coughed out as she felt weak due to having vomited much of her own blood earlier, while Damon struggled to get back on his feet, the impact with the Tutor's desk earlier causing much pain to his back. Pyrath remained unconscious, appearing to be sleeping as it would seem he was exhausted from transforming into his draconic state, sustaining significant injury during the fight with Kyrieleth that he would inevitably not remember, and just being exposed to Szalvetha's monstrous antimagic aura, while Teael stood to look down at the beaten and bruised Prisieth with bewilderment before swiftly turning to face her Derevar friend.


 * Teael - S-Szal! W-What... What did you do to her...?
 * Szalvetha - I confronted her and saved you from being her mind-controlled zombies.
 * Clothovera - Ngh... W-Where are we? How did I get here?
 * Kyrieleth - Urgh... M-Miss Vairadi speaks the truth. Prisieth manipulated Damon into... becoming a mind-controlled pawn for her using magical spores... and used him to get to all of you so he could seed you with them...
 * Heilen - Oh yeah, I remember now. He took us away and then opened his mouth and then vines came out. Freaky shit.
 * Damon - She did what to me?! You piece of shit whore, why?!

Prisieth panted as she glanced up at the students, spluttering and coughing blood before bringing herself to respond as she attempted to try and sit herself up, although she had been left perhaps excessively weak for she still trembled and quivered, nearly entirely immobile on the floor.


 * Prisieth - ... Y-You... You were... b-becoming a problem for them... A-And it was my job to ensure that... you'd not interfere with their plans... I had to... p-pacify you... and get rid of those that... would not or c-could not cooperate...
 * Szalvetha - You are behind the student disappearances, are you not? Who are they? Why are you doing this?
 * Prisieth - The... d-disappearances... Urgh, some of them... I was r-requested to pacify and guide them through m-mind control to... s-specific locations in the midst of night... W-What happened to them a-afterwards, I know not... W-Who are they...? ... S-Spare me... and I'll t-tell you all I know...
 * Heilen - Wow. Your personality kinda sucks now that I think about it. I don't find you hot anymore.
 * Szalvetha - ... I have no intention of killing you.
 * Prisieth - ... Ahaha... G-Good... They are a s-secret group with b-branches set within the S-Sovereignty... F-From west to east... I know n-not what they d-desire, other than that... Osvernal maintains c-contact with them, r-receives orders from them, I b-believe... His goals, b-beyond wanting to "purify" this school, I've no idea about... Urgh, as for why I helped...? ... I'm no member of t-their group... My r-role in this conspiracy is m-minor by comparison to that held by O-Osvernal. ... He p-promised me that he'd h-help me... T-That I'd have a chance of b-becoming Archtutor in the future...
 * Clothovera - You... you dragged young people into the night to die... just so you could rise in rank? Without a second thought? You have no heart!
 * Prisieth - Ngh, heart is not w-what dictates power, child... I-It pays to be cruel if it means s-surviving and prospering i-in this society of ours... The h-higher we are, the more our v-voices are heard, and we go from being... a small p-part of the unheard masses to becoming the m-monsters that truly g-govern the world... T-That aside... N-Nothing gives me more s-satisfaction than freely c-controlling others to my whim... I-It makes me feel good that in t-this world, where I c-cannot dictate its course, I still have some s-semblance... of control of my own...
 * Szalvetha - ... I have heard enough.
 * Damon - Ngh. What are we gonna do to this bitch? We can't just take her outside, the other Tutors are definitely not gonna believe any of this.
 * Prisieth - Hehehe... Mhmh, ahaha.... Y-You cannot kill me, children. Y-You've no means to dispose of me... and I lay here, b-bruised and bloodied at your feet... I shan't be the one c-condemned as the villain in this s-story, mhmhm... Keep me alive, end my life... Your lives are d-done for here in either case...

Szalvetha looked down at Prisieth, and despite her words, a short, clearly malevolent grin begun growing on the Derevar's face as she reached her hands inside of her robes and took out the last potion in her person. That same black-coloured, unlabelled concotion. Prisieth's eyes narrowed at the sight of it, the liquid inside still bubbling as it was drawn from her robes, and the Aithrena's bloody, confident smirk slowly grew into a scowl.


 * Szalvetha - I said it before... I would give you a fate worse than death.
 * Prisieth - ... W-What... is that...?
 * Szalvetha - This? Just a potion of temporary polymorph. Whoever drinks it will be turned into a harmless newt.
 * Prisieth - ... P-Polymorph...
 * Heilen - What good that does to us?
 * Szalvetha - Normally, it only lasts for a few minutes. But add a heavy dose of dark magic to the brew... and it becomes a potion of permanent polymorph.
 * Prisieth - ... Y-You'd not dare, Szalvetha Vairadi! Y-You... You of all people know that p-permanent t-transmogrification spells are s-strictly... p-prohibited throughout the Sovereignty b-by law of the E-Esoteric Order! A-And the High Mage and U-Uroboros government!
 * Szalvetha - And sending non-Aithrena to the slaughter is not? And mind-controlling my friends? And trying to kill me?
 * Prisieth - ... It w-was not my idea, S-Szalvetha... Please, understand that it was b-but a job I had to do... I-I was foolish and cruel, yes, but I was n-never told what happened to those students... They might s-still be alive...! A-And I never, sincerely, intended to kill you... Be rid of you, yes, but not kill you...
 * Szalvetha - I understand you will make a fine test subject for my brews...
 * Heilen - Damn, girl. You bad. That's why I like you.
 * Szalvetha - Damon, keep her restrained. Clotho. Vhalra. Kyrieleth. Cast your umbramancy upon this vial, if you would. I want this to be as potent as it can be.

Clothovera nodded, feeling no pity for Prisieth due to her actions and confessions, channeling her dark magic and sending a stream of blackened energy at the vial which Szalvetha held in front of them. Utilising what remained of their strengths, Kyrieleth and Vhalra both accompanied Clothovera in adding further potency to the alchemical mix, with the Aithrena channelling her black magic in a manner nearly identical to Clothovera while Kyrieleth sent her small familiars into the vial, kissing each one of them upon the forehead with an umbramancy-enchanted kiss before they submerged and dissolved within the potion's liquid contents. Damon restrained the already weakened and incapacitated Prisieth in place by putting himself on top of her, and as they were done, the merely black liquid now let out a constant hiss, darkened mist coming out of it as the Derevar forced a large grin on herself as she leaned down, bringing the potion of permanent polymorph closer to the defeated Tutor. Prisieth glanced at the vial with wide, desperate eyes, attempting to move her frail, beaten body to attempt to avoid the fate that Szalvetha posed to her while it inevitably moved closer and closer.


 * Szalvetha - Drink.
 * Prisieth - N-No... N-No, no...! Y-You cannot do this, S-Szalvetha... P-Please, h-have me sent to F-Fangbane for torture if you m-must, I'll confess to e-everything I said, but... n-not this...! ... A-Anything but this...!
 * Szalvetha - You have given us the lead we needed... You have no use to me anymore!

The Derevar's grin quickly turned into a frown as she then forced the vial into Prisieth's mouth, making the defeated floramancer consume its dark contents. Prisieth could not resist it as it was forcefully sent down her throat, her teary eyes rolling backwards as the sickening, baleful substance touched her lips and the effects began to occur deep within her - her organs shifting and reshaping themselves while she pined and whimpered for help, her calls and pleas muffled and hushed by the flow of the potion which travelled through her mouth and swiftly made its way to her changing innards. Before their eyes, the group watched the Tutor decrease in size at frightening speed, her elven features disappearing until she was finally transformed into a tiny, spotted salamander; only powerful magic would be able to revert the effects of permanent polymorphing, though Szalvetha knew exactly what she was doing. No one but them would know this newt was actually Prisieth.

Before she could attempt to flee, the Derevar grabbed the transformed Prisieth by the neck and placed her inside the now-empty vial she used to feed her the potion. Some sadism could be told in her expression as Szalvetha delivered her revenge upon the Aithrena Tutor; she was now her newest lab rat. Kyrieleth glanced at the newt hungrily while Teael watched in disbelief as what happened unfolded before her, having become even more pale in the face as she watched the sickening transformation of an elf into a newt at Szalvetha's sadistic, almost murderous hands.


 * Kyrieleth - So... What do we do now?
 * Szalvetha - We use our rings to teleport away from this room. No one will know of this but us.
 * Vhalra - There are witnesses who saw us approaching this room, but... I doubt anyone shall ever be certain enough figure out exactly what had come to pass, thus we will likely be exempt from punishment.
 * Damon - At least until Osvernal hears of it. You heard the bitch. He really is involved in this mess.
 * Kyrieleth - If Osvernal decides to act upon this, then he shall be making a bold move. He must tread cautiously otherwise he may allow something to slip that he did not intend to. Remember that the Order is watching him closely, thus if he decides to act on knowledge only he believes he knows in the midst of suspicion and uncertainty, it could compromise him as well as us.
 * Heilen - Man. Succubi aren't just hot, they're smart too.
 * Kyrieleth - I... I am smart because I am a well-studied student, Mister Shinerun, not merely just because I happen to be a succubus. T-There are a number of unwise and... questionably smart succubi around the world. I do not happen to be one of them.
 * Szalvetha - I... I admit, I could not have done any of this without a vampire's help... I feel dirty for saying this, but... thank you, Kyrieleth.
 * Kyrieleth - Huh...? Well, I... You are more than welcome, Miss Vairadi. I... deeply appreciate the gesture and I shall be sure to cherish the memory of this moment so that it may never be forgotten.
 * Vhalra - Hey, I do not mean to spoil the moment, but I believe I can hear footsteps approaching from down the corridor outside. If we wish to get away without being questioned, I suggest that we make our move swiftly and rendezvous at a later point.
 * Heilen - I'll go get sleeping beauty over there. Man, not even the black nothingness of the lack of the Source can wake Pyrath when he's asleep.

Taking the cue, the group used their rings in order to be teleported away. They would reappear at the entrance of the Collegium, far away from Prisieth's office. Though their minds would take their time to process all that had happened; even though this enemy had been defeated, they now had to watch for Osvernal, the current Archtutor.

And like Zran Kar, the Simulacrum of Knowledge, had spoken, the Collegium's link with, the great demonic god of madness, remained entirely unknown. Was it a mere mention, made to throw Prisieth away? ... Or does something truly vile await for them?