Increase arrived at the area slightly winded but not too worse for wear. When the portcullis dropped behind him he knew that something was amiss and the presence of not one but two squadrons of mages helped solidify the possibility. To further complicate matters there were five senior archmages and the Curator himself. This was not a good situation to find themselves in, especially given the weapon that they had.

Gesturing for Claire to keep her peace Increase spoke first.

"A disjunction gun powered by an unstable etheric node. That's quiet the impressive feat you've managed. I assume that's a precautionary measure against my associate."

The statement wasn't a question so much as informing Claire of what he knew about the weaponry they wielded.

"As for the sale of these items am I to believe that we stand accused of theses disappearances and murders?"

Increase made no claims of innocence, even though he had not killed anyone personally. Still he distantly remembered a great deal of people dying during their raid on the Bits cavern.

"Yes, and not the only one."
He said. The grin did not fade.

"But as to your question about suspicion, the answer is, no.

"Were an outsider armed with magical weapons to try to sell a noble family back their own stolen property, seized from their slain employees with magical weapons,  well, I think the guards would try and take the thumbscrews to you."

However, I am not a drooling thuggish moron with a love for torture. I consider myself a man of logic and learning.

People of your intelligence would not have returned to the scene of the crime and tried to sell stolen property to associates of the person he'd murdered.

Ergo, I logically conclude you are probably not responsible.

However, I really must insist on knowing as to how you acquired those items.
You will be compensated for their return and time."

Claire looked at Increase. "We should be open with our friends here."

Back at the Curator. "Where we were is classified, as we say in the Republic. What we found was an abomination. We found mages who were using automaton guards - they're the source of much of this scrap - and who were holding hostages, eating their souls, and using them as traps. One of their captives was, I believe, a journeyman by the name of Matiel Arcinis, according to a partly-uncorrupted file I have. I'm sending your people - the ones you tried to cyberattack me with - his diary now."

She gave the Curator a slightly pointed smile, then sent the diary file she'd found in the recycle bin to the attackers' computer setup.

"We think they were also after the Bits," she finished, turning to Increase to allow him to add anything he wanted.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:26, Thu 11 June 2020.

"It's been transferred as she said. I'm looking over it now to verify."  Came a familiar voice from behind a garden shed. Both Claire and Scholar recognized it as belonging to the Bright Republic Technology Professor.


One of the archmages sighed "I can't read it's mind. It doesn't have one."
Increase Scholar easily picked out the "guild of thought" markings again.

From behind the the shed came a call "SHE has a mind, it's just not made from meat, Xu. Maybe provoking the reason we have this assembled security force is a bad idea?"

Another mage spoke up "Wait, what do you mean by eating their souls and using them as traps? That's ridiculous!"

Another still: "Not entirely. Some cases have been made for utilizing souls. Mostly reports from eldritch level sorcery, and then there's the-"

They were interrupted by the Curator. "Enough. Let us hear the rest of this."

Increase help back a wince when one of the mages called Claire an 'it'. He didn't know how she would respond to such an insult but he had seen men of their caliber laid down from her casual exertions. Hopefully things did not escalate but he readied himself all the same.

"Returning to the subject at hand." he said pointedly.

"We are not responsible for the deaths or disappearance of your students and staff. The items were endeavored to sell were to recoup our efforts in investigating their captors. If it is truly Collegium property then I imagine you are prepared to offer a suitable reward for their return."

Claire smiled sweetly at the archmage in question. "Oh no. It's because I am a woman, and so you will never understand my mind, however much you try." She wasn't going to kill anyone over the "it," but she also wasn't going to be intimidated or insulted without comment.

"I don't know how the soulworkers did their thing. When I found the hostages and tried to release them from the spell they were under, their souls weren't there. And then their physical deaths fueled an attack on my soul - yes, I have one - that I had to block. That's all I know."

She then glanced around the courtyard. "Curator del Schiavone, I think we've established that we're not enemies, and that I'm not going to blow out and murder your wizard just because he's an idiot. So I don't think you need to keep all this hardware pointed at me, and your half-rebuilt etheric node could break down any minute - and frankly it's giving me a headache. Can you please disarm and open the campus back up?" She smiled. "And if you have more questions, or you want to apprise us of just what is going on - I'm curious as to just what the hell these Bits are that everyone's getting killed over - we could sit down in your office, and Increase could probably use some coffee."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Thu 11 June 2020.

"That's a kind proposition Claire but a cup of warm water will suffice."

He never took his eyes off the Curator, curious as to what the man would do when presented with the choice to stand down or aggress against them.

One of the archmages chuckled at Clarie's rebuke.

Xu looked angry, but did not respond to Claire. "The scholar tells the truth. His mind is open. Though it is giving me a headache just reading his mind. Do not ask me to deep scan him.

After a few moments, the curator nodded.

"Yes. I would rather have this discussion over a nice cup of tea, hotwater, or a fine brandy.

As I said, the imminent threat of violence was not my desire, as much as I want to avenge myself on the perpetrators of this crime.

It is imperative that we recover these objects quickly.
Stand down the node, please, and get Arcinus out of that damned Vitruvian suit.

I'll need Profesors Xu, Paulo and... Elisabetta"

(OOC - I'll post stuff later that explains the Collegium's point of view on the thefts)

(EDIT-OOC The node is promptly shut down, and weapons are no longer being brandished)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:11, Thu 11 June 2020.

Increase looked to Xu and nodded.

"Of course. I have little to hide. Still I would caution you all not to look too deeply into my mind. I have seen matters which have reduced less fortunate men to mere animals. I would scarcely wish that upon anyone else."

If Xu or any other archmage of the same path looked they could tell the truth in his words. Just prior to his ascension to the powers of a Zenith he had gazed into the Pyre and seen the naked truth of True Reason laid before him. He still struggled to hold his mind together on occasion but he doubted all but the strongest minds could see what he had seen and remain whole.

"Of course Curator. We understand that you were just doing your job. Although I would not activate that node again. It is likely far too unstable for its purpose."

"Please let us discuss matters further in a more...hospitable setting."

"Of course"

The node is shut down, and the guards stand down. Quickly, tea (and some warm water) is served. There is a short comical scene of them removing a poor guard from the "Vetruvian Suit".

Most of the Professor/Archmages join you, eager to hear what the two have to say. The Bright Republic professor looks particularly apologetic.

The curator doesn't continue "shop talk" until the food is served and everyone has has had a bite to eat.

"Shall we resume our conversation?"

Claire gave her professor friend a quick smile. "Indeed, we should. The sooner we're all on the same page, the sooner we can get on with finding our prey, and with other business as usual."

She smiled at the Curator. "So anyway, I really don't have much more to..."

Something almost audibly clicked in her mind.

"Increase. Doesn't the Lomite religion...antireligion, whatever you call it, have some kind of fire rites?" She didn't know any of the details, just that the Lomites had red antipriests that were associated with Pyre something something. She should probably look up the details later.

00:46, Today: Claire Durand rolled 22 using 1d20+19.  Int check.

She turned to the others. "I remember that the mages who we fought were spouting Lomite doctrine at its most unhinged...no offense, Increase. And the diary file mentions that the mages' boss had eyes that were dead, and burned like coals. Does that sound like anything you've heard?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:49, Fri 12 June 2020.

"True Reason. The doctrine's name is True Reason and yes the Antipriests undergo a series of special rites which culminate at the Pyre. Within they obtain true enlightenment or are broken and become but useful tools for the Atheocracy."

He thought for a moment.

"It could be a few things but there is a possibility that they were a Lommite. The easiest way of telling would be to know their name. Our naming conventions are quite particular."

"If you can find of the true name of the perpetrator, we may have other avenues we can discuss.

The Collegium could have contacted the redactors, of course, but we have little to lead them on. They cannot strike some invisible force when we have no name or face to tie it to.

The force who broke inside opened a night road directly into our campus. We have a response squad and a few etheric dampers around key buildings, but that lab was designed to be disposable and somewhat isolated in case the worst happened, so it took some time to organize.

Our first guards that arrived were utterly annihilated by whatever was there. When we appeared in force, they had already departed, and there were.. no survivors.It took the physicians college over a week to fully remove the bodies."

The curator's grin remained. Perhaps the man used it to hide his emotion?

One of the professors, Elisabetta, you beleived, spoke up. "The tools you returned were from our collection of howler religous implaments, recovered from their lands. We had thought them purely ceremonial objects, but they may have had a hidden arcanic component. Paulo?"

Paulo spoke, slightly defensively. He appeared to be a skilled Theotechnician from his markings (and was the professor who disabled the node) "We never realized it because of the markings of normal Theotechnician Schools, and Howlers are not known for possessing any Theotechnology at all."

Elisabetta resumed. You noticed that she was not wearing any of the markings that indicated mastery of magic, though she did have the markings of a professor. "And my specialty is arceology and anthropology, not magic, of any kind.

Professor Alvano was a specialist of both, and surmised that the items had something to do with the manipulation of the soul, and would be useful inhis analyisis of the bits-"

The curator spoke up. "Of course, this is the other reason why we didn't recognise it. There's only one common type of magic that deals with soul manipulation: necromancy.

The study of which as an strictly controlled, and the active practice of which is banned. That's one of the reasons we want this recovered so badly. We do not need church inquisitors or the council pouring over our studies and projects. It would be a great loss if every project had to be submitted through council or church approval."

Those with a political mind might realize that it it would also reduce his family's influence, but where the concern of 'justice' 'power' and 'academic freedom' came was unclear.

The theotech professor spoke up "There's another thing. When I was analyzing the destructive potential of the primary artifact, it was based on the existing energy contained in the item.

On it's own, it's a bit unstable, but you'd have to mess with it to cause it to detonate, and it doesn't have the power to be a great concern on it's own. But with a sufficient etheric power source, it could do more damage.

The curator nodded. "That's why we approved its study only in an isolated lab with constructs and golems. The professor only brought in a few senior students who were completely made aware of the risks."

Increase listened to the various scholars speak on the subject an drank slowly from his cup. The water was clean with subtle hints of dissolved minerals but lacking in the harshness of calcium. The velvet sensation on his tongue told him that the water was chemically neutral, absence of strongly acidic or alkaline compounds. It was perhaps too perfect in its way, likely not from a natural source but rather filtered in some means.

Of course his fixation with the water was largely to obscure the mania that gripped him. The sheer power of the Bits he had witnessed in his vision played in his mind and the new revelations gave them an even further depth. There was no telling what manner of destruction someone could unleash if they desired it. How awe-inspiring. How truly terrifying.

"So then the culprit is likely one tied to Necromancy and is capable of opening and closing Night Roads at will. How very unsettling. It conjures images of the theurges, or High Mages as we prefer in Lom, although that raises more questions in of itself."

He took another sip, ignoring the possibility that the culprit may well be a Zenith like himself and Claire.

"Was there any evidence that suggested how many individuals stole the Bits and associated research equipment?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 17:07, Sun 14 June 2020.

"It is difficult to say. The place was... This was not a theft so much as a slaughter. I'd say a large number, but when you are dealing with unknown magic from a being likely capable of theurgy, I can't discount the idea that it was a single being."

He does not say person.

"You said you've fought them, and our professor of thought verifies that you tell the truth. Well, one of you, due to unique circumstances."

Thought magic had it's limitations, of course.

"If you wished to investigate the lab, I would not be adverse. We have a very substantial reward for the return of the items, our students or the professors, and I have an interest in finding out exactly what happened and would reward people for their assistance.

I'd like to hear anything you can tell me about the beings you fought, as well."

"The automata were pretty conventional clockwork brass guards," began Claire. "The mages controlling them, on the other hand, were pretty hardcore. They weren't theurges, but they were skilled at battle magic. Probably archmages in one or two fields, by my calculations." She rubbed her chin. "So it looks like archmages as operators, working for a theurge, and it's coming out of Lom in some way."

She smiled. "I imagine we'll have to find anything else out the old-fashioned way."

Increase listened and nodded along with the facts although he did have a counterpoint.

"Its unlikely that the archmages themselves are from Lom. More likely they are mercenaries from neighboring regions which have been brought in by the task. While the Church has no standing prohibition against magic it is not something that is actively engaged with. If anything the Antipriests are antithetical to magic of all forms."

It was true in the end. The Antipriests were all possessed of the ability to simply nullify magical effects within a certain range of themselves. He doubted it worked for theurgy but he had never seen it tested so it was hard to say one way or the other.

Still her last comment gave him pause.

"And by the old-fashioned way you mean what exactly?"

"Investigate the lab, of course. If there's a trail from there, you're the one who can find it, Increase."

Increase nodded and looked to the Curator.

"If there is nothing else I would like to investigate the labs and any materials that were removed from the area."

He considered asking that the remains of the dead be exhumed but decided that was a likely a bridge too far. People were attached to their dead, even the pieces of them.

"Of course. We also have a report from the physicians guild on how the damage was inflicted. I remember them being very confused about the methods used, so perhaps the odd necromancy would explain this."

Later, you are escorted to the Lab, which has a hasty cordon around it and a tapestry placed over the front enterance, as the door has been blasted to splinters, so badly that the frame is bent. Though the bodies have been removed, marking have been placed. Not the familiar white chalkline, but a number of chalk marks.

"The marks indicate where... bits of human remains were collected. Autopsies were run by our physicians, but the bodies were mostly literally blown apart, other than the guard who came in the front door. They were relatively intact."

Both of you are able to surmise from your previous experience in the cave that it's possible that bodies were left as traps, like the ones back there. The chance of a group of humans surviving a close range detonation are quite slim.

Like the cave, the place is completely covered in a thin layer of ash, though there has been footprints in it that are more recent.


The place has been ransacked. All the golems have been taken, of course, and there's blood everywhere. A number of alchemical and thamaturgical experiments lie out with various amounts of damage from a series of explosions that occurred.

Not everything was taken. There are a few book shelves here and there, and it looks like only key books were removed. There was a significant amount of equiptment removed, some of it VERY bulky and heavy. If this was moved, it was likely with the assistance of golems, someone very strong.

"We have a list of resources that the professor was using from the university library, so we have some idea of what was taken. Some of the books here are from his private collection, and we have no idea what was removed. I can provide a list of what we know was taken."

There was also the remains of a ton of experiments, most with components missing from damage, intentional sabotage, something heavy walking into it, or blasted with some kind of beam of coherent energy. Scary stuff.

In addition, both of your eyes are drawn to two desks with inkwells. There are two large, expensive looking cloth that have been ripped off the walls so fast that the corners were torn off. Only the tiny sections of the corner are still there, but you can tell they are a map from the barely visible compass on one piece, and the geographical and Atlas related books and tools in the area.

The books all around have some commonalities. There is a great many works on thamaturgy (including some truly esoteric ones), history, geography of deserts, howler culture, and what little is known about pre-howler culture. Interestingly, there's also a few books on Bright Republic technology, though these are far more basic in nature.

"The night road was opened in this large communial room that also served as a kitchen. The professor and his students essentially lived here."

The wreckage of this place is hard to overstate. Chairs flung about, stuff smashed, that sort of thing. Both Scholar and Clare feel a light wrongness about this area in particular, as though the area around the hole in the universe that had been opened was still tender.

There was a desk established with a primitive charging mechanism for a bright republic personal computer, but the computer had been taken. The models that the univserity use are similar to the ones you found in the cave, but the university didn't register this as stolen.

Increase surveyed the area closely, burning each detail of the area into his mind. It was clear that the area was ransacked and that any items of great value were taken from the area along with the survivors of the initial breach. He had recovered some of the tools and other materials from the cave but it was clear that many items were still missing. That meant that it was highly unlikely that they had successfully dealt with the group who had perpetrated the crime. How bothersome.

"Please secure the information on the condition of the dead as well as a list of the materials that were present in this laboratory. At least to the limit of your abilities."

"Everyone else if you would stand aside please."

Once they had cleared the way Increase would focus on his zenith energies, calling on the power he felt innately within himself and manifesting it in the space. He sought to set right what had been broken and see if any patterns emerged.

Commit Effort for Day to replicate Faultless Repair.

Claire simply looked over the area and scanned. Among other things, she scanned (in a computing sense) many of the books for later study. The Mandala Din were a peripheral interest of hers, after all.

Then she went over to the back wall, behind the desk, and turned her arm into a drill, then shortly thereafter opened up a hole in it. "False wall," she opined as she reached in to grab whatever it was that was hidden behind it.

A few things happened in a flurry.

The room reassembled itself. Well, not totally. Anything that was completely missing, was gone for good, like the books and stolen tools and missing computer.

"What in the name of God..." asked the Curator as the room seemed to repair itself.

The maps were the obvious target, and both of them assembled themselves to pristine condition. This was not PERFECT, of course. Any marks on the map with a pin were no longer visible. But perhaps a few key notes could be gleaned from study of the maps and desk.

The maps themselves were maps of Howler territory. The first was an old classical Atlas style map, no doubt made painstakingly after centuries of observations from traders. These maps were not perfect, by any means, but they did give a good idea as to the topography of the Howling Wastes. Numerous areas were marked with circuits showing the most popular areas tribes traveled, and which areas possessed the most warlike tribes and which were good for trading. A number of sections were simply marked Mortis Sic Semper - thus always death, indicating that venturing to these areas were known to be suicidal. A depressing amount of the map had these areas. It looked like the focus was on helpful informaton for trading and raiding. Interestingly, there are clearly marked ruins on this map. in the "Mortis Sic Semper" zones.

"Ah yes. One of our family's few joint ventures with the Falchetto. They send a lot of raids into the waste. We scried some ruins areas based on descriptions, but every group we've ever sent to investigate has died. We have a standard reward for investigation of those ruins, but no one EVER returns from them." The Curator added.

The other map was made from a material that was far more stretchy and durable. Whatever had ripped it off the wall had done so with tremendous strength or used a cutting force on the corners. The printing and design indicated advanced manufacture, and there was a copyright for the "Cirrus Atlas and Excavation Company".

This was another howler territory map. The areas around the water were far more detailed, with well defined coastlines. Several areas were marked "ruins" and certain areas were marked "UNVIEWABLE/DANGER!" There were basic notes on the desert and survival, and numerous areas could be picked out completely. Topographical information included sudden drops, raises, and the positions of watering holes.

"Obviously, not ours. The professor probably bought it off the embassy with grant expenses. It's terrifying to think how much money is spent on Republic export products."


Claire's own explorations revealed what the item was. It wasn't so much a false wall as a cleverly concealed camera, so small that no one could notice it. It looked like it was designed to hook into the computer, which also had a power supply cord that ran outside to an external charging unit. The camera was only noticable to Claire because of her unique sense for eletronics. It was wildly beyond the gear that the Bright republic exported. You could still buy cameras this good in the republic, but as a civilian, it would have been very expensive.

Increase looked at the Curator with a taste of disgust evident on his face, as if he had swallowed something unpleasant.

"Do not invoke such false icons in my presence Curator. It chafes me. This is the work of man, not God."

He then dismissed the man and instead turned his attention to the map. So information was simply lost, which was the nature of these things, but they did reveal a great deal of information which he did not preciously possess. At mention of the ruins and standing offer he simply hummed his acknowledgement. The Howlers were not a place you wandered without repercussions. Death seemed perhaps the tamest of them although he never considered the peoples of that area to quite so violent as to wipe out entire research teams repeatedly. There was likely another force at play.

"There is reason to believe that the culprit might have interest in one or more of these ruins. Although with the information we have available to us it would be close to impossible to ascertain which ones. Curator, is there anything else you can tell me about these maps and the ruins that are here? Perhaps which ones had teams go to them but ultimately failed? Also the location of any similar ruins which were successfully investigated."

That damned grin was back. "You need to grow a thicker skin, Lomite.

I'm not particularly religious, but most on this university are believers, and will invoke God as they like.

I don't care what you believe, but you will tolerate prayer from others while you are on university property, or you will be asked to leave."

The curator took another deep breath and returned to his placid condition. His eyes looked down at the dust and chalk marks. Students had literally been torn apart here.

"As to your question, there WERE ruins excavated fairly recently. Occasionally, a team of adventurers manage to sneak into one or the Falchetto acquire some when they capture a tribe. I'll look up what we know on the most recent ones.

We have a few books on the subject, everything from inflated biographies of treasure hunters to accounting and burial records. Visso stopped sending archeological teams to Howler territory before the Collegium was even built, but I think we have some early records. I will have an archivist and librarian prepare the relevant materials for you."