Current Adventure

## Opening Crawl

It’s been three months full of political turmoil. The sudden and seemingly violent overturn of power in the Underdark has been matched only by the increasingly erratic weather patterns, freezing over crops mid-germination and accompanied by devastating winds. Combined with the resettling of child mages, a massive investigation of the government school system as a whole, and increasing tensions between the Queen, her advisors, and her spymaster, it seemed like little else could go wrong, until Serendipity has noticed in her studies (though not yet informed the public) that magic seems to be stuttering, especially divine magic. It’s almost like a buffering effect, and it’s minor and spread out for now, but it seems an ill omen of what’s to come. There’s also whisperings of a blight-turned plague spreading from the North, believed by some to be a bioweapon that escaped containment. It’s only through the constant work of Dr. Lovejoy, her assistant Ena, and the collective efforts of the circus as couriers of information that the illness seems to be contained, and a rudimentary vaccine is being rolled out as we speak.

In this last month, you have rarely had time to breathe. Between political emmisaries, Godly meetings (including involving Kravitz and the investigation of the Nokia), expeditions to distant temples, attempts to bless various towns, relief efforts, and carrying samples and cures from North to South, you have run yourselves ragged. Though you sometimes travel with your friends, you often travel alone, extending the reach of the Queen’s most capable as far as possible. The nights you sleep are short, blocked in by the sheer amount of work to be done, the people who need you. In those nights, some are beset with nonstop violent apocalyptic dreams from which you can gain no pattern except terror. For others, including Marjorie, your dreams have been completely silent.

There is, however, as there always is, some good news from these months. The as-yet still officially uncrowned Percy the Potent, though a figure none have officially met yet, seems a levelheaded ruler. The ceasefire has held and been expanded, with some fronts fully abandoned by both sides. The only front of active troops is by Last Rest, and they have been ordered to stand down. The Underdark and the Empire have collaborated in other ways as well, sharing information and relief resources as generously as they can through natural disaster. The religious communities, so often divided, have begun to come together as a collective spiritual front for humanitarian efforts. A robust welfare system has come into place, ostensibly for the state of emergency but with the ability to be extended indefinitely. Peregrine Lartext’s power has been greatly reduced due to his involvement in the Academies. The children of the palace – Imogene, Ena, Bo, Elashor, and to a lesser extent Thalia, have become thick as thieves and close as cousins. Enizadicello Voltaire has become a model reformist, and has made no trouble at all. Diane has retired from the court, where she found herself increasingly blocked out, to lead Pittsboalsburg as Dr. Lancet has officially resigned. And finally, you are all back in town to celebrate three momentous occasions: the festival of Hiraeth, the Queen-in-Waiting Imogene’s birthday, and the Queen-Conservator’s natal blessing.