Episode 193 - Secrets at Sundown

## Synopsis

Mira sat in her room, cleaning her prosthetic, when she heard a knock at her door. She reattached her arm, stepped over the body of Angelika Lindeman, and opened to door to see Delnys Raethran standing outside and holding a steel box. She showed little emotion, and asked to come in. When she saw Angelika lying on the floor she asked,

*"Is she dead?"*

*"I don't think so, I tried to speak to her, I think the next step is to use the potion. She said something, but she didn't sound like herself. Something happened but I think she's alive. Um... How are you doing Delnys?"*

*"I'm... I'm really fine. I can't really stay and talk—"*

*"Oh sorry, yes."*

*"—There's a thing tonight, so I'll just uh"—*Delnys gave Mira the box she was holding—*"These are the potions, there's all ten of them that we made back in Autumn, all ready to use.*

Mira took the box. *"Thank you, we'll take them when—y'know—everyone's together and ready, and we'll do the astral projection, and it'll be good. Are you good, do you have something tonight? Is it like an alone thing or...?"*

*"It's just a meeting, just a quick meeting. Do you still need my help with watching over when you take the potions? I know that's something we talked about but I don't know if that's something you still wanted?"*

*"Um, I would really appreciate it, but if it's not— I mean I'm sure I can find— If you... Yes, yes I do. I would really appreciate that, Delnys."*

Delnys looked at Mira, and the poker face she had been holding broke into a large smile. *"Yeah, I'll be free to help if you still want my help."*

*"I do, I do! Thank you. I hope your thing goes ok tonight."*

Delnys started to sound a little flustered. *"Yeah, I mean it's just a normal meeting, I don't see why it could go bad whatsoever. But I do really need to get out of here, there's just some prep work I need to do beforehand. It was nice talking to you today, and not fighting or anything."*

*"Yeah, um..."* Mira considered asking about what Elrich had said in their lesson, but decided not to. *"Yeah, I'll see you later?"*

*"Yeah I can stop by afterwards, sure."*

Delnys hesitated for a moment, then hurried out of the room. When she opened the door, a girl with long dark hair, dressed in black clothes, fell into the room. Delnys jumped back as Lucia stood up and stumbled over her words, trying to think of an explanation.

Mira asked, *"Ah Lucia, what are you doing in my—"*

*"Ok sorry, sorry, sorry. This looks so bad, I just needed to hear like 'Is Mira in there right now?' because the windows were closed and—"*

*"Were you just eavesdropping, what?"*

Lucia stuttered for a moment before telling Mira she needed to close the door. Delnys quickly left, and Mira checked there was no one else around before locking the door.

*"Ok, is this about—"*

Lucia cut her off. *"Ok, so Integrity came and got me and was like 'Oh we're gonna make a power grab' or something, and told me about the event planning committee. We got separated, I grabbed a guy from like Bailey Blue's room, but his name's not Bailey Blue, and I brought him to the Dining Hall, and like two seconds after we sat down, I was trying so hard to pull him in—and I don't know if it's just a reflection of who I am as a person—but he like got up and sprinted away. So I'm pretty sure Integrity's caught, on is on the chase, or something. So I was like, who's on the event planning committee, I ran over to the Archives to see who was on it last year, and I saw Mira Marchand on it and was like 'Oh that's Integrity's best friend', so I came and found your room, and I needed to know if you were here because I didn't want to make a big hubbub about finding you and telling other people, because I know you're the one who wanted us to break into Bailey's room and trying to usurp him."*

As Lucia paused to catch her breath, Mira muttered, *"Ah, I was really trying to be sneaky about that. Ok, so is Integrity in trouble, is that what's going on?"*

*"Yes, I think Integrity's in really bad trouble. This guy like, sprinted out of there, yelling."*

*"Wait, who was it?"*

*"Just some guy, named like Jakov."*

Mira reassured Lucia that everything would be ok, and thanked her for telling her all of this. Lucia agreed not to tell anyone else what she was doing, but reminded Mira of Integrity's promise to join the SWIM team. Mira said they would of course join the team, and began using *Locate Creature* to find Integrity. When she found where she needed to go, she thanked Lucia and attempted to leave her behind. Before she could leave however, Lucia went over to Angelika and asked in shock if Mira had killed her. Mira quickly denied this, saying she was just looking after her while she was sick. Lucia seemed uncomfortable with this, but agreed to keep it a secret as well. Mira put on a darker jacket, and left to search for Integrity.

Serinepth met up with Winsler in the Dining Hall, and together they headed to the Chapel for the meeting. When they arrived, the large double-doors swung open on their own, letting the students in. They found themselves in a long hallway, opposite them was another set of large double-doors, made of gold, and covered in symbols of the gods. In the centre of the hall was a plinth made of dark stone, behind which stood a robed figure. Two more robes of gold, black, and silver fabric lay on top of the plinth. The students approached the plinth, and Winsler saw that under the deep hood of the robed figure, was Professor Doss. Her face looked serious, as she asked them,

*"Who comes before me to profess their ignorance in the face of the arcane?"*

Winsler whispered, *"Hi Professor Doss, it's me, Winsler. Down here!"*

She let out a small laugh, before asking the question again. The students said their names. Professor Doss told them to approach, and put on the robes, which changed size to fit them perfectly. They saw divine runes stitched into the robes in a golden thread, and arcane runes stitched in silver. Doss asked if they were prepared, and then told them to follow her. She walked through the golden doors into a large worship chamber. Close to thirty other people were gathered in the room, surrounding an altar covered in bones.

Integrity skulked around the Chapel, seeing a half-orc outside keeping watch over who approached it. She looked towards the open roof of the building, realising that would be her best way to get in unnoticed. She went into the nearby Enchantment building, and began climbing to the roof. As she looked towards the Chapel, she saw Mira standing outside, looking directly at her. Mira *Messaged* Integrity, asking what she was doing. Integrity told her that she had found out about a secret meeting in the Chapel, so she was trying to get in undetected. Mira asked if she could come along, and after a confirmation from Integrity, she went up to the half-orc. Under the pretence of just being on a walk, Mira asked if they were ok, and what they were doing waiting outside the Chapel. The half-orc seemed worried, and told her that they had been told not to let anyone in. Mira cast *Suggestion*, telling them to let her and Integrity in without alerting anyone to their presence. He agreed, and Mira signalled Integrity to join her.

Integrity climbed down the wall and ran over to Mira. She asked if they needed to tie up the guard, however Mira convinced her they wouldn't interfere. As Integrity had visited the Chapel before, she explained the rough layout of the building to Mira, and the pair tried to sneak in through the large front doors. Integrity saw the large golden doors down the hall were open, Mira's footsteps echoed on the tiled floor, and the occupants of the Chapel turned to see the intruders. Mira started to disguise herself as Elrich Raethran, as Integrity grabbed her arm and pulled her into the shadows, just barely hiding them in time.

Serinepth and Winsler looked around the semicircle of robed figures, surrounding the skeleton atop the altar. Professor Doss — facing them from behind the altar — began to speak, when they heard the sound of footsteps behind them. Immediately, everyone turned to look at the entryway, but saw nothing. One of the other attendants ran over to the doors and quickly shut them.

Professor Doss continued, *"Initiates, you stand before our founder, renowned for pursuing the true secrets of magic. Speak aloud, for our gathered throng, a mystery of magic, you vow to personally answer before your end."*

The assembled students went silent. Winsler thought for a moment before saying, *"I, Winsler Wallaby, divulge this magical secret, to those present. Magic is able to be gauged through equivalence of cows."*

The crowd giggled before Doss spoke again. *"To clarify, you vow to have cow equivalence instated as a universal unit of magic. That is a personal vow you are taking on?"*

*"Correct."*

Doss nodded.

Outside in the hallway, Mira and Integrity exchanged a glance as they recognised their friend's voice. Moments later, they heard footsteps approaching from behind them. Mira pulled out her Mute Flute, casting *Silence*, as she and Integrity covered their faces. Walking towards them, they saw a tiefling with red skin, wearing the same black, gold, and silver robes as the other attendees. Mira glared at them, casting *Hold Person* and locking them in place. Integrity dashed out and brought them over to where she and Mira were hiding, before she began tying them up. Looking under the hood, she didn't recognise the person under the hood.

Back in the chamber, Serinepth thought about what she wanted to vow. In the end she vowed, *"I, Serinepth Sinderman, vow to understand, empower, and enhance the limits that we have been given with magic."*

She heard mutters of approval, and Professor Doss nodded her head before leaning against the skull on the altar, and whispering something to it. She then told Serinepth and Winsler that they needed to repeat their vow to the skull as well. Winsler walked up without hesitation and placed his head against the skull. In his head, he heard a voice say, *"Speak to me. Tell me your vow."*

Winsler whispered his vow again, and after a pause, heard the response, *"I look forward to seeing the utility of such a thing."*

Winsler moved back, and Serinepth knelt down next to the skull to repeat her vow. In her head, the voice said, *"I started this society for a very similar goal. I look forward to seeing your success."*

When Serinepth took her place in the circle, the other students clapped, and splashed them with buckets of freezing cold water. Professor Doss pulled back her hood and went to shake their hands. Around them, the other robed individuals also pulled back their hoods. They saw various independent researchers, Ainsley, Delnys, and many other students and faculty that all welcomed them into the society.

Meanwhile in the entryway, Integrity shoved a makeshift gag into the tiefling's mouth, and as the *Hold Person* faded, they moved him behind one of the doors to the side of the hallway. Mira dropped her *Silence* spell so they could hear what was going on behind the golden doors.

Professor Doss stood with Serinepth and Winsler, congratulating them, and welcomed them into the Henrietta Hendrick's Society for Excellence. Winsler apologised for his lacklustre vow, though Doss assured him that it was more of a formality. She explained that the meeting that night was only an induction and that they were free to talk with the other members, then walked away to do exactly that. Listening from outside, Mira and Integrity heard the clapping subside into general conversation. Mira peeked through the door, her eyes finding a relaxed and happy looking Delnys. Integrity scanned the crowd, committing their faces to memory, but didn't see Bailey anywhere in the room. They discussed how they could infiltrate the party, settling on Integrity pretending to be the tiefling they had captured, while Mira would be a gold-crystal golem. They then walked into the secret meeting in the heart of the Chapel.