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The study group was tomorrow. Ulos thought about this for a moment.

"Let's invite Henrietta."

Ulos's tutoring session for the two ended, and they went back to bed.

It was at breakfast when Madavian looked around, somewhat worried.

"She's not here. That's... odd."

They went throughout the day, and Ulos left Madavian to go practice his meditation.

(Henrietta Roll - 1 vs DC 10 (DC low due to high Magical Theory skill!) - Critical failure! Bad things happen!)

Ulos was busy reading the Six Hundred Meditations - fairly boring, mostly breathing exercises, and visualization exercises to better see his Magic Pool. He sat for an hour, trying to visualize his connection to the Primordial Ether as a stream rushing down a mountain, breathing in and out.

(Arcane Meditation Training Roll = 1x5 (Willpower) = 5. Current rank is +1 Arcane Meditation (0/5).)

He felt as though he'd learned a little, but didn't feel anything particularly interesting or useful. Ah, well. Not every day would be productive.

It was later on that he decided on going to the study group that Madavian caught up with him.

Huffing and puffing, the other boy looked really worried.

"Ulos! Ulos!"

Ulos looked over.

"What is it?"

"Henrietta. She's..."

Madavian drew breath.

"She's... suspended."

"Suspended?"

"Something about academic misconduct. No Library access for one weeks, no lessons for the week. It's pretty bad, they think she was cheating."

"Was she?"

"I.. don't see how Henry would've cheated. She's so prim and proper. I mean, it's possible, but on a meaningless test this early into the year? It doesn't make any sense."

Ulos's mind whirled.

"Tell me, Madavian. Is Henrietta close enough to you to be worth targeting for Thomas?"

Madavian thought for a second, and cursed under his breath.

"Minor member of a Family allied to me? Not super popular? Yeah, it makes sense. Hit the weak targets your enemies rely on for general support, and hit them just hard enough that they feel like you can't protect them. Don't anger them too much, because then they'll hunker down with their allies, but make it clear you could've hit harder, and they'll abandon their alliances. That's what father would tell me to do in this sort of a situation."

"Could he have done it?"

Madavian looked down.

"You weren't there this week in class, and in testing. Abraham and I are pretty close with our tests, make sure nobody sees them, touches them, so on and so forth. I don't bother to guard Henry, because she's got her own group of friends, though friends might be a strong word. She's sort of the middle part of her Family - important enough to send, but not so important that hitting her is an open declaration of war."

Ulos found his face morphing into a snarl.

"Damnit! I feel like we're always behind whatever he's doing. Getting someone suspended?"

"Sure, but we were going to do that to him, so..."

Ulos shrugged.

"Alright. We've got to do something about this."

Madavian's eyebrows went up.

"We just lost this round, Ulos. Politics isn't played tit for tat. You take advantages where you see them and defend disadvantages where you can. What would you do to stop this?"

Suddenly, Madavian looked interested.

"We hit them back. Hard. Get in there, use the itching powder we brought, destroy-"

"Which is exactly what they'd expect. Accumulate proof and see if they can get a teacher to catch you. Provoke attacks from your enemy when your enemy is unable to attack cohesively. This is basic, Ulos. No, we need to plan if we're going to hit back. Or look at getting Henry back onside. I'm not losing my father a useful alliance right now."

Unlocked Action - [ ] Assist Henrietta - Henrietta is forbidden to go to class or the Library at the moment, but you can do some of those things for her. Take your subject material in shared classes to her, and borrow books on her behalf (using her Library Chits). Taking this Action will mitigate the diplomatic effects of Henrietta's suspension to you, allowing her to join your Study Group. Due to trying to take extra notes, gain extra class materials, etc, this Action will inflict a -1 penalty on all in-class Training Rolls for the week.

The Study Group afterwards was fairly boring, a little magical theory that Ulos felt he was far ahead on anyway, though he managed to sketch out a few useful symbols that were related to the runic theory he had studied earlier. History felt stultifying and tedious, and his interest felt as though it had be waning for some time over the past few weeks.

(Training Roll: 4x4 = 16. Gained +1 Magical Theory. Current +17 Lore: Magical Theory (7/25 next level).

(Training Roll: 2x4 = 8. Gained +0 Lore: History. Current +10 Lore: History (17/20 next level))

Besides, the concern he had was not for the various bits and pieces of magic he'd learned, but rather for the enemy who had managed to outmaneuver him and Madavian - if this continued, they could be in a great deal of trouble.

---

You presently have 3 Willpower. 2 Willpower is locked behind your new Locked Action, Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. This pool will not regenerate this turn, and must last for this turn and the next.

Ulos will take 4 Actions, but one of these is locked in as Tutoring Session: Magical Theory. You cannot unlock this without abandoning the Tutoring Sessions entirely. As such, only 3 Actions will be taken from this list.

Temporary/One-Off Actions:

[ ] Appraise your Artifact - Sure, you can't do it, but you can find someone who can. Knowing what that Artifact does might be key to either keeping it or selling it for a good sum. Roll Cha vs DC (Moderate). Success offers information about Artifact. Failure offers no information. Critical failure offers completely false information. Roll will be hidden. Action is removed once either a success is rolled
or a critical failure is rolled.

[ ] Assist Henrietta - Henrietta is forbidden to go to class or the Library at the moment, but you can do some of those things for her. Take your subject material in shared classes to her, and borrow books on her behalf (using her Library Chits). Taking this Action will mitigate the diplomatic effects of Henrietta's suspension to you, allowing her to join your Study Group. Due to trying to take extra notes, gain extra class materials, etc, this Action will inflict a -1 penalty on all in-class Training Rolls for the week. If not taken this week, Henrietta will refuse to join your Study Group or become friends with you.

Offensive/Defensive Actions:

[ ] Scout out your Rivals - Pretty standard. Go spy on your enemies. Roll vs your Rival's roll to avoid being scouted. If you beat their Roll, gain +20 on all Actions against them (defensive or offensive) for the remainder of the week.

[ ] Launch an Assault! - You have Itching Powder now, you can do something terrible (ly amusing)! Make your enemies itch in class to humiliate them, douse their clothes in it to force them to miss valuable learning sessions, or even convince onlookers they have some sort of disease. Roll vs your Rival's roll to succeed. A regular success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action. A major success will cause an automatic failure on their next Action and their classes for that day. A critical success will cause both these effects and cause them to be humiliated, reducing all Relationships with anyone who observes this humilation by one step.

Training Actions:

[ ] Start Studying (Write-In Subject) - You have your textbooks. Next step is reading through them. Sort of nerdy, but hey, aren't you here to learn? Gain a Training Roll associated with the subject you choose. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain 2 Training Rolls. -1 to all Training Rolls of this sort due current roommate penalty.

[ ] Relentlessly Practice Magical Combat - Use some of your little magic to practice your Spellweaving. Abraham will help you, using his progidious Magic Pool to help you deal with, avoid, and retreat from spells. Gain a Training Roll on the lower of Combat: Evasion and Combat: Retreat, as well as a Training Roll vs Channeling. This will help Abraham practice his own Magical Combat. Willpower Upgrade offers a second Training Roll for the applicable Combat Skill. Shooting at you with fireballs is not easy for Abraham, who will spend 1 Willpower undertaking this Action.

[ ] Study Group - The Study Group needs to get going if you're going to dominate your subjects. Get your books, get your bag, and head on over to the Library to get the librarians to let you into a study room. Gain a Training Roll for Lore: History or Lore: Theory of Magic (50% chance each). Possibly gain a step in relationship with Abraham (20+30=50% chance). Cannot be taken while Trait: Banned Doppelganger is active. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a Training Roll in both subjects. Can only be taken twice per Week max.

[ ] Practice Spell (Write-In From Spellbook) - Time to practice a spell. Get better, cast faster, cast cheaper. Roll against DC (??? depends on Spell). Takes ??? Magic Pool, where ??? is equal to a Spell's cost times 5. Character gains an additional Training roll if they still have more mana after practicing. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain an additional two Training Rolls if you have enough mana for it.

[ ] Tutoring (Lore: Runes) - That horribly expensive Tutoring you paid for. Each Action provides 3 (!) Training Rolls to your Lore: Runes. No Willpower expenditure possible or required. Can only be taken two more times.


Diplomacy and Discovery Actions:

[ ] Hang Out With A Friend (Write-in Friend) - It's good to spend time with people you know. Maybe take a break, and hang with one of your friends. Available options include Madavian Junotrin and Abraham Quincey. Increase Relationship by one step. Roll against DC (Variable, depending on friendship level). On success, increase Relationship by another step.

[ ] Madavian's Speed Dating Agency - With Madavian here to help you, you'll have an easier time of meeting new people. Gain two Diplomacy Rolls. Madavian's presence also offers one reroll, mitigating any unpleasant social consequences (reroll will be taken after both rolls, reroll will prioritize Critical Failures over regular Failures). Willpower upgrade - Spend 1 point to gain a third Diplomacy Roll.

[ ] Go Exploring - It's a big campus, and you haven't seen the half of it. Who knows what you could find? Roll 1D100 vs ???. Success offers ???, failure offers ???. Willpower upgrade - spend 1 point to gain a second roll. Spend 2 points to gain a third roll.

[ ] Study your Magic Pool - You need to learn to meditate, focus, and understand what is happening in the Ether, and in yourself when you draw from it. Gaining such inner understanding may shed light on your Curse's functionality. Gain a Training Roll for Skill: Meditation versus Willpower.

[ ] Suck Up To Inukar - Figure out what they like. Do the research. Then suck up. Not hard in theory. Roll against DC 40 (depends on teacher) vs Cha and Lore: Magical Theory. Success increases teacher's Relationship by one step and future DC of this Action sharply. Locked for all teachers who are not Inukar (insufficient Relationship).

Crafting, Gathering & Shopping Actions:

[ ] Gather Mushrooms - Unlocked by your knowledge of the Secret Mushroom Colony. Self-explanatory. Roll against DC ??? using either Lore: Alchemy or Lore: Magical Plants. On success, gain ???.

[ ] Go to the Marketplace - You have money to spend and items to sell. You need to spend some time gearing up, finding tutors, spells, artifacts, items, and more. Activates Shopping Mini-Turn with more Actions within it (including "Find a Buyer" for your items), allowing the buying and selling of items and services.

[ ] Search for Ingredients - You don't know about a whole lot of Alchemical Ingredients, but you can go looking. Even if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, you can scout out good places. Roll against DC ???. On success, find Ingredients. On critical success find a Location with Ingredients.

[ ] Map out the Dorms - Knowing who is where, asking your friends about who has which room and how to get to places quickly. Sort of creepy, but also might come in handy. No skill gains. Roll against DC 65, on success gain Item: Map of Dorms (Unfinished). +10 bonus to pranks and similar actions taken within the Dorms.

[ ] Family Money - Madavian would be happy to send away for money on your behalf (or spend some of his money on you and then replenish it later). However, he'd need a good reason to do so. Reason must be written in if no reason has come up in the thread. No Skill gains. Madavian rolls Cha vs DC (Variable) to gain a Variable number of Coins.

Locked Actions:


[ ] Craft Alchemical Recipe (Write-In) - Time to get your Alchemy on! Get in there and make something useful! Roll against DC ??? (depends on Recipe). Success adds Recipe to Inventory. Locked. Requires at least 1 rank in Craft: Alchemy. Requires access to Alchemical Equipment.

[ ] Craft Rune (Write-In) - Time to create the greatest Rune ever! Well, maybe a normal Rune. But a useful one! Locked. Requires knowledge of at least 1 Rune. Requires access to the Materials needed to engrave the Rune.

Old Vorstal, as it is known, was a city built by the pride of man. Well, the pride of man who had become more than man, and less than man. The pride of the Undying.

Old Vorstal was not as new Vorstal today. It was a city of defenses within great manses, each owned by one of the Undying, and great ziggurats and halls of treasures owned by the Emperor himself. Where other cities overflowed with the flits that made up the vast majority of the Empire, Old Vorstal saw few enough of them - the Undying Clans took up residence there to be closer to the halls of power, though the greatest of the Undying rarely came there, knowing their enemies at court might take advantage and seek to kill them.

As such, each manse was a defensible position of the highest order, and the personal possessions of the Emperor were even moreso. Defended caches of artifacts, massive books of runic knowledge, hoarded piles of gold - all these and more found their place in Old Vorstal.

When the Saint sunk the city, the treasures of the city went beneath the waves. However, these were no mere defenses of an amateur's laboratory. These were the defenses thought up by the greatest of the Undying, defenses that were designed to flense the skin off anyone bold enough to enter while living, and shatter the bones of any foolish enough to enter while unliving.

Most of them are still intact today. While many caches have been recovered, the mortality rate in recovering these ancient artifacts is quite high, and the defenses themselves are well worth investigating. The runic defense systems are unlike any existing today, the Emperor having been the greatest runesmith in all history by quite a considerable margin. Even a copy of a deactivated system is worth thousands of numismata, and uncovering an entire new cache would be worth enough for most to buy their own small town - uncovering one of the greater caches (of which none have been recovered as of yet) might raise one to the status of a new Family within Vorstal.

Expeditions to the Ruins are quite common, as some defenses do weaken and falter over time - these are monitored, and treasure hunters will descend upon any place that looks weak enough to be entered as soon as they can. As such, the contests over even the least of the caches can be quite violent, and often deadly.

Indeed, even if a team of hunters breaks into somewhere previously thought well-defended, they will see their find contested rather quickly, as the Ruins are seen as a free-for-all, though all finds must then be examined by the Council of Five, who generally levy a significant portion of the knowledge or artifacts recovered as a tax. In Vorstal, those artifacts and knowledge are not legally the property of the finders until that tax is paid (this particular law is why murder and violence are so common in the Ruins), and any team unwise enough to try and keep an entire find for themselves would generally be assassinated quickly.

Expeditions to existing excavated manses and ziggurats are less dangerous - those registering as researchers are not permitted to bring anything back to the surface, whether it be copies of information or items, as if they do such items are confiscated. Treasure hunters tend to ignore the researchers, as the life of a treasure hunter is dangerous enough already.

Most treasure hunting teams tend to consist of three to four people. A combat mage, who can cast several powerful combat spells quickly. A utility mage, capable of maintaining air bubbles or liquid conversion shields for the group, as well as casting a variety of scrying and anti-scrying spells, as well as a great number of water mobility spells. Lastly, a runic specialist, there specifically to examine the runic traps and defenses facing the team.

Most teams tend to have two combat or utility mages, seeking to either expand their combat ability or mobility in order to quickly escape once goods are found, or defeat enemies and take their finds. Larger excavation teams are rare, simply because the violence and risk of the Deep-Sea Ruins does not attract many mages. Only those who are most given to both violence and greed find themselves taking immense risks with their lives and the lives of others for equally immense reward in coin and power.