Players

• Rafiq: Game Master
• Haikal: Zel'eon Talos, Human Enhanced Artificer 4
• Buzz: Senzorin Talos, Half-Elf Arcane Trickster Rogue 4
• Toph: Arche Kagekiyo, High Elf Twilight Cleric 4
• Dom: Saziver Copper-Fern, Gnome Empath Psion 4

Session Recap

Reconvening at the House

On Udis, the first day of the weekend, the sun hung low in the sky on the 27th of Mistfall, 1892, casting golden rays across the city of Ilrinia. Zel'eon and Senzorin returned to their home after their heist at the Platinum Tower. Senzorin, unable to contain his exhaustion any longer, collapsed onto the couch, the upholstery sinking beneath him.

Moments later, the front door swung open, and Arche stepped inside, her face revealing just how draining her evening had been. She had recently returned from a date with Jack, a student from Miskatonic University, and it was evident that the outing had not gone as she had hoped. Without a second thought, she sank down beside Senzorin on the couch, who shifted slightly but offered her no words of comfort.

From upstairs, the sounds of studying drifted down the hallway as Saziver remained deep into his exam preparations. Zel’eon called for him and moments later, Saziver appeared at the top of the staircase, his eyes wide from the countless energy drinks he had consumed today. He slowly walked down the stairs, joining the rest in the living room.

As Arche recounted her evening with Jack, a realization dawned on her friends. She kept calling him "just a friend," revealing that she hadn’t fully grasped that it was indeed a date. The atmosphere shifted as playful teasing erupted, heating Arche's cheeks with embarrassment in response to their reactions.

Zel'eon and Senzorin talked about what they had been up to, describing the events of their heist. As they spoke, Saziver’s expression grew anxious at the recklessness of their actions. The two young men also told the rest of the team about their most recent sparring session, where, surprisingly, they had discovered they had some latent magical abilities.

Curiosity piqued, Saziver demanded a demonstration. Senzorin obliged, pulling out his revolver and showing it was unloaded by popping out its bullet cylinder. As he concentrated, lines of runic energy began to swirl around the barrel, coalescing into a flickering bolt of elemental fire at the tip. It shot forth from the weapon, illuminating the room in flickering light, much to the astonishment of Arche and Saziver.

They were previously aware of his limited telekinesis and telepathy which seemed incongruent with his new ability. Saziver’s mind, still in study mode, suggested the revolver might be enchanted or some kind of magitech. Senzorin simply shrugged, stating, “I just shoot the damn thing.” Arche chimed in, noting that Senzorin would save a fortune on bullets, before asking about the origins of the weapon. He explained that it had been a gift from his mentor, Einrow, just before his death as a result of stealing the revolver.

At this point, Zel’eon proposed they set to work replacing the engine of their vintage Talos Sovereign with the one they had liberated from Victor Ralston’s vehicle. Saziver eagerly accepted, exclaiming that he was the perfect height to pass him tools.

Entering the garage, they surveyed their two vehicles: the dilapidated Talos Sovereign, a remnant of their hurried escape from Mosskach, and Senzorin's pride, his chopper previously owned by Einrow. Zel'eon set to work on the engine while Saziver assisted, and Arche invoked a spell of guidance to bolster their efforts. At last, the engine roared to life, probably for the first time in decades.

The four of them piled into the newly restored Talos, while Senzorin took to his motorcycle. Setting out for an early dinner, they emerged onto the suburban streets of Arbalest, where the neighbourhood's families milled about, enjoying the weekend.

As they sped down the road, Senzorin spotted Ellipses in his garden and couldn’t resist shouting, “Where's my plants?” before they rode off. Senzorin suggested dining at the Iron Horse Tavern, but Arche playfully threatened to cast Purify Food and Drink on his beers, rendering them non-alcoholic. Senzorin’s retort came swiftly: “I’ll beat your motherfucking ass under the table.” In the end, they settled on Tom’s Diner in Greenwich.

Tom's Diner

The group soon pulled into a quaint cul-de-sac where a classic diner stood out, its vibrant red and white decor gleaming with a simple sign that read: Tom’s Diner.

Settling into a booth, the aroma of fried chicken and waffles enveloped the group. They ordered their meals from the sleek touchscreens embedded within the table, but were interrupted as Senzorin’s gaze landed on a familiar sight across the diner. There sat Jonathan Ralston, a boy Senzorin was dating, and Jack—Arche’s unremarkable "date"—with two other Miskatonic University students.

Jonathan’s laughter filled the air, each chuckle laced with confidence, his long black hair cascading over his sharp, preppy features as he joked with his companions. In stark contrast, Jack sat uneasily, an average-looking figure overshadowed by Jonathan's charisma, seemingly lost in thoughts of their earlier encounter with Arche. With them were two half-elf women: a blonde with emerald green eyes who spoke animatedly with Jonathan, and a black-haired girl with East Asian features who observed quietly.

“Isn’t that your friend?” Senzorin teased, a sly grin breaking across his face as he looked at Arche. At the same moment, Saziver began to notice an odd expression on Arche’s face—one that suggested she was not entirely forthcoming about her date with Jack.

In a bid to reclaim some dignity amidst the teasing, she said, “Well, he did drop an ‘I love you’ during our outing.” As her words hung in the air, incredulity washed over her friends, their expressions morphing into a mixture of surprise and humor. “Who does that?” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Just then, Senzorin saw the group glancing over in their direction. “Jonathan looks kind of good, though...” making Arche shoot daggers at him. Saziver, who had turned his attention to the other table, caught the blonde half-elf leaning in close to Jack. “Isn’t that the girl who kept calling you a friend?” she whispered. Amused, Saziver stifled a giggle as he continued to read their lips.

Jack, embarrassed, began recounting the outing to Jonathan and their friends. “I brought her to this fancy place,” he said, a hint of despair creeping into his voice, “but she just kept saying it was the best friend outing ever.”

Suddenly, Arche turned to catch sight of Jack and his friends staring at them. A rush of unfathomable embarrassment coursed through her, and in a desperate attempt to escape, she cast a spell to teleport out to the Talos, parked just outside the diner. The rest of her friends glanced out the window in confusion, quickly spotting Arche, now awkwardly crunched in the backseat, her cheeks flushed.

At this, Zel’eon and Senzorin got up to approach Jack and his companions. Saziver's eyes widened in alarm, but the pair paid no mind to him. Senzorin made a beeline for Jonathan calling out to him, “Hey, John,”. Jonathan’s face brightened, as the half-elf girls giggled at their interaction, clearly aware of the pair's recent history.

Jack was trying his best to sink into the cushions of the booth, but Zel’eon leaned around Jonathan and greeted him. He introduced himself to the group, getting the names of Jack's friends: Gemma, the blonde, and K'Lai, the dark-haired girl.

Before long, Zel’eon casually mentioned the date with Arche, prompting the color to drain from Jack's face. Jack grew more and more uncomfortable as Zel'eon and Senzorin began telling him he dodged a bullet with Arche, describing their friend as weird and schizophrenic.

Redirecting the conversation, Jonathan turned to Senzorin, inviting him out for drinks with his group later that evening. Not wanting to commit to any plans, Senzorin deflected the invitation, promising he would send a text later.

After the brief exchange, Zel’eon, Saziver, and Senzorin wandered back out to the car where Arche awaited. “You better stay away from boys from now on,” Senzorin teased her. “You’re not just a heartbreaker; you’re a soulbreaker!”

Amidst the ribbing, Zel’eon received a text from Dalen Blackwell regarding a meeting to discuss his newfound magical ability as an artificer. Though Dalen was a bit older—roughly in his mid-thirties—his messaging contained contemporary Gen Z slang that sent a wave of amusement through the group.

As they pulled away from the diner under the soft glow of the fading sun, they decided to head to Arbalest Academy for some sparring before returning home.

Zel'eon and Arche Spar

As the evening sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the field behind Arbalest Academy in hues of orange and purple, the group arrived for Zel'eon and Arche's spar. Senzorin and Saziver set up lawn chairs as Zel'eon and Arche prepared for combat.

Arche stood ready, her black mask and form-fitting mithril bodysuit glimmering eerily beneath the emerging moonlight. Zel'eon dressed simply in a white shirt and black pants, forgoing his usual jacket.

With a sudden burst of energy, Zel'eon extended his wings wide, the metal glinting in the moonlight just before he lunged forward, arm blade slashing across Arche’s chest, leaving a sheet of frost spreading out from the rent in her clothing. Arche sprang back, her left hand raised as a spear of pure moonlight coalesced within her grip, radiating a soft, ethereal glow.

Saziver leaned forward in his chair, eyes alight with excitement, while Senzorin's attention was focused on a lone janitor who had paused his cleaning duties to watch the fight.

Arche lunged forward, attacking Zel'eon twice—first with her sword and then with the conjured spear. The clang of metal against steel echoed as Zel'eon was pushed back, but he quickly regained his footing, extending his right wing to stabilize himself. He retaliated with a sweeping strike, his arm blade trailing wisps of ice through the air.

Arche wasn’t deterred. This time, she pierced forward with her spear, the tip aimed directly at Zel’eon’s chest. The weapon struck true, driving into him. He grunted in pain but did not retreat; instead, he gripped the spear’s haft, pulling himself closer while extending his free hand toward her.

With a crackle of blue electricity, Zel'eon touched Arche's armored plating, causing arcs of energy to leap from him to her. The jolting current forced her to recoil with a gasp. Dropping her sword, she clenched her fist, gathering white moonlight within it.

Stepping forward, she struck Zel'eon squarely in the face, the force of her punch lifting him clean off the ground. He flew backward, landing heavily.

Shock washed over Arche as she realized the impact of her blow. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, what the fuck?” she exclaimed, rushing to his side.

“That was sick as fuck!” Saziver cackled, filling the air with his exuberant cheer from the sidelines.

Quickly, Arche knelt beside Zel'eon, her hands hovering over him as she began to invoke her healing magic. The air glimmered as she channeled her energy, urging him back to consciousness.

As they brought Zel'eon to the infirmary, the group made use of one of the EchoTech MediPods—a magitech device with the ability to diagnose and heal injuries almost instantaneously. Arche’s apologies kept coming as Senzorin chuckled, “Don’t be sorry; he did this to me last week.”

While the machine pulsed with healing energy, Zel'eon gazed out the window, watching the janitor cleaning away the remnants of their spirited sparring match. Thoughts whirled in his mind as he analyzed the battle, questioning where he had faltered. He recognized that some foes, like Arche, would boast formidable physical defenses, and he would need to diversify his combat skills to counter such challenges in the future.

At that moment, Senzorin's phone chimed, breaking his concentration. He glanced at the screen and saw it was a call from Jonathan. He considered the invitation to join them briefly before deciding, “I’ll go ahead.”

As the others began to head home, Senzorin mounted his chopper, heading towards Greenwich to join Jonathan and his friends once more.

Senzorin joins the Miskatonic University Students for Drinks

Heading back to Greenwich, Senzorin soon found himself within the cozy confines of a dimly lit bar, accompanied by Jonathan and the others: Jack, Gemma, and K'lai.

Jonathan stayed glued to Senzorin's side the entire night as Senzorin learned more about their respective studies. Jonathan detailed his newfound love of arbormancy, the study of magical botany—a field he had initially embraced to follow in his father's footsteps as an executive at Sylvan Corporation. Jack talked about studying combat magic as he explained his aspirations to become a spellsword, while Gemma described her relatively obscure field of arithmancy, a field of study that explored the relationship between mathematics and magic. K’lai, who studied divine magic at the university, talked about the rise of rates of Aasimar in Ilrinia—a trend she speculated was linked to the city's position on a convergence of leylines.

"The Council of Arcaneum established itself here centuries ago for precisely that reason," K’lai stated, explaining how this intersection of leylines made Ilrinia a crucible for powerful magic.

An odd sensation flickered within Senzorin's mind as he listened, nudging some dormant memory toward the surface. He recalled, though drunkenly, tales from his childhood hinting at the Council's founding being shrouded in a more sinister mystery—some incident long forgotten. A piece of knowledge that, like the fragmented memories of his life before he ran away to Mosskach, remained out of reach.

The waning night saw the group gradually dispersing, and eventually, Senzorin found himself departing with Jonathan, as they staggered towards the Platinum Tower.

Arriving at the Ralston penthouse, Senzorin hesitated momentarily at the threshold. His heart quickened as he caught sight of Jonathan’s father, Victor Ralston, reclined comfortably on the couch.

Victor turned to greet them, his expression welcoming as he remarked on Senzorin’s cowboy hat, which had settled askew atop his head. There was something about Victor’s face that caught Senzorin’s eye, an odd flicker of something concealed beneath the surface, but it was quickly overshadowed when Senzorin turned to Jonathan and saw the boy giving him strong bedroom eyes. Senzorin felt a smile spread across his face, and he didn’t resist as Jonathan beckoned him up to his room.

Downtime

Over the next two weeks, the group went through a period of relative calm, taking the opportunity to work on their own pursuits.

As discussed, Zel'eon met Dalen Blackwell at his office, learning more about what Artificers are able to do. Dalen highlighted potential pathways for improvement, fuelling Zel'eon's determination for more ways to improve himself.

Senzorin seized the opportunity to develop his relationship with Jonathan Ralston; he spent most of the nights together with Jonathan, either at his penthouse or in Senzorin's own room.

Arche spent some time at the National Library going through the free archival course, accompanied by the courses other attendants, who Arche found happened to be from all walks of life and all ages - a testament to the Ilrinian drive for self-improvement.

Saziver continued studying hard for his upcoming examinations, focusing on his chosen subject combination of engineering mathematics, business and finance, basic elvish, technomancy, and psionics, the last of which he spent a day each week training under the Arbalest Academy principal, John de Bolbec.

Turning her gaze to the sky every night, Arche wondered how she could spread word of Ruatis among the populace. Briefly considering printing out flyers to put up around the city, she had a flash of inspiration - if she could reconnect with her estranged father, the governor of Ilrinia, she could lean on his political power to spread the word of her god. With this in mind, she enlisted Saziver to help research her father, finding out that he was up for re-election soon, and planned to hold a rally on the 12th of Lunaris.

Zel'eon also decided to work on enhancing the newly restored Talos Sovereign, kitting it out with reupholstered leather seating and a seat warming system. He borrowed Saziver and the pair worked on an autopiloting navigation system, managing to install a tablet into the central console that could extend a cable that plugged into a port Zel'eon implanted on his body, to give him the ability to control the car without having to drive it manually. Though the autopilot function did not get finished just yet, Zel'eon planned on submitting it as a final year project in his design and technology class.

Senzorin also spent some time building a relationship with Ilrinia's underworld elements, making his face known to the Thieves' Guild.

Zel'eon also decided to lean on Senzorin's criminal connections and his own research, finding a potential pit fighting club, patronised mainly by the rich and powerful, hidden within a small warehouse in Ham Row.

Senzorin, not wanting his combat capabilities to fall to the wayside during this period, trained hard at increasing his prowess, focusing on trying to use the magitech revolver more efficiently. He discovered his ability to use it to cast fire, ice, or lightning elemental bolts, and recognised these base elements as being building blocks to potentially cast even more damaging effects through the gun.

Saziver, in his studies with Principal de Bolbec, found that he seemed to not be a powerful psion (like Saziver had the potential to be) himself, but still knew how to train one. Saziver began practising how to read an enemy's mind and body language to predict what they were going to do next.

Throughout this period, Zel'eon, still reminded of his loss against Arche, began plans to install sub-dermal armor plating to enable him to fight more offensively. Recognising the best material to him at the moment, steel, would still be sub-par compared to orichalcum, he decided to wait until he was able to procure some.

Arche also joined the rest in training her combat skills, practising every night under the moon on using her spear in tandem with her sword and her magic. She began to think on how she could develop her worship of Ruatis even more with her combat, coming up with plans to manufacture a tip for her collapsible elven spear out of moon rock.

Zel'eon also set to work understanding the recipes he had taken from the Purists' offices, eventually finding out how to manufacture alchemists' fire in his lab. He created a few vials of this, loading it into his arm launcher to prepare for any fights ahead. Additionally, he began research on trying to create a sonic bomb that could fit into his arm launcher.

Arche's Birthday Celebration

The sun crept over the horizon on Ruatis, the 12th of Lunaris, 1892, spilling golden light into the cozy confines of Arche's small bedroom. Arche stirred beneath her covers, blinking groggily at the reality that struck her like a bolt of pure magic—today was her birthday! But as the realization washed over her, a shadow crept into her heart. Memories surged like waves at high tide, flooding her mind with visions of laughter, of decorated cakes, and of parents who had once cherished this day. For a fleeting moment, she felt the weight of a decade's worth of missed celebrations.

Slipping out from the cocoon of her blankets, Arche stretched, her blue moon pajamas striking a playful contrast against the muted hues of her room. Glancing around, she took in her surroundings: her double bladed sword leaning against the wall, her armored bodysuit draped across a chair, and the plastic gun, made for her by Zel'eon, sitting on her desk. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she padded down the staircase, as the morning sun streamed through the windows of the stairwell.

As she descended, a sudden choir of voices caught her off guard. Her friends had gathered to serenade her, singing her happy birthday loudly and off-key. In the center of it all stood Saziver proudly bearing a cake shaped like the moon.

The unmistakable sound of a door creaking open echoed from above, and a box floated down the staircase, suspended by Senzorin's telekinesis, coming to a stop in front of Arche.

She unwrapped the box, and saw Senzorin's present for her: a disco ball-sized steel full moon, forged by Senzorin in the forges of the Avjarn. Tears misted Arche's eyes as she reached out to pat Senzorin's head, her gratitude spilling into words. “Thank you.” Overcome by emotion, she dashed back upstairs, securing the moon above her bed.

Next up was a rectangular box from Zel'eon, carefully wrapped and waiting eagerly for her touch. Inside lay an ornamental rapier, also crafted in the Avjarn's forges, bearing the elvish symbol of the moon. Zel'eon cautioned her against using it for combat, but Arche thanked him nonetheless, stating that it was beautiful.

Saziver decided to finish the celebration with his own gift for Arche. “Do you have your tablet with you?” he asked, his fingers already dancing over the screen of his own device. Arche nodded, not knowing what to expect. A moment later, her own tablet vibrated, and she discovered Saziver had crafted an entire new lunar theme. She saw that Saziver had added widgets showcasing the moon's phases and little moon icons for each of her apps.

Once the cake was devoured, the atmosphere shifted. Arche cleared her throat, her smile fading slightly as she glanced at her friends. “I might need your help with something later,” she began, telling them about the rally for Anderson Ortlinde for his upcoming gubernatorial re-election. She planned to use this public appearance to reconnect with her estranged father.

Obviously, her friends agreed to help her, accompanying her to the rally, which was to be held after school. After a quick breakfast, the group headed to school, planning to meet straight afterwards at the rally.

Arriving at the Rally

The afternoon sun shone over the Ortlinde Youth Home, where Anderson Ortlinde, the governor of Ilrinia and Arche's estranged father, was set to address the public in a rally for his re-election. As the team approached the venue, dressed far more formally than their typical combat gear, Zel’eon led the pack, clad in a crisp white jacket, with white plating fitted snugly over his prosthetic,s and simple black trousers over combat boots. Beside him, Senzorin wore a tailored suit, complete with a sharp black tie, yet still keeping his signature cowboy hat and trench coat.

Arche’s heart raced as she adjusted her own suit, a pair of sunglasses and a mask concealing her face—a precaution against being recognised by her father. Meanwhile, Saziver, wearing a three-piece navy suit almost too large for his small frame, stood with an anxious energy, glancing back at the throng of supporters already gathering outside. Street vendors already filled the area, hawking wares and street food.

The youth home’s front was adorned with two large banners emblazoned with "Vote Ortlinde!" above a stylized depiction of the governor—a pale elf with jet-black hair and vaguely Caucasian features, staring out with a warm smile. As they stepped into the building, they were met with a expansive multipurpose hall, packed with attendees. Bright sunlight streamed through the wide glass windows, illuminating the faces of eager citizens, many of whom cheerfully waved signs in support of the governor. A stage stood at the far end, a lectern waiting for its occupant.

A tremor of anxiety crept into Arche’s heart. She turned to her friends, her voice a whisper in the crowded hall. "Guys, I'm kind of getting second thoughts." The group shared concerned glances, briefly discussing various strategies to facilitate a private meeting with the governor, including the possibility of sending a message or keeping Arche hidden in the car. Yet, the consensus was to withstand the overwhelming tide of the gathering, deciding they would not disrupt the event.

Taking a more proactive stance, Saziver activated his AR glasses and began typing fervently, immersed in the virtual interface of his own design. The others form a circle around Saziver, trying to shield him from prying eyes as he types away, thoroughly absorbed in his task.

Saziver quickly succeeded in breaching the building’s security systems and accessed the surveillance crystals, flicking through the various camera feeds. As he scrutinized the crowd, an observation came to mind—an unusually high proportion of wood elves filled the hall. Where he would expect a mere 1%, nearly 10% of the rally attendees appeared to be wood elves, clad in ill-fitting suits.

He flipped his screens to the backstage feed. There, he saw Governor Ortlinde standing beside his wife, Aurora Ortlinde—Arche's mother. Sitting in a wheelchair, Aurora was beautiful even in her stillness, her bright blonde hair and golden skin dreamlike even in the darkness backstage. Yet, she sat utterly motionless, unresponsive to her husband gently patting her back.

Governor Ortlinde, nominally a sun elf, looked odd with his black hair, pale skin, and grey eyes, thought the group was used to such features from Arche. He was clad in a bright blue three-piece suit - the colors affiliated with the Council of Aenyrathia. Saziver tried to reach out psionically to sense Aurora’s emotional state; however, the distance hindered his abilities. Yet, he manages to make a faint connection through the video feed, and managed to make a tenuous connection.

Suddenly, despair flooded his senses. Aurora’s psyche radiated a suffocating darkness, an impenetrable void of depression that enveloped a core of tightly locked emotions. Overcome by this powerful rush, Saziver felt a tear escape his eye as he withdrew from her mind, revealing his findings to the group with a shaky voice.

Arche’s expression darkened as she nodded slowly, tears brimming in her eyes, explaining how her mother had been in this state since her brother was kidnapped a decade ago, "She completely withdrew from everything, stopped talking to me or my dad—even not eating or drinking anything for a while.” The group offered assurances that all would be well when Arche talked to her, but Arche remained doubtful that her mother would even react to her.

As they continued to monitor the feed, Saziver saw a sun elf woman who approached Governor Ortlinde backstage, her words inaudible. The governor responded with a nod, adjusted his tie, and soon stepped out of sight.

The team shifted their attention back to the stage as Governor Ortlinde emerged to a round of applause. The hall lit up with camera flashes as the clamor of reporters begin to rise. Raising his hand, he called for silence, flashing his signature smile.

“Citizens of Ilrinia. It is a pleasure to see you once again. I welcome you to the start of this race for re-election that I am participating in once again. I hope you have enjoyed my first term. I have reduced homelessness, improved education, provided free lunches to every child in Ilrinia, and opened this beautiful place,” he gestured expansively toward the Youth Home, eliciting a wave of cheers and applause from the audience.

Saziver noticed something alarming: among the applause, only the wood elves stood motionless, remaining still in their ill-fitting suits, a stark contrast to the jubilation around them.

As Governor Ortlinde continued his address, informing the citizens of his dedication to their well-being, Saziver observed one of the lion-maned wood elves standing close to them reach into his pocket. The elf’s action was mirrored by the others, who began to produce small glass spheres filled with a swirling, ominous mist, putting on face masks with their free hands.

Panic gripped Saziver as he quietly tells the group what is happening and to get ready.

All at once, the wood elves shattered their orbs with a sharp, resonant crack, releasing a noxious green gas that began to coil around their feet, slowly spreading throughout the hall; and the team leapt into action.

The Shield

• As the lion maned wood elf in front of the group is about to crush the glass sphere in his fist, releasing the poison gas, Saziver reaches into his mind and wrings it out like a sponge, running up and grabbing the glass sphere before it breaks.
• As the rest of the wood elves crush their glass spheres around the hall, the noxious green gas begins spreading out across the room, as the people nearest to the wood elves begin choking and falling to the ground.
• Zel'eon slips off his jacket, unfurling his metal wings wide, catching the sunlight on the metal. He takes off towards the front of the hall, wheeling around and flapping his wings, creating a powerful gust of wind that blows some of the poison gas towards the side of the hall. Some of the people catch a breath of fresh air as the poison gas is blown away from them, but Zel'eon observes the hall is closed, with the windows shut, so the gas has nowhere to escape and is going to start filling the entire hall unless they create a way for it to escape. Aiming his arm cannon, he fires a ball bearing towards one of the windows, and it shatters into a million pieces. The people next to the windows lean out of it, breathing the clean air, and the poison gas slowly begins seeping out of the hall, but not fast enough.
• Around the room, yellow runic barriers begin appearing, pushing away the gas. The people casting them are mages of the Council of Arcaneum, dressed in deep blue gilded robes, and they strain under the force of maintaining such a large radius of protection, shouting at the people around them to hide within the barriers. The wood elves nearby these mages begin moving towards them to disrupt their concentration.
• Senzorin darts through the crowd, making a beeline for the governor and deftly avoiding the spreading crowds of poison gas. As he moves, he takes careful aim and disables some of the wood elf terrorists by shooting them with his revolver, firing through the crowd and managing not to hit any innocents.
• Arche moves towards one of the nearby wood elves and spears them through the chest. The elf, a tiger feline looking elf, growls and slashes at Arche. Arche dodges the attack and steps into her reach, slashing up with her sword and slaying the wood elf, before she begins moving towards her father at the front of the room.
• Saziver, in control of the first wood elf's mind, reaches in and makes him think Saziver is his staunchest ally. He begins asking the wood elf for the reason they are attacking the rally, and the wood elf replies, "Well, you guys killed a patron-beast!", with a dumb grin on his face.
• The governor's two bodyguards, one with a sword and one with a warhammer, move to surround Governor Ortlinde as five wood elf terrorists move in to assassinate the governor.
• Over the next few minutes, the situation is as follows, organised by character:
  • Zel'eon flies around the hall, avoiding engaging the terrorists, instead focusing on breaking the three large glass windows on each wall. As he does so, he continues generating gusts of wind with his wings, trying to get the poison gas to dissipate out of the hall. The Council mages, upon noticing him breaking the windows, began casting spells that conjure large gusts of wind to help get the gas out of the hall.
  • Saziver is interrogating the lone wood elf near the exit to the outside, finding out that apparently, some Ilrinians killed a patron-beast of the wood elves (each wood elf tribe has a patron-beast, who they venerate as a god and take on some traits of the patron-beast, which is why the wood elves here have animalistic physical qualities) and that they were commanded to kill the governor of ilrinia as payback.
  • Arche moves to the front entrance, where she sees the Ilrinians heading toward, and takes out the plastic gun Zel'eon crafted for her months ago. She places it against her temple, and pulls the trigger. The people around her watch, shocked, as her head cocks to the side, white crystal shards emanating from the gunshot, before her eyes begin to glow pure silver and she casts a large sphere of moonlight around her that protect the Ilrinians within from the effects of the poison gas.
  • The governor is fighting two of the wood elves by himself as one of his bodyguards is killed, and the other faces three wood elves, braining them with his warhammer.
  • Senzorin makes his way through the crowd by himself, silently backstabbing wood elf terrorists on the way. He aims to reach the governor to defend him.
• As all the windows are broken, the poison gas has spread out of the windows. Most of the people in the hall have escaped either through the front doors or climbing out one of the windows, though the corpses of Ilrinians who did not manage to stay out of the poison gas litter the floor. At this point, the Council mage closest to Saziver and his charmed wood elf terrorist turns and fires a firebolt towards the terrorist. The lion-maned wood elf, thinking Saziver is his ally since he has been charmed by Saziver's mind control, grabs him and dives out of one of the windows.
• Zel'eon, after the poison gas has dissipated, flies towards one of the wood elves directly engaged with the governor, knocking him to the floor and slaying him with a stab of his arm blade. The governor nods at him, before turning to the remaining wood elf terrorist in front of him. Zel'eon watches as the governor punches the terrorist right in the face (reminding Zel'eon immediately of how Arche clocked him during their sparring match) but immediately follows it up by grabbing the stunned terrorist by their shirt as they fall back, pulling them towards him again before delivering an uppercut that knocks the terrorist clean cold. As the elf falls to the floor, the governor places his hand over a nasty cut in his own shoulder and whispers an incantation, healing his wound.
• Senzorin, wielding Einrow's cutlass in one hand and the magitech revolver in the other, helps the remaining bodyguard take down the few remaining wood elf terrorists attacking the governor, slaying them where they stand.
• Arche, stationed at the front entrance, kills the wood elf terrorists that attempt to stop people from escaping with extreme prejudice. As she touches one of them on the shoulder, they blow up with necrotic energy, and Arche turns around to face the people watching her with shock and awe, bowing deeply. As one of them asks, "Who... Who are you?", Arche grins and replies, "Arche Kagekiyo. High Priestess of Ruatis."
• As the final wood elf terrorist alive realises he is the last one alive, he turns around and aims his pistol at the fleeing civilians in an attempt to do as much damage as possible, but suddenly feels his neck freeze as Senzorin shoots a bolt of elemental ice, freezing his neck before he shoots a regular bullet, shattering his frozen neck and making his head fly off.
• As the chaos of the battle fades, the group has no mood for celebration, as they look around the hall and see a score of dead civilians they failed to save.