Night of the Wolf

Background

According to the traditions of the Hospital of Ekirena and the Hall of Apprentices at the Academy of Gildenschloss, the identity of those given over to the Hospital in childhood is kept secret from them until the Night of Landing - the festival sacred to Damalith which occurs on the three nights of the new moon of the seventh month - following their sixteenth birthday, at which time each is informed of their birth name, their family, and of the circumstances which brought them to the Hospital; the origins of this tradition are somewhat obscure, but in the modern era it is justified as a security measure, aimed at keeping secret the number and identity of tieflings in the High Houses - as well as to protect against those who would attempt to manipulate the High Nobility through threats against their children's safety. In 1340AK, among those students who came of that age were Motion Ashbrook-Sarren and Beatrix Bheuren van Crassen.   After learning their true identities, the scions of the High Nobility are told in no uncertain terms that they should be extremely careful with this information, and not reveal it to others; naturally, the extent to which this is observed in practice varies, and most are willing to at least disclose to each other which High House they are scions of, if not their specific parentage. In Beatrix's case, as the granddaughter of the Queen, she told exactly one person her true identity: her lover and closest friend, Motion.   Motion, in her own part, learned of the truth of how she had come to Gildenschloss: that she had inadvertantly started a fire which had killed her father, and that her brother had been told that she was dead. Somewhat shocked by these revelations, she had nonetheless managed to write to her brother and tell him that she was alive, and had started to rebuild her connection to what was left of her family.   It is common practice for tiefling children of the High Nobility who have been given over the the Hospital of Ekirenna to return to the High Houses at some point in the months following this, provided that they have gained the skill to disguise themselves effectively and pass for human; Beatrix knew that this was inevitably going to be the case for her, though wrote repeatedly to her mother asking that she be permitted to remain at Gildenschloss to complete her studies - not so much from a genuine academic interest so much as to allow her and Motion to stay together. However as the months rolled on, it became increasingly apparant that it would be inevitable, and that there was no way that she and Motion would be able to continue their relationship.   The pair started to hatch a plan to run away together, intending to head to the coast and buy passage on the nearest ship away from Aldernord - but their plans never came to fruition, as a few days before the Festival of Mellet a unit of soldiers from the Royal Guard unexpectedly arrived at the Academy, bearing a warrant with the Queen's seal demanding that Beatitude be surrendered into their custody. Beatrix attempted to flee, but was apprehended and removed from the town under armed guard.   Exactly how this turn of events came to pass remains unclear, though evidence suggests that Motion may have accidentally caused this through telling the Toad of Secrets Beatrix's true identity in an attempt to ascertain Beatrix's true feelings towards her - which she had come to doubt after learning that Beatitude had kissed another student - a boy named Worship - at the Harvestide Ball a few weeks earlier.  

The Night in Question

Whilst exactly what happened on the Night of the Wolf has yet to be fully explained, and a number of questions remain unaswered, an approximate timeline of events can be reconstructed.   Earlier that evening, Motion had overheard two of the other students, Solidarity and Hope talking about Beatitude's removal by the Royal Guard. Solidarity mentione that he had heard that Motion and Beatitude had been planning to run away from the Academy; furious, she confronted him and accused him of having told House Bheuren out of spite. Solidarity denied this; Hope taunted Motion, suggesting that Beatitude would fare better without her holding her back.   Not wanting to give Hope the satisfaction of seeing how much that insult had hurt her, Motion had retreated to her bedroom - where she was soon found by her friend Comfort; Comfort had apparantly taken it on herself to try and talk Motion out of the depths of her despair, but her approach only managed to make the situation worse.   A few hours later, an officer of the Queensknife arrived with an urgent letter for Motion, supposedly from Beatrix; this letter, which unknown to Motion at the time was in fact a forgery written by Nera Arrighetti-Sarren on the orders of Guillaume Arthmael-Riddacci, confirmed her fears that she meant absolutely nothing to Beatrix. Completely overwhelmed by the situation, she had broken down into tears; another student, Freedom, heard Motion crying and tried tried to comfort her - but completely misinterpreted the tone of the forged letter and tried to gently suggest that Beatitude might have wanted Motion to move on. This turned out to be exactly the wrong thing to say; Motion snapped, and lost control of her powers, the emotional turmoil catalysing her connection to the Fountain of Night from which she ultimately drew her sorcerous power.  

The Nightmare

What occured next remains poorly understood; it appears that somehow Motion sequestered the part of the Hall of Apprentices known as the Senior Tower outside of mundane reality, making it impossible to access via mundane or magical means. Over the next ten minutes, the entity known as Telarna, a Hound of Ill Omen manifested by Motion, ran amok through the tower, attacking the other students and killing several of them, before the tower abruptly phased back into the material realm.   Evidence from within Telarna's memory has raised the possibility that those that were sequestered within the Senior Tower may have experiened the events as looping over and over again; it is unclear what this may imply, or whether the suggestion that the adventurers who ventured into Telarna's memory may have somehow affected the past when the did so.  

The Students

The following students were in the Senior Tower of the Hall of Apprentices at the time that the Night of the Wolf occured. During the aftermath, Motion would overhear enough information that she was able to piece together exactly what happened, and also learned the true identities of the students.

Audacity Endrizzi - a tiefling boy who had attempted to come to Solidarity's aid when he was attacked by the Hound. He had most of his right foot bitten off by the Hound, but managed to get away and barricade himself in his room before he passed out due to blood loss. His memory was subsequently erased, and he remained at the Academy for a few years, before joining the staff of the Academy's Scriptorum.

Comfort, AKA Cosmia Erastes - a tiefling girl who had been a fairly good friend of Beatitude and Motion; Motion felt that she wasn't an bad person altogether, but had absolutely no tact and would often say deeply hurtful things which she justified as being brutally and uncompromisingly honest. Earlier that evening, she had approached Motion in order to try and get her to feel less awful about Beatitude's departure - but had only managed to make the situation worse. She was killed in the attack, but was raised from the dead in the aftermath; she was recalled by House Erastes shortly thereafter, and left the academy.

Conscience, AKA Catalina Orianni-Riddacci - a tiefling girl with some fairly major anger issues, who had bullied Beatitude a lot when they were younger, but had become somewhat calmer and less confrontational in the year or two preceding the attack. She was badly mauled by the Hound, but survived; her memory was erased, and she remained at the Academy, joining the Faculty Militant before leaving in 1343AK to join the Third Cohort Arcane.

Endurance, now known as Esme Adrasta-Votellian - The eldest child of Fiordelise Votellian van Bovelden, and step-sibling to Galiana Votellian. One of Motion's closest friends, she might have been one of the few people who could have successfully talked Motion down and ended the attack, but hadn't been able to leave her room due to the doorway being blocked by rubble from the collapse of part of the floor above. She survived unscathed, and had her memory wiped; she has since joined the Hellborn Host, and remains a close friend of Motion's.

Faith, AKA Fabio Abate - a lowborn tiefling boy, who had attempted to intervene to help Worship, but was badly wounded in the attempt. He survived, and refused to submit to being mind-wiped, even going so far as to swear the Unconquerable Oath of Laethe. Motion doesn't know if his memory was wiped in the end or not; he left the Academy immediately afterwards, and his present whereabouts are unknown.

Freedom, AKA Felice Ysern - a tiefling girl, who Motion generally felt was well-intentioned but completely clueless. Her actions had, in fact, been the precipitating factor for the attack - she had heard Motion crying in her room after recieving the forged letter from Beatitude, and had tried to comfort her, but had only managed to make things worse. After the attacks started, she was one of the few to realise that Motion was somehow responsible, and pleaded with her to stop it - only to be grabbed by the Hound and killed. She was raised from the dead during the aftermath, and was recalled by House Ysern shortly thereafter, leaving the Academy.

Gratitude, AKA Greta Fabbro - a human sorceror, who had been a fairly good friend of Motion's. She attempted to intervene when the Hound attacked Hope, and in doing so probably saving Hope's life, before being driven back by the Hound. She survived unscathed, though her memory was wiped during the aftermath. She remains at the Academy as a researcher, and is indentured to the Cohort of Artillery in repayment of her apprenticeship bond.

Hope, AKA Henrietta Zaal - a tiefling girl who Motion described as petty, spiteful, and manipulative, prone to taking out her own problems on others. Her cruelty towards Motion earlier that night - taunting her by saying that Beatitude would be better off now that she wasn't being held back by "a needy, miserable little pile of mediocrity" like Motion - had been one of the main triggers for the Hound's rampage. Hope survived the attack by playing dead, and had her memory of the night erased; she was recalled to House Zaal and left the Academy shortly thereafter.

Ideal, AKA Ignaas Drakotoren-Erastes - a human boy who was a draconic sorceror, the inheritor of a long bloodline of suhc sorcerors. He tried to intervene when the Hound attacked Worship and Faith, but was badly injured and had to retreat to his room, where he eventually passed out from blood loss. He was mindwiped during the aftermath, and remained at the Academy for a few more years before joining the First Cohort Arcane in 1343.

Kindness, AKA Kaspar Schmitt - a tiefling boy from a prosperous urban family, who unlike many tieflings had not been cast out at an early age when his nature became apparant. He had only come to the Hall of Apprentices at the age of sixteen, apparantly on the invitation of a member of the Gilded Tower, and had generally kept himself to himself. Within Telarna's memory, it appears that he alone was somehow aware of the looping nature of the nightmare, though he was not able to escape it; it is unclear why this may have been the case or what this might imply about the nature of the effect that the Tower fell under. Motion believes that his memory was erased in the aftermath, and that he remained at the Academy for several more years, before taking up a post as a magician of the Gilded Tower.

Necessity Ivarsson - a lowborn tiefling boy, who had not been involved in the events leading up to the attack and who survived it unscathed by hiding in his room. His memory was erased following the attack; after graduating from the Hall of Apprenctices, he has since worked in the Academy's library.

Patience Geertwicht - a lowborn tiefling girl, who had been uninvolved in the events, barricading herself into her room. She survived, unscathed but shaken by the experience; her memories were erased, and upon graduating from the Hall of Apprentices entered the service of the Hospital of Ekirena as a nurse and dedicant of Ekirena.

Solidarity, AKA Stefan Corwell-Mettvergen - a tiefling boy, the illegitimate, but highly-regarded, son of Duchess Lisebet Mettvergen van Zallen. Something of a rumourmonger, who had previously been using the Toad of Secrets to spy on other students, Motion suspected that he might have been responsible for House Bheuren learning that she and Beatitude were considering eloping. He was killed by the Hound, but was secretly raised from the dead during the aftermath. He was recalled by House Mettvergen shortly afterwards, and left the Academy.

Worship, AKA Walter Sarren - a tiefling boy, nephew of Duchess Gherardesca Sarren van Sarrensea. He had been a close friend of Motion's and Beatitudes, though there had been a lot of tension between him and Motion as she was half-convinced that he and Beatitude were secretly romantically-involved; after Beatitude was recalled to Ysberinge, Motion had accused Worship of having somehow helped to arrange this. He was one of the principle targets of the Hound, and lost his life in the attack, though he was raised from the dead during the aftermath. He was recalled by House Sarren shortly thereafter, and left the Academy.  

Aftermath

 

“Do I look like I give a flying fuck about the omens, Teodesia? I am not going to go in front of the Matriarchs and explain how we lost four high-born children tonight! Bring them back, or I swear to the Daughters I will get the Rakshasa to do it…”

  The attack itself only lasted ten minutes before the dream-construct appeared to spontaneously collapse, allowing several of the senior magicians of the Academy - Promise Malaborg-Bheuren, Sophon Vatallio-Erastes, and Teodesia Mettvergen, along with High Banisher Roelanda Willemsdottir-Bheuren and the Gilded Tower agent Levity to enter the Senior Tower, under Levity's apparant leadership. They found the tower ransacked, with many of the students dead or badly injured, and Motion lying apparantly comatose in her bed, the Hound of Ill Omen curled up beside her. The High Banisher was able to dismiss the Hound when it awoke and attacked her; and the area was rapidly locked down.   Motion recalls overhearing several conversations conducted in her earshot, whilst she was otherwise unconscious; in one, Levity accused Reynaud Veldalen-Sarren of ultimately being responsible for what had occured, and ordered him to contain the situation by whatever means he considered necessary, mentioning knowledge of a demonic pact that Reynaud had made, and threatening that she would "kick open the doors of Aiskapekos and deliver (him) to Erut Tzau (herself)" if he didn't cooperate. In another conversation with the Vice-Scholarch of Necromancy, Teodesia Mettvergen, Levity ordered that she break with the protocols of the cult of Kriophona and raise all those who had died from the dead without first conducting divinatory rites to confirm that this was the will of the Daughters of Null, and threatened that if Teodesia did not do so, she would get "the Rakshasa" - presumably Shemraksi - to do it instead.   Motion recalls that over the course of the next few hours, the students who had survived the attack had their wounds treated, their memories of the events erased, and false memories implanted to explain away inconsistencies and any wounds that could not be easily healed by magic - all in an apparant attempt by the Academy authorities to cover up what had happened. In her own case, she was subjected to extensive memory modification by Gudrun Athelswicht-Zaal and Sanctity Falcoferri-Riddacci, who entered her dreamscape and constructed a series of binding wards which blocked her access to the Fountain of Night. She was unaware of exactly what happened to those who had died, but remembers seeing them alive over the next few days, and thus assumes that Teodesia gave in to Levity's demands.