12 - 04/21/25 : Family Portraits
The teleportation chamber of Everlight Academy lit up with energy as Panic Vel teleported into the city of Fortune's Crossing. The bedraggled headmaster rushed to the scene, prepared to do battle with the unannounced entrant to the teleportation circle. He quickly realized that the new arrival was a guest of honor that the school's primary funder, Zelem Corvo, had told him to keep an eye out for. Arwyn sent word to Zelem that she had arrived, but while they waited, he brought Panic to the school's observatory, the Seer's Lantern. At the Lantern, Panic also met a surprise fan of her in Zana, who was starstruck at her divination idol's appearance.
Soon after, Sendra and Naomi arrived to bring Panic to Zelem's manor. Panic also informed Arwyn that another guest would be arriving at a later point and asked him to send her to the manor when she did. As Panic arrived at Zelem's abode, the two ex-adventurers caught up on recent events. Zelem also revealed that he has been taking care of Princess Cordelia of Oceanus and requested Panic's future help in setting up an audience with Renaer Ambermantle. As the conversation continued, Panic's surprise guest, Kismet Madrigal, arrived and introduced herself. Panic revealed that her student's birth name was Maeve Oweland, causing obvious concern in her companion. However, Zelem placed his faith in Panic and promised not interfere in her training and leave her under her observation. Trying to keep the mood light, Kismet offhandedly mentioned participating in the Virtuous Symposium, to which Zelem informed the two that Fortune's Crossing will likely also be competing. Panic was excited for a chance for a proxy competition between the two of them. As their serious discussion ended, Kismet convinced Panic to let them stay in town a little longer and Zelem showed them the sights properly.
Meanwhile, after having finished their observation of the city's forum, Ezri, Snow, and Adeline decide to talk to Zana and Nadya about their ley lines. They decided to start with Zana and found her in her usual haunt, in an unusually giddy mood. When asked about her ley line, she explained that accessing the ley line requires assistance from a third party, but Zana's divination revealed that this will only lead to disaster for him. Out of fear of bringing this to his attention and fear of her own safety, she had been putting off the task. Ezri and Snow offered to help her break the news and go with her to her ley line. Zana accepted their help, but also asked to wait to head out to try, as she hoped to get another chance to speak with Panic before she left town. The trio decide to talk to Nadya to give Zana the time she needs, the mention of whom made Zana a bit nervous. The seer revealed that Nadya greatly dislikes her, and Zana tried to avoid her because of it.
As Nadya often frequents the Queen's Glaive in the evening, the party decided to kill some time by talking to their teachers. Ezri met with Bellbrexilden to ask about improving the ring she had claimed from their fight with Callister. He confirmed that it would be able to adjust to different magic like Snow's sword, she would just need to decide what she wanted to do. Ezri decided to add some abjuration magic to the ring, which would have been simple with Ezri already having attuned to an Abjuration ley line, as long as she had access to good crystal focuses for the type of magic she wanted. Meanwhile, Snow and Adeline went to study with Raine. Raine informed Snow that to infuse her sword with elemental power, she would need to hunt monsters who used those elements and gave some suggestions of targets.
As evening came, the students found Nadya at her usual haunt. Ezri brought up the matter of Nadya's ley line, which was met with the expected abrasiveness. Ezri offered to assist with the ley line and take some of the weight off of her, but, while the offer was appreciated, it was less the work and more the nature of the ley line that bothered Nadya. Adeline suggested to her that understanding Celestial magic would allow her to better prepare for anything that might come with her innate magic, and Nadya reluctantly agreed to go with the party.
Before taking off for Nadya's ley line, the students decided to work on their special magic items. Over the course of several days, Ezri and Snow crafted their items with Adeline's assistance, while working with their specific professors in-between. Both students finished their projects, with Snow giving her sword the ability to swap between a greatsword and a longsword and shield, and Ezri giving her ring the ability to provide protective energy to her allies.
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