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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cypherblade" data-source="post: 9853486" data-attributes="member: 7048389">[spoiler]The golden plate is solid once more. Ayleen examines the plate and the circle of lights. This plate was not protecting the passage here; instead, it was used to create the passage. The configuration differs from that in the ziggurat. The ritual Sijhen performed here was complex. Detect planar energy reveals both Apeth and Gidim energies present. The Apeth energy is inherent to the seal; Gidim was the destination. The golden plate itself does nothing on its own, but it is an important component in other magic. Ayleen wonders whether it might be wiser to destroy the seal entirely.According to Xambria, the seal that still stood in the temple was a false seal. This is the true seal that was removed, thereby freeing Sijhen. Afterward, the expedition members placed the fake seal where the real portal had been, but the portal is not a physical doorway fixed to one location—it is bound to the true seal. The expedition merely repositioned the false seal to mislead any researchers who might later arrive in the High Bayou.The knowledge of the Ancients was focused on closing portals, whereas Sijhen possessed the knowledge to open one. To do so, he needed the star map, which allowed him to travel to another dimension—presumably to Gidim—unless the map was not required for the journey itself, but rather to find his way back here in the future.We return upstairs to Stover Delft’s office and explain what has happened. The chief wonders why Kell enforcers were involved as well.That night, Staf keeps watch over Saxby’s villa while the rest of us sleep. During the night, Saxby’s carriage arrives. A light turns on, and Staf sees the silhouette of a man at the window. Half an hour later, someone exits, asks a few questions, and leaves again in the carriage. Staf follows and tracks the carriage to the RHC, where Saxby’s husband disembarks and enters the building. He goes straight to his wife’s office without checking in. It is clearly abnormal behavior. He knocks on her office door, looks around, peers inside, and asks someone in the hallway whether they have seen his wife. She left hours earlier, among others with Carlao, who has already returned.Carlao is summoned and joins the search. Ayleen hears the commotion and sends Pipistrella. Saxby’s husband asks Carlao where his wife is. “Delivered home,” he replies. Saxby’s husband says she was not there when he arrived around midnight. According to the household guards, she returned almost immediately and then left again for the RHC—but she never arrived here.Ayleen wakes the rest of the group, and we proceed to search Saxby’s house. According to the guards, Saxby arrived with Carlao and Dima (a dwarven priestess of the RHC). She did not stay long before returning to the RHC. Ayleen immediately rushes to Saxby’s study. The hidden drawer has been emptied of securities worth at least twenty to thirty thousand gold—possibly as much as fifty thousand. No planar energy is detected.Kane concentrates on the coat Saxby had been wearing and casts locate object, but the garment is simply lying in the laundry basket in the basement. She clearly changed clothes. Ayleen thoroughly searches the study, but finds no trace linking Saxby to MacBannin or Bergeron.Back at the RHC, we also search Saxby’s office. Ayleen opens the safe with practiced speed—it is completely empty.[HR][/HR]<h2>29 Autumn 500 AOV</h2>It becomes clear from speak with dead that the Kell supporters entered via the Bleak Gate. They were here because they were paid.Saxby is officially listed as missing and wanted. Stover orders us to assemble at 8 p.m. at the canal, near its mouth where it meets the sea. Tonight is the new moon; it is pitch dark. We arrive by half past seven. Half an hour later, a skiff approaches from across the bay. It docks just as Stover arrives, and we board. The sailors are clearly navy.After half an hour, we reach a massive vessel. We climb aboard: a sailing ship with a figurehead—an RHC ship, the Roscommon, a gift from the Unseen Court to the RHC. We meet the captain in the cabin as the three-masted ship gets underway. Lord Price-Hill and Minister Harkover Lee are still expected. We anchor at the first island outside the bay, and I notify Minister Lee via sending. Seconds later, two figures appear aboard through a teleportation circle. The lord and the minister greet us.Harkover Lee casts a divination spell, walks around the ship, briefly speaks with someone at the bow, and then returns. A discussion follows in the cabin. We explain everything we know. Our only remaining lead is a train journey planned for the winter.Minister Lee produces a small bundle of papers. Nathan Jierre wrote down several of his ideas. Lord Price-Hill proposes an undercover mission to learn more about the Obscurati. We are to tell no one outside this room. Over the coming weeks, we must prepare the mission—even without our colleagues knowing what we are truly working on. We are to take the train Bergeron was meant to take. Our task is to gather information, not make arrests. Vendricce is likely the lion’s den, where the Obscurati may gather. It will be dangerous. Nathan Jierre’s papers contain fascinating material. He previously shared his findings with his cousin—the brother of Lya Jierre—which is how she knew of Nathan’s research. His work concerns the secrets of the stars: recorded observations, repeated over nine years.He did not wish to read the heavens, but to listen to them. Each observation was made during calibrated periods and compared with disturbances in magic. The recurring stellar influences suggested intentional patterns, not chance. Persistent anomalies did not align with planetary bodies—distant stars exerted influence instead. On Axis Island, he recorded interactions between magic and astrology. The regularity could not be random.The blue star—seen in our visions on Axis Island—stood out to him. Mojang, the bright blue star, showed notable fluctuations in magical and artisanal activity. A warm yellow glow exhibited a second pattern: no measurable effect on construction, but a clear influence on living processes—faster healing, increased resilience, and temporary weakening of necromancy.Nathan did not wish to involve himself in geopolitics, but if Danor were to decipher these celestial patterns, then Risur would need to prepare. He recalls a night in which Mojang revealed coherence, not conflict.According to Felix, Nathan identified two stars exerting influence. He noted that celestial bodies affected not only magic, but craftsmanship as well—and most strikingly, that very distant stars played a role.We are granted additional budget for the mission.[/spoiler]the meeting with Lord Price-Hill and Minister Lee was not yet at an end...</blockquote>

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