you deserve joy.

Obviously there was a lot going on, but with King Gus wanting wizards around to counter the Sundered Houses' attempts at having a strangle hold on arcane matters, it was the perfect opportunity to make sure wizard learning spreads by having a school that isn't relying on funding from the Sundered Houses.

And Demodus was TAing! He knows how to run a basic introductory class (probably). Demodus might not have the learning to consistently help teach higher levels of other schools of magic, but he should at least have a decent chance of training up some good illusionist wizards.

Send a few more Penteveral upper years or graduates who need out of Dol-Makjar, and you've got a pretty good start on a "rival" institution.

Maybe Brennan will let the NPCs figure it out on their own.

the british audience:

her name was Marsha P Johnson, and we have her to thank for so much.

remember, the first Pride was a riot, and she was one of the brave souls who endured it to help carve the path which so many of us walk today. she helped found several activist groups regarding LGBT safety and wellbeing. and she was absolutely radiant, too.

very gentle yoga

you feel like shit (a self care guide)

disability accessible recipes

tips for baking with brain fog

stretches made more physically accessible

adjust your posture

the nine delights

different ways to rest

in-depth self care assessment

what to do when you've had a bad day

gentle ways to get back on track

how to feel your feelings

Vaelus. I believe I would trail behind, watching, keeping an eye on Occtis. Because I don't know what's going to happen if I'm not close to him with the stone.

They've both lost the central person they arranged their life around yes? And not only did this death leave them unmoored with an uncertain purpose, they discovered that they had to deal with the consequences of the actions they weren't even aware their Leader/Goddess had taken. Now not only do they have this never-ending grief that they can't let go off and pops out at the worst moments but also anger because they were true believers, and it was not rewarded. Thimble must have similar feelings as well, but I think her relationship with Thjazi being more intimate didn't feel so much like a God dying on you.

In a way Azune is in a better position simply due to being young enough to accept this change as a brand-new world and adventure like Thimble said. He is around the same age as Demodus which is what I think is making him react so strongly but could also be why he is able to take so many actions in the aftermath, no watter how much of a moral injury they are causing him.

Meanwhile, Vaelus age and distance from her grief is leading her to stagnation. I don't care that she is 800 years old, spending 70 years in mourning without doing anything to affect the world is not healthy, and I think she knows it. Why else would she still be here? She could just go back to her abbey with the Stone of Nightsong nothing is stopping her, but I think she also must be feeling that call to adventure. Deep down she must not want to keep being the person she was for the last 800 years. I think it's not just her desire to revive Sylandri that is keeping her close to Occtis, she must also long for the act of changing and experiencing the world; for the act of being an active participant in this brand-new world and deepest of all to understand why exactly she is starting to feel like everything she has done up to this point is wrong.

primus attacks houses royce and davinos and leaves town. ethrand and trimus are left to mount a cover up. given yanessa's behavior towards aranessa, there is a chance she was aware this was happening.

simultaneous to the attack on house royce in the city, the golden orchard (left vulnerable due to aranessa's absence and callowyn's recent death) is attacked and destroyed. tachonis forces are beaten back but alba davinos is afflicted with wraith's touch and the orchard is lost

filoneus halovar specifically requests azune investigate the palazzo because he believes he's of the creed. azune makes sure einfasen thinks he's doing the double agent thing. the schemers create the scenario where grotto is able to tell harondus it was an attack by the priestly houses.

a couple of days after this, otto einfasen speaks to both julien and aranessa. he asks thaisha if her order has any involvement and she says no. petra and ryah are summoned to klippenblicke shortly after the seekers arrive. it's presumed through hints that greta wrote to them behind otto and ingrid's backs. greta has also apparently worked in the stahlkeep at some point, because romina knows her and keeps in regular contact.

otto calls a meeting of the leaders and primus is MIA, leading to frustration. ingrid asks if she needs to send word to aranessa and otto says no. cordelia einfasen begins hinting to ingrid she ought to marry ethrand. ingrid finds this suspicious.

azune plants occtis's signet ring as evidence in the amariya cormoray investigation. demodus writes down everything he remembers from the palazzo

a few days later, primus sends word directly to otto that he'll be arriving back in dol-makjar the following trader's day, which is the day of the play. the heads of houses will meet that day. there is no indication primus or otto has any idea about the play.

romina tells the schemers that there are murmurings of "betrayal" around the stahlkeep. she interprets this as harondus believing they (house einfasen or the sundered houses broadly) have been betrayed by primus.

yanessa wants to delay opening night and doesn't have a strong preference for when it should be held, she'd rather her propaganda be in place. the players are being told this by the GM as a way to confirm that these two events are not linked. they have no investment in the play happening the night of the meeting.

harondus wants to see azune the night or morning before the meeting to present hard evidence of what happened at the palazzo and says the fate of the world is at stake.

the reality is simple: otto called a meeting to get clarity on what happened at the palazzo davinos. primus was, likely, in the underworld and thus did not respond for several days while ethrand badly lied about where he was. he reappeared and the meeting was scheduled for the day he'd be back in the city, which happened to be the night of the play. the sundered houses are not performing a big ritual of some kind, they are having it out over house tachonis destroying house royce

Friends, thank you so much for the massive support and these 15 recent donations!

Thank you so much for the 12 additional donations! My family consists of 12 people. We have already lost my father and my brother to this war, and we cannot afford to lose Samer.