Upon spying Demiato in the lineup, Koh cheers loudly for her, placing all bets on her to be the winner. The cheering draws a groan from the general, who’d rather not receive any more attention from the overly interested Eclipse. Much to Koh and Night’s chagrin, the front row seats next to them are also occupied by the delegates from Thorns, Abyssals like the ones who had invaded Dinas Ryhdd none too long ago. Koh and the delegate share verbal quips during the first fights, the Eclipse praising Demiato’s merciful efficiency, while the Abyssal lauds the brutality of the fights, taking much pleasure in the front row blood splatter zone (and a little taste when the opportunity provided itself with an errant shower of blood, much to Koh’s disgust).

Demiato tears her way through the competition until she meets one inauspicious opponent who can stand up to her, a man with the seeming of a monk. Instead of falling instantly to her skills, she finds herself under attack by moves she can barely follow with her eyes. Koh and Night strain to see how he could be landing hits, noticing with their quick eyes that her opponent is manifesting chitinous claws that strike like lightning! When Demiato finally has him on the verge of defeat, a rush of infernal green energy shoots from him, filling the arena with sands from the Underworld until he disappears into a portal of essence.

Demiato is announced the winner after verbally denouncing the abbot about his lack of security, Koh and Night joining her in the ring to help keep people away from the dangerous sands and to de-escalate the situation. Koh investigates the monk who had no previous infernal ties and discovers that he had been murdered and his form taken by another entity. Yet another suspicious incident in a string of suspicious incidents happening in Marita during their stay! 

Koh happily accepts a huge winning prize pot, offering it to Demiato to cheer up the foul mood of the whole affair, but the stoic general refuses, stating she doesn’t want her ‘silence’ money and that betting on a clearly superior opponent like her was akin to cheating, hinting that maybe the Eclipse’s advances were a little more disturbing to her than she had previously let on. Flustered and more than a little confused that someone wouldn’t be overjoyed with that much money, Koh keeps the winnings and makes a mental note that this ship has sailed.

After the Circle regroups in town, they stumble upon a strange sight in the marketplace, a magnificent green mechanical woman leaving a trail of bewildered citizens in her wake – their old Alchemical friend Peridot who had since disappeared to explore the city after dropping Chaos off! They catch her up on all the strange events and she provides a simple solution. She can track the energy of the dark magic that they are seeking!

Together with Peridot, several of the local dragonblooded guardsmen, and the rest of the Circle, they venture into the seedy back alleys once again to track the scent of this dark energy. With so many citizens startled by Peridot’s appearance, Kalara, now back in her female persona with Night posing as a decoy Koh, convinces the Alchemical to cover up with a cloak.  Flattery works wonders as Kalara compliments that it must be done, despite the coverings hiding ‘such fine craftsmanship’ (it’s at this point we discover she also has the highest Appearance rating out of anyone in the group, which we never knew until now. Imagine our surprise!).

The trail of dark magic leads the Circle to a row of shady market carts filled with illegal magical accouterments and abandoned buildings. The guardsmen stay behind to manage the crowd and guard the entrance while the Circle breaks into the wall of one of the buildings, Kalara pretending to be just a mere Guild leader and taking one of her darling Koh’s guns for protection so the guardsmen won’t get suspicious of her capabilities.

Thankfully, the guardsmen seem amicable towards letting the Circle do as they please, most of them not really wanting to deal with any more heinous magic like the demon from the previous day and knowing, if anything, that the Circle was better equipped (or at least more willing) to deal with this than they were.

The Circle descends deeper and deeper into a dark corridor hidden behind a secret wall, finding the remnants of blood sacrifices and remains as they move deeper into the old complex. Inscriptions hint at the presence of an old shrine and Yozi worship, their suspicions confirmed when the shadows open up on a ceremony of prostrate priests chanting in unison, the single figure of a girl sitting on a large hammer at the front of their tortured assembly. She reveals herself as Avleua, the keeper of the forge of night, a demon of the Second Circle.

The Circle cautiously questions her about her motives, which amuses her greatly, for they had made the mistake of thinking the Yozi sacrifices were meant to threaten their lives, when a much larger game was at play. The sacrifice of innocents and negligence of the people in the crossfire of the Yozi’s machinations, as well as the demon’s condescending attitude towards them, incenses Kalara, who threatens the demon with the fact that there are a growing number of Solars out there who will never let the Yozi return to harm the innocent, despite Xesa’s warnings that they should tread carefully threatening such a being.

Xesa and Chaos question Alvuea even further trying to understand the nature of the Yozi and why they simply cannot re-negotiate the terms of their imprisonment, but this only perturbs Alvuea further. Negotiation is not her function and if they truly want to talk, they should speak to Berengiere, the weaver of voices, who would delight in talking to them forever and ever. Not understanding her cruel joke, the Circle incapacitates her priests, causing her summoning to release and the demon to disappear back to whence she came.

When they relate this disturbing encounter to Bara later, the Sidereal goes pale at the implications. A Yozi invasion had not been foreseen! What started as a strange encounter ballooned into a cascade of disastrous revelations. If the Yozi were invading, then who would guard the Sword of Creation at the Imperial Manse in the Blessed Isle? With the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress in recent years, only the remnants of her fail-safes were in place.

The Circle try to understand this turn of events, discussing and strategizing into the night with a shaken Bara. With the meeting of New Deliberative about to take place in Dinas Rhydd, it seemed their city would not only become a haven for those seeking freedom, but the jumping off point for the assembly of a shining new force, should they want to survive the coming storm!

Bara plans to take his concerns to the celestial courts, the Sidereal still convinced that they were all going to end up ash in a box somewhere, and yet, he could not deny the fact he had seen this Circle do things he had thought impossible! Before he leaves, he gifts Kalara with a talisman she can use to contact him, should she need to, and the two come up with a secret code phrase he can tell them, should he be unable to speak the truth when they are together, for she was suspicious of what Bara’s colleagues were hiding and what danger he might be in even from his own home office.

Using his knowledge of spiritual cleansing, Night Locust works with a Water Aspect to cleanse and calm the essence into a stable form. His act of heroism, alongside the helpful presence of the rest of the Circle, has convinced the local law enforcement, even the Dragonblooded among them, that these ‘Anathema’ might truly be there to help.

Somehow, during the purification process, the earth from within the crater combines with the remains of a bird into the essence of ‘sharp’, a bird that behaves and acts just like a bird, despite being made of diamond! The diamond bird takes refuge with Chaos Divide, who is the only one hardy enough to hold a being that cuts anything that tries to contain it, much to Kalara’s chagrin. A diamond bird would have been worth a lot of money to many or made a very impressive pet for her office! She requests to keep any feathers it might shed.

With calm returning to the town, the Circle finally takes a breath and heads to their appointment with the strange Sidereal they had met after the demon’s defeat. He had left them a magically imbued business card to negate the forgetfulness that would no doubt wipe him from their minds again in due time.

Along the way to the seedy part of town where the Sidereal had bade them to meet, Kalara notices that Demiato’s shoulder seems stiff as if she had been injured earlier during the commotion. Concerned, and more than a little surprised, Kalara asks what happened. Demiato, however, only admits to someone attempting to mug her earlier. Kalara doesn’t accept that as the full truth, but decides not to prod, leaving it at the thought of how brazen the muggers of Marita must be to try to assault THE General Demiato.

In truth, Demiato had been attacked by a member of the First Pulse while she had been out and about the town the day before. A skillful surprise attack that managed to surpass even the defense of her power armor had left her shoulder mildly injured. Her ‘welcome’ to the First Pulse ended with a sore shoulder and an invitation to their school as long as she came alone to their tournament and kept such things secret.

Finally, their journey through the seedy streets leads them to a rundown tavern. Right at home in the slums, Kalara slips into her Koh persona, playing on his fearsome and charismatic reputation as a Robin Hood figure to convince the owner of the establishment, a short, cranky Amabosar named Kowari, to welcome them in. Upon seeing Bara’s business card, Kowari immediately remembers the Sidereal as a regular customer and waves them inside.

Once inside, the doors shut behind them and the tavern opens up into another dimension filled with a wondrous bathhouse with every kind of room they could imagine! Kowari welcomes the Circle with drinks and keeps offering them ‘pleasant company’ to sate Koh’s rumored appetite for women, much to Kalara’s mild embarrassment in front of the rest of the Circle.

Finally, they find Bara in a private room in the bathhouse patiently awaiting their arrival. Despite not remembering much of him, the account of their alliance kept by Xesa convinces the Circle to take a chance at drinking the concoction Bara offers that might help them remember what they’ve forgotten about him…or possibly poison them.

Thankfully, the concoction works, letting the Circle remember all the trials and tribulations they’ve had alongside Bara, the invasion of Walker in Darkness, Bara coming to their defense by illegally leading an army through folding time and space, and their final meeting with him where Chejop Kejak dragged him away for disciplinary action.

Bara proudly displays a gold pin, announcing that he has changed factions from Bronze to Gold, which leaves the party to question what that actually means. He skirts around the detail that the Bronze faction destroys Solars who don’t tow the line, but proudly announces his opinion that the Circle has proven they can do a lot of good in this world and are not like their predecessors.

With their happy reunion settled, the Circle spends the rest of the night unwinding with Bara, who is more than happy to encourage a celebratory mood by summoning his friend White Feather, the Goddess of Intoxication, to help the Circle find an alcoholic beverage strong enough to get the Zenith, Chaos Divide, drunk, as he was just too damned hardy to ever feel the effects of alcohol like everyone else. The goddess is happy to oblige by providing Chaos with a drink that knocks even the towering Zenith for a loop, while also providing Kalara with an illegal drink and smoking herbs only available in Yu-shan that the Eclipse is more than happy to partake in, for she could never resist forbidden things and fine wines!

By the end of the night, Xesa is singing songs, Kalara is reading erotic books written by her former Soul Shard’s owner out loud to the Circle, and the rest of the Circle is pleasantly sloshed! Thankfully, nobody notes that in order for Kalara to have taken this erotic fiction from the secret library under their manse complex, she would have had to read it aloud to transcribe, as it was forbidden for anyone to physically remove books from the sanctum. Eventually, Night Locust disappears after a flirtatious Sylph courtesan, the drunk ninja encouraged by a grinning Kalara who always thought he needed to learn more ways to relax than meditation.

When the night finally winds down, Kalara finds herself alone with Demiato and decides that there’s no time like the present to find out why the Dawn Caste is always staring and blushing around her. She makes an embarrassingly strong and inebriated pass at the surprised commander, mincing no words that there’s no shame in acting on an attraction, whether there’s a serious relationship there or not.

Tongue-tied at first, Demiato politely withdraws, telling Kalara that she has no interest in one night stands and that she should come to her again when she’s sober. For once, the Eclipse Caste has nothing to say in response.

The members of the Circle either spend their night surprisingly alone, passed out in their rooms, or in the arms of a Sylph courtesan.

Panicked, Chaos rushes to find the missing representative and stumbles upon a disturbing scene in the basement…

The missing diplomat had been killed by his servant, who then turns the knife on his own guts! With the servant’s death, the summoning rites are sealed and an unknown evil crawls its way from Malfeas into Creation. Chaos attempts to speak to the unknown horror, but it only regards him for as long as it must, the Zenith dressed in a robe which requires the consideration of any who speak while dressed in the raiment. Chaos chides the demon for its bad behavior, the demon brushing him off with a word that his target lay elsewhere.

He is the Emperor’s Waiting Sepulcher, a Third Circle demon whose only goal is to target those who maintain the power of civilization!  During Chaos’ attempts to stop the demon, the building catches flame.   The Zenith carefully removes as many of the victims from the burning ruins as he can, only to be greeted upon his exit with the spears of the city guards at his neck!

Being a patient Solar, Chaos surrenders to the guards after bending their spears with little effort and allowing himself to be led him away to a holding cell where he hopes to explain himself further. He politely informs the captain of the guard that they need to let his traveling associates know what’s going on if they have any chance of containing a dangerous situation that the soldiers of the city will not be able to handle on their own.

Sure enough, news of a part of the city being ablaze and rumor of a panic in the district of Chaos’ meeting travels fast. Night and Kalara arrive after a brief stop to let Kalara slip back into her gunslinging Koh persona so she can continue the charade of Kalara being a mere businesswoman.  Koh heads for the lockup where he’s heard Chaos has been taken into custody, while Night’s sorcerous sight allows him to track the demon. Demiato arrives at the prison as well, everyone in a panic as word of the situation spreads.

Wasting no time, Koh uses words charged with essence to immediately declare the innocence of their companion and command him to be freed so that he may aid in handling the emergency situation. At the same time, Demiato marches past the stunned guards and lifts the cell doors off the hinges in a show of authority and strength, everyone too scared of her fearsome reputation to move against her. Every mortal in that room does exactly what she and Koh say without question, the entire building too intimidated or awed to lift a finger!

The Circle scrambles desperately to decipher the meaning of the entity’s words. Does it mean to target the visiting rulers? Will it target the attending Solars? Koh and Xesa try to rally the city’s sorcerous defenses and alert the visiting dignitaries while Demiato and Chaos race to aid Night Locust, who has chosen the dangerous path of trailing the entity on his own!

During the rest of the Circle’s adventures in ‘negotiating’ bail, Night Locust follows behind the demon, watching in horror and fascination as the invisible entity only he could see lumbers towards the outskirts of the city. Any living thing it walked through instantly began to wither and die. Thankfully, only vegetation seemed to be suffering in the creature’s path. It spoke up only once to warn the Night Caste that if he ventured closer, he would ignore him no longer.

Being the cheeky fellow that he is, Night stays on him, drawing the creature to attack with a beam of destruction that cuts a swath past Night and for miles into the countryside! Thankfully, the Solar dodges it, his instincts telling him the beam of foul energy would have destroyed him if he hadn’t been able to evade it.

Wasting no time, Night Locust launches himself at the demon, the assassin shifting into nonexistence in his counterattack and reappearing at the creature’s back, his scythe’s energy blade at its neck! The creature barely has time to respond before Night channels all of his remaining essence into two more overwhelming attacks, slicing deep into the creature as he runs across its immense body, launching off of its chest and twirling into a slash that beheads the demon in one fell swoop!  Night’s final blow imbued with his ghost-eating technique assures that the demon had been destroyed utterly…or so he thought.

Just as Night’s victory begins to sink in, his essence entirely spent, the rest of the Circle arrives in a strange blink of reality. Despite being blocks away, each Solar had found themselves transported as if they were closer than they remembered being. They embrace Night, Koh promising him drinks and a raise as he and Demiato support him by each arm. Xesa rattles him even more with a hug.

But how did any of them get there so fast? The mystery of the reality-bending glitch in Creation is solved by the appearance of a man with the glowing symbol of Mercury, the Maiden of Journeys, shining on his forehead. It was Bara, their old friend!

…except none of them could remember him thanks to the Sidereal aura of forgetfulness. All but Xesa had forgotten him,  the Twilight being thoughtful enough to write down an account of Bara after she first noticed others had begun forgetting him upon his abrupt departure.

This doesn’t stop Kalara from making an entrance, regardless!  She struts into the assembly, arm and arm with her bodyguard, the Circle’s Night Caste disguised as her male persona Koh in a ruse to confuse her enemies.  The two cast such an aura of beauty and charisma, with the help of Teraja’s Air Aspect abilities, that they turn every head in the room, even the attending Fey Lord’s! Teraja and Demiato make their own entrance by announcing themselves loudly as Cathaks, entering Teraja’s nomination for house speaker, much to the chagrin of their enemies in the Realm.

Meanwhile, Chaos Divide learns of the Fey presence at Marita and travels there with the alchemical, Peridot, in tow. He barrels into the hall, ready to punch Fey and forcing the Circle to desperately attempt to talk him down to avoid a diplomatic incident. The strange Fey lord, Shining Radiance in Darkness, welcomes the Zenith, hoping for a hug of greeting, but the holy aura of the Zenith’s hearthstone keeps him at a distance.

The Fey lord had once been defeated by Chaos in battle and had apparently found his way back to Creation, his attitude allegedly changed from his previous aggressive stance towards Creation. Chaos is highly skeptical, however, and finally decides to back down. He will hold the Circle accountable, however, should this Fey end up hurting anyone during his stay. Peridot, meanwhile, enjoys trying every kind of food from the local street vendors, while getting gasps from the citizens, who have never seen an alchemical before.

Despite the tense scene of near-violence between Chaos and the Fey lord, nobody in the meeting seems to notice much. Fights are breaking out all around as the assembly deadlocks in choosing a speaker. To the Circle’s surprise, even a Solar in the crowd goes totemic, gaining their attention. Nobody makes any move to arrest him, however, much to the Circle’s relief. Anathema weren’t entirely unwelcome, or were at the very least tolerated, for good or ill. Kalara makes a note to talk to the Solar later to get a sense of him as an ally and to introduce him to their new Deliberative.

Fortunately, the deadlock is broken as Demiato and Kalara move throughout the assembly, reminding past allies who had joined them in the defense of the region against barbarians that the city-state of Dinas Ryhdd would be a fair and impartial speaker. Hostilities cease as Teraja is finally voted in as speaker. The Air Aspect is a natural and uses his social and magical proclivities to silence those who are out of order, while also keeping the meeting going at a brisk pace.

The Circle learns of a new Haltan delegation which publicly denounces the Realm in their governing body, causing Demiato to worry for her mother, Viper of the Storm Ward Forests, who is the Haltan connection via marriage to the Cathaks. War and rebellion seem immanent and Demiato makes a note to send a message of warning to her mother of the new aggressive Haltan policy.

Another diplomatic incident nearly occurs when Demiato’s father, Cathak Sestin, accuses Dinas Rhydd of harboring heretics and vile Anathema who have interfered with his ability to perform his duty to defend the Confederation of Rivers. The accusation causes Demiato to go totemic as she passionately defends the morality of her actions and reveals Sestin’s unjust orders to kill innocents that led to her Exaltation as a Solar.

Kalara also dismantles his defense, calling to light the approval of Anathema in their city by the new, more tolerant branch of the Immaculate Order that has made its base in the city and naming Sestin’s prior attack on the city a violent act taken against innocent civilians defending their home and freedom. Teraja subtly deflects Sestin’s anger by dampening his voice with air manipulation.  The meeting barely keeps from devolving into open violence.

Next on the agenda, the Fey Lord charms everyone with a passionate speech about his wishes for peace and how they all might make their dreams come true together! Nearly all but Chaos and Kalara are affected by his persuasive presence and mystical aura. Kalara briefly dismantles his mental effect on the crowd and demands reparations, to which the Fey replies with a smile, re-asserting his effect over the crowd with ease, but still promising he will deliver his plan for reparations by the end of the meeting.

Next, the Guild announces their withdrawal from the near East, blaming the Pristine Guild’s ‘barbaric’ practices and asserting that important goods will be scarce because of their interference. However, the rep, who Kalara recognizes as an old classmate, seems to know he’s defeated before he even speaks. Kalara comments with a diplomatic statement about how she wishes for future negotiations between their organizations for the good of all and assures the assembly that the Pristine Guild is happy to bring much needed supplies in the Guild’s absence.

The meeting is adjourned for a two day break and the Circle retreats to their quarters.  Demiato’s mother arrives after being warned via a message sent by sorcery. After realizing the disguised Koh was a decoy Night Locust in disguise, Viper re-familiarizes herself with Kalara, once again subtly probing her about romantic relations with her daughter. The Eclipse fails at first to recognize the suggestion of a romance, being too focused on her own business aspirations.

Once the realization hits, however, Kalara acknowledges the attraction, but claims they’re too busy currently to explore such things. She also deflects the issue, citing her own wish not to disappoint Demiato, showing doubts in herself as a worthy prospective partner. Before they can talk more about the topic, however, Kalara quickly excuses herself with her decoy Koh, eager to move on to networking with the other assembly guests before any more uncomfortable topics come up.

Afterwards, Demiato and her mother talk about the political division happening in Halta, while Chaos hears the Fey calling out his own magnificence through the streets. Shining Radiance in Darkness parades through the streets on a vehicle forged of living arms, delighting in the attention of his onlookers.  He once again tries to greet Chaos and make peace with him and is, once again, greeted by the burning banishment of the Zenith’s holy aura. Xesa tries to have a sensible discussion with the Fey about whether he is friend or foe and ends up confusing him with her logical questions about his nature and intent.

They learn from the Fey that he claims they can feed on dreams without taking too much from their hosts, but that he still has much to learn about humanity, who he finds fascinating, confusing, and beautiful all at once. The discussion ends, however, after Chaos destroys his vehicle by moving too close to him. Xesa’s barrage of logical questions also ward him off just as effectively. It remains to be seen if the Fey lord will be a friend or foe!

Meanwhile, Koh and Kalara move through the festivities, making their way to where the Guild representative, Donavan, is drowning his sorrows at a bar with his companions from Nexus. Kalara plays the part of an old classmate and friend, describing how she was dealing with legal matters until she could publicly lead her guild. Meanwhile, Night has fun acting as her bodyguard, playing the part of Koh, ex-bandit and Merchant Prince.  

Much to Kalara’s chagrin, Night adds some off-script flirtacious flourishes implying a romantic relationship between the two.  Kalara plays along, however, hiding a verbal chiding behind a more painful than romantic ear nibble, while trying to keep things natural and inconspicuous. Mostly, their odd behavior just makes Donavan believe they’re into some kinky stuff.

Kalara wastes no time in making Donavon an offer, telling him to bring a message to the Guild that she’s interested in negotiation for the best future of their organization, as well as offering him a ‘safe’ position in the Pristine Guild. The merchant uses a monocle to see if she’s utilizing any unnatural spells or abilities on him and is satisfied to find that she’s not.  Rumor had it she was utilizing Yozi in her contracts, which amuses the Eclipse.  

Donavan needs time to consider her offer, to which Kalara is happy to give him time, as well as offer funds to help bribe his pursuers, should he have to escape the Guild through more intense means.  Donavan also divulges the Guild’s intent to move their operations northwards into the crystal reaches, which Kalara notes as something to investigate later.

By the end of their negotiations, Night steals from the merchant not once, but twice, making the merchant’s bodyguard look like an idiot and living up to Koh’s bandit name better than Kalara ever did, much to her amusement. On the way out, the fake Koh showers Kalara with affectionate nicknames, Kalara hiding her annoyance behind a ‘loving’ punch to his butt. Donavan and the rest of his entourage watch on, pondering what kind of secret bondage dungeon Kalara must have hidden in her holdings.

By the end of the night, all seems well, but for a message that arrives via sorcery for Xesa. Unaffiliated mercenaries have been found trying to penetrate Dinas Rhydd’s defenses while they’ve been away, but have so far been unsuccessful. The Circle’s forces at home claim to have it under control, but they make sure to send back orders for recon, regardless. Perhaps their neighborhood ninja, Arc of Silence, who was left in charge of Pristine Guild security in the city, can retrieve information on the unknown forces that the city guard could not?

With the final repairs complete, the hidden library finally becomes accessible. The Circle reports to their manse thrones to be teleported into it, where they meet Araki Denlai, Twilight Caste of the ancient Solar Circle,...or what's left of her. The AI intelligence of the library was created in Araki Dunlai’s final moments of uploading herself into the machine, an act which caused her body's final death.

The AI seems distressed after learning how badly the deliberative has failed after being connected to the outside manse. The Circle encounters the body of Denlai in stasis and plan to ask Ten Winds to give her a proper burial to send off her Po peacefully. Kalara worries in private with Xesa that the AI seems a little…off, but they would wait and see if she showed any other signs of being dangerous.

After preparations are made for Denlai's body, the Circle is left to explore the manse. Even Chaos could not jump the height of it, as invisible walls keep one from doing so. Night finds plenty of resources on the creation and theory of Soulsteel, while Kalara eagerly searches for materials on Righteous Devil and other obscure histories. Demiato is led to the Genzosha armor that was left previously by an intruder. Forge is tasked with making the armor usable again for the squad leader, Wilkins, whose awakened essence allows him to control the exosuit without needing life-shortening alterations.

Kalara, meanwhile, secretly asks the library about any kind of adventure and erotic sections, her guilty pleasure reading. Surprisingly, there happen to be books written about the previous Solars in both sections. Such books will make for amusing dirt to use against Calymm, her Soul Shard's owner, whom Kalara enjoys trolling in the Underworld after their first encounter where the Solar's spirit threatened to kill her if she wasn't up to his standards for his 'inheritence'. Unfortunately, one must read any book in the library aloud for proper record-keeping purposes, which makes further explorations on such scandalous topics left to more private visits.

The Circle comes to a consensus via vote to reprogram the northern manse's mind-reading ability to disable unnatural mental influence, giving any in the manse's range the ability to know that they’re being targeted by it so that they can choose to allow the influence or have it blocked.

Things seem quiet as the days count down to the Marita council. Xesa crafts a wall plaque for Kisk of such wondrous quality as to make the gods jealous. She also crafts for Avarice an outfit for herself and her bear so that she has a change of clothes with underworld motifs, along with a wall hanging. The depictions of the underworld seem to bring the captive Abyssal a kind of peace, so much so that even Avarice thanks her for the gift. Kalara, meanwhile, pays regular visits to Crown of Thorns, their other captive Death Knight from Walker's invasion, who continues to be evasive about his past self. His resonance spikes every now and again, but he seems otherwise unphased by her prodding.

Finally, the Circle departs a few days early before the meeting to accompany Kalara on a visit to a hot springs she's been planning for a long time. After the constant wars, attacks, and mishaps, the Eclipse insists such a visit will be good for everyone's well-being and morale (especially her own). The trip also counts as the enchanted event for her Servant Rewarding Benevolence, to bless them all with good luck for Marita. The Circle travels in style in a boat summoned by Xesa in the form of a giant glowing lotus. Chaos is left behind to help monitor Avarice, who is kept under control by being allowed to take out her lethal aggression on the bandits who attack the town.

Along the way, the Circle stops by one of the many trade posts Kalara had formed before she settled in Dinas Rhydd. The landscape of the town has changed completely now that the river has changed course. Although it seems to be more abundant with fish and trade, local attitude seems resistant to the change, which Kalara hopes will pass as the years go by. While in a local shop, she notices one of her Pristine Guild merchants overcharging for his items and calls him out for his treachery by revealing her position as Guild Master. He begs forgiveness while Night intimidates him with a harmless threat that the shadows will get him. The merchant gets off with a warning and afterwards rumors spread that the Guild Master of the Pristine Guild is traveling the countryside with the terrifying 'Nightstalker', who will kill or terrorize all dishonest merchants who disobey the Pristine Guild's edicts. Kalara decides a little fear can be useful and lets the rumor lie, at least until the next board meeting.

Kalara is ecstatic that they make it to the hot springs without incident, though the place seems freshly built with new wood and was the only one she could find in the area that was along the way to Marita. Her hopes for no incidents are seemingly dashed when river bandits emerge in canoes upstream to rob them. Night and Demiato argue over who gets to fight them, while Kalara ignores the fight and goes to check the Circle in at the front desk. Xesa watches on, amused. The bumbling bandits (who actually botched their join battle roll) are no match and find themselves intimidated into recruitment in Dinas Rhydd by the merciful blade of Demiato. Night uses lightning speed to taunt them all way back to their boat and make sure they're sent on their way to Dinas Rhydd.

The hot springs seem like a normal hot springs resort staffed by demure women in kimono with traditional shrouds over their faces. Kalara wastes no time getting everyone settled into the men and women's baths where she and Taraja both heap alcohol on everyone. Demiato, upon seeing a nude Kalara, spends a few minutes blushing for no apparent reason (Jenn botched her ladyboner roll...again lol). Kalara is too tipsy to notice and she, Demiato, and Xesa all realize they're terrible at small talk. Another female guest, an older woman, gets them on the topic of scars and war stories and how wonderful the new hot springs is. Folks who come to the baths find themselves relieved of old ailments and their old scars miraculously healed!

Meanwhile, Night and Taraja get pretty drunk and can be heard singing even on the women's side of the springs. Night sneaks off to climb the wall and eavesdrop on the ladies, but decides they're pretty boring. He doesn't have time to consider doing anything else when he finds himself confronted by a floating crystal eyeball. It watches him and he watches it until one of the shrouded female hot springs attendants taps him on the shoulder and politely informs him that such behavior is against the rules and that he should return to the men's pool. Night scoffs at being discovered and walks his way back down the wall to the pool, wondering what the heck that eyeball thing was.

Eventually, Kalara gets that moment of comradery she was hoping for when she asks Demiato and Xesa if they could have ever predicted they would be where they were now 5 years ago. Demiato states she thought she would be dead, to which Kalara chides her somewhat for being cynical. Demiato takes some offense, but Kalara eventually explains that she could relate, having thought she, herself, would have still been a slave, but has found herself the head of a guild instead. Demiato actually compliments her for having done great things, to which Kalara replies that Demiato has as well, hoping that the commander would value her own worth a little more.

However, the moment is interrupted by another shrouded attendent who summons Demiato for her scheduled massage. The commander is wary of dropping her guard for anyone, but the attendants seem to have an aura of calm. She randomly observes that two of the attendants sound the exact same, but is too lost in the exceptional quality of the massage and the pleasant aroma in the room to act on that suspicion. Even more suspicious, under the shroud, she notices the attendant has purple skin and an inhuman look, but (Jenn failing her lore roll), seems to recall these kinds of servants aren't usually harmful or unusual.

Meanwhile, an inebriated Kalara attempts to convince Xesa to go peep on the men with no success (Kelly kept making her Temperance rolls!). Donned in the traditional peeping attire of a towel on her head, Kalara scales the wall hoping to catch a little peek of at least Taraja...and instead comes face to face with the same strange crystal eyeball! Startled, she calls down to Xesa asking her what a 'crystal eyeball thingie is', Xesa reporting it's a low level demon and probably nothing to worry about...probably. One of the attendants appears seemingly out of nowhere, informing Kalara to return to the women's pool and that it's time for her massage, now that Demiato had returned from hers.

While Demiato and Xesa try to figure out why there are purple attendants and first circle observation demons staffing the hot springs, a blissfully unaware Kalara has the best massage of her life. Little did Demiato or Kalara know that it wasn't just a deep muscle massage, but the strange demonic attendants were actually using flesh weaving to detach, correct, and reattach their muscles! The attendant's hands weren't just massaging them, but dipping inside their flesh, unbeknownst to either of them.

Kalara emerges completely refreshed and gushes about the quality of the hot springs and how she's thinking of investing in it. Xesa, suspicious of the demonic attendants, simply tells her that might not be a good idea, but doesn't say way, much to Kalara's chagrin.

The Circle is gathered to dinner, everyone growing more suspicious by the minute, except for Kalara who tries to remain hopeful. She surprises Night with a birthday treat of a delicious looking dessert with a candle, declaring the day a new birthday for him, as a birthday was the best gift she ever got from her own father. Xesa identifies the dessert as a strange delicacy from the underworld – a mashed up locust paste on a bun that tastes different and uniquely appealing to each person who eats it. It’s also known to cause insanity and addiction, if eaten too often. Kalara also makes friends with an old mercenary woman who’d been in the woman’s bath with them, the Eclipse never able to turn off her business mode, no matter the circumstance.

Finally, the Circle is called to a meeting with the ‘Mistress’, whom they had been promised an audience with. Night’s essence sight can see the energy bonds leading from each demonic attendant to the room where they’re headed, but there’s no way to tell of the nature of the summoner. They’re led to a dark room lit with candles where the mysterious purveyor of the inn beckons them. They can see that she’s a woman with long hair and a loose-fitting kimono smoking a pipe. Kalara cordially introduces the party and thanks their hostess for a wonderful visit, even though all are on edge about dealing with a possible threat.

Upon hearing Kalara’s introduction, the hostess perks at the name ‘Vadras’, reminiscing to herself about how she knew an Ahrun Vadras once when she was an amateur businesswoman and how she remembers a little girl she healed years ago. She introduces herself as Nadara, a name Kalara had heard rumors of as a traveling doctor and businesswoman who was known to heal people…for a price. And sometimes for no price at all.

Upon recognizing the innkeeper as the same woman who saved her life years ago, Kalara bows deeply, apologizing for any rudeness and thanking her for saving her life. Nadara reveals herself as a Twilight caste, dismissing such formality. She promises that the inn is in keeping with Ahrun’s principles and that the Circle can interview the staff as she sees fit. The Neomah were summoned and bound to her in mutual agreement that they could take scars and tumors from her patients for their purposes, while Nadara has built a thriving new business, thanks to the Circle’s rerouting of the river, which created the perfect spot for a hot springs resort. She also thanks the Circle for dispatching the bandits, for if they had met her wrath, there would be new bodies to dispose of.

The Circle seems pleased with Nadara’s openness, while Nadara seems impressed with their feats and agrees to attend the meeting of the new deliberative they have planned in the future. Another ally joins the new deliberative! Night spends the rest of the time partying with Taraja on his new ‘birthday’, while the rest of the Circle breathes a sigh of relief. Kalara also decides to let the Neomah take the scar of her slave brand and hopes that bit of flesh will end up as part of something better than what it represented for her.

With their hot springs interlude over without incident, the Circle finally proceeds on to Marita, where representatives from nations all over the threshold are arriving in fashion. Demiato heralds their arrival by posing atop the mast in her power armor, colors high and cloak flailing in a wind created by Taraja. Kalara, meanwhile, has donned a disguise as a bodyguard, so as to cast off any suspicion for her upcoming plans to make a big entrance at Marita.

The other nations, even those ruled by Deathlords, gather in a fanfare of glittering ships, opulence, and slaves. The biggest entrance is made by the Fey, who appear on the horizon as a great lumbering beast. As it nears, the beast dissembles into smaller creatures, the Fey lord atop the mass calling loudly to all that they should appreciate his magnificence. The Circle is not impressed, and rather thankful that Chaos had to stay back for business, else there'd be a fight on their hands almost immediately.