Session 10 - 2023-03-21

From: Sergeant Alexandre Wallace
To:   Captain Celine Blackwood
Date: September 15, 2022
Time: 9:07pm

Location: Neuville Shipwright’s Guild Hall 

On the above date and time, I, Sergeant Alexandre Wallace, responded with my duty squad, to an urgent summons from Antoine Rickhill, the clerk in charge at the Shipwright’s Guild Hall. Upon our arrival, we were informed that several guests had disturbed the peace of the Hall by participating in a mêlée that resulted in injuries to several guests, damage to the hall itself, and was, moreover, in direct contradiction to the conditions agreed upon by all guests at the hall. 

Antoine Rickhill, who reported the disturbance, directed our attention particularly towards a young man who was reported to be the one responsible for the disturbance. Upon our arrival, I observed that the young man in question, one Thistle Werim, a visiting member of the Bostian Shipwright’s Guild, according to Mr. Rickhill, appeared to be in a state of rather heightened emotion, as well as suffering from some superficial wounds. Upon our appearance, he and his compatriots calmed themselves. At this point, Mr. Rickhill informed them all that they were to leave the establishment immediately, other than the youth, Mr. Werim

The squad and I joined him and Mr. Rickhill in the administrative offices of the Shipwright’s Guild Hall, where I attempted to question him regarding the nature of the conflict that happened. He was initially reluctant to take responsibility, but shortly admitted to his part in the conflict, and came to apologize to Mr. Rickhill. 

After conferring with Mr. Rickhill, it was determined that the young man was to be escorted to the residence of the Guildmaster, Ronan LeGuin, for further investigation and possible guild punishment. The six of us, consisting of myself, accompanied by Corporal Renard, and Privates Reynolds, Harrison, Moreau, and Cameron, proceeded to do so, heading east from the guildhall past The Green, and to Mr. LeGuin’s residence.

Upon arrival at the residence, I summoned the staff of the guildmaster, and escorted him into the residence. Mr. LeGuin, having received a report by messenger from Mr. Rickhill, requested that we remain while he discussed the incident with turned over the young man to the care of the Guildmaster. After a space of approximately 25 minutes, the Guildmaster sent Mr. Werim to wait with the squad, and summoned me to discuss the matter. Mr. LeGuin informed me that he would take full responsibility for the young man, and inquired as to any non-guild charges that the youth was facing. Finding that there were none pending at this point (given that this was a guild matter, and had happened on guild grounds, there was no complaint from anyone outside the facility, this was to be expected), he informed me that the Guild had imposed appropriate and sufficient penalty upon the youth, and requested that I release him from custody.

Returning to the squad, I complied with the Guildmaster's request and released the young man from custody, after warning him not to cause further disturbances. The young man did not resist during any part of the escort, nor did he exhibit any further signs of distress or agitation and seemed quite remorseful after his discussion with Guildmaster LeGuin.

Upon releasing the youth, the squad and I returned to our regular duties, with no further incident. 

Respectfully submitted,
Sergeant Alexandre Wallace

From the desk of: Guildmaster Ronan LeGuin
To: Antoine Rickhill, ℅ Neuville Shipwright’s Guild Hall 

Dear Antoine,

I have met with young Thistle Werim, and I want to commend you for your swift and decisive action in this matter. It was right of you to send him to me, and I have dealt with it, appropriate. 

According to the young man, he and his friends were accosted by several non-guild members in the hallway outside the dining room, and were forced to defend themselves lest they suffer injury and other indignities. He expressed complete remorse over his actions, and, moreover, complimented you on your work with he and his companions over the last two days. He provided me with sufficient funds to pay for the repairs necessary to restore the hallway to it’s former state.

That being said, after my discussion, I had no choice but to ban him from all guild facilities for the next six months. Please ensure that the appropriate forms are filled out and filed with the offices upstairs at the guildhall by tomorrow morning, when I arrive at the Hall. Thistle Werim is not to be allowed in any Guild facilities, will not receive any support from the guild, and is not allowed to work at any guild-sanctioned worksites before March 15, 2023. Please prepare the appropriate paperwork and have it on my desk by 10am tomorrow, with copies available to be sent to the other guild facilities, and the members as appropriate. 

I must say, Antoine, that when I compare your note to the information provided by Mr. Werim, I find myself strongly under the impression there is something else going on. He was far more forthcoming to me than he was to you, and there are some… extenuating circumstances that are troubling to me. I will be investigating this incident, and the events around it, personally, and as such, I would like to request that you implore your brother to join me at my offices tomorrow at 2pm. This is purely a request for further information on my part. 

Antoine, something else is going on, and I am concerned about it. These two guests that Mr. Werim was in conflict with - what information do we have on them? Where did they come from - were they Autiersian Guild Members, or were they other visitors? Please contact Julien Hamilton and have him come to the Guildhall so that you and I can have a more in-depth discussion of the events of the last two days.

And, let me reassure you, I don’t believe that you did anything wrong, Antoine. I am not looking to place blame upon anyone - but I do have several questions about what is going on. In addition, please find out all that you can about a Bostian merchant named Tradlem Jak. The last information I have on him is that he approached one of the member shipyards about a possible collaboration, but that was several weeks ago. I believe that he has some information on this situation that may be useful for us.

You did everything right, my friend, and I commend you on your level-headedness in this extraordinary situation. There is more to this story than we have seen so far, and you were absolutely right to bring it to my attention. 

I look forward to discussing this with you tomorrow, and until then, I hope that you have yourself a good night. 

Yours,

Ronan LeGuin, esq.
Guildmaster
Autiersian Shipwrights’ Guild
Neuville, Autiersia.

Notes received from the Nighthorn Gazette Editor's desk:

R: So, tell me about the guests you had

IK: Well, there was four of ‘em at first. They showed up last night about 9pm, lookin’ fer a place to stay. It was a weird mix of folk, that’s fer sure. The dragonborn fella wuz polite, and the half-orc with ‘im was nice enough. They told me they liked the inn, and talked all polite ‘n such, but the dwarf that was with ‘em? He was somethin’ else. Foul tempered, sulky, bedraggled, and lookin’ green around the gills - just all ‘round pissy, if ya know whut I mean. And then there was the mech - he didn’t say much, but they usually don’t, from my ‘sperience. I know they’s people and all, ‘cording to the Council, but they make me nervous, know what I mean? Ya can’t tell what they’re thinkin’ most of the time, and they don’t move right. It’s unsettlin’. 

R: Was that a problem?

IK: Nah - their silver spends the same as other folk’s. That’s the way I figger it, anyways. 

R: So, these four showed up and then what happened?

IK: Well, it was getting’ late - it were already dark out, and the dinner rush was on. We had a bunch of folk that were drinkin’ in the common room, and Guy was up on the stage with his lute, playin’ tunes for the folk. The four of ‘em wanted rooms fer the night, and asked if they could rent some. 

 “Well”, I says to ‘em, “That’s what we’re here fer.” I put ‘em into two rooms, and sent ‘em up with Charlie to show them where they’d be stayin’. I didn’t think nothin’ of it at the time. Bein’ so close to the gate, we gets all kindsa travellers here, and they weren’t the weirdest group we’d had stay here. 

R: You said “Four of them at first”. Does that mean that something changed afterwards?

IK: Yah - about half an hour after they checked in, a big kid showed up. He was a little diff’rent, ya know? He was human, for one thing, and he had an accent. He had a wild look to ‘im, and he wuz bleedin’ from his arm. He didn’t say nuthin’ bout it, so I didn’t neither. It took me a couple of tries to figger out he was lookin’ fer the others, on accounta his accent. Once I understood, I sent Charlie up to let the four of them know he was there, and waited ta see what they’d do. After ya bin in the Inn business fer a while, ya get to know when things is hinkey. I figgered they’d either be happy to see him, or they’d scarper. 

R: “Scarper”? You mean, they’d just leave?

IK: Yeah, scarper, ya know? Take off, flee, run away - scarper. I didn’t care - they’d paid for their rooms in advance, so if they wanted ta leave, ‘twas no skin off my nose. 

R: So what happened then? 

IK: Well, the four of ‘em came down and there was a big reunion - they wuz happy ta see him. ‘Least that’s what it looked like. I don’t tend ta’ snoop, but I heard them talkin’ ‘bout a guildmaster givin’ one of them shit, and somethin’ about a ban for six months. I gave them a third room, got my silver from the lad, and thought no more about ‘em. ‘Least, didn’t think about ‘em till the next mornin’.

R: What happened then?

IK: Well, first off, I got my morning Gazette, ya know? I got friends and kin that live over in Nighthorn, and I read the Gazette to see what’s goin’ on in the old neighbourhood. And right there, on the front page, there was that story. All about them “reawakened sleepers”, and all that ruckus they was kickin’ up. It made me angry, it did. It’s not right for folk ta’ go ‘round fightin’ and killin’ honest folk that never did nuthin’ to ‘em. But I’m not dumb - I knows that there’s always another side to a story. So’s I read the Gazette, and recognized the five of ‘em, and says to myself “They ain’t done nothin’ ta you, George Freville, and they ‘bin right quiet, so mebbe this here story’s wrong ‘bout ‘em. 

R: So you recognized them, but you didn’t believe the story?

IK: Yah - no ‘fense, but the Gazette tends ta be a bit… excitable, ya know whut I mean? Remember that story last May, the one ‘bout that “werewolf” rampagin’ through the ward, infectin’ folks left and right?

R: Well… yes - that wasn’t quite what had happened. We apologized for that.

IK: Sure ya did - but I knew folks that had seen it. It weren’t no werewolf - it was a sick dog, and it never bit nobody - it just stole food and threw up on a bunch of folk. You and yers never came right out and ‘splained that - you just told folks that the report was wrong, and left it at that. There are still folks in Nighthorn that are carryin’ silver and usin’ wolfsbane cologne, today, ya know. 

R: Ummm… back to the subject at hand, though. You said that they hadn’t done anything - what prompted you to contact the Gazette then?

IK: Well, after I read the story, I got to work getting’ breakfast ready. I told Charlie ta keep an eye out fer trouble, and sent tha wait-folk out to find out what folks wanted fer breakfast. We don’t have the biggest menu, but I pride’s mesself on the quality of what we do offer. As they came in to tha’ dinin’ room, I could tell that folks was nervous. Seems I wasn’t the only person that had read the story. The other guests were whispering about the “Reawakened Menace” and their destructive behavior, but I hadn’t seen anything that would warrant such accusations. They’d kept to ‘emselves and hadn’t left their rooms, so how could they be causing such chaos? It's ridiculous.

R: And then?

IK: And then they came down to breakfast. And it was, well, tense is the best word I could use to describe it. They just ordered some food, and talked ‘mongst themselves, but everyone else in the room was freakin’ out. I saw two wool merchants watchin’ em closely and whisperin’ to each other. A group of Dryian merchants kept makin’ jokes about the ‘dangerous villians’ a few tables over. Every other patron was aware of ‘em, and waitin’ fer the other shoe ta drop.

R: And did it?

IK: No - it didn’t. That’s why I sent the note to the Gazette. They didn’t do nothin’. They was polite. They paid extra fer their morning meal - called it ‘a tip’, whatever that means - and then they left. No fights, no murders, no arson - nothin’. You people made them sound like avatars of Youmysine, and they was nothin’ like that. You shouldn’t oughtta do that - yer gonna get folks hurt. 

R: So - they did… nothing? And you want us to write about that? Do you not understand how the newspaper business works?

IK: No, I dunno ‘bout the newspaper business - but I understand lies - and you folks lied ‘bout them. You shouldn’t oughta do that.

To: Balin Gendrick, Dean, School of Transformation, University of Magic and Mysteries 
From: Lucien Beaumont, Lecturer, School of Transformation, University of Magic and Mysteries 
Date: Sept 15, 2022
Subject: Inspection of individuals with magical metal implants

Dean Gendrick,

As I informed you yesterday, I had received a request from Mark Rickhill to examine a group of six folk that he suspected were all “Reawakened Sleepers”. As you know, I have a particular interest in the sleepers found in Neuville (and elsewhere) since the beginning of the year. When I received the request from Mr. Rickhill, (who I’ve assisted before, as you know) I immediately informed you and, following the procedures laid down for faculty, sought your guidance. Having received it, I then replied to Mr. Rickhill, and arranged to meet these personages at my workshop at noon today. It is now 3pm, and I must report that there have been some developments that I believe worthy of your attention.

As per standard procedures, I conducted a thorough inspection of the group individuals. All five had counter-clockwise spiral-shaped scars on their bodies - well healed, in the case of the biological entities, and smoothed down by means unknown upon the warforged. Four of these individuals (a dragonborn, a dwarf, a half-orc, and a warforged) showed evidence of some sort of transformation being performed on them. The mark on the warforged was upon its shoulder. Each of the scars radiated a faint aura of transformation magic of unknown purpose. 

The fifth individual, a Bostian youth named Thistle, presented an object that he had prised out of his left arm. The device appeared to be a small piece of black metal, approximately 1mm by 1mm by 4mm. I examined it with the use of a magnifier, and to my surprise, I found that there were small fibres on one end of the object. Incredibly fine black fibres, smaller than a spider’s web. Moreover, while I was examining the item, I am convinced that I saw movement of these fibres. Whether that movement came from the natural movement of the air within my workshop, or from some other means, I am not sure. I placed the device upon my workbench, and turned to examine the folk directly.

I examined the wound in Thistle’s left arm, and it appeared that he’d removed the object with the tip of a sharp knife. The wound was deep, and had bled freely, although it was starting to heal when I examined it. According to Thistle, he’d removed the object (and inflicted the wound upon himself) at approximately 8:30pm yesterday. Dean, I have to report that it appeared that the healing process was much more advanced that would be expected - especially for a self-inflicted wound that had been done with an unclean knife, and without medical attention beyond being wrapped in an unwashed rag. The youth claimed that “I’ve always been a quick healer”, but this, in my professional opinion, was beyond the expected. 

The dragonborn - a young man named D’ral, slight of build and red of scales - was surprised to find that there were several scales on his chest that were black instead of red. Upon further discussion, it appears that this is a new development for him. The black scales (5 in number, to be exact) were the same shape as his unaffected scales, but seemed harder and sharper than the others. The scales were slightly above the spiral scar on his chest, and to the right somewhat, by about 4cm from the initial (or terminal - unknown at this point) point of the scar. D’ral was, understandably, somewhat concerned by this. I was pleased and surprised to find that while he is not a student at the University, he is, nonetheless, a fellow wizard. I noted that he appeared to have a copy of The Codex of Flesh and Blood: A Treatise on Transmutational Magic among his goods, and he informed me that he had only recently picked up his copy. We had a brief discussion about transformations of the flesh, and I returned to examining the others.

The dwarf had to be persuaded to display his scar - it was located on his upper right thigh, and I found a similar 1mm x 1mm dark spot under the skin of his thigh, again, somewhat to the right and above the terminal point of the spiral scar. Closer examination revealed that there was something hard and rigid underneath the mark. The dwarf, named Steveigh Oakenshield, told me that when he had awakened in the Temple of Lossounelyn, the scar had radiated an aura of enchantment. But my examination disagreed with this - my spell revealed that all their marks were radiating magic typically found in Transformation spells. 

The warforged was completely passive at this point. I examined the scar upon it’s shoulder, but could get no further information from it. Its behaviour was similar to that reported by the priests of Lossounelyn who cared for the dozen sleepers found in Neuville since January. It followed verbal instructions, but did not respond verbally, or take any action of its own volition. I did note that there was a rather large knife embedded in its chest plate, but the others informed me that this had nothing to do with the scars - it was something that had happened since they woke. 

The half-orc introduced himself as Gnorth, of the Bloor Tribe, and told me that his scar was on his chest.  When asked, he cheerfully removed his jerkin and vest so that I could examine it closely. Again, there was a small 1mm x 1mm mark underneath his skin near the end of the scar. Gnorth, like D’ral, was surprised to find that there was some sort of hard structure underneath the mark, similar to the dwarf’s. We discussed it briefly, and came to a decision to attempt to remove the device from him as well. I procured a flensing knife from my workbench, and performed the appropriate steps to clean it before use. 

I had the half-orc sit comfortably, and attempted to make a small incision beside the small, square black mark on his skin. I muttered a prayer to Yallafun under my breath, and began to cut. Gnorth grunted as I did so - in pain, I would assume - but did not move away. As the blade entered his skin, I angled it so that the knife blade briefly made contact with the structure beneath it. 

It was at this point, that things became confused. According to the others, there was  pulse of “some sort of force” when the knife contacted the structure, and all present were staggered. Gnorth fell off the stool he was sitting on, Steveigh and D’ral were knocked off balance, falling away from Gnorth, and Thistle was actually knocked down. Several items on my workbench were knocked askew, and two beakers (Essence of Aconite and Extract of Alium) were knocked from the bench, shattering on the floor. The warforged - apparently called Kairn - was unmoved, seemingly unaffected by the phenomenon.

As for me, I was thrown back against the workbench by the force. From my perspective, it seemed like the force originated from the point of contact between my knife and whatever was in Gnorth’s arm. I was thrown back, somewhat, and turned about from the blast. I ended up bent over my workbench, face down. Levering myself up off the bench, I returned to examine Gnorth, worried that I’d injured him. 

His arm showed a small wound in the skin, near the black mark, and - for only a moment - I am certain that I saw an iridescent sheen within the blackness under his skin. I watched for a few more moments, but the effect did not recur, so I decided to examine the object that Thistle had presented to me. Unfortunately, it was no longer on the top of my workbench, where I had left it. The six of us searched the floor, looking for the object, but were unable to find it amidst the debris, and fluids from the fallen beakers. I collected the pieces of glass for mending, and noticed a small black mark on my right hand. Upon close examination, I found that it was, like the others, and small, 1mm x 1mm mark. I could - and still can - feel the object in my hand. Apparently, during the confusion, the object had become embedded. Using a pair of forceps, I attempted to pull the object from my hand, but it was impossible to get a grip on it, and attempting to do so brought great pain. Once again using the magnifier, I examined the wound, and saw it visibly healing - far more rapidly than is natural. 

Excusing myself, I left the five of them and sought the help of Professor Elisa Colton. I believed that her expertise in spells related to the transformation of human flesh would be of the most benefit. I do apologize for not seeking your counsel before taking action, but I felt that time was of the essence. With Professor Colton’s help, we have isolated the item in such a way that we can examine it further while preventing similar future incidents. Through a brilliant and creative combination of Gentle Repose and Preservation spells, my right hand is - to all intents and purposes - still alive and stored within a glass container. Unfortunately, I find myself somewhat short handed at the moment, but the cleric of Lossounelyn on duty at the medical wing has assured me that they can regenerate my right hand very soon.

I am concerned, Dean. I request a formal consultation on the situation I find myself in, and believe that it would be in the best interests of the University, if not the entire nation, for you to involve yourself in this situation. I am returning, immediately, to my workshop, and request that you join us as soon as feasible.

Yours, 

Professor Lucien Beaumont,
School of Transformation,
University of Magic and Mysteries 
Neuville, Autiersia.