Cassie and Stone: The Duo Turned Trinity

Having awoke together in one body after a traumatic, amnesiatic event just outside the Mirkwood Academy campus, Cassie and Stone discovered they’d been in a coma for several months. After some time acclimating to each other and their new shared body and returning to their home towns to check on their families, they began to investigate what it is that they forgot.

While looking for a professor, Benedict Guisar, they found Della and the rest of the party in Nicodranas, hoping Della would know where Benedict is. Eventually, they found Benedict in Trostenwald, investigating a new strange red stone that he believed would hold the key to stopping Della’s portal’s from opening. This connection with Benedict led them to the Cobalt Soul and High XXX, Sandrius Anguin.

Sandrius knew the Owlin who originally owned the body that Stone and Cassie now share, calling them Ezekiel. Ezekiel was an inquisitor, recently promoted by Sandrius for his work as an Archivist. As an archivist, Ezekiel was able to gather and collate data accounting the movement of the Empire and it’s expansion into previously unclaimed or shared territories, such as the Cyrengreen Forest. These studies were excused as Ezekiel claimed they were to identify patterns for new expansion efforts and to avoid a cycle the Empire’s enemies could ascertain. Sandrius saw the truth; they were focused on the conquering nature of the Empire and how to avoid falling victim to their colonizing. Information like this is a one way ticket to treason charges and is really only useful to one party at this time: the Kryn Dynasty.

It was then that Sandrius took Ezekiel under his wing and began to mentor him into an archivist. Together, they explored the various magicks that have been unearthed by the Cerberus Assembly over the last 40 years and found a disturbing pattern that the Assembly seems to be seeking more information on necromantic artifacts. While working together, Ezekiel confided that he was a member of the Kryn Dynasty and had in fact been working on reports to avoid their falling prey to the Empire. In discussing the Kryn Dynasty, Ezekiel told Sandrius about the Luxon Beacons, a set of magical artifacts that the Kryn value in their culture and use in their death rites.

When they found out a Luxon Beacon had been stolen, Ezekiel travelled to find it as his first mission as an Inquisitor, tracking it to Nicodranas and a shop called Errenis Antiquities. The last Sandrius heard from Ezekiel, he was going to follow it as it left for the docks one night and attempt to steal it off the cart.

Traveling to the Kryn Dynasty with the Luxon Beacon that Katerina and Scrum stole from the Cerberus Assembly, they were able to meet with Vonder Grue, one of the current Luxon Becon scholars who theorized that there was another Beacon close to Ezekiel the night of the accident. Through an insane cosmic twist, it is most likely that Ezekiel, Stone, and Cassie all shared in a near fatal accident at the same time, which caused the Beacon Ezekiel was chasing and that was likely damaged by whoever held it, to confusingly try to both capture and release the three souls at the same time, storing Ezekiel’s, recognizing that this soul shouldn’t return to its own body. However, without that Beacon and seeing exactly how it was broken, Vonder does not know exactly how this issue could be reversed.

The night before leaving Nicodranas, the party broke into the Zheleho’s office to look for more information on the night of Stone and Cassie’s accident. They found case notes from the night of Ezekiel’s accident, well organized by fairly limited. The accident was reported at 7:46am via one of the communication orbs the Zheleho have placed around the city for emergencies. Darryn, a custodian at the Mirkwood Academy, reported a dead body outside the Academy wall, lying in a ditch. In investigating, the detective found signs of strong trauma and broken bones that indicate a heavy fall. A note in the margins comments that it’s likely the body was injured elsewhere and dropped.

The body was dressed in all black and in gloves. No identification or belongings were on him. While on site, the Crownsguard reported an attack on the Academy grounds, out of their jurisdiction, and passed it on to the Zheleho. Three bodies were found on the other side of the wall from the Owlin. One was a charred husk with no identification or items beyond their clothes (not noted). The female appeared to be the victim of a stab wound, with a knife left in the body (strange handle, blue blade tinged with purple. In evidence; the rest blacked out). The male had a significant burn on his chest, indicative of a magical burn: quick, blisteringly hot, and concentrated.

On the next page, notes on the case mentioned that the three injuries are considered to be unrelated, with the Owlin victim presumed to have fallen from a cart, or possibly pushed, but the answer is unknown given the victim’s amnesia. The two injured in the Academy grounds were most likely victims of an attack, but also suffer from amnesia and cannot speak to the incident. Investigations will continue into similar crimes, but this investigation has been tabled for now, “Closed by Monarch”.