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[Solymr]

Opening the door fully, the acolyte let them in.

Uh, very well, I'll lead you to the waiting room- The voice of the Abbess suddenly filled the entry hall.

Skip the waiting, son, just send them directly to my study.

Ah, understood, Abbess.

The acolyte led the group straight to the Abbess' study, in the deepest part of the House of Scholars. The old woman opened her door to greet the party.

: It's good to see you all well and here, so now I can ask you what the hell happened with the Royal Treasures?! I've received news of what happened in Duo Alva!

[Haspen]

"They've been- wait, what? How do you know about that? Aren't you, like, stuffed in here all the time? We didn't see anyone on our way here. How did the news reach you, old woman?"

[Solymr]

: I may be, but not every single one of my acolytes is! You should know, you're with two of them. And news this big is sure to get around real fast, even to the sandy asscrack of Alvada!

[Haspen]

Ethan crossed his arms.

"Then you know everything we know, too. A guy showed up with 'true' treasures then destroyed the ones we had."

[Powder Miner]

:"The working theory that some of my compatriots came up with, ma’am, is that the damned things were fake the whole time, and that the amulet has to be used with the orb to reveal the location of the actual artifacts, meaning we’ve got to hunt them down. One is here."

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Yes, it seems the previous artifacts we got our hands on were nothing but a distraction. But considering your current reaction and the fact you are still here...You weren't aware about this either, were you?"

[Solymr]

: Or you thought Ethan would already be dead or captured.

The Abbess was about to answer rudely when suddenly she showed an expression of sudden realization. Now more calm, the Abbess invited the group into her study.

: I know what happened. Come in and let me tell you a story.

She sat down on a comfy chair and began the story.

: When I was first ordained Abbess, a long time ago, all this matter of the Orb and the Treasures was not unknown to me, but also not of my particular interest. But there was a man who arrived with news related to it. He looked a bit like you, Ethan, but the resemblance didn't make me think of anything when you came by. Now that it's obvious that you're either a doppleganger of the late King or his twin brother, it may have been an ancestor of yours.

: Whoever he was exactly I don't know, but he wanted to speak with me about the Orb and the Treasures, telling me that within my lifetime I would see them resurface. Not only that, he brought a magical ring, saying that it was imperative that it were to be prevented of any use, because it could help cause the calamity the Treasures were meant to avoid. I sensed great power and great mystery within that ring, and neither I or anyone else was unable to decipher or bring forth its power.

: I informed myself more about these Treasures, their history, their relation with the Orb and the Reckoning, and I ended up believing the man. I learned how the Orb worked, but I was still missing a piece of information that the man didn't mention: the Amulet. So I was the one who was tricked first, and this trickery was passed down from me to you.

: It is clear to me this is a conspiracy that has been in the works for many more years that you have been alive. This whole Treasure hunt, a setup in which I have been conned into helping. But that doesn't mean there isn't a calamity coming, and if what you say is true, and one of the true Treasures is in the House of Scholars, then it is most definitely the ring that I locked in the White Room behind me.

: It has to be true. The Orb shed a royal emblem when exposed to the Amulet. If that ring is a true Treasure, the Amulet will also interact with it.

The Abbess rose up from her chair.

: Then it's settled, I'll retrieve the ring now. I warn you, this might take a while. Normally the White Room is one of the most guarded secrets of the House of Scholars, but this is proving to be an exceptional time, and whoever planned this knows about it already. The White Room is something like a safe room, or a vault, standing here from time immemorial. It is said it was built by the Old Gods, and the House of Scholars was built around it. It has many security measures, both to get in as to get out, only learned by each Abbot and Abbess down the line, and as such, only I will be going in to retrieve the ring. Is that clear?

[Haspen]

"Sure. I want something to eat in the meanwhile."

[Praefectus Screptum]

"...Not wanting to question your conditions but I do believe we are...'Rushing at the time'? I think that's how it is said."
"I doubt the fake king has intentions of letting us live, so chances are he is tracking us down...So if this happens to be a slow process, wouldn't it be better to send someone to help you to get it done faster?"

[Powder Miner]

:"That run-around we've been given with the false artifacts has caused real damage... if there's some sort of ancient conspiracy at play here, I hope they at least saw that sort of thing something. I don't want all of that to just have been pointless waste of life."

Fer let out a short sigh, and then Vortai's words seemed to trigger some sort of realization.
:"Oh shit, a-ah, e-eh, sorry for the usage of profanity in your presence, ma'am."
:"But... if "Narius", quote unquote, IS having us successfully followed, well enough to have forces coming here, then it's probably much better that we're here to meet those forces rather to just allow them to come to the House of Scholars unhindered. There's no guarantee they'd actually attack, but if they did... it would be nothing short of a world-scale travesty not to defend it."

[Praefectus Screptum]

"Ah. So you noticed the issue as well. I am hoping we can get this done fast exactly to hopefully take their attention away from here-It would be very unfortunate and bothersome to fight their troops on this place."
"We are in a situation we should not take things lightly, so even if we currently aren't dealing with them, I am sure he is looking for ways to track us down...That is assuming he didn't already manage to do so."

[Chevaleresse]

Gawen had begun pacing in the meantime, the tension of the situation starting to get to her.
"Why play with forces like these? If the tales are true, then all of this trickery with the relics is putting the world in grave danger. Surely there are easier ways to enact a coup." She shook her head. "False Treasures. . . All that business with Demura, too, in pursuit of a lie."

[Solymr]

: Hmph. Knowing Domiria they probably were in on it. Isn't it convenient that now Ethan's wanted in both Domiria and Alvada? Not that he wasn't wanted in Domiria before, but now he's public enemy number one.

[SOLDIER First]

"For some there is no risk too great in the pursuit of power. Like as not, whoever was responsible for deceiving the Abbess simply doesn't care how close their ambitions are to causing disaster, milady."

[Sirus]

: "I do not understand how they could be tracking us though. Surely we would have seen the sails of another ship if they had been close enough to follow our own. Could they be tracking the amulet or the orb magically, somehow? And if so, is there some way to hide them so we are not being chased across the world?

"Of course, our enemies might guess that we'd come here and send forces anyway, but that's a separate problem."