#LOC-TLS-FirstVersion-10-RoseAnneMahathy

[libraryofcirclaria]

02 October 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

Here I am in North Kempton, at the Galleston Farmhouse. One half of me feels like I've been here for a century, while the other half of me feels that I have not been here at all.

The truth is that I have only been here for a week.

We still know nothing on the mystery figure who attacked Skylar and Robert. But at least there is nothing from Kara Martins against Peter Quora.

Peter and I, by the way, are on good terms again. He apologized, and I forgave him.

It was close. The fateful day saw a total of 1206 votes cast: 603 for Cassandra, 603 for Skylar. Bookkeeper Bolding had to reach out and recruit five former-Members willing to contest the two candidates. Two of them voted for Skylar, and three of them for Cassandra.

Skylar had very close to a silent majority on her side.

Cray, Jeo, Ivella, Peter, and I have been conferencing at the Galleston Farmhouse at length for the past few days, thus the reason I am here. On what to do if Cassandra somehow gains the ability to roll back the progress we made with Arturian Realm is a matter we decided would be addressed at a later time.

In the meantime, it is full steam ahead for the new and emerging Peter Quora Project.

**END OF STORY TEN**

<- 15 September 1315 <- || -> Story Eleven: Peter Quora and Sophia Qalmers ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

15 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

If Vea Byrda was a devout supporter of Skylar Meredyth, she definitely is not now.

She and her brother, Scott, invited me to dinner at the Slack tonight, where they tried talking me into getting away from Peter Quora and supporting Cassandra Lauth. Their reasoning is the fear that Peter Quora's Project would turn into an actual corporation and try to acquire the Third Level Society later on the future.

Ever since the slew of economic changes having taken place in the wake of 1309, it's been damn near impossible to run a corporation without having to pay large taxes. There's more incentive to run independent businesses or non-profit organizations, in fact; and that was one of the intents of the Finzi Coalition in the wake of the big 1301 crisis and the rampant corruption of the elite.

Although I would not say that running a corporation is impossible, technically.

Regardless, there is a lot of fear involved, irrational fear that is. And Ivella was telling me how the Byrdas were just some of many individuals buying dinners for numerous Members to sway them into voting for Cassandra Lauth.

I asked Peter Quora about this Mr or Mrs Greycloak, and asked if perhaps they would be able to contribute funds to help Skylar boost her voter confidence.

"The Dungeonmaster election is in less than 24 hours, Rose Anne," Peter Quora said. "And Skylar's got the silent majority on her side."

<- 14 September 1315 <- || -> 02 October 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

14 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

Bookkeeper Bolding concluded that Lauth's accusations just could not stand, and that Dungeonmaster Skylar Meredyth was, in fact, not involved in any conspiracy with Peter Quora. The Caucus voted just the same, at least 60 percent in favor.

So Skylar Meredyth is still the Dungeonmaster.

"That doesn't mean I'll vote for her on Saturday, though," said a seasoned Third Level Society Member named Vea Byrda. "If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that obvious false accusations like these are designed to attract sympathy toward the person in charge. And you get that when the person in charge wants to maintain the status quo."

"Vea used to be a devout sympathizer for Skylar Meredyth, I hear," Peter Quora told me later tonight.

<- 13 September 1315 <- || -> 15 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

13 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

"First of all, I would like to apologize. I apologize about the Greycloak accusation. I realize there is no way to prove it. I apologize for questioning Ceri Mains. I understand that the audio recording was of her at a younger age. I will admit that most of what I said was emotional, stemming from the trauma of the June 28th spellfire incident."

That is what Robert said, or at least very close to what he said. Then he said how he still had a gut feeling over Skylar conspiring with Peter Quora on the funding of that Project. He attempted to validate himself by saying how there was a growing number of people who felt the same way. Of course, this did not hold out well for Lauth's side. The Bookkeeper made her closing remarks and stated that tomorrow would be the day she gave her stance and called the Caucus into a final vote.

I am surprised at how easy this was, though. Lauth was very stubborn up to this point, and for him to suddenly, seemingly, relent. I feel that he was simply surrendering his cause.

Perhaps it was just a matter of Robert having been spent completely in terms of mental health. That's what Peter Quora insists. But Jeo and I are in disagreement.

I just feel as if an outside influence played a role in Robert's sudden change.

I guess we will find out sooner than later.

<- 12 September 1315 <- || -> 14 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

12 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

Ceri finally sent a copy of the documentation, which Skylar showed to the Bookkeeper.

"How come Ceri, herself, is not here?" Robert asked. "How do we know this is not a forgery?" Then he proceeded to show an image of a message that Peter Quora typed on the Public Sector of OCEA, then promptly deleted, with the message stating gratitude to someone named Greycloak for helping to fund his Project. "Who is Greycloak?" he asked to Skylar. He then asked me the same question when Skylar insisted she had no connection.

I decided to give Ceri Mains a call during tonight's Caucus session, and have her phone audio projected in the Chamber. I asked Ceri Mains in front of everyone if she was actually the one who sent the documentation, to which she answered yes. And then I asked if she knew anything about Greycloak, to which she stated she heard of the person but nothing about him.

Robert made a request for a recess and to reconvene. The Bookkeeper approved, but I knew that he had something else to show. Sure enough, as soon as we returned, he said that since there was no live video showing Ceri Mains during the call, no one was sure if that was her or not speaking. He then played a recording of Ceri from the 1280s, whose voice sounded significantly younger, significantly different. The time difference, of course, was a point of ridicule for Robert's claim.

Nevertheless, there were a great deal of messages on the Ticketer Public Forum last night in support of Robert Lauth. It feels like a bad sign, not only because of the prospect of Skylar getting banned over this, but, moreover, how the elections would go even if she did not get banned. Peter Quora insists that loudness does not necessarily equate to majority.

Though there is perhaps a majority of Members not speaking out, who is to say that they are in support of Skylar?

<- 11 September 1315 <- || -> 13 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

11 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

There has been no response from Ceri yet, which does not help.

For further confusion, upon further examination of Skylar's injuries, the specialists determined that they came from an unregistered talisman, meaning that there is someone out there in the world violating international law. The Bookkeeper just submitted a letter to a federal Arbitrator to have an investigation launched on this.

I believe that they will reply to this one a lot sooner than to Robert Lauth's complaint; though the trail may come to a dead end.

In the meantime, Robert said today that the supposed mystery figure who attacked them both was a hitman hired by Skylar or a close friend of hers and that the injuries Skylar received were due to friendly fire. And regarding Ceri Mains, Robert said...

"She's run before. And she'll do it again."

For as many supporters Robert had, there were at least almost as many people there to oppose him. These people expressed outrage, and justifiably so, when Robert said what he said. Skylar managed to calm both sides, but insisted that there was no way to prove through the injuries that the hitman was hired by her close friend and that saying so was stretching it with the speculations. She also said that the chances of friendly fire were slim due to the rigorous training involved in order to get one's spellcaster license.

"You should know better than that if you're a spellcaster too," she added.

She also made a point that the request made to Ceri could take up to three days to produce results.

Robert then started going on about how the police not asking other witnesses about the June 28 incident was somehow a sign that Skylar had some sort of favor with them, then went on about how Ceri apparently had nothing else to do while handling the request for that documentation.

There were no other witnesses around during the incident, as Skylar explained. And Ceri, in fact, has a lot going on in her life, and furthermore has to submit a request through the Darkfire Script Registry, a process beyond her control.

It seems at this point that Skylar's grounding is a lot better than Robert's. I notice that he is resorting to rather irrational bantering, which is a behavior exhibited by those losing a debate while refusing to admit this publicly or to themselves.

<- 10 September 1315 <- || -> 12 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

10 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

Today's meeting started off with essentially the same stuff that Robert had been saying all over the Society Ticketer: that Skylar was allegedly collaborating with me and my colleagues to use funds from the secret darkfire scroll in order to help fund the Peter Quora Project, and that the attack on June 28 was an attempt to silence him.

Skylar, herself, was attacked, though. And she did not hold back from stressing that, showing pictures of bruising on her arms and torso. Furthermore, she held up a letter from Ceri Mains confirming that those darkfire scripts were, indeed, spent.

But then Robert claimed that the injuries on Skylar came from his own talisman, because he was defending himself. And he also had the audacity to say that Ceri Mains was lying.

Bookkeeper Bolding said that there are ways to tell where spellfire discharges came from, as in whose talisman was used, based upon certain spellfire script signatures. She instructed Meredyth's side to see medical personnel accordingly and also to have Ceri Mains send over a copy of documentation proving that the darkfire scripts in question were spent.

I do not know if the make-up of the audience in attendance is a good representation, proportion-wise, of the Membership as a whole, but there were definitely a lot of people there rallying to Lauth's side today.

<- 08 September 1315 <- || -> 11 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

08 September 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

Six years ago yesterday, the world changed.

Before September 7, 1309, Middle Remikra stood as the Early Republic, a society intent on functioning as a free democracy. Of course, it had its flaws, like having a hierarchical electoral system, a steadfast darkfire prohibition, and a forced apartheid of the Darkfire Community with the Mount Carris Perimeter.

All that changed with the death of Prime Minister Waltman, the 36 hours of conflict in the Basin District, and the placement of Finzi as the de facto, but later elected, Prime Minister. That change heralded the complete legalization of darkfire, the liberation of the Darkfire Community, and the arrival of the Fourth Amendment. And since then, broad darkfire acceptance has not only become better established, but has in fact become a norm.

This, of course, does not mean that all of our problems are resolved.

I should have known better. The worst I thought would happen would be grief from those ultra-nationalist holdouts, those like Kara Martins out there who believe the Commonwealth is a regime of evil, all because of the liberation of the Darkfire Community. In the wake of Kara Martins' departure from Lake Paron, I tried talking Peter Quora into adopting a pen name in order to protect himself. But Peter refused, stating that he had a large social network and that adopting a pen name would be too much unnecessary and unwanted work for him. He also insisted that any retaliation from Kara would just lead to more bad publicity for herself.

I doubted that then, and even more-so now, especially in the wake of everything that is happening with the current Third Level Society Dungeonmaster Skylar Meredyth. She may lose her job as the Dungeonmaster because Cassandra Lauth's brother, Robert Lauth, is saying that Skylar attacked him with spellfire discharges on the evening of June 28.

So Cassandra Lauth is challenging Skylar Meredyth for the Dungeonmaster position. She and Robert are against Skylar's camp, the Progressivists, but they are not Traditionalists. They are kind of independent of that dynamic, in fact. Nevertheless, in the course of all that is going on, Robert came forward and accused Skylar of collaborating with Peter Quora, Ceri Mains, Cray Fenton, and myself to keep that darkfire scroll secret, allegedly lying about it being spent, in order to sell the scripts ourselves and use the proceeds from that sale to help fund Peter Quora's Project.

This, of course, compliments the stance that Lauth's camp has against Skylar and the Progressivists. The Lauths agree with the Progressivists over darkfire, favoring its allowance to exist in the Third Level Society so long as no harm comes of it; yet, they also agree with the Traditionalists on the concept of self-sufficiency, vehemently opposing any connection of any kind to other dymensional planes of other organizations, like those with Cray Fenton and Peter Quora. This kind of long-term tension had been building over time over these big issues. It was only with the hidden darkfire scroll incident, however, that Robert Lauth saw an opportunity for an accusation. And so he pounced upon it.

It was Skylar who called for the motion with the Bookkeeper, Ronette Bolding. However, Lauth insisted on having an arbitrary meeting just between himself and the Dungeonmaster in hopes of settling the issue, surprising as that may seem. Bolding agreed and arranged for that arbitration meeting to happen without presence of the Bookkeeper in the Conference Room of the Hotel at Gentry County Airport. And this was scheduled to occur on June 28 at 11:00 pm.

According to Skylar, and according to the reports, she and Robert arrived at the front of the Hotel at around 10:55 pm. They saw each other, and were within walking distance but not talking distance. Suddenly and unexpectedly, spellfire discharges rang out. And from what I gather, both Robert and Skylar ran for cover, during which Skylar ran into the Lobby of the Hotel and called the police.

Skylar is a licensed spellcaster but did not have her talisman with her. Also, she received injuries. So needless to say, she is a victim in this case. And the same holds true for Robert. Unfortunately, they have not identified or caught the culprit yet.

However, the very next day, Robert began blaming the incident on Skylar, herself, stating that she set him up. When Gentry County Police determined that she was not a possible culprit, Robert wrote a letter to both the Gentry County and Ereautea Provincial Courts to demand an investigation. They each handed Robert's request to an Arbitrator who stated that there just was not enough evidence to suspect Skylar as a perpetrator. Apparently, Robert wrote a letter to a federal Arbitrator and is awaiting a response. Nonetheless, Robert has been fuming over this, saying over the Ticketer that Skylar played favorites with all the authority figures before launching her agenda.

This actually surprised me a bit because I thought the Lauths, being stout supporters of the Darkfire Community, would actually support Finzi. But then I keep forgetting that there is a politician out there named Peter Umbol, who is a stout supporter of the Darkfire Community as well, but is holding Finzi accountable, accusing him of passing policies that retain too much of the political and economic structure of the Early Republic. How well-founded these claims are is a matter of speculation. But nonetheless, the Lauths have been gravitating toward Peter Umbol.

Citing such apparent corruption with the proper authorities, Robert Lauth vowed to take matters into his own hands, a vow supported very much by those Third Level Society Members who support him. And thus, Robert wrote back to Bookkeeper Bolding with a request to have discord after all in the Caucus Chamber for Dungeonmaster Skylar Meredyth's removal.

I believe that the claim is outrageous, but what does the rest of the Caucus think? Up to this point, Meredyth did a lot of favors for the Society, especially with her project which successfully built a Great Bridgegate in Antemaersa linking the Arturian Realm to Cray Fenton and Peter Quora's existing dymensional planes. And the Lauths are citing that not only was this Project expensive, but also impractical and rendering the Society too dependent on other organizations. Some of them are calling for this and the other portals to be closed and decommissioned.

That, of course, would lead to a mass exodus of Third Level Society Members, not only from those directly being resentful of the portal closures but also of those citing other things that would be long term consequences. And I do not know if the Society would ever recover.

Jeo agrees with me on this, and so does Peter.

The Bookkeeper and Caucus discord begins Monday.

<- 20 June 1315 <- || -> 10 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

20 June 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

I understand that Peter Crane absolutely refused to tell where Tom Kearney ultimately retired. No matter how much we pressed him, he would not budge. Peter Crane seems, within his network of friends in the conservative bloc, to be a man of honor with honorable connections amounting to some level of political clout. I am sure that Finzi would be able to sustain the former-Finzi-Coalition, should this conservative bloc be triggered; but that is something we all agree we would rather avoid. So prodding Peter Crane to such a degree as would prove any sort of provocation for him is something we have all agreed we would not pursue.

I also understand that Kara Martins seems to be one of those loud and irrational individuals. It's true that she is a fringe-nationalist figure whose actions earn her the reputation of being overly charismatic, if not downright insane.

It's a reputation I, myself, would rather not have.

Nonetheless, I will be honest. I do not agree to the consensus to which Cray, Jeo, and Ivella came to accomplish what they did with her.

It started off with Jeo Brock having found some important information about her. During the 1311-12 War, numerous commandos from Gymia had snuck over the border and kidnapped numerous Commonwealth citizens, either raping them or taking them as hostages to help Commander Davis put diplomatic pressure on Finzi. And apparently, Kara Martins had helped this kidnapping scheme by receiving payments from Davis' regime to provide them information on addresses, whereabouts of certain kidnapping targets, and so forth.

Cray was the first to spring the idea, to which Jeo agreed. Peter Quora and I disagreed, bringing our group to a stalemate. Ivella stepped in and, to my complete surprise, sided with Cray and Jeo. Quora and I eventually relented after a great deal of talking, though I still do not think what we did was justified.

On June 13, we ourselves checked into the Lodge at North Rock, located directly below Hywater on the shore of Lake Paron, deep into the territory of Pimdan, and, from there, wrote a collective letter using pen names and declaring ourselves to be important colleagues of Tom Kearney. In this letter, we invited Kara Martins to come to our location for "an important matter." Kara took the bait and arrived. And when she did, we revealed our true identities and agenda. We then told her that if she would tell us the location of Tom Kearney, that we would pay her 1000.00 credits. She was free to leave at any time, of course, but if she did not give us the information beforehand, we would publish her actions regarding her involvement in the 1311-12 War kidnapping schemes to media sources of both Linbrae and the Commonwealth.

Needless to say, Kara was quite upset with this, hurling insults at the lot of us and what not. But after two and a half days, she accepted the terms and told us of Tom Kearney's last known location: the Blue Hill Estates located 25 miles North of Linbrae proper.

That whole process took a couple days, meaning that Kara agreed to the terms she agreed to on June 17. On June 18, I left early in the morning and took a gyroplane to Linbrae proper. There, I logged onto the OCEA platform and found the Blue Hill Estates address, but decided to venture out the next day since I had to make notation on what to ask Mr. Kearney should I have met him there.

All that effort was all for naught, though, as I found out the next day when I traveled to Blue Hill. When I inquired for Mr. Kearney, I had been expecting that he had a layer of privacy, only seeing to those who were not rivals, as I had revealed myself to be back in Lake Paron. And such paranoia was compounded when I received a call from Jeo stating that Kara had slipped out of the North Rock lodge in the early morning hours on the night after I left.

But such paranoia was dashed when, after asking about Tom Kearney, I was directed to an obituary.

Tom Kearney, in fact, passed away on October 12, 1314, apparently from some form of cancer. I visited the Royal Church for further information and found that Tom Kearney had written a confession stating that he had used scripts off a darkfire scroll to try and treat his illness.

Obviously, it did not help him. But I did send a message to Ceri Mains to see if what Tom Kearney said in his confession was true. She, after all, has the documentation on the status of the scripts.

In the meantime, I have checked back with Jeo. Apparently, Kara had departed before accepting the 1000.00 credit payment. I do not know why she did that, but I do suspect a possible ulterior motive, since the ultra-nationalists are still lurking around.

This is my last night in Linbrae. I was going to return to Lake Paron tomorrow, but everyone else is already on their way to Cabotton. So that is where I am going.

<- 10 June 1315 <- || -> 08 September 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

10 June 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

It was around this time last week that Paul surprised us with the news that he had gotten hold of Peter Crane. He and I, as well as Peter Quora, met with Peter Crane in his residence in Ligam proper, where he told us a bit about himself.

Mr. Crane had finished his college education at the University of Gymia, where he got his degree in Finance. He then landed a job at the First Bank of Gymia, where he became acquaintances, then close friends, then romantic partners with Jenna Wright, whom he would eventually marry in 1287.

He was formerly a supporter of the Foundationist Party, siding with the Diplomatic Party in the 1280s after the dissolution of the Foundationists. Mr. Crane, however, was not so keen on supporting them when they took their militant stance against the Darkfire Community, which he thought was unnecessary political aggression. As a result, Peter turned his support toward a lesser-known local third party known as the Independent Conservative Party, which apparently held very much the same beliefs as the former Foundationist Party.

After the 1309 Revolution, the new Prime Minister, Holz Finzi, had enacted legislation abolishing the existence of banks as private firms and re-establishing them as public institutions. Mr. Crane was not very keen on supporting this, believing it too radical. This sentiment was, of course, shared by the Independent Conservative Party, which, later that year, had voted to merge with the National Establishment Party. Peter supported this move, but was also attracted by prospects in Pimdan.

After leaving the Republic in 1309, the province of Pimdan voted to join the Linbraean Regiondom in the Kingdom of the Great North. As a result, the Linbraean Royal Treasury acquired Pimdan's financial infrastructure, and virtually took over every aspect of Pimdan's economy. They turned Hywater Bank in Lake Paron into one of their District Branches while doing what the Big Five Banks in the Early Republic did to real estate ten years ago; that is, evicting all of those of the working class and converting their properties to higher-value mansions to sell to those in higher social classes. They are still doing that today, with the only exception being that they are also felling trees and developing former protected land into real estate.

Nonetheless, Peter Crane was given an opportunity to move to Pimdan to pursue what he saw was a good opportunity. This was because Tom Kearney, after the 1311-12 War, moved to Pimdan and befriended two significant business figures: Roger Styff and Bobrich Korn. The credentials of those two made them look good for the Royal Treasury, who in turn hired them and gave them money and capital to buy cheap land in order to develop it into valuable real estate. These two men did so and, in turn, bought and then sold two adjacent pieces of land to Mr. Kearney. Mr. Kearney, in turn, sold most of the land he developed, keeping a small portion of it to build a retirement cottage for himself and signing agreements to the Royal Treasury in order to keep their names and addresses confidential.

Seeking potential buyers, Mr. Kearney considered Peter Crane and Kara Martins. He knew that they were not seeing eye-to-eye, and intended to have them reconcile or at least be on professional terms with each other, if not friendly.

Well, that is what Mr. Crane seems to believe.

In any case, Mr. Kearney had Peter and Kara sign a joint deal to buy up the land that he was selling in order to renovate the newly-constructed houses on it and resell at a higher price. As part of the deal, Tom Kearney, Peter Crane, and Kara Martins would get equal share of the profits. This apparently took a lot less time than Peter anticipated, as he and Kara sold their properties around the beginning of 1314, gaining a "much larger sum in profits than anticipated." Peter refused to say how much money was involved or where these addresses were, or even where Tom Kearney had retired. He did, however, admit that while this was not the most moral thing he had done, that this had helped him "pay off some important debts."

But therein lies another issue: Kara Martins. Ms. Kara Martins said absolutely nothing of this ordeal. In fact, I feel that she will refuse to say anything on this.

However, Peter Quora insists that Kara may know more than anyone on where Tom may have retired, since it seems she was the closest to him during that time. Also, while Peter Crane has too much moral resolve and emotional composure, Kara is more charismatic and more likely to speak her mind. Mr. Quora feels that, with the right kind of conversation, Kara may end up giving the information we need.

<- 16 May 1315 <- || -> 20 June 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

16 May 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

After a great deal of thinking on the matter, as Paul absolutely refused to take part in our concerns, we have decided to have Peter Quora assume a disguise and approach Kara Martins as an apparent fan of hers. Peter sure has the idea with his dymensional plane of Circlaria, for which he is attempting to attain public funding. He has his share of professional colleagues. But we have determined that his name is not big yet. Also, Peter is fairly young. So he would be an ideal and convincing candidate. And it seems that Kara is quite outspoken but has been desperate for attention these days. So she was the easier one to approach as compared to Peter Crane. Tonight, Mr. Quora returned and told us of how successful the meeting with Kara Martins was. She was apparently reminiscing a lot on the moments she worked with Mr Kearney.

The important part, however, was the assignment she told Peter she was given, in 1308, which involved her going to the very place where the scroll was in order to blindly copy the darkfire scripts to parchment in invisible ink before destroying the scroll. She was then instructed to send the parchment with the invisible ink to a vault in an undisclosed location with specific instructions.

Kara then told Peter that whatever happened to that parchment afterward was completely beyond her knowledge. After the War of 1311-12, she lost contact with Tom. She had called him numerous times with no answer. She even went to his house and found that he was not there. She asked around about him, all to no avail.

So while the meeting was successful, the information she gave Peter was not quite complete. Jeo and Peter Quora agree that Mr Crane might provide some contextual clues to help us determine where Tom went, if not give the information we need directly.

It is now just a matter of getting hold of Peter Crane.

<- 11 May 1315 <- || -> 10 June 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

11 May 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

I was very much right about the weather in Cales. I actually thought my hopes would be dashed and that it would be cold and rainy, as it usually is. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Tyler had been unsure whether or not the darkfire scripts on the scroll in question were genuine. He had been made aware of what Tom Kearney had asked Paul. Tyler had taken part in his role, but had never actually seen the darkfire scripts, nor had he actually asked Paul about them. In fact, he was afraid to do so for fear of causing the very in-fighting that Kearney had hoped would happen. This, after all, had taken place back in 1308; and things were tense back then.

In any case, Paul told me that the darkfire scripts in question were, in fact, real. They had belonged to Ceri Mains, who gave Paul permission to copy them. The reason they used real scripts in the setup against Tom was because Paul wanted to ensure that Tom felt that Paul was honest and loyal, should Tom examine the darkfire scripts for himself.

After the attempted citizens' arrest and Tom's disappearance, Paul grew concerned that Tom would take the darkfire scroll and use it as evidence against him in the face of the darkfire prohibition still in effect at the time. Paul had his avatar return to the Tavern in Antemaersa to retrieve the scroll and found it missing. He reached out to Ceri Mains, who told him that the darkfire scripts were still unspent from what she could see, and told Paul to hide himself, as border patrols having been stepped up would have made it especially dangerous to flee the country.

So Paul went into hiding but continued to assist Tyler by assuming the disguise of someone who had the potential to be friends with Tom Kearney. With this disguise, Paul befriended Kara Martins and Peter Crane. Kara and Peter had been friends in the past, even a romantic couple from what I gather. But by the year 1308, they had long been mortal enemies with each other, despite both of them having hostile attitudes toward the Darkfire Community. Paul had managed to get in conversation with the both of them, albeit separately, in the hopes of getting further information on Kearney.

He had completely disengaged with both the Darkfire Community and Cabotton University after Patrick Henry became the Headmaster. But before he left, he gathered that Kara had been on talking terms with Kearney around that time.

<- 07 April 1315 <- || -> 16 May 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

07 April 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

It's been a frustratingly long wait but Paul finally got back to me.

While I was waiting, Jeo was gracious enough to field some more research on Tom Kearney.

Tom was born in the 1240s, raised with parents who stubbornly voted for the old Foundationist Party. He was taught from a young age that darkfire was morally corrupt and that those with the apparent Darkfire Conjuration Syndrome were dangerous at best, nefarious at worst. He was a big believer of the anti-darkfire propagandist, Reonard Chaney, but, following the Ceri Mains incident in 1281, had a revelation on how biased and inaccurate Chaney was. And it seemed as if he was on the same path as the late Daniel Orville Carter to learn of the true nature of darkfire.

However, unlike Carter, Kearney maintained the belief that darkfire conjurers could not take part in mainstream society, pushing further on the notion that anyone who believed otherwise was either swayed by darkfire or a part of the "class of the morally corrupt" altogether. In any case, he believed, and believes to this day, that anyone supporting "darkfire integration" should be prevented from holding any political power.

I remember how there used to be a conservative Foundationist Party running in elections against a liberal National Labor Party. That was before the Diplomatic Party came around and kept winning elections so much that the other two parties closed their doors. Then came everyone else who banded together and established the Reformed Foundationist Party.

I also remember how divided the Reformed Foundationist Party was, having both former-Foundationists, who catered to the interest of small and mid-sized businesses, and former-Laborists, who catered to worker rights. Kearney favored the Foundationist side of things here because of their socially conservative views, especially when it came to their confident stance against darkfire integration, sadly enough.

Where things get interesting is when, after the Reformed Foundationist Party folded in the 1290s, Kearney supported the emerging Progressive Party. Not only did he vote for John Waltmann, he actually openly boasted about it and even called on other people to vote for this party.

And that shows the faults in the Early Republic, people's flawed perceptions on the political spectrum. The Progressive Party, back then, was seen as a radically liberal party, even compared to the now-defunct National Labor Party. Sure, they believed in nationalized healthcare, a nationalized road system, a nationalized education system. But the Progressive Party absolutely refused to listen to the concept of darkfire integration. There were some commonsense folk in the Party who called for it. But Waltmann and the Party majority would not hear of it, and maintained the very same conservative-nationalist stance on keeping the Mount Carris Perimeter Wall standing with the Finzi Community hemmed in and separate from the rest of society.

That, of course, was a compromise that appealed to Tom Kearney.

Now enter Sophia Qalmers. During the days of Waltmann, Sophia attained a job initially as an editor at the Three Points, where Tom Kearney was working. Tom, I believe, was feeling a bit vulnerable in the face of growing sentiment for darkfire legalization, and felt that perhaps he could use his age and experience to influence younger generations like that of Sophia to align better their ways of thinking to his. He moved to intimidate Sophia to make her feel he was the mentor while she was the student. But then Sophia did amazing work at Cabotton University and was promoted to the Field Journalist position, the same kind of role as that of Tom Kearney.

Kearney appeared to relent by offering to join as a co-writer for Sophia's column. But then he pulled his ulterior motives. And as it turned out, when that failed, though he did not get fired, he retaliated against her after he voluntarily quit. That's where the film thing came in. And when the fallout with that and the lawsuit happened. Tom Kearney left the scene.

That was where I initially lost track of him, but Jeo gathered more information.

Apparently, Kearney moved to the Great North as a freelance writer. A few years later, Walter Scott Mason, in the midst of his bloody Prime Minister election campaign, called on Kearney to move to North Kempton and join the Knights of the Common Good as a propaganda writer. It turned out that Mason had seen Kearney's film on Cabotton University and was very interested.

Kearney joined the Knights of the Common Good for that propaganda writer role, which paid a hefty salary. As part of the KCG curriculum, Kearney also learned spellcasting and gained his spellcaster license. He was also tasked to learn the art of disguise and take part in their "Intervention Program," which was more like an "Infiltration Program," in order to undermine certain organizations allied to the Finzi Coalition.

That was where he came from when trying to infiltrate the Third Level Society through Paul Mirkwynn and Tyler Benjamin.

When that failed, when Kearney escaped citizens' arrest, he returned to the KCG in North Kempton. This time, he was assigned as a Squad Leader of one of their Task Force units, the strongmen responsible for all the violence against the Darkfire Community. What he engaged in, personally, is unclear. But after Mason's death, Kearney relocated to the Province of Gymia, where he was promoted to one of the Generals of the Armed Forces of the Reformed Federal Estates during the 1311-12 War.

It was after the war where we lose his trail.

So now, Paul got back to me. He says that he is busy but will be willing to meet with me two weeks from now.

At least the weather is forecasted to be warm up in the far North of Cales.

<- 24 January 1315 <- || -> 11 May 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

24 January 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

From the outside, those darkfire-powered gyroplanes look like they would be really cramped. But not only are their interiors actually surprisingly roomy; they are also very modern. The one I rode fit about 25 people, and the seating arrangement had groups of four seats each separated by dividers and the seats able to rotate to face either the windows, the dividers, or the center aisle, the latter of which consisted of a coffee bar. It was enough to ease my mind a little with regard to my upcoming responsibilities.

So that was what I took to West Terredon, where things were not quite so bad as I feared. I've heard about conservative nationalist sentiment building up here, but I guess that's in the rural parts.

Pherra is a nice individual and is very open about her background as well as her social life. Paul Mirkwynn was convinced by his mother, some years ago, to move to the Edoran Regiondom in the Great North, where he would enroll in a college and finish his studies. However, Paul hated school in the Great North and sought to study elsewhere. He landed some special educational internship in the Acrean Republic. After finishing his studies there, he moved to Cales, where he has been living since.

I was hoping that perhaps I was close to the end of my search here but reality sometimes does deceive. Pherra agreed to talk with him to see if he would be willing to meet with me, but she said that he was busy and that it would take awhile.

<- 12 January 1315 <- || -> 07 April 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

12 January 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

So it's actually been awhile since I have last seen Jeo Brock, but I spoke with him two days ago. Indeed, he knows Pherra, and knows that she still lives in West Terredon.

Furthermore, I told him everything about our meeting with the Society Dungeonmaster Skylar Meredyth. And he promised that he would set out to collect as much information as possible about Tom Kearney.

I've gotten in touch with Pherra, herself, who agreed to meet with me over this. I am setting out for West Terredon next week.

<- 08 January 1315 <- || -> 24 January 1315 ->

[libraryofcirclaria]

08 January 1315

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Ten: Rose Anne Mahathy

It is pretty remarkable how advanced ticker communication is with the OCEA devices nowadays. No ticker paper required. It's all electronic.

I sent an OCEA message to both Tyler and Paul, both of whom I found over the OCEA platform. Paul never responded but Tyler did. Peter Quora told me about how disgusted Paul was with the outcome of events at Cabotton University. And I don't blame him. The University used to have a fair Headmaster named Karl Reich. But then when everything happened with 1309, all the conservatives at Cabotton, of which there are surprisingly many, united in fear. While the provinces of Gymia and Pimdan voted themselves out of the Republic, the province of Ereautea did not. Nonetheless, the anti-Finzi camp here at the University was strong enough, that later that year, Karl Reich lost University elections to Patrick Henry as the Headmaster.

And no one better get me started on the policies that Headmaster Henry has been enforcing.

In any case, Tyler responded to my message. And we agreed to meet in a secluded place at the Standler in Ebony Valley. There, Tyler confirmed with me how he and Paul were aware of Tom Kearney and his intentions before he even arrived at the University.

Tyler and Paul, well-aware of Tom Kearney and his intentions, agreed to have Paul posing as the figure easier for Tom to approach. And so Tyler explained to me his observations of Tom; Tyler and Paul, by the way, were communicating with each other the entire time. And so from Paul, Tyler learned that the darkfire scroll in question was being placed in the Arturian Realm, in a cupboard in the lower part of the Great Tavern Inn of the Dead in Antemaersa.

Things played out accordingly. And after Tom's botched arrest attempt and escape, Tyler and Paul attempted to relocate that scroll only to find it disappeared. After a few probing questions, Tyler, unfortunately, was still unable to provide possible contextual clues on what happened afterward. He says that Paul may know more about the scroll or Tom Kearney than he does but is not sure. He says that he and Paul have not been in touch for several years.

All he knows about Paul that helps me is that he knows that Jeo Brock, my own partner, knows Paul's cousin, Pherra Mirkwynn, very well.

<- 01 January 1315 <- || -> 12 January 1315 (Coming Soon) ->