Act 2: Upheaval II - Revelations and search

The red mage is taken aback by her level of commitment. She may follow a different philosophy, but he can't help noticing the spark in her eyes. She's still Myrzen at the core.

"I think it's an excellent idea, Steve. We need an excuse to get him deep in the bottle to throw off his perception. They may blame it on the alcohol, and suddenly every green mage in the world stops drinking after that, but it would help us this once."

"Witnesses are why it's a good idea. Just a normal party, nothing out of the ordinary."

"The Fire Bastard already knows our faces from a year ago. If we're going to that much trouble, might as well just go to the arena and let matters unfold. I'm pretty sure they'll all be eager to hear a thing or two about it, you'll have your party right there."

"Oh come on now. You are making this more difficult than it needs to be. Humans have parties and socialize. It's a thing they do. You want to ambush him, I'm creating an opportunity. I don't see you coming up with any ideas."

Mihai stares at Steve, but shakes it off and looks at Nadzieja. - "Any time of day we can catch him off guard?"

Konrad turns to their guest. "Host the party at a time that's convenient for him, and he'll be there. And of course, as the heroes, we can be there to keep an eye out or even help. In fact, a simple toast after an hour or two of drinking would be a perfect opportunity for anyone to come up behind him."

"Exactly. And we are there to help if anything goes wrong."

Szef Zerva considers this idea for a moment before she says, "If I was to host a celebration, I'd have to invite all thirteen Szefowie, and it'd have to happen this evening; the Tournament is starting tomorrow at noon."

"Tomorrow?" Amber repeats. "Wow, you guys aren't wasting time."

"...We have been without a First for too long already."

Nadzieja sighs and then turns to Mihai. "I don't know where he'll be, except that we're all supposed to meet at the Arena in a few hours to discuss the Tournament."

"That's our opening, then."

Nadzieja narrows her eyes. "The Arena is guarded by warriors from all fourteen clans, and when the meeting is over, the Szefowie will be surrounded by their own retinue."

"...So you can't really flirt with him there either," Amber states.

"Well, that sucks," Fluffle exclaims, frustrated.

"So you're the only one who's alone?"

Nadzieja raises an eyebrow at Mihai. "I have my own retinue as well."

He slumps in his chair and taps his finger on the table, pensively - "So it's not gonna happen one way or the other unless we go out of our way to lure him..."

Konrad sighs. So much for the party plan. "Do you know where he is now?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe he's still at the Faculty, sleeping; if he even spent the night there."

"If there's a chance he's asleep right now..." - he ponders - "Is there a way for us to get in there?"

With a puzzled expression, Amber asks, "What's the ‘Shroud’?"

Femke is as impassive as before. Nadzieja stares at Konrad with cold eyes.

Mihai sighs. - "Sorry. Amber is my sister, and you can trust Femke."

Konrad holds up his hands. "We're in my private cabin right now. They're all with us. And yes, I've been known to shoot off at the mouth, I apologize."

Diplomacy modified 20

Nadzieja keeps staring at the red mage for a few seconds until finally, she sighs in exasperation and turns to face Amber and Femke.

"In short, the Shroud is a... ‘dimension’ that mirrors our own, and where I can travel to. I disappear from this reality and reappear there."

Amber's eyes widen. "Wait, like, you just pop out of existence?"

"Hm, yes."

"That sounds like what Florolf does!" Amber exclaims.

The szef didn't expect the teenager to react this way.

"You mean your carbuncle? Yes, that's where they go to when they disappear."

"...That's also what the werewolf did," Amber notes with a grim expression.

"Yes." Nadzieja pauses and looks at both Amber and Femke. "Please, don't tell anyone about it."

"We won't! Right Femke?"

The teenager turns to the Tyke, who so far has been unflappable, and waits for her to agree to keep the secret. Very calmly, Femke replies, "Of course."

"So now that the carbuncle's out of the bag, yeah. I was having a hard time tiptoeing around it too. Locked doors aside, can we use it to get close enough?"

"I can, but not right now," Nadzieja says. "Assuming he's even there, I don't know in which room he is."

"The meeting at the Arena, at what time is it?" Fluffle asks.

"Eleven o'clock."

The fairy scratches the back of his head. "He'd be awake by the time we reach him, right?"

"Probably. He may look like a fool, but he's punctual."

Mihai sighs - "Well, we're not getting this sorted out before noon." - he looks at Amber