Act 3: The Ball - Afterparty

12:15 AM, 11th of April 422
The king's estate, Luxus

By the time the adventurers return to the manor, the Vigilate prisoners have been escorted somewhere else, and many of the Coins mercenaries who were previously here are now gone, leaving the building with a skeleton crew. Kaja and her warriors are keeping watch near the front, along with a few other soldiers.

Théo stops the carriage on the other side of the street and everyone gets off.

"Hey, Théo." Amber looks at the Lofellian man as he climbs down the driver seat. "Nice driving."

"It's easy to look good when your partners are well trained," says Théo, scratching the ear of the nearest horse. "Don't worry ladies, I'll scrounge you up something to eat and drink when we get back to the ship."

The horse gently rubs against Théo.

Before the adventurers can even take a step towards the manor, a Coins officer comes outside to meet them.

"My apologies, but His Majesty has requested your presence. It's urgent."

"Is there a problem?"

Steve shares a look with Fluffle and Amber and follows along. Théo takes up the rear.

"It's little short of catastrophic. Please, follow me."

The officer leads the group into the building, where there are a lot less soldiers than before. As they walk through the hallways, Fluffle and Amber notice Femke shifting uncomfortably. Soon, they arrive in the library-turned-war-room where the king, Thirza, her second-in-command, and two other officers stand around the long table with grim expressions on their faces. The man who led the adventurers here salutes them, then leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

"The details are sparse," Tibur says, "but we've just been informed that a civil war has broken out in Lofell."

"I figured there would be something of the sort. What do we need to know?"

"We cannot confirm anything yet, but the first skirmish took place somewhere on the eastern side of the island, near Lutinmoqueur. Most likely, the Bellelarmes of Feuilledor and the Beaubois of Auguste are fighting against the Dérémond of Seuilsalé, the Fontaines of Astuce, and the Kaplans of Villevieille."

"Edward is the one in charge of overseeing our forces in Lofell," Thirza adds. "I believe the Enemy, more specifically the Mimic, is the one who ordered this assault. This just happened."

"Edward and our other members there would know."

Konrad curses under his breath. "That's worse than I hoped, Your Majesty. I'm already chafing. It's a good thing we decided to share some more helpful intelligence with you before we came back."

The king gazes at Konrad and waits patiently for him to continue.

"Perhaps you've heard of the professor, Tristan Goodman? We raided his home and dusted him when we found the skeletons he was hiding in the basement. We found some useful runes that he was experimenting with, and we can reproduce them for you. They allow the etched individual to produce weapons out of thin air."

Tibur frowns then asks, "When did you do this?"

The king turns to Thirza, and after a short pause, she says, "Tristan Goodman was one of us until his experiments took an unsavory turn. Jacob ordered for his execution, and Edward was the one was supposed to carry out the sentence."

"Two years ago."

A tense silence hangs over the room as everyone grasp the full implications behind Edward's deceit. Tibur looks down at the map on the table and says, "I'm terribly saddened to hear this. Thank you for putting a stop to it."

Steve shakes his head at the disappointment Kieran is clearly feeling in his son. Terrible. Just terrible.

"It's procedure not to wear it at all times," Marius, Thirza's second-in-command, says.

"He must have left his orb at a secure drop point," Thirza adds.