xenoscience

King Zarik IV, Lord of All Demons, Emperor of Cunning, stared down at the report his spymaster had handed him, reading it over once more to make sure he apprehended every detail correctly.

“The king of demons shall return, and attempt to sacrifice the princess of elves to return to his full power. In her moment of need, a hero with a blade that shines as the sun will appear, to slay the demon king and take her hand in marriage. And you are certain these are the exact words of the prophecy?”

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click

“Seraph.”

“Uh, hello, I – listen, Seraph, do you have a secure line we could use?”

“This is a secure line.”

“No, I mean like, a scrambled one? I have a box, I just need –”

“No.”

“… You don’t – then how are we supposed to – listen, this is sensitive, Orca always uses a scrambled line for –”

“And Orca is now unavailable, which is why you are contacting me. How long have you been operating in Sanctfell?”

Sundial stared out at the Arctos skyline through the large window of Silk’s new 18th-story office, and wondered, not for the first time, what she was doing with her life. She was great at dealing with the sorts of problems she could infiltrate, exfiltrate, and purloin her way out of, but that didn’t seem to be a useful approach here. If a girl buys you tickets on an intercontinental flight and has you move in together, does that mean she likes you? Or were they just fleeing the country as friends?

Silk stared down at the wooden case on her desk, and at the object inside, whirring to itself and glowing softly. She stared back up at the thief, Sundial, sitting across from her, face nervous and expectant. She stared back down at the case.

She’d seen plenty of well-constructed fakes over the years, but this … no, there was no mistaking it. The longer she looked, the more the whirring seemed to resolve into whispered words on the edge of hearing, and the harder the clearly-unnatural sense of joyful wonder tried to shove its way in from the back of her mind. She lowered the lid of the case, closing it slowly with a fearful caution stronger than her sense of urgency.

Professor Tarkovsky stared down at his desk, head in hands, and sighed. “So, let me make sure I have this right,” he said wearily, looking up at the two students seated across from him. “The two of you met in Miss Surn’s dormitory room for a study session.”

“Yeah,” said Susan.

Lilias nodded.

“At half past midnight?”

“Yup.”

“Exams soon.”

“Okay, 1, please knock next time. 2, this is not the reason I’m in Temporal, it’s just, like, a perk? And 3, this isn’t –”

“Look, it’s fine, Dev, you do y…yyour own thing, I’ll absolutely remember to knock –”

“No, listen, this isn’t some sort of smug intellectual nobody-else-is-my-equal whatever garbage. Look, I know sometimes I can get a little up my ow— sometimes I can get a little stuck up about grades and projects and stuff, but I’m trying to be better about that, and that’s not what this is about! Like, I spent 5 years thinking I was just asexual, and honestly, not sure this doesn’t still count? I’ve never felt sexually attracted to anyone else, but a few months ago I was hanging out by myself, felt like experimenting a little, and I ended up really liking it. So it just became something I do now and then, but like, it’s not an ego trip thing, okay?”

Aletheia University Dungeoneering Practicum

Party No. 17

• Lilias Calbach, College of Elemental Magick
• Dev Malim, College of Temporal Magick
• Susan Surn, College of Martial Magick
• Suffer Wayte-Archer IV, College of Medical Magick

Proctor’s Notes

Party “completed” the Master-Level Dungeon in 9 hours 43 minutes, the shortest time so far on record. Several of the walls will need to be rebuilt, and I will need to check the Library Archives to look up the exact text of the Riddle Scrolls in order to recopy them from scratch. Party complained that the Master-Level Dungeon was insufficiently confusing, violent, life-threatening, and flammable, and asked if I had anything “harder” available, despite my explanations that they had already received the highest possible score on the Practicum. Faced with their repeated insistent demands, I finally directed them to the Sealed Dungeon, designed and constructed by Horus Obliq the Pale shortly before the revocation of his tenure 30 years ago. As no staff member sent in to dismantle the Sealed Dungeon had ever been heard from again, I judged it to be a thoroughly suitable challenge for this group of students.

To Chancellor Alastric Emmannulas Noens pel Colophon the Grey, XVIIth Gryphonhorn Magus, Th.M. M.Ex. O.S. Esq.

Chancellor,

It has been some time since we last had the chance to speak. I hope that you are well, and that next week’s unseasonably cold weather will not trouble you overmuch.

With the selection committee for this year’s Clarinet Lochrian Award for Thaumaturgical Ingenuity convening soon, I would like to nominate one of my students in the College of Temporal Magick, Dev Malim. Dev has consistently demonstrated an aptitude for devising creative solutions to challenging temporal problems, using finely-honed instincts to supplement his skill at complex divinations. However, it is his performance in the recent mid-semester tournament of my Paracausal Tactics course, in particular, which compels me to make this nomination.

To Chancellor Alastric Emmannulas Noens pel Colophon the Grey, XVIIth Gryphonhorn Magus, Th.M. M.Ex. O.S. Esq.

Chancellor,

I am writing to share some serious concerns regarding one of our students at the College of Martial Magick, which I have unfortunately been unable to resolve internally through dialogue with the other faculty of the College. I believe this matter requires attention and action from the University administration, in order to ensure that the mission and educational principles of Aletheia University are upheld.