Lya reads the letter Quill shot at her, where he laments the way things ended and wished they had stayed together. The next morning, the party members still imprisoned are woken up very early in the morning to begin work, where they reunite and are given their assignment of rebuilding the town's jail. The first day goes well and at the end, Lya reunites with them and shows them all Quill's letter. Aella leaves the group to Send Quill an apology, which goes fairly well. The next afternoon, there is a grand opening for the drill, which all prisoners and Lya attend. Two people, a pale bearded humanoid (Rhyme) and bronze dragonborn (Reason), approach the group and greeted their prey, reading everyone's thoughts and telepathically communicating between themselves. Conversation reveals they know they are on the Plane of Air, either through reading Astraea's thoughts or through prior knowledge.

Meanwhile, Maeve runs back to camp but not before burning off her eyelids. The former Reavers there help her with her predicament, and she burns several fire pits and animals to keep from being consumed herself. Guards show up to apprehend her but settle for banishing her from the town after learning of her situation and lack of control.

• An arrow thumps into the wood next to Lya which scares her to her feet
  • She screams and then starts laughing, after processing that there is a note, she pries the arrow out of the roof and unties it with her teeth, Reldan hovers nearby almost reaching out but kind of stuck
  • She gets it off and the arrow clatters off the rooftop, she fumbles with it to unfold it
  • she reads it
  • She is just giggling, a little confused by all the mentions of time
  • She puts it in her pocket, its a tool that will help us later
• Maeve is running, she got to the outskirts of town and saw the boat and it disappear
  • When the boat came into view, she paused for a second and watched it pass overhead, once it left, she was still with herself for a little
  • The timer runs out on her way, she is in the middle of the field, there is no fire around her
    • The eyes are not there
    • She runs out of time, turning around frantically for something she could use, she shuts her eyes and as the time runs out, she feels her eyelids sear away
  • She sprints back to where the Armide camp was
  • When she arrives, she looks for Clares
    • She gets to the campsite and glances across the forms of those who stand before her, some beating up, getting fire going, some just sat, coming to terms with everything, but she doesn’t really see them, she does see one thing, she sees the other dragon born, Arycis or something, next to aer is a nicely folded green shirt with a little folded note on top
• Start of Downtime
• We are all in our lodgings and after seeing the ship take off, a lapse of uncertainty occurs in most of us, Lya makes her way back to camp and Reldan and Emissary follow her back as well
  • Nightfall comes and we each find rest, Aella’s is a bit more drafty than the rest but she curls up with her blanket
  • Lya makes it back to camp, there are two parts to it, the old camp with the large tent that got sort of blown over and slightly charred when the ship took off, it has been slightly neatened but mostly left for tomorrow, there is a smaller camp, a ring around a stone fire pit, log benches made from the mast and such, a secondary fire pit for cooking. There are about 10, maybe more, maybe less people here
    • Maeve went off a bit on her own and made her own fire, Henum has been trying to attend to her a little bit, bringing her water and helping wet her eyes when she needs it
    • Lya notices the purple fire of Maeve’s hair in the distance and goes over to talk with her, she clears her throat
      • Maeve looks up, Lya takes a surprised step back, asks what happened through laughing, Maeve says it doesn’t matter, Maeve says there is nothing she can do about it
      • “Just be happy that all you’ve lost is an arm”-Maeve she tells Lya to think before doing things that are that stupid, Lya cannot fathom how she is mad and walks away
      • Arycis catches her arm, asking her to bring what Clares left to town tomorrow, ae noticed her chat with Maeve didn’t go super well, ae say maybe ae can cheer her up and Lya asks if ae can give her eyelids, ae tell her good luck and go over to Maeve who is pointedly turned away from the rest of the group
      • Ae tap her on the shoulder and gives Maeve a half her palm sized golden scale that is engraved with a shell. She thanks aer, she says she wouldn’t be too close to her right now, she doesn’t want to burn aer to a crisp, ae say that ae could set a fire over there is Maeve wanted, Maeve says yes please, Slyza makes a smaller fire notably away from camp so she Maeve can use it when she needs
• First nightfall here in this way
  • Long rest occurs
    • Maeve wakes in the night to the call of the fire, she sees that the other fire pit has burnt down a little but there are still embers, the other two pits are still going and one eye is here too
      • She calls to the pit but with less desperation than she had before, she reaches out towards it and it flares a bright purple and tips of the flames rach toward her and into her, she sees it grow brighter and brighter, it consumes the fuel, the stones keeping it contained and begins to eat into the ground, she tries to keep it contained and struggles against it
      • She is able to square her stance, slowly close her hand and it cuts off but she knows that she has eaten a big amount of the ground and at least half a mole
      • She is able to sleep the rest of the night without being woken, she thinks the mole helped
  • Earlier than we would like, the prisoners are roused from our sleep at Tenebor(the vigil before dawn) by a guard, “it's time for check-in and work assignments
    • They acknowledge that Aella’s room was opened, they ask what happened here, she says the people on the ship and they say good riddance
    • We are each led through the town, on the way there we hear a bell chime through the town and other alarms echo
    • Meph asks why there are so many bells, apparently one of us escaped
    • We are lead to an ornate building with 4 lines above the door, we are all there each with our own guard
      • Aella pushes against some force and runs towards Aster and gives them a huge hug, Aster reciprocates however they can, head nuzzles and kisses
      • They slowly ungrapple out of the hug
    • As we step in each individually we are met with it being uncomfortably warm, a large fire dances in the brick fireplace in the back, Stand Crestmoon(the town manager) stands near the nearest desk
      • He wants to start it off on a new foot and his smile drops a bit, he reminds that this is his town and that we keep that in mind, he stroll out
      • The person behind the desk asks for our names and tells us we are with Ms. Tenman to work on deconstructing the old jail
      • We are led that way and met with a sturdy halfling who is gruff but not unkind, she lets us get water and switch tasks and such, we spend the rest of the day taking the rest of the jail apart
      • Aella is using her liking of architecture to look at how it was made, Aster is looking at how it was constructed, Meph is looking at the natural weak points, Dorian is actually taking out the nails
      • Progress has been made, it isn’t fully taken down yet though but it should be easily taken down tomorrow
      • They will be getting materials hauled in, she asks if we need a wagon, all of us essentially say yes please, she asks us to get water and then tells us we have about 15 mins before the guards come
  • Lya can know that our break has happened
    • Tenman gives us space, she is keeping an eye on us a little bit but not too closely
    • Lya comes to the give Meph her shirt from Clares, Meph is a little startled when Lya calls after her but takes the shirt, Lya also says that she has a letter from Quill
    • Lya asks if we want the letter and Aella snatches it out of her hand and reads it, Aster reads over her shoulder, Aella starts casting sending, Aster notices and asks her to say hi to Quill
    • With Aella taking so long, Meph snatched the letter from her and stands near Dorian so he can read it too, Dorian is trying to make it look like he isn’t interested
    • Meph asks Lya who all is still here
      • Henum, Arycis, Slyza, Tila, Harbormaster, Emissary and Reldan
      • Confusion about arbor and harbor occurs
    • Aella goes a little ways away from the group, she starts casting sending, pictures Quills and as quietly as she can she says “Quill im sorry, I lashed out when I should have let you choose, I care and I was scared of losing a friend, take care.”, she expects silence to be the response, “Aella, oh sending right, I get it, I didn't want to be separated, I hope all is well and jail isn't too bad, until next”-Quill
    • We are all lead back to our places, Aella’s door is fixed, Aella thanks the guard and explains there was a draft last night, the guard tells her to ask if there is anything else she needs, Aella asks for some study books, magic items, channeling innate potential, they will look
    • On Dorians way back, he notices there are fliers around town, he seeks one out, it's a wanted poster for Maeve, Dorian thinks she left with Vasalor
    • Maeve can get help from the people around but she is not seeking help, another fire pit is made in the hole
      • The giant hole, she doesn’t see much at the bottom but there is a weird pattern in the ash, it seems like the symbol of a pillar of some kind except there are usually cracks that send through it but up close there is a detail of swirling flame making up the whole design, it's a pillar of fire
      • Meave leaves chunks of miscellaneous metal near the pit and is ready when the timer runs out
        • The fire leaps to the metal and eats through it quicker than she was expecting but she can shut it off when she wishes, she lets it eat a bit of the ground. It is abated for about 4 vigils before the night
    • Meph tries to ask for her syringe back, it was unsuccessful, she asked for a book about constructs and how potions can effect them
      • When Meph gets back to her room, she puts on the shirt and feels a weight in the pocket, it is a reddish river stone, it is a sending stone
      • “Hello, this is Mephitis, who does this belong to? If this is someone on the Armide, I think we are well so far, stay safe”-Meph
      • “H-Hello, Mephitis, I heard your voice earlier, I thought you were Nova, this is Lagram, what was the other question, I forgot, where are you?”-response
      • Meph takes quick notes to remember in the morning
    • Devin’s new character is doing recon and trying to see what is different, our group is new and different
    • Aster asks guard for news on their spellbook and focus, guard says they aren’t at liberty to provide that but could get them a different book, they ask for something on planar cosmology, specifically on the elemental planes
    • Lya while chilling at camp listened to some of a conversation that the harbormaster and Emissary were having, something about already having a shard and needing another, maybe using the one we have to get to the other… maybe find the island but that might not be a great idea
    • Meave tries to burn some of the meat for her night burn, she sets it near the new fire pit, gets it going and the fire she starts instead of going to the meat at all, it starts racing across the dry grass, she is able to get it under control but not quickly, its only 1 vigil
      • She tries to do the same thing but trying to control it more, basically the same result, but there is no grass, with nothing to jump to she is able to get it under control quickly but it only gives her about 80 secs
      • There are two other pits and there are two fires, she doesn’t want to set fires near people because she doesn’t want to kill or hurt someone, Maeve looks around for small animals, scrambling around, near the edge that had burned before, she sees a nest on the ground with some amount of eggs and a yellow bird, a golden grain wing she thinks or something like that
        • She lights a match and attempts to burn the birds, Lya walks up as soon as she lights the match(really low rolls on arcana)
        • She strikes the sparks, Lya says hey, Meave calls the fire and it eats through the nest, she feels herself burning through each of the eggs and the bird as it shrieks and then it dives for Lya, Lya dives out of the way, Maeve has to reach out and pulls it back to her but loses her right index pointer fingernail in the process, she is set for a good day
        • Lya yells at her asking what happened and why she did that, Maeve says she had to, not attack Lya, that's why she said run, not fast enough
        • Lya is really confused “you break out of jail and start massacring birds?!?!”
        • Maeve doesn’t know what's happening, tells Lya that if she sees her light something on fire to not come near her
        • Meave explains she doesn’t want to kill wildlife but she also doesn’t want to die either, Lya is laughing
• We are woken up early the next time, pretty much the same time and taken to the same building, we go back to the same place, around late morning, about Zao, a small dust cloud appears on the horizon approaching the camp, as before when it gets close, it becomes a group of mounted riders, the horses pull up and slightly surround the camp, two of the riders dismount and Sten Crestmoon walks slightly away from his horse
  • Sten says to Maeve to come with them, Maeve stands up, the guard that got down is about 20 ft away, the nearest horse is about 30, maeve says she can’t, she says they do not want her to
  • Maeve apologies for the building and says she didn't mean to do it, she thinks everyone would prefer if she didn't go into town, it is very flammable and I do not have control, Sten asks if it is a threat, she says no but she doesn’t have control
  • He says he understands, she says they have many mages in town that can keep her under control and facilities to help with that, he doesn’t imagine she will be staying in town long
  • She doesn’t want to hurt anyone or hurt herself
  • Sten asks her to make clear what she fears, she explains how she almost set Lya on fire which hurt her as well, Sten asks Lya if she is being truthful, Maeve explains that it has taken her fingernail, her eyelids and a chunk of her leg
  • She is hereby banished from the town and cannot step foot in it again, she accepts and sits back down, Lya says she will hold her to it, Sten mounts and so does the other guard and the horses leave one by one
  • Late in the arding of the second day, we notice the streets are notably quieter, the prisoners ask, they are unveiling the drill apparently, we all ask if we could go, Astraea isn’t able to convince their guard
    • Lya comes to the unveiling too, Reldan comes with her, Devin’s character and Tommy’s character are also here
    • Lya sees Aster talking with their guard, Lya asks Reldan to help convince the guard to let Aster see it, Reldan advocates that really what else does the guard have going on, it would be important to go see this though the guard isn't really interested in seeing this, Reldan and the guard are going to go out for a night on the town, Lya is incharge of Aster
    • A small group is gathered, mostly of students and professors, only a few townsfolk have come, some of the heads each have a speech about how good it will be, a cloth is taken off the top and after a few start up things, it begins running, it breaks ground but only goes a few feet before getting pulled back out and stopping, the ceremony is over and the crowd disperses
    • One individual that Dorian notices, they cary themselves with fine clothing but also notice a sort of robe that may have more to it than simply being a garment as opposed to what others are wearing, they are very tall and live individual, they have milky white skin and a sort of white silvery beard and a bald head, they wear sort of cream colored clothing with a bit of a peralescent sheen to the fabric and around the neck is a very large sort of taurus (torus?) of iridescent glass, they are seen briefly speaking with someone else
    • The other person is a copper dragonborn in fine ish clothing, trying to blend in with the students, they are very attentive to what is going on, they are seen with a walking staff that has 4 little spines of some kind like its meant to hold something but isnt. He holds himself very high being 6’7” though definitely tries to make himself seem a little smaller to make himself seem less imposing than he is. Something we don’t know is he cast detect thoughts, subtle spell, he is both going for a general crowd and also the party, who is the most composed
      • Generally of the crowd, they are excited and no notably anxious in the way that this is rather important for many, either a career milestone or a step towards a career, the people more nervous are mostly the party, mostly nervous about the effects
      • Aster is scared about how they don’t know what they are doing and oh gosh Aella is so pretty
      • Aella, thinking I shouldn’t be here, fuck, I fucked it up
      • Meph,Oh this is interesting, I wonder if they will drill through the island, maybe someone will fall to their death, or fall to the plane of sand
      • Lya: i wonder how closely I have to watch aster, when, do I have to bring them back
      • Dorian: why did they have to leave and make this so complicated, one thing after another, perhaps someone here can help me, who is here, who is here, hmmm, glass collar, I’ll have to try that when I get home
      • This is translated to Tommy’s character which happens in their mind
      • Tommy’s character mills through the crowd as though it is accidental and makes their way to Dorian, he notices them coming this direction, he can tell they are coming over
        • The crowd is roughly dispersing, Tommy’s character greats Dorian with professor, he explains he is misinformed, Tommy’s character gives Dorian a wink, all types of professorial types, they should both know each other, Dorian introduces himself, they say they are called Drym, they are brought to speak with professorial types, Dorian asks what sort of knowledge he seeks: to make friends and laud the achievements of the students here
        • He is not a professor here but he would certainly like to be or to have interesting conversations
        • Dorian asks what Rhyme thinks of the drill, he says it isn’t his wheelhouse of expertise, the details they shared were less than solid or informative, makes one question whether they are quite sure what they are doing, Dorian asks what his wheelhouse is exactly, he is a man of flourishes and sletters and the sort, his mother always said he was a bit of a butterfly, Dorian has someone he would like them to meet
        • Lya notices a new person talking to Dorian and insight checks
          • Based on the way their posture and the way they dress and bare themselves, they are quite sure of themselves and maybe a bit of an indulgence to their personality, the impression is that they are about facades, not only are they giving one but facades are what they care about, they look for everyone else’s masks, they juggle masks, they take your mask off which you didn’t even know it's there
        • Lya grabs Aster
        • During the convo of Dorian and Tommy’s characters, Aster notices that a bit of the light above them is a little obscured for a second and they hear a voice, “quite an accomplishment, is it not?” Aster spins around immediately, Aster and Lya both insight
          • Aster responds it sure is, quite a feat, the dragonborn mentions the engineering, skill and knowledge is quite interesting, they are new, so is Aster
          • The insight: while there is truth to I’m new here, he knows more than he is letting on, there is a degree of yeah right, you're new but you came with a dossier
          • He asks if the theory can be proven, aster says they have a theory of their own which they know as truth, needs 
            • Aster is screaming in their mind that we are in the air plane, that something will go wrong
          • He mentions how they should hopefully listen to their theory, things are turbulent
        • Dorian interjects into the conversation and introduces themselves and asks who Devin’s character is, who introduces himself as Reason
        • Aster is stressed about the airplane, Lya and Dorian are running through true crime podcasts in their head
        • Lya bursts out laughing, Reason knows it is out of fear and that Dorian doesn’t trust them, he lets Rhyme know
        • Meph notices Lya’s laugh and heads towards them
        • Aella is off in her own world thinking about her book and complaining about them being loud, who the fuck, wait, who the fuck are they
        • As Aella arrives, Rhyme will turn with a little crackle of electricity crackling through their collar
          • Aella says charmed but is thinking two things are about to happen either this is us set up and we are going to have to fight or these are just really rich pricks, and we are going to have to fight, I’ve dealt with both, just no distractions
          • She gives a very princess greeting and asks what brings them here, they say they should ask us
        • Rhyme suddenly turns to Lya and is the most serious we have seen so far, he says she is the most important one here
        • We ask if they walked here or fell here, Reason seems confused, how could one fall here
        • Aster explains that they are in the plane of air, apparently the two already knew
        • Convos about the drill, Aella mentioned drilling into solid magic, after insighting Reason, he knows that the drilling is pursuit of that type of knowledge
          • Meph thought about wanting to have her truth serum
        • Asked where they hail from, the material of course, Lya responds, no