February 25th

As dawn broke Zeiss, Kolson, Van, Snarg, and the others continued securing several of the tasks laid before them for the Exchange, resulting in successful procurement of the pyreal mine's rights as well as a decent number of workers to help move the ore.  The group now has to decide which refinement company to use, how best to export their resources once they acquire it, and acquiring miners to work the mine itself.  Zeiss also set into motion a series of interviews by Van to recruit guards for their resources, personnel, locations, and otherwise which will be done in a few days.

At last check, the majority of the group had voted to utilize Saxony as their refinement company.

The group reconvened to discuss business when Zeiss brought up going to Janwall to look into the situation there and discover what fate befell the people who had been sent there, including his friend Sareth.  Gwydo agreed to go with him, but no one else showed any particular interest, so Zeiss ended up leaving a letter with Fierneceal to be opened in a few hours after their business was concluded.

Javan, Higaide, and Snarg went out to do some quick shopping and purchased several bits of Willpower enhancing gear for Higaide to help him maintain his self control, including a wonderfully decorative dark purple robe that Higaide absolutely loves.

Meanwhile, Rory went to visit his family and found only his mother there, who informed him in clipped and stressed tones that Rory's siblings had both decided to sign up into the Aluvian military, which was recruiting people left and right and offering generous packages for those who did.  Apparently a lot of the Humans in the Docks District were being offered similar deals.  Rory also gave his mother 50 gold, a fairly large sum which would ensure she could live comfortably, and in fact she will probably go out of her way to move into an actual apartment or room rather then a wet warehouse. 

Kolson, meanwhile, went to go Weaving.  *crickets chirp*

After time had passed, Fierneceal opened the letter and found out that Zeiss was attempting to convince them via blackmail to assist him in saving his friend, and the group as one (except boring Kolson) headed north to rendezvous with him.  By the time they'd arrived, Zeiss and Gwydo already attempted to enter the town only to be rebuffed by fairly decently armed Runner soldiers who displayed obvious contempt for Gwydo and did not seem inclined towards discourse.  Zeiss and Gwydo turned back only to almost immediately run into the rest of the group, who were very displeased with Zeiss' antics.  Regardless of interpersonal conflicts, while they were there it was agreed to at least look into the situation, but while they were deliberating Gwydo heard the sound of combat to his northwest. 

Snarg and Zeiss snuck northwest to see what they could, and encountered a small group of Dwarves who promptly took them for the enemy.  Zeiss tried talking to them while Snarg ran, as Zeiss could speak Dwarven and managed to convince them he was not their enemy.  Though the why's and wherefor's were still unknown, Zeiss did learn that the Dwarves represented the Slates, and they were attacking Janwall.

This information shared with the rest of the party, several members insisted this would be a good time not only to display a show of force to help establish the Exchange, but to garner good will from one side or the other.  Thusly convened, they decided to help the Slates by attacking Janwall from the south.

The First Battle of Janwall went interestingly. 

Attacking the south flank, there were several troops stationed within the buildings nearby for cover armed with crossbows who were taking shots at the party as they approached.  Rory, ever pragmatic, decided to try and simply charge through the wall and break it down, while Snarg leapt up onto the rooftop and managed to kill the poor troop down through the overhang, directly into his skull.  Meanwhile, Gwydo prepared his ultimate attack, Oh Yeah!!, and charged through the already weakened hole in the wall which disturbed the building sufficiently to make the roof collapse and the second story of the building start crumbling inwards.  In short order, Higaide, Snarg, Rory, and Gwydo managed to convince the remaining soldiers in there to either die or surrender, leaving them with 5 prisoners.

Meanwhile, outside, Fierneceal and Javan went for the other building, along with Zeiss.  Javan leapt up onto the roof and, inexplicably, slammed his spear into the top of it which caused a massive writhing mass of lighting to erupt from the tip and travel very swiftly along the roof, walls, inside an open window, and inside to clash with whomever was within.  Fierneceal, for her part, went to draw on her Water-elemental power and produce an ice and water whip, but for some reason it came out as air and lightning instead.  Fierneceal also started to act oddly, a bit more ferociously then she should, and the air began to tingle with energy.

Javan, up on the roof, got a pretty decent view of the overall battle and quickly realized that there was a decently sized force of Dwarves attacking the western edge of the town, with an even large force defending.  He also managed to spot a mage of some sort supporting the defenders, and utilizing his last charge of his new ability for the day, sent another ball of lightning to zoom along the ground unerringly towards the mage, erupting in a bright flash of fire and lightning.

The party quickly agreed they needed to head north to support the attackers, so Javan and Zeiss were left behind with the prisoners, along with Snarg who was hauling the other 5 from the adjacent building.  By the time Snarg had arrived, the 8 present prisoners had escaped due to threats of violence from Javan and Snarg and Zeiss barely managed to force them back down and RE-bind them, this time promising they would be treated fairly. 

At about this time, Higaide was sent off on a mission by Fierneceal to examine a particular building Javan had mentioned earlier that likely had tactical significance.  On his way he dodged the citizens and other people who were fearfully hiding in their homes or rushing from one location to the next, until he arrived at his destination and found it setup as some type of local command post.  While he was there, debating what to do, three armored men exited the building, so Higaide followed.

Fierneceal, Gwydo, and Rory had arrived at the western front and quickly began to subdue the troops, Fierneceal whirlwinding her way through a mobile squad while Gwydo distracted some entrenched defenders and Rory leapt over his shoulders, smashing his axe flat-side onto the head of one of them, knocking him out cold.  The two managed to convince the rest to surrender, and they took their prisoners back to their make-shift fortification back with Zeiss and Javan while Fierneceal headed east with the troops, demanding in a violent tone that she be allowed to meet their leader.  By this point, the air was starting to get rather charged, and clouds began to billow in, covering the previously sunny afternoon as the wind picked up significantly.

The others left their prisoners with Zeiss, alone, while they re-linked up with the main battle where Higaide, Fierneceal, and the leader of these troops, who they learned was Radnaal of Highspring.  Radnaal was a Lord Elf, a politician, military leader, and an accomplished Dragoon.  Any chance of talking was quickly dashed as he spotted the nearly enraged Fierneceal, and he spat out that they would never accept the enslavement of the Scions again, and battle was joined.  Higaide was on his neck, attempting to dissuade him, but he Jumped up into the air and held it for several turns before slamming into Fierneceal, piercing her all the way through her stomach and into the ground, Downing her instantly.  Higaide was flung into a nearby wall from the impact, and the group quickly tried to do what they could to subdue Radnaal. 

During this violent encounter, Snarg's ability to Analyze awoke as he was studying Radnaal, and Gwydo's ability to Defibrillate also came into fruition, allowing him to mend their wounds and bring Fierneceal back from Downed, though also rezzing the two guards with the Dragoon as well.  During one of Radnaal's Jump attacks (which skewered Fierneceal yet again), Rory's own Refined Control awoke and he was able to leap out of the way with his newly refined senses, narrowly avoiding the consequence of the attack.

The weather was getting worse, much worse, as the winds kicked up to tornado levels and lightning began to erupt in all directions from the ever-darkening skies.  Amidst this torment, Fierneceal roared like some inhuman beast and screamed "ENOUGH."  A column of horrifying power ripped out of her and connected with the storm above, as it began to hail and rain simultaneously, and the very air began to charge with electricity.  By this point everyone's visibility had been reduced to mere feet in front of their face.  The party, despite this horror, was anticipating Radnaal's continued attacks but he mysteriously had vanished. 

The storm's depth and breadth were unknown to the group, but Kolson, 70 miles away, could see it from the edge of Holtburg.  The town itself was being torn to shreds, people flung to and fro like specks of sand amidst a hurricane, and it was so loud the group could scarcely hear one another.  And the intensity of the energy was still growing.

Higaide, for himself, realized rather quickly that the air and lightning was gathering around him in some manner that he couldn't quite define, circling and enveloping him.  Realizing he was facing his final moments, Higaide struggled to die with dignity.

Higaide gathers all his strength to pierce through the floor under him and ground himself.

If this is the last thing i ever say about this character, i should probably clear one thing up. He does not struggle to die with dignity. He struggles to survive, no matter how hopeless it may be. He would much rather spend all his final energy into one last shot, no matter how laughably farfetched.
Even if it tears him apart to do so, he does not give up or give in to despair. Ever.

And if he does die, he'll at least do so knowing he did everything he could, down to his final breath. Assuming anything less of him is a gross underestimation of his character, and a testament to what a piss poor job i did at portraying him.

Well, this is awkward

Spoiler:

The Order, with the gracious and helpful aid offered by Lady Lightmane and a burgeoning company known as The Exchange, had rushed to the scene of this horrible disaster and began aiding the people as best as they were able.  The party encountered an unusual Lord Elf that some of them recognized as a political and military figure from history, a Radnaal of Highspring, who acted oddly around some of them and insisted at length with Gwydo that more was going on here, but otherwise most of the group's efforts were concentrated on saving the lives of those present.  Fortunately, miraculously, there were no casualties, but there were many wounded and much damaged, and it would be months before Janwall was in any livable condition again.  Surely with The Exchange's help and political support from the Lord of the Holtburg Province, though, the town would rise again.

Meanwhile Snarg, uncertain what was wrong with Fierneceal, had rushed off with Zeiss in a fast-travel 3-person airship on loan from Archon Transport Systems, specially requested by the Order to help save her life.  The Order, it seemed, believed she could be spared if she was put into direct contact with a ley line, and as such the Fire Temple was the nearest possibility.  On the way Zeiss was confused, as his own journal entry seemed to contradict recent events.

Fortunately Snarg was able to rush Fierneceal to the head of the line at the Fire Temple and have her inserted into the loci, but she did not exit immediately as all should.  After a few minutes of waiting, during which local Order personnel were already worried and attempting to discern the problem, Snarg fell to his feet for no noticeable reason and rose shivering, by which point Fierneceal finally emerged, her soul whole again.  

On the route back, Fierneceal mentally linked with Snarg, sharing his own memories back to him that he'd dumped into her, causing him to realize the extent of what had just happened.  She was unnerved a bit by the link though, and started keeping a bit of an eye on her friend. 

When the trio returned to Janwall, the rest of the group had been diligently aiding many in escaping or salvaging what there was to be had of their lives and livelihood, and earned the gratitude of dozens if not hundreds of people.  In several cases The Exchange was mentioned specifically, and this event will ensure that name will now spread far past the reach of Holtburg, for good and for ill.  Fierneceal for her part mentally uploaded Snarg's memories, the only intact memories they had at their disposal from the incident, into each party member one by one and they debated their next move.

Amidst this, Radnaal had another discussion with the group.  While the man was still evasive, and openly so, he admitted that while he was technically a Bloc Warlord he had no real interest in the politics, money, or power and in fact did what he did because he believed the Aluvian leadership was not keeping the good of its people in mind.  His interest, long term, is to ensure the prosperity and safety of what he considers 'his people', and though that's a vaguely defined term he doesn't really seem picky about who benefits from this.  Thus after some discussions he agrees that The Exchange can basically take the Runners under their own and absorb their numbers and territory as long as they prove that they can defend their people as well as uphold the only thing Radnaal really cares about.  The party agrees this would be a beneficial arrangement, and as part of this begins debating plans to attack the nearby city of Irondell, which had only a few days prior been 'occupied' by the forces of the Slates, who were well armed and armored with Granite equipment and were rumored to have a Fel Knight among their ranks. 

Zeiss, donning the boots he stole from the adventurer he callously murdered in cold and vicious blood in the dead of night while kicking puppies, rushed to Holtburg to take one of the Undermarket's old entrances into the city, while many of the remaining party members either got a good night's sleep or continued relief work, with one exception.

Gwydo made a point of visiting the refugees, who were of course here as they were everywhere, and attempting to recruit them into a fighting force to help take Irondell in exchange for homes and citizenship.  As the Aluvian military offer had likely not reached them yet, the refugees said they would consider his offer, and he had a few convinced who spread the word as Gwydo laid down for the night.

Sometime during all this, and no one is entirely certain when, everyone's Mana pools depleted to zero and would not restore as they should.  Obvious theories pointed to the so-called Mana Storm, but several people had Mana following it, so no one's entirely sure what happened.