From Love, With Love

Dear Adjenna,   It's getting cold again but don't worry, its just the regular cold this time. The leaves changed, it was really pretty here during the fall. All us students kinda missed out on a nice Frial autumn that first time around huh? Hard to believe that everything with Seagravia and Rycroft was almost a whole year ago now.   You're missing a lot around here. It's been really different since you left, mostly good stuff though. The school is doing great. All the teachers really pulled together to build out a curriculum that's pretty special. There's even classes like algebra and history, and new teachers to teach it. None of their lesson plans are as exciting as the ones you and Ospher put together but they're good.   Ospher's good too. He's probably written to you already though so you know that. Charity isn't around too often though. She's really thrown herself into city politics but honestly I don't think this place feels like home to her anymore without you around. On the days she is around she seems mad at someone who isn't here, or sad about something she won't talk about, or just in a daze and her mind is somewhere else completely. Sometimes I wonder if she'll stay or if she'll go back to her family in Ghal Pelor.   Tyrom and his little school are mostly retired from magic-ing. He's working here fulltime as the head of the teaching department, he's really good with the kids and very patient. Neville is back out on the streets most of the time doing... I don't know... smarmy crime stuff? You know how he is. Marike and Giancarlo are back with their families after everything from last year. They needed some time away from it all, to be normal I guess. That's fair, I don't mind. Norynor decided to head out into the forest, you know he loves it out there. I think last I heard he's on the trail of those goblins with the spooky giant wasps.   Tadlo and Lorgan still come around from time to time but they're retiring too. They pooled their money and got a nice place in Blackforest near the menagerie. They had a really nice house-warming party just a few months back and it was a blast to see everyone there, Charity even came by too. We all shared stories about the good old days when all of us students started showing up on your doorstep.   Brightshine and Crisnos are busy all the time now, they started their own little detective-for-hire service. Isn't that wild?! They're out there solving crimes, fighting bad guys, and being bounty hunters. Who knows what happened to Rotgut Wren but they both seem happy.   Speaking of people being happy with their new jobs, Janka is a teacher now too! She's here every day teaching music and stagecraft, picking on Ospher's lunch menu also. She puts on a good show of being playfully upset about teaching smelly little kids where before she was playing in front of sold out theaters, but I've never see her laugh or smile more now that she's here.   Nika is Nika, bad wizard jokes aplenty. She has her own place now, just down the street from the school, but she's here everyday for the free meals and good gossip. She also sits in on a few classes sometimes so that's progress for her. Also, I think she's still doing crime stuff.   Doctor Peach comes by a lot too. She even volunteers time to teach health classes occasionally. I'm real glad we got to know her, she's such a good person, aside from that cannibalism thing. But, you know, everyone has something.   Guess who still never stops talking about going to Cetna though? If you guessed Bianca then you're right! Also, she hates that Janka is here full-time because it makes their names so confusing. Otherwise, she's fine. Sometimes she teaches science, sometimes she builds weird machines and installs them around the school. Same old Janka, haha, Bianca I mean!   The circles are doing good too in case you're curious. The Ebon Orchestra is putting on such exciting shows all the time! And, they don't do their creepy "recruitment games" in the sewers anymore with the shitty vampires. Speaking of the shitty vampires they're gone! They left right after everything with Seagravia and Rycroft. Turns out there was all sorts of evidence they were going side against the circles so they zipped out of here as soon as the heavy snow let up. I think they wanted out before all the circles turned on them.   The Lord Solar is looking spiffy in his new body thanks to you! And he's slowly rebuilding his circle too. The Prismatics are rebuilding their little chapel too, making it bigger. And, they're really trying to open their doors to people, make faith in Sandor a thing.   Unfortunately, Joriah never was the same after all the friends he lost to Arvis and Brick. He disbanded the Adamantite Order soon after you left. Some of the remaining Addys want to put the Order back together but most are either packing their bags or joining other circles. Don't know much about where Joriah is off too but I heard he wants to see the mountains up in Frostmere, if that's true maybe he'll find some peace up there.   The Savage ain't so popular in the wake of the whole Seagravia thing, as you can imagine. Few of their numbers peeled off completely, hoping to find forgiveness with other circles but for the most part they're city-living chaff now. The rest got word about Godfrey in the deep woods closer to Rylan and are headed off that way to learn more. Not too sure if that's good or bad.   The Black Hammer are... Black Hammering. They're sending people after the vampires to try and hunt some of them down now that they aren't buddies with the Ebon Orchestra. They have new initiates out in the woods trying to smash those goblins. They're also scheming to take out Seagravia and her supporters in Highstone. I'm not a fan but at least they're keeping themselves spread thin and real busy.   Shae and her folks have really taken over a good chunk of Brick's old territory, and his people. They're sweeping out the worst sort of criminals one by one, Black Thorns included. Lot of folks from shuttered circles are looking to her for a home and she's happy to provide. Doctor Peach helps her out a lot with clinic work too. They might be bigger than all the remaining circles combined now! That's crazy huh?   Speaking of Lily Street... no one's seen Brick around since you ran him out of Frial. But the Lords of Trentpool aren't gone fully. That area of the city was hit real hard by winter and the Kreastos really didn't rush to put it back together. The name, Lords of Trentpool, is kinda taking on a new meaning and a new purpose. It's a collection of displaced, disaffected, and angry people who feel like the city's government doesn't represent them. I don't know who's behind the new Lords of Trentpool, if anyone even is, but their graffiti is everywhere. And a lot of civil unrest is being blamed on them too.   The Oracle still doesn't have her future sight back. Says she get's little glimpses here and there but nothing like before. She's leaving too, says the circles don't need an orcale that can't see a darn thing. I don't know if I buy it though. I think she can see a lot more than she says, I think though powers of her's are coming back just fine. I just think she wants us to figure out our own way, no peeking.   Stuff with the Lions is kinda... complicated. That Grand Marshal guy you met there, he was on our side for sure to save the city but afterward he outted us to the Kreastos. Said that it was time for everyone to stop keeping their secrets and play with our full hand on the table or some dumb card metaphor like that. He said secret keeping is what got everyone into this whole mess to start. So now, there's constables investigating the inner workings of the Grand Order, and people from the Kreastos trying to document everything we do here at the school too. Regular folks in the city are starting to learn there's wizards everywhere around them. And they know we teach magic here too. It's weird for sure, to see a lot of people looking at us with suspicion but to see letters showing up every day from regular folks wanting to become students. Some people are calling us the new College of Magic!   Magic is getting talked about more and more in the city, shame Trevor isn't here anymore, he'd be making a killing! There's new manacite brokers showing up all the time to fill the gap, shoot their shot at being the next big broker in Frial. Haha, most of them get squimish when they find out the previous ones died real horrible haha.   Anyway, I just wanted to write you. We all miss you so much. I know you're doing something important out there but if you get a break, come on back for a bit. If not, just write back and let us know how things are going.       With Love,   Love Birdie