23 - 06/30/25 : Great Escape

In an storage room within Bellbrexilden's Lab, a lone ceramic construct remained active. Her model was designated as Cobalt, but the name she had chosen for herself was Myrtha. She had been created as a dancing construct capable of creativity and improvisation, giving her much more sentience than the typical nimblewright. As she was only needed to perform at social events, Myrtha was often left in storage with nothing to do for days at a time. As Myrtha tried to fill her hours this evening, Kaolin, a similarly made construct, returned to the lab. Myrtha immediately begged her sister for any stories of the outside world, which Kaolin easily complied, telling her about her latest work with the Devil's Hand. As Kaolin regaled Myrtha, their creator, Bellbrexilden returned, curious why Myrtha was active even though she had no current tasks. Myrtha begged Bellbrexilden to let her out of the lab to see the world. Kaolin supported her sister by suggesting that new experiences would help her come up with new ideas and also practice with the arcane power he had installed in her. Convinced by this argument, Bellbrexilden had the perfect candidates in mind to look after Myrtha.   As Snow and Adeline prepared for their morning jog around campus, they were surprised by a knock at the door. The two were greeted by Bellbrexilden and a construct he had brought with him. Before greeting them, Snow went to wake up Ezri so she could be involved in the meeting as well, despite it being the crack of dawn. Despite her protests, Ezri eventually got herself to the door, and Bellbrexilden introduced the Book Club to Myrtha, asking them to allow her to accompany them in their activities for a time. The trio welcomed their new mechanical companion, introducing themselves and giving Myrtha a rundown on their goals, allowing her to suggest her own as well. While Myrtha's primary goal was just to experience everything she could, it also became clear that Bellbrexilden didn't view Myrtha as a sentient being, just another one of his creations. To this end, it was suggested that they might find some way to prove her living status to Bellbrexilden, that she might be fully granted the freedom she craved.   The Book Club reviewed their current tasks, planning to take on the Golem's trial today and Cirella's the next day, as the last time they doubled up on tasks was mentally and physically draining. They also planned to make the rounds and introduce Myrtha to the teachers at Everlight. They decided to start with the headmaster, Arwyn, while also continuing their research, with Myrtha's help.   Afterwards, the students proceeded to the Golem's Dojo, introduced Myrtha to the burly wizard, and began their trial. The Golem challenged the students to survive 1 minute in combat with him, with their teacher going all out. The Golem came at them with more protection and utilizing his more vicious spells, which did heavily damage the party and even knocked out Ezri and Myrtha. The Book Club managed to land several vital strikes, breaking past the Golem's enhanced defenses, and not only survived, but managed to defeat their teacher in combat. The Golem congratulated his pupil for surpassing even his lofty expectations.   As the party prepared to leave and meet the other teachers, Sleight, Nox, and Mary arrived for their own trial with the Golem. They introduced themselves to Myrtha after some initial surprise over the new companion. The group then traveled to Cirella's hut, where they met Cirella herself, as well as Nadya, Zana, and Xiuying. All of them greeted Myrtha, interested in seeing what she was capable of. Zana and Nadya also mentioned looking into finding out whatever destiny Nadya might have, in order to figure out how to break it. The next stop was Raine's armory, where they also encountered Lochlainn and Eridred. While the two students were focused on their work, Ezri gave Myrtha the rundown on their more stoic classmates. Snow assisted Eridred with her smithing, impressing the dwarf with how well she had taken to the hammer despite her short time learning it. The Book Club saved Soul's introduction for last, and the vibrant tiefling seemed to be the least surprised about Myrtha, having seen a number of oddities in his time in planar realms. Then, they took a brief trip back to the dorm, where the party explained Ezri's situation with the Lantern King. Finally, the group showed Mythra their favored tavern, the Queen's Glaive. Though their new construct companion could not eat or drink, she enjoyed seeing more of the world that had been denied to her.   The next morning, the party continued their research, with Ezri finally locking down on another card from the Deck of Many Things, the Fate card. She experienced a vision of an old fort occupied by hobgoblins. With this information, Arwyn cast the Contacts Other Planes spell to try and learn more. Through this spell, he was able to narrow down the search, which he could relay to his wizardly information network, and he also confirmed that this group of hobgoblins had some ties to the Lantern King.   With that, the Book Club proceeded to their last task, visiting Cirella to face Ezri's next trial. Cirella once again prepared a draught to allow the party to share in Ezri's dream. As she had previously faced her inner blocks to her magic, she would now face representations of the blockages coming from outside herself, in her past. As the Book Club entered Ezri's dream, they found a crossroads leading to two sights Ezri recognized: A wizard tower she was all too familiar with and a forest with an ominous glow she could never forget.