The Circle of the Enlightened Mind is seeking people of adventurous spirit to assess what dangers remain in the forest and attempt to find the ruins of the long lost second city of the Empire.

Applicants should attend the offices of Professor Xenie within the department of human logistics.

• Candle - Anna M
• James - Dan
• “Jade” - Anna S

Whilst James and Jade run for the forest, Candle trots up to the Selugan camp. Much to everyone's suprise the Selugan's don't try to kidnap her, instead furnishing her with a new sword and diplomatic papers to take back to Rastaban. Returning to the party she endeavours to ritual the papers as insurance against their meddling, but Jade takes the opportunity of her concentration to snaffle the documents with a shroud miracle.

Returning via dream, the forest is willing to allow James to continue to take responsibility for Candle's future. It also detects that he himself has been corrupted by an outsider since they last met. He accepts the forest's intervention and the arboreal avatars drive a thornshard into his chest. Vines sprout out to crisscross his torso and then blossom into flowers which begin to drip out sickly streams of black ichor. Eventually the ichor flow stops and the forest pronounces the infestation cleansed, though the changes to James' appearance are rather radical.

Making their way back to Rastaban, Candle abides by her agreement to turn herself in to the Bureaucracy. After confirmation of an Outsider connection she is swiftly quarantined in a cell. The others make their report to their superiors, handing across the diplomatic papers. The Bureaucracy seems fairly set on returning to Sutalin and doing whatever is necessary to prevent Imperial property from falling into foreign hands. Jade and James are then able to report to the Circle who are pleased with the news of the Forest's relative safety and of a site worth further investigation.

Candle is eventually subject to a number of interogations wherein she protests her willingness to act in the City's interests, putting the power of the Mirror to work for Rastaban. However her claims that she is unable to her them locate her sister Cloth are not well recieved and it looks like her incarceration may become permanent. Some time later however another bureaucrat visits her, appearing most interested in what the Mirror might be able to do to upset the current regime in Rastaban and bring about a new world order; Candle appearing receptive to this they arrange for her to be offically disappeared into the deep vaults and her paperwork to lost itself in the great machinery of the bureaucracy. They caution that should she draw the attention to her freedom then the agents of state will likely be on her trail soon enough.

Returning home Candle finds that her mirrored house has become an offical Unplace and her cats are nowhere to be found. Using her theatre contracts Candle is able to obtain the services of an suspicious ichorworker to help her forge a new identity.

Jade and James get themselves checked out by Bureacracy medical team who pick out an Erosion affliction that seems to be wittling away at their health. Given their good service the organisation arranges for a Perfection weaver to correct the problem before it can develop further.

You have aged 3 years from brief exposure to the Erosion field around Sutalin

• 2 Favour from the Circle for your report
• Strong affliction of the Mind: Awareness of True Agony. You have experienced secondhand what it is for a painful death to be drawn out over centuries. As a roleplaying effect you are likely to disregard the presence of short term discomforts and pains even to your detriment.
• Due to your permanent Connections to James you will detect as very faintly Forest to a detailed examination by Sense of the Forest
• You have a rather gross looking spear held together by mole bits.

• 2 Favour from the Circle for your report
• Severe Affliction of the Body: Thornshard. You will appear as a Foresttouched to most people with all the attached social stigma. In addition the Forest does have a detectable presence within you and you count as a creature of the Forest for ability purposes.
• Has shifted the locator connection from between the enchancted garments to between yourself and Jade

• 1 Favour from the Order of the Throne for providing interesting political information that the bureacracy would prefer to keep a lid on.
• Gain the Warping Visage Mutation
• Candle is officially In Custody of the Bureaucracy. Any revelations suggesting this is not the case may gain you a Hunted status
• Minor Affliction of the Body: Decaying. A sliver of Erosion has made its way into you and is accelerating you towards the grave, this makes you more prone to sickness and infirmity. Mechanically the negative consequences of any other Body Afflictions are doubled.
• As an Erosion Weaver Decaying also grants the following: You may *permanently* reduce your death count by 10s in order to instantly cast any Spell.