All I can say is that I am grateful to be alive.
When we disembarked off the Airship Steadfast in South Masonia, we traveled in two cars to our retreat just North of the city.
It was just after 11:00pm on June 18 when we arrived at the cabin, and Colin was a bit anxious, insisting that a car had been following us but the said car simply disappeared. The rest of us were simply waving it off when someone out in the dark woods started shooting at us. Susan Parans leapt in front of me just in time and cast a Shield Spell. One of the bullets hit off of that and struck the man.
But that was when the most bizarre thing happened.
It was as if some sort of divine spirit overtook Colin. It was not that anything supernatural occurred. However, it was a sudden personality change that I noticed as he rushed over to the fallen gunman and then immediately shouted, "Don't alert the authorities!"
When we pressed him on his rationale, all he would say was that it was too dangerous here. "I know exactly who did it, and I know how to protect you," he said.
He gave no more details aside from that no matter how much I probed. We all finally agreed to simply listen to him; and he agreed to head off and find the party responsible, stating that he would be back by 16 September.
So this is our little secret for now, while we wait on Colin, as random and puzzling as Colin's demeanor may be. I will speculate, though, that this may have had something to do with Kara Martins, so we are relocating. I have sent a message accordingly, through the OCEA platform, to Colin, who is carrying a portable communication tablet with him. So he should get the message in time.
Unfortunately, Sophia Qalmers will not be coming with us, because she has parted ways with our project effort.
I was concerned about her since the flight over here. At first, there was a little friction between us because she insisted on having us take a gyroplane over. She argued that it was a quicker, smoother, more convenient mode of transit. But I've heard stories about the dangers of gyroplanes, particularly the incident near the Canticulan city of Prove in the 1260s. Also, airships have been a reliable source of transportation and have been a tradition with us Remikrans for about 300 to 400 years. I have a great deal of friends who are passionate about the airship industry as well. So for me to take a gyroplane would be turning my back on them.
It was after a great deal of conversation that Sophia finally agreed for all of us take a traditional airship. And she seemed to appreciate the perks of it. But I believe that she may have started losing respect for me. And I did not realize it but that might have been made worse when I told her of the experience I had with the 1308 Project as well as a short subsequent experiment I managed to carry out a few years later, one that also involved darkfire. It was during this session that I had some sort of "vision," which is my best way of describing it, of multiple dimensions of the Multi-verse in which we live. I had shared this with Ceri Mains shortly thereafter; and she was impressed, telling me that there were two organizations that believe in, apparently, a Great Author who created this world as part of such Multi-verse.
I have been eager to look further into this but I have been busy. In any case, we were all discussing our lives, our experiences up to this point, aboard the Steadfast. And so inevitably, the subject of my experience with the Mount Carris "vision" was something I thought would impress and inspire wonder for everyone. But that was not the case for Sophia. She remained quiet until the moment we arrived in South Masonia, after which she insisted that she needed some space from me.
I've spoken with Ceri Mains on this subject. She and I agreed that perhaps the overall experience was overwhelming, and that the story of my "vision," as well as the assassination attempt later that day, was enough to cause Sophia to fear for her safety.
In the meantime, the Project, itself, is going along smoothly. And Ceri Mains has agreed to come out to South Masonia to take Sophia's place for now.