I still have Peter Quora's personal journal. His last entry was 02 November 1319.
Just hours after he made that entry, Combrian Nationalists overtook all of the Retunian military bases in the Province. They also broke out of their quarantined Cantons in South Masonia and overtook the town. And Nationalists overtook all of Jestopole and the Provincial Legislature. On November 3, they effectively purged all of the RAD Party members, labeling them "Finzi Loyalists," and coerced Legislature to vote and pass by landslide majority a measure to sever ties with the Commonwealth and declare the Province of Combria as an independent nation.
Today marks two years since Peter Quora was last seen.
I still remember vividly the morning everyone returned. Ceri Mains was the one who broke the news to me. Apparently, it was Colin Madrey who woke them late that night and warned them of the impending coup...and this was before the news media outlets got wind of it. But Colin was vigilant in warning them that the Nationalists knew Peter Quora's location in Canton III, and that they had a bounty for both him and Tara Grom in response for Stephen Gatewell's death.
Local police forces were doing their duty and holding back the Nationalists for the time being, borrowing valuable time for Peter and company to escape. And escape they did. Peter canceled on the Conference Meeting that was scheduled for the following afternoon...and finally resolved to take a gyroplane.
South Masonia Airfield had not yet been overtaken but all entrances were surrounded by the Combrian Nationalists. Colin, however, knew a friend who had a special automobile capable of transporting everyone secretly while bypassing the Nationalists. The risk there was that the friend's house was right on the boundary of Canton II, which had at that point been overtaken. Peter and company would have to drive over the friend's place first, though, and the place to park was across the street from the friend's house, meaning that they would possibly have to conceal themselves while crossing the street.
The friend's name was Marius Feili; and he lived in a townhouse on Renfair Court, located near the intersection of 40th Place Way. Ceri told me that when they arrived, they noticed that things were unusually calm and quiet. Colin saw this as an ominous sign and warned everyone to cast Concealment.
It was too late though. Combrian Nationalists started shooting spellfire discharges from all directions from their hidden places. In the mayhem, Peter shouted for everyone to run to Marius' flat and that he and Colin would follow. Marius flagged them down and pulled them into his special car; and they drove off. But that was when Ceri noticed that Peter and Colin were not in the car with them. Rose Anne told Marius to look for them. Marius obliged and drove around the block, but Peter and Colin were nowhere to be found in the dark night. Marius drove around the block again. They were still not found on the second try; and this time, Renfair Court was crawling with Nationalists.
So they had no choice but to flee without Peter and Colin. Ceri and company made it to where the gyroplane was waiting, and were able to fly out without incident. And Marius promised to sneak Peter and Colin to the airport if he found them again.
When she broke the news to me, Ceri informed me that she expected Marius to call back with news of Peter and Colin within the next 24 hours. But then one day passed with no such news from him. Then passed two days, then three. Then passed one week, two weeks, two months. By around March 1320, we had all begun to dread for certain that the worst had happened. This was bolstered by news of Tara Grom's capture by the Nationalists, who executed her by firing squad without due process.
I believe in the Great Author, though. I have been bonding with the Great Common Thread of the Conscience of Humanity; and even to this day, I feel the Thread within Peter. I know in my heart that he is still alive.
I just had to write about this, not only because today marks two years since Peter's disappearance, but also because three days ago, Marius contacted us again with news that Peter had gone back to be with his parents in Gymia.
We do not know too many details yet, but apparently Marius had either spoken with Peter, or had a long-distance OCEA-messaging conversation with him. But apparently, Peter, himself, was the one who told Marius of his current location and stated that he also had some important information about Colin. Ceri, Rose Anne, and Meona have been very skeptical about this news, all because it was not Peter, himself, not communicating. But I have assured them that Peter is, of course, keeping a low profile, especially after what the Nationalists did to Tara. This is an important consideration because the Province of Gymia is now also independent from the Commonwealth, having joined Combria to form the so-called Combrian Confederation.
It is not Marius I am suspicious of, though; it's Colin Madrey, himself. He had seemed appealing before, as he had been a friend of Ivella Ogden. In fact, he seemed too appealing. He would always grab Peter's attention early on, pulling him into secret conversations after which both he and Peter stubbornly refused to discuss the matter.
In fact, it seems Peter made it a priority to not write anything on the matter even in his personal journal.
And then after talking with Ceri and also confirmed in Peter's journal, it seemed Colin's behavior changed after I left. He started keeping a distance with Peter by going on long "business trips" and not even messaging Peter. According to Peter's journal, Colin was initially sent out to see if he could find the cause behind the attempted assassination the evening after we arrived. But then Peter seemed to express frustration when Colin did not return when expected, and even was not responding to Peter's many messages. When he did show up again, Ceri says that Colin was keeping distance with Peter and appeared to be "observing" him.
Colin was with Peter on the night everything happened. And they disappeared together.
The Combrian Confederation is run by dangerous Nationalists hell-bent on hunting down and killing members of the Darkfire Community as well as their allies. They are an excessive police state, prioritizing so-called "security" over actual democracy, and are doing so especially at their border crossings. So it is too dangerous to cross in most places.
However, Marius says that there is a relative easy crossing at the bridge over the St. Eschel River into the Combrian town of North Bank. Security is notably lax there; and Marius told us that he has arranged identification papers for us to gain us a crossing into that dangerous territory without significant risk of confrontation.
It will be Rose Anne, Susan Parans, and myself venturing into the place where Marius has arranged an underground route that will take us to a secret meeting place where I will meet Peter Quora again. We do not know the details yet of what will happen after North Bank. But Marius has vowed to follow-up with more details in due time.