So ultimately, I went to both Rose Anne and Josh Marquin on this matter, hoping to get support for them to push back against the containment. Instead of supporting me, though, they actually supported the containment idea.

In fact, Rose Anne proposed to have her own planet, Mahathia, to be the place where the Gold Empire would be contained.

I was absolutely gutted over this. I protested quite a bit. But they would not listen, which is probably why they launched their agenda whenever I had to withdraw and work on my writing assignment for Three Points: to convert my notes gathered thus far into an actual article. When I returned from my writing session, the deed had already been done. Rose Anne led the initiative during which she found out and, after disguising Rosane very convincingly, persuaded all of the Imperial Prefects that Mahathia was a worthy place to re-establish the Imperial Seat, for it would offer more protection. The two autonomous avatars ruling the Empire fell for it. And while they were on the planet, Rose Anne had a task force of avatars and daemons cast a barrier over the planet, encasing the globe inside, so that no one would be able to leave. Meanwhile, the other autonomous avatars outside the trap were made to be deactivated by their Members while the daemons involved in the Gold Empire were destroyed.

Rose Anne invited me to travel with her, as our immersed avatars, to the world of Mahathia where everything was contained.

I was expecting the planet to be encased in some sort of metallic container, or some sort of firewall surrounding the globe. Instead, I found the world of Mahathia encased in some sort of white spherical structure. This was surrounded on the outside by a layer of breathable atmosphere; so we were able to land there and have a walk around without suits. The barrier itself was white, soft, and crinkly, but also apparently durable.

Rose Anne swears that the barrier is unbreakable thanks to spellwork. I am not so sure if that is true.

In fact, I am a little concerned about the future. I feel like that it will only be a matter of time before one of two things happens: either that the imprisoned avatars and daemons will find a way to bust through the barrier, or a Dungeonmaster in the future will come along and release them. Either way, the Arturian Realm will see the explosive onset of an extreme version of the Gold Empire. And who knows what kind of monstrous beings having been developed in the contained and now-hellish world of Mahathia that the Society would be dealing with at that point?

One item of hope there is that the Society at least voted to have an addendum added to their Statute of Principle to completely ban autonomous avatars.

In any case, I have written a lengthy article, in the form of a personal witness account, on the situation having happened in the Third Level Society. I submitted it to the Three Points earlier this week, and was told that not only would I now be a Field Journalist, I would now also have my own column.

Tom Kearney seems to have respect for me as well. At first, I assumed that he was part of a clique existing at the Three Points intent on excluding me. After awhile, I realized that he was posing as a mentor or a teacher intent on shaping me into a conforming figure. Tom is in his mid-fifties, so it came to be that I assumed he was engaging in the act of the older generation teaching the younger generation, a thing that I despised.

And maybe it was that. But just two days ago, I spoke with him, and he actually asked to join me in my column as a co-writer. I told him that I would be thinking on that.

In any case, my superiors have sent me on an assignment for my new column: North Kempton...primarily Cray Fenton. Earlier this year, he and a few other important figures met at the Galleston Farmhouse with Daniel Orville Carter, shortly before Carter's passing this past March.

And yes. I was just as shocked as everyone upon receiving the news of Daniel Orville Carter's passing. He and Ivella Ogden were another source of inspiration for me. They were the reason I came to light on everything with the Darkfire Community, because until then, I had been lied to, with all the Reonard Chaney propaganda. And I believed the lies. Hearing the stories of Daniel Carter and Ivella Ogden, and their unwavering dedication to win freedom and equal rights for the Darkfire Community had me inspired.

I remember when I met him in 1285. I was shocked to learn that, in the past, he had a profession "hunting" darkfire conjurers. He had his turning point, though, in 1281, at the age of 90. Carter was a humble man of wisdom when I met him. But I found out that before the 1281 incident with Ceri Mains, Carter had a completely different "strongman appearance," even at his age. He used to have the title "wrayth-hunter," which as also the old Cabotton University mascot.

Carter really changed by the time I met him. Also, that was when the term "wrayth-hunter" was finally beginning to be considered a form of unforgivable profanity. And also, the Cabotton University mascot changed to "the Stags." All of that changed with Carter in 1281.

So apparently, between December 1298 and January 1299, Carter met with Ivella Ogden, Cray Fenton, Sari Frame, and Meona Bell in the Galleston Farmhouse to discuss some sort of matter. What that was exactly is unknown, but I do venture, based on the past, that it may have had something to do with "Greycloak."

All I know about "Greycloak" is that he or she donated money to Cray Fenton and the Third Level Society in order to help them build the inter-global plane thirty years ago, and that they also paid for Meona's medieval dymensional plane projects around twenty years ago. That, and they also funded a lot of other people and organizations in order to sway them into making certain decisions...or at least that's the conspiracy fanatics say.

In any case, I feel now that it is finally time to retire from the Third Level Society once and for all.

***END OF STORY NINE***