The first task of the day was to venture over to the Dungeonmaster's Office to meet with Julian Mackwell and Mary Kormann.

Dyla Cormick had been the leader of the Project developing the Immersion Console model, the very same invention I used this week when engaging Captain Bornan again. It had been developed over the past year and was implemented for the first time in mid-May, shortly after the end of the Spring Semester. However, though Cormick was the leader of the initiative, it was Mary Kormann's idea.

In fact, I was a bit perplexed when reading up on this over the past couple of days, for I did not see any mention of direct involvement by Kormann, herself, other than the approval of the final product.

And then it all made sense when I arrived at Julian's Office.

Dyla Cormick had planned to be there but had to cancel at the last minute due to an unexpected matter; so it was just Mary and the Dungeonmaster. We shook hands and introduced each other, but then came a lull in the conversation. So I decided to show the two how my hand healed. Julian looked shocked but then Mary squealed and went "Oh wow!" repeatedly with bubbling glee.

So we got into serious conversation. I asked Mary to tell a story of her background. Apparently, she was, indeed, of the very same Kormann family involved in the notorious Weyne-North feud from this past summer.

That made me shudder, hearing all the news going around these days on the sudden eruption of street violence and family members assassinating each other. Apparently, the Weyne and North families had been at odds with each other over the past 50 to 100 years, fighting over properties and will terms. Why they were to begin with, I don't understand. What I do know is that, a few years back, the owner of a very important house in the North family had passed away. Her will handed the house to a married couple in that family who then died under mysterious circumstances, leaving uncertainty in terms of who the house would go to, since the said married couple did not write a will. This went to the courts where it was shelved temporarily for next year due to a mistrial.

So that left the house vacant. Apparently, someone from the Weyne side broke in and tried to set up a base for darkfire cartels in that residence. But then someone from the North side confronted them; and thus a violent spellfire duel broke out, setting the house on fire, if I remember correctly. It was during that incident that a prominent member of the Weyne side was killed.

The Weynes retaliated a few weeks later in a "street battle" down near the town of Orsbendock. And then a few weeks after that, a gang from the North family attacked a group of Weynes up in Gymia. Of course, both the Weynes and Norths have friends, who got involved in the violence, attacking the opposing family or their friends in quite the deadly ongoing exchange of retaliation. There are, of course, a handful of counties between me and North Kempton under federal lockdown as I write.

So where does the Kormann family enter into this?

The two people who broke into that house starting the violence were a young woman from the Weyne side and her boyfriend from the Kormann family. The Kormann family is friends with the Weyne family. But both of those families are split between those who support the prohibition against illegal darkfire trade and those who have friends in the darkfire business, including Ceri Mains.

Now honestly, up to this point, I've actually developed a feeling that though darkfire is dangerous when it falls into the wrong hands, this whole prohibition by the Retunian federal government against the darkfire community is quite an overextension. I am especially peeved by all that sentiment established by that radio host, Reonard Chaney, who I have come to realize is not an expert on the matter, but more of a propagandist.

And this had more harm on Middle Remikran society than good. For example, the Cabboton University handball mascot, the Wrayth-Hunters, really is morally wrong.

Everything around that mascot, especially the image figure itself, encompasses someone like Daniel Orville Carter going out and hunting down those involved in darkfire, including those with Involuntary Darkfire Conjuration Syndrome, who really have no control over conjuring darkfire. The fact that this demographic is grouped among dangerous darkfire cartels makes me quite furious.

In fact, I've read in the recent past that Holz Finzi became the aggressive gangster he is today because he had Involuntary Darkfire Conjuration Syndrome and was victimized for it.

Of course, contrasting this with the fact that darkfire, when in the hands of dangerous people, can influence minds of individuals and the masses to commit actions deemed morally wrong, that leaves a very important unanswered question: How do we grant freedom and rights to those innocent people of the darkfire community without allowing darkfire to be used in harmful ways?

I was pondering that question when I looked at Mary Kormann. She seems quite pale and sickly. I cannot put my finger on it but she seems to have a "pieced-together appearance."

Mary had been talking about her Immersion Console idea, so I asked her a certain question: "Who was the most involved in this project? Was it you or Dyla?"

And I meant that in an endearing way, however, there was yet another burning question I had. And Mary answered it perfectly with this: "Only behind the curtain mostly. I don't make too many public appearances. I don't play in the Arturian Realm. In fact, I hardly come out of my room. And that's because...of the lady behind the glass." "Ceri...?" I started, but stopped when I saw Julian nodding fervently.

So it was true, Mary had seen Ceri Mains. Someone had taken her to the visiting booths at the Mount Carris Perimeter.

"Who took you to see her?" I asked.

"My brother," Mary said. "He said she was a really, really good friend. He said she wanted to meet me but couldn't come visit us. So he took me to her."

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to," I said. "But what did she want to talk to you about?"

"The dymensional plane thing," she said. "I made my own. And it was really good, or so my brother said. It had hills and lakes and birdies and sheep and cows...He told the glass wall lady about it and she asked if I made it all myself. I said 'yes.' And she said 'oh wow.'"

"And then what happened?" I asked.

"Oh...well..." And as she said that, her pale and sickly appearance grew more intense for a moment. Then she said, "I just want to forget for now."

"That's understandable," Julian said. "Maybe another time."

After Mary left to go back to her dormitory, I said to Julian, "I don't want to sound rude, but how old is she."

"She's nineteen years old," Julian said. "That's what she told me. Of course, it may not seem it. As you can tell, she has a lot of health issues."

"What a shame," I said. "She seems very talented, having designed that Console and built an entire dymensional plane herself."

And indeed there was a part of me that felt suddenly quite protective for Mary. I realize now that she is precious cargo. Yes, I believe that the darkfire prohibition is quite morally unjust in its extent, but I will address that later.

In the meantime, Julian and I reconvened in his Dungeonmaster's Office later that evening, and he had much more to say.

"I'm very concerned," he said. "Ceri Mains may be wanting to use Mary Kormann to infiltrate the Arturian Realm. If that's true, then it wouldn't be the first attempt."

"I know a lot about what happened in the beginning here," I said. "With Daniel Carter and Darius Weller."

"Dymensional planes have notoriously been good places to hide darkfire scripts. That played a huge role in many TableQuest games having gone awry in the past, or so Ivella has told me."

"I'm glad to hear that you, as a Dungeonmaster, are in touch with the Founder, Ivella Ogden."

"I try to be. But I have a problem now. I know that the Arturian Realm has in-built mechanisms to prevent darkfire scripts from being stored there, but those mechanisms were designed and made back in 1243. And you know how much things have changed since then.

"So shortly after news of Ceri Mains' escape, Mary Kormann came here, having enrolled in the University. I knew right away that she had health issues. And I learned pretty quickly that she was an extraordinarily brilliant individual. However, it was when, through talking with her, that I realized she was of the same Kormann family involved in that feud that I feared for her and our Society.

"You see, Meona, it seems to me that this whole Weyne-North feud is about darkfire, not that one house. I think Finzi is trying to pull something serious here. Something secret. He's having Ceri Mains acting on his behalf. Did you notice things in that feud were at fever pitch when Ceri Mains broke out?"

"A distraction," I said.

"Exactly," Julian continued. "So when she joined the Society last month, Mary came to me, directly to me, for protection. She felt vulnerable and distrustful of even other Members of the Society."

"Are you saying that it's possible that there's already an inside job here?"

"No. But there are people who have her scared. For example, the notorious Kara Martins. Don't get me started on that," Julian said. "Kara Martins has been accusing a prominent Member named Taylor Lorens of attempting to sway Mary Kormann after she joined forces with Mary Kormann and the Project, serving as kind of a liaison between Mary and Dyla. Kara Martins stated that Taylor got herself into this position on purpose because of how close and intimate this was to Mary, even though Dyla is Mary's roommate. Martins reasoned that Taylor was using this to sway Mary into doing things in the best interest of Ceri Mains. And though the accusation was completely unfounded, Kara had somehow convinced the Bookkeeper to have Taylor's Membership suspended.

"Now of course, I stepped in and submitted a very long letter to the Bookkeeper on how Kara was completely out of her league to do this, and how her reasoning and what she called evidence was not sound. That was last week. Taylor is still suspended on paper, but we are straightening that out.

"But now Kara is accusing me of 'playing favorites.' She's saying that Dyla Cormick is a secret Ceri Mains accomplice as well.

"So you can see how high the stakes are, Meona. I sent word by ticker to Ivella Ogden, who as you know, resides in the Mid-Westerlies Isles. Well, due to the intense nature of the matter, I sent word to the Post Office to dictate a telegram to be sent to Ivella to have her come meet with me here to sort this out. That was in mid-June. Ivella sent a reply stating that she would come and bring with her the original Algorithm Book by no later than Saturday June 24th. No sign or word from Ivella since."

"I can imagine how that's concerning," I said. "Have you tried speaking with Daniel Carter, though? Maybe he heard from her."

"I wouldn't count on it," Julian said. "I don't know if you heard, but they've actually not been seeing eye-to-eye lately. You know that Ivella has that 'sanctuary clinic' for those Involuntary Darkfire people, right?"

"I was thinking of that issue just today."

"Me as well," continued Julian. "Basically, she's having patients reside temporarily in natural but isolated environments so that they can naturally let off their darkfire conjurative tendencies without placing anyone in harm's way."

"That does sound like a better alternative to the main type of treatment."

"And it's simply walk-in appointments. No involuntary commitments or anything like that," Julian said. "Unfortunately, Daniel Carter is not so keen on this idea, knowing his career and calling. He has not tried to get Ivella Ogden to stop, more like he's gone a bit silent on her. So no. Daniel Carter is not a good way to reach Ivella, which is a shame because I have to give a conclusive speech to the Caucus this week."

"Understood sadly," I said.

"You know the Dungeonmaster elections are coming up, right? And I still have some big shoes to fill, especially given the chaotic situation with Ceri Mains and Mary Kormann, and then Kara Martins and Taylor Lorens. And then you heard about Sarah Marks and Cody Brine, right?"

"I spoke to Sarah yesterday, I believe."

"Right. Same situation. Furthermore, that Caucus Meeting coming due was originally scheduled for tomorrow. But Dyla needs to be there, and she had an important conflict. So we had to push this to Thursday. And I'm sure the Members feel inconvenienced about that."

"Indeed," I said. "Maybe perhaps I could see if there is another way to reach out to Ivella?"

"I'll be doing that," Julian said. "In the meantime, please keep a close eye on Mary. It seems you're more seasoned than I am in the Third Level Society, though it's been years since you've been here."

I agreed to that. Honestly, I didn't know what else to say or do to make Julian feel better. I'll have to think on this as the week goes on. I have to say that I am glad I never assumed the full Dungeonmaster position.