Headmaster Cross rejected our proposal.

That's hardly surprising, but nonetheless a disappointment. We found out about this rejection Wednesday afternoon and brought it up at our regular Wednesday night meeting. We initially started out by upholding the proposal, making adjustments to lower the expenses. But then a growing group of Members proposed to abandon the plan altogether. This was also hardly a surprise, but the element of shock about this was that the abandonment agenda was led by none other than Phyrran Caltin, my friend who played Brobart in the Silver Wine quest last week.

After the meeting let out, I met up with Phyrran at the Slack and asked him about his sudden turn on the fundraising effort. He had, up to this point, been very adament about increasing fundraising. In fact, he was one of the first Members to raise concern, stating that although we had been getting healthy revenue from donations and membership fees, there were necessary expenses that were beyond our financial means.

So I took him to the Slack and bought us both coffee. As soon as we took our seats, I asked him the question: "Why?"

"I have my doubts," he said. "Asking the University for such a large sum of funding, enough to force them to reconciliate their budget, might make them have disdain for us. I would have felt the same way had Thomas Snow still been Headmaster. But now, with Martin Cross disliking us from the start, I feel that such resentment might be enough to put us in jeopardy."

"What do you propose we should do then?" I asked. "We can't keep functioning with our current venue and resources. And we can't simply repay thanks to our donors by asking for more."

"We can designate a meeting place in the Arturian Realm and meet as avatars. Or we can create a bland dymensional plane with avatars simply representing ourselves," Phyrran said.

"No," I said. "You're not insisting we meet over the dymensional plane, are you?"

"And why not?"

"The Statute of Principle requires that we convene in person. That specific order was established for a reason. We can't go back to hidden identities like in the old TableQuest games," I explained. "No. We absolutely must convene in person."

"Very well," Phyrran said blankly. "Keep your course."

With all due respect, Phyrran is an important person in my life, at least since I started at Cabotton. He is the person after which the Physterrian Fleet is named. In fact, his avatar, Brobart, was once Commander Brobart. But he had dropped out last fall when coursework got busy for him, so he had my avatar take his spot. When he returned last month, he felt that the Fleet under my leadership was better off, and decided to have his avatar return instead as a Master Spellcrafter. We have had a bond ever since.

But now with his current stance, I worry that our friendship may come apart with impending rivalry.