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Jozan nods, thinking of all of the explanations they've come up with so far. "I would not be surprised if the 13th student is some form of trickster. There has been too much energy from the Maelstrom spilling about, and those beads found earlier being a focus does not dissuade me from this theory." He breathes deeply through his nose for a moment, before focusing and readying to move with the team.
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Each of the three spacious classrooms () contains rows of desks. Windows allow both natural light and a view of the grounds to filter in. Lamps hang from the ceiling to provide additional illumination for the area, but are off now.
It is evident that education at Dacilane Academy is both individualized and chosen by the student. As students bring an eclectic range of knowledge with them, teachers work with students to identify gaps and create goals for learning. Each desk is labeled with a student’s name, including Sabazio, Voxi, and Paisley. Peeking inside the desks’ storage reveals a mishmash of notebooks, textbooks, and personal effects.
A - Ms. Laforent’s Classroom
Colorful posters wallpaper this room, illustrating flora and fauna from across Golarion. A pet tortoise sleeps in a small terrarium in a corner of the room (and remarkably does not leap out to attack).
B - Mr. Ngon’s Classroom
On the teacher's desk in this room, dictionaries and thesauri stand in neat, right-angled stacks. A board near the window displays posted student compositions and poetry in a variety of forms. You do notice that a disproportionate number of them seem to incorporate snake imagery.
C - Ms. Hirasara’s Classroom
This room is notably cluttered with small baubles and minor magical knickknacks used to teach the basics of magic. Several desks contain sculpted clay figures.
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You finally end up at the entrance to the lunch room, or as the sign on the wall reads... “Launch Room.”
Walking inside, you find dining tables and chairs are arranged in neat rows, providing ample space for group meals. Storage cabinets sit below the
window overlooking the grounds.
Bun Bun and Red Roy both sniff out a basket of hundreds of gift-wrapped cookies from Dulethre’s Delights, a local bakery, that has a sign reading “Please Take These!” pinned to its handle.
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"How to find an invisible student? What knowledge do we have?" Zenobia wonders as she walks through the classrooms. "Voxi was those who collected the list, and 'Sab' mentioned there might be Sabazio. Paisley doesn't sound familiar. Do we have a full roster here somewhere, without student 19?"
When they get to the lunch room and Bun Bun goes to munch the cookies, there's the metallic snap as Zenobia opens her fans. "A school full of pranks and curses and you dare to eat those?!" she shouts. She takes a couple of steps backward, quickly calms herself and keeps her eyes at Bun Bun, fans ready. "So, maybe it is nothing, maybe you turn into a werepoppet. Be ready." she says as she waits to see if the cookies have some nefarious effect.
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Apart from affecting Bun Bun's waistline at some point in the future, the cookies are simply tasty.
There was a roster in the teacher's lounge, you recall...
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Stepping back into the hallway, a lone figure appears and giggles, sillouetted against the dim lights from corridors beyond.
It is a halfling dressed in a white school uniform. Several bells around their wrist chime with every movement. “You’ve been caught after hours,” they say, nearly singing in glee. “Students are not allowed on Dacilane Academy grounds after hours. If I tell the headmaster, you’ll be in big trouble.”
They giggle. The sound cuts through the otherwise quiet air of the school.
“Of course, maybe there’s something you can do to stay out of trouble. I wonder what you can do so I won’t tell on you.”
A grin spreads across their face. Their teeth are sharper than a halfling’s ever should be.
“Oh, I know what you need to do. You can finish my homework! It simply must be done, and it’s so very late.” The halfling flashes their too-pointed teeth again as they prepare to open their satchel, awaiting your response.
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"I think we found our student #19..." Jozan growls. He steps forward, though not too far from his companions.
"You say you'll tell the headmaster that we are on grounds after hours, but you speak of homework as though you are a student yourself. Are you one of the teachers, or a student?" Jozan idly fingers his holy symbol of Sarenrae, hoping to keep the being talking until the more learned members of his party can figure out what he is talking to.
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The halfling steps forward too, matching your steps, stumbling as she tries to pull a large book from her satchel, but gives up with a giggle.
"Teacher, student? What's the difference, anyways. Tell me, who holds the deed on knowledge when it comes down to it? And you have been tresspassing. That is a fact. But help me with a few meaningless answers, and I'll conveniently forget what I've seen here."
As the student approaches, Jozan notices that the bracelet in his pouch (that he investigated from the lavatory) has begun to slightly hum.
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Jozan's words are underpinned by a realization that the "halfling student" is likely a guise for something far stranger and that the planar focus in his pouch could be used to dismiss that creature from the material plane, but it will take some subterfuge as well (maybe even brawn)...
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The student, eyes locked on you the whole time, saunters over to Mr. Ngon’s classroom and peers in.
"Studying is not for the faint of heart, I have lots of classes!"
She twirls her hands to emphasize the volume.
"Conjurations, conjugations, topological and biological! You will be tested. Do we have a deal?"
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While the creature is distracted showing the "homework" to Professor Bun Bun and Zenobia, Jozan nudges Red Roy, "Hey Red Roy, can you keep that thing's attention while I try something?" He shifts the pouch with the vibrating beads to the front of his belt. "I think these beads may be able to stop whatever that thing is doing here..."
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"Do you think this might be a.... g-g-g-ghost, Jozan?" Red Roy whines.
Trying to steel up his courage, Red Roy approaches the halfling student. "Can I see your book on conjugations? We don't have those in Shoony. Its a really tough language, you can't tell if you're talking about last Tuesday or three weeks from today."