Secrets of Strixhaven | #161: Off the Record

0:00A trio of inklings darted between the meticulously groomed plants flanking the silver quill pathways near Grand Loft Hall, irritating Jolisa with their frivolousness. Even like them, she moved with purpose, her flash artist Esman, keeping pace with his longer legs. This assignment was also frivolous, but she wouldn't undermine her professionalism by arriving late to her appointment. This puff piece is utterly unworthy of my journalistic talents. She grumbled, shooting the cuffs of her silver and black coat. Esman dodged a stray, aspirated plosive, using his body to shield the cylindrical case holding his rolled-up canvases. Anything can be a learning experience? I should be learning more lupamansi,

1:02not how to flatter faculty egos. Too bad her advisor, Professor Goss, seemed disinclined to encourage her ambitions. Call her overconfident and impetuous, would he? The man wouldn't acknowledge potential if it were introduced to him by Shadrick Silver Quill, personally. Maybe there's a story-angle that will let you practice your skills? Jolisa flicked her silvery hair out of her face. Not unless this new instructor has secrets worth exposing. Maybe he does? Her blistering march slowed. Maybe. She sped up again, percing her lips. Why is he here? Does it have something to do with Professor Vess, or that planeswalker goldmain? If so, how is he involved? What does he intend to do? All good questions you can ask him. Depending on his answers, she could write a feature that would finally

2:02win her the Argent Star Award for investigative journalism after leaving twice to that hack Namivi Dens. How did he keep conveniently stumbling into perilous situations involving ethical controversies? And worse, surviving to tell the tale in precisely 5,000 words. They reached the hall of lost steps. A busy corridor leading to the chambers and mock courtrooms were Silver Quill's flourishing legal mind-practiced rhetoric. Currents of students flowed in both directions as classes ended and began. Jolisa's interviewee had office hours now. Do you see him? She asked her taller companion. Estman scanned the crowd. I think so. There. The instructor stood beside a column listening to a student. Arms crossed. Expression suggesting boredom. He cut a stylish figure in black, white, and gold. His

3:06black streaked white hair brushed back from his face. Mustache and goatee sharp as a paper's edge. Every inch. The law mage. Those are the most profoundly lackluster excuses I've ever heard. He told the student, let's see whether you can scrape together something more compelling before we next meet. Write me a five-page report analyzing historical failures and law spells relating to imprecise punctuation. And yes, every period, semicolon, and orjev comma will impact your grade. The student stalked off. Jolisa slipped into the space he'd vacated. Jolisa Claris, she said, holding out her hand. Reporter from the Strix Haven star, here for the interview, a pleasure to meet you, Professor Zarek. I'm sure it is. He replied, raking her with a cold gaze that would have made weaker knees tremble. Jolisa turned

4:09the aborted handshake into a gesture at Estman. Picture, please. A roll of canvas emerged from his case and unfurled a hover in front of him. Smile for the painting, Estman said. Professor Zarek barely had time to pose before the sulfurous flash of the spell startled a flock of birds into the sky. Professor Zarek's office shed no light on the dark corners of his character. A glorified closet, its bookshelves stood mostly empty, as did the wooden desk dominating the space. The instructor lounged in a high-backed leather chair, while Jolisa sat firmly across from him, her recording prism hovering between them, notebook opened on her lap. Estman propped up the wall next to her. What do you do on Ravnica? Jolisa asked. Are you with people mostly? Professor Zarek replied, smirking. Not so different from here. Vague. And in your spare time.

5:16Time is money. You use it or you waste it. I hate to be wasteful. That was a pull quote if ever she'd heard one, but it still told her nothing about the man. Under the guise of making notes, she drew the sigil for Felizia's illuminating inquiry on a blank page. She delivered her next question with careful control of her air-stream mechanisms, the lumamante spell flying from her lips in a swarm of syllables, hovering around Professor Zarek's head like a cloud of invisible mites. Why did he decide to come to Strixhaven? She asked. Maybe I wanted to educate inquiring young people like you. He replied. A spot of darkness at his temple, signaled he was hiding something. Interesting. Is that your only goal? Jolisa pressed. Professor Zarek smoothed his hair with one hand,

6:17then snapped his fingers above his head. Jolisa's spell burst, her ears ringing, and her mouth tasting of blood. Not many students would dare to cast an interrogation spell on an instructor. Professor Zarek said, I'm not many students. Jolisa swallowed apprehension. If you're sending me to detention bog, I'll have to use an allergy charm first. I have a better idea. You remind me of myself at your age. Talented, curious, driven. He steepled his fingers. I could use your assistants with a special project. Jolisa's disdain for this assignment dissipated like her spell. Finally, someone who recognized her worth. What is it? Professor Zarek quirked in eyebrow. It's a secret. I need total discretion.

7:20Can you to handle that? If not, there's the door. I'm in. A secret project sounded ideally suited to her skills, and it might eventually make an incredible story for the star, depending on how it unfolded. S-men, you can get another flash portrait and go. I know you have other homework. S-men shook his head. Two mages are better than one. Maybe I can help too. Jolisa turned back to Professor Zarek with a bright smile. Souls of discretion. That's us. So? Professor Zarek leaned back, stroking his beard. I've been searching the biblioplex for a blood-aged home about the birth of the elder dragons. It's referenced in a few places, but I can't find it. Why do you need it? Jolisa asked. His expression grew serious. I think the ley lines of Ravnica may have been destabilized by, well, me. It's a long story.

8:28Archavios has unique ley line configurations that may provide insight and solutions. The snarls? S-men asked. Exactly. Professor Zarek wrapped his knuckles on the desk. Unfortunately, your library is, in layman's terms, too blasted huge. It's also still being rebuilt and reorganized since the Fyrexians rected. I can't find the book. The library assistance can't find it, so I need someone good at feroating out secrets to try. Library work? Far less intriguing than Jolisa had hoped. Why not ask Isabel or someone in lore hold? Honestly? The professors smiled rooffully. I'm avoiding a Johnny, gold main, that is, we're not on the best terms, and if he finds out about this, look, your clever and self-reliant, when you make a spell mistake,

9:36do run to your instructors for help, or try to fix it yourself. Fix it myself, Jolisa agreed. Plus, with everything going on at the school, I don't know who I can trust. I'm taking a huge chance telling you and S-men, but a luma-mancer of your caliber seems just what I need. Of course, Jolisa resisted the urge to prune. You could try fame, but he's… unscrupulous. A last resort. Have you asked Cody? Who's Cody? The Codex Vsifera. S-men said it hates being called Cody. It knows almost everything about the Biblioplex. Jolisa explained. It can probably tell you where that book is, or where to start looking. Professor Zarek stood. Excellent idea, Claris. You're already proving

10:36yourself invaluable. He stepped past his desk and threw open the door, casting a look over his shoulder. Don't just sit there, you two. We've got a Codex to catch. Jolisa put her things away and hurried to catch up to S-men and her rapidly vanishing interview subject. The Codex Vsifera often disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to reappear elsewhere, finding people who needed it. Or, at least, it acted as if anyone it spoke to, eagerly awaited its wisdom. Today, it was disinclined to make Jolisa's life simple. She walked the length and breath of the central campus searching for it, interrogating students around the Biblioplex in the Bose End Tavern, and finally, in Firedolt Cafe, which she'd been avoiding so she wouldn't be wrangled into working an extra shift. Try the Void. Her fellow Burista, Mina suggested. Someone just

11:40complained about seeing Cody there. Thanks, Mina. You're a charm. Jolisa darted for the door. S-men and Professor Zarek close behind. What's the Void? Professor Zarek asked, as they trod the torch-lined path toward the northern side of the Biblioplex, an accidental side-effect of a duel, Jolisa explained. It's basically an area enchanted with a modified spell of silence. People scream into it, S-men added. You can hear yourself, but no one outside can hear you. Why not use the vocal practice rooms? Only silver-cooled students can reserve those. They found Cody lecturing a quadric student who waited in line for their turn with the Void. That is how Mantissa proved logarithmic decimals are always positive. The Codex said grumpily. She also ENOUGH! The student exclaimed, cutting in line

12:41and leaping into the Void, where the student already inside proceeded to yell at them silently. The Codex ruffled its pages, then ambled away on creaking metal legs. Jolisa stepped in front of it. Excuse me, Jolisa said. We have questions for you. The student in line groaned. Some privacy is in order. Professor Zarek said. Into the Void. They entered the zone of silence. Professor Zarek, clearing the arguing students out with a flick of his fingers. Codex, I'm told you may know where a buck is located. He said, possible. The Codex replied, which one? Vortex formations and ego-magical adaptations by Skavrana the Oracle. The Codex pages rustled as if an invisible finger moved them.

13:43I know where that buck can be found. Cody said, but I cannot tell you. Can't or won't. The professor asked. Cannot! A student poked their head into the Void. Can you hurry up? Professor Zarek snapped his fingers. The student stumbled back out as if zapped. You can't tell the professor, or you can't tell anyone. Jolisa asked. The Codex did a nervous dance. Metal eggs clinking. The page containing that information is redacted. I can sense what is there, but I cannot show or tell you what it contains. Typically, redaction spells are only used for knowledge deemed especially dangerous to students. You know what else can be dangerous. Professor Zarek's eyes darkened as if filling with ink.

14:48Me. If you don't, tell me what I need to know. It's against a paroticle. You can stick your protocol in your, perhaps you can make an exception. Jolisa said, since it's for a professor, not a student. Perhaps the Codex sounded unconvinced. Even so, I cannot remove the redaction. Haltingly, brow furrowed, Jolisa said, I know a luma-mancy spell. Esman waved his arms, cutting her off. How are you going to undo something cast by someone with more experience and power? If you need power, Professor Zarek said, I'd be happy to offer a boost. Another student stepped into the void, but before they could speak, the professor loomed in front of them with a stormy expression. They retreated, and he followed them out, wagging his finger

15:52threateningly at the queue. A ritual would definitely be more effective? Jolisa thought. She retrieved her grimoire from her napsack and flipped to the necessary page. Esman, will you help as well? She asked. When he didn't answer, she peered up to find him leaning over her. You're not wondering why that page was redacted? Esman asked, maybe we shouldn't do this. Jolisa clicked her tongue at him. Nothing good ever came of keeping secrets. I want to be a luma mancer to reveal the hidden. Anyway, we're helping an instructor. A smile teased her lips. Unlike Professor Goss, Professor Zarek valued her skills. Perhaps when this was over, she could request a change in advisors. Professor Zarek re-entered the void, dusting off his hands. Ready? Yes, Jolisa said. We'll draw a triangle with the codex at the center,

16:56and one of us, at each point, soon the necessary diagrams floated above the ground, brightening as Jolisa repeated the ritual's verbal components. The recitation reached its peak. Power flooded into her with a sensation like she'd stood in a cold room for hours, and suddenly stepped into warm sunshine. A burst of light enveloped the codex, which gave a surly squawk. I see, it said. The tone was taken from the mystical archive, to the vaults of two-row, where many blood-aged artifacts are kept in stasis for safety reasons. A funnel of winds spun around the three mages, sucking the light up into the cloudless sky. Jolisa doubled over breathless and renovated. The vaults of two-row.

18:00Professor Zarek repeated. I'll make preparations to depart immediately. No, you can't, the codex said. The vaults are at the base of the mountains below hook-ever. They're hidden by a maze and patrolled by dangerous constructs. No one is permitted inside without the permission of the founders. I don't have time to get my permission slip signed. Is there a passcode or something similar to open the doors? Yes, it's a send-seed is of sky to soar in secret, but the professor was already walking away. Past the few students who'd stubbornly stayed in line. Jolisa thanked Cody over her shoulder as she changed after him, Esman at her heels. A professor? What about us? Jolisa called. He turned to regard her with an arched eyebrow. You should go back to class. This is much too

19:02dangerous. Jolisa bristled at the dismissal. Luma Mancy is useful for finding secrets. How do you look at the book once you're inside the vault? It doesn't sound like anyone there will help. Esman touched her shoulder. Maybe we shouldn't. I want to see this through. Jolisa insisted. But if the founders don't want that's probably to keep out thieves. Jolisa lowered her voice. You can go, but I'm not leaving until this is finished. If professor Goss wouldn't let her prove herself, she'd do it on her own terms, regardless of the danger. Before Esman could reply, Professor Zarek said, Your skills would be very useful. Are you sure you're up to the challenge? Absolutely. Jolisa let her confident shine. Not her relief that he'd capitulated so easily, though, that she kept to herself.

20:05While Jolisa had been to detention bog for an incident that was not remotely her fault, she'd never traveled elsewhere beyond her home village and the strict saving campus. Transportation magic could be temperamental because of the snarls. Walking only took her so far, and the one time she tried to ride a winged lion, its yawn left her acutely aware that her entire head fit inside its fang-filled mouth. Professor Zarek acquired a transport spell, so her aversion to mounts was not exposed. The stomach-twisting sensation of porting and reappearing in another part of archaeus thankfully didn't elicit an embarrassment of regurgitation either. She did experience a frisson of fear at the mountains closing around her like stone fists. Clouds masked around the outland airy cities of Hukiver above, blanketing the sky in a uniform gray that softened the shadows, turning the landscape into an

21:09ethereal realm suspended in time. The vault should be up ahead. Professor Zarek said, this was as close as I could get us. They hiked through rocky terrain until they reached an open area littered with pairs of tall stone carvings and grass-covered skeletons. At the other end of the space, massive doors led into the sheer side of a cliff, covered in spiraling blue sigils that exuded an eerie mist, as if their surfaces were far colder than the surrounding air. We have to cross that clearing to reach the doors. Jillisa said, the professor considered the skeletons. Something killed those people. I don't see any obvious traps, though. Is it elemental? Jillisa asked Esman. Esman stretched, shagowed his limbs, then performed a

22:09tightly-controlled dance. He ended it with an outflang arm, an aspray of color flew from his fingers, covering a third of the clearing. The dazzling rainbow of hues swirled over and around each other, then sank into the ground and faded. Not elemental, Esman said. Professor Zarek stepped up to two of the carved stones. I suppose we'll have to figure it out the hard way. He quirked a challenging eyebrow, Jillisa. Are you coming? Esman cleared his throat. I'll stay here. Maybe I'll see something that helps. Jillisa refused to let her own fear stop her from experiencing this part of the story, so she walked next Professor Zarek across the clearing. They moved slowly, cautiously. Jillisa kept a spell ready on the tip of her tongue to deploy at anything that might suddenly

23:09spring out at them. The farther they walked, the heavier her limbs felt. Her breathing slowed. Her eyelids drooped. With a jerk, Jillisa stumbled and found herself next to Esman, who grabbed her before she sank to the ground. You barely made it ten steps in. Esman said, you passed the second set of stones, I blinked, and you were back here. Professor Zarek squinted at the clearing. Ah, it's that kind of maze. The stones must make the turns. Jillisa's strength slowly returned. Two parts, she murmured. One drains us. The other ports us out. If we persist, we'll end up like those poor fools. The professor said, gesturing at the skeletons. We need a way to determine the maze's path without walking through it. Jillisa tapped a knuckle against her mouth. Most silver quill students mastered the spell to

24:12summon an inkling, if only to pit them against each other in sidewalk competitions. But would they pass through the maze unhindered? Or would the enchantment dispel them? Only one way to find out. Tracing the appropriate glyph in the air, Jillisa snapped an insult so vicious that Esman winced. Out of the sibilance and plosives, the creature formed and turned its viscous shape toward Jillisa. Across that clearing, Jillisa ordered. It flew at her bedding, reappearing at her side with its color faded like an old book left in the sun. Inklings can run the gauntlet. Professor Zarek said, excellent plan. We need more than one and a way to chart their cores. Jillisa swallowed her nerves. We'll need to share power again. Bio means. Esman raised a hand. I'll find a higher vantage and make a map. Professor Zarek's smile was lightning quick. The two of you are

25:19truly outdoing yourselves today. Top marks for ingenuity. Flushed with pleasure at the compliment, Jillisa traced two connected circles and a series of symbols onto the ground. She stepped inside one circle and Professor Zarek occupied the other. The syllables of the spell flowed from her like light from a lamp, engulfing her in a burst of energy. Rather than a single glyph, she drew a half dozen in the air, each bright and clear. She hurled insult after insult at them, and one by one they spawned inklings of different shapes and sizes. Despite the assistance from Professor Zarek, her dizziness from the energy drain nearly made her tip sideways. Jillisa locked her knees and gestured imperiously at the assembled inklings into the maze. Off they flew, with Jillisa calling commands as they traversed the clearing. Each time one returned,

26:22she sent it after the one that had gone the farthest, replicating the appropriate turns. The maze's energy-sapping eventually dispelled the inklings until only one remained. If this one failed, which you'd be able to cast the spell again, the maze had drained her so much, but the thought of giving up now was inconceivable. She sucked her teeth and waited for it to fade away or... The last inkling passed through the final set of stones. It swirled in the air triumphantly. Did you get it, Esman? Professor Zarek called. I did! Esman jogged back down holding a canvas with a realistic image of the clearing, and the path marked in luminous red ink. Jillisa sagged in relief. Now they only had to follow the map, and they'd reached the doors to the vaults. They began to traverse the space. Esman in the lead, turning as needed when they reached a new pair of standing stones. Jillisa realized

27:28the obvious skeletons weren't the only ones littering the ground. More had sunk into the earth over time, only the curve of a skull or the pale line of an arm marking where they'd fallen. Had so many attempted to access the vaults without permission? She shivered. Maybe Esman was right. Maybe they should have stayed at Strixhaven. No. Even if she could never write this story for the star without breaking her promise to keep this secret, she'd at least prove Professor Goss was wrong to hold her back. Someday, when she was a famous luma-mancer, she would... Jillisa stumbled on a depression in the ground and nearly veered off the path. Strange that she hadn't noticed it, but then she was fatigued. Movement to her right caught her eye. Nothing there, except a half-barried skeleton, arm outstretched. Creepy. Jillisa scurried to catch up with Professor Zarek,

28:30but her foot caught on something else. This time, she went down, landing hard on one knee and both hands. Bony fingers gripped her boot. Eerie, dark flames flickered within the eyes of an otherwise empty skull, and a jawbone rattled as if attempting to shape words. Jillisa screamed and kicked out with her other boot. The skeletal hand released her. She stumbled away, pushing herself to her feet. I don't have time for this. Professor Zarek snapped. Get through the maze, you two. I'll have a word with these pests. Esmen grabbed Denise's arm. They stumbled across the misty field, pausing to check the maps so they wouldn't be transported back to the beginning. More skeletons hold themselves out of the earth, fleshless philanges clutching at grass and dirt. Some reveal tattered remnants of their living selves, moldering clothes or rusted weapons, while others had long since lost any clues to their histories.

29:37Hist syllables from Professor Zarek proceeded a chilling rush of power that made Jillisa's skin break out in goose bumps. Another skeleton seized her calf and raised a bellful, dark fire eyes to hers. Smile, Esmen said, flinging a canvas toward the undead. Its teeth clattered as a flash of magic through Jillisa's shadow into stark relief. The skeleton's image appeared on the front of the hovering canvas. As it did, the skeleton itself burned away, leaving nothing but ashes and a whiff of sulfur. The canvas rolled itself up, and Esmen stuffed it into his case, again reaching for Jillisa. They continued their flight, dodging increasingly aggressive enemies. The final pair of stone markers beckoned, and with a surge of energy, they dashed through. Jillisa skidded to a halt, pressing a hand to the stitch in her side.

30:39The vault doors towered over her, cold mist caressing her exposed skin, blue sigils whispering in a language she didn't understand. Unnerved, she looked back at the maze. Professor Zarek strode briskly along the unseen path, limbed in shadow, cloak flaring like wings. His clothes mouthed smile unsettled Jillisa, but then, of course, a powerful mage like him wouldn't be troubled by a few undead. Excellent work, he said, if this were being graded, you'd both pass with flying colors. It wasn't, though. This extra credit project wouldn't improve either Jillisa's or Esmen's academic standing, but proving her worth as a luma-mancer? Jillisa clung to that prospect like the knot at the end of a rope dangling over a pit. Professor Zarek raised his palms toward the vault doors, ascended sages of sky to soar in secret.

31:49Nothing happened. Maybe the codex was right, Esmen said. Maybe we need permission from one of the founders before slowly, silently, the doors cracked open just enough to allow them to slip inside. Or not, Professor Zarek's cold smile turned on Jillisa. Time for that secret-seeking magic of yours to serve us again. The prospect of showing off no longer thrilled her. Inside, the vaults of two row seemed more like some ancient temple than a storage structure. The doors opened into a round vestibule, with an archway leading into a much larger space beyond. Copper-gilded pillars, etched with meticulously precise symbols, held up ceilings high enough to accommodate a dragon's form. Though the relative airiness did little to relieve the

32:53oppressive weight of the mountainous rock pressing down on them. If there were other rooms or tunnels, they weren't readily visible in the flickering glow of ever-burning torches whose flames shed no smoke. recesses in the walls etailed a single object, some more larger than others. Some had shapes Jillisa could identify from a distance, a scroll, a vase, a glistening prism. Others were too small, or hidden deep within their nooks, or were simply beyond her ken. Large stone statues stood at intervals, vaguely humanoid, but with flat blank faces and deep pits instead of eyes, e-tolding around shield and spear. A flash and sulfurous scent announced that Esmen had committed an image to canvas. A pity they couldn't use it for the story in the star, unless they were released from their confidentiality promise. Let's get that tone. Professor Zarek said, remember it's accounts of the

34:02dawning age, vortex formations and ego-magical adaptations by Skaverana the Oracle. All right, Jillisa fumbled with her spellbook, flipping through it until she found the page she wanted. Swallowing her nerves, she traced the necessary symbols in the air while speaking the incantation in a precise, firm tone. Each syllable brightened her sigil until it glowed fiercely. The light of truth, a beacon to follow. Which she had to, because it darted away down the length of the room. Deeper into the vaults, it flew, Jillisa chasing after, beyond exhausted from expending so much magic and evading the undead. Whatever priceless treasures and artifacts she passed were of no consequence. Their harsh breathing, the only other sound breaking the sepulchrist's silence. At last, the light stopped in front of a recess that held a

35:02book. Its cover resembled smoky glass or crystal rather than leather, featuring snarl-like engravings filled with a silvery metal. Jillisa found herself loathe to touch it, as if her dirty hands would desecrate the sanctity of the artifact. This is it. Professor Zarek asked breathlessly. The spell says it is. Jillisa replied. Excellent. He didn't hesitate to take the tone, opening it carefully. Inside, thin sheets of metallic paper were covered in a language Jillisa hadn't learned. A grinding, scraping sound filled the empty space. It reminded her of the mortar and pestle she used to crush coffee beans at work. What was that, Esman whispered? Professor Zarek ignored him, continuing to read, a finger tracing the page. More grinding yielded to a thud than another. A pair of the towering stone humanoids stepped

36:08away from the walls and turned to face Jillisa and Esman. Their eyes glittered like cut crystals catching sunlight. Their spears and shields shifted into a clearly aggressive posture. The statues, Jillisa said. They're the constructs Cody warned us about. Intruders. A hollow voice intoned. Return the stolen item or be destroyed. Jillisa looked in horror at Professor Zarek. You have to put that back. They think we're thieves. A moment. I want to be sure. Yes, there it is. Professor Zarek closed the book and tucked it under his arm. Alas, not quite what we were looking for, but I think this clarifies our next steps.

37:10Thank you again for all your assistance, you too. Jillisa's eyes widened. What? Your combination of skill and spiteful ambition was invaluable. As I'd expected, though it did take some maneuvering to get that story assigned to you. The professor's blue-gray eyes were cold as a winter sky as he smiled at her. Alas, I have business elsewhere, but with luck, perhaps you'll make it back to Strixhaven. If not, even better. We wouldn't want all of this to end up in the star. Now would we. Still smiling, Professor Zarek vanished in a swirl of shadow dotted with bursts of light. He left us, Esman said, disbelieving. Jillisa stared at the empty recess ice in her veins. This had all been a plot to steal that book. Had everything he told them been a lie?

38:15All his flattery, his compliments, mere manipulations designed to use her and her magic? The constructs continued their inexorable march toward her and Esman. More were behind them, and still more came from the other direction. What could they do? Surely, if they explained, the constructs would understand. Nonsense. Such guardians were not designed to grasp nuance, nor were they likely to be defeated by mere students. I'm so sorry, she whispered. If I had just written the puff piece, apologize later, Esman said, how do we get out? She didn't know. Luma Mancy was no help, and they had no means of contacting anyone in Strixhaven for backup. Even if she and Esman escaped the vaults, they still had to travel through endless mountains filled with monsters. Exhausted, magically depleted, Jillisa prepared to run for

39:19her life one last time, hopeless as it might be. She'd failed to prove Professor Goss wrong, and the dead didn't earn the Argent star, but she'd been right about one thing at least. Nothing good ever came of keeping secrets.