Mage Knights: Childhood's End

Context

“The attack on the Instructory was not an isolated event.” the emissary explained. “There have been a string of attacks in Aylodae, mostly assassinations targeting prestigious and wise sages and archmages in the greater centers of learning within our region. At a good number of them, masked assailants specializing in magic were confirmed to have been present.”

“Why haven’t we heard about this?” Kashé demanded.

“The Archsage has been using Aylodae’s resources to look into the matter.” the emissary answered. “If news of this reached the more warlike regions, they may take it as a chance to attack Aylodae.”

“If the Archsage was investigating this, why wasn’t he able to mobilize the Aylodae army to prevent the attack on the Instructory?” Deviån demanded.

“Because he didn’t know about it, dolt.” Sage answered him, then turned to the emissary. “You said that all the attacks up until now were assassinations targeting individuals. This would be the first time this masked group attacked on a large scale with the intent to kill dozens of people. This would be a deviation from their observed behavior. No one could’ve stopped it.”

“Precisely.” the emissary agreed as Deviån glared at Sage. “We had not anticipated an attack of this magnitude. We lost much of our next generation of mage knights; you three are among the few survivors. Which brings me to the purpose behind our meeting: the Archsage has handpicked you three to trace and engage the group responsible for this attack, and all the ones prior to it.”