"The hive goes quite high, but assuming limited range based on the palace remaining exempt, they probably aren't climbing the highest spires. Lots of the estates have towers though, including this one. Do you have the manpower to post watch on everything tall enough to work as a jumping off point?"

Regardless of the answer to that question, it was obvious there wasn't a great deal more to be learned from Lady Hax. She parted with her contact information somewhat reluctantly, it seemed to Anika, assuring them that she could be reached at the palace most days.

Anika made a mental note to ask the Commissariat about forbidden items when she returned to their lodgings - it later turned out that the same level of thoroughness or paranoia which inspired the outings with the borrowed psyker had led to other inquiries as well. It hadn't led to any leads on the stalker, though a number of unrelated nobility had very expesnive collections quietly siezed, and at least one who wasn't important enough to possess a degree of fortification against censure had been publically executed. It hadn't helped Hax's popularity, but this was an area over which the Inquisition tended to loom ominously, and none had been willing to risk that sort of attention by protesting in an overly loud fashion.

The rest of the party was pleasant enough (and Macharius hadn't been exaggerating about the quality of the food), and as they mingled and chatted with this eminence or that, Anika noticed that one of the previously shut doors had been opened, if barred by velvet rope, and periodically someone would be admitted under escort and returned to the party after a brief absense. As the night was winding down, a guard approached and bowed stiffly. "The Lady Kindjal requests your attendance in her audience chamber."

Spoiler: Ravia Only
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The first set of mixtures Ravia tried was a horrible failure. The result was aggressive and volatile bone growth, and the test subject she had given it to expired messily. She corrected a few ratios, and administered the drugs to another test group. This time was a little more successful, though still not perfect - the final mixture would require some refining. She took notes. This group, however, might still be useful for later. A few of them had sprouted spurs and things, from their arms or otherwise, but the growth in bone mass was within tolerances and demonstrated an increase in both strength and density. They would unfortunately never be able to pass as human unless she did something about the growths, but all great science had to start somewhere.

((OOC: You can continue refining this process, or accept bone spurs and minor deformity and move on))