The mage council meetings are, as ever, open to the public but like city council meetings the floor isn't open off the bat for concerns until the council members have discussed things- otherwise they don't get through the agenda and everyone's shouting at everyone else and-


Lots of tea breaks. Lots and lots of tea breaks x-x.

The research is meant to better understand what the shards are, how they interact with the body (sina's stopped her HEART when it went off that is concerning), and how they interact with the fade. Most rifters aren't inherently magical so it isn't so much a thing, but it does bear minding.