The Twofold Houses 5: Rebuilding

[Gullara]

https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0B5bKlQSiirV-b01TaVROX1cxWFU

Mithar Keep

The home of the Mithar family is an imposing structure. The black granite walls that surround the main structure stand twenty-five feet tall on four sides, cornered by four towers. They have only one entrance, the adamantium forged gate. Beyond that is an expansive courtyard. A cobblestone road carves the way through the well tended greenery toward the keep.

The keep proper towers over the walls surrounding it. The dark stone structure can be seem for miles around, especially perched as it is near a cliffside overlooking the city of Inside. The structure tapers toward the top, capped by a flat roof. Its four walls are supported by sweeping buttresses. In a regular pattern, menacing gargoyles spot the walls.

Interior

The inside of the Mithar home is modest for a building so grand. While the family's wealth if evident, it's never showy or gaudy. It's orderly and kept strictly tidy at all times, looking only properly lived in for moments at a time.

The first and largest floor is the main hub of activity in the keep. From the large main entrance hall, the kitchen can be found to the right, the living room to the left, and a grand spiral staircase leading upward. Otherwise a small room can be found off the living room, for guests who need to stay a night.

The second floor has two locations of note. One is Cessie's laboratory. Here she practices her magic, safely sealed away for the safety of the other residents of the keep. Attached is a small room where Cessie can store the materials for her work. The other is a recreational room, most frequently used by her children at play. Otherwise there are a number of smaller rooms with no dedicated purpose.

The third floor is where the family sleeps. A large master bedroom occupies much of the back of the tower. Aside from the obvious, the room has an expansive walk in closet. There are two other rooms used by the children. Cora an Bastion share a room, and Jillian takes the last.

The fourth and final floor, aside from the open roof above, houses Cessie's expansive library. Row upon row of books on topics ranging from history to arcana to folklore can be found here. There are quiet alcoves for peaceful reading, as well as a large central table used for study.

The keep also has a large basement, primarily used for storage. It has has some entrances to tunnels beneath the keep, a few of which lead out to some nearby natural caverns.

Exterior

Off the cobble path to the keep, trees, shrubbery, flowers, and greenery of all kind are in abundance. They're all very carefully maintained by skilled gardeners with barely a leaf out of place. There is an abundance of space to move around, paths to stroll down on sunny days, and shady, quiet spots.

Off toward the back of the keep can be found Cessie’s greenhouse, full of plants more specific to her studies. Alongside that is an expansive garden of vegetables and fruits. Only this part of the courtyard seems a touch overgrown.

The two structures that were once the forge and armoury are more like sheds for various tools and other items to be kept out of the weather. Neither have been used for their intended purpose in a long time.

Inhabitants

The Mithars
The Mithar family, Cessie and her children Cora, Bastion, and Jillian, call the keep home. They are the only true permanent residents of the keep.

Elementals and Constructs
Cessie has summoned and created a number of elemental beings. They serve two broad purposes. A number of them assist in maintaining the home, performing small cleaning and other tasks. Others, including the gargoyles dotting the tower, are there for security. Garn is a large, adamantium gargoyle of particular note. He’s often found supervising the children, greeting guests, and other tasks.

Staff
While a lot of small tasks can be handled by Cessie’s elementals, upkeeping such a large home requires some staff. While none of them stay in the keep, they can be found there at different times every day. There most often is the cook who’s often found in the kitchen. Once a day a small team of gardeners come and tend to the courtyard.


https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0B5bKlQSiirV-SXhfa2hxeEhGcjg



https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0B5bKlQSiirV-aExvZkNtcjExRkk

Frescot Estate

At the end of a winding road through the countryside, bordering a stretch of forest, can be found the Frescot Estate. The grounds leading up to the house are filled with life, greenery and the sounds of nature everywhere. The house itself peeks through the trees, it’s white stone exterior concealed by leafy vines creeping up the walls. On each floor, the first, second, and attic, have three large windows on the front. A garage door breaks the symmetry off to the left side.

Interior * (https://i.imgur.com/DTblJNJ.png)

The inside of the Frescot estate is cozy and warm feeling. It’s open and airy, with tall ceilings and huge windows to let the sun in. Above all the home feels lived in with clutter and noise. The walls are painted a variety of pleasing colours, and house plants can be found in every corner and climbing up the walls.

The first floor is the main gathering area of the family. A long hall passes the guest bedroom and the study on the right, and the first gathering space, a cozy living room on the left. There’s an entrance to the garage here, where Adir’s truck is usually found, though there’s plenty of work space in here as well. At the end of the hall the house opened up. The kitchen, dining room, and another gathering space are all in one large room. Glass doors lead out to a covered patio in the back.

The second can be found up a staircase from the hallway below. Primarily this is where most of the family sleeps in the house's many bedrooms. There's a play area at the top of the stairs. The master bedroom and the bedroom where the smallest Frescots sleep lie to the left while the rest can be found down the hall to the right.

Following the right hall leads to a storage room with an entrance to the attic. This space isn’t quite as tall as the others, a little more tight below the exposed beams of the roof. The space is only partially finished and acts as less convenient storage.

Exterior

On the right side of the house on the approach is an extensive garden. There are no neat, orderly rows to find here, but the plants grow large and healthy. The grounds around the the house are a place begging to be explored. The greenery has an abundance of small paths to wander along. There are only a few open spaces, including the largest open area directly behind the house. A number of ponds are scattered here and there with a stream connecting them.

Inhabitants

The Frescots
The abundantly large Frescot family lives here. Including Sakura and Adir, and all their children. Laela, Cern, Gwydion, Russell, Lucy, Laurana, Cassie, Kissa, Malachi, and Finian. Often Sakura’s father, the treant Sarget, can be found near the house.


https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0B5bKlQSiirV-VHhHck1zelRHNTg

Archive
Mithar Keep & Frescot House IV: Magic babble lies within
Mithar Keep III: Girls gone Modest
Mithar Keep II: Electric Boobaloo
The Frescot House
Mithar Keep

This thread is managed by Gulaghar. I will create the new thread when this one reached 50 pages. Please contact me for updates to the OP.



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[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Garn stares at Sakura, considering objecting to this order. But fine, this would be on her though.
The gargoyle opens the gate for Dena who slips inside. She couldn't help but to see that the dryad had her arms rather full. "Let me carry the horn at least." She offers as she moves up to Sakura. "He... does actually." Dena admits. "I told him during our conversation way back then. I thought he must have told you."
As that is happening one of the snakes moves closer to Laela and attempts to tickle the inside of her ear with its forked tongue as it lets out a soft hiss.

((Reposting this in this thread.))

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Sure, thanks." Sakura passes off the horn. "He never told me, no." She purses her lips. No, she's not happy about that. Adir shouldn't be hiding these things from her...

"Eep!" Laela jumps in Sakura's arm and whips her head around to look at the snake. "You again!" She tries to boop it in the nose again.


[Cessie's Lab]

Ambrosia and Cessie glances at another for a moment as Adir asks his question.
"Adir... while I gladly would answer all your questions, I can't really speak of Sakura or the spirit anymore. They're one now, and neither could really be called distinctive entities at this point. She is still your wife, but she is also the spirit, a unity of them, and if you can't tell that her behavior is any different it is because the spirit was extremely similar to her, so when they were fixed together even further it just muddies the distinction between them even more. This is something that very rarely happens, so even I have difficulty explaining the exact distinction, but I think the key difference is that she will, like the kami, be drawn to fulfill her concepts. However, as she was already did that before, you might not even notice a difference." Ambrosia attempts to explain. "I realize that might be an an unsatisfactory answer, but for all intends and purposes, she is still your wife and she is as much in control over herself as anyone of us." That was the nicest way she could put it at least. Sakura had been extremely lucky though, spirits could often take the charge in these types of unions if they had been fed to such a degree, but it seems her mystery helper had helped her deal with that problem.

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura nods a bit. That's what she's been saying all along. She doesn't feel like she's any different than =ever and she's happy. It's been hard for her to be so worried all along for those reasons.

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Ambrosia and Cessie glances at another for a moment as Adir asks his question.
"Adir... while I gladly would answer all your questions, I can't really speak of Sakura or the spirit anymore. They're one now, and neither could really be called distinctive entities at this point. She is still your wife, but she is also the spirit, a unity of them, and if you can't tell that her behavior is any different it is because the spirit was extremely similar to her, so when they were fixed together even further it just muddies the distinction between them even more. This is something that very rarely happens, so even I have difficulty explaining the exact distinction, but I think the key difference is that she will, like the kami, be drawn to fulfill her concepts. However, as she was already did that before, you might not even notice a difference." Ambrosia attempts to explain. "I realize that might be an an unsatisfactory answer, but for all intends and purposes, she is still your wife and she is as much in control over herself as anyone of us." That was the nicest way she could put it at least. Sakura had been extremely lucky though, spirits could often take the charge in these types of unions if they had been fed to such a degree, but it seems her mystery helper had helped her deal with that problem.

"Okay..." Adir looks down, frowning. This was tough. He'd even had a moment to speak with Sakura, and he knew he'd have to accept this somehow, but... "But you said she has to fulfill her concepts." He's at least referring to Sakura and the Kami as one thing in relation to the 'concepts'. "So that last part about her being in control isn't really true, is it? What could happen if she doesn't? You're already concerned that just the kids might not be enough. What else is there to the concepts?" He looks between Sakura and Ambrosia.


[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka is fairly perplexed by Zillia's judgement of their names, but Tuskfang doesn't care. His tail wags excitedly.

"Magic? What kinda magic?"

His mother watches him with amusement, while Brinika just sits back.

[Treasure Hunting]

"It's simple! Anyone can do it. Usually I just request that the conceptual entities who dwell in material matter--" Zillia begins, but then stops, and 'hms'. "I ask the world very nicely to do things for me, and usually it obliges!"

Zillia has another 'hm'. Her vivid green eyes dart around. "Would you like to play a joke on Mr. Frescot, my friends? Just a little one." She raises her eyebrows. "Just follow me into the wall, here, and be very quiet."

Zillia's face retreats back into the stoneseam and is gone. Gwydion and Cernunnos trade looks. Play a trick on daddy?

Well, needless to say, Cernunnos starts toward the wall with a few short steps. Gwydion looks a little more hesitant.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"You misunderstand Adir, the kami's and Sakura's interests are the same. The way she acts right now is the way the spirit wants her to act since they are the same. There is not outside influence, what Sakura is now is the only actor here. As there is perfect unity between them, she will fulfill her concepts by acting like she has always acted. Which is why she likely will want to take care of more kids at some point in the future. That's not what some outside force is driving her to do, that will simply be what she thinks in a good idea, she's not losing control at all." Ambrosia attempts to explain.
"I know it might be difficult, but the spirit you spoke to back in trog's is no more, and yet she's right there." She gestures at Sakura.
"If she were not to fulfill her concepts, she'd be lost in despair, but so would the real Sakura. Can you imagine separating her from her own children that she loves to take care of? Since that is the spirits concepts, and that's what she will want to have more of. It's no different from me wanting to learn more about the world, we're all driven by our own passions for things and if someone would stop us, then we would feel unhappy and lost."

[Sunny Day]

"He must have had his reasons for it." Dena remarks. "But where could we speak in private?" She looks around, her gaze lingering a moment at Garn who is following the two closely. He wouldn't let Dena out of his sight.

This time, the snake moves out of the way before Laela can boop it and sticks out its forked tongue at her. It almost seems like it is teasing her.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Sakura eyeballs Garn for a moment. "Garn, take Laurana and Laela upstairs with the other kids." She holds the baby out to him.

"Mommy! I don't wanna go!" Laela whines almost immediately. She was playing with the snakey lady! "I wanna stay heeeeere!"

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Okay, okay, I get it," Adir waves a hand. "But an orphanage isn't going to work. I don't think a job at one is even going to work. Me and Sakura can't both have a job to do."

"So I guess we'll just have to... keep... having babies?" Adir hesitates to suggest. He looks at Sakura. "If that's what you want. I'm sure it would happen eventually anyway." He tries to smile. Despite all this, and despite his willingness to live with it, he still doesn't understand how someone can want to merge with a thing that had inhabited their body and made them do things. His uncertainty shows on his face.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Adir, I think we're thinking too far ahead here. I mean, we don't even know if there'll be a problem. We have seven kids, eight soon. I'm sure I'll be busy." Sakura argues. It's kinda silly talking about having more kids while she's currently pregnant.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie frowns, her gaze turning fierce. The stag had done it now. "Are you out of your mind, Adir? More children? That sounds like a more reasonable solution to you?" She is reacting with a bit more fire than Sakura, which seem to surprise Ambroisa.
"If you cared about your current children as much as you claim, then maybe stop having more of them. Even if you somehow manage to take care of all of them, can you really claim that you can shower each one of them with love when they start to fill an entire room by themselves? It's utterly irresponsible and the very pinnacle of wishful thinking.
As your friend I'm not going to stand idly by seeing you ruin your own and your children's life by having more of them than fits into a school class. If you think an orphanage is an unrealistic solution then I got news for you, so is having more children." At the end, her words seem to be aimed at the both of them, Ambrosia staying deadly quiet as Cessie doesn't seem to be done just yet. She just needed to take a deep breath before she continues her rant.

"I had hoped you would get to your senses eventually, with all this talk about how the spirit could influence your behavior. Yet here you are, already discussing having even more children while Sakura is still pregnant. I just can't believe how blind you are acting right now, and frankly it feels like you are spitting in my face as well. I offered up my home to you when disaster happened, but apparently that was a mistake since I only enabled your utterly irresponsible behavior.
Not even as much as a thought of what would have happened if you didn't have a huge manor to raise your children in, or the money to take care of all their needs. You just continueed at the same pace as always, almost as if nothing had happened." It looks like she is about to continue, but instead she suddenly stops, shakes her head and utters a single word, "Pity." Then she storms out of the room.
At that last word smoke can be seen coming from a stack of research notes, and Ambrosia quickly gets up from her seat to put out the fire which spontaneously ignited there.

The scholar seems unsure how to go on from here, there is a sense of unease and confusion in her expression. That had been far more than she had expected.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura stands paralyzed for a moment. She... wasn't prepared for that. She never really realized that Cessie felt so strongly. She's not sure Cessie's ever shouted at her like that...

"Cessie, wait!" Sakura runs after her, out of the lab. "Please wait Cessie. Talk to me." She tries to grab Cessie's sleeve if her friend doesn't stop immediately.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Garn will gently attempt to accept the children if they're handed to him and handle them with utter care. "Okay." He states with a nod.
Dena looks between Sakura and Laela. "It's gonna be boring there, just a bunch of grown-up stuff with your mother. But, if you just go nicely we could play later." She eyes Sakura. "If your mother is OK with it, of course."

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Garn can carry laurana, while Laela walks on her own... if she agrees to go. "Hear that, sweetie? You can play a bit more after, okay? Just go with Garn and your sister for now."

Laela pouts. She wants to play now, but... "Okay." She reluctantly agrees. She'll let Garn escort her away now.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Once the two are alone, Dena looks for a place to sit down, then she gets straight to the point. "The people looking for C2 believe that your husband would know exactly where he was, or be able to lure him to them at the very least. They're also part of some kind of magocracy that rules C2's homeworld, keeping people enslaved by magic or some ****. C2 rebelled against that and they branded him a criminal for it. Either way, they're *******s and MERC isn't going to take their side, no matter how much money they give us. I hope that they simply gave up once we caught wind of their schemes, but it never hurts to be careful, y'know?"

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura have to pull Cessie's sleeve for her to stop. She turns around, staring down at Sakura fiercely. "I've said my piece, Sakura. Take that as you will, you're both free to get as upset as you want with me, but I won't refrain from speaking my mind anymore."

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka's eyes narrow slightly, and her ears dip. She's not sure what Zillia plans, and she'd like to find out.

"Brinika, why don't you keep an eye on the little treasure hunters, while I go ask Zillia something?"

With that, she leaves the room and tries to enter the one she thinks the nymph went to. Meanwhile, Brinika stays behind and looks at the three kids.

"I didn't know you had a magic grandma," she tells Cern and Gwydion as Tuskfang sits down nearby.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Sakura rubs her arm. "And these people are still out there? What happens if they try to take it into their own hands?" Just because Merc won't do business with them doesn't mean the situation is resolved.

[Cessie's Lab]

"Cessie..." Sakura recoils a bit when Cessie whips aRound. "Why haven't you ever said anything about this before?" Has she just been stewing on it?

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"I'd hope not, considering that they hired us, they probably don't have much influence in the nexus. However, if you are worried I could keep an eye out. I have my connections and if I find out that something is threatening your family, I'll inform you right away. Heck, I'll even stop it if I can. You have my sword on that, ancestors word." She'd pull out her sword from a pocket, but she didn't want to frighten Sakura even further.

[Cessie's Lab]

"Since your children are none of my business, Sakura. Or so I kept telling myself at least." Cessie explains. "But now that I've said it, perhaps I can go back to that stance."

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Adir is so absolutely floored by Cessie's outburst that he can't initially find the energy or the vocabulary to respond. This was a bit of a shock. She's so busy with her rant that he can't get a word in edgewise, either, and he can't imagine mustering up the energy for a shouting match, but...

By the time she's done, the stag does feel angry again. Adir thought he wouldn't be able to find anger again today, but there it was. Mostly when a couple of the more specific things she'd dared to say really bounced around in his head.

They really hurt. Coupled with the inexplicable, total blindside nature of the outburst, without any warning or provocation...

And she'd said it all in front of Sakura, no less.

"You should leave," Adir tells Ambrosia, right before he goes after the girls.

It's not hard to see him coming, his fists clenched at his sides. When he's upon them, he practically brushes past Sakura to shove a finger in Cessie's face. "Who the hell do you think you are?" He roars. "Do you think putting us up in your castle means you get to talk down to us like that and stomp away like a goddamn child?"

"If you weren't Sakura's best friend," the stag seethes. "If anyone else told me I don't care about my babies, they'd be about thirty seconds from swallowing a mouthful of teeth. I don't know where you get off deciding to tear out my guts over an idea, a simple, stupid idea, but you're insane if you think I'm going to choke down your garbage."

"I'm sorry if you don't understand our problems. Really. I'm sorry-- sorry that you've driven away every man who's ever even given you the time of day. But hey, at least you can preach to us about responsibility from the top of the castle your second husband bought you - or did you split it?" Adir grimaces, his lip curling up in a snarl, and says something obscene in a tongue Cessie won't understand as he looks her dead in the eye. It transitions smoothly back into simple Common. "At least you came away with everything when he left you. Thank the gods."

"Maybe you just have a problem understanding how I could love seven kids more than you manage to care about three. You should have stopped at none. Would have saved a lot of money on therapy bills."

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka enters the adjoining room! And spies another blank wall, and an empty living room. At least until Zillia pokes her head out on this side as well, seeming to comprehend.

"I'm not in the room, silly dear, I'm in the wall. Come! Step inside!"

And meanwhile, Cern and Gwydion stand together and look at one another.

"She's not actually our magic grandma. She's Cessie's magic grandma," Gwydion finally corrects.

"But she's like our grandma. We see her lots more than normal grandma."

"That's because she lives here, dummy."

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"I got two grammas. Gramma Ligida an' gramma Weaver. They're a goblin and a wolfen," Tuskfang babbles. He's unaware of his wolfen grandmother's real identity.

Brinika's ears, meanwhile, twitch.

"But if she's Cessie's grandmother, that makes her your... great-grandmother? She doesn't look like one."

Reelshka looks perplexed, but then shrugs and tries to follow Zillia through... into the wall. Earth Queen knows what the nymph has got planned.

[Celticbear]

Mithar keep's Adimantium Gates

https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/lovecraft/images/d/db/Migo.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150816215922

... and through some mind boggling process of biology, it says in halting English: Does this location have a medical facility? I would appreciate it if I could speak to its physician.

[Shadowcaller]

Mithar keep's Adimantium Gates

The gatehouse is currently empty, but the visitor is not unseen. Unseen watchers on the walls have been following him with their gazes ever since the being approached the keep.
Soon enough he is greeted by a huge black colored gargoyle with blue glowing eyes that is brandishing a broom that appears to have been made for someone his size.
The gargoyle stops and stares at the visitor for a moment before stating, "No medical facilities here. No physicians." Well, that's informative.

[Celticbear]

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

The creature is unfazed by the directness of the answer, and replies with: Then I would I would like to offer my services as one. Both as the physician and the maker of the facilities.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"I got two grammas. Gramma Ligida an' gramma Weaver. They're a goblin and a wolfen," Tuskfang babbles. He's unaware of his wolfen grandmother's real identity.

Brinika's ears, meanwhile, twitch.

"But if she's Cessie's grandmother, that makes her your... great-grandmother? She doesn't look like one."

Reelshka looks perplexed, but then shrugs and tries to follow Zillia through... into the wall. Earth Queen knows what the nymph has got planned.

[Treasure Hunting]

Both of the boys plop down near Tuskfang. Gwydion sits close to his friend, while Cernunnos spreads out and props himself up with his small arms.

"What do you mean?"
"What's a grandma look like? Zillia said her hair turned red when she got older." Cern looks at Tuskfang. "Does your wolf grandma have red fur?" Sounds cool.

Reelshka, meanwhile, enters a soundless space full of brilliant light and luscious color. Mad opalescent hues shift and shimmer through the air, rippling in waves across formless space.

A few feet ahead, Zillia is leaning against empty air, one elbow propped on nothing, her fist squidged into her cheek. The nymph has her back to Reelshka. She appears to be staring ahead, and sighs gently, maybe a little wistfully. "They're just such cute little darlings. Yours seem to get along with them so well."

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang shakes his head.

"Nuh-uh. She's got brown fur. Aunt Renetta has red fur. Grandma Ligida has really white hair."

Brinika, meanwhile, ponders how to explain grandmothers. The boys' only relation on their mother's side is a tree. But surely Adir has parents and siblings?

"A grandma is your mom or dad's mom. A great-gradma is your grandma's mom. Have you met your dad's mom?"

Reelshka has seen a lot in her time, but this is still unusual. She expected to find herself between the rocks of the wall, which would at least be familiar. But she soldiers on.

"Oh, yes, they are. And I'm glad Tuskfang made such good friends." She giggles, a realization cutting through her general confusion. "Gwydion seems a little smitten with Brinika, though."

[Shadowcaller]

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

The creature is unfazed by the directness of the answer, and replies with: Then I would I would like to offer my services as one. Both as the physician and the maker of the facilities.

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

The gargoyle appears to mulling over this offer for a moment. "I will tell master." He finally declares and scuffles off, the gate remaining closed.
Eventually, he returns with a human woman (http://i.imgur.com/AjvqoFT.jpg) in tow. Her eyes widens as she sees the visitor, Garn had described them as "weird", but he described a lot of things that way and this was something else.
"Master is here now." The gargoyle speaks up as the human doesn't immediately greet her guest.
"Erm, greetings. I am Cessie Mithar..." She greets, almost as a reflex after the gargoyle stopped talking. She seems unsure how to approach the visitor.

[Celticbear]

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

The gargoyle appears to mulling over this offer for a moment. "I will tell master." He finally declares and scuffles off, the gate remaining closed.
Eventually, he returns with a human woman (http://i.imgur.com/AjvqoFT.jpg) in tow. Her eyes widens as she sees the visitor, Garn had described them as "weird", but he described a lot of things that way and this was something else.
"Master is here now." The gargoyle speaks up as the human doesn't immediately greet her guest.
"Erm, greetings. I am Cessie Mithar..." She greets, almost as a reflex after the gargoyle stopped talking. She seems unsure how to approach the visitor.

I am one named Unaabhi. I apologize if my presence has startled you. I am from the planet named Yuggoth, one of your authors dubbed my species "Mi-Go". We are a fungoid race of scientists, eager to find out the ways of the universe. I am one of the most prestigious surgeons on my planet, and have been tasked with finding more about this rip in space-time you have called the Nexus. To this end I have found the solution is to live as you do, in a stupor of everyday life. Thus I wished to find a function here in the Nexus, and was hoping that I could be your personal physician. I will work without pay, I do not require mundane things such as food and water. Do we have an arrangement? explains Unaabhi.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura goes positively bug-eyed once Adir has said his piece. She's absolutely horrified. "Adir, what are you saying." She can hardly believe her ears. It was just one terrible thing after another. What's worse, it's all directed at her dearest friend.

[Sunny Day]

"Well, alright..." Sakura will have to take some small solace in the fact that they weren't the actual targets at the end of the day, but that hardly makes her feel good. "I really do appreciate it. We have enough to worry about these days."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie first looks stunned at that outburst, it would take her some time to take all those insults, but while her first reaction would be rage, she squelches that in favor of a more strategic approach. If Adir wanted to dig himself a grave, she wasn't going to stop him and she suddenly didn't mind if he was buried heads deep in it.

Her expression becomes a mask of calm, and she just utters a few words in reply. "Are you quite done, Adir?" The sorceress asks, sounding unimpressed. Bottling up that rage burning inside her.

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

Well, she had never heard of any 'mi-go', nor had she ever heard of any author that mentioned them. However, whatever this being was, they seemed friendly enough despite their utterly alien appearance.

However...

"Nice- nice to meet you Una-bhii." She replies, almost certainly mispronouncing their name. "I very much appreciate your offer, but I'm afraid I don't need a physician." His biology must be utterly different from a humans too, how much could he know about human biology? "However, I know of an organization, GloG, who I have heard do need one. But I must ask, er, how much do you know about human biology?"

[Sunny Day]

"Don't mention it m'am. I got MERC's reputation to uphold, and I do feel like I owe you and your husband." Dena claims. "So anything else I could help you with?"

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang shakes his head.

"Nuh-uh. She's got brown fur. Aunt Renetta has red fur. Grandma Ligida has really white hair."

Brinika, meanwhile, ponders how to explain grandmothers. The boys' only relation on their mother's side is a tree. But surely Adir has parents and siblings?

"A grandma is your mom or dad's mom. A great-gradma is your grandma's mom. Have you met your dad's mom?"

Reelshka has seen a lot in her time, but this is still unusual. She expected to find herself between the rocks of the wall, which would at least be familiar. But she soldiers on.

"Oh, yes, they are. And I'm glad Tuskfang made such good friends." She giggles, a realization cutting through her general confusion. "Gwydion seems a little smitten with Brinika, though."

[Treasure Hunting]

"Of course! She's really nice."
"She's about the same size as mommy. And with a big belly like mommy always has."

"Is that so? Awh! She ought to take responsibility for smitting him, then," Zillia surmises, nodding her petite chin as she looks at Reelshka. "Was there something you wanted to ask me, poppet?" Oh. She seems to have already perceived Reelshka's intent. Somehow.

[Cessie's Lab]

"Really? That's all you've got to say to me now?" Adir snaps, albeit with a little less fire than before. He simply couldn't stop himself once he got going. He begins to feel a little sick from all that vitriol.

He turns his attention to Sakura. "Are you kidding me? She gets 'Cessie, wait', but I get this look like I just shot somebody?"

[Celticbear]

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

Unaabhi replies: I am fluent in over forty million biological processes, including, but limited to, human, yithian, squirrel, rabbit, elder thing, gods and goddesses, etc. I thank you for the assistance, I must be off.

The creature then starts to fly to the sky, and beyond the sky. Well it doesn't seem he's burning up in the atmosphere. He's probably fine.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

So, Adir's mother is also small... for a big person, that is. And pregnant all the time. Just like Sakura? That must mean the Frescot kids have a lot of uncles and aunts, either way.

"Oooh. So she's your grandma, too. That's how it works."

"Is she a dryad or a deer?" Tuskfang asks, suddenly.

Meanwhile, that's the first time anyone has called Reelshka "poppet".

"I wanted to ask just what sort of prank you want to play on Adir. We are guests here, after all."

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Do you even hear yourself! If you can't tell the difference between what she said and what you did, I don't know what to say." Sakura's just about to simmer over at this point. She can hardly believe her ears. She's still processing all the awful things Adir said, and it's only getting worse.

[Sunny Day]

"No, I don't think so." Sakura's still troubled, but what can be done? "Unless you'd like to entertain Laela for a little bit longer. She'd be disappointed if you just left." Though that can likely be left off screen at this point.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie's reply is once again curt. "Yes, that's all the reply you deserve, Adir." She folds her arms over her chest, silently staring back at the stag. She was going to play the bigger person for now. Adir was doing a far better job than her dragging herself down anyway, so not doing anything was the best tactic right now.

[Sunny Day]

"Oh, I'd love to. She seems like a good kid, very brave, very proactive. Good qualities in a person." Dena replies with a smile.

((Actually, I would like to play it out if that's okay.))

- - - Updated - - -


Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

Unaabhi replies: I am fluent in over forty million biological processes, including, but limited to, human, yithian, squirrel, rabbit, elder thing, gods and goddesses, etc. I thank you for the assistance, I must be off.

The creature then starts to fly to the sky, and beyond the sky. Well it doesn't seem he's burning up in the atmosphere. He's probably fine.

Mithar Keep's Adimantium Gates

"Er, no problems. Good luck." Cessie says as the creature walks off. Well, that had been odd. Hopefully it would work out in the end, surely GloG had dealt with stranger people before...

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Okay, one sec." Sakura hurries off, not wanting to leave Dena waiting for too long. A short bit later she comes back with Laela following close behind. "I'm back!" The girl exclaims.

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie gets a dirty look and some gritted teeth, but Adir is just focused on defending himself at this point. He looks at Sakura with his ears piqued, his expression still outraged. "Sakura, she thinks we're a couple of idiots, she just doesn't wanna say the words. She said she pities us, for the Gods sakes. That or she pities our kids, for having such an awful couple of parents." Cessie does get another look then.

"...I said some things that I shouldn't have. Some stuff I didn't mean." His brow furrows. "I'm sorry. I can't take any more of this kami stuff. So I got angry. Am I not allowed?" He sets his jaw and glares fiercely. "It sure as hell wasn't all wrong, either."

"Are you actually only angry at me? Is that how this is gonna be? Just because when I say something that hurts, it happens to be big and obvious? Did you not hear the contempt? From your friend?" He indicates Cessie with a dismissive wave of the hand.

[Treasure Hunting]

"Neither!" Cernunnos tells Tuskfang mysteriously, and he wags his eyebrows. His hands make theatrical motions. "She's a hooman. Like Aunt Cessie. But browner."

"A lot browner."

It is truly a mystery.

Zillia just turns and wags her own thin, red brows at Reelshka. Mimicing Cernunnos' gleeful expression almost to a tee. "I was just going to have the children jump out and say 'boo'. But I think that it might be too late now..."

Indeed, Adir's footsteps can be heard returning along the hallway!

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"Okay, one sec." Sakura hurries off, not wanting to leave Dena waiting for too long. A short bit later she comes back with Laela following close behind. "I'm back!" The girl exclaims.

[Sunny Day]

Dena smiles. "That you are." She takes a moment to study the little girl. "Oldest girl in the family, huh? Pretty big responsibility, when you get older you have to make sure that your siblings don't end up in trouble." She says as she kneels down, compared to Sakura, she must be pretty tall.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Do you think I never heard her? The difference is that when I get upset I don't decide to go on the attack. So stop it!" Sakura steps forward and imposes herself directly between Adir and Cessie. "I don't want to hear another word justifying the horrible, monstrous things you said. It's- it's indefensible! You can either apologize to her right now and we can talk to Cessie like reasonable people, or you can leave so I can do that myself. Then you can apologize to her later once you have your head on straight."

[Sunny Day]

Oh, this is kinda serious sounding. Laela glances at her mom and then back at Dena. "All of them?" She whispers. That's a lot of siblings to keep track of!

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang's tail falls a bit, as do his ears.

"So your dad is a hooman, not just a deer? Woooow."

"People can have many parts, Tuskfang."

Meanwhile, Reelshka's ears twitch.

"Seems so. Looks like I ruined your prank, spoilsport that I am. But maybe there'll be another opportunity."

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie steels herself. What Adir had just said was almost more infuriating than his last rant. "My contempt? Sakura is twice the mother I am, and I thought you were a better father than Harnel was, but after hearing all this I'm not so sure. I was angry since you were throwing it it all away so casually."

[Sunny Day]

Dena seem to consider this for a moment. "How many siblings do you have Laela?"

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Uh, one... two..." Laela counts on her fingers. "Five!" She looks at her mom, who shakes her head. "Uh..." She rethinks her answer. "Six!"

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Adir takes a step back as Sakura interposes herself, and the lines in his face deepen. He laughs as he talks, but it's utterly mirthless. "Sakura, you mean like how you're attacking me? Right now?" Sort of walked into that one. His face stiffens and his fury reasserts, but there's a touch enough of hurt there too. "I just said I was sorry. I meant it. Take it or don't. And Cessie--"

He looks at her, eyes widening slightly. "What-- what the hell are you talking about? Throwing it all away?" His confusion seems genuine.

[Treasure Hunting]

"There always is," Zillia agrees, and with that Reelshka might suddenly find herself deposited on the far side of the wall, facing the kids again. They will have been, mysteriously, looking away at the time. Or perhaps blinking.

Cernunnos shrugs. "He looks like a human an' a deer, doesn't he?"

Gwydion nods. "Not too much of either."

"What are we talking about now?" Adir asks with a brow cocked and a smirk on his face as he reappears. Though unlike Reelshka, he doesn't pop out of a wall, he simply returns from the hallway.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika's eyes narrow when Reelshka suddenly reappears. Tuskfang doesn't seem to have noticed, though.

"We're talkin' about grammas!" he says, in response to Adir.

"The boys got to comparing their family trees," Reelshka specifies, in an innocent tone of voice. "Which, after all, is pretty literal on Cern and Gwydion's mother's side."

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"Uh, one... two..." Laela counts on her fingers. "Five!" She looks at her mom, who shakes her head. "Uh..." She rethinks her answer. "Six!"

[Sunny Day]

"Wow, that's a lot! Lucky you that you got your mom and dad taking care of them. I had to take care of that many children myself, and they weren't even my siblings." Dena claims.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Were they your babies?!" Is Dena a mommy too? "Do your babies have snakes on their head too?"

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura crosses her arm, not remotely impressed. "Don't give me that. You're being terrible, and making you answer for that is not attacking you. And I do not buy that apology?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Everything you've done for your children, the way you raised them, you're risking their well-being by having too many children in a very short time. That's what you might be throwing away." Cessie clarifies, not looking terribly impressed either.

[Cessie's Lab]

Dena's smile widens. "Not exactly, they were other people's children, and it was back when I was your age, Leala. As one of the older children around, I had to take care of all the younger ones. It was very hard work, as I'm sure your mother understands." She glances at Sakura.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura is just watching them. Her hand is over her mouth, but there's no covering the smile in her eyes.

"Really? My age? You took care of all of them?" That does sou8nd like a lot of work. "Didn't their mommies and daddies do that?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Their mommies and daddies were busy with other things, so it was up to the older children to take responsibility. My mother did help me to take care of them though. It was like a job, like what your daddy do every day." If he even had one right now. Adir always dressed like some kind of drifter so it was difficult to tell at times. "And when I wasn't working with that, my mother made me train in swordplay." She considers a brief moment. "That's what your friend Cora is interested in, isn't it?"

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

"You don't get to choose or judge that," Adir tells Cessie. "Even if it made any sense. We've been taking care of them just fine. If you want to help, or offer, or give some friendly advice, you don't come at us - at me - like that."

"It sure feels like it," he tells Sakura. "When you aren't trying to make Cessie answer for anything. What the hell is this? Who's married to who, here? You could at least try to understand why I'm so angry. You should already know."

"I don't really think Cessie shouldn't have had the kids. It's not something I would ever wish," Adir scowls, and his speech becomes halting. "And I don't really think... she drove anyone away..." Hrrm. They can see Adir's eyes wavering, almost seeming to parse over invisible words as he goes over what he said again in his head.

"I'm sorry, Cessie," Adir lowers his head and rubs his palm and fingers over his eyes. "I'm sorry. That was nasty and cruel and stupid."

[Treasure Hunting]

Adir laughs. "I'm gonna steal that. Sarget will think it's hilarious," he tells Reelshka. "We really don't have much of a real family tree, though. Kind of a shame. I'm first generation Frescot, and my dad is sort of as old as the world, so as far as I know there wasn't anybody that came before. All the history is in him."

Cernunnos, bored by this, goes up to tug on his dad's hand. "Can we go explore now?"

Adir grins and tells the boy sure, voice bubbling with laughter, and Cern hurries back over to take Tuskfang's hand to help him up from where he sits.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka's ears perk up. She had no idea Adir had such an illustrious lineage. It's sort of like with Tuskfang's Wolfen grandparents, she supposes.

Tuskfang gets to his feet, fumbling a little on the way, and bounces up and down. Treasure hunting!

"Where are we goin' to look?"

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"The library."

"The liberry!"

They had already decided after all. Adir walks a little behind and lets Cernunnos and Gwydion try to lead the other children along. The speak in a continuous squeaking duet.

"We're searchin' for a map of treasure."

"The map to the treasure. Jewels and things."

"Magic swords!"

"Maybe a magic book."

"Bo-ring." Cernunnos looks at Tuskfang. "What treasure do you wanna look for?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang ponders this very important question. What does he want to look for?

"Are there magic rings? Or crowns? They're always super important in stories."

Reelshka and Brinika likewise follow along, but let the boys chatter.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"I bet we can find a ring."

"Adults always have rings on. Daddy is wearing his right now!"

"Maybe Brinika wants a ring?" Gwydion looks at her over his shoulder. "We can save one for you!"

Entering the library, the small caravan of kids sees things as in-order as they've always been. Cessie's got some places to read, complete with little lamps, set aside around the middle of the room. A pair of stairs lead to a small catwalk that runs above the rest of the room. There are shelves laden with tomes and scrolls.

While the kids perhaps start their search, Adir winks at Reelshka and Brinika and slinks off to one side, into the hall and out of sight.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"You don't get to choose or judge that," Adir tells Cessie. "Even if it made any sense. We've been taking care of them just fine. If you want to help, or offer, or give some friendly advice, you don't come at us - at me - like that."

"It sure feels like it," he tells Sakura. "When you aren't trying to make Cessie answer for anything. What the hell is this? Who's married to who, here? You could at least try to understand why I'm so angry. You should already know."

"I don't really think Cessie shouldn't have had the kids. It's not something I would ever wish," Adir scowls, and his speech becomes halting. "And I don't really think... she drove anyone away..." Hrrm. They can see Adir's eyes wavering, almost seeming to parse over invisible words as he goes over what he said again in his head.

"I'm sorry, Cessie," Adir lowers his head and rubs his palm and fingers over his eyes. "I'm sorry. That was nasty and cruel and stupid."

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie doesn't appear to be appeased by Adir's apology. Not yet. "I don't know what to say, Adir. I never imagined anyone saying such hurtful things to me and I can't help but to wonder where from you channeled all that from. Did you really not mean anything of that?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika giggles.

"I've never worn a ring. I'd love to get one from you."

Meanwhile, Tuskfang is in awe of the library. He's never seen anything like that! So many books...

"It's so biiiiiig," he gasps. "I didn't know there were so many books!"

"You were in a big library before, Tuskfang. But you were just a baby. It was when I had your name written into my family book. That's how goblins do it."

The "book" was a slab of stone, actually, but let's not confuse the little kid more.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura lets out a breath that it feels like she's been holding this entire time. This is... progress. She steps aside so she's not imposing herself between the two anymore. She bites her lip and looks at Cessie. She knows her friend isn't going to be over this so quickly.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Dena's smile widens. "Not exactly, they were other people's children, and it was back when I was your age, Leala. As one of the older children around, I had to take care of all the younger ones. It was very hard work, as I'm sure your mother understands." She glances at Sakura.

[Sunny Day]

Laela looks horrified! "But little kids are crazy." She whispers. "How many?" It can't be more than her siblings, right?

It's all Sakura can do to not erupt into a fit of giggles. Her hand is firmly clamped over her mouth. She doesn't want to interrupt.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Dena starts counting on her fingers. "Well... there was a lot of people living in their longhouse. Not just the families, but all their servants too." Or thralls. "So at times, it could be up to twelve children to take care of. That is of course not counting all the older ones like myself. Boy, I really wished I had a mom and dad like yours back then. Those babies never let us do anything fun."

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Laela is silent for a moment, silently mouthing something... "That's way more than my brothers and sister! I got six. That's six more." Laela looks at her mom and then back at Dena. "Could you even play with friends?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"We made games out of it, actually. I mostly made bets on things like what baby who would go to sleep first, or who would puke." She sticks out her tongue in pretend disgust, and Laela will likely notice that it is long and forked, like a snake's. "Sometimes, which I'm not especially proud of, we gave a group of babies one sweet, and took bets on who was going to eat it."

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"You mean they fought over the candy." Laela giggles. That'd be funny, but... "Wouldn't they cry? Did you get in trouble?"

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie doesn't appear to be appeased by Adir's apology. Not yet. "I don't know what to say, Adir. I never imagined anyone saying such hurtful things to me and I can't help but to wonder where from you channeled all that from. Did you really not mean anything of that?"

"I didn't say that," Adir affirms. "I went too far. But if I could go back... Cessie, I'd only omit what I've already mentioned."

He frowns and his brows knit together. "I think it should be pretty obvious where I'm channeling this from, though, Cessie."

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika giggles.

"I've never worn a ring. I'd love to get one from you."

Meanwhile, Tuskfang is in awe of the library. He's never seen anything like that! So many books...

"It's so biiiiiig," he gasps. "I didn't know there were so many books!"

"You were in a big library before, Tuskfang. But you were just a baby. It was when I had your name written into my family book. That's how goblins do it."

The "book" was a slab of stone, actually, but let's not confuse the little kid more.

Gwydion blush darkens his face to a chocolate brown, but he's distracted by Tuskfang's outburst. "You didn't know there were so many? Like in the whole world?" Gwydion's eyes widen. "There's millions an' millions of books."

"What do we do?" Asks Cernunnos.

The girls might hear Adir's voice a little ways down the hall, talking with... Zillia? Scheming, no doubt.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Dena smiles at the vague memory. "Oh, we got in trouble alright, all the time. My mother was particularly unhappy with our behavior. She wanted me to a fighter when I grew up, and tried to train me at every opportunity she got. But what about you then, what do you want to be when you grow up? Your mother isn't training you, is she?" She eyes Sakura as if expecting an answer.

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie doesn't reply this time, not immediately anyway. "Well, I think we've had enough drama for today. Especially considering that the children might have been overhearing our little discussion. Perhaps, we all should simply take a moment to calm down. We did all this for Sakura after all." Cessie says with a gesture at the dryad. "Yet now it has become all about us."

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka's ears twitch towards Adir and Zillia. What are those two planning? Whatever it is, she has to keep an eye on the energetic youngsters.

"We should go lookin! Check behind the books!" Tuskfang declares. "An' behind the shelves and..."

"And we should be quiet and avoid making a mess, because this is a library," Reelshka reminds him .

"Uh. Yeah," Tuskfang agrees meekly.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Laela giggles. "No, but me and daddy practice with a bow sometimes." But what does she want to be? That's easy! "A princess! Like in my story books! She's brave and adventures with her friends and have the prettiest dresses!" She gushes.

[Cessie's Lab]

"Cessie. You can't just stay the stuff you did without me getting to say anything." Adir's outburst totally derailed anything productive so far. Sakura bites her lip and hesitates a moment. "I'm not happy that you had these concerns for so long and the first time I heard about them was like this. I thought we could talk to each other about anything."

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"Oh, a battle princess?" Dena sounds intrigued and starts standing up. "Wanna show me your moves? A future princess such as yourself should know how to dance. Footwork is very important after all, both to have the right posture and to kick people's butts.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Laela grins and jumps up and down. "Okay okay! Dancing is fun!" The girl shake and bounce without anything resembling anything like grace or poise. Maybe not quite Dena's type of dancing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Dena didn't really expect anything else from a five year old girl.
"Not bad! I like your energy." Dena says with a giggle. "But do you wanna see me dance now?" She asks with a smile.

Assuming that Laela says yes, Dena holds out her arms to the sides and first slowly starts moving her hips back and fourth while holding her arms nearly completely still. While there isn't music playing, Dena's body is moving to some unheard rhythm. She then starts moving her arms up and down, mimicking the movements of waves as she continues swaying with her hips.
Dena had done the storm so many times that she knew it by muscle memory. It was a beginners dance, one of the first dances slaves were taught as it was tamer and involved a lot less improvising than most other dances.

However, as she have to throw her hair up and down, she does still have to improvise a bit due to the snakes. She raises her arms to the sky and then lets them fall down, along with her head, towards the ground. She then looks up, and continues with her hip movements. "Keep an eye on my feet, look how I move." Dena declares as she starts moving backwards, one step at the time while still allowing her body beat to that silent rhythm. "Same principle if you were fighting someone. You move like in a circle, getting past their blows." She moves to the side now, taking long sideways steps only to suddenly shift direction. "If you always keep moving like this, your opponent don't know which direction you're going. It's like dance fighting."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

After a few moments of searching, Adir reappears inexplicably: exiting the wall the way that Zillia does. Though arguably he does so much more stylishly, sliding on the balls of his feet, posing theatrically with his arms raised and cocked like he's about to start dancing. He's adorned in what looks like an absurd magician's costume. Even the blacks and whites leap from garment to garment, mingling like ink in water. Trailing at his back is a cloak of feathers from dozens of different birds. He hides his face behind a sequined opera mask, and even his antlers seem differently curled and dangle with multicolored ribbons.

He folds his arms skeptically and plops down to sit on the edge of one of the library's tables. In a cartoonish Di ck Dastardly voice, he snides, "Is someone supposed to be looking for treasure here?"

[Cessie's Lab]

Adir just spreads his hands skeptically. She couldn't have thought they'd just be done, like that?

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Ooh, where'd you learn to dance like that?!" Laela has never seen anyone dance like that before. That's not how mommy dances. She moves after Dena, practically standing on her toes as she peers up at the gorgon.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika has to stifle a giggle at Adir's costume, and Reelshka just smiles knowingly. Tuskfang seems properly awed by the sudden entrance of a mysterious personage, though. His ears perk up and his tail dips low.

"Yeah! We're treasure hunters!" He turns to Cern and Gwydion for confirmation.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie shoots a glare at Adir, but quickly devotes her full attention to Sakura. "As I explained, it did not feel like it was any of my business to tell you how many children you should have. But when you got more and more children in such a short time span, especially with that spirit involved. It felt like it was manipulating you, and finally I couldn't be quiet anymore." She attempts to explain.

[Sunny Day]

Dena smiles. "Other dancers, long ago. It took a lot of practice, a lot of effort." Not that she had much choice in the matter back then. "But if you want to be really good at something, there is no other way. You know that, right?"

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"You didn't have to tell me anything. You could've just talked to me. Told me you were worried." Sakura crosses her arms and looks away.

[Sunny Day]

"Yeah! That's what Wenomir says. He says I gotta practice every day to get really good." Laela remembers him saying something like that! She looks thoughtful for a moment. "But what if no one teaches me every day?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"You can always practice yourself, but it's true that have someone teaching you is the best way to learn." Dena kneels down again before Laela. "It sounds like you're interested."

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Adir just coughs and scratches behind one of his ears, gaze downcast as well. He's sort of caught between feelings at the moment, and he hates seeing Sakura distraught, but he doesn't know what to do for this one.

[Treasure Hunting]

Cernunnos looks just as bewildered and excited as Tuskfang. He nods vigorously. Gwydion commits a little more slowly, narrowing his eyes at the sequin-masked figure. This seemed suspicious...

Nasally, the 'stranger' goes on, "Well I happen to have some... right here!" And his cape flies open on one side as he brings his arm up, revealing a number of dangling shiny things. Rings, crowns, little (dull-bladed) swords, their like. "Right - wow - right here!" Not bad, Zillia. "For I'm... Bumwip, the master thief! And they are my ill-gotten gains, freshly stolen from the fabulous Zillia! Nyahaha!"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

As Reelshka and Brinika do their best to keep a straight face, Tuskfang gasps with outrage.

"That's not fair! We'll... we'll..." he struggles with a response to this treachery. "We'll gettem back and givvem back to her!" he squeaks.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Yeah! You dance very pretty." And she's sure that her story book princess dances very pretty too. Yes, that sounds right.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"I tried suggesting it, but I was too subtle. I just didn't want to say it outright as it felt like I would disrespect your parenting ability, when I have nothing but respect for it." Cessie admits. "I sometimes have trouble discussing these things."

[Sunny Day]

"I could train you, with your parents permission of course." Dena glances at Sakura, thought the dryad might not notice as Dena's eyes are as always behind sunglasses. "Maybe I could even teach you to ride at some point."

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"I don't want you feeling that way. The next time you think I'm doing something wrong or you're worried, tell me. Maybe I won't agree, but what if you were right and said nothing?" Sakura crosses her arms. Cessie would know better than this by now.

[Sunny Day]

"Ride? Ride what?!" Ooh, Laela is interested now. That tease has so much potential!

Sakura seems kind of surprised that it Dena is actually offering at this point. Clearly she must have been won over by Laela's adorableness. Who wouldn't be? "Well, if Dena has time and if you ask her very nicely."

"Ooh, yes, please!"

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

"Nothing but respect?" It first might sound like Adir is scoffing, but he's more choking on his surprise. "Wow," Adir rubs one of his eyebrows with his fingers, staring ahead. "This must be some human thing I'm just not getting."

[Treasure Hunting]

"Hoohoo, says you!" Bumwip sneers! "What will you do, little fellow?" He spreads his cloak again, and the treasures have disappeared. "You'll have to get past my miraculous powers, first!" How menacing!

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Dena smiles again. "Why, a pony of course. I think I was about your age when I first rode one so it is only fitting." But then she glances up at Sakura. "But is Adir alright with it? I don't really want to surprise him."

[Cessie's Lab]

Cessie frowns as she hears Adir's comment, but she is quick to turn her attention back to Sakura.
"I promise I will try to be more vocal with my grievances in the future, Sakura." A beat. "But I think I need a moment alone now, if you can forgive me. This has been quite stressful for all of us, I'm sure." She doesn't even look at Adir.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang gasps, then growls. It's a very wolf-like growl. His dad's half of the family is making itself heard.

"Where did they go? We'll find 'em! We're treasure hunters! Right?" He turns to his friends for confirmation.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura breathes out. That's probably the best she can hope for right now. "Alright Cessie." That really could have went much better. She frowns at Adir. He better watch it. He may have backed down from the things he said before, but he's still not helping anything.

[Sunny Day]

Laela's mouth drops open. "A pony?! Really?!" Laela turns to her mom, interrupting her as she's trying to answer Dena. "Mommy I need my story book!" She jumps up and down.

"Sweety, it's all the way upstairs. What do you need it for?"

"I need it! I needta show her a picture!" Laela's voice gets whiny and petulant when it sounds like she might not get what she wants.

"Why don't you tell her what's in the picture?" Sakura suggests calmly.

Laela purses her lips and stomps her foot. Her little face gets red. But she wants to explain to Dena more than she wants to pitch a fit, so she turns back around. "There's a picture with the princess sitting on a pretty white pony looking so beautiful!" The words practically burst out of her. "And then next page it's action time and she's gotta ride off really fast!"

[Murkus]

[Cessie's Lab]

Ouch. Ignored and glowered at. "Well, okay," Adir claps his hands and wrings them together, fixing them both with his most sardonic smile. "...How about I just go check on those kids I don't care about, yeah?" He wags a hand, stuffs them both in his pockets, and turns to tromp off back where he was before Ambrosia arrived. His ears are pointed straight up in obvious agitation, and that little puffy tail that sometimes pokes up past his belt is bristly and stiff.

[Treasure Hunting]

Kid's got a good growl.

"Right!" Cernunnos barks, playing right into it! He pumps his little fists! Gwydion looks at them both, a little hesitant, but finally nods vigorously.

Bumwip just does his best evil laugh once more and snaps his gloved fingers. Suddenly, a number of Cessie's books come flying off the shelves! They flap toward the assembled boys like little birds, moving close to... well, they don't actually do anything if the boys stand still and wait long enough. They just sort of blow air at them and seem menacing. A few of them might try to tickle Tuskfang with their bookmarks if he doesn't do something!

Also floating about, flying lazy loops through the air, is what appears to be a little brown treasure map. It's got a big X and 'Treasure!' on it and everything.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"I should see to them as well. Eventually." Cessie let's out a sigh, and then disappears into the master bed room, leaving Sakura alone.

Well, almost alone.

As the others leave, Ambrosia suddenly peeks out from the lab. "...so I guess we're done then?"

[Sunny Day]

"A white pony, huh? I do know someone who owns some ponies that you might be able to ride. However, keep in mind that the princess in the book probably trained a lot to be able to ride like that, so it will take time for you as well." Dena says.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang waves his paws at the books, giggling. Flying books are funny and tickle. But then... a treasure map!

"Issa map! It'll tell us where the treasure is!"

He toddles up to it vigorously and tries to grab it. Brinika and Reelshka just keep watching the whole scene.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

Sakura huff. That was such a disaster. And all of it was just so... dumb! The dryad jumps a bit when Ambrosia speaks up. She whirls around. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, I forgot you were waiting." Sakura scurries over, looking downright horrified. "Oh no, you had to sit through all of that, didn't you." As if it weren't dreadful enough as is.

[Sunny Day]

Laela grins from ear to ear. "Can we go right now?! I wanna ride a pony!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab]

"It's quite alright, miss. I've been through worse conversations." She assures Sakura. "I would like us to continue this at some point though, if that's okay with you. I understand that you might not like me after our previous meetings, but this time I'm just trying to help you make yourself comfortable with your current status and help your husband accept it. Nothing else."

[Sunny Day]

"I don't know, your mother might have a thing or two to say about leaving the house with strangers. Why don't we get to know one another first, alright?" Dena argues. "Perhaps I'll take the pony to you someday."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang waves his paws at the books, giggling. Flying books are funny and tickle. But then... a treasure map!

"Issa map! It'll tell us where the treasure is!"

He toddles up to it vigorously and tries to grab it. Brinika and Reelshka just keep watching the whole scene.

[Treasure Hunting]

The other boys scatter or duck a little bit as the books soar around, and Cernunnos even bats one out of the air. The map flutters to one side, and Gwydion cries "I've got it!" before taking his own swipe. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and he stumbles before half landing against one of the little flying tomes. It supports his weight, at least. Meanwhile, the map flutters higher and higher...

Bumwip sneers and disappears with a gust of laughter, the book flock hiding his escape.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Mommy can come too!" Laela whirls around and grabs hold of her mom's hand. "Let's go!" She tugs.

"Laela. What've I said about patience?" Sakura admonishes.

"Sorry..." Aw, Laela's hopes and dreams are temporarily shattered!

[Cessie's Lab]

"Right, um..." Sakura looks as conflicted as she is flustered. "When would you want to do that?"

[Recaiden]

A visitor is coming up the cobbled road to the adamantium gate. He's walking slowly and carefully, as if the neatly-pruned trees might conceal any number of horrible things.

It would seem to be Nadas Xar'cha, mage and scholar. He's wearing not his customary robes, but jeans and a faded polo shirt advertising a now-defunct Inside sports team. A curious unsheathed silver sword hangs at his side, apparently fastened to a belt-loop.

He glances from the gate to the gargoyles. Should he simply knock?

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Awwww, it's too high!" Tuskfang whines. "How do we get up there? Moooom, can you help us?"

"Maybe Mrs. Mithar has a ladder here somewhere," Reelshka says, looking around. She's not going to let any of the boys climb one, certainly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"Why don't you get your story book so you can show me what kind of pony you want, Laela?" Dena suggests to the heartbroken toddler. "I very much would like to see the pretty princess."

[Cessie's Lab]

"One moment..." Ambrosia takes up her tome and starts flipping through it. "What about... this day one week from now?" She finally suggests. "Is that good for you?" She asks, meeting the dryads gaze.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"That's uh, probably fine, yeah." Sakura thinks for a second. "We might be moved to our new place by then, though. So I guess you should check in before that." No use Ambrosia showing up here if they're not going to be here.

[Sunny Day]

Laela spins toward Sakura. "Okay okay, go get your book." Laela squeals in delight and runs off, leaving the adults alone. "It's very nice that you're doing this." Sakura's honestly not sure what brought it on.

[Shadowcaller]

A visitor is coming up the cobbled road to the adamantium gate. He's walking slowly and carefully, as if the neatly-pruned trees might conceal any number of horrible things.

It would seem to be Nadas Xar'cha, mage and scholar. He's wearing not his customary robes, but jeans and a faded polo shirt advertising a now-defunct Inside sports team. A curious unsheathed silver sword hangs at his side, apparently fastened to a belt-loop.

He glances from the gate to the gargoyles. Should he simply knock?


[Cessie's Lab]

"That's uh, probably fine, yeah." Sakura thinks for a second. "We might be moved to our new place by then, though. So I guess you should check in before that." No use Ambrosia showing up here if they're not going to be here.

[Sunny Day]

Laela spins toward Sakura. "Okay okay, go get your book." Laela squeals in delight and runs off, leaving the adults alone. "It's very nice that you're doing this." Sakura's honestly not sure what brought it on.

[Sunny Day]

"Just making friends." Dena replies with a smile. "People don't understand the value of friends these days. The truth is that the more connections you have, the more powerful you become." She muses.

[Cessie's Lab]

The scholar nods. "Sounds reasonable. I'll be arriving at noon if that's alright then."

[Path up to the Keep]

The gargoyles are unmoving, yet he might still feel himself being watched by them still.

Then all of sudden a larger gargoyle, which is very much moving, approaches the gate carrying a broom. It inspects Nada's for a moment, letting its cold blue eyes look at him from tip to toe. "You... Nadas?" The gargoyle finally asks.

[Recaiden]

Nadas twists quickly to look right at the gargoyle, the image of being startled.
"Yes, that's me. I was hoping to speak with Ms. Mithar." It's not even a lie. Not entirely. He looks just like Nadas, though he doesn't move like Nadas; Nadas from before wouldn't be caught dead in clothes like these.
He offers the gargoyle a nervous smile.

[Gullara]

[Cessie's Lab]

"That's fine. Uh, let me walk you out." And Sakura will do just that if there's nothing else.

[Sunny Day]

"Oh, well alright." Sakura's brow furrows a bit. Not exactly the reply she was expecting. Hard to know how to feel about that...

Thankfully they don't have to dwell on that long, because they can hear Laela come back before she appears. "I got it I got it!" Laela runs up to Dena and drops to her knees. She plants a book on the floor and starts flipping through it. At a glance Dena can see it's full of colourful pictures, and very worn. After a moment, Laela stands, holding the book open to a certain page. Along the bottom of the page is a picture of a young girl in very fancy clothes riding a pure white horse. She looks determined as she drives the horse into a gallop!

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

Dena kneels down a bit to get a better look. "Well, would you look at that. That's a princess alright. I'd recognize them anywhere." She claims as she strokes her chin. "I've actually seen a few princesses in my days. Isn't lady Cessie one of them? I know that she's noble at least."

[Path up to the Keep]

The gargoyle tilts his head. "Why you want to speak with her? Haven't heard anything about it." Garn is, as always, suspicious.

[Recaiden]

"Because we're friends?" Nadas protests, a little incredulous. What was it the other Nadas had told him? Strongest scholastic correspondents? Something like that.
"But I specifically wanted to discuss some hypotheses of mine on Wealdlike trasportation systems. So much of my data remains incompletely explained. I haven't called ahead, just thought that while I was in the city, I would...uh...drop by."
He would really like to ask questions, but that might look too suspicious.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Awwww, it's too high!" Tuskfang whines. "How do we get up there? Moooom, can you help us?"

"Maybe Mrs. Mithar has a ladder here somewhere," Reelshka says, looking around. She's not going to let any of the boys climb one, certainly.

There is certainly a wooden step-ladder nearby. It's set up on wheels. The Frescot boys fend off a couple more flying books as Reelshka goes to retrieve the parchment. They swat them away and laugh.

Once the map is had, it seems to indicate a random path winding through the halls of the Keep in a circle until they reach... Zillia's room! It seems the master thief thinks it's ingenius, judging by the word 'INGENUS' written next to the small marker-drawn box. Who would ever suspect their stolen jewels to be hidden in their own bedroom? No one, that's who.

[Shadowcaller]

"Because we're friends?" Nadas protests, a little incredulous. What was it the other Nadas had told him? Strongest scholastic correspondents? Something like that.
"But I specifically wanted to discuss some hypotheses of mine on Wealdlike trasportation systems. So much of my data remains incompletely explained. I haven't called ahead, just thought that while I was in the city, I would...uh...drop by."
He would really like to ask questions, but that might look too suspicious.

[Path up to the Keep]

Garn appears to consider these words. "Master is busy. Wait here." He finally declares before disappearing again.
If Nada's does wait around, the gargoyle will eventually return with Cessie in tow. "Nada's how nice to see you again." That was a interesting choice of attire though, had something happened? "How may I help you?" She asks with a smile. She is dressed in a white attire (https://i.imgur.com/AjvqoFT.jpg) today, with a lot of ruffles involved.
The gate will now open for him, and he will be invited inside. However, Garn is till keeping a close eye on him.

[Recaiden]

Nadas waits, thinking that this is probably not a trap, but still more suspicious than he'd prefer. But he keeps his eyes and ears peeled.

When Cessie finally arrives, he is momentarily speechless at her appearance. So elegant. He'd never looked like that, not until- well. Some people have all the luck, is what it is.

"Ah, good to see you!" It really is good to see her. That means it's at worst an elaborate ambush, and almost certainly not an ambush at all. Should he say 'Cessie'? 'Ms. Mithar'? Better not use any forms of address at all.
He steps in through the gate, pointedly not looking at Garn. Or at Cessie. Simply up at the keep.

"I was hoping I could prevail upon your knowledge. As regards that transportation system I mentioned to your gargoyle, I may have suffered a small case of, ah, total memory loss. So in addition to getting your professional opinion on a spell I was thinking you could perhaps fill me in on, ah, everything? Just the broad strokes, that is, I wouldn't want to impose on your time."

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Dena kneels down a bit to get a better look. "Well, would you look at that. That's a princess alright. I'd recognize them anywhere." She claims as she strokes her chin. "I've actually seen a few princesses in my days. Isn't lady Cessie one of them? I know that she's noble at least."

[Sunny Day]

"Whaaaaat?!" Laela looks wide eyed at Dena. She whips her head around to get confirmation from her mom.

"Well, kind of I guess. She's a noble lady, and her family is kinda like royalty I guess?" Sakura can't say she knows the details. It's a pretty foreign concept to her.

Laela's mind is blown. She can hardly believe it. Does that mean... "What about Cora?" Mommy said auntie Cessie's family is like royalty, right?

"Well I don't know. I think you should ask them." Sakura giggles.

[Shadowcaller]

[Path up to the Keep]

Cessie raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "Are you quite alright, Nada's? Perhaps you should sit down." She gestures at one of the granite garden chairs which is suddenly pushed slowly towards him. "Sit down and explain, you're not sounding like yourself." She is sounding concerned now.

[Sunny Day]

"The way I understand it, noble-hood is inherit. So if you're a noble and your partner is, then your children are too." Dena attempts to explain. "Therefore, Cora is at the very least a noble."

[Recaiden]

"Please, I'm sure you have plenty to worry about on your own." Nadas replies. He takes a seat, only slightly raising his eyebrows at the self-moving chair. "However, I must admit that you are correct. I am not entirely alright."
He's sure that sounded more Nadas-y than he usually does. Pretty sure.
"My studies have not been without their risks, and thus, their consequences.."

[Shadowcaller]

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"Can you explain to me what happened in detail? You must have regained some semblance of memory if you recall that and me." Cessie remarks, not entirely sure what to think.

[Recaiden]

Nadas shakes his head nervously.
"I'm afraid the only reason I 'recall' that much is that they were among the facts I had written down somewhere."
"I wouldn't know whether you know anything about memory, or even the kind of magic I do, but you can tell me about my-self...correct?"

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"I can't believe it!" Laela never realized before! Being a noble is like being a princess! She goes to her mommy. "I gotta go see Cora!" She dances from foot to foot.

"Aren't you forgetting Dena?" There's a touch of warning in her voice. Laela needs to be more polite.

"Uh." Laela turns back to Dena. "Um, when can you start teaching me?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"Perhaps you should start telling me what you do know. I'm afraid it was a while since we met so my memory is a bit vague, but maybe you might be able to jog it a bit? I mostly recall you practicing ritual magic." This was quite bothersome, how could she forget something like this?

[Sunny Day]

"What do you say about in exactly a week, around this time?" Dena suggests.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

"Okay!" Laela looks back at her mom.

Sakura gives her an expectant look. "Say tha-"

"Thank you Dena!" Laela beams up at Dena and then she runs off.

[Recaiden]

Nadas nods nervously.
"Err, right. So, yes, that's actually where I was when I came to, in a ritual circle. I had a spellbook with me, which was a great help, although sometimes since then bits of magic just seem to come to me. I guess I might be remembering them."
"My name is 'Nadas Ghuand' of house 'Xabaresh Chaeron', uh that's what's on my library cards, anyway. My mother and step-mother are dead, but I have a father, Raril, who runs a bar down by the docks. Talking to him was a mistake, turns out." A pained look crosses Nadas's face, and he sets a hand on the blade of his sword, like it's a good luck charm. "I have a sister, Ilpholin, and a half-sister, Raven, and it seems like my family is hiding something..."

"I've written books and articles on the Weald, you know that primal forest realm. And I think, that when this accident occurred, I was studying how it can be connected to so many different places."
He looks to Cessie, eyes big and round.
"Any of that help?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]


There is certainly a wooden step-ladder nearby. It's set up on wheels. The Frescot boys fend off a couple more flying books as Reelshka goes to retrieve the parchment. They swat them away and laugh.

Once the map is had, it seems to indicate a random path winding through the halls of the Keep in a circle until they reach... Zillia's room! It seems the master thief thinks it's ingenius, judging by the word 'INGENUS' written next to the small marker-drawn box. Who would ever suspect their stolen jewels to be hidden in their own bedroom? No one, that's who.

Tuskfang joins his friends in swatting at books, while Brinika hovers around and makes sure they don't make too much of a mess.

"Well, boys, seems we have a map," Reelshka says after climbing down from the ladder. "The thief has marked where he hid the stolen treasure. Are you ready?"

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Thankfully most of the books settle themselves on tables or shelves after being swatted once or twice, and Reelshka doesn't have to do too much work cleaning up.

"Ready!"
"Where's it hidden?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"That's what you need to find out," Reelshka says. She almost said it's Zillia's room, but the boys should find it on their own. "I can see the path that leads somewhere in the Keep. How about I tell you where it goes and you follow?"

"Woooow," Tuskfang says. "I never treasure hunted wit' a map before!"

"It seems we need to go... what way," Reelshka says, pointing towards the door out of the library. Tuskfang eagerly toddles off in that direction.

[Shadowcaller]

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"I do recall this, we were talking a great deal about the Weald. Even planning an expedition there at one point, it never took place though." Cessie admits, looking down on the ground in contemplation. "You also asked me about how eldritch functioned earlier, and I do recall you performing several rituals. I believe you prepare spells only to cast them later, some requiring a number of physical components. There must be spellbooks you've written down whatever spell you're looking for." She looks up. "Surely, you must have found some of your spellbooks? I could attempt to help you localize them otherwise."

[Sunny Day]

"You're welcome, Laela." Dena smiles at the toddler before she runs off. "Kid's gonna go far." She observes once she's gone. "But she needs to temper all that energy into something constructive. Once she does that, nothing is going to stand in her way."

[Recaiden]

"It seems like there was definitely an expedition, or I once thought there was. Would you care to explain eldritch again?"
Nadas reaches into his pocket and draws out a tiny folio of paper definitely not worthy of being called a spellbook.
"Quite right. It worked by preparing them, you say. Like a...I don't know what it would be like. That hasn't been what it felt like before...is there some other reason I'm confused?" He might be sort of thinking aloud there.

[Gullara]

[Sunny Day]

Sakura laughs. "Oh believe me, I know. When she latches onto something, there's no stopping her."

[Shadowcaller]

[Sunny Day]

"I'll keep that in mind at our next encounter." Dena smiles. "Just make sure to give Adir that horn now, maybe I'll see him next time I'm here. But warn him, don't think he'll like me being around Laela for no good reason."

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"I don't know, Nada's. I suddenly wish I had more insight in your research so i could help you more. I don't think going into eldritch would help all that much either, but I think I know a person who could possibly help you recover your lost memories, or at least find where you left your spellbooks." The sorceress suggests.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"That's what you need to find out," Reelshka says. She almost said it's Zillia's room, but the boys should find it on their own. "I can see the path that leads somewhere in the Keep. How about I tell you where it goes and you follow?"

"Woooow," Tuskfang says. "I never treasure hunted wit' a map before!"

"It seems we need to go... what way," Reelshka says, pointing towards the door out of the library. Tuskfang eagerly toddles off in that direction.

"Thanks Reelshka!" Squeaks Gwydion.

"H'okay!" Cernunnos agrees.

They go chasing after their friend. "Reelshka, which way, which way?" Cern asks, once they're in the hall. "We should race!"

[Recaiden]

"That's more than I would hope for, actually. Who is it?" Nadas inquires. Hopefully someone he hasn't heard of, hasn't already ruled out.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka consults the map and points the kids in the right direction.

"Treasure hunting has to be slow and careful, Cern," she says. "Otherwise you can miss important clues."

"This house is so biiiiiig," Tuskfang meanwhile says. "Is like grandma and grandpa's house."

[Shadowcaller]

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"Her name is Ambrosia Ithil, and she is a scholar of sort, thought she is also able to manipulate aether, which is important in this case. She could potentially help you bring back your memories, or at the very least help jog the memories. She is quite skillful with her craft." Even though she seemed to hide it for whatever reason. "The problem is reaching her, she comes and goes, but I might be able to give her a message to meet with you."

[Recaiden]

Nadas nods carefully "That would be wonderful, if it works out. Shame that she's hard to get ahold of, but I've been coming and going all the time myself, recently. If you give her a message I'm sure we'll find each other eventually."
"Ah, thank you... That's more than I had hoped to hear."

[Shadowcaller]

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"Excellent, should I tell her to meet you somewhere specific? Though knowing her, she might pick the meeting place." She knew that Nadas could be a bit paranoid though, or perhaps that was just a impression she got from him being related to Ilpholin? "What do you think about that?"

[Recaiden]

"Someplace neutral, the Dancing Fox, Inside Central Public Library, like that." Nadas fills in quickly. It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you, don't you know?
"I think it would be excellent if it really could fix my memories up. And you know I'm glad to have your support."
"But I suppose we all have our problems. Are you doing okay?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Garden Granite Chairs]

"Inside Central Public Library? Is that new? Since I never remember using it before." Cessie remarks. Of course, Inside was Very Big, so it is possible she could have missed it somehow... "Perhaps the fox inn would be better, not that I have been there either admittedly." She simply knew that it existed, somewhere. Taverns were not really her thing, they were more for commoners. Not that there was anything wrong with them.

"But as for your question, I am doing just fine, thank you. We've had some demon problems lately. Just a lot of nasty business that I probably shouldn't get into considering they involve VIGIL. However, I did meet your sister a few weeks ago. Do you still see one another? She never mentioned you at all. Not that I actually asked, admittedly. You've been rather quiet as of late so I didn't even think of it."

[Recaiden]

"My library card there is recent, but I'm not sure that proves anything."
It does exist, though obviously the haunted libraries full of forbidden lore are more popular.

"I'm sure you'll be up to saving the world, whatever the details with the demons."
"As for seeing Ilpholin, I try not to. We crossed paths a while back and she tried to ax-murder me; I had to break her arms. So at the moment I'm feeling quite done with my family."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka consults the map and points the kids in the right direction.

"Treasure hunting has to be slow and careful, Cern," she says. "Otherwise you can miss important clues."

"This house is so biiiiiig," Tuskfang meanwhile says. "Is like grandma and grandpa's house."

"But that sounds boring! Treasure hunts shouldn't be boring!" That sounds like the opposite of a treasure hunt.

"What are your grandma and grampa like, Tuskfang?" Gwydion asks, his eyes wide.

[Shadowcaller]

"My library card there is recent, but I'm not sure that proves anything."
It does exist, though obviously the haunted libraries full of forbidden lore are more popular.

"I'm sure you'll be up to saving the world, whatever the details with the demons."
"As for seeing Ilpholin, I try not to. We crossed paths a while back and she tried to ax-murder me; I had to break her arms. So at the moment I'm feeling quite done with my family."

[A Talk]

Cessie masks the initial shock, instead her expression turns grave as she stares back at Nadas. "Why would she do that?"

Garn looks increasingly tense as he hears that, this was no good. One of them was a Bad Person, but which one?

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Wouldn't your aunt be cross if we ran along the corridor?" Brinika asks Cern.

"Grandpa Varit an' gradma Ligida are goblins an' grandma has real white hair," Tuskfang meanwhile babbles. "They live in a verrrry big house under a mountain."

"Only part of it is theirs, dear," Reelshka chimes in.

"There's tunnels an' caves an' lots of goblins. An' molerats. Grandma and grandpa have a molerat. It's cute. Mommy says that goblins live under mountains."

"Most of us do, yes."

[Recaiden]

Cessie masks the initial shock, instead her expression turns grave as she stares back at Nadas. "Why would she do that?"

Garn looks increasingly tense as he hears that, this was no good. One of them was a Bad Person, but which one?

Nadas shrugs.
"Part of her crusade against demons. Demons like our mother. Of course she considers herself above suspicion."
He rolls his eyes; Ilpohlin is a crazy person. He's the only sane drow in a whole family of crazy people.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Talk]

"Your mother... I didn't realize she was a demon. Not that it should matter. The definition of 'demon' seems so loose that it's barely usable. So I want to know, why does Ilpholin think you're a demon, simply due to your mother?" Cessie asks.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Wouldn't your aunt be cross if we ran along the corridor?" Brinika asks Cern.

"Grandpa Varit an' gradma Ligida are goblins an' grandma has real white hair," Tuskfang meanwhile babbles. "They live in a verrrry big house under a mountain."

"Only part of it is theirs, dear," Reelshka chimes in.

"There's tunnels an' caves an' lots of goblins. An' molerats. Grandma and grandpa have a molerat. It's cute. Mommy says that goblins live under mountains."

"Most of us do, yes."

[Treasure Hunting]

"Yeah..." Cern relents. Though he does ask, "What's it hurt if I run though?" Provided he doesn't knock anything over. He's real careful. "I'm a good runner."

Both the boys' ears perk up when they hear Tuskfang describe his grandparent's house. "Under a mountain?"

"Isn't a mountain heavy?"
"I wonder why it doesn't fall down..."
"What's a molerat?" It certainly wasn't a very cute name.

[Recaiden]

"Right, right. The word originally meant spirit, or people vaguely like a spirit, and some places it came to connotate evil spirits and then just evil, and now it's hopelessly confused." Nadas agrees, nodding along.
"I cannot explain what goes through her head. I suspect she considers anyone with even a tenuous connection to be hopelessly corrupted. She was saying that I hadn't made enough of an effort to be 'pure', and a lot of other nonsense besides. It's possible she was just saying that, that there's a real reason she's covering up. You wouldn't have heard anything else from her that might explain it?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Are you? Maybe you can show us later, outside," Brinika suggests to encourage Cern. Then the attention is on Tuskfang, though.

"I dunno. Why doesn't it fall down, mommy?" the woblin asks. Reelshka smiles.

"Because there's enough rocks around the caves that the mountain doesn't fall down. Like the walls of a house support it."

"Okay mommy!" Tuskfang isn't sure he gets it, but he barrels on towards the next topic. "Molerats are big and pink and pudgy. They've got big teeth and tiny eyes! And they squeak funny!"

[Shadowcaller]

[A Talk]

"Can't say I have, it was a while since I met her and we haven't made any contact since. She is holding out in Riverside, planning her anti-demon crusade for all I know. She was rather suspicious of Jezebel as well if I recall correctly." She pauses, considering. "I believe that she's in a rather bad place right now when I think about it. I know that she left with Darcy, but I don't think Darcy have returned. I think something might have happened to Darcy, and demons were to blame."

[Recaiden]

"That would explain rather a lot, wouldn't it?" Nadas admits. But he's still scowling.
Whatever went on with who ever Darcy is, that's no excuse for going on a poorly-directed killing spree.
"Enough about Ilpholin, if you don't mind. What sort of place are you in these days?" Metaphorically, of course. Normal people do this, probably, ask after their friends' welfare, and not simply go on and on about their troubles with murderous family members and magical mishaps. Nadas is pretty sure of that.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Are you? Maybe you can show us later, outside," Brinika suggests to encourage Cern. Then the attention is on Tuskfang, though.

"I dunno. Why doesn't it fall down, mommy?" the woblin asks. Reelshka smiles.

"Because there's enough rocks around the caves that the mountain doesn't fall down. Like the walls of a house support it."

"Okay mommy!" Tuskfang isn't sure he gets it, but he barrels on towards the next topic. "Molerats are big and pink and pudgy. They've got big teeth and tiny eyes! And they squeak funny!"

Gwydion thinks he understands, but despite being older Cernunnos is in about the same boat as Tuskfang. Still, Reelshka made it sound neat and smart.

"Molerats are babies?"

"That sounds just like babies!"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika giggles and Reelshka needs to stifle a laugh. That is... one conclusion to draw.

"Nooooo. They're not babies. They're, um..."

"Do you know what a mouse or rat looks like? Molerats are like that, but big and pink. They don't have any hair," his mother explains.

[Shadowcaller]

"That would explain rather a lot, wouldn't it?" Nadas admits. But he's still scowling.
Whatever went on with who ever Darcy is, that's no excuse for going on a poorly-directed killing spree.
"Enough about Ilpholin, if you don't mind. What sort of place are you in these days?" Metaphorically, of course. Normal people do this, probably, ask after their friends' welfare, and not simply go on and on about their troubles with murderous family members and magical mishaps. Nadas is pretty sure of that.

[A Talk]

Cessie falls silent for a moment, not sure what to think about the sudden topic shift. She wasn't used to discuss more personal matters with anyone but Sakura and perhaps Jezebel. But she supposed it wasn't exactly a private question, just a general one. "What sort of place? Well, things are fairly calm. The demon craze seems to have died down somewhat, despite your sisters claims. Sakura and Adir are still living here, along with all their children, so it's pretty much full house here every day. Thankfully, I have reserved my own space here so they're not bothering me." She explains. "Though frankly, I have mostly been researching demons lately." She waves her hand dismissively. "But that's VIGIL business."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika giggles and Reelshka needs to stifle a laugh. That is... one conclusion to draw.

"Nooooo. They're not babies. They're, um..."

"Do you know what a mouse or rat looks like? Molerats are like that, but big and pink. They don't have any hair," his mother explains.

"How big?" Cern asks, his eyes wide. No hair on them? Smooth? He imagines something very cute and soft.

"Do you have one?"

"Could we see one sometime?!"

"I wonder if dad would let us have one for a pet!"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Nooo. I dun have one," Tuskfang answers, looking at his mother with a pout. It's clearly been a point of contention in the family.

"I told you that we don't have time to take care of a pet, Tuskfang," Reelshka says, before Brinika interjects.

"My friend in Underside has a molerat," she says. "He's as big as as a dog."

"Could Cern and Geedon go there and see a molerat?" Tuskfang pipes up.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Some of the older Frescot kids are here visiting. They're all collected in a room with Garn overlooking them. Cessie and Sakura are chatting in another room, which means supervision is light. Especially when Jillian and Gwydion are bothering the gargoyle.

"I got your sword outside." Cora grins broadly. Laela knows what that means! The dragongirl watches Garn for a moment and then tries to grab Laela's hand. "Come on." They're sneaking out!

[Recaiden]

Cessie falls silent for a moment, not sure what to think about the sudden topic shift. She wasn't used to discuss more personal matters with anyone but Sakura and perhaps Jezebel. But she supposed it wasn't exactly a private question, just a general one. "What sort of place? Well, things are fairly calm. The demon craze seems to have died down somewhat, despite your sisters claims. Sakura and Adir are still living here, along with all their children, so it's pretty much full house here every day. Thankfully, I have reserved my own space here so they're not bothering me." She explains. "Though frankly, I have mostly been researching demons lately." She waves her hand dismissively. "But that's VIGIL business."

What to think about it is "Nadas doesn't want to talk about that." and hopefully (to him) nothing more. He doesn't want Cessie siding with Ilpholin and setting those gargoyles after him.

"Did I know Sakura and Adir?" he muses. "It sounds as though you are still terribly busy, even with the end of the...demon craze? Was that a whole...thing? Even having just one child around can be exhausting."

[Terumitsu]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"...Yes, I think we could do something like that. There are some dress designs, even, that cut the bodice at the mid-torso rather than the waist which actually make it easier to defend an area typically plagued by the necessary trade-off between rigid defense and the need for flexibility." Riss said after a moment, tail flicking from side to side though just restrained enough to not hit anything. "Though, before I chase that idea too far, how much like a dress are we talking? Something maybe like a ballroom gown or.. Actually, do you have anything in your wardrobe that might fit the kind of dress you're thinking about?" the muse asked. Cessie might feel a strange flashback to when the muse had been dosed with Aether. She had that same kind of intense focus in her eyes as she was being given a puzzle that she was delightedly unpacking.

At least this time she probably won't see the need to blow off an arm for components. At least not that she had brought enough materials with her.


[Cessie's Lab!]

"I was thinking the same thing, actually. There are armors that, in part, are similar to dresses where I'm from." Cessie explains. "I did actually have some ideas regarding the design, I wouldn't borrow from an already existing dress however. Instead I made a sketch, which admittedly is inspired by other things I wear."

The sorceress will show Riss some sketches (http://www.antiquedress.com/item1660.htm) that was laying around on a desk.

[Cessie's Lab!]

Riss nodded with a hint of appreciation as she looked over the sketches. "This might end up a little heavier simply due to the amount of material but I think we can make that work for us. Defensively, actually, this is a common thing where layers of material can stand in for a single strong plate. Hell, it's possible to make servicable ablative armor out of paper with enough of it and it's not even too bulky to prevent movement.. Though it's not exactly good for more than a few strikes and it doesn't really do great with joints." she said.

"Speaking of material, that's been a bit up in the air until now. Do you have any preferences of what you'd like to emulate or would you simply prefer alloy and whatever is the most apt for the job in terms of defense? I hear steel dresses are in this year, after all."

((Holy crap I did a thing finally!))

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Yeah, could we?" Cern asks excitedly.

Gwydion looks at Tuskfang reassuringly. "Maybe if Mom an' Dad let us get one, you can come over and play with him." He looks at Brinika. She knows things. And she's seen them before, clearly. "What do they eat? Dog things?"

[Being Bad]

Laela's been waiting just for this. She thought Cora might never ask, it took so long. Laela returns the grin and squeezes Cora's hand as they bound toward the door, then out of sight.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora giggles with glee when they're out of the room and runs toward the back door. Once outside, she immediately grabs the pair of swords from nearby. Cora's sword being the finely crafted piece Harnetta made for her ages ago. Laela's sword is... a glorified stick. She hands it to Laela and then walks out into the grass. She points her sword at her foe. "Ready?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"If your parents agree, I'm sure Brinika and Tuskfang's cousins and friends would love to meet you," Reelshka says. This could be a nice way for the kids to spend an afternoon...

"They mostly eat bugs," Brinika meanwhile says. "Like smaller moles."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Eat bugs?" Cern looks dismayed by something so icky. He hates bugs!

"Moles are bugs?" Gwydion asks, thinking that's wrong but not daring to correct the kindly Brinika. He opts for inquisitive instead. At least he looks mildly less silly.

[Being Bad]

"Ready!" Laela squeaks back, but she wrinkles up her nose at Cora's sword. "How come you haven't gotten me a nice sword like that?" Her mom is so rich after all. And she said she got it as a gift, even. Dad is always saying they can't buy everything she wants, but it always seemed like Cora had nicer things. "My sword is gonna break!"

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

"No it's not. You used it lots already and it's fine." Cora points out. It's a very sturdy stick. "I can't get you a sword like mine. Mine's special, because I'm a sword girl." A sword girl has to have a great sword.

"Come on, let's fight!" Cora steps toward Laela with her sword raised.

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Laela wants to complain and pout some more, but she wants to play more than that. For a princess like she's supposed to be, she doesn't have nearly enough special and nice things!

"Okay, okay!" She does smile a little again as she steps in to the proverbial ring. Likely some hearty thwacking commences. They always end up battering eachothers hands a bit, but it's too fun to let that worry her.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

"Hiya!" Cora clangs her sword against Laela's as they swing back and forth. She gets a bit more careless as they get more into it, her energy and enthusiasm getting a bit away from her.

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Clack clack! The vicious melee ensues! Laela, for her part, is quite aggressive with her swinging, and might do so a bit hard. Hopefully it doesn't prompt some sort of retaliation. She is smiling though, and breathing hard after a few minutes.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"No, they eat bugs," Brinika clarifies.

"The map says we're getting close," Reelshka says. This causes Tuskfang to turn his attention back to the treasure and bounce excitedly.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora matches her blow for blow. The sword slamming together sends shocks into her hand, but she doesn't care. Cora has an idea mid fight and suddenly steps back to let Laela's sword swing by. In the heat of the moment, she takes her next swing right away.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Gwydion still looks like he doesn't understand what moles are, but his attention is also drawn away. Cernunnos bounces down the hall with Tuskfang, and they arrive at a closed door. If the door is touched, it appears to be faintly warm, and a good deal of light emanates from the crack at the bottom of the closed portal.

Painted on a plaque above them is a picture of a tiny caricature Zillia, wagging her finger and tutting at the viewer. The caption to the plaque reads: "No munchkins allowed! Really!"

An example picture of a munchkin is also provided. It appears to be a crude picture of Cernunnos.

Cern gasps in dismay!

[Being Bad]

"Huh?" Laela blurts in confusion as she sweeps right past Cora. It doesn't do her any favors when she's then thumped soundly in the face by a very well made wooden sword. Laela stumbles, literally stunned, and falls right on her bottom. After a few seconds, a pained wail commences! "Ah-- ow-oowwwwwh!" Her dismay turns to hot tears as she touches the fresh gash on her forehead, and she suddenly sounds a couple of years younger as she accuses, "Cora! You hit me!"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Whasssit say?"

"No munchkins allowed. That means little boys like you."

"But thass where the map leads!" Tuskfang pouts.

Smiling, Reelshka pushes the door open. After all, she's a respectable mother, and not any kind of munchkin.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora goes bug eyed and drops her sword. "I'm sorry I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Cora hovers in front of Laela with a look of pure horror on her face. "You're bleeding!" That's so much worse!

[Shadowcaller]

What to think about it is "Nadas doesn't want to talk about that." and hopefully (to him) nothing more. He doesn't want Cessie siding with Ilpholin and setting those gargoyles after him.

"Did I know Sakura and Adir?" he muses. "It sounds as though you are still terribly busy, even with the end of the...demon craze? Was that a whole...thing? Even having just one child around can be exhausting."


[Cessie's Lab!]

Riss nodded with a hint of appreciation as she looked over the sketches. "This might end up a little heavier simply due to the amount of material but I think we can make that work for us. Defensively, actually, this is a common thing where layers of material can stand in for a single strong plate. Hell, it's possible to make servicable ablative armor out of paper with enough of it and it's not even too bulky to prevent movement.. Though it's not exactly good for more than a few strikes and it doesn't really do great with joints." she said.

"Speaking of material, that's been a bit up in the air until now. Do you have any preferences of what you'd like to emulate or would you simply prefer alloy and whatever is the most apt for the job in terms of defense? I hear steel dresses are in this year, after all."

((Holy crap I did a thing finally!))

[Cessie's Lab!]

"What would this alloy consist of exactly? I would like to know a bit more about the materials used if I'm to wear it. I could contribute some adamtine, if you know what it is." Cessie replies as Riss is looking over the sketches.

[A Talk]

"Not that well, admittedly. They mostly keep to themselves as they don't have much time doing anything else than taking care of their little ones." Cessie remarks. "They have a lot of them now, and it can be a full-time job taking care of just one." She had not idea how Sakura did it. She was probably aided by the kami...

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Cora goes bug eyed and drops her sword. "I'm sorry I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Cora hovers in front of Laela with a look of pure horror on her face. "You're bleeding!" That's so much worse!

"Hh-huh?" Laela blinks, sniffles, and reaches up to touch her head. When it comes away wet, she looks like she might be a little sick. "You have to go an' get me a band-aid!" Obviously she can't do it. That would give away that they snuck away to be bad.


[Treasure Hunting]

"Whasssit say?"

"No munchkins allowed. That means little boys like you."

"But thass where the map leads!" Tuskfang pouts.

Smiling, Reelshka pushes the door open. After all, she's a respectable mother, and not any kind of munchkin.

Reelshka opens the door to find a rather strange area. The walls of the Keep have moved to accommodate Zillia's taking up residence, and the place looks like the interior to a cozy cottage with curvy stone walls rather than a typical bedroom. There is a fireplace spouting sparkly smoke, a smattering of toys and other items of interest to children on the floor, and a table with what looks like a few tiny humanoid figures moving around upon it.

Cern looks like he wants to go inside. He looks meaningfully between Reelshka and the silly sign on the door.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka puts her hands on her hips. Does Mrs. Mithar know what her... grandmother, was it? Did to this room? Well, as sceptical as she is, the kids seem to love it. Tuskfang certainly does, staring through the doorway with open mouth. Brinika, older as she is, seems confused.

"Well, boys, it says no munchkins, but I'm a grown-up and I'm accompanying you here," she says. "So it's okay. Follow me." She steps into the room and turns to look at her son and his friends.

[Recaiden]

"Not that well, admittedly. They mostly keep to themselves as they don't have much time doing anything else than taking care of their little ones." Cessie remarks. "They have a lot of them now, and it can be a full-time job taking care of just one." She had not idea how Sakura did it. She was probably aided by the kami...

"Ah well. Better they be busy with that than not." Nadas's frown deepens.
"I'd like to thank you again for your help." he says, in a final sort of way.
"But I don't want to take up too much of your time. I have other avenues to investigate, and all."

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora is almost frozen at the sight of the blood dripping down Laela's face. There's so much of it too. But Laela's words give her a laser focus. "Bandaid. I'll get a bandaid!" Cora then sprints back into the house. She runs with abandon toward the bathroom where she knows there are bandaids. But her wild running might draw adult attention...

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Laela gets to her feet unsteadily and toddles a little to one side, hoping that Garn wasn't going to be extra nosy today. She felt hot and sad inside. She was mad at Cora, but didn't want to be. Why had she tried so hard to win?

[Treasure Hunting]

The boys exchange a look, then peer at Tuskfang. Gwydion tries to grab Brinika's hand. "C'mon!"

Together they'll try to charge into the room, goblinfolk in tow. Cernunnos starts picking up toys, old timey things made of wood and what looks like gold. Treasure! Gwydion asks Tuskfang, "Where do you wanna look?"

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika lets herself be led by Gwydion, grinning. Tuskfang, meanwhile, looks around and spots the table.

"There's tiny people on it! Maybe thissis a Clue."

He says the last word with great solemnity. His parents have told and read him stories, and finding things always begins with a Clue there.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

A clue! A clue! There does seem to be something up with those tiny people. They appear to be building a tiny fort out of little wooden blocks that glow softly. The fort is tall enough to tower over Reelshka where it is on the table.

"What do you want?" One of the fairies squeaks down at Tuskfang! Cernunnos looks up at the fort seriously and sticks out his bottom lip.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"We're huntin' for treasure!" Tuskfang declares. "A big bad thief stole stuff an' the map says it's here!" He pauses, and adds a very important aside: "You're really small!"

Brinika stifles a giggle at that, while Reelshka just watches.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

The creature sputters and rants, "Well, I never! Children are so rude these days! Pointing out the difficulties of the vertically challenged!" The fairy hefts up a soft plushy ball about the size of a ping pong ball and tosses it down. It probably misses Tuskfang, but it might harmlessly boop off've him. "There isn't any treasure here! And you can't have it! So begone!"

The creature harrumphs, and a number of other fairies appear on the ramparts! They all heft the same little colorful spheres. Oh dear. Gwydion ducks for cover, Cernunnos scurries to find something to throw back!

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Tuskfang is bopped with a ball and grabs his nose in confusion. He looks like he's about to get fussy, but then Brinika slides in to mediate. She seems to suddenly appear between the boys and the fairies.

"You shouldn't have pointed out that they're small, Tuskfang. Why didn't you say how pretty and shiny they are? I didn't know there were fairies in Mrs. Mithar's house."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

"Aw, such a polite girl," says one female fairy.

"I think she sounds a little patronizing," comments another blandly.

"It is insolence! Deception!" The lead fairy tries to throw a softball at Brinika's nose as well! Boop! The other fairies join in, and she might suddenly be pelted in earnest! Though it really just tickles, especially since they aren't very strong.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Says Gwydion! He won't let this stand! He scoops up balls and hurls one back, knocking the lead fairy off his feet with an 'oof' and a shower of sparkles. Oh no! The fight is on! Both Frescot boys start to scoop up the soft spheres and toss them back, knocking out parts of the castle! Cern is giggling all the while.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika blinks as she's pelted. Oh well. She tried, and this whole situation is too absurd for her to feel bad about it. Tuskfang squeaks with martial zeal (or as much as his tiny, fuzzy frame can muster) and joins the twins in retaliation. Reelshka scoots over to see if they're not actually hurting the fairies.

[Shadowcaller]

"Ah well. Better they be busy with that than not." Nadas's frown deepens.
"I'd like to thank you again for your help." he says, in a final sort of way.
"But I don't want to take up too much of your time. I have other avenues to investigate, and all."


[Being Bad]

Cora is almost frozen at the sight of the blood dripping down Laela's face. There's so much of it too. But Laela's words give her a laser focus. "Bandaid. I'll get a bandaid!" Cora then sprints back into the house. She runs with abandon toward the bathroom where she knows there are bandaids. But her wild running might draw adult attention...

[Being Bad]

Does Garn count as an adult? If so, it has definitely drawn his attention. The gargoyle stares at Cora as she runs and with a flap of his wings he's suddenly there right behind her. "What is happening, lady Cora?" He asks in his monotone voice. Cessie did instruct even her children to have titles...

[A Talk]

"Oh, of course. But if you need any other help, just feel free to ask. I do recommend seeking out Ambrosia to deal with your memory problems. It might very well be some type of spiritual problem I have no clue how to deal with. My talents are more into problems of a eldritch nature I'm afraid." She admits as she gets up, and nods respectfully towards Nadas. "It was nice meeting you again though, I do hope you learn how to handle Ilpholin soon."

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

"Uh uh uh." Cora spins around. Nooo, she doesn't wanna get in trouble... "I need a bandaid."

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

Brinika blinks as she's pelted. Oh well. She tried, and this whole situation is too absurd for her to feel bad about it. Tuskfang squeaks with martial zeal (or as much as his tiny, fuzzy frame can muster) and joins the twins in retaliation. Reelshka scoots over to see if they're not actually hurting the fairies.

An impromptu game of tiny dodgeball ensues! Whether deliberately or inadvertently, the fragile fairy fortress is quickly ruined, brought low by an onslaught of colorful balls. Reelshka will get a look behind the curtain, seeing that the fairies who get knocked over mostly either flutter away, scurry to get more ammo, or return to their posts. The ones 'crushed' by fallen blocks mostly seem to do a lot of complaining.

The balls will zip back and forth for a good little while. When their fort is mostly fallen in on itself, burying squealing fairies beneath the rubble, their commander slumps over the side of the last drunkenly sagging tower. "We..." he huffs, "surrender." They put a lot of effort into this.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka smiles. As she suspected, the fairies are in on the whole thing. Well, let the boys have their fun.

"We won!" Tuskfang pumps his chubby little fists into the air. "Dozzat mean we can keep lookin' for treasure?"

[Recaiden]

[A Talk]

"Oh, of course. But if you need any other help, just feel free to ask. I do recommend seeking out Ambrosia to deal with your memory problems. It might very well be some type of spiritual problem I have no clue how to deal with. My talents are more into problems of a eldritch nature I'm afraid." She admits as she gets up, and nods respectfully towards Nadas. "It was nice meeting you again though, I do hope you learn how to handle Ilpholin soon."

"Of course. I certainly will see her; I gather my life may have been fairly unpleasant, but now there's too much I don't know." Nadas gets to his feet and bows.
"Don't worry about me." The theory of How to handle Ilpholin is obvious. It's putting it into practice that's difficult.
And he heads for the exit.

[Shadowcaller]

Garn peers at the little girl. [B]"But you are not wounded, lady Cora. Why do you require band aid?" He asks. "And where is Laela?"

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

"Lady Laela." Cora insists. She's a princess after all. Okay, this could work. "Laela needs a bandaid, Garn."

[Shadowcaller]

[Being Bad]

"I see. I will inform her mother then." Garn states. "Is there anything else I can help with, Lady Cora?"

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

"Garn help me get bandaids!" Cora demands. This is spiralling out of control and she's gotta help Laela!

[Shadowcaller]

[Being Bad]

"..." Garn just stares at her for a moment, then he moves his hand to gesture at a nearby drawer. "The band aids are there, Lady Cora. Right next to the bandages."

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

"Cora?" Comes a teeny, wailing voice. Laela is obviously trying to be quiet as she shuffles around the corner, peeking at her friend. She looks as though she's been crying. She probably doesn't even realize how bad it looks - the left half of her face is almost covered in blood! D:

"Cora, I think I need... uhm," Laela's eyes widen and she makes a dismayed sound as she sees Garn. Oh, no! They're found out!

[Treasure Hunting]

One of the fallen fairies drops what looks like a paper tapestry. It flutters to the floor, and if examined appears to carry more pictographic directions to a 'sekrit stash!!!'. Though it appears to indicate that they need to crawl through... the fireplace?

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora is just turning around after snatching the bandaids when she spots Laela. Oh no, that's more blood than before. "Garn! Help Laela!" This is too much for the girl. She's panicking now.

[Shadowcaller]

Without a word Garn will take the band aids from Cora and with one hand attempt to gently but firmly grapple Laela with one of his huge hands. [B]"Stand still now, Laela." He grumbles, if she then obeys he will start cleaning the wound with a dab wet with warm water. Once that is done, he will actually apply the band-aid. He has done this many times before, kids do tend to get injured after all, especially Cora and Laela with all their shenanigans.

"How did this happen?" He asks as he is taking care of the wound.

They can hear the footsteps of what must be from an adult nearby now...

[Terumitsu]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"What would this alloy consist of exactly? I would like to know a bit more about the materials used if I'm to wear it. I could contribute some adamatine, if you know what it is." Cessie replies as Riss is looking over the sketches.

[Cessie's Lab!]

"Adamantine?" Riss asked, although it was more of a statement. "I've heard of the stuff but it's either been too difficult to really get hold of or obscenely expensive.. Not to mention that it's got more than a few properties that it may or may not have given that I've had one hell of a time trying to parse second hand reports and at this point I'm certain that it's about ten different metals with the same name because people didn't bother to differentiate between minerals of initially similar properties." Which was something that was highly annoying when trying to do research.

"As for what I was thinking to use initially... It's.. Well I can give you the long description that might take about twenty minutes to explain or the short description with the buzzwords of 'weave made of titanium with carbon nanostructures'? It's non-toxic and light where it counts although I can only do so much with a passive system when it comes to heavy impacts... But 'so much' is certainly more than you'd get from any regular suit of armor and that's the material alone. I know a few ways to enhance it further." she said although she wasn't vocalizing if she meant that was going to be due to construction or enchantment... Although, knowing the muse, she probably meant both. "Still, if you have actual adamantine, then I'd like a moment to work with it at least." she said, betraying her interest only slightly.

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Laela fidgets, but remains still enough to work on. She can be cleaned somewhat... but the cut continues to well up, and the band-aid certainly isn't cutting it. It's not big enough.

Laela makes a whimper-y sound and decides, "Uhm. I fell down and hit my face." Not her best lie, but it just sounds so pitiful that it comes out believably.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora just stands there, looking some combination of guilty, scared, and all around shaken.

[Shadowcaller]

[Being Bad]

Hm.

Garn picks out some bandages instead and starts wrapping it around Leala's head...

Just as Cessie opens the door. "Laela." She exclaims in shock, kneeling before the girl. "Are you alright?" She sounds highly concerned, and one look at Cora tells her exactly who is responsible. Which is exactly why she's looking at her daughter while asking her next question. "What happened?"

[Cessie's Lab!]

"Admantine does not exist in my world, so I'm afraid I don't really know how to differentiate the version I owe from others. It was my husbands you see, he's the expert on it. Not I. But I supply you with as much adamatine you need, and you may analyze the material as much as you like. I simply haven't had the time with my other projects so it would be very helpful to me." Might have to ask Halia the player about the peculiar's though. "So I say we'll start right away, as long as I will be able to closely monitor the process." She smiles. "Just don't expect me to understand everything right away."

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

"More Clues!" Tuskfang exclaims. "Whassit mean, mom?"

"I think it shows us where we need to go," Reelshka says, frowning a little. The fireplace? That seems unwise. "Let me take a look first, boys."

She goes to find a fireplace in the room.

[Murkus]

[Treasure Hunting]

There is a great wide fireplace set in the wall, but it seems to exude no heat. Instead, a steady supply of colorful and sparkling smoke. Purple and orange in hue.

[Being Bad]

Laela squirms as she starts to be wrapped up like a mummy. "No!" She shrieks a bit. "You'll break my hairrr!" Which isn't the only problem. The pressure also hurts.

She freezes as Cessie appears. It doesn't seem as though she's the one being asked a question, but she answers for Cora anyways. "I fell down." More confident this time.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora totally withers under Cessie's gaze. "It was by accident!" She suddenly starts to blubber and runs forward to clutch at mommy's dress. She never wanted any of this to happen. They were just playing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Being Bad]

"I'm sure it was, Cora." Cessie says firmly. "So why don't the both of you tell me what really happened?" She looks between the two trouble makers. "I'm not going to be upset, I just need to know." Shen the turns to Garn. "Garn, get Sakura. Tell her that Laela hurt her head."

The gargoyle nods and then moves to get Sakura. She can arrive in the next post if her player wants to.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka carefully puts her hand closer and closer to the fireplace. She's not going to have her son and his friends go near a fire unless she's sure it's harmless. Tuskfang can't quite contain his excitement, though, so he's hovering behind his mum.

[Terumitsu]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"Then if you do not mind.. Would you maybe be able to direct me to a few samples so that I might be able to figure something out? Since we're in the planning stage still, it's not too late to change the material, after all. Plus-" she said, nodding with all three forms over to the roughly human-sized device laying on the ground. "I've got just the right tools for the job to look it over. Might take a little bit for a full analysis but forging and processing shouldn't be an issue." she said with a casual wave though this time only with the form that was speaking with the sorceress.

There was a moment of silence before she then added: "Oh, yes, and that would be a fine chance for me to pick up that stick I left just outside the grounds here. Should've been more than long enough to work as a fine capacitor for me." she added. There was an experiment she wanted to run with that as well... But at any rate, it seems like the muse was expecting Cessie to lead the way to whatever stores of mythical metal she had... Or at least her previous husband's store in this particular case.

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Cora totally withers under Cessie's gaze. "It was by accident!" She suddenly starts to blubber and runs forward to clutch at mommy's dress. She never wanted any of this to happen. They were just playing.


[Being Bad]

"I'm sure it was, Cora." Cessie says firmly. "So why don't the both of you tell me what really happened?" She looks between the two trouble makers. "I'm not going to be upset, I just need to know." Shen the turns to Garn. "Garn, get Sakura. Tell her that Laela hurt her head."

The gargoyle nods and then moves to get Sakura. She can arrive in the next post if her player wants to.

Laela just looks distraught that Cora gave her lie away. She glances between mother and daughter, too dizzy and too uncertain of what to say. "Um, um... we were... p-playing swords..."


[Treasure Hunting]

Reelshka carefully puts her hand closer and closer to the fireplace. She's not going to have her son and his friends go near a fire unless she's sure it's harmless. Tuskfang can't quite contain his excitement, though, so he's hovering behind his mum.

Her fingers pass harmlessly through the smoke, and into a heatless light beyond. She'll sense no danger, only a faint breeze from the other side, and the sounds of running water...

Cern and Gwydion also practically bounce in place, right behind Tuskfang.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Sakura rushes into the room not a moment later. "What happened?" She immediately drops down to Laela's level. There's so much blood, but Laela otherwise doesn't seem in too bad of shape. "We should take her to a doctor right away." Better safe than sorry if she has a gash in her head.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"Of course, take any samples you need, Riss." Cessie replies as she gets up and opens up the door to her lab indicating for Riss to follow her. "But yes, you may also take the stick. Though lets do that once you've looked at the adamtine, alright? One thing at the time." She then leads her down to the main floor and goes out the door to the forge, which she unlocks. "You should know that there was a theft here not long ago. Someone got away with quite a few bars of adamtine a while ago so there is a bit less for you to take" She explains while she leads her down to the basement of the forge which is filled a number of chests that are filled with admatine.

[Being Bad]

"They were playing with swords apparently, unsupervised." Cessie says, keeping her tone as neutral as she possibly can in this situation. She really hoped Cora and Laela would learn something out of this. She couldn't help but to worry though. She nods in agreement with Sakura. "Yes, let's." She nods at Sakura. "And you're coming with Leala, alright Cora?"

[Murkus]

[Being Bad]

Laela is still just a little girl. She falls against her mother with an instinctive little cry of 'mommy'. She peers around between Sakura and Cessie, eyes wide and wet. Oh no. She was going to get taken care of now, but she knew once that was over there'd be only scolding after. Oh well. Maybe she'd get something nice at the doctor's. And her head would stop hurting so much.

[Terumitsu]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"Right. Just putting it on the list so we don't forget." Rather, it was more an expression of intent by the Muse as 'forgetting' was something that had grown to almost be an alien concept at this point but she still used the terminology to keep people from feeling uncomfortable.

She did that for a lot of things, really.

In any case, the muse followed; remarking on the theft with: "Oh, that sounds.. Well, 'awful' is the generic brand of phrase in this situation but I can only imagine how that feels." Violation of security like that would certainly put her on a razor's edge for weeks on end at the very least. "Your family is fine, right?" she said, shocking even herself with the note of genuine empathy. Then again, it only made sense. She'd have been nearly crippled in anxiety if Misha or Mimi were to be harmed in the middle of a burglary or something similar.

Still, she quietly remarked on how kind it was of the sorceress to share a resource that was clearly valuable like this. Cessie didn't seem like the warmest person-Like I'm one to talk-but the muse was certainly feeling a bit more respect for her now.

Of course, then came the moment when a chest was opened and Riss was able to grab an 'ingot' or two for examination... For a moment she wore a puzzled expression before a stifled giggle grew into a proper cackle. "Haha! I mean, ingots can kinda-Hehehe.. Oh wow. Can I keep a few of these as is? I have to show these to my companions." she managed while calming herself back down from the sudden surprise. Perhaps Cessie had either forgotten or simply never looked into it but Harnel's/Harnetta's stash of Adamantine had the distinct quality of being in ingots cast in the shape of breasts ((Or at least they were still so as confirmed by her player when I asked about their properties.)).

At the very least, Riss had found this to be highly amusing though she would be back to her more composed self soon enough and would be ready to move on to a proper analysis as if this were perfectly normal after a few minutes.

[Gullara]

[Being Bad]

Cora nods her head. "Yes mommy." She'd just about agree to whatever her mom said right now.

Sakura looks between the two little girls. There'd be time to worry about that later. "Let's go then." She doesn't want to waste any time.

Continued. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22688374&postcount=1133)

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate, Front Door]

There’s a knock on the door. Three slow, timid knocks. If there is a doorbell, it is only rung after the knocking.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate, Front Door]

Artie has to wait a couple minutes. She might even think about knocking again, but then she hears some sign of activity behind the door. There's some kind of tapping, near the base of the door. "Sweetie, you're in mommy's way. Can you- Oh, alright."

A moment later and the door swings open. There stands Sakura! She's dressed up in a cozy looking blue cotton dress. In her arms is not one, but two babies. Little Lucy and her cascade of flowery hair looks curiously at the visitor. She's clutching onto one of her toy race cars. In her other arm is even littler Cassie.

"Oh, um, hello? Can I help you?" The dryad greets with a friendly smile, if a surprised one.

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate, Front Door]

Standing on Sakura’s porch is a centauress, somewhat tall for horse and woman, standing nervously before the door. Her skin is pale as ivory but every hair on her is a striking blue. Strapped to her side is a little saddlebag that was possibly a woman’s purse before it was renovated slightly. A gift from an in-law. Hugging her overly curvaceous form is a fancy white kimono with pink trees on it. Her long equine ears and tail twitch and her hands don’t seem to know where to go.

Azren said she was a dryad but she didn’t say she was pink! It’s like showing up with a shirt with someone’s face on it! What if she thinks it’s a mean joke or that I’m a huge-
”Hi, um, Sakura? I’m Artie. I’m uh, Azren’s ma- I’m your sister-in-law.” she stammers out.

Of course the first thing that Sakura will probably notice, more than anything else, is that Artie is several months pregnant, getting larger with the twins that Artie hasnt had confirmed but strongly suspects.

[Morty]

[Treasure Hunting]

This little excursion has certainly gone to interesting places. Reelshka isn't sure about sticking her head down there, but she'd rather Tuskfang didn't do it...

"Let me do it, aunt Reelshka!"

...well, that solves the problem. Brinika takes Reelshka's place by the fireplace and sticks her head inside.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate, Front Door]

"Oh my goodness!" Sakura steps back, hooking her finger on the door despite being burdened by two kids. "Come in come in!" It's a good thing the door is so large. "This is so exciting. I've barely met Adir's family, you know. Never any personal visits, I mean."

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate]

Artie smiles and wanders in, her ears returning to an upright, cheery postition.
”It’s alright. I’ve only met his mother once and his brothers stopped by once and made a mess of the place. He told me your address in case I have had trouble or wanted to visit.” she tells Sakura, smiling at the children.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

"Come right in." Sakura leads the way down the hall and into the kitchen on the other side of the house. "Adir's not here right now, though. He's taken some of the kids out into the woods for a bit. I'm just here with the youngest."

"Um, sorry, I don't really have accommodations for someone your shape." Sakura says apologetically as she leans back against the island. "Oh, where are my manners? This is Cassandra, and this is Lucy." She hefts one baby and then the other. "Why don't you say hi, Lucy. She's your auntie, just like auntie Cessie."

Lucy looks Artie over again, sliding her car's wheels over her hand. "Hi." She says at last. Meanwhile Cassie seems more concerned with trying to squirm out of her mother's arms than to pay Artie any mind.

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate]

Artie seems a bit awkward.
"Oh, it's alright. Normally I can change shape into something a little smaller but with the passengers I'm afraid I'm stuck at a minimum size.

Hello, Cassie, hello Lucy. It's a shame I don't have a saddle or I could have given you a ride." she coos to the kids. Centaurs don't take riding well except for close comrades or loved ones, and saddles are normally out of the question. But these are kids we're talking about.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

"Why are you like a horsey?" Lucy asks, with a complete lack of restraint.

"Lucy, lots of people look different you know. Just like Cassie has furry legs, right?" Sakura says. Cassie's little hooved legs make a perfect example right now.

"Congratulations, by the way." Sakura adds with genuine delight. "How far along are you?"

[Deathkeeper]

Frescot Estate

Artie laughs.
”I’m this way because both of my parents are, and it’s how I prefer to look, little Lucy.
she looks up at Sakura.
”Six months. But my people normally take much longer than humans do.” she admits. Frankly being so magical she wouldn’t be surprised if at any given moment she simply swelled up and advanced a few months. She doesn’t know how anything works anymore.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"Right. Just putting it on the list so we don't forget." Rather, it was more an expression of intent by the Muse as 'forgetting' was something that had grown to almost be an alien concept at this point but she still used the terminology to keep people from feeling uncomfortable.

She did that for a lot of things, really.

In any case, the muse followed; remarking on the theft with: "Oh, that sounds.. Well, 'awful' is the generic brand of phrase in this situation but I can only imagine how that feels." Violation of security like that would certainly put her on a razor's edge for weeks on end at the very least. "Your family is fine, right?" she said, shocking even herself with the note of genuine empathy. Then again, it only made sense. She'd have been nearly crippled in anxiety if Misha or Mimi were to be harmed in the middle of a burglary or something similar.

Still, she quietly remarked on how kind it was of the sorceress to share a resource that was clearly valuable like this. Cessie didn't seem like the warmest person-Like I'm one to talk-but the muse was certainly feeling a bit more respect for her now.

Of course, then came the moment when a chest was opened and Riss was able to grab an 'ingot' or two for examination... For a moment she wore a puzzled expression before a stifled giggle grew into a proper cackle. "Haha! I mean, ingots can kinda-Hehehe.. Oh wow. Can I keep a few of these as is? I have to show these to my companions." she managed while calming herself back down from the sudden surprise. Perhaps Cessie had either forgotten or simply never looked into it but Harnel's/Harnetta's stash of Adamantine had the distinct quality of being in ingots cast in the shape of breasts ((Or at least they were still so as confirmed by her player when I asked about their properties.)).

At the very least, Riss had found this to be highly amusing though she would be back to her more composed self soon enough and would be ready to move on to a proper analysis as if this were perfectly normal after a few minutes.

[Cessie's Lab!]

Cessie had hoped that Riss wouldn't react like this, like she would be able to play it off like it was nothing. But apparently she hadn't removed her sense of humor along with her forgetfulness. "My last husband got these from a 'playful' entity called Libra. She considered it funny." She claims, trying to ignore Riss laughter. She had certainly not been as amused when she had seen these things yet she could never make enough time to actually melt them down. The fact that they appeared to be copies of, well, her own body parts didn't make things easier.
"And I prefer to have these private, they're from a time I rather not remember." The things she had done for Harnel back then... ugh.
She waves her hand dismissively. "Maybe we can discuss it later."

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

"Oh, I see. Well that's so exciting. We're definitely going to have to talk about play dates when they arrive." Sakura grins.

Sakura decides that her back has enough strain right now and lowers Lucy back to the ground. The little girl immediately sets her car in the floor and races it toward Artie. "Vroom vroom!" She crawls past Artie, and then circles around her.

[Deathkeeper]

Frescot Estate

Artie smiles wistfully, tossing her tail at the child playfully as she circles behind her.
”Well, some time after. If what my mother told us all that time ago is true none of us will be up to that for some time. And who knows how it will go if they take more after me...” she trails off, just thinking about the possible consequences of having shapeshifting or rain-inducing children.
"Would you mind...uh, giving me advice? My mother only really told us about the biological side since we were young and it wasn't going to happen for at least another half a decade." she asks, fidgeting with her hands.

[Terumitsu]

[Cessie's Lab!]

Riss cleared her throat and returned to a much more sober mood once Cessie explained her situation. "Oh.. I understand." she said. Either way, the form next to Cessie would take the 'ingot' up for analysis as there was already another that had come down to continue the conversation. "Material analysis is going to take a little time. I'll be allocating more attention than would be typical to speed this along but it shouldn't hamper me in the meantime." she said.

"So.. I suppose now would be a good time to check out the staff-in-making..." she suggested. "And given your tone.. Is this 'Libra' someone who visits on occasion or were they sought out on this occasion?" she asked. 'Playful' said in those tones did not sound very much like something the muse would like to be blindsided by... Of course, that might just be tempting fate at this point.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cessie's Lab!]

The sorceress clears her throat as well, those bars had always been a hot issue for her. "To answer the question you asked earlier regarding the break in, yes my family is fine. The thief just broke Garn's broom handle and a few locks." She gestures at a sad broken broom standing in the corner of the room.
"But no, Libra is not a being I would ever seek out. She's a monster that can commit atrocities without even thinking about it. My former husband had a fascination with her nearly limitless powers and asked for aid at times, but even he learned that if you play with fire you eventually get burned." Even if you're immune to it. "Since then, I haven't seen her around. I hope that she's gone for good, but I believe she has just found another victim to 'help'."

[Terumitsu]

[Cessie's Lab!]

"...Atrocities?" Riss asked, more academically curious than anything. That was a fairly hefty thing to say, after all. "So, if what you say is true, then what should I look for in order to identify her?" she asked once Cessie had the time to answer the previous question. Given that the sorceress was one of the very few who could see this aspect of the muse, Cessie would be acutely, frighteningly aware of that fiercely burning, roiling blue iris that normally seemed content to dart around at seemingly random intervals suddenly focus extremely intently at her. Apparently the topic had the muse's interest...

Though, she would gently start walking to try and get Cessie to move with her back to where that staff was located... Semi-staff? Half-staff. Implement of wood that is in the process of being made into something useful. That was also something else she was interested in seeing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Basement]

"Changing people's memories, altering reality, things like that." Cessie explains with a dismissive gesture, not wanting to get into too much detail. "And I very much advise you to not look for her. She's completely unpredictable and will cause nothing but misery. Trust me on that Riss." Cessie says while attempting to ignore the muses weird eyes moving around. "Since if you start looking for her, she will likely just appear and then both you and those around you will likely be in danger of her powers." She continues while following Riss out to where the staff was located. Little has likely changed, besides the fact that the garden and everything around it now is more well-kept.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

"Oh, well I guess I do have a lot of experience by now." Sakura giggles. A lot of experience packed into (nearly) six years. "I guess it depends what you want advice about. You can feel free to ask me any questions."

Lucy, having made her circuit around Artie, comes to a stop in front of her. "Car eight wins!" She claps her hands. Then she looks up at her aunt. "Do you like race cars?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate ]

”I just don’t know what to expect. I don’t know what to get in advance. I don’t know what I’ll have to do. It’s all very frightening. “ Artie admits.

”I’ve never seen a race car. I’ve never been in a car at all. I don’t fit.” she tells her niece.

[Terumitsu]

[Basement - Gardens and beyond?]

"See, if you keep saying things like that then all that'll come of it is curiosity. Reverse psychology and all." It wasn't unlike the urge to watch a horrible train-wreck in motion just because of the spectacle. Still, there was that hint of a smile to show that the muse was joking at least.

At least, that was what one would hope that grin meant.

"The only reason I was asking was to be aware of what to look for. Like symptoms to an illness. Don't want any misdiagnosis that would end up causing more problems with the wrong treatment." she explained. Fortunately, Libra wasn't present to hear about being compared to a sickness. Hopefully.

Out in the gardens, though, the muse seemed to be taking the time to appreciate the grounds before moving on to the font that hid the staff. Her Eye, however, was still firmly fixed on Cessie for the time being. Creepy, that.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

Lucy gets to her feet and holds out her toy. "This is a race car! It drives fast." She explains.

"Oh, one sec." Sakura dips out of the room the way they came for a moment. She's back a moment later with a small, well worn book. "Here, you can have this. It's the first book I read before Laela was born. It was super helpful."

[Shadowcaller]

[Basement - Gardens and beyond?]

"See, if you keep saying things like that then all that'll come of it is curiosity. Reverse psychology and all." It wasn't unlike the urge to watch a horrible train-wreck in motion just because of the spectacle. Still, there was that hint of a smile to show that the muse was joking at least.

At least, that was what one would hope that grin meant.

"The only reason I was asking was to be aware of what to look for. Like symptoms to an illness. Don't want any misdiagnosis that would end up causing more problems with the wrong treatment." she explained. Fortunately, Libra wasn't present to hear about being compared to a sickness. Hopefully.

Out in the gardens, though, the muse seemed to be taking the time to appreciate the grounds before moving on to the font that hid the staff. Her Eye, however, was still firmly fixed on Cessie for the time being. Creepy, that.

[Gardens]

Cessie doesn't skip a beat, though smiles apologetically. "I'm just making sure. There are all too many people who just throw out her name without warning people of the danger. So perhaps I felt guilty for almost doing the same thing." She pauses as they reach the place where the staff should be located at. "What do you mean by 'treatment' though? Simply how to avoid calling her attention, or deal with her presence?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate]

"Oh, thank you." Artie takes the book, examining the cover.
"It's an odd thing to ask, but do you think your children take after both of you equally? I've been curious to know what mine might inherit, with Azren and I so different." she asks conversationally.

[Terumitsu]

[Gardens]

"That was more just metaphor." Riss replied. "But in this case, if symptoms would be what to look for and how to identify her, then treatment would be what to do if one has found themselves with a sudden case of the Libra." she said with a shrug.

The muse would let Cessie best describe what to do in the case of a pox of Libras as she turned her focus towards the immersed staff. Kneeling down and reaching towards it, she suddenly stopped and held eerily still just before her fingers would touch the water. If the sorceress were paying close attention, she might wonder if Riss had even stopped breathing for a moment before a burning arc of electric blue danced between the horns of her head like a jacob's ladder before the muse was violently thrown back from a small but potent aetheric explosion. Fortunately it seemed mostly concussive in nature as there were no flames or blackened areas and only a bit of damage to the grass at worst. Riss herself seemed mostly unharmed save for the abrasions she'd suffered from being thrown back. Dazed, she stood up and began to brush herself off, wincing only slightly as she did so.

"So.. Are you aware that adamantine is surprisingly thaumatically resilient?" she asked, as if that would explain anything about what just happened.

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Wenomir is walking purposefully towards the keep. He sent a message to Cessie that only said he had something to tell her in private.

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

"Uh, I don't think I could begin to guess that." Sakura says uncertainly. "Even with just these two, Cassie looks much more like Adir, and Lucy like me."

Lucy, upon hearing her name, looks up from her toy and crawls closer to her mom. "Mommy." She tugs on Sakura's skirt until the dryad stoops over to pick her up again.

"I'm just telling auntie Artie how you have pretty flowers just like mommy." Sakura explains. Just like mommy indeed, she even has a proportionally huge cascade of them without all the years to grow them. Lucy giggles and puts her hands through Sakura's flowers.

[Shadowcaller]

[Gardens]

"That was more just metaphor." Riss replied. "But in this case, if symptoms would be what to look for and how to identify her, then treatment would be what to do if one has found themselves with a sudden case of the Libra." she said with a shrug.

The muse would let Cessie best describe what to do in the case of a pox of Libras as she turned her focus towards the immersed staff. Kneeling down and reaching towards it, she suddenly stopped and held eerily still just before her fingers would touch the water. If the sorceress were paying close attention, she might wonder if Riss had even stopped breathing for a moment before a burning arc of electric blue danced between the horns of her head like a jacob's ladder before the muse was violently thrown back from a small but potent aetheric explosion. Fortunately it seemed mostly concussive in nature as there were no flames or blackened areas and only a bit of damage to the grass at worst. Riss herself seemed mostly unharmed save for the abrasions she'd suffered from being thrown back. Dazed, she stood up and began to brush herself off, wincing only slightly as she did so.

"So.. Are you aware that adamantine is surprisingly thaumatically resilient?" she asked, as if that would explain anything about what just happened.

[Gardens]

"Frankly, I am not really an expert as I've stayed away from her as much as possible. Simply making little noise whenever she's around. That seem to have worked fine though. As far as I know, I'm unaltered by her whims." Cessie explains.

She then falls silent as Riss approaches the staff, suddenly wishing that she had investigated it properly. There was no telling what it might do, especially considering how crazy Riss had acted under the influence of the aether.

Therefore, just as a precaution, a large magma elemental with shield-like arms forms next to the sorceress and stands ready to protect her as Riss starts her work.
Cessie tilts her head slightly as Riss just appears to stand there, but is patient as she knows these sort of things could take time.
Her eyes widen at the spectacular reaction of the staff however as she walks up to Riss only when she is sure nothing else was happening. "Are you sure you're alright?" She knew even smaller blasts like that could cause lasting injuries, but perhaps Riss custom made bodies were a bit more sturdy than that. "And yes, I was aware, it's one of its most important qualities in fact."

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Wenomir will find Cessie in the foyer, two large war-like elementals attending her. It appears she was just ready to leave. "Wenomir, excellent. I was actually just about to head over to VIGIL. I was considering a expedition to Seaside."

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

"An expedition?" Wenomir's awkwardness is somewhat replaced by curiosity. But he still looks distracted. "We will need to discuss it, but right now I wanted to talk about something... personal."

[Deathkeeper]

[Frescot Estate]

"Well, that's alright. I just thought I'd ask. It'll just happen how it happens." Artie flips through the book Sakura gave her, wondering just what sort of advice it gives.
"I'll have to sit Azren down and get him to pick names. He's so hard to pin down sometimes." she giggles at the thought. Mrs. Frescot had warned her, after all.

[Terumitsu]

[Gardens]

"I'm fine. I'm not exactly fragile, contrary to appearances and I was able to recycle most of the energy back into my reservoir." Riss said matter-of-factually. "That was just feedback from my material testing. I was trying to see how well it held a thaumic charge but.. Well, I was not aware of this property beforehand and there was a bit of a rebound." she said, taking a moment to stretch. "Being a gestalt entity is generally a positive thing but when it comes to things like thaumaturgy I'm still considered a singular entity.. So that leads to things like just now where one terminal, or body, can be affected by something only for another terminal or all terminals to be similarly affected depending on the origin of the effect." she clarified.

Stepping confidently over to the spring again, the muse simply reached into the spring with her tail and plucked the half-finished staff out from it's long confinement... It looked surprisingly good for a length of wood that had been immersed in water for so long. "Anyway, no lasting harm done... Actually this gives me an idea." she said, her attention now focused on the staff as even that extra burning eye had peeled itself away from Cessie to focus on it. "If you wouldn't mind, could you show me some examples of your craft? Beyond that whole conjuring up a hot lass like you just did, I mean." she said, unable to keep herself from finishing with a joke.

[Shadowcaller]

[Gardens]

"Go ahead then." Cessie replies firmly, not wanting Wenomir to beat around the bush.

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Her reservoir? It sounded like Riss was more machine than human at this point, and at this point Cessie was almost afraid to ask just how the muse and her other bodies were made up. She just felt uneasy considering making such modifications to your own body. Just the way she described herself, an 'entity', made it sound like she didn't consider herself, with the lack of a better term, human, anymore.

Just what was Riss? And what did she want with all this research? What was her motivation for all of this?

"I see." She replies to Riss explanation. "Having multiple bodies certainly is practical." So far, she could agree.

Then Riss sets out again, and hopefully there wouldn't be more explosions this time.
She carefully observes the muse, wondering what the next step will be when she is asked a question. "What sort of idea? Is there anything specific you had in mind for me to demonstrate? Eldritch is essentially simply conjuring up material and directing them as you wish. Usually, this takes place by focusing on familiar concepts and shapes. This elemental for instance is a reflection of myself for instance but with a added purpose of protection." She explains with a gesture at the elemental. "But there is a lot of other applications of course, as I'm sure you realize."

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Wenomir takes a deep breath, looks around, then breathes out and shrugs.

"I slept with Harnetta. And I will most likely do it again. That's the long and short of it. I wasn't planning to do it, but that's how it worked out. And I thought you should know. It might have got awkward... more awkward, otherwise."

[Shadowcaller]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cessie's expression is the perfect mask of calm. "I wish you the best of luck then." She replies curtly. "Was that all?"

[Gullara]

[Frescot Estate]

"Well, that's alright. I just thought I'd ask. It'll just happen how it happens." Artie flips through the book Sakura gave her, wondering just what sort of advice it gives.
"I'll have to sit Azren down and get him to pick names. He's so hard to pin down sometimes." she giggles at the thought. Mrs. Frescot had warned her, after all.

[Frescot Estate]

"Well if he's anything like his brother, he should be pretty good at names. Adir's always full of ideas when it's time for that." Sakura says, looking quite pleased with her husband. "Cassandra was his idea, actually."

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Wenomir looks at Cessie with some surprise. She has nothing more to say on the subject? She can't possibly approve of it.

"...that's about all I had to say. I thought you deserved to be informed by me, personally."

[Terumitsu]

[Gardens]

"It is incredible what can be done with at least more than one of yourselves working on the same thing." she said. Really more people should do it in her opinion. Then again, she was the sort of person who would have said Dr. Manhattan had been given a rough time of it. She would have been utterly flattered if someone else made a duplicate of themselves simply for the reason of supplying undistracted attention to her... Though that might explain exactly why she had done the exact same thing for her Fey.

"And I was just wanting to see how you manipulated the flow.. Though if you do more conjuring than anything else, then this might not be a fit for you.." she began, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth to shake off the water. " This is going to sound childish, almost, but I had the idea that given adamantine's resistance, it could be used to 'channel' certain kinds of effects in a way not dissimilar to, well, a gun." she said, shrugging a bit as she made the comparison. "I mean, I already have the basic idea of what I could do for 'rifling' as well in this case, even... And I'd do it myself but that'd take far more time since.. Well I told you about my situation already, right?" she did know she had at least inferred it strongly the last time they had met.

[Shadowcaller]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

"Harnetta does seem to like to get involved with a lot of people close to me." Cessie remarkable calmly. "But yes, now I know. I'm sure she will tell me as well at some point too."

[Gardens]

"I imagine, in fact I can in a way transfer my conscious to these elemental bodies for brief amount of times so in a way I have some experience with that." it was quite an advance technique though. Cessie was in fact one of the few who at her age actually had mastered it.

"The 'flow'? Perhaps you could clarify your situation a bit, Riss. It was a while since we talked after all and I don't remember the exact details." Not everyone could have perfect memory after all. "Since I don't really use anything named 'flow'. Except... well, some find it easier, even necessary, to use gestures to make certain spells. Like they're imagining eldritch as a flow of energy." She explains. "I imagining this projectile idea could be very useful for you though. Is there anything I could help with regarding that?"

[Terumitsu]

[Gardens]

"You got there in the end with the 'flow of energy' bit. Basically I just want to watch you 'direct' as you employ your arts." the muse said. Cessie may or may not notice but there seemed to be a common theme to the muse's choice of words when it came to, as she put it, the 'thaumic sciences.' While she might use the word 'enchantment' or similar, she seemed to staunchly refuse to use the word 'spell.'

"As for my situation... Well, you remember that lantern I brought by last time? The one with the black-petaled flower that was always burning with that blue phosphorescence that looked kinda like fire? That's what's called a witchlight but I've taken to just calling it a 'reservoir.' Basically it draws in ambient energy and stores it for later use over time. It's meant to be supplemental power but.. Well, in my case, I don't have the same.. Attribute that others do to 'reach out and shape' like you can. Or maybe it would be better to say it's developed differently? Anyway, the idea is that when it's drained or when I don't have access to it or a substantial local saturation of energy, I can't do anything other than observe what's going on." she explained although it was all very simply stated instead of as if she felt somehow handicapped in this realm. She'd lived her life up until recently without even knowing that such things existed and so this limitation didn't really feel like one in the long run.. Though it did slow her personal experiments down by a bit.

"Anyway, because it's supposed to be a supplemental device, I can drag about seven or so rune-matrix activations out of it before full depletion.. Which is the result of a lot of refinement as I used to be stuck with only three last time we spoke. Thing takes a bit under six hours to charge back to full in a normal saturation environment but higher saturation or siphoning off the remains from unbinding someone else's arts make it go much quicker." she explained. "As for this thing." she said, hoisting up the staff. "My original aim for this was to be something similar but more as an external collector in addition to expanding my total reservoir capacity by a bit." she said. "Anyway, that's half the reason why I'd rather watch you in action. The other half is that if things go well, I could install some kind of augmentation relay to boost certain aspects of your arts into your armor." she concluded. Apparently even now she was focused on that project.

[Gullara]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Oh look a convenient distraction. Cora randomly runs into the room, totally missing any tension. "Wenomir!" She comes right up to him. "Did you bring your sword?" She asks even as she's looking for it.

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Wenomir scowls, the scars on his face creating an ugly pattern. He does not like what Cessie is implying here. Before he can decide if it's a fight he wants to pick right now, though, Cora runs in. His expression turns soft as he looks down at the little quarter-dragon.

"I'm afraid not, Cora. I came here to talk to your mom about something and left my sword at home."

[Shadowcaller]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cessie's attention is also drawn to Cora right away, and she suddenly smiles as she sees her excitement. Well, this certainly would get her mind on other things than Harnetta.
"This little lady had a accident with Leala. She gave her a nasty cut with her sword, so I took away it for a while. If you want to show her some moves, you will have to use the old swords in the storage room underneath the forge. But be careful. Those weapons aren't nearly as safe as the Answer."

[Gardens]

"You misunderstand, no energy is actually directed. Some mages simply imagine themselves doing just that as it helps the imagination, others are imagining it as something different. Though I'm guessing we're just discussing schematics at this point." Cessie tries to argue, but then simply listens to Riss explanation. She suddenly remembered all this, Riss had talked about it at length. There were a few terms she didn't quite understand though. Had to ask about those later, but right now...

"How were you planning to argument eldritch exactly? It haven't been meshing well with the type of technology you use around here so far. It is very much something with a strong connection to the soul, no research have so far suggested that it can be influenced by sources outside of it."

[Gullara]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cora immediately looks disappointed, bt then she perks up again at her mom's suggestion. Even the reminder that her own sword was taken away can't bring her down. "Ooh, can you?! Please!"

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Wenomir quirks an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting Cessie to suggest it. But if there was an accident, maybe she decided Cora needs supervision from an actual swordsman.

"It would be my pleasure. I can see that this little one has a warrior's spirit... which will need a warrior to direct properly."

[Shadowcaller]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cessie turns to Wenomir. "Just make sure how to teach her to be careful as well, Wenomir. I can't stop her from using a sword, but if she is going to use it, she must learn care. That's the first thing real 'sword girls' learn, isn't it?"

[Gullara]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cora looks back and forth between Wenomir and her mom. Wait... "You're gonna train me?!" Cora squeals.

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

"Of course, Cessie. Discipline is a warrior's first lesson and I know how to rein in eager youngsters." Wenomir them looks down at Cora. "I am, Cora. I know you've wanted it for a while."

[Shadowcaller]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cessie crosses her arms over her chest and looks at her daughter. "This is on the condition that you don't hurt yourself or anyone else using swords, Cora. So you better focus on that discipline part."

[Gullara]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cora's excitement is a bit tempered by this comments, but she's still just barely not exploding. "Yes mommy." She agrees before turning her full attention to Wenomir. "Can we train right now?!"

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

"I suppose we'd better start right away," Wenomir says, glancing at Cessie. Cora's immediate enthusiasm has to be channelled. "I remember where the forge is, so I can see about those old swords. For Cora, a stick or broom handle will do for now. I'll get her some properly-sized foam swords in the future."

[Shadowcaller]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

"She can take Garn's broom. It's made of adamtine so it will almost be like a real sword." Cessie suggests. "He should probably be in the gardens right now. Just make sure you ask nicely, he is really attached to that broom."

[Gullara]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

Cora tries to grab Wenomir's hand and pull him along. "The garden's this way!"

[Morty]

[Mithar Keep - Unexpected Visit]

"Wish us luck, Cessie," Wenomir says, before being "pulled" along by Cora. "We're going to have to ask Garn if he has any wooden brooms, though. An adamantine one would be too heavy."