Scattered Insanity

[-Lacie-]

It took a few moments to re-attune herself to the DreamState, as it usually does, but this was different. Her thoughts scattered, movements stiff and awkward, she made her way to the Unknown, to try and get herself back to... right.

The quill just fell from her hair, and into her hand and the journal looked as if it had been there an eon, but remained opened to a fresh page. Her hand lays upon the parchment as the thoughts flow. Her eyes gaze out into the darkness, looking around as if she had been recently freed from a ... confinement. Eyes begin to sparkle and blink slowly.

In caverns deep, far from midnight sky,
Grow mushrooms, spores and fungi.

Water drips in thru the cracks
Bringing in what the cavern lacks...

Life.

Graced by gifts from terran layers,
Mist'd by evening dew.

Small at first... and then it grew.
There dwells life, of a sort, slight at first.

Growing with each drop of water.
Elements mix and Combine into something.... new.

Alder was not the first, nor shall be the last.

The remainder of the journal entry appears to be calculations, lists of ingredients and formulae written in all sorts of different languages. The journal snaps shut as she rises. She reaches for a few hidden tools and begins to consider the list of ingredients needed for the job.

"I know one who might know", she whispers softly as she begins to consider her options.

[-Lacie-]

The Lab was a wretched mess. Her haphazard dreaming had taken its toll on the orderly array of scrolls, manuscripts and journals. The faint odor of musty stale air seemed to permeate the whole room.

One spot in the center seemed to have some sort of order about it; an array of ancient maps, an odd sapphire, a scroll containing the mysterious tale ... all laid out neatly in a semi-circle. In the center was a small crucible with a long, slender tube which aimed downward towards a beaker set over a controlled pyre. Gently boiling liquid within seemed to be adding to the unusual odors within the room. The only time the air stirred... was when she rushed in to check it.

She kneels down, shedding her cloak to the floor to surround her. A few adjustments on the distillation device and her hands begin to wave to and fro, her eyes glaze over as the spell spills from barely parted lips:

Deep into gravel, down past the stone,
Find seeping water, just let flow..

In between crevices and dead rock,
Lies the Bounty, bound, tied & locked.

Smoke will rise, steamed mist will drop.
Melt away stone, to reveal the top.

She gingerly removes the beaker from the device, holding the warm glass by the top of the vial. Standing up, she walks over to the wall where it seems a corner of an object barely protrudes from the stone wall. Leaning down, she delicately pours some of the liquid around the sturdy-looking chest in a circular manner Steam begins to rise, the odors begin to overpower the senses and settles into a rolling boil around the exposed corner of the object.

Returning to the table, she set the beaker back into the apparatus and sits down. Watching the bubbles gently melt the stone around the chest had her complete attention. She paid no mind to her quilled hand, which had found her journal and was scribbling notes in several different languages.

"Time, it'll take, unsure how much. This has to work. The alternatives are too ... dangerous. I'll need to be vigilant tho, these Caverns are so old ...."

[-Lacie-]

The waters of the Unknown managed to calm her mind to a trance-like state. Calmed, she was able to refocus on the goal at hand, letting the distractions of the City fall to the ground. Her wolfen-hide cloak dropped from her shoulders with a touch of a finger, seeming to curl around her feet.

"What was truly happening within the confines of the City? Do I ~truly~ want to know? Crap...." she blinked and looked around to make certain noone had heard her talk to herself. "They'll really think I've lost it if'n they hear me talk to meself!" Her hands wring a bit, but her fingers don't yet realize one of her rings is missing from a finger.

She sits down, opens her journal, and with the quill from her hair touching a fresh page, her eyes close...

Much was grown, so long ago
Seeds were planted, reason unknown.

And now we reap what has been sown,
A generation next, unique of our own.

Blame be moot, cuz they've taken hold,
Spread limb, deep roots & buried the old.

For given time, they will so bloom,
Spreading seeds o'er our humble tomb.

Then new again, this all will be....
For every curious eye.... to See.

She leans against the wall she'd nested up against and opens her eyes slowly. The Shadow danced slowly as if to music only heard by the two of them. Her journal slips back into her bag. As she stands, the fine wolfen leather cloak rises, curling around her shoulders of its own accord. "Time to check m'experiments..."

~Lacie~

[-Lacie-]

She tripped and nearly fell over two Chaos Well and a Chakram on her way in. Mumbling about ~somone's~ mess, knowing it was her own, seemed to show the disjointedness of her thoughts.

"Bought n-paid for, fair and square. I can do as I like", she mumbled as she looked to the left wall of the Crypt, seeing the corner of the chest protruding from it a lot more than her last check of it. She drops to the steps and tosses her pack, journal already in hand with the quill finding the other.

But then there comes ... The Month of Moon.
Creeps up upon us one way or nuther.
Take a deep breath, it's coming... real soon.
Them ole'Souls come a hauntin' eac'other.

Beware the Souls which choose to Dream.
They be much more... than they seem.

For when the Harvest Moon rises high,
Spirits of Dreamers rise up in the nigh'.

The Journal snaps shut sharply and abruptly, nearly pinching her pinkie. A low growl escapes her lips as one brow raises at the Journal's behavior. "Aye, I know ye know.... hush!" and stuffs the Journal back into her pack. A dark twinkle shines in her eyes as she touches the Emerald on the chest and nods once.

[-Lacie-]

She spent hours pouring fresh water over the outside of the Guild Hall, hoping to stop the growth of the crack. It seem to stabilize for the time being. When she went to check on it the last time, she'd found a weathered scroll and an odd Gem.

"Tacking up a note should keep the lookie-loos away", she muttered as she finished tacking the contents of the scroll in the Archives. "Besides, I can get into it easier on the other side."

Her journal fell from her pack, landing with a fresh page begging for the rest of the spel....riddle to be written into existence. The Moon hung low in the sky when her fingers found the quill in her hair.

A murky swirl of black smoke begins to emanate from the slight crack in Starlight Cavern, drifting out the portal towards the Basin's Sewers.

To Dream be to let one's mind so drift,
But Dreams so change and oh, so swift.

She shines on brightly, if only half.
Completed if only upon his behalf.

Who are they? Where are they from?
What're they doing here? Why have they come?

Full the Harvest Moon may win,
To aid a bit, certainly, can't be a sin.

Her eyes twinkle as the air in the Crypt seems to stir for no apparent reason.

"I do hope these old Caverns can handle the stress and vibrations. Perhaps I should put up signs?"

She adds a post script to the page, making note about the signs.

~Lacie~

[-Lacie-]

It looked easy enough. Just grab onto the box, steady the stance and ....

The small jeweled box wiggled free from its stone hiding place. She and the box flung from the wall with more force than it should have been. She was thrown one way, the box another. When it hit the stone ground, the explosion caused the box to completely disintegrate, showering the stone floor with bits of colored dust.

She must have hit her head because it was several minutes before she sat up. Looking over at the wall, she realized the weight of the rock forced stones into every crevice, almost as if it healed itself.

Journal Entry

Good News: The box discovered a while back has been extracted from the wall.
Bad News: The solution to loosen the stones was too strong and destroyed the box.

Conclusion: There are objects hidden in the Caves, which proves the premise. The Kabal will continue on this path of action.

~fin~

~Lacie~
Screchethan Kabal