Stephanie's Heart: The Archive

[reading_rainstorm]

In your dreams you are in a thick and foggy forest. It could be mistaken for the woods around Tributary if you don’t know your plants. You are on a trail leading into a clearing, in the center of which is a simple, concrete structure with a single door. A chaos star has been spray painted on it with a stencil.

You approach the structure. Looking over your shoulder you see a large shape lurking in the fog, obscured by the foliage. Two shining Feline eyes peer at you from the brush. You feel your heart rate spike as you turn the knob and find an old fashioned elevator tucked neatly inside with an accordion grate standing between you and the ornate, gilded interior. It creaks open as the presence behind you steps into the clearing. It is a sphinx, an eight foot tall lioness with the face of a woman and the large brown wings of an eagle on her back . The feminine face and olive skin tone of a Greek woman from antiquity smiles as she readies herself to to pounce, the wings on her back stretching and give a few readying flaps.You back into the elevator and close the gate with shaking hands as the sphinx leaps at the elevator. Her claws twisting and shearing the metal of the grate slowly, but she is too late. The elevator springs to life and you descend.

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A small light above flickers on as it illuminates your view outside the exposed elevator as you sink into the concrete structure. You descend for a few moments before an opening in the concrete gives you the view of an observation deck on a hill, looking down on the sprawling suburbs and campus of a college town. The elevator continues downward. The concrete gives way to old, dusty marble as you continue sinking. You see a vast maze stretch far and away that gets nearer and nearer. This has to be it, right? Your destination? No. You plunge further down, past the walls of the maze and the marble is replaced again by well polished wood. Beautiful stained mahogany rises past you as your descent finally starts to slow. You are greeted by another grate that creaks open for you. Entreating you to enter.

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[dragonindungeon]

[ What a strange feeling, especially for an experienced healer like Falin is. She swallows it down and gently pushes the curtain aside. ]

[reading_rainstorm]

Laying in the bed is a young woman with strawberry blonde hair. She looks sad and angry, tears well up in her eyes. She turns to look past you as a younger Stephanie steps into the room, no sphinx eyes and for once she isn't dressed in her cloak. She wears a black blouse with an olive skirt.

"Finally got the courage to face me hm?"

"The courage!? I didn't even know you were here! I haven't heard from you in a week, I was worried Ava."

"You made your worries quite clear before I left, Grim." Stephanie cringes as Ava uses that name for her. Ava's frown burrows into Stephanie. "Your little superstition spooked you away from a trip we had planned for weeks!"

"Superstition? You know- You've seen my magic! You know the things I can do."

"You let cards ruin a trip with my family."

"I told you I thought it would be dangerous, and-"

"AND YOU WERE RIGHT? Is that what you were about to say Stephanie? Oh great, your predictions came true and the doctors tell me I'm going to walk with a limp forever. So what, I should have listened to you and just stayed home with you? Holed up like a pair of hikikomori?"

"That's not what I-" The knot in your gut turns. You didn't deserve this. All this spite Ava was throwing at you, no. At Stephanie. That fear turns into anger. "You're going to call all this superstition after all you've seen. After all the luck charms that got you straight A's."

"Doubling down on the creepy girl act. Very nice Steph."

"You think I want people to call me creepy!? You think I want their attention? I sure know you do. That's why you started dating me, right? To look like the nice girl deigning to date the freak" Tears prick at the corner of your eyes. You're crying. Ava points to the door and tosses a card at Stephanie. It slides to your feet.

"GET OUT. Take your stupid luck charm with you. We're done Steph."

[dragonindungeon]

[ Holds her breath. Something about this memory... it hits Falin deep. Reminds her of how the adult villagers bullied her in the past, when she came into her own magic.

After a moment, she picks up the card gingerly. ]

[reading_rainstorm]

Strength. A woman opening the jaws of a lion. Seems a bit ironic here, doesn't it?

[dragonindungeon]

[ Yet appropriate. Falin vibes with the card. Spiritually. ]

[reading_rainstorm]

It vibes back. Giving you a sense of protection and willpower. You feel like you could take on anything...even whatever is behind the shabby door. Or maybe you should stand guard outside the Sun House door to protect what's inside.

[dragonindungeon]

[ DECISIONS DECISIONS. Ultimately going to brave the shabby door, better to deal with any issues directly. ]

[reading_rainstorm]

Going back into the hallway the man outside simply nods at you as you go to the next door in your exploration.

This door is a little bit of a squeeze for you but once through it you find yourself inside of a ruined cabin. There are three college age humans around the room. Moss grows on their limbs. Vines twist around their bodies, creeping from inside a stone circle in the center of the room. Behind the circle there's an altar built of discarded furniture. Scrawled pages of yellowing notebook paper are stapled to it all over. There's an open bag that looks to have some implements for a spell prepared.

[dragonindungeon]

[ Examines the whole set up! Knowing magic, what can Falin find? ]

[reading_rainstorm]

Inks! Black and red both handmade, the red one has extra mana coming off of it...Stephanie wouldn't put her blood into her inks right? Brushes, hand made as well...that's definitely Stephanie's hair used to make these. Jars of iron and silver dust. A lighter and some documents written in Stephanie's hand writing...half of them are in Old English, the other is a language you don't recognize but the memory tells you is Latin.

[dragonindungeon]

[ WORRYING MAGIC. GOT IT. Falin turns to the college kids, checking over them too and seeing if she'd be able to reverse the spell. ]

[reading_rainstorm]

They are all in a stable but comatose state. The Vines and moss seem to be trying to make them less human bit by bit. Infecting them with unreality. Whatever is doing this is coming from inside the faerie circle.

[dragonindungeon]

[ ... pokes the fairy circle with some mana ]

[reading_rainstorm]

It shimmers and ripples, for a moment it's like the reality inside of it is a curtain that could be parted.

"Careful there."

Stephanie's voice calls from the window behind you.

[dragonindungeon]

?

[ turns towards her voice! ]

[reading_rainstorm]

Watching you with a grin through a busted out window is Stephanie's face on a sphinx.

"Just cuz it's a memory doesn't mean it isn't dangerous to mess with the fae."

[dragonindungeon]

It's related to faeries?

[ clearly curious! ]

[reading_rainstorm]

The sphinx nods enthusiastically.

"That's a faerie circle. Legend says they are portals to the faerie realm and stepping into one is a good way to get yourself spirited away by them."

[dragonindungeon]

Ooh!

[ looks back. seems... to be debating with herself??? ]

[reading_rainstorm]

In a tone that is clearly judging Falin:

"...What are you thinking?"

[dragonindungeon]

It'd be neat to visit, but this is also a dream . . . but maybe that makes it safer to go . . .

[reading_rainstorm]

"...that sounds like a bad idea, loathe as I am to admit. Stupid geas..."

[dragonindungeon]

Does it? That's too bad.

[ truly looks sad about it, until the rest of what Steph says registers ]

. . . wait, um. What geas?

[reading_rainstorm]

"Tell no lies. Keep no secrets. Our promise is our bond.

Keeping to these tenets fuels our magic."

[dragonindungeon]

That sounds difficult for a fairy.