reading_rainstorm | Stephanie's Heart: The Archive

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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From:

reading_rainstorm

"You'll have to do some of the ritual to see it. You're a smart dragon. I'm sure you can figure it out."

The sphinx goes to the corner of the room watching Falin with a smug look on her face.

From:

dragonindungeon

[ . . . considers the ritual again. Is there a way to complete it that would be apparent to Falin, and in particular, a safer method? ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

Falin would not need to use the blood ink for the desired effect. However, there is only so much you can do to make summoning a fae lord more safe.

From:

dragonindungeon

[ ... checks if it's possible for her to add more restrictions around the summoning... if STAR has taught her anything, it's to cover all bases when dealing with fae. ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

You could! You could make it easier to dismiss the summoning. It seems Stephanie didn't think that far ahead.

For an exorcist, it would be a trivial addition to make to her summoning spell.

From:

dragonindungeon

[ Done and done. Time to summon some fae! ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

You cast the summoning spell as you would have done it and a vision of a memory starts to play before you.

Stephanie stands rigid, sweat beading at her brow and an inhumanly tall and mint green skinned woman stands in the ritual circles that speaks to her with a smug tone.

"That was wrong again mortal. What should I take from you this time? How about...your warmth."

"Fine it is yours. My turn...

Eight brilliant scholars take their chairs;
I pray you, please observe them.
A steward's seat looks down on theirs
That he might better serve them. "

"...A place setting? Shining cuttlery and a plate?"

"Wrong. It is a menorah. Eight candles that are lit by a center one placed above the rest."

"Fine take the last mortal as your prize. We continue."

"Actually, since I have beaten you thrice, and you only twice. That's game. Best of three."

"What? I never agreed to-"

"You didn't I was the one who set the terms of the game though, and it remains my right to. The game is done."

"If you think you have gotten away with this disgrace mortal-"

Stephanie takes out a balled up rag and tosses it at one of the sigils, smudging it and breaking the spell. The woman in the circle disappears. Stephanie collapses to her knees and shivers.

From:

dragonindungeon

[ Goes to Stephanie, palms open and radiating warmth - if she can feel it. ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

She looks up at you sadly and shakes her head.

The memory Stephanie dissipates and the card Death is left where she was..

From:

dragonindungeon

[ Picks up the card instead then. Vibing with it as well. ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

Death is a card not actually about literal death, but radical change. Transformation. A transition from one state of being to another. It points you to the diorama hall, you see...a map.

From:

dragonindungeon

[ That makes total sense. But Falin isn't done in this hall. She has one last door to go through. ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

You go through it and find the Sun House shrine room. Someone is tucked comfortably into the four mattress high bed, loom, spinning wheel are all exactly where they ought to be. There's something else here as well though, one of the bookshelves from the reading room is along the wall and there's a chair from the reading room as well. Sitting in the chair is...Stephanie? No, another wooden reproduction of Stephanie sits reading a book, unlike the other wooden people you've seen so far this one isn't self animated though, she seems to be puppeted by a figure made of pitch black smoke eyes with large black pupils. The figure and the puppet look up at you at the same time. She speaks with a soft, whispery voice.

“Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting visitors...”

From:

dragonindungeon

Hello.

Is that... Rowan?

From:

reading_rainstorm

The Rowanie puppet nods.

"Are you enjoying...the library, Falin?"

From:

dragonindungeon

I have, the tarot cards have been interesting to learn about.

From:

reading_rainstorm

"They are quite interesting, aren't they?

Stephanie is very fond of them. Have you found many already?"

From:

dragonindungeon

A few. I'm still looking.

From:

reading_rainstorm

"What have you gotten so far?...Can I see?"

From:

dragonindungeon

Okay.

[ Extends her hand with all the cards she's collected thus far! ]

From:

reading_rainstorm

"...you're only missing two! Lovers and the Emperor...You could go to her now though."

She taps her chin a moment.

"I think the Stephanie was powering the map diorama with the Lovers...last I checked it wasn't working though."