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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[reading_rainstorm]

The next diorama is the large glass case. It shrinks to gnomish hight to give you an adequate view.

In the case is a large and impeccably detailed diorama of Tributary. All of its locations and cottages are lovingly carved from wood. Its many inhabitants are represented by wooden miniatures in the places they often can be found or by the houses in which they reside. There are two buttons on the diorama one of a sun with a needle and thread and one with a moon and a sword.

[morel_support]

[Oh, cute! Much is absolutely not immune to the urge to immediately look for himself.]

[reading_rainstorm]

The little Much figure is meditating in the forest. There is one of many Stephanie figures in the diorama sitting against a tree nearby writing in her journal

[morel_support]

[He smiles fondly. It's a nice way to be remembered.

Let's try pushing the sun button.]

[reading_rainstorm]

All the figures spin in place and thin threads are revealed as the light changes. A bright yellow one between you and Stephanie, along with yellow ones going to Lark and Naoki. The one to Nartanwe is yellow...or is it gold? Hard to tell.

[morel_support]

[If it's accurate to what the actual threads would be, it's gold; he remembers enough now to recall he's known that elf for two centuries and put the flesh back on their bones.

What about the moon button, then?]

[reading_rainstorm]

More accurate to how Stephanie sees the relationship. She can't tell if Nartanwe is just a very close colleague to Much or if there's something beyond that.

Pressing the moon button makes figures all shake for a moment...but nothing happens. There is a sound of grinding machinery below the display.

[morel_support]

[Fair enough.

Also that's a worrying sound... Is there any kind of access hatch?]

[reading_rainstorm]

Below the diorama is a little sliding door that reveals the inner workings of the thing. Gears and spools of thread that connect irrationally. In a little box filled with soft fabric you can see some figures have been placed, people who have stayed at Tributary but are no longer there, tucked safely away.

The source of the problem seems to be a web of rose gold thread caught up in gears. In the web is a figure of Harriet and The Lovers card.

[morel_support]

Ah. I see.

[Much sets about trying to work the rose-gold thread out of the gears, cautious and hesitant and certain that a slip of the hand will break the mechanism irreparably. He can't help thinking, with a pang of his own heartache, that his wife would easily make sense of this.

When he finally works the tangle loose, he adds the card to his growing pile - no need to ask what this one signifies - and holds the figure of Harriet in the palm of his hand for a moment.]

Yeah... I miss her too.

[reading_rainstorm]

There is a pang of longing in response to your words.

"Did you get that thing fixed? I swear it's been busted almost as long as it's been around."

[morel_support]

I think it's fixed for now... I can't be sure it won't jam again later. Riot's - Harriet's - thread was caught in the gears. Keeping the unused figures and threads in the same case as the mechanism might not be the best move...

[Still, he doesn't have an immediate solution, so he just gives the little wooden wolpertinger an affectionate little skritch between the horns and puts her gently in the box with the other figures.]

[reading_rainstorm]

You feel something like a sigh of relief. She'll be safe there.

[morel_support]

[Alright, he'll close up the case again, then. And give the moon button another try.]

[reading_rainstorm]

The diorama springs to life, all but a handful of figures go to their respective homes as the light over the diorama changes again to a silvery light shining down on the clearing. The cottages Stephanie has been in open up to show their residents inside, with tiny warm lights illuminating their interiors.

A set of figures gather in the clearing, and a few of the figures Much saw in the box, including the Riot and Jhaez are brought up for the clearing. A soft song plays from a speaker as the Stephanie figure spins and moves about the clearing, as if performing a dance. Stephanie's voice, though one deeper and raspier than the one you know fills your head.

"Day 4 Cont. Is this too much to hope for? Not only actually doing magic myself but...making My body my own? Or...more my own. I can't dismiss the work my forgotten self has made to make this body livable even if she also made it uncomfortable in stranger ways than garden variety dysphoria. It is hard to believe I have been here for under a week and the people here are already doing so much for me. I hope in due time I am able to repay the favor. I'm being shown wonders beyond belief as though they are common occurrences, I must endeavor to give as much as myself to this community as they have given to me."

[morel_support]

[He watches the reenacted changedance for a long moment, resting a hand lightly against the glass. (He remembers the night - presumably tiny wooden Much is among the assembled.)]

I'm glad we we've been able to help. We're an odd sort of community, but you're one of us.

[reading_rainstorm]

The Much figure is there! You are filled with a sense of gratitude. You have four cards
more than enough for the Hall of Fate.

[morel_support]

[He draws back as the little automated scene comes to a close.]

Well, I should take these cards back downstairs. Nice meeting you, Ava.

[reading_rainstorm]

"You too, prof."

Going downstairs your path naturally takes you by the table with the velvet cloth and the six candles by the Hall of Fate. Four of the candles start to smoke as you approach, the smoke swirling down to the cloth to mark a square.

If you place any cards here, what order do you place them in?

[morel_support]

[This is well outside his area of expertise - he'll just put them down in the order he found or received them. Tower, Hermit, Emperor, Lovers.]

[reading_rainstorm]

The doors open allowiing you to finally enter. The Hall of Fate looks to be be floored and papered entirely with pages upon pages upon pages of Stephanie's journals. Every inch of the place is covered with her hand writing. There are three stone doors along the walls of the corridor. Each bearing the image of the tarot cards you found, in the order you placed them. At the end of the hall is a final stone door emblazoned with the image of The High Priestess

[morel_support]

[He'll check out the hermit door.]

[reading_rainstorm]

Opening the Hermit door you find yourself in the office of a college. The books in the bookcases are all on mythology and religion. The nameplate on the door reads 'Dr. Xavier Sledge.' Stephanie is sitting in her cloak in a chair across from the desk, looking anxious and twiddling her thumbs.

[morel_support]

[He lets himself in and closes the door behind him.]

Hey, Stephanie. Am I interrupting something?

[reading_rainstorm]

Stephanie's head snaps to you. She still looks rather nervous.

"Heh. Funny you should pop up in this one. I'm about to-"

A man in business casual with a dark bushy beard streaked with white strides past you as if you aren't there at all.

"Stephanie! Sorry for running a bit late. Your e-mail said you needed to discuss your progress in the masters program?"

"Y-yeah, Dr. Sledge...I have been very stressed about it and I've been thinking...I think I need to drop out."