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.

Comments

[owlimony]

[takes the cards automatically, but for sooooome reason he winces at the sight of the Magician card, letting out a low trill. wilting even more at the Tower]

. . . oh. I see. Yes, yes of course . . . I should start there, then? The office?

[reading_rainstorm]

"You'll have to find the side entrance for it. The main entrance is through the Hall of Fate which will take more of the cards like that one-" Pointing to The Tower "to open. I wish I knew where shekept the side entrance to tell you, but...she doesn't keep us librarians in the loop in that way."

[owlimony]

Oh . . . no matter . . . . . I rather expected that . . .

. . .

[looks around helplessly. then drifts off to look at some of those loose books and papers to just. tidy up?]

[reading_rainstorm]

The loose pages seem to be from the journal Stephanie keeps around Tributary. Notes on goings on pertaining to projects she is busying herself with.

"Dad's notes from magic class have been indispensable, without them I wouldn't have been able to make the alterations to the magic flame spell I was able to demonstrate for Rowan. I will have to thank him soon for all he does for me. I should also see if I can't get his input on the silence candle. Naoki's socks are all very well and good, but if I can get the candles to work they would be an easier to produce, if a less permanent solution. Good for any new arrivals. Who have quickly fallen head over heels...I should redouble my efforts if only for Viktor and Jayce."

The books here are Curses and Curse Breaking, Myth and History of the Sphinx, Transformation of Body and Mind, Effects of Vampirism, Storm Calling and other Weathermagic, Gods of the Pathfinder, Wayfarer and Traveler, Telepathy and other Psychic Phenomenon.The book on the Sphinx seems to have something sticking out of it, a card used as a bookmark, perhaps.

[owlimony]

[hesitates, then reaches for that, carefully opening to the bookmarked page]

[reading_rainstorm]

The marker in the book is a tarot card, The Hermit. The page marked by it has a highlighted section about the differences between how sphinxes were depicted in the ancient world, the androsphinx being a male protective figure in Egypt and the gynosphinx being a malevolent figure in Greece.

"According to the men who are attributed for recording the canonical myths of Greece, the gynosphinx is a daughter of one of the mothers of monsters in their pantheon. A demon of bad fortune, and described as having gore and rotting flesh in its teeth and talons."

The page continues with information on sphinxes and sphinx like figures of cultures outside the mediteranean.

[owlimony]

[he keeps the card, fingers running along the pages briefly, thoughtful. ok Stolas, you're having big feelings but your girl needs you to get your shit together.]

[where else is there to look, presently? he goes to investigate the purple cloth first.]

[reading_rainstorm]

A purple velvet cloth sits on the table beside the Hall of Fate with six candles placed around it. As you get nearer to it, two of the candles start to smoke. You notice two sconces above the Hall of Fate start to smoke as well.

Following a spiral staircase upwards you may go to the Remembered Rooms or the Diorama Hall.

[owlimony]

[panicked hoot, trying to wave the smoke away]

W-wait, don't do that—!!

[reading_rainstorm]

The smoke seems to sense your discomfort and curls away from you, dissipating into the air. It has the scent of lemon balm.