The black forest seemed to loom above Shara, yet despite that, she felt oddly at ease. She was far from home, in a place that seemed to leak magic from every pore. The journey had taken some time, and left Shara exhausted with little coin left. [i]And if I ever [/i]see[i] another horse it will be too soon.[/i] Thankfully, she had been able to sell the mount at the last village - brining a horse into a supposedly dense forest hadn't seemed wise, and the money had granted her a brief reprieve from the weeks travel. The roads had quite safe, likely due to the exorbitant number of paladins that seemed to be milling about, especially near the capital. They were both a comfort and a source of fear for an unarmed mage like Shara.

	Not yet a day past Liria however, she had seen a large company of Paladins camped beside the roads. That they were gathered in such numbers - it had seemed a massive host at the time, yet couldn't be more than a few hundred - was somewhat worrisome on its own. Shara had quickly taken alternate paths. The sight of so many had spurred her to hurry to the forest and it's promise of safety. So many Paladins couldn't possibly face all the mages of Meldinar, even if they knew where they were. And if that was their objective, certainly more force would have been used. The inquisition wasn't known to take many chances. Still, the safety of the forest would be welcome.

	Now, no longer smelling of sweat and horse, with the sun beginning to set, that safety seemed far less guaranteed as the shadows lengthened in the already dim forest, dancing eerily in her illusory lights. There were lights in the distance as well. They almost looked like eyes, and stories of will-o'-the-wisps guiding people to their doom in the dark places of the world seemed far less ridiculous. This was a magical forest, after all. Thankfully, the path Shara had been following - strange, it only seemed obvious as a path after she'd left it - lead her into a clearing, lit by elvish lanterns and housing a large tree in the center, that appeared to also be a building. Shara looked back at the path she'd taken to find it was no longer there.

[i]Amazing.[/i] She thought, looking at the dense forest she had come out of. [i]These paths must be magical. Guiding mages here and unwelcome ones...[/i] She remembered the eyes she had seen in the forest, and shuddered. [i]Anyone who isn't invited likely wouldn't make it far.[/i] The fear she had once held gradually subsided, along with the exhaustion of the trip as Shara took in the wonders of the grove. She eventually began sketching some of the wonders she saw - strange plants, which seemed unique to the forest, the elvish lights and the tree, which on closer inspection appeared to be many trees somehow grown and shaped into rooms. Little seemed to be going on at the moment, but that suited her just as well. Eventually though, tiredness set in and she took to one of the rooms in the tree. As she passed through the central chamber, she noticed an old lady, with two other men beside her, one of whom looked oddly like..but it couldn't be, and so putting the thoughts from her head, she slept.