[IC] Botanist And Bards

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

"You'll be fine by the end of the day." Charlotte commented. "The tonic I gave you was distilled with Nature Essence from the trees and plants. Considering your likeness to them, I figure it would help you heal faster. In theory." Not that it mattered right now. It seemed to be doing its job at least so there was nothing much else to say on that matter. "But tomorrow is fine then. I need to make sure these do not become...overdone. That wouldn't be very...good."

[Roleplayer001]

The three of them had been walking for a couple of hours as the sun hung midmorning in the sky overlooking the world like some sort of sentinel. The weather was clear: the friends had told Caitriona that this would be the case in a conversation the previous night. The little ones weren't always right but their instincts were uninterrupted by the processes that named ones seemed to possess. Soon enough the trees began to clear away as the three continued to walk.

Eventually Aislinn and Cait looked at eachother and nodded, stopping in their tracks as they took a look back towards Charlotte as if they were a single unit. It would be apparent to the black haired woman that Cait wasn't being her usual jovial self but had rather adopted the attitude of someone marching towards an uncomfortable but inevitable fate. For a few seconds the two seemed to think before the older one spoke to Charlotte. "Charlotte ... if the great mothers ask you to go into the sensation, what do you plan on saying?" It was important to know what the other woman had for plans in this regard.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Instead of the white dress Cait and Aislinn had provided her, Charlotte had decided to wear her normal attire. That is, what she was more used to wearing. She decided she'd rather look more like herself for this meeting instead of appearing more native. Whether the 'Great Mothers' would approve or not, was up to them, but she had no intentions of disrobing or anything like that. Not unless needed. Plus, just in case something happened she could carry a few things she could protect herself with. Not that she was expecting a confrontation - but as an Alchemist, one had to always be prepared for scenarios that one couldn't necessarily predict.

When the two natives turned to address her, Charlotte frowned.

"If, by sensation you mean the smoke that lets one converse with animals, then I will do what I must." She replied. "The first time was merely a shock, but now that I am a bit more accustomed to the idea, I doubt I will react badly. The secondhand effects of a slower thought process will be tolerable, so long as no one tries anything."

[Roleplayer001]

The native nodded as Charlotte responded. They would be visiting the Great Mothers either way but it was comforting to know the black haired girl would not be rejecting that part of their culture. There was one final thing the girl felt was necessary to say. "Also do not try to deceive them - they can see through that veil with ease and look into the truth. It is better to not speak at all if you wish for something to remain hidden."

Before the sun set the group could see a small cave entrance as they approached it - unlike how the one at their current home was refined and prepared this one was still in the appearance of it's natural state. Caitriona entered along with Aislinn into a familiar sight, but Charlotte would likely be surprised by how much light there was on the inside. The ceiling had a faint pink glow to it that seemed to spread throughout the passageway as small hairs were stuck to eachother and pasted to the ceiling.

It gradually widened through some other means as the group seemed to enter a common area that was filled with people like Aislinn and Caitriona - some had painted tattoos like Aislinn, others had clean skin like Cait. Others had darker or lighter hair as appropriate for mating season with a few even being unclaimed as they looked at the others like themselves nervously in an attempt to assert dominance.

Almost all of them immediately stared at the slightly hunched over image of Charlotte for a short time, then at each other, then scattered as they went down various other tunnels. One or two seemed entirely unaware of the circumstances as they looked at the others and lagged behind by ten or so seconds.

Aislinn looked over towards Cait nervously who laughed awkwardly at the situation. "Seems that the rumors of your greatness precede you, Charlotte."

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

"Lying is not something I intend on doing, but if I am uncomfortable answering something then they should respect that." Charlotte replied with a small huff. Truthfully, she didn't think there would be anything such as that happening...but one could never be sure. She had no intention of hiding anything at least, but she didn't want to get into details of what exactly she was doing, either. They were not involved in her problems nor would they likely understand, and getting them overly involved would only serve to complicate matters.

The cave the trio eventually found themselves in was something of a wonder to Charlotte. Certainly she had seen a few of the mountain peoples caves that they lived in, but this was beyond what they could do. Especially the hair on the ceiling, giving it a natural glow unlike her artificial lighting with stones and fire. Curious. Oh the things she'd like to study, note, and learn of the caves and the people. She'd love to spend more time and simply learn. That was her duty as an alchemist, after all. Learning as much as she could about the world.

But she didn't have the time, not when she was possibly finally one step closer to her goals.

"Easier that way." Charlotte replied with a grunt. She didn't mind it, really. She wasn't here to socialize after all.

[Roleplayer001]

Caitriona could see a little of the innate curiosity in her friend's voice and even the slight disappointment in her expression. The native let out a side but decided to let the foreigner try to hide their emotions completely if they wished to. After a confirming glance from a nervous looking Aislinn the three continued further into the tunnel. A few twists and turns later the three of them arrived at an extended tunnel where the light grew brighter as they continued down the corridor. At the end of it were strips of cloth to give privacy to those within and some fog seeming to billow out between the fine strands as they shifted slightly.

"It ... it seems they have been expecting us ..." Charlotte would clearly see the native begin to sweat nervously as Aislinn stopped in her tracks. At a glance from Cait Aislinn shook her head to suggest that she was not intended to enter the room. A quick glance at Charlotte suggested that she hadn't received any different instructions yet so Cait proceeded to lead her into the chamber with the strands of cloth billowing behind them.

Charlotte would likely be confused as they entered a forest. In front of them were three stones shaped for people to sit on with some sort of ritualistic circle made of carved stone sitting before them. A fog hung inches over the blades of grass as they seemed to shine with some sort of Ethereal light. Various trees reached out towards the heavens as a blown up version of the night sky seemed to move around, shifting between constellations that could be grabbed if someone could jump ten feet towards the stars.

No one was there, but shadows seemed to shift at the edges of the area as if watching them. The color each bit of light held shifted hue as they approached and drifted away curiously. Cait looked towards Charlotte expectantly as she lowered herself into a sitting position on the circle with an encouraging smile on her face.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

The rest of the walk continued much as Charlotte expected. In silence, for the most part. Charlotte wasn't in a very talkative mood anyways, though she arguably never was in much of one. What came next though, was easily surprising to the alchemist. A forest? In a cave? They were still in a cave, right? How could plants survive with no sunlight? Artificial light? Maybe they didn't need light at all, and were some new form of plant she hadn't seen before. Not to mention the ceiling! Those definitely weren't stars. Some sort of glow bug, maybe? They had those in Asrtil. She tried to contain visible excitement, but failed somewhat as she couldn't resist staring at the ceiling as she walked over to Cait.

In all, this was very curious.

"I'll spare my curiosity for later..." She replied, taking a seat next to the native. All this mysticism seemed a bit excessive, to be honest though, but she'd remain silent. If this was their way of doing things, she had no place to try and change that.

[Roleplayer001]

Cait nodded over towards Charlotte. That was better than wasting the Great Mother's time - though in truth this sort of power was beyond the knowledge of the bard herself. For a few seconds the girl looked around nervously towards the shadows as they suddenly stopped moving in their constantly shifting directions and almost hopped onto the three rocks. For a few seconds they assumed an amorphous form but they gradually coalesced into three older people of Cait's sort - but their hair seemed without length as the ends of it turned into some sort of ethereal matter towards the end that shifted on it's own.

The one in the center looked towards their audience - emerald eyes examining the two figures in front of her as if ensuring they were an old friend. A friendly smile crossed her face a second later as she gazed towards Charlotte. The black haired woman would hear a voice fill her mind as the face did not shift except to breathe.

"It has been a while since a child of the Frozen Tower arrived to this land - we were not sure if you still knew of our existence. What brings you here in truth?"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Well, at least they were getting right to things.

As somewhat put off by the...mental speaking as Charlotte was, she couldn't let herself be intimidated or seem too impressed outwardly. that would be a bad idea, all things considered. She had to at least appear calm and collected. Loosing her cool would lose whatever credibility she would have here. So instead, she'd simply reply.

"In truth," Charlotte replied with an even tone as she looked up towards the figures speaking. "Most probably do not...any records of this place have long been buried. I would imagine that is good for you." Otherwise, she didn't see those in the tower letting such...resources go to waste. "It wasn't too hard finding if one knew where to look, though..." She continued, a small scoff. "But as for why I am here...I think that answer is obvious. You seem to know a number of things already, so why don't you just go ahead and tell me where I can find the ancient civilization that was once built here?"

[Roleplayer001]

The older person of Cait's type looked onwards. "The ancient civilization? Many years have passed since the creation of this world and more than one group of people has thought themselves to reign over that forever which they cannot possess for even a flicker of a moment." It was a somewhat roundabout way for the Great Mothers to speak ... but as the stars flickered overhead it was apparent they expected for Charlotte to understand.

But the woman in the center put a kinder smile on her face as she continued. "We know much, but anyone who believes to more know than they do not knows nothing. Scholars of far away lands claim such things when they have not even hear their friends speak. So tell us what you seek, young kitten." The woman seemed to observe Charlotte's markings with a small chuckle.

Throughout the entire conversation Caitirona simply looked towards Charlotte confused. She was unable to speak to the Great Mothers - but what language was her companion speaking? Did she even realize she had stopped speaking the tongue of this land and returned to her old one? The native was starting to look a little nervous since she had no idea what was going on and she couldn't direct Charlotte in case things started going badly.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Charlotte's eyes narrowed. It was possible this was a test of some sort. Which meant there was a correct answer she could give to achieve the best possible result she wanted, as well as an answer that would give her the least desirable answer. She could be upfront and truthful with them, but in her experience that didn't work so well when trying to pry answers out of uppity Astril scholars. Would these great mothers be any different? She had no logical reason to assume that they would be, but...she was hesitant.

"I seek something that ancient civilization created." Charlotte replied. She wasn't being secretive out of ill will, not at all. She just didn't trust these Great Mothers. They gave her no reason too as of yet, and the way they were going about all of this wasn't helping. Hiding behind smoke and mirrors and some...whatever this was...was simply absurd. "I have no desire to rule or claim anything, such a notion is foolish. I simply want a tool they created."

Throughout the conversation she realized she was no longer speaking their native tongue, but rather, the one she had been most familiar with. It had been a few months since she had spoken with it, so she didn't quite realize at first that she was. It brought multiple questions to her head, but ultimately it was fine. It was better this way. More privacy and less of a tendency for Cait and Aislinn to get involved.

"It is known as the Philosophers Stone, in ancient texts where I am from." She paused for a moment before continuing. "...supposedly it can grant one supernatural abilities over the latent energies and essences of the world, and after living here for a few months I am convinced it is here."

She kept her tone respectful, but firm and serious. She wanted this to be over with.

[Roleplayer001]

The great mother in the right raised her eyebrow then turned her head over to the others ... they nodded simultaneously, and soon enough the figure on the right shifted into a sort of shadow and darted away from the group. Ten seconds past before suddenly the figure coalesced once more with a small package in her hands. Her thin, wiry fingers pulled the package open and revealed the contents within.

A ... stone of sorts. It seemed to almost be sweating off some sort of thick liquid, but the liquid it gave off was shinning as if it ignored it's local surroundings and chose to act as it wished. At some mental command the liquid surrounding the blue stone turned into leaves before a magical wind from the leftmost sister blew them away much to the annoyance of the rightmost one as she gave the leftmost one a hostile glare. A couple of seconds past for the small rock before the sweat started to drip again. The older woman rewrapped it in the cloth likely cutting off Charlotte's line of sight to it.

"One of the land of snow, one could say the supernatural does not exist at all ... but I must kindly agree that some things are strange." A stone that could make something from nothing was likely one of them. The next words from the great mother were much more jovial and friendly. "Although perhaps a smart man constructed this, I'm not exactly sure what it has to do with philosophy. Tell me, is this what you seek?"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

As soon as the stone was revealed, the young alchemist practically leapt out of her seat. Could it be so easy? Her heart beat in her chest as she tried to keep her eagerness and anticipation under control. Could it end, just like this? There was always some sort of catch to these sorts of things, wasn't there? Stars, she hoped it was this easy - but...it was awfully small, wasn't it? The one in the texts she read was a lot bigger than this, wasn't it?

"I...can't say." Charlotte said, cautiously wary of both the stone and the Great Mothers. "The one I read about would have had to have been bigger. Large enough for a city to be able to use." She wanted it, she really did. She wanted to get her hands on it, but she doubted the Great Mothers would simply let her have it. "...but I doubt you'd be willing to let me have it."

[Roleplayer001]

"Perhaps the stone shrunk in size, or was that size to begin with. I cannot say. Maybe more than one was created. Then you would perhaps still have a search on hand. While the liquid can transform into whatever you desire be aware that it is limited to what it has currently sweated out." The pouch was then tossed towards Charlotte with almost a disdain for the contents within. "We suspect that you would try to steal it from us anyways if we denied you, Child of Ice. Your promise would likely demand that. We ask you travel with Caitriona as Worldsinger in return - we foresaw your arrival some three years ago - and we are not sure you will be required to return to our land. So we gift you this now and hope for your aid in turn."

"But first we ask that you knock your friend out. Aislinn needs to work her own sort of magic on your friend to aid her survival." The great mother's expression was unwavering and nearly emotionless in the way it appeared to Charlotte, but the alchemist would likely since a bit of regret. "It would make the situation a lot less painful for her."

Cait was looking around and trying to maintain her composure as her companion seemed to be having some sort of chat with the Great Mothers. It was a little odd, but she looked surprised at how Charlotte's eyes lit upon seeing the stone that was wrapped and tossed to her unceremoniously.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

Charlotte reacted before thinking as the pouch was tossed her direction. She stood, almost leaping out of her chair to catch the pouch in her hands. How dare they treat an item such as this with irreverence!? If this was...if this was what she was looking for, even if it wasn't what she was expecting she could use it greatly! It could transform into whatever she desired. She wouldn't have to make or hunt for anything again.

As long as this was indeed, the stone...she'd...just have to study it.

Her gaze lingered on the pouch for longer than it likely should have before her attention returned to the Great mothers.

"...I will not be knocking anyone out without the need of it." Charlotte frowned, slipping the pouch into her cloak. She had to get back to the cave and study this without any interruptions whatsoever. From Cait or Aislinn. "If you are too cowardly to do it yourself, you have no right to ask me to do it, do you? I am unsure what that would even accomplish anyways." That was all she was going to say on the matter. "Now, what is a Worldsinger? I have no desire or interest in traveling the world. If this is indeed the object I seek...I will return to my home after some time of studying it." The alchemist straightened her cloak, and for the most part seemed done with the conversation.

[Roleplayer001]

The centermost Great Mother seemed to sigh as she looked towards the stars. An aged voice echoed in Charlotte's mind. "The Worldsinger ... is the appointed hero of our people. Every few generations one of our own has the talent to tackle one of the world's ancient problems that few other's should touch." It seemed as if the Great Mother thought for a moment about exactly what she should say. "Their powers are typically enhanced through our own strands and they see that where even we cannot. The previous one -her mother- died in an attempt to stop a Highstorm from crashing into a continent North of here. She succeeded, mind you."

More sweetly the woman on the right spoke. "Child of Ice, they tend to be more successful when they have others to travel with. You are free to go if you choose - the stone is of no use to us."

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

High storm? Continent to the north of here? Events Charlotte didn't have any knowledge of, nor events did she wish to concern herself with. They weren't part of why she was here at all. With a small sigh and shake of her head, Charlotte didn't need much time to think of her answer.

"Then that is for her to decide to be. If she chooses to be it, then fine. If our goals happen to coincide I will help. Otherwise, I have no desire nor obligation to help. I have my own business to attend to." The alchemist turned on her heels and started walking, heading towards the exit. "Thank you for the hospitality and the stone, but I will be leaving now."

[Roleplayer001]

"Then travel safely. Your old boat will be located about a mile south from where you left it." The greatmothers sounded a little disappointed, but Charlotte was allowed to leave the room gracefully. Cait gave the black haired woman a nervous smile, unsure of what was happening although she managed to gather enough to make a simple statement.

"Travel safely and may you have many friends." The curtains closed behind charlotte, and Aislinn waited at the end of the hallway. If Charlotte tried to reenter at the moment she would find herself unable to do so.

"Charlotte? Where is Cait?" The girl had a slightly guilty look on her face although she seemed somewhat hopeful as the black haired woman was leaving. However it did not seem like the alchemist had any intention of stopping at the moment.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Charlotte LaChance~

---

A mile south from where she left it? Please...if this was the stone she wouldn't need such a flimsy travel method. Before she left, though the alchemist gave Cait a friendly smile, and a nod though said nothing. She'd likely see her later once this was all over, wouldn't she? There was no real need for a goodbye, she wasn't leaving anytime soon. Not until she knew with what she was dealing with. As she left the cavern, she gave a brief, though not unfriendly nod to Aislinn.

"She is speaking with the Great Mothers." The alchemist replied as she continued walking. "And I have...something to test and would rather not be disturbed for awhile." Though, she wouldn't stop Aislinn if she followed.

[Roleplayer001]

Aislinn nodded towards Charlotte as she went by, seeming a little disappointed. But ... It wasn't her business after all, was it? The pinkish haired girl forced herself to give the black haired woman a smile as she entered the woods to pursue whatever studies she was involved with, and even a small wave as goodbye. After a few minutes Aislinn entered the cave herself.

Charlotte would find that their house was in the same state as when the left if she decided to return to it.