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The group's search for answers has taken them from The Far East, to the shores of Vylbrand. Their continued research into corrupted aether leads them to investigate a reclusive "Doctor Nylor", a name given by an ailing man--Abner Funk--that had a curious and yet similar sickness as Anchor during a visit to The Salt Strand.
Things quickly go wrong when the group splits to investigate the lead on two different fronts: Nabi and Ghoa devise a plan to infiltrate a theatre posing as entertainers, while Anchor and Shael travel to Upper La Noscea to follow a lead concerning the doctor's apparent employment of ailing individuals.
Separated and without contact due to a number of troubling circumstances, multiple plans fall into action over the course of the following days--with the help of some allies and friends in the midst--all eventually converging on Doctor Nylor's residence.
Of course, no amount of planning could prepare them for what surprises lay in wait...
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Some closer-ups.
This pic took entirely too long to do. That is all.
Oh, just that and the fact I appreciate the people involved in this ongoing story of stories. It's been years actual years and that is pretty cool.
As soon as she heard the door click shut and the muffled sound of footsteps begin to fade away into the corridor beyond, Ghoa’s eyes batted right back open with the sudden pang of guilt she felt in the wake of Luri’s departure.
Part of her had wanted to tell the handmaiden what exactly her plan entailed, from the potion’s effects to how she planned to use it. After all, it seemed only fair when the other had already stuck her neck out quite far to be of assistance. But she had convinced herself that all parties involved would be safer the less they knew about what was to come. There shouldn’t be any fingers come back around to point in Luri’s direction for blame if she was just as shocked as the rest.
But perhaps that was just the more palatable way for Ghoa to digest her decision to withhold the details of her plan. No matter how helpful the other woman had been thusfar, she still knew little and less about Luri other than her desire to see her lady freed from the shackles of corruption that bound her mind. It was a noble aspiration, that.. and so it made it all the more uncomfortable to know that the goals of her plan had shifted away from simply forcing the Doctor to see how useful Nabi could be if unbound, to removing her friend from this mansion entirely. To removing that which brought Estrid peace.
Ghoa couldn’t risk divulging these details simply out of fear that Luri would balk at the change of terms.. Not that she could’ve blamed her for that. Even if getting a cure into Estrid’s hand remained amongst her long-term goals - once they were able to devise one, anyhow - she knew that if she were in Luri’s position that such a weighty ‘I.O.U.’ would leave a bitter, dreadful taste upon her tongue. Putting total faith in a stranger to deliver upon such a heavy, ambiguous promise was a lot to ask of a person. So ask it, Ghoa wouldn’t.
A sudden yawn broke her thoughts then, sending them scattering. Despite the other omissions, her fatigue Ghoa hadn’t lied about. Slowly, as she stretched out into a more comfortable position upon the couch, she let her eyes blink shut so that she could fall gently into slumber’s embrace.
Ghoa had a long day ahead of her yet, and she would be rested and ready for it.
Nabi held up the small round tablet between her fingers. It wasn’t even an ilm in length and in the darkness she sat in, she couldn’t make out any fine details nor discern any scents of its ingredients. Refined and transformed, she imagined, from whatever it was derived from. And yet, it was capable of something that rightfully scared her.
“It is a drug she was introduced to in her youth. Untraceable. It will numb you. Body and soul.”
Luri, Lady Estrid’s handmaiden, uttered those words without the blink of an eye. A matter-of-fact description of the drug’s eerie effects. What was even worse, was the dreadful reasons it was produced in the first place.
“Many times,” the pale raen admitted to being given this drug. “For all the bad things.”
How quickly Nabi’s perspective shifted. The dismay of her current circumstances and the apprehension of what may still come were undeniable, but the thought of knowing that so many around her had suffered far worse fates sobered Nabi.
And despite how frightened she felt, when given the opportunity to erase all those feelings away with but a swallow of this strange medicine, Nabi didn’t want to give in. She couldn’t risk erasing all the good. And she wanted all her faculties—including her emotions—intact to face what lay ahead. She was here for a reason. And now, she had some hope that there were more allies on her side, even in secrecy.
“Her words will not reach the doctor. But mayhap Lady Estrid's will. She will try and convince her lady to speak with him.”
Luri seemed genuinely wanting to help Lady Estrid. The raen promised to try what she could to help her lady convince her brother that his current course bode ill for all. Nabi could help Estrid’s illness so much more if she wasn’t confined to a cage in his lab, if she was able to draw upon her own aether.
“That morning after. She was in a frenzy to get to you.”
And though she was still behind bars, with Gideon attending to her well-being, Ghoa searching for ways to escape, and Luri looking to convince the lady of the house to free her, Nabi had to believe there was hope in ending these needless tests and experimentations.
Once more, her gaze focused on the tiny object in her grasp. It was a harsh reminder of the cruelties people were capable of. It made her shudder.
