The storm had finally petered out to simple rain, which has finally stopped in the late morning. This has caused a postponement of Zahnrad's original plans to go to the old castle. Even if the weather had cooperated, Zahn's mother Elsa Kettenrad would have forbade it, on pain of guilt. As it is, Zahn is excluded from working on the dam repairs or doing any other hard work until he's fully recovered. To this end, she's called in the local witch, Morgan, to give him a look-over.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine," Zahn replies and grumbles. "I've had much worse. It was a minor bump from a thrown lever. It's not serious. I need to get back to work."

The witch chuckles. "I've heard that one before," he says with a hint of amusement as he leans over and peers at Zahnrad's forehead. His hand reaches out and brushes the bump. "But you do seem to be well enough, although I suspect at this rate your phrenology report is going to be quite bizarre."

Zahnrad makes a face. "That's all just bunk," he says and reaches out to close a nearby box with his toes.

There comes a pounding on the cabin door, and a familiar voice calls, "Get up Zahn! I'm taking you on a picnic whether you like it or not. Your mom said the fresh air would do you good! And you'll need a bucket and a lantern, too."

Again the witch chuckles. It's unclear if he thinks the remark is funny or doesn't entirely believe Zahn. Morgan always did have a habit of laughing such that one was never quite certain if he was laughing at you, with you, or about something entirely different known by him alone. It's a bit creepy. But then come to think of it his mother laughed the same way. "I look forward to your proving your own brand of science correct some day. Now," the witch steps back and gestures to the door, "you seem to have a visitor."

Zahn's toes splay out, then he hops to his feet. "Amelia?" he says, sounding honestly surprised as he walks to the door. He quickly releases the various traps and opens the door. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. I was cleaning up my place, then mom insisted I get checked out by Morgan … he's still here by the way. I'm fine, but they all just won't stop worrying."

"I think they just don't want you improving the broken lock," Amelia starts to say. She's dressed as usual in shorts and a tied-off shirt. When she spots Morgan though over Zahn's shoulder, her demeanor undergoes a radical change. She looks down and shuffles her feet, and almost coyly says, "Oh, hi Morgan. Is everything okay?"

Morgan smiles slightly and seems to fight smiling more. "Hello Amelia," the witch greets the woman pleasantly. "It is nothing. Zahnrad, I dare say, will recover." Another thing is that Morgan never started calling Zahnrad by his full name until after he became the official town witch. In fact he rarely uses anyone's nickname.

Zahnrad looks between Amelia and Morgan. He scratches his head and asks, "Are you all right, Amelia? You're acting odd."

"Would you like to join us?" Amelia asks Morgan sweetly, then elbows Zahn and whispers, "I'm fine! Do you have a bucket and a lantern?"

"I imagine the peace will keep for a little while," Morgan says by way of answer.

"Oh good!" Amelia says, smiling brightly. "You always seem so busy, and I've been meaning to show you this little secret spot of mine for awhile."

Zahnrad rubs his side. "Of course I have a lantern. I have several. I have one hooked to a helmet, even," he replies and gives Amelia an odd look.

"Well, go get one then," Amelia hisses out of the side of her smile. "And a bucket, for the rubber."

Zahn looks between the two. "Ah, maybe you two would just like to go alone? Since you intended to show him the spot anyway," Zahnrad replies slowly and then goes over to a chest and starts digging.

"A secret is it?" The witch reaches up to put a finger to his lip in consideration. "Well, how can I resist?"

"What!? No!" Amelia says, looking momentarily frightened at Zahn's suggestion. "That is… uh, there's something you'll really like to see there, Zahn. But this place is secret, and it's going to stay that way, okay? I trust you both, and this… this is part of my treasure, see, so you can't tell anyone else or return there without me."

Zahn looks at Amelia oddly again. He pulls out a couple lanterns and sets them to the side. He also pulls out a bucket and dumps the bits that were in it back into the box. "You certain? I've got some combustion experiments I wanted to do with lamp oil I could go do," he says slowly. "As for telling anyone or going there alone, I wouldn't."

Morgan leans slightly towards Zahn and whispers out of the side of his mouth. "You ought to know you're coming now if you like it or not. I wouldn't put it past Amelia to drag you there." He glances at the other man, grins lopsidedly, then winks before leaning back.

Amelia relaxes at the promises of secrecy from the men, then turns and steps outside, where her rucksack and staff are. "Okay then! It's a bit of a walk, so we should start right away."

Zahnrad grabs his jacket and pulls it on. Quickly, he slips fingerless gloves onto his hands and sets the lantern in his bucket. A quick shrug, then he just rests the bucket on his shoulder and walks out the door. "Ah, if you say so," he says.

Morgan reaches up and adjusts his hat by tugging at the brim. Then he begins towards the way down. "A walk would be perfect," he remarks in his pleasant, feminine voice.

The day is clear, and the air has that fresh-scrubbed smell you only get after storms – with just a hint of rotting fish thrown in. Amelia leads the group south along the river, between the town and the Kadie tree farms, until the path to Witch's Rock branches off. Instead of following it to the clearing where Morgan lives, however, they veer off into the outskirts of the Gnarly Wood until they reach a small clearing where a giant tree had fallen some years ago, its roots raised up overhead like the mouth of a deep sea monster.

Amelia takes a lantern of her own from her pack, and says, "Better light these now."

Zahn lifts the lanterns from his bucket and flicks up a little lever at the base of the lamp he holds in his hand, then shoves it down hard. Inside the glass, two stones scrape against each other and spark, igniting the wick. "Easily done," he comments. "No more need for tinder!"

For her part, Amelia resorts to flint and rock to light the wick of her older lantern. "That's pretty clever, Zahn," she says, smiling to the Kadie.

Morgan stopped by his home to get his own light. It's a lantern that hangs from a stout wooden pole that the witch frequently uses during late night walks or trips in to the Gnarly Wood. More than once that lantern has been mistaken for will-o-wisps or a bog fairy. He leans over to light it off Amelia's own flame, nodding. "It certainly seems quite useful."

"Ah, yeah. It was easy to do," Zahn says and shrugs. "No real market for it, or so the shopkeepers in town told me." He then takes a few steps away from the other two and looks around the forest.

Since this is only the edge of the Gnarly Wood, the trees aren't hugely menacing or densely packed, with the occasional normal tree claiming space. There are no animal sounds, however, only the breeze ruffling the leaves.

Amelia leads the way down into the pit that the old roots gouged out when the tree fell. A few broken blocks of masonry poke through the ground cover, but a trench has been carefully maintained and shored up with wood to prevent it from filling in. At the bottom, Amelia sets down her lamp and lifts a makeshift trapdoor with a rope connected to the inside so it can pulled back shut. A dark hole lies beyond, with stone steps leading down.

"The secrets of the wood are never ending," Morgan remarks ominously as he peers at the hole. The light of his lantern casts but a faint light on the gloom below.

"I found this a few years ago, after the tree fell," Amelia explains, then starts down the steps. "I've been keeping it open since then."

Zahn is busy examining the masonry and trying to figure out what must've been used to cut it. He glances down at the hole and remarks, "You're welcome to use my shop to build some sturdy supports to help keep it open." He heads down after Amelia.

Morgan follows shortly after. "You have explored here before," he says, and it sounds a bit like a question. But it's hard to be sure.

The stone walls of the passage are held together with a network of tiny roots, otherwise they would have likely crumbled by now. The stairs descend for about thirty feet, then level out in a chamber that is largely filled with giant tree roots. "Oh yes, it's my special place. I've mapped out a lot of it already," Amelia admits, and starts off through the mass of roots.

Zahnrad shines the light around and examines the structure critically. If any of it concerns him, he doesn't seem to show it. "How deep does it go?" he asks.

Morgan's staff-lantern clicks along the stone floor as he walks with the others. The wide brim of his hat preventing the light from illuminating his face. "Special indeed," he comments.

"Oh, there are some vertical shafts that go down forever," Amelia notes. "We're going to cross one." The chamber gives way to a tunnel. Most of the ceiling has collapsed to fill in the floor, but the humps and outlines of huge ceramic pipes are still evident.

Zahnrad nudges the remains of the pipes and comments, "Some sort of aqueduct, probably." He taps the wall and notes, "The mortar is failing, though. The whole place is probably unstable."

The witch lifts his head to examine the ceiling, as he seems to notice the piping. "One might wonder what occurred here to cause it to be abandoned." His gaze drops from the piping as he's forced to lift his skirts to avoid dragging them through a bit of mud.

"It's mostly held up by the tree roots now," Amelia says. "I think it's been abandoned for at least a thousand years," she notes. Up ahead, the sound of air moving and moaning through a deep space heralds one of the shafts mentioned earlier. "I think the pipes must have gone to some hot springs, but they dried up or moved to where the springs are now." The shaft appears, with huge pipes running down into it from the tunnel and the one beyond. A sturdy looking plank bridge has been set across the shaft, which is perhaps five feet wide.

"Could be. May have been some sort of steam driven things down here. I wonder if they're still here," Zahn says, considering. "Amelia, have you found any old machinery?"

"Sort of," the girl answers as she scurries across the bridge and waits on the other side. "It could be machinery."

Shifting his staff to act as a balancing rod Morgan prepares to cross the plank. "I hope you haven't seen signs that the village children have been here Amelia," he says in another vaguely-sounds-like-a-question remark. Then he crosses using the staff to assist him.

Zahnrad waits for Morgan to cross the plank, then heads out on it, himself. He stops midway to squat down and peer into the shaft.

"Nobody else has been here," Amelia says confidently. "I cleaned up the entrance this morning, but usually it's pretty well hidden."

"Good, good." Once across Morgan turns around to watch Zahnrad take a look down the hole.

The shaft is dark beyond the edge of the lantern light, and feels deep. The air that flows upwards from it is slightly moist and warm – just enough to let it rise.

"I wish I had a sounding line with me," Zahnrad comments. "And I think there's still a hot spring active down there. The air is rising and warm." He stands and heads the rest of the way across.

The tunnel beyond the shaft is in better shape than the previous one. The floor is made of the huge pipes, and the walls and ceiling are still intact. After a hundred yards, Amelia turns into a side passage, saying, "This tunnel ends up ahead in a cave-in, so we need to turn out here."

Morgan looks down the tunnel to where the cave-in presumably lies. "The earth reclaims everything in time," he whispers seemingly to himself. Then he turns, smiles reassuringly to the others, and heads down the side path.

Zahnrad rolls his eyes and follows along. He's mainly focusing on the piping and layout, trying to get a general idea in his head so he can ponder its use later.

The service tunnel is narrow and low-roofed: whoever built it couldn't have been taller than a Kadie. It goes on for a dozen yards before meeting a small, bare chamber. A larger door leads out from there into what could only be an underground road.

"Well this is interesting," Morgan remarks upon seeing the road. For Morgan it's a surprisingly direct remark on a mysterious subject. And he even sounds surprised. "Quite a mystery."

The road is at least twenty feet wide and high, with two levels of cubbyholes along each side that are large enough to house small shops or rooms. The rotted remains of wooden walls and walkways litter the sides as well. There is some dim light coming from a quartz panel high in the ceiling, and this seems to get stronger further along the road in one direction, the other being lost to darkness.

Zahnrad doesn't say anything immediately. He walks past the other two and over to the large doorway. His expression is one of both puzzlement and awe. "Building anything of this scale would have been a massive undertaking," he comments quietly. He sets the lantern down and presses up against the wall, feeling it and looking it over, trying to judge if it was hand or machine cut.

The surface of the stone crumbles under Zahn's touch. Whatever originally cut it, time and moisture have eroded any traces.

"C'mon, this next thing is really neat," Amelia says, and starts to jog down the street towards the brighter light.

Morgan seems particularly interested in the source of the glow from the roof. He folds the staff-carrying hand across his chest and leans his other hand on that arm as he taps a finger to his lips. "Interesting," he repeats. When Amelia begins to run off he abandons his inspection to follow her.

Zahnrad fetches his lantern and looks at the walls once more. He shrugs, looking irritated. He heads off after the others, though not going very quickly so he can examine the walls and holes along the way.

The glass-like panels glow brighter overhead, until the lanterns are washed out by the glare. A bright pool of apparent daylight spills from a passage in one wall, where Amelia waits impatiently.

Morgan makes his way over to Amelia and then looks past her at the glow. "To think the village children are always telling me how boring looking under trees is when I ask them to help me gather herbs," he murmurs.

Zahnrad finally reaches the other two. He's oddly quiet and his expression contemplative.

The room behind Amelia appears to be made of solid gold. "Wait until you get a good look at this," she says, excited, and walks into the room.

Morgan gives Zahn a 'I really had no idea she was hiding this sort of secret' look before he shrugs, smiles enigmatically, and follows along.

Zahnrad lightly shrugs. He looks back at the huge tunnel. "Who were you?" he asks the darkness. "Why did you leave?" He then just turns and walks after the others again.

The room beyond is the base of a tower. A slender pole rises up from the center, and supports a prism about twenty feet overhead, which beams a shaft of sunlight into a dark opening leading back towards the roadway. A tiny circle of bright daylight appears about three hundred feet overhead, with a spiraling set of transparent stairs leading up to it. There is no sign of decay or weathering, and no seams at all in the material. The walls are a bright gold color, with the stairs apparently extruding directly from them. Amelia stands aside and points to an inscription on one of the walls.

In Skeek, it reads: HELIOSTAT 53

The witch gazes up, and up, and up to the origin of the shaft of light. So far up in fact he has to reach with his free hand and hold his hat on his head. "This is really quite a find Amelia. This whole complex might be of use to the village if only the stability of the walls could be trusted. And if this is gold … " His voice trails off and he shakes his head slightly. "There will be time to discuss it I'm sure."

"It's not gold," Amelia says, patting the walls. "Not metal at all. Or stone, or glass, or amber even, as far as I can tell. But it must be pretty strong to hold up a tower this tall."

Zahnrad almost drops his lantern. He walks towards the center of the room in an odd shuffling gait as he looks upward. He turns slowly, looking along the walls, the stairs extruded from it, and the beam of light. He's absolutely speechless.

"I haven't found any bits of this stuff anywhere else either," Amelia says. "I bet it was made with some sort of magic, right Morgan?"

That the walls are not gold doesn't seem to disappoint Morgan at all. One could half guess he knew that all along, or was at least expecting it. He turns from his examination of the light source and walks over to a wall. There he extends his lantern and leans forward to peer at the strange golden material. "It's possible," he answers vaguely.

Zahnrad walks over and places his hand on the wall. Carefully, he even scrapes a single clawtip on it. "I wonder if this was a hollowed out volcano," he says to no one in particular.

"The inscription says there are at least fifty-two more of these though," Amelia says. "And it's in Skeek! That's got to be important, right? It means Skeeks, Kadies, or Lapis made this place. Maybe even Skreeks."

"Or perhaps they simply found it, or maintained it for another power," considers Morgan to himself. He reaches out and taps the wall before leaning back. "It is possible magic was involved. Earth Magic of the Collegia styling, yes, that would be the sort. There's always testing it myself. Mm. Yes. I will need a moment."

"Oh, there's magic at the top," Amelia says. "It has to be magic. And it still works."

"Or by someone else whom the Skeeks adopted an language from," Zahnrad says and walks back over to Amelia. "I wonder if it's significant that it's near thermal vents. Perhaps the other fifty-two can be found if the area around hot springs and such are examined. I want to see where those pipes lead."

"There may well be more than fifty-two. This one may simply be the middle of a longer list. If that is the case this complex is truly massive. To think it was lurking under our village all this time." The remark that there's definitely magic elsewhere seems to draw Morgan's attention away from studying the wall because he proceeds away from it and begins up the stairs as he speaks.

"The city probably goes under the whole of the Gnarly Wood," Amelia says. "This is just the edge of it, afterall. But you've got to see what's at the top, Zahn." She starts up the transparent stairs after Morgan.

"They don't all have to be here," Zahnrad points out. "They could be all over the world." He then heads upward.

"I would like to see if this complex does indeed extend under the entire wood. It's not unusual for artifacts from the Necromancer Wars eras to cause effects on their surroundings. I've read about it before and seen it myself." Morgan explains as he makes his way upward.

The stairs wind round and round, and it takes a few minutes to reach the top. The stairs open onto a platform, with an arch going overhead to support a faceted crystal that catches the light and beams it down to the mirror-prism below. More noticeable though, is that the tower is surrounded by a giant tree that apparently grew up around the structure over the years. The canopy stretches out above and beyond the top of the tower.

"It's a giant deck crystal," Zahnrad comments and looks at the other two.

"A what crystal?" Amelia asks, as she hops from the edge of the platform onto the wood of the tree, giggles at something, and starts collecting a handful of leaves and bits of bark.

"A deck crystal. Ships use them. They're called that because they're usually mounted flush with the deck. What they do is catch sunlight and redirect it inside a cabin. The shape of the crystal spreads or focuses the light. I wonder if this is just a giant light collector that was used to gather sunlight and reflect it through the tunnels. That would sure be efficient and remove the need for other types of lighting most of the time," Zahnrad explains and rubs his neck. "Of course, that's just a guess."

Morgan pauses as he nears the crystal as if he had suddenly bumped in to something. Then he gestures a hand through the air. "The spirits of this place are strong. The winds of magic stir here – to think this sorcery must have been in effect for years. Yes Amelia. These people knew magic. Earth magic," he whispers distractedly.

"Yeah, it's magic!" Amelia says, and suddenly tosses a hand-sized chunk of bark up into the air over the platform. It starts to fall towards Zahn… and then stops in midair, before slowly beginning to slide down an invisible surface towards the edge of the platform.

Zahnrad takes a step back as the debris comes toward him. His brow furrows as it suddenly stops and slides down to the floor. "Ah, yes, well. Like I said, it was a guess," he replies as he walks toward the spot where the debris slid to see if he can feel anything.

There isn't any resistance, only the feeling of millions of tiny fingers ruffling the fur as the barrier is passed.

"Didn't you notice? It just rained, but the tower is dry. No dirt, no leaves, no animal signs inside," Amelia points out.

Morgan watches the piece of bark slide down with a raised brow, saying, "This room doesn't show the signs of decay that the rest of the complex does, certainly. Something is preserving it. I need not tell you that is a mighty feat indeed to have endured so long."

"Well, I think I'll have to defer to the expert," Zahn says as he pulls his hand back. "I have no idea what this place is, or why it still exists."

"It would be nice to have the affect at home," Amelia says. "You walk through it, and zing you're dry and clean!"

The Kadie girl starts to scramble along one of the giant tree branches, and waves to the others. "But out here is what I really wanted to show you," she explains.

"There is of course another explanation," Morgan adds ominously after a moment. "How long have you been aware of this place Amelia?" Then he glances at Zahn and offers, "Don't be so sure about that. You identified the crystal and are aware of the mechanical aspects. Clearly these people were versed in magic as well as various engineering studies."

Zahnrad shakes his head in disbelief. "There's more?" he says. He slings the bucket onto his arm and scrambles up the branch with ease.

"Four or five years," Amelia answers back, sitting on the branch. "It took awhile to get this far for me, because there was a lot of debris and stuff to be cleared."

Once Zahn starts up the branch, Amelia turns and continues outward, until the branch extends past the tree's main canopy.

Zahnrad continues on, his clawtips digging slightly to provide a firm grip. "Coming, Morgan?" he asks.

"I had considered that there may be someone maintaining these enchantments. That would explain their power despite their age. However if that is not the case this is a significant undertaking. I wouldn't be surprised if this place was constructed in the era prior to the Necromancer Wars, perhaps during the height of the Olympian Empire during the Golden Age of magic. But I imagine further investigation may shed some clues," Morgan considers out loud. He continues considering even as the other two begin to climb. Once finished he lays his staff aside and begins climbing up more slowly than the other two squirrels. He does after all have a dress to contend with.

From the end of the branch, the vista is immense. The forest canopy slopes down to the west like a green mountainside, until it washes up against the more domesticated trees of the Kadie farms. To the northwest, the silver scar of the Mint Dam's reservoir flickers through the trees, and below it the buildings of the town spill out to the south, leading to the mangroves and the swamp itself. Further west, the farmlands of the Rootrunners form geometric shapes, running up against the bulge of the Chalk pastures. North of those, the skeleton of the old manor and the lone tower of the castle poke up through the trees.

"It's just like being in an airship, isn't it Zahn?" Amelia says as she sits perched at the end of the branch.

Zahnrad goes right to the end and sits near Amelia. He doesn't answer immediately, but looks out over the incredible view. "Yeah," he says in a whisper, "Less movement, but the same sort of view." He looks over at the Kadie and seems searching for something to say. "I … er … I," he ends up stammering instead, "no one … ever … shown." He gives up shortly thereafter and just hugs her.

Amelia squeaks in surprise, and hugs Zahn back to keep her balance. "Well, you're the first people I've brought up here. And I'm probably the first one in a thousand years to enter the city. It must have taken that long for a tree like this to grow, without magic."

"Er, unless it did grow with magic," Amelia then says, looking back towards Morgan. "If there's magic stuff still working, could it… leak out into the forest? Make the trees so big and create things like… Kevin?" she asks.

Morgan arrives a few minutes behind the others. Climbing in a dress is something Amelia has never quite let up on Morgan for. "I know this tree," he can be heard to remark as he makes his way up. "And given the nature of what you found, Amelia, I wouldn't be surprised if this tree grew to this height because of the magical influence. After all you don't see any other trees of this size. And this one alone has such a fantastic perch." His hat pops up and then the rest of the Kadie climbs up onto a limb. He holds onto one branch to steady himself as he brushes his skirts out. "Indeed," is his answer.

"I can see my house from here," Morgan adds in surprise. "And I really must do something about the roofing on that one side."

"I tried looking for other tall trees from here," Amelia says. "But I can't tell if they're tall because they have more towers in them, or because the ground is just sloping higher. Maybe the other towers fell over."

Zahnrad doesn't seem to want to let go of Amelia immediately. As he lets go, he looks away quick and rubs over his face and draws in a breath. "Does magic resonate, Morgan?" he asks. "I ask, because I'm wondering … maybe that crystal is like a deck crystal, but in another sense it also resonates and reflects magic. Perhaps it is what is preserving the room. Perhaps it used to preserve the whole city. Maybe it's power waned and the people living here didn't know how to restore it and just eventually had to abandon the city as the range of the crystal lessened. Kind of like how glass chips with age and doesn't transmit light as well any more. I mean, I've seen machines fail slowly over time as supports weaken and all that."

"Whatever happened, it wasn't sudden," Amelia notes. "I mean, they didn't leave anything behind when they left. Just the walls and stuff too big to move."

"Or something killed them all and looted everything," Zahn suggests grimly.

Morgan nods to Amelia's point. "Or perhaps their magic has since faded. Without the enchantment to keep the years at bay they would undoubtedly crumble." Then he glances towards Zahnrad, raises a brow at the hugging, but answers simply, "You have a point as well. Magical artifacts of that nature are rare – I shouldn't need to say it. It is possible that the area was discovered and put in to use much as we have discovered it. That still leaves the question of who originally created it however. I also wonder: Zahnrad, did you see that the rooms carved from the walls were created differently from the rest of the facility? Showing signs of differing technique. That would suggest most recent occupants came later."

"The tower is different construction from the road. Unfortunately water has damaged much of the stone. I couldn't make out how it was shaped, or when. The piping suggests they were technically adept, though. If they had unlimited steam power, they could have built huge steam powered cutting equipment to dig it all," Zahnrad replies. "It's all speculation unless I can see where the pipes lead. Oh, have you ever seen any white buildup or such around any of the broken pipes, Amelia?"

"I'm getting hungry," Amelia says. "The picnic area isn't too much farther from here. Shall we move on?"

"Of course. Nothing like a good climb to whet the appetite," Morgan answers as he moves to rejoin the others. "As for the piping, and the city itself I did not feel the stir if magic. Nor in the golden walls, nor the glow of the reflected light. Only the prism area showed active magic. That is not to say magic wasn't used in other areas but it would have faded."

Zahnrad offers Amelia a smile. "Sure, lead on," he says.

Amelia says, "I didn't see anything in the pipes where they were broken, but I really was just checking for snakes and stuff when I first looked." She leads them back to the tower, and down to the road. The lights in the ceiling begin to dim the further they get from the gold tower, but not before the road opens up into a new chamber.

"Here's my secret garden," Amelia says, with a sweep of her arm. "My absolute favorite spot in the whole world, so far."

"You know, I could build an amazing lab down here," Zahnrad muses and looks around.

"A lab?" Amelia says, blinking. "But it's a garden!"

"Not this room, this place," Zahnrad says with a grin. "I wouldn't think of damaging your favorite place. Maybe in part of the road. It would be a great place to try out airship models fairly safely. And if I could get the old piping working, whoo."

"If this room could speak I would give much to hear its words," Morgan remarks on seeing the room. He smiles, then gestures at the running water with his staff. "Another sign of the ancient nature of this place. Given the accomplishments of these people I am surprised there aren't ghosts of a different sort still lingering. In fact I find it odd this place is so safe, though I am certainly glad to see that it is."

"Well, I wouldn't come here at night," Amelia says to Morgan, then looks at Zahn. "Maybe if there's a better way into the road than the one I've found. Anyway, give me your bucket." She holds out her hand towards the engineer.

Zahnrad offers the bucket to Amelia. "Why not? This place might be interesting at night. More clues may appear," he suggests.

"Yeah, and eat us," Amelia replies. She sets her rucksack down on a moss covered but relatively large flat area, and retrieves a stone knife and wooden spike with a channel cut into it. "Do you know how to milk rubber?" she asks Zahn.

"I wouldn't mind studying the enchantment placed upon the prism. I would like the chance to see if the magic truly is causing the tree – and perhaps even the forest – to grow as it has," Morgan remarks as he walks further inside. Finding a patch of dry flooring the witch carefully lowers himself down and sticks his lantern in to a crack in the floor.

"No, I have never gotten that familiar with a tree," Zahn says with a grin. "I'll come here at night if you ever feel brave enough. I would think after that frog thing, you wouldn't fear shadows."

"That doesn't mean I'd go looking for them though," Amelia says, but not too strongly. "Come on, I'll show you how to get rubber." She walks to one of the trees, and sets the bucket at the base of it. Using the knife handle as a hammer, she pounds the channel-stake into the bark over the bucket, than cuts a diagonal groove into the bark, leading upwards away from the spike.

"Fear the shadows," Morgan insists, "but don't let that fear keep you. I must warn you to be careful however. I live nearby but I might have trouble getting here in time should a shadow darken your step."

"See, the rubber sap will ooze out and follow the groove," Amelia points out. Thick white sap is already beading up in the gash. "Then it'll run down the spike into the bucket. In a few days, it should be filled."

Zahnrad watches Amelia work on the tree and nods, "It will be useful for a few things I want to work on." He taps the spike with a finger and gets some of the sap on a claw. Me makes a face, then wipes it on his pants. He then rubs his chin and considers, "I have an idea … Morgan, you want to study the crystal, I want to study the layout. And this is Amelia's place. Would you be willing to give me a copy of the layout of the city? I'll write down what I think needs to be done to shore up the passages that are open now. You could work on them when you're done here, Amelia. I do, recommend, however, we don't tell anyone else in the town about this place. It would be over-run in days if they hear about it."

"You already promised not to tell anyone," Amelia points out, with a bit of iron in her voice. She goes back to her pack, and takes out a blanket. "Come spread this out, one of you. And if anyone wants to come here at night… uh… you'll have to wait at least five more days."

Zahnrad looks oddly at Amelia and asks, "Why five more days?" He walks over to help with the blanket, then looks at Morgan to see if he would rather do it.

"I agree that we should keep this location a secret. At least until we are certain it is as safe as possible." Morgan holds out a hand for the blanket as he stands back up and nods his appreciation to Zahnrad. As he spreads the blanket out he adds, "It's true we there were promises made. I'll leave it to you to decide if others should see this place Amelia. I hope only that you consider the benefit of the entire town and weigh your choice carefully. But it is your choice to make. Either way I will keep my promise and say nothing more of it – I know you don't like me to mother you."

Amelia removes some clay pots from the pack, a small loaf of bread wrapped in cloth, a bottle of wine and two leather cups. "Because, I'll be at the safest point in my fertility cycle in case we get bored and… " she starts to say, then stops and looks at Morgan in embarrassment. "Umm… Remember when you taught me about all that stuff, Morgan?" she says, a bit nervously.

Zahnrad looks at Amelia oddly again. He then waves toward Morgan and nods, "Ah, I see, you mean you and him. Right." He nods.

"Err, no!" Amelia says to Zahn. "I mean… I was thinking you'd want to come out since it was your idea and… uh… " She flounders for a bit, then focuses on the cups in her hands. "I only brought two cups. One of us will have to share."

The inner part of Morgan's ear turns a particularly bright shade of red. "This is a beautiful blanket," he says as he tries to change the subject.

Zahn sits there, blinking. "I think my brain broke," he stammers.

Silently, Amelia opens the pots, revealing spreadable cheeses and nut butters, then produces a bread knife and starts cutting slices. "I got the wine for my birthday," she finally says into the silence. "It's Silverfoot. White. Made from grapes."

Zahnrad clears his throat and then says, "Ah, uh, I can share with someone. I don't care and I'm not sick or anything I'm aware of. We should probably let Morgan have his own cup, considering he's the oldest and all."

"Ah, sounds fair," Amelia says, setting down the knife to fiddle with the cork on the wine. "Please help yourselves to the bread and spreads. I've also got some chestnuts," she says. Then, after a glance towards Zahn, adds, "In a bag in my rucksack."

"I could use some wine," Morgan insists as he looks up from the blanket. He watches Amelia patiently as she works at the wine bottle. "It was really thoughtful of you to prepare this meal, Amelia."

The cork pops out into the girl's hand, and she sets it aside to pour the wine. "Thank you, Morgan. I was planning to be at the castle today, but the rain nixed that. Had to do something, and Zahn's mother invited me to dinner and all… " she says, trailing off as she starts to ramble.

Zahnrad does a good job of not laughing, even if he looks like he wants to pop. He nods to Morgan and says, "It was. Amelia's been surprising me a lot the past few days. She really helped out at the dam the other day." He then chuckles and shakes his head, saying, "By the way, my mother said you were very polite, Amelia. She's hoping you'll come by often."

"Has our lord the idealist taken to hiring you for the renovation work?" inquires Morgan interestedly as he waits for his wine.

Handing the cups of wine to Morgan and Zahn, Amelia says, "Oh, she likes me? I guess that'll be handy when you tell her that you want to spend the night with me out under the stars."

Zahn almost fumbles the cup as he takes it from Amelia. He looks at her, trying to figure out if she's joking or not. He coughs once, then takes a sip from the cup and changes the subject, "Erik? No, he's not come by. I'm somewhat surprised he's not approached the Wingnut clan yet on construction work. From what rumors I've heard, we'll need to add two more wheels to the dam, though."

"My dad says Erik will probably last longer than the last landlord, some vampire named Lord Snapfish," Amelia says. "He ruled for five years and then died of natural causes. Natural for an undead vampire, anyway." She starts smearing cheese on a piece of bread.

Morgan takes the wine, sips, sips again … and again, and then offers, "See me before you start planning any trysts under the stars, Amelia, if you're concerned about unwanted surprises. I'll see to preparing something for you when I return home." Then to Zahn he corrects, saying, "I was asking Amelia, given her interest in the castle. But I'm surprised he hasn't spoken to you yet. I've come to understand he avoids me due to his mother's dislike of witches. I've met her myself. Dreadful woman."

"Oh, well, don't mind me, then," Zahnrad says and shrugs. He starts preparing himself some bread.

Amelia becomes very interested in her bread upon hearing Morgan's offer. "Spontaneous decapitation, he said," she mutters on. "And a stake through the heart, garlic stuffing and the manor burned down around him. Natural causes."

Zahn, feeling uncomfortable and staring at his bread, says, "Hey, I can go take a look at those pipes we passed if you two would like to talk in private."

"Don't go!" Amelia says, quickly. She grabs the cup that Zahn used and takes a healthy swig, then gobbles down her bread. Dainty eater, she is not.

"Fascinating," says the witch as he listens. He reaches over to take a slice of bread after Zahnrad is done with it and busies himself with buttering it. "No need Zahnrad. That's all I have to say on the matter. And I believe it's I that should be asking if you two would prefer to be alone. I should be getting back to my home soon. You never know when a problem will arise."

"We should all leave together," Amelia insists, then burps. "Excuse me. We should all leave together. It's not safe to break up."

Zahn looks at the spot where the cup was. He rubs his neck and says, "Morgan, there's nothing going on between Amelia and I, at least nothing I'm aware of. I think Amelia is just trying to get a rise out of me or maybe you." He shrugs lightly and looks down at the bread again.

After another swig of wine, Amelia sighs and says, "Look, it's just that you two are my favorite guys, right? You're fun to be with, Zahn, and Morgan… well, we practically grew up together. We're bound to end up married, right?"

Morgan smiles a bit at that. "Amelia, I've been looking after this town for two years now. I can handle leaving a cave – even a cave as remarkable as this one," the witch insists. He blushes again at Zahn's comment and turns to the other man to insist in a surprisingly calm voice, "It's all right. It is Amelia's choice and I will abide – be more than glad – for whatever she chooses. I don't want you to feel I wouldn't be. I am concerned for your happiness, as I am for Amelia's." Then he looks back down at his bread and almost takes a bite before pausing and glancing at Amelia, asking as if not quite certain of it, "Amelia, you don't expect we can all be married together, yes?"

"You should marry who you want and whom you want to be with, regardless if you grew up together or not," Zahnrad says to Amelia then looks to Morgan. "Well, at least we agree on that." He then takes a bite from the bread and chews thoughtfully.

"What?" Amelia asks, confused for a moment. "Oh, no… I mean, Zahn's right about there not being anything between us. We're just friends, but… uh… that doesn't mean we can't enjoy each other's company," she concludes, then pours more wine.

After a moment, Amelia offers the refilled cup back to Zahn.

Zahnrad accepts it with a polite nod. After he swallows the bread, he takes a drink from the cup. "Well! This conversation sure got weird," he concludes.

"A weird conversation for a strange place," Morgan agrees. He too has his drink refilled before sipping liberally.

"Of course, if either of you repeat any of this in public, I'll have to pummel you on general principles," Amelia warns. "Weird… yeah, it's the magic! It's just the magic."

"Well, all I'm going to say here is the future isn't written, and whatever happens to any of us, I hope we all end up happy," Zahnrad replies and offers the cup to Amelia again. He then looks at Amelia and says gravely, "You bet I won't say this to anyone. If Emmett heard any of this I'd never get any peace. I fear what my mother may be thinking. All she does is smile, hmph."

"Oh don't blame it on magic. I know magic and I'm not strange at all." The witch dips his head as he sips again and the rim of his trademark hat mostly hides his face. Despite this you can see the bare edges of a grin on it. When he looks up again he nods to Amelia, saying, "I'm more than aware of the weight of your threats Amelia. I wouldn't dare."

"She deserves to have her dream as mush… as much as you do yours, Zahn," Amelia says. "And… maybe I should go beat up Emmett just in case. I feel that I should be beating up somebody, certainly."

Zahnrad moves the cup away from Amelia and says, "Ah, I think you've had enough." He looks over at Morgan.

Morgan lets his gaze linger on Amelia for a moment before asking, "And your dream, Amelia?"

"I haven't decided yet," Amelia says, folding her arms across her chest. "I'll do whatever I want. And I'm not going to get soppy. If I start getting soppy with either of you, then… you can yank on my tail."

"Oh, well, we can use my tail yanking machine for that," Zahn says in all seriousness.

"You really have one?" Amelia asks quietly, thinking of Zahn's younger brother.

"I've never thought 'soppiness' a weakness," Morgan remarks thoughtfully. "I've certainly been soppy to you more than once. Like that time when I got lost in the woods and no one knew how I got there. I think I'm to blame for filling the dam." That's not true. Morgan didn't cry quite that much during that incident. But he did cry. Zhan was there too with his father. Amelia was with Morgan's mother and had told her that Morgan disappeared. Both remember the older witch being extremely calm about the matter. Like she expected this might happen.

"My brother thinks I do," Zahnrad replies to Amelia. "All I currently have is the water balloon bombs under my cabin and the punching glove traps on my door. Boy, he was unhappy when he set that one off." He snorts a laugh and waves his arms, one coming down, "Biff!" Then another coming up, "Bam!" Then both hands together, "Whomp!" He then pauses, arms in weird positions and looks at Morgan.

"We were just kids then," Amelia says. "That doesn't count. I'm just not going to get all flustered around you anymore, Morgan. That stops. And… and if you want to take me out or something, you'll just have to ask."

Zahn cracks a small smile and asks, "Can I ask you out, Amelia?" He then scoots back just a bit as if expecting to get hit.

With narrowed eyes, Amelia looks at Zahn and says, "Yes, when I tell you to. Otherwise I'll just come and get you."

Zahn just blinks. "Ooookay," he says and takes a drink from the cup.

"I can't tell a witch what to do," Amelia says. "That's just not proper. But remember that I know both of your mothers, and they like me."

Morgan turns his head to regard Zahnrad as if he had lost his mind. Then the witch grins and turns a cheek as he recoils from an invisible blow. "I'll have to avoid that one. I may need to he-" The witch pauses at Amelia's suggestion and looks between her and Zahn with a suddenly neutral expression until Amelia replies. Then he smiles faintly and turns again to Amelia, offering, "As much as I would like to Amelia, I'm concerned you haven't considered the ramifications? Mine is an unusual occupation for a man."

Zahnrad, feeling uncomfortable again, says, "I should really leave you two to talk."

"I'm not saying I want to get married," Amelia says. "I never said that. I'm young. Maybe I want to fly around the world on an airship? Or I could finish exploring my city. Or… or something else I haven't thought of yet. Stop making it all so complicated!"

"I am not making it complicated Amelia. It is complicated. I have to worry about these things. I have to take care," Morgan insists. He breathes a sigh and shakes his head. "Let's just let the matter rest for the moment and enjoy our picnic. Zahnrad I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. This is perhaps something we should consider when we are more prepared to think on it. I feel this has come as a bit of a surprise – and I think you feel the same way."

"I don't deal with people very well," Zahnrad mutters. "Machines are easy. If it breaks, beat on it till it works."

Amelia sniffs loudly in frustration, and then hiccups. "Beat on people enough and they'll work too, trust me. I'm getting a headache, excuse me." She stands up and heads off behind the stand of rubber trees, where she makes some unpleasant sounds out of sight.

Zahn looks at Morgan and sighs. "What are we going to do with her? One of us has to keep her out of trouble," he says.

"What I've been doing for years. Try and keep up," Morgan answers soberly. Then in an apparent bid to eliminate that soberness he takes a sip of wine.

"Heh," Zahnrad comments. He looks in his empty cup, but decides to not drink any more. Wine and tools don't mix well. "Well, if it eases your conscious some, my next airship model won't be ready at the usual time this year. I think I've worked out a design that should work, and I've got some power ideas for it. I need to locate some designs for steam engines … mainly the pistons. Of course, if this one fails, I'll probably be spread over most of the town." He chuckles, then pops a nut in his mouth and lies back against the blanket.

Morgan smiles until Zahnrad mentions being "spread all over town." "You never cease to worry me, Zahnrad," he says after a moment. "You and Amelia."

"I hate spring!" Amelia calls from behind the trees.