Once more, Lilac finds herself alone, but this time it's by choice. The bardess/beastess lurks on the edges of the Razer's base, determined to discover what she can and make life more difficult for the Cinders and their lackies. A day spent in a scouting circuit has revealed it won't be easy. The whole of the place is alert now, bonfires doubled and patrols tripled… but they certainly don't have enough fuel to drive all the shadows away, including the winged one.

The approaching storm brings with it wind that makes the fires flicker and the men agitated, wind that stirs Lilac's hair/fur. The weather may bring additional protection against discovery… but may also make flying more difficult.

Taking advantage of the quiet skies (for the time being), Lilac can see from her flights overhead that while the dig site around the Temple is well-guarded, it's also large, and the diggers need their room, which confines the soldiers to clusters around the area, at least from what can be seen from above. The large stone structure also seems to have nobody on the 'roof', such as it is with its jagged formations.

Lilac's discovered the art of riding thermal currents, allowing her to fly much longer in her beast form than would be otherwise possible. This lets her approach her target in the form best suited for it, something for which she is grateful. The woman feels safer as the beast, having claws and speed on her side. Being a short human woman, she thinks, just doesn't feel very confidence-inspiring against an army. Why DID I stay here, again? The beast thinks as she choses her landing spot atop the archaeological site. The storm, the storm is important. It is, but … have I gone too far? A little voice in her head reminds her that she's alone again, which she quickly stifles with an internal assurance that her friends will be back. This is all for them, for Kinny. If I can make a difference here, she'll be able to defeat Hakuu and win her life back.

This close to the archaeological site, Lilac can see that even at night work is going on, though possibly less of it. Bits of stone, broken urns, and other curiosities are stacked on tables sheltered by tarps, and scholars busily pick among them, dusting them with brushes or cataloging them in scrolls that look to have gotten quite long. They're overseen by clusters of armed men, some escorted back and forth. Curiously, those here that aren't soldiers are curiously more diverse… where the rest of the camp were predominantly Jingai, Nagai, or Khatta, many other species are represented here.

Oh well, enough thinking. I am here for a reason, and Kinny is counting on me, the beast thinks as it comes in to land on the rooftop. Being a storyteller and the creative, introspective sort, she can't help but have a moment of surreality. It strikes her that she's the monster that lurks in the darkness, now, and that those people are just people minding their own, however insidious, business. How weird.// The beast blinks, the glow of its eyes momentarily winking out. NO. No thinking! I have to concentrate. She hunkers down amid the rocky roof, taking a moment to watch.

Spending some time on the craggy roof, Lilac can see that traffic in and out is regular, but not uninterrupted. The guard patrols seem to prefer making their own circuits rather than escort the diggers themselves, who seem to move when they want to. Peeking down from above, it's evident that the temple descends downward. A draft comes out of it, bringing with it a strange scent.

I wonder if there's another way in. Taking the memory of the scent the site gives off with her, Lilac begins slinking around the rooftop, trying to locate a crack, skylight, or vent she might use to enter without having to risk the front entrance. As she sniffs around she glances at the sky, wondering when the storm will arrive.

The smell isn't familiar. It has different hints… rich soil, flesh, decay, salt, spices, ozone… scents of life and death, but never quite arriving at any one thing. Something about it doesn't seem right.

Why do weird places never smell good? It's as if a strange place and a strange scent are married, that oddity transcends a single sense – oh! I should write that down later, thinks the beast as she searches. I wonder if these scents were always here, or if the researchers brought them. How very odd, though, that they would bring the scent of spices.//

Looking skyward, it seems like the storm will hit by morning… its proximity drives the temple's strange scent back a little. The unsettling odor from the temple doesn't seem explainable from the diggers themselves. It's just too alien.

So much for another way in, Lilac decides after a bit of searching. At least the entrance is very wide. She returns to the edge, looking down on the comings and goings of the workers below. This is really weird stone, too, she considers as she watches the timing of the researchers and guard patrols.

One couldn't set their watch to the flow of people going in and out, but it's reasonably well spaced out, at least up here. Sometimes packs of soldiers come in or leave, sometimes researchers, sometimes both together with the soldiers carrying pallets of dusty junk. There are actually crates and tables set up within the 'mouth' of the temple, affording some cover.

The beast takes a deep breath, causing its arched belly to arch further. I'd best be going, then. She begins making her way down, until she's comfortably close to make a dash inside when the time seems right. She suspects the groups won't leave in twos, that parties won't exit in close proximity without grouping together. So, once another party has made its way out, she makes her move!

Dropping from the ceiling is easy enough, and once on the ground, Lilac finds plenty of places to hide. The entrance descends into the earth it seems, spaced with oddly shaped pillars that stretch up to the stony roof above, each carved with petroglyph that mean nothing to the bardess. At the back of the chamber, the way branches off into hallways lined with candles. They're spaced unevenly, as if the architect simply routed the way around haphazardly, not even bothering to make the halls descend at the same rate.

The more I look at this place, the more I think it looks like one big stone mouth, the beast considers as she sneaks her way inside. She notes the petroglyph, but can't identify them – wondering if anyone in all the world knows what they mean anymore. A few she commits to memory, figuring that she may not be able to copy an entire message down, but a few glyphs might help someone identify the language for later. When she comes upon her first side-tunnel, she pauses behind a crate. Who built this place? All the glyphs, and they don't even bother to make the tunnels make sense. It's like one big natural cave, or, um … She tries not to think about the cave being mouth-like.

Sneaking closer gives Lilac a glimpse at one of the tables the researchers visit from time to time. There are parchments with copies of diagrams and notes scribbled on… all in Imperial, unfortunately. The pictures at least don't need translation.

Looking at the notes is something for a dance for Lilac. She can peek, but she has to duck back in to the shadows and mantle herself under her shadowy wings whenever a research returns. Still, slow it may be, but she manages to get a peek.

The bardess' peeking lets her build a little mental gallery. One sketch appears to be of what might look like a flower, if the petals didn't appear to look more like teeth. It lies at the bottom of what looks like a funnel. Another sketch is a series of lines and angles, with notes and symbols dotted here and there. Probably a map, but it looks incomplete. Other bits have rubbings of the petroglyphs, one looks like a list of names, there's what appears to be a supply checklist, and a thick stack of papers is probably a catalog of recovered items.

The list provides more questions than answers. Questions like: what on Sinai is the flower-like thing at the bottom of the funnel? Is THAT a sandlion? Another is, is that a map, and can she use it? I hope so, I have no idea how deep this place is. It wouldn't do if I snuck in, then I got lost. A third and final question is: why didn't Lilac learn Imperial when she had the chance? I really wish I had learned it when Kinny offered. Oh, well! The beast abandons the table and tries to orient herself with the potential map, seeing if the lines match any exits from the room.

The lines do seem to match up to the hallways, apparently leading to different chambers that have names scribbled on them, along with neatly written lists in Imperial. One chamber seems to have a large group of them, another has a few, one has only one, and one has none at all.

Lilac nods to herself, mentally linking paths with words and pictures. She may not be able to understand the language, but she can understand the groupings. Where to look first … I suppose that flower looked unusual. And that's in … She peeks again when the researcher move away, and finds it: the room with the most notes attached to it. I'll try there, first. That room seems to be filled! After that, she skulks off to find the entrance and head inside.

The entrance in question is one of the larger ones, and well-traveled. Fortunately, it's also one of the ones most filled with junk, odd statues and reliefs lining the walls. Torchlight casts disturbing shadows from eerie stone faces, reminiscent of children, babies even, but with empty expressions. Closer inspection reveals they're even less developed than babies, perhaps sculptures of the unborn.

This place gets weirder and weirder, Lilac decides as she she hides herself among junk. She keeps back trying to maneuver and see what she can see. At one point she pauses to stare at a statue, pondering its meaning. Are they … babies? Do they worship children? Or, maybe birth … Oh, or rebirth. Kinny called it the Temple of Being, maybe this is a 'state of being,' that of childhood. She leaves the statue, moving on in hopes of locating the flower.

The hall is long, and twists around a lot. It's more than a little disorienting, but fortunately at no point does it branch off or leave Lilac with no place to hide. It eventually opens out into a large chamber lit with a strange green-blue, sometimes with hints of warmer yellows. It's obviously not torchlight. The smell here is stronger, and subtly different… it smells of green plants, loam, and blood. Clumps of vegetation grow wild in here despite not being able to see the sun, and twisting vines creep up to clumps of phosphorescent fungus that provide the lighting. It's warm in here, and muggy.

Wow, plants! So amazed by the underground garden is Lilac, that she pauses in hiding to take it all in. The mysterious Garden of Being. Still … Her nose twitches as she sniffs. I don't trust anything here. It's all too weird, I wouldn't be surprised if these plants ate people – or sung! She carefully makes her way forward now, trying to avoid getting too close to any of the flora.

Fortunately, nothing seems ready to take a bite out of the shadowy beast skulking through, and they hide her well. A researcher nearly steps on Lilac as he passes by, and still fails to notice her. He joins others gathered around some large trunk-like mass that grows from the top of the chamber to the bottom. Pools of water scattered around reflect the strange glow from the mushrooms. The stonework here has more of those eerie fetal carvings, and the tables set up around the place, holding the researcher's tools, seem very much out of place.

Is this plant what Hakuu wants? Why would someone want a plant? Lilac sniffs again, as if smelling it could give her a clue. And, that guy didn't even SEE me. She looks for a place to hide, seeing if she can watch for a while. Maybe with all these mixed races, someone will speak Standard.

Unfortunately, the chatter is still all in Imperial, but at least Lilac can pick up some of the inflection. It's fairly sedate, though they do sound interested in whatever it is they're discussing. What they're doing with the trunk-like thing is difficult to tell… they pick at it, measure parts, sometimes even just plain ignore it, though the focus seems to be around it. The circumference is huge. It's probably the width of a ship's deck. Eventually someone prods it in just the right place… and the thing -shimmies-. All the researchers step back, as if they'd been expecting this, and after a while, whatever it is settles down.

Lilac resists the urge to hop back after the tree wiggles. Oh! It moved? Is it … ticklish? The Temple of Being and the Ticklish Tree sounds like a fairy tale her mother used to tell her. Of course, now I know fairy tales are true – I'm one of them. The plant seems quite interesting but without any means of understanding the researchers, Lilac isn't sure what she can do with it now. She files it away in her memory, then tries to see if there's a way she can reach the table.

Getting to the table isn't too problematic, but the things there are just as strange, and nonsensical as before. The diagrams here are somewhat gruesome… anatomical studies, it seems, sketches of torn flesh, or broken bones, some of them are of plants torn in half. Another sheet seems to show the same things, but before they were wounded, or judging from a few, after they were allowed to heal. The latter seems odd, since many of the wounds look like they would be permanently disfiguring.

Could this plant, or these strange waters, allow some sort of miraculous healing? But, ew, did this all happen here? Those smells earlier … Lilac retreats to the shadows, preparing to leave, but before she does she tries to get a peek at the odd pools.

The pools are dark, even to Lilac's keen lowlight vision, but there's definitely… things wriggling around in them.

Cautiously, Lilac peers in to a pool. Curious at what could be so dark even she couldn't see it, she lifts a paw and tries to stir the water and little to get a better look!

Dipping her paw into the pool, the surface ripples, light playing off it. When she brings her paw back up, she finds some sort of glistening, squirming red fleshy things attached to it. They wiggle fitfully.

The beast grimaces, then promptly limps away! In hiding, Lilac shakes her paw wildly, using her other frontal paw to try and squish the critters off her! Ewwww! Not finding a mere 'ewww' to fully express her inner turmoil, Lilac adds, EEEEWWWW, shortly later!

They don't have eyes, or mouths or… or anything, really. They just seem to be reddish, slug-like things covered in veins. They're oddly resilient, resistant to squishing, but enough frantic pawing gets them to drop off, and they squirm around on the rich dirt.

What ARE these things? Lilac sniffs at them, careful to not get one attached to her nose. She isn't at all sure what they might do – for all she knows, they could do anything. They could be like magic beans, or … turn in to faceless babies! Her ears shoot up at the idea, it sending a shiver down her spine. I'd better go, but maybe I should take one with me, then I can figure it out later.

Lilac paws open one of her harness pouches – the harness actually a set of belts she borrowed from Gibson in order to carry things in her canine form – and lowers her body to the ground. There, she tries to gentle paw one of the squirming red things in to the pouch before securing it. I hope it doesn't eat leather. She peers at it as she works it closer. How does it even do anything? It doesn't have … anything! The mysteries of the red squirmies will just have to be solved later.

Bit by bit, the pawing manages to roll the squirming bit of meat into the leather pouch and get it shut. Time spent on it seems to have let the other ones disappear somewhere… presumably back into their pool.

Or in to the ground … I better go, Lilac thinks. She spares no more time waiting, deciding whatever the 'red squirmies' do, she shouldn't be there when it happens. She moves for the exit, deciding to hide in the unmarked room, figuring that will have the fewest people.

Getting one of the other chambers on the map seems to require going back the way she came, but Lilac manages it as stealthily as she did before, lurking behind stacks of artifacts and shadowing patrols as they move along the corridors. Once she's returned to the main entrance and begun stalking down this new tunnel, Lilac finds only token guard presence. In fact, the guards here don't move, they simply stand at their posts, looking a little nervous as they wait there in the dark. It makes getting around them a little problematic at times, but the soldiers can only look in one direction at a time, and good timing proves enough to slip past."

Lilac really can't blame the guards. After all, who knows what horrors lurk in this place? Besides myself, she adds as an afterthought. She certainly wouldn't want to think she was lurking around in the dark. Just close your eyes, and everything will be fine. Sometimes, you don't want to catch what lurks in the dark. She slips by, hoping they take her unspoken advice.

The men look tough enough to take care of themselves, but the reason for their unease becomes apparent as Lilac travels down the hall. Sconces that had been regularly placed seem to be less attended the further in she goes, the number that've burnt out becoming more frequent, until a stretch of corridor seems to lack illumination entirely. It's only by virtue of Lilac's superior night vision that she can see what's down the hall. It spreads out in a series of stone terraces or shelves up to the ceiling, upon which sit skulls of various sapients. Naga, Skreek, human, Khatta, Korv… all different races, all bleached white and staring eyelessly across the room from each other, neatly arranged in rows.

Lilac pauses in the dark, taken by the macabre scene before her. She had always heard stories of necromancers and their dens, rooms lined with skulls and haunted by tormented spirits. She never thought she'd actually see a room like that, but here it is. That's a lot of skull, is her first thought, which she immediately feels is an underwhelming and lame response. I'll, um … think of what I said that sounds better later, when I write about this. She carefully steps forward, feeling oddly safer here than where the men roam. Not that I AM safer, she tells herself. Right now, she decides to see if there's anything center.

It's a few paces into the room before Lilac's tall ears pick up a multitude of hollow scraping sounds. It's just a few seconds… long enough for each skull to somehow turn on its base until all of them are 'looking' directly at the bardess.

Lilac pauses mid-step, one leg hanging in the air. There she freezes, the hackles on her neck slowly rising up as if pulled by a static charge. Her brain, too, freezes. All thought drains out of her head, so intimidated is she by having a thousand skulls all stare at her in unison!

The chamber is silent now. Dozens of empty sockets remain trained on Lilac, fleshless grins beneath them.

The silence breaks, at least in Lilac's head. Oookaaay. Think, Lilac. You have thousands of skulls staring at you. Thousands. What should you do? What do you do when anyone stares at you when you enter? She blinks, then it comes to her! An audience! It may not quite be an audience, but they do strike her as expectant. She did waltz in to their room, after all. I should … greet them. She makes her move, bowing her head in respect.

If the skulls make little indication of acknowledging the gesture (limited as their means are), they at least show no disapproval either, simply quietly looking on.

I guess they're not … doing … anything. No wonder the guards were so intimidated. She begins forward again, fully expecting the skulls to keep watch on her. She heads towards the center again, wondering if they were looking at anything in particular. As she goes along, she thinks back to the arrangement of this place. Babies and life, now skulls and darkness? What does it mean?

Sure enough, as Lilac begins prowling forward, the empty eyesockets remain trained on her, each bleached bone face turning just enough to continue watching her. A faint light ahead promises to keep the the darkness from becoming impenetrable.

Babies, unborn … womb. Then, darkness and skulls. Life … and death? Is this a temple built to worship the phases of our lives, of our … Oh! … of our being. I wonder if that's it? It could be a temple of time, mortality or just living … Feeling rather proud of finding a connection, Lilac continues forward even as the scratching sound of turning skulls makes her ears twitch. I see a light! Oh good, it was getting a little too dark in here. The thought of light gives her pause, being a little too similiar to the old 'head towards the light' cliche she's heard before. The ligth can't possibly be the doorway to the afterlife, she assures herself.

The light doesn't seem steady enough for that, reassuringly. It's a warm yellow glow, flickering… probably torchlight. Something's at least partially blocking it.

It could be someone, Lilac warns herself. She pauses to sniff, standing far enough where she could easily turn and run if need be, out of sword strike range.

The scent here is thick with dust, must, and decay, but Lilac's sensitive nose can pick out life here, too. Smells faintly sweet, but also a bit bitter, like fruit and insects. It's recognizable as eeee.

Lilac pauses, scenting the living here in the dark. Whoever it is may know she's here, and since it's an Eeee, she knows he may well be able to 'see' her just fine. She can smell him, he can hear her. She decides to put extra emphasis on walking softly – and begins to slowly circle the figure. Feeling her muzzle begin to salivate, she anticipates combat. The throat, a voice in her head whispers, His throat, and he can't scream.

Circling around whatever's casting its shadow away from the torchlight, Lilac can see a larger slice of illumination for each step she takes. First it's a pair of feet. Then legs, with dusty skirt draped over them. A book next, open and laying in a lap, with a slender hand writing somewhat messy script in it with a Kujaku quill. Finally, the torch itself, held in a skeletal hand that apparently dangles over the edge of a slab above the writing figure of an eeee woman. Through it all, she fails to notice Lilac, her tall ears swiveled down to her writing as if to listen to the scratch of the nib on paper.

With the torch above her, the eeee's face is cast in shadow, ringlets of chestnut hair dangling around it. Her blouse, simple but styled in Nagai fashion, leaves her arms bare, and her wings are flattened back against the slab. Despite how they're folded, Lilac can see the membranes on her wings have been tattooed with linked geometrical shapes, like the celled wings of an insect.

Lilac stares at the writer, wondering who she is and what she's doing here. That she's an Eeee makes the beast very nervous. Eeee can 'see' as well as she can, possibly better. Beyond that, she's here alone, and she's clearly writing something. It makes Lilac think she's a specialist of some sort, a researcher devoted to this room. It all adds up, and Lilac decides that she's just too threatening, not to mention tempting, to not attack. The beast steps back in to the shadows, preparing to bite the woman's neck and potentially crush her throat before she can scream.

Jaws opening, Lilac can feel herself salivate. Something about the motion disturbs her, but she can't quite put a finger on it at first. The beast pads forward, leans out – and in a flash darts forward and snaps its jaws around the woman's neck!

"Hh-… !!" The eeee only gets enough time to suck in a breath of surprise before rows of teeth close over her throat with a crunch. She struggles feebly for a few seconds, then goes limp, hot blood pouring from her neck and soaking into her blouse. Her quill falls from her fingers and her book slides off her lap. Startled brown eyes go blank.

And it's done. Lilac uses her jaws to pull the woman in to the shadows, attempting to hide the body in the darkness. It's done … The words echo in her head. Done, done … She deposits the woman away from the torch, then moves to the book. With a paw she flips it closed, then picks it up in her jaws and tries to secure it.

The book is bulky, but enough pushing gets it into one of the belted bags. Dragging the body away seems almost easy by comparison, the eeee feather light. Taken from the illumination of the torchlight, her corpse is swallowed up by the shadows.

With the book secure, Lilac prepares to leave. One more skull, I suppose. The thought irks her somehow, and again, she can't place what it is. The more she ponders it as she walks, the more she feels like it's a feeling that has been growing – especially when she attacked the woman. Very puzzling. But … I should go now. She orients herself towards the exit, then, as she's about to put the torch out, she glances at the skulls. I wonder what they think?

The rows of silent spectators make no indication of what they might think, simply staring directly at Lilac.

Lilac stares back, blinking, and then she turns to be off. Using her paws and 'other' resources, she puts out the torch now that she's oriented towards the exit. Slowly as before, she makes her way through the darkness, and out.

With the torch snuffed, Lilac makes her way back by finding the glow of the still-lit sconces further up the hall. As before, the guards are stationary.

And as before, the guards present little challenge. As skittish as they may be, they always seem to be looking in exactly the direction Lilac wants them to, so she can pass along the other side quickly and quietly.

My time here is short, now, Lilac decides. She assumes sooner or later someone will check on that woman, and when they do, the alarm will sound. Do I stay, or do I go? I have a red squirmy and this book. Is that enough?

Seeing there's no other exits along this tunnel, Lilac returns to the entrance area. //Perhaps I have time for one more tunnel, but that's it! After that, I'm leaving. Maybe I'll steal some notes on the way out. She pads along, struggling now with two nagging worries that bother her. The first is answered quickly enough: NOT stealing! I'm … borrowing, permanately. For a good reason. The second eludes her, something about that cave and the warm, metalic feeling in her mouth. Every time she tries to focus on it, it slips away, like a ghost in the mist.

Once back at the large entrance chamber, the bardess is able to lurk amongst the gathered materials again, finding it much the same as before, though as always a fresh patrol is ambling in, and scholars are coming out. The table from earlier has had its papers shuffled around some, but many are still there, including the lists and unfinished map.

Feeling clever, Lilac puts her mental gears in motion to try and devise a plan to snatch some notes without making it appear someone simply grabbed them. Well, maybe it'll seem that way later, she admits to herself, but she still thinks the idea she just came up with is dandy. I'm getting very good at this, she tells herself as she puts her plan in to motion …

Quick as a whip, Lilac snatches two pieces of paper she wants: the map, and the list of associated items. Then, once she has them in her jaws, she inhales deeply and sends a puff of air right at the stack of papers! The effect is to send several of them scattering, providing some cover for the missing items. I hope that works, The Lilac Shadow: away! Deciding her time here is out, Lilac makes her way for the exit.

As Lilac skulks out of the Temple's wide entrance 'foyer', she can hear the whistling of the wind through the stone formations above. It's intensified. The scholars outside are quite busy collecting what can't weather the storm, some of them already hustling to the more preferment buildings for shelter. A few patters of rain darken the canvas awnings, which are violently yanking at their wooden supports.

At this rate I'm going to have to walk back. The idea of both wet canine smell and possibly wet loot bothers Lilac, but not enough to override her curiosity. With the storm coming, the scholars are distracted. She may be able to access what she otherwise could not – and possibly add some havoc. She stuffs the map and list in a free pouch, then stalks off to get a better look around.

The storm seems to be threatening plenty of havoc as it is, playing mayhem with distressed scholars holding armfuls of scrolls or trying to nail crates shut ahead of the winds. Nothing that Lilac can find seems to make much sense or resonate… mostly just stonework from below, things written in the wiggly Nagai tongue, digging tools, crates of basic supplies, barrels of trash, and so forth.

Lilac is almost disappointed, but there's nothing to be done about it. Well, there is one thing: Thank you, storm. Deciding her work here is done, at least for the moment, Lilac retreats to the shadows. Time to find a cave to find some shelter – this is going to be a good show!

The bardess isn't quite limited to walking just yet, but the wind practically scoops her out of the army's base when she spreads her wings. It makes for a long detour to the one of the caves she found in the cliffs, but once there she's sheltered from the wind and any rain.

Soaked, and more than a little tired both physically and emotionally, Lilac pads in to her cave and shakes off the rain. Not feeling like reverting to her human form, she wriggles out of the harness she borrowed from Gibson and puts it aside, before flopping over to watch the storm. I am so tired. Flying as a beast is much harder than as a human, I'll have to work on that. She yawns widely, letting hr head thump against the stone. She licks her lips, finding the metallic taste makes her want to keep licking at her teeth.

The harness thumps aside, the two filled bags falling more heavily than the other pouches. Outside, thick clouds blot what little star and procession light might have been available. The occasional distant flicker of lightning illuminates the thunderheads racing along, and the occasional bright zig-zag touches down to earth, backlighting streaks that look stationary but must be rain.

Well, I'm here. Is this what you wanted to show me? The bardess doesn't expect the dead Korv to actually pop up and answer her, but she does feel she might be watching somehow, somewhere. I stayed here to see this. She licks her teeth again, and for a moment she wonders if she cut her gums. Oh no, this is from when I killed that … The little voice that had been nagging at her picks up, and she suddenly realizes what's been bothering her, what she has been blocking out: murder. Her ears shoot up, and suddenly, her stomach lurches. I … I killed her. I killed her and I didn't … I know what's bothering me! She blinks, reaching to rub her paws at her face. What's botehring me is … it's not bothering me!

There's no ghostly Korv to answer, though the gash in her neck is unsettlingly reminiscent of the one left in the eeee's throat when Lilac was done.

Lilac rubs her head, as if she could rub out the memory. She still can't quite feel, but she knows she really should. She knows, deep inside, that she used to feel strongly about not murdering people, whatever their alliegance. But now … Now … No, then. This feeling, it's … It's from the dream. No, from after the dream. I was so excited about learning to control my transformation, I didn't see it, but it's there. When I accepted the beast, I … I think … Unable to quite articulate what happened, Lilac can only roll over and whine. The price for a beast's power, it seems to her, is paid in the coin of the heart. For to fight with claw and fang, a little piece of your humanity seems to slip away. She desperately tries to shift her thoughts away from the subject, finding regaining her earlier compassion like trying to grasp a sword in her paws – impossible. Her mind turns to the Korv, and for a moment as the lightning flashes, she sees herself biting the woman's throat. Gah!

After a bit of rolling and personal angst, Lilac finds herself on her back with her paws in the air. Okay, okay, she tells herself, trying to calm herself down. So, so … I'm not who I was. I've changed. But, everyone changes, don't they? Better I bite in the dark for a cause I believe in than strike without a mind, without a will, right? Right. Right! She rolls to one side, pawing the ground. But, I have a living thinking person's blood in my mouth, and I think I swallowed some … I musn't… musn't do that. No more feeding on blood! She rolls to the other side. And, and … I'll think more, before I act. That, that'll have to do. I'll work on it. Even Kinny kills when she feels she must, and Xander blew up an airship! She nods to her words, finding enough comfort to at least put her at ease. She sits up again, deciding she needs a distraction, so she wanders over and spills out her accumulated spoils.

The book thumps to the cave floor. The red squirmy thing seems to be firmly attached to the bottom of the pouch now.

Lilac pushes the book farther, then pulls out the now blood-stained map and notes. These she puts inside the book, where she hopes they'll be safer. Looking at her spoils, she finds it a all a bit lacking. I'm missing something, something … red! She pads pack and paws at the bag, wondering where her squiggle went. When she doesn't find it at first, she paws the pouch around some more.

Tumbling the pouch around doesn't get the little gobbet to emerge. When the pouch rolls with its mouth upright, Lilac can see the thing pulsing at the bottom. Fibrous little threads seem to have spread from the thing's glistening sides to attach it firmly to the leather bag.

Well, that's weird. Lilac decides to pick the the pouch and drop it in the rain, thinking that maybe some water will get it to let go.

Only a few droplets of rain moisten the bottom of the pouch… it seems the bulk of the storm hasn't arrived yet, despite the fierce wind. The water that does hit the fleshy thing seems to have little effect, other than to make it a bit more shiny.

What a weird little blobby, Lilac decides. She carries it to the back of the cave, then simply leaves it there. I guess I'll keep an eye on the little guy.

The pulsating thing remains politely in its pouch, and sits quietly where it is when deposited at the back of the cave.

Lilac decides she better not leave all her harness there – who knows what it'll do to it all? – and so frees the half she can. She leaves the red squiggle with the other pouch, deciding it has won that piece fair and square. With that handled, she decides to simply keep an eye on it for now, and instead flip open the book and see if she can read any of it.

Surprisingly, the book is written in standard. The inside cover has one word written on it: "Dragonfly" in the same somewhat messy script that Lilac saw being written when the woman was still alive. The first page is dated months ago, and reads, "Since re-locating to Rephidim marks a new chapter in my life, (and because I was running out of paper in the old one) I'm starting a new journal to record my thoughts. I've only just arrived, there's some settling to be done, and I can already tell this place will take some getting used to, but I've heard of a 'Little Ashdod', as well as Nagai districts, so I expect Rephidim will become home away from home soon enough."

Reading the woman's journal makes Lilac's stomach twist again, and she quickly paws past the first page. From here on out, she tries to skim-read, rather than learn more about a dead woman than she really must. What she wants is information about the temple and the Cinders.

There are a number of entries about mundane daily life, but it's difficult to skim over these for information without picking up some picture of who the eeee was. Though she was apparently from Ashdod originally, she seems to have had considerable knowledge of Nagai history and culture, specializing in oddities… unusual historical figures, speculation about the Emperor-Potentate, old families, cultural norms of early Imperial history, stories and legends about the many territories that the Empire encompassed before the fracture, and so on. She makes reference to the fracture itself being part of the reason for her move to Rephidim, but she also seems to be involved in a network of scholars with which she shares information.

Oh great, I've assassinated a worldly scholar! Lilac puts a paw to her head, but keeps reading. At least I was right, in that she is valuable to the Cinders, but was also … She blinks, shaking her head. Focus, focus! Kinny would laugh at you, call you a silly foreigner! She turns pages and keeps reading.

Dragonfly evidently seems reluctant to share more than necessary with the other scholars, which she expresses regret for. She makes reference to her 'old profession' fostering an attitude of mistrust, and resolves to break the instinct down, as she calls the 'exchange of ideas the foundation upon which knowledge is built'. Ashdod's secrecy and political infighting seem to have left a bitter taste in Dragonfly's mouth. She writes more about some of the things she's learned from the other scholars as she's opened up as the months and pages pass. Then the date seems to skip a considerable block of time.

Poor woman, she seems like she was a decent person, and then she fell in with these people and … Lilac shakes her head again. I have to keep reading. Even dead, maybe her death can have some meaning. She thinks about what the gaps must mean, and decides Dragonfly must have been very busy, or very dull. She's not surprised she fell in with the Cinders, doubting that the organization would be forward with its real goals – but definitely forward with money.

The dates skipped pick up a number of days later. The first of these entries reads, "They've let me have my journal back, after some cajoling. Trying to remember everything that's happened since those thugs kicked my door in and carried me off with a sack over my head. They were professionals, no doubt. Mercenaries, I suppose. Who paid them to kidnap me, I don't know yet, but we've been on an airship for a few days now. I guess that, despite some rough handling and some threats, I haven't been overly mistreated. They're feeding me, at least. They still haven't told me what they want me for, and frankly I can't imagine why. There's nobody to ransom me to. Dinnertime. I'll write more tomorrow."

A dawning horror begins to wash over Lilac, but she keeps reading, hoping it'll reveal itself to be unfounded. She keeps reading, because she doesn't think she could stop if she wanted to.

Dragonfly's entry for the following day reads: "I've been joined by two other captives that I recognize, to my great surprise! They're other scholars that I've met and worked with in Rephidim: Hendel Silversnout and Dr. Krii Vistid. By their accounts, the same thing happened to them, and we've worked out that it happened at much the same time, coordinated to strike in concert. According to Silversnout, the mercenaries groused about not being entirely successful. It sounds like there was someone else they meant to get, but their other team hasn't reported back, and it's assumed they've failed." There's a break of a couple lines, then it continues, "Our ship has rendezvoused with others. To my dismay, they're separating us. Hendel and Dr. Vistid are being taken aboard other ships. I'm alone again."

Unfortunately, Lilac's fears aren't banished – they're strengthened. She keeps reading, falling to her paws and flipping pages when they need to be flipped. Suddenly, she feels a lot more tired.

The next day. "I've been allowed above decks for some fresh air, though they're keeping a careful eye (and a tether) on me so that I don't fly off. Would that I could! I recognize the land below. We're over the Savan. Of all places to take me to, they take me back here! A part of me is glad to see the Empire again, or what's left of it, but not under these circumstances. I suppose I've come full circle." There's a line break, and Dragonfly continues, "I guess I have more time to write than I thought. We're not heading for Nagai proper. Rather, we're continuing northwest. The waiting is getting to me. I'd just as soon find out where we're going just to get it over with."

A couple more entries complain about the monotony aboard the ship.

More pages flip, and Lilac decides it must be so. The scholar must be who the bardess fears she is: a Curator, captured in Rephidim and brought here against her will. A Curator that won't be coming home. Her ears wilt, but she keeps on reading.

Some time later, Dragonfly writes about the arrival. "We've debarked somewhere I don't recognize, but by my reckoning we should be in the Desolate Band. There's nothing too strange to see yet, so I'm sure we're not in the Beast Lands yet. I've been told I'll be meeting someone soon." Line break. "I've been given more information about just why I'm here. We're studying an archaeological dig site for parties unknown. The resources at work here are mind-boggling. I'm one of many experts here. I've been given a glimpse of the area. In addition to pointing out that escape is impossible (and I'm inclined to believe that, given the swarms of barbarians surrounding us) it's clear that we're in some ancient ruin that may be as old as the Empire itself! Imagine that, tucked away here in this goddess-forsaken land, buried under the dunes, possibly passed over by raiders and ruffians from around this scrubby region. There's a certain excitement to being here, mixed with the fear of not knowing exactly why they wan

want this place.

Finally, something useful and not heart breaking. Lilac keeps reading, wondering what she'll tell Kin and the others when they return. Oh, sorry Kinny, I accidentally murdered a Curator. Yes, a camp of possibly thousands, and the one target I picked was a Curator. Isn't that something. Lilac splays her ears more, as far as they'll go, and tucks her tail. I wish Gibson was here. Then again, she almost wishes he never returns, what will she tell him?

The next few entries get straight into the meat of the operation. "They've put us right to work. I've been cataloging artifacts, deciphering old Nagai petroglyph, recalling everything I can about history in the Desolate Band and outlying areas. We've been instructed to report anything unusual, and that's had us reporting often. It's slow work, there's just so much stuff here, but it seems like every few hours we turn up some new mind-boggling find. Well, mind-boggling to us. It's become readily apparent that what's interesting to us is of less interest to our captors. Personally, I think a fertility statuette predating the ziggurat architectural movement of Nagai is a fantastic find, but I'm just told to 'label it, box it, and keep looking'.

Lilac refocuses on her reading, maybe she can help some of her sin by finding something useful. Older than ziggurant architecture? Wow that … I'm not sure how old that is. Lilac rubs her nsoe with a paw. It sounds old, anyway.

"Even the novelty of the Temple of Being is starting to wear on me. We've descended deeper into the corridors, and found stuff that's alive down here. And stuff that is not so alive. The soldiers are getting tired of following us around, especially if it looks like we're going to make them carry something. I've gotten some degree of autonomy by making any soldier who decides to keep after me start lugging statues around, and they've learned to leave me alone. I don't get punished as long as I continue cataloging finds and translating. We've had some mages visit as well, because there's definately strange stuff afoot here."

Oh, that is the truth, Lilac agrees with the writer. She keeps on reading, occasionally glancing off at the storm now and then.

It becomes evident that Lilac has reached Dragonfly's second to last entry. It reads, "Most of the researchers are much more comfortable focusing on the rooms dedicated to what we have roughly translated as 'physical being'. The people that inhabited this temple (I will not say they raised it, because not all the structure matches) had chambers full of creatures, or parts of creatures, or something that seemed able to grow into almost anything. There was a series of pictograms that I was made to interpret, which appeared to me to be a ceremony of sacrifice, except that the sacrificial offering joined them at the end of the celebration despite apparently suffering grave wounds. I didn't really understand that. When I was allowed to steal away again, I visited some of the less 'popular' chambers. I am not assigned to the area I now call the 'crypt', but I don't think anyone is. Nobody wants to go there, which is why I decided to go there. The skulls there gave me the shock of my life, but they never did

anything to me. After that, I found I could have solace there and write in peace for hours without anyone coming for me. I may have a place from which to plan now."

Lilac winces at the last part, having invaded this woman's one refuge and taken her life. The bardess had assumed she was someone powerful, a mage, a necromancer, or other high ranking member of Hakuu's forces. She was, after all, all alone in a chamber for of death writing with her bony hands – how could she have known she was a Curator? Breathing a sigh, Lilac keeps reading. She decides, now, that not all her empathy has vanished, for she feels a pain that just won't leave her. I'm never going to be free of this, she concedes. Am I, storm?

Dragonfly's last entry is smudged, the ink of it having still been wet when the book was closed, and there are some spatters of red dotting the pages. It is still more or less legible, however. "The more I think about it, the more I believe that we're only seeing a fraction of this place, not just in the physical sense, but in the sense that we have only scratched the surface of what this place IS, what it DOES. The organic structures in the 'physical being' area are huge and partially buried. The researchers are surmising that there may be vastly more in the sand and layers of rock. But why? What is it? And what then is the part that I'm in? I'm starting to think less that this place is a 'crypt', and more that it represents another state of being that the people of this temple revered or dwelled on. That would explain why our captors are searching it so fervently. There's a power here, or something greater at work th"

The entry ends abruptly there, a slash of ink darting to the edge of the page.

The storm answers Lilac's question only with a distant rumble. The howl that was moaning across the cave's opening changes pitch randomly as the wind speeds up or slows down.

Lilac closes the book, pushing it away. Then will not have it. Whatever it is, they won't have it, even if I have to stay here the rest of my life! She slams a paw down on the book's cover before spinning away and trotting restlessly to the cave entrance. There she walks in to the rain, sitting to watch the sky pour. She'd cry if she could, but the beast, as she's found, has no tears. So, she'll let the sky cry for her, and howl her frustration to the wind.