Moonchild's black helmet nodded.  Then looked at Willa and answered her question with a struggled "Maybe."

Gyr nodded and then stood once more.  "We should continue on but before we do," and then looked at Phelan, "Jubei and I learned of some curious potential to the powers behind all this.  What do you know of 'Deep Magic'?"

"Uh..." Willa squeaked and prodded the jar in response to any looks she got.  "What do?  No asking questions of?"

She then thought on Gyr's question.

OOC
Arcana: 19
21:40, Today: Willa rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  Arcana - How deep is your Magic?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Mon 31 May 2021.

    The jar's contents was still for the moment.  It was mostly dark now, with globules of yellow puss in places.  Willa knew that the umbrean within was still unconscious because she knew umbreans lost their colours when they lost consciousness.  When this one awoke the jar would be the same sickly yellow as those pustules.

Deep Magic: A common term for the Lowest of all magics.  It is magic associated with the earth and all things within it.  Darkness and spirals are common symbols of it.  Wizards classify it by their schools of Enchantment and Transmutation.  But despite these attempts at classification it is the only kind of magic which fails to be easily and neatly put away into a category.  Philosopher's argue that Deep Magic is perhaps magic's own reflection of the ever changing nature of the world.  In contrast immutability of High Magic, or formless nature of Middle Magic.

Willa sat on the floor, closely watching the Jar.

"Deep Magic?  Willa hear of at Old-Home-'Cademy.  Is being like, er, hard Magic?  Of ground and below. Metals and runes maybe?  Changings also."

Willa decides she has time to take a short rest.

"I will not pretend to understand anything that is going on, but I will provide my support wherever it is needed." Krath said quite clearly and also quite honestly.

Gyr thoughtfully hummed as he heard the proceedings of "Deep Magic" and decided it would be as fine a time as any for a breather.

    A thought occurs to Willa, unbidden.  The other umbrean was unconcious at the moment and the Gathering she had seen umbreans interrogate creatures and umbreans by joining their flesh with those of the ones to be interrogated.  It wasn't an easy thing of course but as long as one avoided the clash of wills one could learn much from an unconscious subject.  And if it came down to a clash of wills you'd only need to suppress the other long enough to learn what you'd need.

  Though that yellow puss.  That gave Willa pause.  What was it exactly?

Willa quickly dismissed that unsettling idea.  Something about entering into people's minds without their consent felt very wrong...very "Big Bad Voice in Darkness Soul Stealer Demon Coward Hecatomb"-esque.

Instead, she cocked her head in morbid interest at the yellow pustules and pointed them out to the others:

"Uh, Mr Phelan, sir.  Are knowing what yellow boil-things being?  Other umbrean is sick being, maybe?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Tue 08 June 2021.

Gyr's large, bushy head leaned in above Willa's shoulder with a furrowed brow and a stroked mane, studying the curious yellow postules...

Gyr rolled 27 using 1d20+11.  Nature: Name That Puss!!!

    Kneeling and leaning in to get a closer look at the pustules Gyr noticed that what at first appeared to be some kind of disgusting growth was not at all what it at first seemed to be.  Rather it looked like a stone, or rather ore?  It was very reflective suggesting maybe a crystal or metal.  The web of smaller yellow "grows" were connected by thin veins of the yellow stuff.  Which appeared to be flowing slowly as Gyr watched.

  All the signs where there for Gyr to judge this was almost certainly something akin to a disease but mineral in nature.

"How curious..." the druid said, "The pustules appear to be mineral in nature but whether they are crystalline or metallic I cannot rightly say... maybe both?" he wondered aloud, "A sample would be needed to find out but the strange thing is it seems to be growing...  My concern is that, at this point, whatever it is might opt to jump onto our dear Willa (if 'jumping' is something it can do).  Phelan, is it possible to further analyze it without opening the jar?" Gyr then asked, "It might hold some clue as to what is affecting the Umbreans here."

Willa took a few steps back at the mention of something 'jumping' on her.  But it did cause her to voice a question that she had been pondering for some time now.

"Uh, so is maybe not important.  But Willa wondering for some time now about uh, up-here umbreans food.  Umbreans, um, normally be feeding from other's psychic things.  But up here, is only same psychic things.  Just up-here-umbreans.  Not others.  So is like, using same air over and over?  Is bad maybe?  Or up-here-umbreans found other foods?"

Willa rubbed her hands together nervously whilst quietly speaking and waiting for an answer, should anyone have a reply for her.  Standing slightly side on to the jar but still unable to look away from it.  She seemed smaller.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:14, Fri 11 June 2021.

Jubei rubbed his chin and frowned a little as he looked upon the seemingly sick umbrean, before he looked to Willa with uncertain expression.

"Well, from what I understand, for these people here the last... many years didn't occur as they were practically transported forward in time... yes? But then again, do we know how long they've been up here before that already? I think you may have a point... or perhaps it is an entirely new occurrence, something that only just happened? We would probably have seen something like this in the other umbrean we have seen so far here, and none of them had any signs of this, right?", He mused and tapped his chin.
"I'm sorry Willa, I'm afraid I have precious little answers and only provide more questions."

Gyr pondered what he knew of Willa and what he learned with Jubei, and so stood to pace.  "A deeper mystery," he thought aloud, stroking his mane, "Though no psion am I, even a novice telepath can tell when the air is thick with psychic energy.  The Lunar Citadel should be 'dead' and I foolishly believed that the ambient energy I felt was residual or caused by the slimes we encountered earlier, however, what's here -- even in this abandoned storage room -- tells me that there is something else, something bigger producing it.  That must surely be the crystal this umbrean talked about," he said, gesturing to the pustuled jar with his telekinetic tendril.  The Ulh then sat himself down again and clenched his jaw.  "If the up-here-umbreans are, in fact, feeding off of that psychic energy, that pus might be a side-effect.  'You are what you eat', as they say.  Willa?" he then asked, turning to her, "Do you know if that would happen with umbrean physiology?  I imagine that what you nosh on is biological, so there'd be no noticeable change to your body.  That said... if you do not feed on that crystal's psychic energy, then you shouldn't grow those same pustules."

Jubei straightened a little at what Gyr said and let out a snort.
"Hmm... Could it be? I had mentioned that they may well have the last... living dragon imprisoned here. Could they be feeding off of his psychic emanations? If he really is the source, we could force them to abandon the citadel by removing him.", He mused then.

    As he spoke Jubei felt something small press upon his palm.  It was cold, metallic, he could feel slight grooves in its surface.  When he looked down at his left hand he found the round, metal disc that was typically in Phelan's possession, was pressed there in his palm as if by some force of strange gravity.

  Lifting up his hand the tiny device glowed with light along the grooves in its surface before it came alive and fountain of light spilled forth upward and after a shimmering moment revealed the face of a familiar looking green dragon.  It appeared to be the same dragon Jubei had seen only a few weeks ago when he and his companions had entered the Conduit at Kyssea.

  Almost immediately each of you sensed a great presence emanating from the device in Jubei's hand.  As though you were caught in the grasp of some great creature.  Though it was something more sense and felt than any physical sensation.
  "We speak again Champion." the disembodied dragon's head drifted a little forward as it spoke to Jubei before curling back.

The kaetyma's feathers raise in startled surprise as the disc seemingly became possessed, before he became a little stiffer yet, as if standing to attention when the dragon's head appeared and he gave a courteous nod.

"So we do, ancient one.", He replied. "But I admit that I did not expect for it to be this soon. I have barely made any progress towards actually finding the Answer."

    The green dragon smiled "That is of no concern at the moment.  Your ally the Dragon King, is.  I have recently come across information indicating the location of his prison.  It is a vault hidden within the Labyrinthine of Unrealized Reality which guards the entrances to the inner spaces of the moon.  I can show you the way there, and through the maze, and open all of the doors there save one.  For that you need a special key."


  The green dragon's face turned and looked with bright eyes at Willa "The grace of an umbrean recognized by both the Dreaming and the Gatherer of this lost city of the old dragons."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:26, Thu 04 Nov 2021.

Willa stood dumbfounded and wide-eyed, staring wordlessly at the strange floating dragon head.

Once more, Jubei's feathers bristled and his head recoiled, before he nodded in some measure of understanding.

"I see... That is most gracious of you to do.", He spoke and briefly looked to Willa as well, before his attention went back to the dragon head. "And how would we go about this, getting her recognized by these... entities? The Umbreans present here so far seem uncertain if they are hostile or helpful towards us.", He continued and as he spoke, motioned to the one they had stuffed into a jar.

    The green dragon turned it's ponderous head back towards Jubei, smiling while it answered "She already has both those qualifiers.  First, the dragons caught in the dream magic of this place favour you and your companions.  Second, you Willa Ohmfallia Estreven Alleniathor and the many more names you have carried over the millenia are of this place.  All umbreans are."

  Still smiling the dragon turned on Phelan.  "Isn't that true, Former Librarian Phelan Drixos of the Youngest Council?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:35, Wed 23 June 2021.

Jubei nodded fiercely yet again.
"That is excellent then! Now we just need to know where to go to find this vault then. But you said you knew of its location, yes?", He asked rather excitedly. It seemed to take him quite some effort to not wiggle his rear, if the twitching of his tail was anything to go by.

Phelan's eyes narrowed at the dragon and he paused before answering. "A bit of an exaggeration, given... Everything that happened back then. But Willa being from here is perfectly viable, questions raised or not. Regardless..." He shook his head.

"As Jubei says, it's best we move along. The longer we remain in one place, the more likely we're trapped. The dragons may favour us, sure, but the Umbreans residing here most certainly appear not to."

Willa felt like she was something tiny being swept along by a wave so big she couldn't see it.  It was all so very...icky.  Still, there was something of immediate concern to her.  They had gone to a lot trouble to take the umbrean alive, but what with so many other things happening since, Willa felt like either she had been forgotten, or that time had run out.

"Uh, if going, what do with?" She gently placed her hand on the jar.  "Willa still no want to...up-here umbreans, but..." she struggled to continue with whatever she was trying to ask.