Freed of the control of the demon, Vevier retreats to the Muffin shop to
contemplate her missing time.

Walkway of Magic
| You have reached the end of the Walkway of Magic. Clearly
| visible to the south is a large marble archway over the road.
F | To the west is a store bearing a scroll on its sign, and
| | to the east is a building with various wands in the window.
S-@-S | Large balls of light hang motionless on the walls, giving
| | off a steady light even during the day. The road leads southwards.
S-+-S |
| |
+ |
---------+

You hum 'A distant memory locked away,'

north

Muffins 4 U
| This is the muffin shop of Timaran, a cheery place filled
| with lovely smells of baked goods and sweet, yummy things.
| The walls are covered in assorted mixtures of flour, pastry
| dough and icing that's long since hardened to the point
@ | of no removal. There's a small wooden display case which
| | holds a variety of wonderfully scrumptious muffins and
S-+-S | pastries, each of which could easily win a baking contest
| | on its sheer deliciosity and beauty. Go on, indulge yourself
S-+-S | a bit - have a bite or two, who cares if it goes straight
---------+ to your hips and thighs?

[Exits: south]
There is a small kitchen in the corner of this room, where the muffins are baked.
A tall, handsome half-elf stands here ready to serve you.
Rildan the Muffin Man says 'What took you so long, Vevier.'

You say 'It's been a trying time, dearie.'

You say 'I need to do some mixing.'

You hum 'Seems like a dream from yesterday.'

You stand in a small kitchen.
Rildan the Muffin Man says 'Here, mix this.'
Rildan the Muffin Man drops a mixing bowl.
Rildan the Muffin Man slides the mixing bowl over to you.

You smile at him.

You mix the batter, but it doesn't seem to come together.

You hum 'A thought in fragments almost grasped,'

You mix the batter, but it doesn't seem to come together.

You mix the batter, but it doesn't seem to come together.

Vevier settles into the routine of mixing.

You hum 'Perhaps a clue that reveals my past.'

You mix the batter, but it doesn't seem to come together.

The batter starts to come together, perfect for adding spices.
A patron walks in to buy a muffin and speaks quietly with Rildan.

You hum 'Heed my song and the nightmare will end,'

The batter starts to come together, perfect for adding spices.

You add some blueberries to the muffin batter.

The batter starts to come together, perfect for adding spices.

You add some more blueberries to the muffin batter.

The batter starts to come together, perfect for adding spices.
A patron walks in to buy a muffin and speaks quietly with Rildan.

You add some *secret retained* to the muffin batter.

You hum 'Let my memory surface once again.'

The batter starts to come together, perfect for adding spices.

The batter starts to come together, perfect for adding spices.

Vevier watches the blueberries settle into the batter and her mind turns inward to the Repository.

The Repository of Secrets
| The Repository stretches ahead and behind, above and below.
| Row upon row of neat gnome-sized hatches line the wall, each
| bearing a very mundane looking lock. As you walk through,
| it seems as if the units shift around you, the unmarked doors
@ | blending together amid your passage.
|
|
|
|
---------+

Vevier wanders through the Repository.

Vevier pauses as she comes across a door with a heavy padlock.

Vevier looks in three directions at the otherwise identical doors.

Vevier checks over her shoulder, then produces a set of fine lockpicks.

*Click*
The lock falls away from the door.

Vevier produces a plain key from *secret retained*.

*Click*
You open the gnome-sized door.

You step through the gnome-sized door.

A Viewing Room Within the Repository
| Sound and orientation seem to vanish as you step into this
| room. Only the gnome-sized door you came in through seems
| to have meaning in relation to your corporeal form. In the
| center of the room amidst the vast stasis is the keystone
@ | to the secret stored here.
|
|
|
|
---------+

[Exits: door]

A polished wooden box sits upon a pedestal in the center of the room.

Vevier moves easily through the stasis to the center of the room where she places both hands on the polished wooden box.

look box
The polished wooden box is emblazoned with a golden coin.

You open a polished wooden box.

>>> The room explodes to the echoes of another as Vevier settles into the prime
moments of the secret stored within the room.

>>> Immediately, things are not as expected. Her vision is askew and she
seems to be alone in Vanisse's home.


///
Within the Azure Flame
| Sparks of silver and blue brush you and caress you with
| blinding luminescence. The smell of a cool, fresh breeze
| permeates the air, ruffling your hair and whispering into
| your ear sweet nothings that melt within the mind. The sound
@-o | of music can be heard in the core of your thoughts, invading
| every cell in your body and overwhelming you with a sense
| of both yearning and utter fulfillment. You feel tears spring
| to your eyes unbidden as you are immersed in the loneliness
| and grandeur of the melody.
---------+

[Exits: east (south)]
This small hovel door has moss and vines growing upon it.
A mottled wolf keeps watch over its master's abode.

(Vevier looks around at the room.
You think 'The Azure Flame? What am I doing here?')

A dark whisper catches on the breeze, carrying with it the scent of sulfur.

You say 'Hmm, what was that?'

(Vevier blinks as the words come from her mouth, unbidden.
You think 'Am I...Vanisse!?')

[60 Wisp IMP] <PK> <HERALD> [Luck] [Spirit] Vanisse the Myth Weaver, Mirage of Fortune
[57 Gnome DEI] <PK> [Air] Vevier the Collector of Secrets
[51 Jotun HER] [JUSTICE] Solmundi Visindi the Darksworn
[ Trean ] Fraxinus Ornus the Cadet
[ Human ] Mannfred the Greater Golem Maker
[ Gobln ] <HERALD> (Lore Keeper) Valindra Skitterwit the Poetic Prognosticator, Lore Keeper of Myth
Players found: 6
[KEEPER] The Balance prevails within the four kingdoms.
There are 6 characters on; the most on this past month was 18.

(You think 'But how...?')
///


You close the polished wooden box.

A Viewing Room Within the Repository
| Sound and orientation seem to vanish as you step into this
| room. Only the gnome-sized door you came in through seems
| to have meaning in relation to your corporeal form. In the
| center of the room amidst the vast stasis is the keystone
@ | to the secret stored here.
|
|
|
|
---------+

[Exits: door]

You say 'How is it that I have a memory that is not mine?'

Vevier shakes her head and presses her hand against her tummy as it wrenches with concern.

You say 'I must find out.'

You open the polished wooden box.

The room explodes to the echoes of another.


///
Within the Azure Flame
| Sparks of silver and blue brush you and caress you with
| blinding luminescence. The smell of a cool, fresh breeze
| permeates the air, ruffling your hair and whispering into
| your ear sweet nothings that melt within the mind. The sound
@-o | of music can be heard in the core of your thoughts, invading
| every cell in your body and overwhelming you with a sense
| of both yearning and utter fulfillment. You feel tears spring
| to your eyes unbidden as you are immersed in the loneliness
| and grandeur of the melody.
---------+

[Exits: east (south)]
This small hovel door has moss and vines growing upon it.
A mottled wolf keeps watch over its master's abode.

The whisper grows to a discernible voice - deep and growly, speaking in a tongue unfamiliar to Serin.

The whispers shift their resonance, twisting the magic of the realm.

A sudden burst of dark magic flashes from near Enthema.

You mull over the idea at hand, asking for patience.

The Mindflayer's Study
| A small workbench has been set up here for studying upon.
| You see many lengthy scrolls on top of the desk, still only
+-+-+ | half written. They seem to have been written in blood, perhaps
| | human. The walls of the chamber are adorned with pictures
@ | and portraits of illithids of all descriptions, and on the
| south wall you see a huge detailed picture of the human brain.
|
|
|
---------+

[Exits: north down]
(White Aura) The ancient mindflayer stands here awaiting something.

Players near you in Enthema:
<PK> Vanisse The Mindflayer's Study
<PK> Vevier A Shaking Passage

You yell 'What's going on over there?'

A Shaking Passage
+-+-+ | The walls of the cavern seem to shake as if under tremor.
| | They shake silently, vibrating in a violent manner and
+ | yet without so much as a creak. As you stay here they
| | seem to close in on you, before suddenly parting again
@ | miles and miles apart. The whole area is bathed in a
| | warm blanket of total darkness, the source of warmth
+-+-+-+| unknown but certainly present.
| ||
+-+ +|
---------+

[Exits: north south]
Vevier is here crouching over a pustule.
A dully glowing, cancerous pustule has formed on the cavern wall.

You peer around yourself intently.

Vevier growls gently 'Come forth little ones.'

(You think 'Is that me?'
Vevier studies the memory-image of her possessed self, with its face twisted up in a vile leer.
You shudder at the horror and repress tears.)

A frumpy pink bonnet sits askew on the bushy blond hair belonging to this
gnome woman. Twisted brown eyes glare out at the world from behind a pair
of dirty spectacles which are precariously perched on an over-sized nose.
The bits of dough stashed about her person are starting to bake from the
heat of her flesh. One shoulder dips lower than the other and a small pink
and white apron falls from waist to mid-knee.

She likes to bake.
Vevier is in excellent condition.

Vevier is using:
<used as light> (Glowing) a small hot ball of fire
<worn over face> a pumpkin mask
<worn on ear> (Unidentified) a pair of black rose earrings
<worn on torso> a white cotton shirt
<worn on legs> a pair of bermuda shorts
<worn on feet> a pair of soft leather sandals
<worn about waist> a long white apron
<held> (Humming) a blue glass eye
<worn as shroud> the soul of Vanisse holding up an ear trumpet
<floating nearby> a mystical blueberry
<tattooed> (Humming) a magpie clasping a golden lavender lotus

Vevier straightens sharply as you enter the room and red clears from her eyes.

You peer around yourself intently.
You say 'What was that?'

Vevier says 'Oh this?'
Vevier looks at a tumorous growth.

You say 'It seems new.'

Vevier grins too widely for her little gnomish face.
Vevier growls 'It is the future.'

You poke it in the ribs.
You say 'The future... of what?'

Vevier's face twists into a grisly version of her own. The deformation is enough to set her spectacles askew.
Vevier growls 'All of Serin.'

You say 'How does it work?'
You mull over the idea at hand, asking for patience.
You say 'Are you alright there?'

Vevier steps back and gestures at it with her little flour-covered hand.

The pustule squirms and shifts, as if something is pushing at it from inside.

You shudder at the horror and repress tears.

Vevier growls 'Look closer...'

You say 'It looks like a boil.'

Vevier licks her lips as she studies you.

Vevier growls 'Lance it.'

(You think 'Don't!')

You are using:
<worn on head> a fluffy white cat
<worn on torso> a baggy, incredibly comfy looking grey sweater
<worn on legs> a pair of form-fitting black pants
<worn about body> a carrot costume
<wielded> a pair of dentures
<worn as shroud> the soul of music
<stored in quiver> a bundle of idiots
<tattooed> (Shimmering) a dove-winged emerald lyre

You stop wielding a pair of dentures.

You say 'Not sure if I want to eat THAT.'

You wield a broom.
A broom feels like a part of you!

Your beating injures a tumorous growth.
Your beating injures a tumorous growth.
A tumorous growth has a few scratches.

You peer around yourself intently.
A tumorous growth has a few scratches.

[***] You dodge a tumorous growth's slash.
Your beating injures a tumorous growth.
A tumorous growth has a few scratches.

You wave your hand at a tumorous growth shooing it away.
A tumorous growth has some small wounds and bruises.

[***] You dodge a tumorous growth's slash.
Your beating injures a tumorous growth.
A tumorous growth has quite a few wounds.

Vanisse sweeps at the tumorous growth furiously.
[***] You dodge a tumorous growth's slash.
Your beating hits a tumorous growth. (12)
Your beating injures a tumorous growth. (15)
A tumorous growth has quite a few wounds.

Your kick DISMEMBERS a tumorous growth!
A tumorous growth is DEAD!!
The pustule suddenly explodes with a spurt of burning lava, and demons begin to pour out.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A branded demon footsoldier claws its way forth from the pustule.
You yell 'Help! I am being attacked by a branded demon footsoldier!'
[***] You parry a branded demon footsoldier's punch.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A branded demon footsoldier claws its way forth from the pustule.
You yell 'Help! I am being attacked by a branded demon footsoldier!'
[***] You parry a branded demon footsoldier's punch.
A red-eyed quasit bursts from the pustule with a devilish cackle.
A branded demon footsoldier is in excellent condition.

You say 'What!'

Vevier growls 'Yes, my dreadfuls. Pin her down.'

Vevier circles around the fighting and fades into the shadows.

(You think 'Where am I going?'
Vevier tries to turn her head to follow herself, but Vanisse is looking the wrong way.)

You say 'Vevier! What are you up to?'

A branded demon footsoldier yells 'For Cy'rx'thx!'

You say 'For who?'

(You think dismally 'For Cy'rx'thx.'
You frown disapprovingly.)

Vevier steps out of the shadows.
Vevier growls 'You haven't heard of me, Mythweaver?'

You say 'Obviously not!'

Vevier growls 'How ironic, that your doom comes from one who has escaped your vast sight.'

Vevier steps out of the shadows.
Vevier steps out of the shadows and captures you between her deft hands.

Vanisse struggles to break free.

You say 'Let go of me!'

No way! You are still fighting!
No way! You are still fighting!
No way! You are still fighting!
No way! You are still fighting!

Vevier pinches you between her fingers, lifting you to her face.

(You think 'NO!')

You say 'No!'

Vevier growls 'I don't think so.'

Vevier growls 'We have both been waiting for this for a long time.'

You say 'We? Both?'

Vevier growls 'Eater of Gnomes and Weaver of dreams.'

(You think 'No, it isn't true.')

Vevier licks her lips hungrily, then slurps you in like a wet noodle.

The Elimination Chamber
| The last thing that goes through your mind is your teeth.
|
|
|
@ |
|
|
|
|
---------+

[Exits: none]

***

Your vision suddenly reorients to your typical height.

You burp loudly and the red glow in your eyes intensities.

Power of wisp and god course through your veins.

You stretch out your arms and utters words of dark power.

Power courses from your body deep into the bowels of the Underworld.

Dark growths push forth from beneath the ground, bearing demons in their wake.

You grin too widely for your face and a satisfied cackle snaps through your lips.
///


You close the polished wooden box.

A Viewing Room Within the Repository
| Sound and orientation seem to vanish as you step into this
| room. Only the gnome-sized door you came in through seems
| to have meaning in relation to your corporeal form. In the
| center of the room amidst the vast stasis is the keystone
@ | to the secret stored here.
|
|
|
|
---------+

[Exits: door]

A polished wooden box sits upon a pedestal in the center of the room.

Vevier shakes as she steps away from the box.

You say, shudderingly 'I didn't...'

Vevier brings her floury hand to her lips as a gentle belch escapes.

Vevier places her hand on the polished wooden box.

You say 'I ate an implementor.'