If Only

[Lirimana]

Ascending Wood, 12


*It was growing dark as Lirimana continued making way to the main Manse that was Ress and Arachnia's, finding herself near a ruin that she was sure had once been a part of the glorious empire of the past. Though that didn't mean it wasn't beautiful in its own way. Lirimana smiled as she came to a stop on the edge of the ruins. She looked up at the sky and her smile became a grin. Twilight. How ironic and yet so perfect. She was sure Ress wouldn't mind if she stopped for a moment to search the ruin, after all, she was just going to sleep less in order to make up that lost time. She did make a promise, after all... She first did a visual inspection to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous that would be triggered by touch, lighting her caste mark for more light. When she was satisfied, Lirimana started in and picked up various rocks and examined them, touching any standing pillars and gently moving any plants in her way* So delicate and yet so beautiful... *Lirimana kept a quiet expression on her face, one of both awe and respect, as she continued searching, not looking for anything in particular since it didn't look like there would be any transportation assistance in here, but who knows?* Wouldn't an intact set of Wings of the Raptor be just great? I think so, after all, it's taking me a week just to do these trips one way. That's two weeks round trip, you know. With a set of Wings, I could do it in half the time, probably.. *she chuckled, as though she expected the ruins to respond and maybe even turn up what she was looking for* Just lovely... You really are inspiring... *she checked the time again and pouted to herself, it was time to sleep or else she'd be running on fumes. Figuring that this was as good a place as any, she nestled herself against a stone and drifted away until the sun rose when she would continue on her way, intending to revisit this ruin on her way back*

((5 successes banked on a Perception+Investigation roll))

[Lirimana]

Ascending Wood, 18


*Lirimana was on her way back to her Manse now after the work of subduing Quar-Zagot. It was too bad that she had to destroy whatever that thing was that had been controlling the Elemental.. She would have loved to take it apart with precision and look it over. Crafting wasn't her biggest objective, but it was certainly something that she was finding more and more enjoyable. With the new boots on her feet, travel was much faster, something this Twilight was surely grateful for. Still, it there was an emergency, she would need something faster and more reliable. It only took a second to kill someone if they did it right, and to be honest, Lirimana wasn't very fond of the idea of any of them dying, not even that damned spider-woman... Sure, she didn't like her, but she didn't want her dead, necessarily.. It wasn't long before she arrived at the same ruins as before, right about the same time, too, she realized. Taking a moment to enjoy the sunset, Lirimana took in a breath of victory air and turned towards the ruins, intending to find something useful to bring back. She had no intentions of leaving until she found something, even if that meant she wore herself out looking. This time she took a slightly different route in the ruins, remembering what she had seen a few days prior. Looking under rocks and examining anything that could be auspicious or promising, anything even hinting at a hidden jewel nearby. Occasionally she would tap things with her spear if she was suspicious of a trap, knowing that the magical materials were indestructible by mundane means*

add 5 successes to the bank and I will cash it now. ^.^

[Ress]

ascending wood, 18

* Among the rubble, the vines and the cavernous ruins, Lirimana would find a small silver writing brush. upon its use, she would discover this brush required no paint or ink to write, and wrote in all colors of the imagination*

( Silver brush found)

[Lirimana]

Ascending Wood, 18

*Picking up the brush, Lirimana studied it for a little and tried it on the nearest rock, going through a few strokes before deciding that it was a simply a fancy writing brush. She remembered reading about those that could change colors and so she tried to will it into a blue ink, but it remained black. A sigh left her lips and frown crinkled her face a little. What else was it they could do? Well, what would a busy or lazy Solar of the First Age want a brush to do? Write on its own, change colors, imitate anyone's handwriting... Hmm. Setting the brush on a piece of parchment she had in her bag, Lirimana took a step back* Brush, record the following in the language of Old Realm: It is currently night. *after that experiment she would take the brush and put it to the paper herself* Brush, in the hand of Emperor Ress, write the following: It is currently night. *as she wrote with it, she looked to see if the ink flowed to a different style than her own*

[Ress]

ascending wood, 18

* The brush did nothing more than write without ink, not at all responding to any of her commands*

[Lirimana]

Ascending Wood, 18

*Lirimana frowned again as none of the commands worked. Maybe she was saying it wrong? Did it need Essence? Solars in the First Age had that to spare, so maybe it did. In one last attempt at making it do something more interesting for the night, Lirimana invested a few motes of the energy flowing in and around her body into the silver writing brush, willing it to do something other than have no need for ink. She felt like striking a dramatic pose, but refrained from doing so, that wouldn't help the brush do anything, that idea only worked in plays.. Still, it seemed sort of anti-climactic if the writing utensil didn't do anything this time. After her attempt at investing Essence, she went through the previous exercises to see if anything would result*

((invested 3 motes of Personal Essence into the brush))

[Ress]

* even with the essence invested, the brush did nothing else. just wrote with different color and consistency ink*

[Lirimana]

Ascending Wood, 18

*Even after the Essence was invested.. still no change!* Damn.. *Lirimana sighed in disappointment and put the brush in her pocket and gave the ruins a review inspection and, finding nothing more for the night, started to make her way back. Well, that was surely disappointing, she felt like she had searched so thoroughly and yet this was all? I guess you can't win them all.. Maybe she'd come back during the day, ruins had strange things like that sometimes... Hope was such a strange thing, when you didn't confirm your hopes it was detrimental, but when your hopes came out the way you wanted, there was few things to make you happier.. Emotions were funny that way.. Whistling a little and walking the rest of the way home, she arrived at noon the next day to take a nap and continue on her work schedule. Saving Elemental Dragons took it out of you.. She laughed at the thought, since it obviously wasn't true, what with searching a ruin and then walking back all in a row hadn't exhausted her. Man, being an Exalt was great! With a smile on her face, the Twilight laid back on her Thousand Comforts Lounge and dozed for a few hours*