Private Below Solid Ground, Stillness

[Efret Farr]

Efret did descend soundly. Her landing had been soft, but not soft enough to spare the bed of woolly hedgenettle at her feet came to specifically rest in. As she touched down, her legs bent gently at her knees and then rebounded. The master similarly unclipped her line from her harness before stepping away, letting it hang freely. She knelt similarly to Cora before the damage she had accidently created, but her attention was caught by the blossoming meadowsweet.

"Stop," she teased with a smile before the children came. "You'll make me hungry."

She turned back to the plants she had trampled. "This is woolly hedgenettle," she told Cora. "Many less technologically savvy civilizations use the raw leaves as antibacterial bandages that encourage blood clotting. As a tea, they provide treatment for colds, gum and throat infections, asthma, and even sties when cooled and used as an eyewash."

Efret wasn't sharing the knowledge just for knowledge's sake, though that was often her way. This time, it was something of a test. Knowing about edible herbs was close to but not the same as knowing about their medicinal properties in the way that Elias Edo did. If Cora's reply made it seem that she was agreeable to herbalism, Efret would feel more at ease about seeking out traditional medicine, though the particular remedy she was interested in didn't involve herbs. She might even tell the princess as much.

After coaxing the fuzzy groundcover to fluff back up, Efret stood and turned to Cora and the newly-bloomed vine.

Past the children giddily watching on, the front door of the cabin to which this garden and its fences were connected swung open. A Fondorian woman stepped out and approached the gathered group. She wore a bandana on her head and a simple wool dress with an apron. The children parted to make room for her. "Hello there," she said, smiling. "Welcome to Deep Well, strangers."

"We've fixed the damage our landing caused to your garden," Efret offered.

The woman's smile grew. "Don't fret about it, my new friends. It's the hazard of living under a ventilation shaft."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

There was a playful chuckle from Cora at the mention of making Efret hungry. Her attention was drawn toward the herbs that had been flattened, listening intently.

"Woolly hedgenettle," she repeated, watching as the master restored the delicate plant. "We've something similar on Ukatis called maiden's hand. I'm not sure if it has a scientific name, but it's used for similar ailments." She tapped her chin with a finger in thought. "I think it needs to be steeped into a tea…might need to be dried first? Ah, I used to know how to prepare it when I traveled in the countryside. Modern medicine hadn't spread far beyond the capital at the time, and many people in rural areas relied on herbal medicine."

Part of her travels there had been to lay the groundwork for Alliance-backed clinics in agricultural towns and villages, but she'd been charmed by the used of more traditional medicines, learning as she went. After all, many modern remedies had their roots in nature.

"I found it could be rather effective in the right hands."

Her smile grew sheepish as the garden's owner exited her home. Fortunately, she did not seem upset with their landing.

"Corazona von Ascania," she offered her name with a bow of her head. Some habits died hard. "We've come from the New Jedi Order."

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

So she was agreeable.

But before Efret could reflect more on that revelation, the homeowner appeared, and all three had exchanged words.

"Yes," Efret added to Cora's introduction. "And I'm Efret Farr."

The woman bowed her head back to them both, not in mimicry of Cora's motion but out of deep, sincere respect. "We're all honored by your presence," she said. The children at her side watched on in awed silence, eyes darting from their kin to the strangers now in their midst. "Please, come in for a meal."

"Surely."

Efret walked behind Cora to the garden gate, unlatched it, and pushed it gently open. When she had passed through, she held it open for the knight. As Cora followed, Efret paused to assure her, "It's a customary," before following the Fondorian into her house. She had an Empathetic feeling that Cora would be more than embarrassed at their situation at this point. Being fed by the being whose garden they damaged, even though they had prompted restored it? What could be more horrifying?

In truth, Efret was actively tramping down something other than woolly hedgenettle: her own cultural conceptions of humility and shame. She was well-practiced in the process, having honed the skill over a bit more than a decade, but it was ironically no less difficult to succeed at than it was the first time she had ever engaged in the mental exercise. In fact, it was even harder on some days, one of which was thankfully not this one. The beliefs and values of a being's home culture makes up the nucleus of their ego. Jedi were not immune to this. Thus, experiencing cultural dislocation shocked the ego. At best, it caused slight discomfort; at worse, it triggered intense grieving reactions. Efret was leaning far towards the more diminutive end of the spectrum. She hoped Cora wasn't overly distressed.

Strangely, all six of the children filed into the house after Cora as well and sat on the floor around the quaint little kitchen.

The homeowner motioned to the simple, wooden dining table with four chairs situated around it.

Before Efret took a seat near the door, she pulled out the chair opposite of where she wanted to sit for Cora. It's be easiest for her to lipread if they were positioned across from each other.

The Fondorian woman went to the fireplace where a large clay pot of something boiled, emitting gentle wisps of light grey steam. "Do you make bread soup where you come from?" she asked with her back towards the Jedi as she stirred the mysterious concoction with a long, wooden spoon.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Oh-"

Cora's cheeks flushed a healthy shade of pink. She'd felt fortunate enough that the woman hadn't been upset with them, but being invited inside for a meal after they'd trampled her garden brushed up against aristocratic sensitivities.

What could be worse than imposing yourself on someone you'd just caused trouble for? Ignoring a local custom to feed your own sense of shame, apparently. Cora trotted dutifully after Efret with a nod, still feeling rather sheepish.

She smiled her thanks to the woman, then again to her Jedi companion as they entered the home and a chair was pulled out for her. As Cora settled in, she first took note of the children seated about the floor, then the stew simmering in the fireplace. A warm, hearty scent drifted through the dining area.

"I can't say that I've heard of bread soup before," she admitted. It sounded like a peasant dish. "Have you, Master Farr?"

The archaeologist was far more well-traveled than she.

Cora's gaze once again slipped back to the children, fondly. "Are these little ones all yours?"

She'd come from a large family, too.

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

Efret smiled graciously, grateful that Cora rephrase what she assumed had been said without being asked to. "No," Efret signed truthfully. "It sounds very pleasant. I'm always glad to try something new."

The woman turned away from the pot and the fire to look at the Jedi. Her brow crinkled slightly. "Are they mine?" she echoed intuitively. "What do you mean?" Before Cora could offer clarity, their host continued. "They're ours: the Quarter's."

"Yeah!" one of the younger girls said proudly, sitting up straighter where she sat. "We're the future."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"The Quarter's?"

A small noise of understanding hummed from the back of Cora's throat soon after she spoke. It had not been how she was raised, but she felt as though she understood the concept. In the rural parts of Ukatis, families who resided in small villages often looked after one another's children.

She couldn't help but smile at the little girl's declaration.

"I'm inclined to agree," the Jedi said. "What do you wish to be in the future?"

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

The girl's brown eyes shone up at Cora. "I want to be a sufi!"

Thanks to the research she had done before coming here, Efret knew the word and what it meant to the Fondorian Luddites. It was the term for a mystic of Deep Well's spiritual tradition—in other words, one of those she was here to find and petition for help.

But she left it alone for now. She had learned too that it was a violation of hospitality to talk about business during meals offered to you by a stranger. The conversation steered itself back to food, as the bread soup was ready to serve. The woman produced four clay bowls out of a cupboard and as many normal-sized spoons out of a drawer, then filled each bowl with a hearty helping of tomato-based soup. Two were for the Jedi, one was for the children to share—which they did happily, giggling periodically and play fighting over it—and the last was for herself.

After their shared meal, Efret finally spoke what had been on her mind for some time now. "Does a sufi live nearby?"

The woman nodded as she began clearing off the table. "Yes, in fact." She looked up, as if realizing something. "Ah."

Efret's brow creased slightly. "What?"

She nodded again. "It makes sense. I saw you force yourself to eat. Someone gave you the evil eye."

Efret didn't reply. She hadn't expected to be read by this woman and she had never been a good liar, even when it benefited her and didn't do much harm to anyone.

"And your Order cannot help you?" she asked rhetorically before frowning and tsking her tongue softly. "Sad." With that, she walked away to the sink behind her with the dirty dishes and utensils. "But you came underground. That is good. Go see Nazar. He can help you."

Efret glanced to Cora. As far as what she had caught of their host's comments, so much for keeping her true intentions private.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

A sufi?

"Oh!" Cora exclaimed cheerfully, mirroring the girl's excitement. "How marvelous."

She hadn't a clue what a sufi was, but she gathered that it was a title of reverence. Before she could inquire further, the conversation shifted back towards food.

Meals in the Ascania household were a formal affair. Each member of the family had their own assigned place setting, and they certainly did not eat out of a shared bowl. Cora had grown more used to casual meals after joining the Jedi; dinner time decorum wasn't needed when eating in a cafeteria or during survival missions.

There was a levity to the home that did not exist in the Ascania manor. Whether it was the pleasant conversation or the giggles and shrieks of the children, she did not know, but it was a welcome change from how she'd been raised.

As the meal concluded, Efret brought up the sufi. Cora watched the exchange carefully, pleasantly, silently. Worry crossed her features at the woman's mention of the evil eye.

When Efret would glance toward her, she'd find Cora's expression full of concern. In the unfamiliar chaos of the meal, she had failed to recognize that her friend was struggling to eat.

What else had she been struggling with?

Turning to the woman, her expression brightened. "Thank you. Can you tell us how to find Nazar?"

From what she’d guessed based on their conversation, this Nazar was some sort of spiritual healer or medicine man.

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

It was Efret's turn to make assumptions. Given the parts of the conversation she had been able to follow, Nazar was probably the local sufi's name. After that realization washed over her, so did a wave of mixed horror and shame. Well, now Cora definitely had an idea about what was going on underneath the Lorrdian's warm, agreeable surface.

Before she was aware of what she was doing, she was reaching across the table for Cora's hand. If she was able to capture it, Efret would give a gentle squeeze and a small smile—both movements that, in hindsight, she wasn't sure if were meant to express more assurance to Cora or to herself.

Their host answered, walking back to them, "Go two roads over, away from the canal. Turn left and walk until you come to an olive grove, then pass through it until you find the house within. It is his."

She glanced at Efret, who looked back to her, aware of the shadow cast on the tabletop. "Go now," she added urgently and with a curt nod of further encouragement. "Quickly. Preserve her Light."

Efret was first to rise, taking her hand away from Cora's if she had been covering it. She stepped away from the table, pushed in her chair, and went to the door. As she opened it with her back, she ushered Cora back onto the walkway outside.

As the Jedi left, the Fondorian woman addressed the young ones inside, some of which had risen to follow Deep Well's guests. "Entertain yourselves elsewhere, children. These things are not meant for you." But in the next moment, the two women were walking away from the house, and the children slipped from their minds as they went to find Nazar—Efret, trying and failing to worry about all manner of things; and, Cora, surely, confused at to just what was going on.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora made no move to pull Efret's hand from her own, but her fingers did give a single twitch. Being unaccustomed to casual touch did not mean that it was not welcome it from a friend.

She returned the small smile in kind.

Two roads over, left. Olive grove.

Another smile, this one politely forced was given to the woman who'd fed them.

"Thank you, truly. For not just the meal, but the directions."

Much like Efret, Cora caught on to the undercurrent of urgency. When they excused themselves from the house beneath the ventilation shaft, the blonde twisted her head to make note of the canal's location.

As she fell in step beside the Master Jedi, Cora was quiet. Simply put, she did not like the idea of a friend suffering - but lacked the familiarity with Efret to know how to best approach this. After fumbling her own thoughts in silence for a few moments, she elected for plain words in a gentle tone.

"Can I ask," the Knight began, her voice slow and tentative. "Have you been ailing, Master Farr?"

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

It was very out-of-character for Efret to not express thanks to another who had done something, anything, for her. She hadn't forgotten to sign a sentiment of that sort as she hurried to depart from the kind stranger's house, but rising emotion had prevented her from doing so. Her fingers began to tremble at her sides as she pushed the door open, hoping that Cora had made their shared gratitude known.

As she and Cora began to follow the woman's directions, wandering first over two wood-paved streets. Narrower foot paths of native rock passing between houses joined them together.

When Cora spoke, Nirrah turned her head to look at her, but Efret didn't. Though she was able to lipread through her visual bond with Nirrah, the archeologist didn't dare directly look at the younger Jedi yet. Still, she rose her still-shaking hands first to wipe at a tear forming under her left eye and then to sign. "Call me Efret." Her name wasn't fingerspelled like her surname was; instead, it was a unique sign that she had programmed into her interpreting unit. "I feel suddenly very intimate with you. Formality seems inappropriate."

Efret stopped walking with a sigh. She turned to physically look at Cora, guided by her good sense of direction even as she was seeing through Nirrah. "I'm sorry, Corazona. I didn't mean..." No. She didn't, she hadn't, but it didn't matter. Also, with any luck, that didn't have to be explained. For many reasons, Efret didn't give off the vibes of a misleading person, for malicious reasons or any other. It would be much better if Efret answered her colleague's question honestly, and so she did. "Yes. My mind's bound to a Dark Jedi artifact. A weapon. I see all the awful crimes it and its owners committed.

"The visions..." Efret's own gaze flit away from Cora then back, a nervous reaction even though it didn't effect her sight. She bit one side of her lower lip. "I won't, but they want me to commit them."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's next heartbeat dropped in worry. The elder Jedi had not been facing her, but she'd studied what she could of Efret's profile perhaps a bit too closely as a tear was wiped back. As she stopped and turned to face her, Cora worried that perhaps she'd pushed a bit too far.

Concern etched heavily into her expression and she remained quiet, giving Efret the space she needed to tell her how much, or how little of whatever it was that she wanted to relay.

Bound to a Dark Jedi artifact. Cora's expression flared in surprise before it fell back to that place of concern.

"Oh, Efret…" she trailed softly. She did not need to press further to understand the nature of the visions she'd been subject to. How awful was the Dark, that it would force such a kind and gentle person into something so awful? "I'm sorry. I had no idea. I…"

This is not about you, she reminded herself carefully. Cora extended a hand and placed it on Efret's shoulder. "That is why you've come here? To seek the sufi who can help?"

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

"Yes." Efret wiped a tear away again. "I visited two nexuses, one on Spintir and one on Svivren. I thought that on Spintir, under the effect of Light and Dark, I could reflect on how to rebalance myself, but I couldn't resist the Darkness. And on Svivren..." It was her turn to trail off, brow furrowing deeply. "Its Light influence was too strong. I felt my head and heart would implode."

If it was possible, her expression dropped even further. "I fear I'm not a Jedi anymore. I'm sorry to have asked you to come with me under a false impression. I didn't know what to do. I still don't."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

As Efret relayed the attempts she'd made to heal under the effects of the nexus, Cora's brow knit deeper in concern.

"I fear I'm not a Jedi anymore."

Something about the way she'd spoken - disheartened and exhausted - sent a fracture through the core of her heart. For a few long moments, Cora simply stood there in stunned silence, a hand on Efret's shoulder, trying to find her words.

"Don't - please. You did not do so out of malice," she began, mouth suddenly dry. "You're hurting, Efret. I cannot begin to fathom what you've been through. But there have been times…more than once, where I've felt similarly. About not feeling truly like a Jedi."

The hand at her shoulder gave a firm squeeze.

"If you'll have me, I'd like to join you in visiting the Sufi. If you'd rather I keep my distance, well, then, I'll understand. But I won't leave you alone in this."

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

Efret watched on as Cora spoke, her expression changing with almost every word. A sad smile slowly came to her face as her brow smoothed. She pressed her bottom lip up against her upper one until the former subducted a few millimeters. Even though Cora bid her not to, Efret still felt very shy and sorry, but also safe thanks to the reaction that had been given.

"Come with me," she replied before covering the hand on her shoulder with one of hers. Even as she moved to continue following the directions to Nazar's house, Efret didn't let go of Cora's hand. The archeologist's grip was not tight in any way, allowing for Cora to release her hand easily if she would like. Efret craved the physical contact, but she would understand and not take the rejection to heart if the platonic possibility of holding hands didn't agree with Ukatish customs.

Either way, hand-in-hand or just side-by-side, the Jedi stepped soon enough into the aforementioned olive grove. The pathways were rock here but had been leveled out so that large, clay pots of soil could be placed on even ground. An olive tree with a light brown, twisted trunk grew out of each. Most were seven or so meters tall, their canopies overlapping to cast most of the path in shadow, though not darkness. The green of their fine, lance-like leaves were so sage as to give the impression at a distance of silver while the green of the plump olives scattered among them was so warm that they appeared golden.

It was a beautiful interplay of color.

They didn't walk for much longer until they came upon a house not unlike the ones that they had seen along the roads. Efret approached the door and rose her hand, but before she could form a fist and rap her knuckles against the plank, the door opened. A hurried, male voice came from within:

"Yes, yes, come in."

One of his arms, lean and draped with colorful strings of beads, extended out of the doorway. As Efret passed inside the threshold, he gestured for Cora to do the same—and quickly. Inside, they stepped into a cozy living area smelling of the bundles of dried basil hanging from the ceiling and the sunlight streaming in through through a window.

"Sit," the man, assumedly Nazar, bid the women as he came into the room from the doorway, which was now closed. He motioned to the couch. As they went, he took hold of a nearby, barrel-like stool and moved in in front of the couch for himself.

"You know why we're here?" Efret asked.

"I do," Nazar replied, nodding his head once. "I dreamt that two stars would fall today and grace me with their presence. It is my honor to serve you." He glanced from Efret to Cora, then back to the first and held up three fingers. "I will do three things. I will cleanse the evil eye you have on you now, I will give you a ward to prevent future attacks, and I will teach you how to care for your spirit."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Only when Nazar invited them inside did Cora let go of Efret's hand. The gesture had surprised her at first, but she made no move to pull away during their walk. As they'd come upon the grove of twisting trees, she even gave her hand a squeeze. It spoke of silent encouragement: I am here.

The blonde bowed her head as she was lead through the doorway. As she straightened, her gaze caught the hanging bunches of dried leaves dangling from the ceiling. She'd seen a similar site in a medicine woman's hut on Ukatis, once.

Nazar's home was quaint and cozy. The air smelled of herbs and sunlight.

Cora joined Efret on the couch as the Sufi got down to business. Blonde brows arched faintly in surprise that Nazar had been foretold of their arrival - fortunately, that appeared to be a good thing.

Yet, the promises he laid out seemed a little too good to be true. Cora glanced to Efret in an attempt to gauge her expression and body language. Turning back to Nazar, she nodded once. This was not her decision, but she felt compelled to suss out a little more detail.

"What do you ask of us in return?"

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

After watching what Cora asked, Efret turned her attention to Nazar. "I have money—" she began.

The mystic held up a hand and shook his head. "I do not want anything material from you," he replied. "You have been having nightmares, yes?"

Efret nodded.

"So have I. I fear a groundquake is coming, one that will not move the earth but will move its people."

A small pout etched into the chief curator's face. She glanced at Cora, wanting to gauge the princess' reaction. Efret's many journeys had exposed her to just as many riddles and prophecies that often made little to no sense until they came to pass. This one was the same; it meant nothing to her right now, but maybe Cora had an instinctual understanding, or even an educated guess. She looked back to Nazar.

"I ask you both to do all you can to stop it."

Efret's eyebrows rose then knit together. "Us?" she asked, gesturing from Cora to herself.

Nazar nodded.

Once again, Efret glanced to Cora. She didn't want to commit Cora to something she wasn't willing to undertake, least of all a task that lacked any real definition yet. "You don't need to help me," she told her. "You can be done and wait outside."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

As Efret looked to her, she would find Cora's rapt attention on the sufi. The blonde had let his words wash over her, face firmed and brow knit as she tried to decipher his meaning.

One that will not move the earth but the people?

The only thing she managed to parse out was the looming threat – not to the Jedi, but to the people of Deep Well. She hoped that Nazar would be able to tell them more, lest they walk into this without the ability to prepare.

"Huh?"

This time, she caught Efret's glance toward her. It was not the motion of her eyes, but her words that had Cora frowning.

"Of course I do. Not to say that I think you need helping, but-" she waved a hand vaguely, "we're in this together now, aren't we?"

To her, it seemed so very obvious that she'd be along for the ride. A beat passed, and Cora realized that Efret was giving her a way out if she needed one. That thought had her firm expression melting into something soft for the curator before she turned back to Nazar.

"Which will come first? Efret's healing, or…" she place a hand on the woman's shoulder "...the groundquake?"

Efret Farr

 

[Efret Farr]

"Her healing," Nazar said to Cora though Efret now faced him again as well. "I am not cruel. I will not make you wait any longer." He rose his hand and tilted it back until the pad of his thumb pressed silently against his lips. "Wait here." After putting his thumb to Efret's forehead, he stood and moved out of the room into the olive grove outside.

He returned in a minute and a half and placed a brown chicken egg, still warm, in Efret's hands. A nearby end table was set with a selection of glassware and he grabbed one before taking his seat again. As he set the cup between his thighs, water sloshed gently against the glass sides. "Your kind battle against bad beings with rays of sun, hm?" He motioned to the lightsaber hilt hanging at Efret's belt. "I do battle with eggs. Now, tell me how your symptoms came to be. It was a monster that cursed you, yes?"

Efret finally found the confidence to set the egg in her lap to sign. Guarded by her command of the Force and understanding of physics, it probably wouldn't roll off. He must have seen Angry Braid in his precognitive vision, she thought. A towering Evereni with icy eyes and the facial features of a corpse, he surely appeared a monster even to Efret who had trained most of her life to know better. "I believe he's just a corrupted man," she corrected the sufi, "but yes."

Nazar knit his brow, for the first time appearing concerned. "Evilness among the stars is a disfiguring disease."

"It can be," the archeologist agreed.

It was as if the presence behind his gaze withdrew for a few, elongated moments. During them, Efret stole yet another glance at Cora.

Then he was back, glancing between the women. "Forgive me, but do you think...that such physical effects will befall Deep Well?"

The question implied that Deep Well was somehow tied to the Dark side of the Force. Perhaps it was haunted in a way similar to Efret. In any case, Efret couldn't sense any such connection, not because the Force didn't flow underground as it did above but because her affliction made it difficult to sense Dark influences outside of the one cast upon her unless they were overwhelming, like they had been on Coruscant when the Temple was overrun or on Tython at the seeing stone.

"Why would they?"

"Many lifetimes ago, our ancestors retreated underground to escape the coming change that would unite the rest of Fondor's tribes and develop them into what we are told they are today." In the course of her research, Efret hadn't read up much on the history of the settlement itself, just on the customs. Thus, the information Nazar shared was new to her. Based on what little he had said, she detected a thread of Dark side influence, but the fear of change was a natural phase that most civilizations went through. What mattered most was how they dealt with it, so how had Deep Well?

Nazar continued, "Our survival has come at a high cost: that of our hearts, stolen away by their selfishness for a way of life that would have been better buried in the wasteland."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because here we are."

Efret wet her lips, a nervous tic as she tried to formulate a response.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Nazar returned with an egg, and Cora arched a brow. It took a conscious effort for her to keep the other one from rising. She was not wholly ignorant to the oddities of alternative medicine – many rural Ukatians relied on it, for better or for worse – but this was a new one. After a few quiet moments, her brow smoothed.

Her attention perked silently as Efret began to relay more details of her situation. When the archaeologist next caught her gaze, Cora tried to convey subtle encouragement, but her expression was notably somber. Afflictions of the Force could be crippling, and she did not know to what extent Efret had suffered. Though they had triumphed over the Dark Empire during their assault on Coruscant, it seemed that neither woman had escaped unscathed.

There were certainly quite a few Sith and Dark Jedi who had earned the title of monster in her eyes, but Cora did not interject with her own opinions or questions. Not until Nazar revealed a little more of Deep Well's nature, along with his concerns.

"A degree of selfishness is not unnatural. Necessary to survival, even. But when allowed to fester, it can take on an ugly shape."

Cora brought her fingers up to cup her chin in thought. There were many forms that the Dark could take; some were blunt and obvious, while others were more subtle and insidious.

"Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? Something physical, like a person or animal acting strangely? Crops dying or growing in strange formations for no reason?"

She was brought back to the nexus on Ukatis that lived in a woodland river. Before it had been purified, it sapped the life from the surrounding forest and drove the wildlife into a frenzy. Cora chewed the inside of her cheek, figuring that a mystic like Nazar wouldn't be one to scoff at a more esoteric line of thought.

"Or just...any place in particular where you get a bad feeling?"

Efret Farr