Character(s): Aisling and Open to Anyone
Content: Aisling’s been making a place suitable for her to live in…
Setting: In between Joutenheim and the Actua Are Hotel
Time: Late afternoon, Week 20
Warnings: Aisling is very protective of her “forest.” But may warm up to visitors.
Something strange had been going on near Joutenheim. The water level in many of the nearest fountains had mysteriously dropped significantly. Toward the Actua Are Hotel of that gate’s area, a sweet, floral smell had been spilling into the street. And sometimes, at night, mist could be seen flowing through an unobtrusive archway. To those who were curious enough to peek inside the dark, winding tunnel leading in, sometimes they’d hear singing, or growling… or a flash of white, or glowing eyes, as if a lumen was lurking beyond the threshold.
Inside, to those who had previously taken time to visit the small grotto past the dim, nondescript entrance, they had found a wide, tall space with sweeping, colorful arches that, while beautiful, held up nothing at all, since there was no ceiling; it was open to the dome-sky. And amongst these pillars and arches were a variety of Paixao’s treasure-plants: silk grass, silver bushes and crystalline trees with golden apples.
Those people who had visited it would have trouble recognizing the place now.
Just past the first curve of the tunnel, there now was a haze of mist that obscured the sight of the grotto, but once past, there was something unseen anywhere else in Paixao: Plants. Real, living plants, with mist flowing in and about them, obscuring places here and there. The floor had been elevated several feet, formed into little hills and dips, and shifted with the softness of soil. The silken grass had been covered and replaced with a bed of white flowers and ferns. Here and there, mushrooms lifted their heads. The walls and archways were overgrown with vines, giving the impression of a thick forest canopy, with portions of the dome-sky visible only here and there. The false trees were gone: in their stead were small oaks. Likewise, the silver bushes had vanished, replaced with thriving fraughan bushes. Large stones dotted the miniature landscape. Moss clung to them, making them appear almost plush in places. And in one corner was a stone-lined pond, about seven feet wide.
However, whomever managed to go this far would likely notice another thing: A low, ominous growling. Nearby, green, glowing eyes could be made out through one of the thicker patches of mist...