---

Mir assumed nearby if she doesnt join

Time kept seeming to slip through Fiora's paws like so many droplets of water, and despite her growing anxiety to check on Elysium, to see if her Mother had yet returned, she forced herself to keep going. This journey, it couldn't be for nothing. She had to do something, had to help, had to improve the quality of life for all those in Mythris - not just her homelands. So onward she went, still more or less in the same direction her little sister. She paid closer attention now, perhaps, made more of an effort to be present for Mir after their last revealing, deep conversation.
She had... changed, but didn't seem bothered. Fiora decided to keep her mouth shut -- be it some wild experimentation or something more sinister, her sister was happy in her new skin, and it was undoubtedly Mir. They simply carried on as if nothing had changed, because, well... it hadn't, not in the ways that mattered.

She had learned to travel when the sun dipped low in the horizon and the heat didn't sap at her very strength; this evening found the sprightly Bacchus bouncing along inside the canyon where she could jump from rock to rock and vault off of surfaces otherwise, enjoying a burst of zoomies as she ran along, apparently unbothered and free. The sun was nearly set, she was fresh out of a nap, and her heart was soaring at this new, fun area they'd come across. Even with doom looming over their heads, the snowy witchdoctor would never fail to take a moment for easing the rough edges the world tried to carve in them. It was hot, and the breeze only just stirred across the sandstone walls of the canyon, but Fiora didn't care.

She ran, she jumped, she vaulted off slabs of rock that stood sideways, she lived.

But always, her scanning amethyst gaze sought for something... wrong, out of the ordinary, otherworldly, listening for the voice of the Visitor and hoping for the millionth time his words would finally whisper victory in her ear.

Rune Discovery : 「 Success - Parasite present 」 

---

The canyon's high cliffs burn for several moments like fire, then slip into shades of copper and deep umber as the sun gradually dips lower and at last out of sight. While the air still holds some of the suffocating heat from earlier, lengthening shadows offer what respite they can as the stone around you quickly cools into a more tolerable - and traversable - temperature.

As night sets in, the canyon grows stranger, and when you look up you could swear something moved in the darkness as the last of the light fades to a dim, formless grey; an unsettling sensation ripples up the length of your spine, but perhaps it was just the oncoming chill. The Wastes had turned into a veritable hellscape beneath the relentless plague-sun, but once the stars emerged and the world had fallen into a quiet hush, the air became frigid, the ground growing as cold as the ice-sheets of the Alpines until you could see your breath coming out in plumes of steam until the chill seeped into your bones.

Yet you remain undeterred.

Frolicking carelessly through a canyon now wreathed in shadow, you fling yourself off of the next rock - but your ankle twists - and you yelp out in surprise as you tumble down, down, falling head over paws until you find yourself in a small crevice wedged against the base of one of the cliffs. You quickly assess yourself for damage, determining you're mostly unharmed (if bruised) - then something twinkles and catches your eye, a stone slab partially submerged in a small pool of water in an alcove further ahead. You're surprised to see any water this far into the canyon, but then again, natural springs could form anywhere; even the desert.

Even here... a soft voice whispers pensively in your mind, although you don't think it's talking about the pool.

Do you fetch it out?

If someone had told Fiora a year ago she'd be feeding into chaotic zoomies in the bottom of a canyon searching for magical runes buried by time and ancestors to Mythris in order to save the world... well, even the eccentric young healer would've laughed in your face. Failing to resist the urge of frantic zoomies, sure, but everything else? Leaving home without her Mother at her side, risking her life for someone unknown, unsure of the path ahead? No, no way! She wouldn't have imagined she had this kind of.... resolve. The fortitude to push on through the elements with no shelter or comfort in sight through the ache of missing her family, the way it all reminded her of quiet weeks alone searching for anything familiar. It wasn't that she even thought herself weak or unprepared, but there was a level of discipline necessary to keep moving forward when it would be so much easier to turn her sights to home and wait for something else to fix things.

But here she was, having failed every step of the way beside her successful sister, just desperate to do some good, just happy to be along for the ride.

With a sharp twinge in her ankle, everything is turned upside down.... several times, literally, as the Bacchus woman slipped deeper into the ravine, tumbling, a grunt or squeak pushed from her at each impact. When finally she came to a halt, she was dizzy, and sore, and she groaned out a note of surprise in the form of a slowly drawled, dramatic, Ow.... before looking around. She thought she could climb back out, with some effort; pants shaking her lightly, Fiora just sat up and laid there for a moment as she evaluated. Nothing broken, nothing twisted where it shouldn't be, only a few cuts barely wet with blood and some tender spots that would certainly bruise.

It was then she realized there was still something ahead -- squinting, pulling herself to her paws, Fiora glimpsed the shine of water and something within its shallow pool. Curious, she was already taking a staggered step forward when a subdued voice tickled her ear. Here -- HERE! There was something here! Excited, heart rate spiking, Fiora surged forward despite the protests from her aching body, calling Mir! MIR! I found something! Could her sister hear her? The snowy witchdoctor bayed an enthusiastic summons for Mir just in case.

And then, paws plunging into the pool with furious gusto, Fiora tried to shift the slab out of the water. If she had to, she'd grip an edge with her teeth and yank it out.

She wanted so desperately to simply help.

Rune Discovery : 「 Success 」 

---

It was unfortunately necessary to utilize your jaws to pull out the slab, and although you were met with immediate success, something sinister and unseen festers within its tepid waters. Microscopic spores travel via the rune's slick surface and enter your maw, but you are none the wiser as you remain focused on the task at hand and subsequent victory.

The tablet hums in response to your touch, pulsing to life as a soft blue glow emanates from its etched surface and casts an eerie light against the surrounding ravine walls. You're almost giddy with excitement, and as the voice utters a relieved Well done, you can't help but feel something isn't quite right in the moment.

Oh well. No matter.

More remain to be discovered - but you are diligent, little healer, the voice continues. Even the smallest puzzle piece is a step closer to its resolution.

Now you have to figure out how to get out of here.

And tomorrow... or perhaps a few days from now... you will begin to feel different.

Parasite Event for Fiora:

---

You have several options as a player when confronted with infection.

You may either
1. Choose to automatically fail in repelling the spores, becoming infected
2. Roll for infection (1d100 - 50 and under fails, 51 and over succeeds in repelling the parasite)
3. Choose to repel them, but suffer a crippling migraine and muscle weakness for two in-game weeks

You may roll, or you may request staff to do so.

This keeps things fair enough where players can still have some autonomy while also ensuring they participate in plot developments! Symptoms do not manifest immediately, and may take up to three days to begin.