Aesthetic Appreciation

The Aetherplex Chamber.
The spherical chamber is formed from a hollow geode comprised of dozens of precious gemstones. Large jagged formations of rubies, sapphires, diamonds and emeralds line the walls and ceiling. The floor has been cut and polished to a brilliant shine, revealing concentric circles of brilliant colours. Upon close examination of the glassy floor, shimmering reflections briefly glide across its smooth surface of wondrous mansions and abodes. A current of electricity continuously runs throughout this mineral wonder, causing tiny sparks to erratically blossom up and down the crystalline formations. Hidden deep within the environment lies a mystic pathway. Shimmering with aetheric energy, a bright glowing portal floats here in midair. Hackles risen, a fierce timberwolf prowls about here. A screech owl is here, surveying the surroundings. There are 2 great brindle mastiffs here. A giant bat hangs here, wings folded about its body and one beady eye open. Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow is here. You see a sign here instructing you to use the PORTAL command to enter the aetherplex system. There is an aetherways portal here.
You see exits leading north (open door), south, out, and through a bright, glowing portal.

You reach to your sense of the many wyrden songs and begin to softly hum a low, dark tune. Your heart beats in tune with the Wyrd's melodies, soothing your spirit and calming your mind.
[Xiran sees: In accordance with a beat you can't quite hear, Esei begins to softly hum a low, dark melody.]

Blinking, Xiran slowly comes out of her reverie to listen to your haunting tune.

You have emoted: Esei's soft humming does not abate, though their attention shifts to Xiran, their eyes like reflective obsidian.

You tilt your head curiously at Xiran.

Xiran blinks and hums, soft and brief. She drops a wingbeat as the maestro rushes back to his quarters. Then again she hums, cautiously seeking the beat of the dark melody.

You think to yourself: Careful there...

You have emoted: Esei quirks a brow at Xiran, their heel tapping gently in tune.

You tell Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow, "** you feel -something- press against the dark of the aether, seeking, roving, but waiting, as if searching not for an opening, but acquiescence. **."

Flushing slightly, Xiran soon corrects herself, her wingbeats sychronising with your heel tapping.

You beckon to Xiran.
Xiran begins to follow you.

Xiran follows you ether.
A crossroads within an old wyrden wood.
The shadowy outline of a twisted forest casts a dark gloom here. A subtle beat perpetuates in the air, resonating with the natural sounds of wildlife. The sky above the crossroads is a pale, dusky purple during the lightest of times and pitch black during midnight, leaving a sense of a sky with neither sun nor moon. A single lamp post has been erected here, its lantern glowing with a pale lavender glow. Purple loropetalums grow in clusters around the path, all but blocking some and leaving others open for easy travel. The forest beyond is made up primarily of ravenwoods, hemlocks, and rowans, with the occasional flash of birch or ash. A black direwolf is here, blending in with the shadows. You see a sign here instructing you to use the PORTAL command to enter the aetherplex system.
You see exits leading north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, and out.

The soft voice of Xiran tickles your ear, "** There is a flutter of resistance, mist rushing to obscure the aethers with white. Then, slowly, as if unconsciously, the haze unravels with each haunting meter. **."

You have emoted: Esei's humming seems to steady here, lifting into something smoother and darker, like a haunting nocturne, as their attentions drift back to Xiran.

Xiran breaks off from the beat, dim confusion flickering in her eyes at the change in surroundings before the song shifts, and her wings seek to meet songbeat once more.

A sense of purpose and pride for the Glomdoring swells within you as a three-finger ring bearing an amethyst scythe pulses against your hand.

You tell Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow, "** for a brief, brilliant moment, you see as they see, hear as they hear; the Shadowbeat thumps dark and heavy in your heart, urging you ever onward, as the Drums ring in the distance as the pulse of the Dark Heart. then it is gone, like a whisper upon the wind, drifting away as their senses recede from the aether, wreathed once more in incense smoke and shadow. **."

The sky's lavender twists darker as night approaches, a twilit shade of dusky mauve seeping over the pale lavender of the bowl of the sky, slowly darkening as the evening grows long.
Shadows grow longer in anticipation for the return of their dark mistress as Father Sun's chase brings him closer to the world's edge.

You have emoted: Esei's humming slowly tapers off as the day seeps to night once more, the changeling making the sign of darkness even as they observe Xiran closely.

A black direwolf tilts back her head in a low, resonant howl.

Xiran sways, head jerking slightly. Her mouth parts to utter sharp notes, whether in resistance or defiance, it is hard to tell with her naive ability. And the Shadowbeat subsumes her halting tune.

Shadows swirl around your arm as the Fingerblade of dha'Wyrden-cree digs itself more painfully into your finger.

As the sun passes below the horizon's edge, Mother Night unveils her terrible, shadowy beauty, spreading darkness across the land.

You whisper, "Xiran... what is it you seek?"

The soft voice of Xiran tickles your ear, "** An expanding sense of yearning to understand extends across the aether as the mists clear in their entirety to reveal a lone cedar tree, tall and wide. Ancient with silver-green needles. At your question, the green immediately recedes into the haze. **."

You reach out and embrace your hidden heritage of a changeling, and slowly transform into a faeling.

You lazily draw your wings to and fro through the air, fanning them slowly.

Jolting, Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow says, "Eh?" Her brow furrows in confusion, eyes drifting to the rhythm of your wings as she finds her voice, tremulous as it is. "Er. What I seek? Today? At the aetherplex?"

Xiran's gaze flicks away from your obsidian gaze, but finds no focus in the starless sky.

With an ethereal, smoky lilt, you whisper, "You seem to seek understanding. Of what?"

The sky achieves full shadow, a pitch black expanse with only a few gasping, drowning stars for light stretching overhead. There is but a gaping hole where the moon should reside, as if the astrological body has been torn from its orbit.
Midnight shadows coalesce around a new day, and Mother Night embraces the land in utter darkness.
It is now the 4th of Urlachmar, 597 years after the Coming of Estarra.
There are 8 days until the New Moon

Xiran shivers violently.

You have emoted: Esei's gaze remains upon Xiran, black and unblinking.

Huffing slightly, Xiran bites her lip as if holding back a laugh. Smiling helplessly, she says, "What indeed."

With an ethereal, smoky lilt, you whisper, "Do you think I will harm you, or judge you?"

Xiran shakes her head, smile shifting to something more rueful.

Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow says, "No, my nieph." She adds softly, "I do not think such. But no, my nieph. I think it is better I do not come to understand."

Tilting their head, you whisper, "Why not?"

Chin still lowered, she meets your dark gaze. Xiran echoes quietly, "Do you think I will harm you, or judge you?"

You have emoted: Esei steps closer to Xiran, their head tilting the other way. "Why?" they ask, voice almost gentle.

The sky becomes streaky with shades of pale blues and purples, spilling like watercolors across the twilit canvas, before lightening to a pale periwinkle for just a moment before sliding gradually back to lavender.
The horizon glows with burnished shades of orange and red, heralding the imminent arrival of Father Sun upon the rim of the world.

She floats back, despite all being your domain. Xiran says, "Whuh. Why would I do such? I have done so before, if in superficial ways. I am still Serenwilde, and I may well do so again."

With an ethereal, smoky lilt, you whisper, "And yet... you still listen to the call of the Shadowbeat?"

Defensively, circling as she backs way, Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow says, "Just. Just an aesthetic appreciation."

You have emoted: Their gaze staying on Xiran, Esei remains in place as their wings tremble and fan back and forth, trailing lazy motes of shadow and silver. "Is it?" they ask softly.

Glorious rays of morning light burst forth from Father Sun's crown as it peeks over the world's edge, announcing a bright and shining new dawn.

Xiran swallows, something tensing in her neck as she grimaces slightly.

Voice gentle, you whisper, "I am sure you would feel you are betraying your Forest if it were more, no? So you would hide it, drown it, instead. It is your home, after all."

Reflexively flaring her wings to their fullest extent after missing a wingbeat, Xiran flushes indignantly. Voice rising, she says, "To understand would not be a betrayal. But it is a brush with the Wyrd, undeniably. And--" she cuts herself off, frowning. Her voice softening, Xiran says, "Don't offer this, my nieph."

With an ethereal, smoky lilt, you whisper, "Why not? Are you afraid?"

Locking eyes with you, her voice grave, Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow says, "I am not."

Wings cascading dark motes as they shift their weight from one foot to the other, you whisper, "Then why would you shy away from such an offer?"

The soft voice of Xiran tickles your ear, "** You see her presence in red-crackled silver, lines of lightning pulsing quietly. Yearning? Fear? Or perhaps determination. Whatever it may be, it is ill-contained. **."

With an ethereal, smoky lilt, you whisper, "Or is it that you shun the Wyrd?"

Xiran blinks. She chuckles once. Smiling helplessly, she exposes her scarred palm. "Shun, my nieph?" She slowly shakes her head. "Let us stop this, while we still can."

With an ethereal, smoky lilt, you whisper, "Is it a crime to try and understand what is before me?"

You tilt your head curiously at Xiran.

Playfully, Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow says, "I may ask you the same, someday. But not today, dear nieph."

You have emoted: Esei tilts their head, black eyes remaining on Xiran as their expression slips into something harsher once more. "Very well," they whisper.

You reach to your sense of the many wyrden songs and begin to softly hum a low, dark tune. Your heart beats in tune with the Wyrd's melodies, soothing your spirit and calming your mind.

Picking up the beat for a few meters, Xiran blinks and stops her own humming.

Spirit-Touched Xiran Stormcrow says, "A good evening to you, Auspice."

Xiran curtseys gracefully.

Xiran leaves to the ether.

You hum thoughtfully.

You think to yourself: We shall see what comes of this, then.