Spark

    It's another typical night in Eas. People have turned in a most lights are low. The usual guard patrols check in, then resume their endless watch. All of this goes on without intervention from the Baroness. Everything just seems to work these days.

    Which might leave one wondering just why the Baroness is out at night. She's slipping away from the castle, past the village, and along the old 'secret path' that is now simply the road to the mines.

The lights are low; a perfect setting for creaturest that thrive in darkness.

Grues. Bogeymen. Nightmares.

Spriggans.

They are silent, they waft silently through the shadows, unseen, unheard, until it is too late.

Uta is no exception. One moment she is not there, and the other, she simply appears in front of the Baroness.

"Greetings, Lady Bombast! I hope my visit finds you well.", she begins, with a bow. "I am once again asking for your diplomatic support," she states, calm, collected.

As it is common for her of late when visiting Eas, she is spruced up in a properly formal attire, as etiquette demands; her movements contained and cotnrolled, her posture straight and collected.

"Do you happen to know a few nobles I haven't negotiated with yet?"

    Wake looks at Uta, just staring for a moment. She raises a hand and sets a finger on the Spriggan's lips. The Baroness says nothing, simply signalling for silence. With a patient crook of a finger she indicates that she is to be followed.

    The way is not long, though one might think that Wake is fearing pursuit. She covers her trail, doubling back and making loops. When they finally reach the destination, which is a point well above the mine's entrance, along a concealed path in the mountains, it has been nearly an hour. Only then does Wake stop and lean down to pick up a stone, under which a long, slender box has been cunningly hidden.

    

Uta follows, not without signs of nervousness and impatience. Quite uncharacteristic for her, under normal circumstances, but Wake will, by now, be quite aware that Uta's circumstances are all but normal. Her main concern is her Conservatory; an all-consuming, obsessive urge.

Still, this doesn't mean that Uta is incapable of other tasks, and Wake's ambiguous actions hint at this possibly being related; so, Uta melds into the Darkness again, and follows Wake.

Once the box is unearthed, she crouches down and wateches with interest. In silence.

    The Baroness cleans off the wooden box with care. Only when it is spotless does she open it. Inside are two items. Most prominently, a slender rose of unsurpassed beauty. It is untouched by time and inspects as 'Witherless Rose'. It's one of the items Wake found not too long after the logout function vanished. Many times there were chances to use it. But it has always been held for a more important purpose.

    The stem of the rose bears a ring. Judging by the color, it is either white gold or platinum. The band has roses and patterns of musical notes engraved in it.

    "Beauty in the dark," Wake whispers softly.

    She turns to regard Uta carefully, trying to determine in a glance the condition of her friend. "Lost in a fey mood, are we? I suppose it cannot be helped."

Uta, normally, would be enthralled by an object of beauty and rich significance like the rose; as things are, however, she barely glances at it. Her eyes, conversely, latch onto the ring. Immediately. And don't let go. She quietly hums the notes engraved on the ring, pretty much to herself, but not so quietly that Wake cannot hear them as well.

At Wake's comment, Uta looks at the Baroness. The Spriggan's gaze is laser-focused, but laser-focused elsewhere; her mind swims in and out of touch with the present time, the present place... the effort there is patent, and soon overwhelmed. "Uh? What? What mood? What are you talking ab-" She rubs her eyes. "The song... that ring has a song on it..." she says again, and her attention latches onto the ring again. "Jewellery with the Landers' Songs engraved on them. That could be a great idea. People wearing them on themselves. Additional insurance against them being forgotten- maybe, maybe, Hm. Musical jewellery? Hmmm."

There she is, squatting, hugging her knees and rubbing her chin; invited to a magical, intimate setting, and yet, so lost in a single detail.

    On the bright side, Wake need not worry that anyone but her could find their way here. Had she used a blindfold and carried Uta the whole way here she'd have no less of a memory of the convoluted pathway. But this time, Wake isn't leaving a valuable. She's taking them with her.

    "It is a song, but not of this world," the Baroness replies. She doesn't linger in this place. She never does. She will lead Uta down, this time using a separate path. It's not a shorter one, nor would it be said to be easier. It just ensures that things are confusing as possible and makes it seem to anyone who might follow that this may have simply been a walk.

    In fact, the alternate path affords some dramatic views. Along the way, Wake turns aside to lead Uta suddenly out into the open, on a stone pinnacle that suddenly juts out into the air. The great arc of the falls is suddenly in full view. The lights of the castle and the pale glint of light on the Dome of Stars mingle with the endless mist of the rushing waters.

    "I haven't taken anyone here before," Wake says suddenly. "Can you hear it? You speak of the songs of the Landers, but there is a more ancient music yet, and it cannot be so easily captured."

To add to the confusion, Uta pays no attention to the road at all; as she's led away from the hiding place of Wake's treasure, the Spriggan keeps looking away and mumbling to herself. "Miniature music boxes one can wear. Like a brooch with a cameo portrait, but auditory. I wonder if a skilled Accessory Forger could build such a thing," Uta continues mumbling to herself.

Most of the vistas are lost on her, unless she's specifically directed to them, and even them, they don't seem to capture her attention for long.

"Jewellery also makes for great heirlooms, passed on from generation to generation. Hmm. And even if it were to be sold... yes, yes. I think we might be onto something here."

The spectacle from the stone pinnacle though- that is a whole different story. The roaring of the waterfalls punctuated with the light of Castle Eas do cause her to start; it's the kind of sight one just cannot be insensitive to.

She stands there, conflicted, confused, her drive against the majesty of the sight assaulting every sense of hers, until Wake mentions an even more ancient music, not easily captured.

So she stands, and listens.

    The song of the falls is the most obvious. Of the natural instruments here, it is the most difficult to deny. But it is not alone. The wind moves through the mountains. It blows and gusts endlessly in the spring, and along the rocks it sighs, shrieks, whistles, and whispers.

    The insects have awoken and the birds join them. Each contributes yet more to the song. The sighing and creaking of the trees, as well. It is one giant symphony.

    "There is no silence here," Wake says softly.

Uta stands silent for a while. Listens. Takes in. Listens.

And then she turns to Wake. "Prelude to Song. Are you familiar with that event?"

She returns to look ahead of herself. "It is said to be the source of the 42 Songs."

Another pause. "I am but a newbie, but I'm told that the time ratio between the real world and the game world used to be 50 to 1. As in... for every day that passed in real life time, the in-game calendar would advance by 50 days."

"Now, if one extrapolates that calendar -backwards-, the Prelude to Song in the Elder Tale lore would end up... strangely close to the Flash of Death. Why. Why is that?" Uta turns to ask Wake. "This is undeniably harmony. Beautiful. But. Tere is more to the Songs of Yamato than just their beauty and harmony," Uta continues, after looking back at the waterfalls. "They might hold the answer to why many of us are what they are now. About what was Lost out there."

There is silence. She still looks in the distance.

Hard to tell if completely focused, or utterly lost.

    Wake smiles, waiting longer still. Much later, she will lead Uta away once more along one of her paths. It is hard to say just how many she has at this point, or why the Baroness treks them at night. In the end, they end up at the Dome of Stars, and a warm place to sleep and rest. Wake will ensure Uta does get a break from her work. Music and nobles are easily found here, but only on the other side of a night's repose.