A Fortuitous Frozen Discovery

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 6, Post Number 129

-Silent Glaciers, 12:00 P.M.-

It was noon, but one would not know it if they looked at the sky. The midday sky was cloudy and there was a light wind blowing at the moment, but the wind was starting to get stronger. Leona knew that because whenever it got particularly strong she felt the cold cut right through the sleeves of her winter jacket. Fortunately she was dressed for cold weather.

Wearing her winter camouflage gear with white balaclava over her face and yellow polarized snow goggles on her face, Leona wore her Arctic Armor on her torso. She had thick white gloves on her hands and white winter boots on her feet, so she was more than able to withstand the cold. The worst she could feel was a moderate chill whenever the wind knifed through the sleeves of her jacket. As bad as the cold was at the moment it would have been a lot worse if she had not worn her Arctic Armor.

To round out her gear Leona carried the Scout Laser Pistol in its holster on her right hip and Ses Revanche in her right boot. She did not expect to do any fighting out here, but having a weapon or two handy was seldom a bad idea. With all of the gear she was carrying Leona was ready for almost anything.

Leona stood in front of the frozen delta and looked at the water, admiring its natural beauty for a minute or two before she went deeper into Silent Glaciers. It did not matter how many times she saw the delta because she would always stop and look at it like she had never seen it before. The blonde was mesmerized by the beautiful blue water and its pristine surface that gently moved in the direction the wind blew. In her opinion its beauty was not diminished by the lack of sunlight.

Leona took a quiet breath of cold air and forced herself to look away from the delta and towards the woods in the far distance. As she looked at them she recalled her purpose in coming out to Silent Glaciers. She was here to resume the test of the armor's heating ability that had been interrupted by Amanda Smith wandering into Silent Glaciers dressed for much warmer weather and totally lost. Maybe today her test would not be interrupted by anything.

Leona looked back at the delta for a few moments more before finally looking away from it and turning towards the woods in the distance. She would head for the woods and walk through them to get a bit of shelter from the cold wind that was starting to pick up. Her armor protected her from the worst of the cold, but she would not turn down any natural cover that she could find. Leona put her right foot forward and began the long walk towards the woods in the distance. It would be a long walk and the cold wind would undoubtedly be blowing the entire way, but she was here to test the Arctic Armor and the conditions were perfect for what she wanted to do.

Now was as good a time as any to see what the Arctic Armor could really do.

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-In the woods, forty-three minutes later-

Leona had taken her time walking the distance to the woods. She was being cautious because it had been awhile since she had been here and she did not remember the terrain features down to the last detail. She did not want to break a leg by tripping over something concealed by snow, so she played it safe and walked across the snowy expanse at a slower rate than she could actually move. Now that she was in the woods the wind did not affect her as badly because the trees were blocking some of it.

Leona stood under one of the trees just inside the woods and listened to the rustling of branches in the wind as she took a break from her travels up to this point. It was a soothing sound that she had heard before, but she never got tired of hearing it. It comforted her as she looked around the woods for anything of interest.

Behind her was the terrain she had just traversed to get here. To her right was yet another snowy expanse with nothing special about it. To her left was just more empty snowy expanse with nothing that made it stand out. The only real direction of interest was in front of her, so she started walking again while using the woods as cover from the wind, which had gained strength and was starting to blow harder than it had been earlier.

As Leona walked through the woods she felt the warmth of her Arctic Armor and felt her arms start to get a little warmer now that she was out of the wind for the time being. Except for her arms she was pretty comfortable in the cold thanks to the combination of her clothes and her armor. The wind chill must have been pretty high for it to cut through the sleeves of her jacket like she was not even wearing it. That was the only logical explanation she could come up with as to why she felt so cold despite the jacket.

Leona continued to walk through the woods while listening to the tree branches rustling in the wind and the sound of snow crunching beneath her feet. Aside from the sounds of the wind and her boots crunching snow the woods were quiet. She kept moving forward while looking straight ahead of her. She thought that she had glimpsed another wooded area some distance away, but she would have to get through the current wooded area first before she could get a clear look at what lay ahead of her.

-Outside the woods, twenty-five minutes later-

Leona emerged from the woods and stopped just outside their protection to get a glance at her surroundings. All around her was more featureless snow-covered ground, but what was in the distance was what caught her attention. She thought that she could see the outline of another wooded area far in the distance, but she was not entirely sure. She would have to get closer to it in order to get a better look.

Leona had a lot of ground to cover and the wind was starting to pick up again, so she had better not waste any time dawdling. She immediately started moving towards what she thought was a wooded area in the distance.

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-In the second cluster of woods, one hour and twenty-three minutes later-

It had taken Leona quite some time to cross the snowy expanse separating the first cluster of woods from the second because the distance between them was greater than she had first estimated, but that was not a serious problem because she had traveled here looking for to test the Arctic Armor and traveling in the cold for long distances was a good way to test it. She was more than a little cold because of that, but that was nothing her Arctic Armor could not take care of. She reached down for the manual control panel on the armor's front and raised the heat by one level. She began to feel a difference almost immediately... her arms did not feel quite so cold and the shelter of the trees helped her warm up even faster.

Leona looked at her surroundings and did not see anything special. In front of her was woods and outside of the woods was yet more snowy plains that seemed to stretch into the distance with no end in sight. That made the choice of direction to travel in very simple. She was going to travel straight through the woods until she reached the other side.

With that she began to put one foot in front of the other and slowly make her way through the woods. Just like she had done when crossing the snowy terrain beyond the delta earlier she was going to take it slow. She was in unfamiliar terrain and the last thing she needed to do was get hurt because she had been in a hurry.

-Deeper in the woods, seventeen minutes later-

Leona kept walking through the woods at a leisurely pace while looking at her surroundings. She was not seeing anything out of the ordinary yet, so she kept walking in a straight line while listening to the wind blowing the tree branches overhead. Speaking of the tree branches, the tree canopy in these woods seemed a little more dense than that of the previous woods because it was somewhat darker in here. Leona was not concerned by the lack of light, though. Her natural night vision soon took effect and when that happened she could see clearly like it was daylight.

Leona kept walking while looking around and keeping an eye out for anything unusual. So far all she was seeing was trees, trees, and more trees, but that could change at any moment. She might encounter an enemy like Mordecai the mysterious gunslinger or she might encounter something more mundane like another traveler in the area.

-Deeper in the woods, twenty minutes later-

Leona had traveled quite some distance since her night vision had taken effect, but she was not out of the woods yet either metaphorically or literally. She had not seen anything to break up the monotony of seeing nothing but trees all around her and was starting to wonder if she would ever get out of here. Leona was going to keep going, though. There had to be something beyond these woods.

At least she hoped there was something beyond these woods.

With that thought to sustain her the blonde kept putting one foot in front of the other. Maybe she would find something of interest either in the woods or outside of them. At this point hope was the only thing she had to go on.

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-Outside the woods, twenty-five minutes later-

After what seemed like hours of walking Leona had finally made it out of the woods, but in front of her loomed yet another featureless expanse of nothing but snow. The blonde sighed. She was hoping to find something really interesting, but it seemed that she was destined to be disappointed. At least her Arctic Armor was working perfectly and the wind had died down some. The wind was still cold, but it was now a gentle breeze instead of a strong wind that cut through her jacket sleeves every time it blew.

Leona would take any break she could get.

She took a quiet breath and started to walk again. She really wanted some coffee right now. It would be a warm beverage and it would also give her some much-needed energy with which to keep walking through the cold. She needed to invest in a container in which to carry the beverage anywhere she went.

-Thirty-five minutes later-

Leona was glad that the wind had died down because she was out in the open with no cover and if the wind got really cold again she would definitely feel it. She continued to walk towards yet another patch of woods in the distance when she spotted something gleaming in the distance. It was not as strong as it could have been thanks to the lack of sunlight, but it was still bright enough to attract Leona's attention. When she saw it her posture straightened and she felt a boost of energy.

She had finally seen something interesting.

Leona turned to face where she had seen the light and turned her body towards it, then started walking towards it at a brisk pace. She wondered what the gleaming object could be. She wondered if it was a weapon, piece of armor, or a piece of valuable jewelry. She would find out when she got to it.

-Forty-two minutes later-

Despite the brisk walking pace it felt like it had taken all day to cross the area, but now Leona was within sight of the gleaming object. The sight spurred her to keep going until she reached it regardless of how long she would have to walk or the distance she would have to cover. Leona pressed on towards the object that was resting in the snow not too far from her current location. She only had a short distance to go before she could find out what had caught her attention.

-Eight minutes later-

A short walk later Leona was standing in front of a shining object that was roughly the size of a human fist that was partially buried in the snow. She bent over and reached down, grabbing the object with both hands and pulling on it. At first it resisted her efforts to remove it, but after a few seconds of resistance it was finally pulled from the snow and Leona held the mystery object in both hands. She wasted no time in giving it a closer look.

It looked like a purple glass object with a strange pattern on it that reminded Leona of a crescent moon turned at roughly a 45-degree angle. She was not sure where it came from, but she knew that she was heading back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall with it. When she got back to the guild hall she was going to the library to try and learn something about what she had just discovered.

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-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, the guild library, ten hours later-

After finding the odd purple object that had been partially buried in the snow Leona had made a beeline back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall in order to try and learn about it. She had went to her room to change out of her cold weather gear and into normal clothing. In this case that consisted of a green tank top and her green, white, and gold skirt. Once she had changed she immediately went to the guild library for the first time in a long time.

Leona had pored over half of the books on ancient artifacts in the library and had come up with no leads as to what the object she had found was. To say that was disappointing was like saying that the ocean was wet. Leona shut the book that was in front of her and stood up, her legs feeling more than a little numb as she stood up from the seat she had been glued to for the last four hours.

Four hours in the library that had been spent actually studying... that must have been a new record for her.

Leona stood in place with her hands on the top of the table for a minute or two to keep herself balanced long enough to finally get enough feeling in her legs to move without falling over o the spot. The blonde had to take small steps because she still did not feel steady enough to take bigger steps, so she took small steps as she began to put back all the books she had put on "her" table in the library. Leona looked down at the books littering the table and sighed. It would take her awhile to put them all back, but she would do it, if only to buy herself time to think of someone who might know what she had found.

-Leona's Room, forty-one minutes later-

After completing the task of returning the books to their rightful places in the library Leona walked into her room and gently shut the door behind her, then walked over to her bed. She sat down on the edge and looked at the purple object, which sat on top of her desk. It was so shiny that it looked like the work of a master glass maker. She was not sure if it was made of glass, but the way it caught the ambient light in her room made Leona think that was the case.

Leona looked at the object for a few moments more before swinging her feet over to the foot of her bed and rolling onto her right side to face the wall. She was going to go to sleep for awhile because she did not have enough focus to see the project through right now. Maybe Leona would be able to think of someone who could tell her more about what she had found when she woke up in a few hours.

-Leona's Room, the next day-

Leona woke up and sat up straight, then slowly swung her feet over to the edge of her bed and stood up. She looked at the mysterious purple object for a few moments, then thought about a couple of contacts she had. Her first thought was Dr. N. D. Anna, but the doctor tended to be busy with research of her own and probably did not have time to spare to help Leona.

Leona's second choice was Eleanor Crouch, the freelance archaeologist she had helped get out of the Forgotten Deserts after the latter's water supply had run out and she was unable to get more without leaving the desert. Since she was a freelance archaeologist she might be in a better position to help Leona than Dr. Anna. But before Leona turned to her the mage was going to make one last effort to find the answers herself. She was going to return to the guild library and read through the books she did not read through yesterday.

With that Leona walked towards her room door, opened it, and shut it behind her after passing through. She was on her way to the guild library again. But first she really needed some coffee, so a detour to the guild cafe was in order. Once she had had some coffee she would start doing some more research in the guild library.

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-The Guild Library, four hours later-

Leona had tied her personal best for the most hours spent in the guild library actually studying, but she had still come up with nothing that could tell her what she had found in Silent Glaciers. Leona softly sighed and closed the last book she had been reading, then stood up from her table and stretched her legs. Unlike yesterday she had had the sense to stand up and move about from time to time, so she was not suffering from the painful numbness she had suffered from yesterday. Instead she was suffering from ordinary numbness, which would go away in a few minutes once she stood up.

Once she could feel her legs again Leona began picking up books to put back where they belonged. That task was going to take awhile, so she might miss out on the chance to speak to Eleanor about her discovery. It could not be helped... Leona was not going to leave someone else to clean up her mess unless it was absolutely necessary and today it was not absolutely necessary. There was no life-or-death urgency to visiting her archaeologist acquaintance... if Leona missed her today there was always tomorrow.

-Capital Crocus, outside Eleanor Crouch's home, seven hours and thirty-one minutes later-

Dressed in her green t-shirt and green, white, and gold skirt with matching boots, Leona was wearing her backpack with the object inside but she was not carrying any weapons for this trip. She was here to talk to Eleanor Crouch and she was not expecting any trouble that could be fended off with weapons. Leona stood outside the freelance archaeologist's house and approached the door to press the doorbell. She heard it ring and stepped back a single step to wait for the door to open.

Leona waited a few seconds and did not get an answer, so she walked over to the doorbell and rang it again, then stood in place. Nothing happened. She took a quiet breath and rang the doorbell one more time in the hopes that Eleanor would hear the doorbell and come open the door. Several seconds passed, then a minute.

Was the archaeologist even home?

She might be out in the field on another archaeological dig.

Leona stood in place for several seconds, then decided to wait a couple of minutes more to give Eleanor a chance to come to the door and open it. Leona's waiting was in vain. The door did not open.

Leona sighed.

This had been a wasted trip.

Leona was not sure what to do from here. She could either go to Hargeon Town and try to see if Dr. Anna was available or she could go back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and comb the guild library yet again for a book that could help her. In the meantime she turned around and walked away from the house to head for the mall. From there she would likely return to the guild hall and head to the library... unless she decided to swing by the mall to look for some tennis shoes instead.

Leona knew that she should be hurrying back to the guild hall to search the guild library a third time or preparing to make a trip to Hargeon Town to pay a visit to Dr. Anna, but she was not sure what to do. She was hoping that Eleanor Crouch could help her out, but that hope had been dashed. Now she would need to come up with a backup plan and a trip to the mall might give her the time she needed to think of another way to get the information she needed.

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-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, six hours later-

Leona had decided to pass on the shopping trip and head straight home to do the responsible thing and actually try to finish a project she had started. She had set her backpack down in her room and taken off her boots before going straight to the guild library to comb it a third time for a book that might be able to help her. For a third time she had come up with nothing.

Now Leona was back in her room trying desperately to think of someone she could get in touch with who might have knowledge of what she had found. Again she was coming up with nothing. Dr. Anna was likely busy with some research and so was Eleanor Crouch. The blonde put her hands on her hips and began tapping the floor with her right foot as she came to a realization.

She had nothing and no one to help her with this project.

Leona frowned and stopped tapping her foot on the floor. She did not have anything to work with and it was likely that she would not have anything to work with for a very long time. She looked down at the floor as she considered the possibility of having to scrap yet another project. As much as Leona did not want to do that, she had hit a brick wall.

Deciding to let the matter drop for the time being because she did not want to bring herself down with yet another failure, Leona decided to call it a day. She would work on trying to find a lead tomorrow. Maybe Dr. Reid, Dr. Madison, or another one of her scientist acquaintances could point her towards someone who had knowledge of obscure items like the object she had found in Silent Glaciers.

-The next day, Motor City, Dr. Reid's laboratory-

Wearing the same casual outfit of green t-shirt and green, white, and gold skirt with matching boots she had worn yesterday, Leona had carried the backpack with the object inside with her to Dr. Reid's laboratory. She was standing in the mini-kitchen with the doctor, who was already on her fifth cup of Motor City Nitro and was on track to get a sixth.

"What brings you here, Leona?" Dr. Reid asked the blonde. Dr. Reid was casually dressed in a pink tank top and blue jean short shorts with dirty tan work boots.

"I'm looking for information on an object I found in Silent Glaciers a short time ago." Leona said. She set the backpack down on the counter and fished out the purple glass object to show to Dr. Reid. The doctor looked at it and took a sip from her coffee mug, then lowered it to speak.

"I don't know anything about it." Dr. Reid announced without skipping a beat. Leona was not terribly surprised by that. Dr. Reid was a woman who was educated in science, not lore or the supernatural.

"But I do know someone who might be interested in that purple stone." Dr. Reid offered hope almost as quickly as she had taken it away.

"Who?" Leona asked laconically, feeling a small amount of hope that she might actually be able to finish a personal research project.

"Dr. Madison." Came the response. Again Leona was not very surprised. She suspected that the "friend" of the doctor's she had retrieved the digital camcorder for a week or two ago was actually the doctor herself, but all she had were suspicions, not solid proof.

"Dr. Madison, huh? I'll have to go see her then." Leona announced what she would do next. The doctor sipped from her coffee again.

"That's a good idea because I can't help you." Dr. Reid supported Leona's idea by reiterating her inability to help the Wizard Saint.

"Before I go, is there anything you need help with?" Leona asked her hostess.

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-Inside Dr. Madison's home, forty-three minutes later-

Dr. Reid had required nothing from Leona, so after a short visit Leona bade Dr. Reid farewell and went to Dr. Madison's house. The doctor was in and she was dressed in a blue long-sleeved shirt and knee-length black skirt with brown sandals instead of her usual black dress shoes. She was happy to see the Wizard Saint and bade her to enter the living room. Leona did so and the doctor shut the front door behind her.

"Hello, Leona. I wasn't expecting you to pay me a visit. What brings you here today?" The taller woman cheerfully asked Leona. Leona took off her backpack, opened it, and produced the purple stone. Dr. Madison looked it over and made eye contact with the Wizard Saint, giving the latter a smile.

"I have no idea what that is, but my friend might. We went to school together and even graduated from the same university. She's a scientist like me, but she studies arcane lore in her spare time." Dr. Madison informed Leona that her friend might be of some assistance.

"Really? Who's your friend?" Leona asked the doctor.

"A woman named Morgana Ravenholm. She lives in Capital Crocus." Dr. Madison divulged the identity of her friend and where she lived. Leona looked thoughtfully at the stone. She had been given a chance to actually finish a research project and she was going to take it. She did not care if she had to walk to Capital Crocus in order to get what she wanted... Leona wanted to learn about what she had discovered and would travel there as quickly as she could.

"Thanks, Dr. Madison." Leona thanked the taller scientist for giving her a lead. Dr. Madison continued to smile.

"It's no problem, Leona. Morgana should be able to tell you all about that purple stone of yours." Dr. Madison vouched for her friend. Leona would head there as soon as she was finished her.

"Well, I'd better let you be on your way. I can see the spark of curiosity in your eyes. I don't want to stand between you and your mission." Dr. Madison said to the Wizard Saint in a cheerful tone that sounded like she approved of Leona's mission. Leona's face showed embarrassment because it looked like she had only visited the doctor for information and was going to leave for Capital Crocus at the first opportunity now that she had what she wanted. Unfortunately for her both of those charges were true.

"I'll get going now, Doctor. Thanks again for your help." Leona said before putting the purple stone in her backpack, zipping it up, and putting it on her back.

"Good luck with your research, Leona." Dr. Madison bade the Wizard Saint farewell before opening the front door. Leona walked out of the house and the door was closed behind her. Now that she had the name of a possible source of information Leona was going to head to Capital Crocus and look for Morgana Ravenholm.

-Capital Crocus, five hours and forty-eight minutes later-

Leona had traveled to the outskirts of Motor City before summoning Winged Lion and flying to the outskirts of Capital Crocus. Once she landed she dispelled the summon and walked into Capital Crocus in search of Dr. Madison's friend. Realizing that she had forgotten to ask for an address, Leona asked around the city and eventually a kind citizen gave her the doctor's home address. Now Leona was standing in an expensive-looking part of town outside an expensive-looking mansion.

The mansion had three floors and had multiple windows. It had been made in an architectural style she did not recognize, but the mansion looked kind of old. Whether that was because of the architectural style or because it was old was something Leona did not know. She looked at the dark double wooden doors and began walking towards them.

When she reached them she raised her right hand to knock on the right door when she spotted a doorbell instead and walked over to it. She pressed it with her right index finger and heard the soft chime sound. Leona stepped back and waited for the door to open. Her patience was rewarded when the right door opened and out stepped a woman with long gray hair.

She was dressed in an open white labcoat worn over a brown jacket. The jacket partially covered a white dress shirt and the outfit was completed with a brown skirt and black dress shoes. Her facial expression made her look like she was either bored or sleepy. She was also about three inches taller than Leona. Aside from the long hair her most distinctive feature was her purple eyes.

"Are you Morgana Ravenholm?" Leona asked the woman. Her facial expression did not change as she made eye contact.

"Yes. How did you know?" She asked Leona.

"I spoke with your friend Dr. Madison in Motor City-" Leona started to explain before she was cut off with a raised hand.

"So Alicia sent you to me." Morgana said calmly.

"Yes." Leona replied laconically. Morgana gave a smile that was so small it was hard to see.

"Please, do come in. And please wipe your feet off at the door." The taller woman bade Leona to enter.

Morgana Ravenholm:

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-Inside Ravenholm Manor, the first floor-

Leona stood inside the living room of Ravenholm Manor and looked around Morgana's home. The carpet beneath her feet was a dark green color and had gold borders. The furniture was all black leather with the notable exception of a wooden coffee table that was made out of dark wood, possibly mahogany. The walls were not decorated and there was no television in the living room.

"Welcome to my home. I'm afraid that I don't know your name." Morgana welcomed Leona.

"I'm Leona. Leona Jarnefeldt." Leona introduced herself without her titles. The older woman gave another barely perceptible smile before moving on. She did not seem awed by her visitor... not that Leona cared. In fact Morgana might not even know who the blonde was. Again Leona did not care if she knew who she was dealing with or not.

"What brings you here today, Leona?" Morgana asked the Wizard Saint. Leona silently took her backpack off of her back, unzipped it, and produced the purple stone to show to the older woman. Morgana's eyes went to the stone and remained there.

"I found this object in Silent Glaciers. I tried to do some research of my own but couldn't come up with anything. Dr. Madison told me that you'd probably be able to help me figure out what this is." Leona explained the purpose of her visit to her hostess. Morgana's eyes did not move from the stone.

"Alicia's right, Leena. I have quite a library of books on arcane lore. Let me show you." Morgana said. She quickly walked out of the living room and was not waiting for Leona. The blonde quickly hurried to catch up with her hostess, following her up a fight of stairs that led to the second floor and making a quick turn to the left before going up another flight that led her to the third floor.

-The third floor, Morgana's library-

"And here's my personal library, Leena." Morgana showed Leona her personal library. It was a large room with wall-to-wall bookshelves loaded with books and two rectangular tables in the center of the room that were several feet apart but perfectly aligned with one another. The one on the left was loaded down with folders full of papers and stack of books while the one on the right was clear and only had a stack of three books and an open folder of papers.

Leona turned her attention back to the bookshelves and noticed that despite the clutter on the left table the bookshelves themselves were immaculate. There was no dust on them and all of the books were neatly arranged except for the occasional gap where books were missing. Leona turned her attention back to Morgana, who was reaching out for the purple stone.

"If you'd allow me to examine it, I might be able to find an answer for you." Morgana offered her assistance. Leona handed her the stone and Morgana darted over to a bookshelf on the right side of the room, setting the stone on the shelf in order to fish out a book. The Wizard Saint watched the scientist seize a book and pull it from the shelf, then dart over to the table with only a few books and one folder and shove the folder aside with her left hand before pulling the chair out with her left hand and rushing over to the bookshelf to retrieve the stone. Only when she had it back in her possession did she sit down.

"This will take awhile, so please be patient, Leena." Morgana requested. After everything she had went through to get to this point Leona was not going anywhere. She was not going to leave Ravenholm Manor without answers.

"I'm in no hurry, Dr. Ravenholm. I'll wait right here." Leona assured the scientist. With that the older woman began her research as Leona stood and waited for answers to the questions she had had for the past few days.

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-Three hours later-

Leona had promised to wait for as long as it took for Morgana to finish her research, but the blonde was beginning to grow restless. There were only two chairs in the doctor's personal library and one of them was at a table full of books and papers. Leona did not want to disturb those, so she opted to remain standing. She needed to do something to alleviate the boredom, but she did not want to disturb the doctor with her moving about. Leona chose to stay in place and wait for the doctor to finish her work before moving around.

Leona's patience was rewarded when the doctor pushed her chair out, stood up, and walked over to the blonde.

"I've finally found what I'm looking for." The doctor stated with a tone of satisfaction.

"I've found out that the object you found is called the Umbra Stone. It's one of seven keys to a vault that's rumored to hold a treasure trove." She explained further. Leona finally had a name to put to the object. She also had a reason to keep looking for the others beyond having an excuse for adventure or completing the set for the sake of completion.

"Does it do anything on its own?" Leona asked. She was hoping that the Umbra Stone would do something special like grant her magical powers as long as it was in her possession. The doctor shook her head.

"No, Leena. It's just a key to a vault. And it goes without saying that the vault won't open until you have all seven." Morgana answered. Leona kept a straight face despite her disappointment. She hoped that the stone would do something beyond look pretty, but she was out of luck. Maybe the treasure that was in the vault would make up for the Umbra Stone's lack of usefulness.

"And before you ask, I also discovered a riddle that might give you clues to finding the other elemental stones." She added before Leona could speak. The blonde was not thrilled to find out that she would have to solve a riddle to be able to locate the other stones, but she supposed that there had to be some difficulty involved. Finding them all without a challenge would not be very exciting despite the promise of treasure waiting at the end.

"Is there any connection to the element the stones are supposed to represent and where they're found?" Leona asked a question that popped into her mind. The doctor shook her head.

"No, Leena. That's a logical assumption to make, but that's not the case. There's no connection to the elements of the stones and where they're found." The older woman quickly provided an answer.

"Who or what created the stones anyway?" Leona asked another question that suddenly came up.

"A group of mages created them about three hundred years ago. The group's name was lost to time, but they were a group of scholars who had collected a lot of arcane lore and a few arcane artifacts and didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, so they placed their hoard in a secret location and sealed it in a vault hidden somewhere in Fiore." The doctor answered. Leona was encouraged by the fact that the vault was said to be located in Fiore. However, the location of the other six keys was a mystery.

"Let me write down the riddle for you, Leena." The doctor said. She hurried back to her table before Leona could respond and sat down at the chair, then moved it back to the table. She flipped through the book she had been reading and stopped on a page, then began writing down the riddle.

"The name's Leona." The blonde tried to give the doctor the correct pronunciation of her name. Leona's words fell on deaf ears because the older woman did not look up from the book or verbally acknowledge her. The blonde chose to let the matter drop and wait in silence for the doctor to finish writing down the riddle that might lead to the other six keys.

In a few minutes the doctor pushed her chair out and stood up again. She walked over to the blonde and held out a sheet of paper.

"Here you go, Leona. Here's the riddle in its entirety." The doctor said. Leona looked at the paper and saw that the handwriting was very neat and easy to read. The riddle was not very long, but each part was spaced out for the sake of legibility. She would have to read it when she got back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall.

[Post Word Count: 780]
[Total Word Count: 6,612/7,000]

"Thanks for the help... Doctor Ravenholm, is it?" Leona thanked the doctor for her help and asked what name she preferred to be called by.

"You can call me Morgana. And your name's Leona, right?" Morgana asked Leona.

"Yes." Leona replied.

"I remember calling you Leena earlier. I'm sorry about that. I tend to get tunnel vision when I'm doing research or get really busy and sometimes I call them by the wrong name." Morgana apologized for repeatedly calling Leona "Leena" earlier. The blonde took the mistake in stride because it was really not that big a deal. She had been called a lot worse in the past.

"It's no problem, Morgana." Leona assured the doctor that being called the wrong name was no big deal.

"Now that you've found one of the elemental stones and know a bit more about them, I take it you're going to look for the other six?" Morgana asked Leona. The blonde nodded.

"Yes, Morgana. My curiosity's been piqued and I want to see if I can't find the rest of them." Leona answered in the affirmative. She was not going to let this project fall by the wayside if she could help it. For once in her life she was going to work on a project until it was completed.

"I wish you well, Leona. You're going to be in for quite a search. There's no guarantee that even if you solve the riddles that you'll find the stones where they're supposed to be. It's possible that other travelers happened upon them and took them without knowing what they're the key to. It's also possible that others seeking the treasure have beat you to a particular stone." Morgana told Leona that just because she had the riddle that served as a clue as to a particular stone's location did not mean that the stone would actually be there. Leona had been the beneficiary of luck when she had stumbled across the Umbra Stone without knowing what it was. It stood to reason that others might have found particular stones and carried them off.

"All right then." Leona calmly replied. She would have to keep that possibility in mind as she searched for the remaining elemental stones. Speaking of the stones, Morgana walked over to the table, picked up the Umbra Stone, and gave it back to Leona.

"You'll need this. I don't have any use for it because I'm not an adventurer. Besides, you found it, so you get to keep it." Morgana told her. Leona briefly passed the paper with the riddles on it to the older woman, took off her backpack, unzipped it, put the Umbra Stone inside, and zipped it back up. She then put it on her back and took back the paper she had passed to the doctor.

"Thanks for all of your help, Morgana." Leona thanked the doctor for her help with the Umbra Stone and for cluing her in about the existence of the other stones. She wondered what amazing things could be in the vault that the group of mages had sealed. Maybe she could get her hands on some arcane lore, a magic weapon, or a magic item.

"You're welcome, Leona. Let me know if you need help with your search and I'll do everything I can to help. I'm not one for field work, so you'll have to come visit me whenever you need me to lend a hand." Morgana offered further assistance should the Wizard Saint need it and told her the condition attached to that aid. Leona had no problem with that condition because she would probably need the doctor's help again and it was a reasonable condition. The doctor did not look like much of a fighter and Leona did not want to put her in danger if she could help it.

"I'll get going back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and let you get back to your work, Morgana. Thanks again for everything!" Leona thanked the doctor for her help before stating her intent to leave. Morgana walked over to Leona's left and stopped.

"I'll show you the way out, Leona." Morgana stated. She then began to lead Leona out of the library. The two exited the library and Morgana shut the door behind them. Soon Leona would be heading back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall to sleep awhile before she read the riddles and began the search for another one of the six remaining elemental stones.

[Post Word Count: 748]
[Total Word Count: 7,360/7,000]