[h3]The Hunter's Dream[/h3]
Torquil raised his head with an expression of surprise, as if awakened from a daze by Ophelia addressing him. “Uh... I'm not sure, it's not like he told me anything. He just gestured for me to stay, touched one of those and disappeared.” He pointed out the southern door of the workshop toward the series of altars lined up next to the path, three of which were adorned with chalices of different designs.

“Another blood gem, like the one you gave me,” Gerlinde explained when Ophelia asked if she had found anything interesting. “Only this one is apparently 'cursed'. When socketed into a weapon it'll draw on its wielder's vitality to make its effect stronger... and its effect is apparently 'fire'. If any of you want it you're welcome to it.”

Finally, when Ophelia knelt by the doll and offered up her blood echoes to her, an ethereal [I]something[/I] seemed to pass through the area that was hard to define. There was a subtle sound that almost seemed to blend in with the ambient sounds of the Dream, like a single gust of wind that none of them felt, and for a second the Dream seemed to grow just the slightest bit brighter, only for that additional light to seem to all collapse in on the doll, coalescing in a white flash on her chest.
It was a strange thing to observe given that the doll was, after all, a doll; her eyes had been open even in her dormant state, and regardless of whether she was animated or not she did not breathe. She did not blink her eyes and there was no sharp intake of breath; the doll simply and unceremoniously sat up straight and looked around curiously.
“Ah,” she said, finally blinking her eyes and following up with a gentle smile. “My apologies, good Hunters. It appears that I have inconvenienced you somehow... ah.”
But even before the doll could finish speaking there was another, much louder sound like that of a piece of sturdy fabric being violently torn apart. Right next to the doll the Shopkeeper seemed to just spontaneously fade into existence, only for them to immediately kneel by the doll as well.
“Do not worry, I am well now,” the doll assured them. “Thank you.”