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[h3]Asset Goal: Fae See Church F[/h3]

Esther was starting to get a handle on how everyone behaved, so Vetreus and the sulking murder noodle received little attention from Esther. Zelda’s grandstanding and insistence on using a nickname that didn’t bother her was part of the package that made up the noble. The mute maid was harder to figure out, but given that she largely kept to herself there was no real reason to acknowledge her. It was curious how she was trying to clean the shack up, but given that the woman was dressed like a maid, she decided that it might be a calming ritual. To do something that she had done hundreds of times before to better cope with the horrors of her situation. Come to think of it, everything she had done since she first appeared seemed like something a frightened person might do. Give away her food, refuse to speak, and do chores in an unusual environment. 

Though the bulk of Esther’s attention was taken up by Severin. She didn’t imagine it would be hard to get him to speak, but the [i]professor[/i] verged on the territory of giving a lecture, even as he walked around a glowing, possibly volatile magical crystal. This was the level of confidence she expected from such an individual, and wasn’t at all surprised that it was happening. But that was something to return to thinking about shortly, as Esther used his dramatic pause to answer him rather than allow his silence to dominate the conversation. 

[color=74c3a2]"You know, I don’t think I ever gave magic’s presence much thought. Like the air we breathe, I’ve just sort of taken its presence for granted."[/color]

The old adage goes that X and Y are two sides of the same coin, and you can’t have one without the other, but Esther had found that you can have one without the other, having its opposite just makes it easier to notice. A rich politician is disconnected from the plight of the impoverished because they do not understand that side of life. While magic should have felt alien to Esther, so did this entire world. She had enough questions that she didn’t feel she needed to approach the nuances of how one unseen force worked over another. But the talk of a primordial god did make Esther think of the first person she saw before arriving here. A benevolent god she could hardly remember that beckoned her to make the world a better place than it currently was. Surely this was the creator of everything that Severin sought, but she hesitated to mention him so hastily. Partially because it wasn’t something she could prove, but also partially because she didn’t think it would be a good idea. 

[color=74c3a2]"I never thought about it like that, but it makes sense…"[/color] 

It felt like everyone was avoiding the glowing crystal in the center of the room, and the temptation to inspect it herself was there. But there were enough people in the shack still, and it seemed like Liu was having a bit of a breakdown of sorts. This did not seem in character for the normally reserved skeleton, so it warranted an investigation. She kneeled down beside the skeleton.

[color=74c3a2]"Are you alright, dear?"[/color] 

She wasn’t even sure if spores could affect something without a nervous system, but it was worth noting their presence if they were there. So again, ribbons of her magic sprung forth, but this time they searched Liu’s body for the hallucinogenic spores. 

[hider=Actions] 
Actions:
Look : Magic F, Energized F, Appraisal F (Attempting to detect the presence of spores in Liu’s body) - Grade F  -  No cooldown - Ability F (1) + Catalyst E (2) +  Intelligence D (3) = 6 base effectiveness[/hider]