The silvery-haired artist sat on her calves in the darkness, awaiting the approach of her employer for the quest they sought to explore. Luvi would've made it clear that they had to travel through night in following missives after the initial recruitment for the quest, explaining that the story surrounding the gem explained a series of trials that any gem seeker must overcome. This first trial would undoubtedly involve the map as far as the riddle went. Luvi in particular asserted sure that the Yevil Mushwood was the destination they had to travel to, particularly one part of it called the Seedlands.
Having been raised by eccentric Yladians desperate to fight against the demons, knowledge of some more esoteric tales and magics would have been rattling around in the quiet girl's head, just waiting to become relevant when the time came. The folktale would've been known to many of her kin, of the great dragon who gave their life to save the elves trying to protect it from poachers rather than put their lives in danger. A very noble story whose accuracy was possible true; there were even more stories of a healing gem that had been passed from one owner to another before eventually being lost. Texts specifically cite that the spread of demonkind was halted, for a time, by a great and powerful gem which could grant the warriors of light vitality and succor when used by its owner of the era. A terrible fate at the hands of these demons befell its last owner, however, and when the demons' sights moved next to take the power of the gem for their own dark schemes the survivors of the previous master decided to hide it. After all, without anyone capable enough to use the stone, it was far more likely to fall into enemy hands! This was the only riddle left to those who heard the story;
To reclaim the noble light, seek first the darkness. Wade over a sea of nature's scourge. With the noon's remnant as your sail's beacon, the darkness will give to hope.
To an outsider, this riddle would be tough to decipher. However, there were a few key words that a Yladian knowledgeable in some geometry might recognize! A sea of scourge could be referring to some sort of swampy water, but the mention of noon's remnant gave more context to the riddle. Within the Yevil Mushwood were Solbuds, large mushrooms that radiated warmth and light during the night after a sunny day. Considering noon is when the sun's at it's... well, sunniest, and that they glow a soft color akin to warm sunlight at night, they could be described as noon's remnant. Luvi's convinced it's not a coincidence that the Seedlands are well known for an unusually persistent spore storm, only clearing up during the night, coating the floor of the Seedlands in a thick, almost foggy layer of spores lying on the ground 24/7.
So, with all of that in mind, Luvi waited at the Seedland's most accessible entrance, only a few dozen meters from the start of the layer off-black spores ahead of them, making the ground look eerily dark and featureless in the night even with Solbuds lighting up what almost seemed to be a path ahead of them. The elf herself was dressed up in a silver gambison cut off at her waist, a large and baggy pair of black breeches whose wide leg hems cut off at her ankles, a pair of boots, a bow and quiver at her back and a few pouches along her silver cloth belt. Currently, she was trying to draw something with a pack of pastels hooked up to a cloth carrying bag, using the back of the carrying bag to act as a flat surface to draw on a rectangular paper card. On this card, she was drawing a softly colored white bunny on a black background with tiny strokes of pink color smudged as faint strands of messy fur along the bunny's coat. The bunny's paws were holding onto a breadcrumb so that it could nibble on it. Luvi had many of these cards similarly drawn at her side!
While she drew, Luvi hummed softly to herself, unaware that she had drained the life of the grass around her, the plant matter wilted away while she happily drew. Any moment now, @Amane Hirota should be showing up!
