On Purpose [Solo]

[Lilthis]

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Recently the forest had been absolutely deluded in moisture. The constant rain storms had given birth to the youngest addition to the ecosystem’s family, that most persistent of fungus. The mushrooms looked up at the tall dark elf who trampled the soaked earth around them. In their innocence they tried a soothing tone, “we help you.”

Lilly was unsure what to say at first. Caught a bit off guard after her conversation with the crow. She stopped, for only a second, and looked down at the fungal youths. She used a soothing voice as well, “my troubles began long before you existed, they will persist long after you are gone.”

The mushrooms did not understand, they were too young. As Lilly spoke the words she understood where she fit into the spectrum too. The universe and the moon and the forest all viewed her as she viewed the mushrooms. She was insignificant. Her pain was no one’s problem but her own.

---

one.two.three.four. one.two.three.
one.two.three.four. one.two.three.

Her watch was off. Only by a fraction of a second. She focused on the ticking of the watch, the tumbling of the gears, trying to determine how inaccurate her device had drifted. From the sounds of the ticking it was off by a matter of 0.3 milliseconds. At that rate the watch would be off by an entire second within roughly three million, three-hundred and thirty-three thousand, and three-hundred and thirty-three seconds. Or around thirty-eight and a half days. The dark elf would die from dehydration before then.

It had been several hours that she was trapped in this enclosure of stone and sand with barely any room to move. She knew it would be a long wait but it was starting to move into unbearable territory. Her legs began to cramp a bit, her sides ached from the rough stone she lay on, and her mind was starting to wander to insidious thoughts. What if the group would not return for her? What if the group had gotten themselves trapped on their expedition? One thing was for certain, Lilly was not about to wait any longer for a group of men to save her. While lying there and studying the idiosyncrasies of her watch the young woman had begun to study the markings on the wall in front of her. She could not read any of it, unsure the language of origin, but the Alerian could tell that it was a puzzle of some sort. Several of the characters marked were clearly meant to throw off the viewer. Often dribbling into other stones or abruptly ending in a manner that would not make sense of any written language she was familiar with.

Her gaze eventually focused on one specific brick in the wall which had its corners painted and an unusual circular symbol drawn into the center. As she slid over against the rough sand floor the girl placed her hand up to the brick, trying to feel if it were loose at all. She attempted to spin it, pull on it, push it in. It was no use; the sandstone would not bulge. One of the stones to the top left of the one with its corners painted had what looked to be an arrow and a hieroglyphic of what Lilly interpreted as stone being shattered. The tinkerer gulped as her mind made up that the best course of action would be to try and break the stone. Cautiously the dark elf readied herself to punch at the stone with her gauntlet. Hoping to gently fracture the sandstone.

Cocking back her arm as best she could in the tight space she let loose the first blow. Her gauntlet collided with the brick, not even causing a crack. Inside the gauntlet her hand felt the sting of punching a thick brick wall however. On the bright side though, she could tell that this specific stone did seem to be hollow. Recognizing that this was her best course of action if she wished to escape she readied another blow. This time however she flipped a switch on the side of her gauntlet, causing a buildup of steam in the bronze piping until it became too much. The steam was released from several nozzles as the dark elf took a deep breath and the gauntlet took on a mind of its own. As her fist was propelled forward by the glove she felt the force of the air fly by her. With a loud crash her fist collided with the stone, reducing it back into the sand and dust it had begun as millennia ago.

Dirt and dust filled Lilly’s vision as her hand throbbed from the pain. The gauntlet coughed up a few gaskets and gears as Lilthis joined it in coughing up the sandy dust that filled her lungs. Once the smoke had settled the young woman peered into the hole she created and saw thin rope attached to a small cork. She retrieved the cork with her right-hand and pulled on it, triggering a switch that opened the door which had closed her in for the past few hours. Overjoyed the elf quickly scurried in reverse to be rid of that foul hole.

Rising to her feet she stumbled a bit as her legs had been reduced to jelly from their lack of use for the past few hours. Not wanting to appear unkempt the girl tied her hair back and brushed a bit of the dirt off her clothes before proceeding inwards to find the rest of The Vestige. Once she arrived at the main chamber she realized that the group had taken so long as they were still studying a large orb with a glowing core at its center. Without speaking to anyone Lilly presented her quill and began to jot down everything she could about the circular object.

[Lilthis]

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Slumber ensued and dreams took ahold of her. She had been destroying herself all night. Her actions had led to the deaths of her colleagues. She was alone, frightened, barely clinging to hope.

But these were dreams, not nightmares. They beckoned her to recall the good that awaited her. She would find many new artifacts, on her own this time. She would destroy the criminal underground of Alerar, the group that forced her into hiding. She would see her parents again. Faellint would be successful on his own, finding a new love.

All of this would come to fruition. If only in her dreams.

---

Lilly sat there on the damp earth. It had been raining a lot lately in the forests of Raiaera. She moved a single blade back and forth, contemplating her fate. Surely some sort of punishment was about to be handed down to her... after all it was her machine that had failed. The high elves and humans that accompanied Master Seshat did not fully comprehend how technology operated and she assumed she would to be to blamed for the deaths of the mages who had held the gates open. Honestly, she was partially to blame, but predicting how magic would interact with machinery was not an exact science yet. That was the entire purpose of her study.

Still, there was a size-able amount of guilt weighing on her conscience. Sure, the mages who perished were not her friends. In fact the lot of them had been rather disagreeable with the young woman. One of them had even cast a rather nasty spell on her that caused a great stench to emerge from her mouth. But she didn’t think they deserved death. Maybe the one who caused her breath to stink did... but the other three did not deserve to die like that. If only I made the engine more durable.

The council was in discussion for an eternity. Multiple apprentices and journeymen within The Vestige approached Lilly to offer condolences, assign blame, or flirt. That last one was typical, the first two she was not used to. Even those whom she had crafted yellow necklaces for were being cruel to her now. A small number of mages still seemed to be supportive but the overall feel of the group had shifted to anger toward the dark elven outsider.

As sunset took hold of the forest landscape Lithis pondered what sort of fate would await her from the council. Would she be barred from entering the next magical site? Would she be instructed that dark elf technology was now banned? What if they assigned her to cooking duties for the next week? Although, if they fancied edible food they likely would not punish the group by asking Lilly to cook for them. Briefly, the thought of banishment occurred. Surely not, the young Alerian thought to herself. Banishment would be far too severe of a punishment. There was no ill intention behind her machine.

She had already explained to the council that it was not possible to predict how the globe would react to sunlight and that her machine was only designed to pull it into the sun. One council member had grunted at that explanation, which outraged Lilly. Without thinking she had snapped back with, "machines aren't like magic, they aren't just based off feelings, they take a lot of work. I can't just wake up one day and will something to happen, I have to spend hours doing calculations that took me years to learn." Sitting there in the grass the young woman regretted that statement a bit. She did not intend to diminish the efforts it took to master magic. She realized that, going forward, she should temper her words a bit better.

Once night fell on the group Lilly was called in to meet with Seshat. He was clearly still distraught by the loss of four of their brothers earlier in the day. They were inside of his grandiose tent, which was filled with potions, texts, and an alchemy table. The tent itself could be summoned and transferred to new locations by Seshat's very will. At one meeting between the two Lilthis had even told Seshat that she believed his tent was the most impressive piece of magic she had ever seen. Seshat was amused that she found such a simple teleportation spell to be so marvelous.

The ancient elf placed his right hand on Lilthis’ shoulder, “Lillian, none of us were sure about having a dark elf in our ranks. You have more than proven your worth since joining us. However… many of your companions have still not become comfortable travelling with an elf of your kind. After today, I’m afraid to tell you… we cannot allow you to continue with us.”

Her heart ripped itself in two. She could not contain herself despite her best efforts. Tears fell out like a bag overturned. She had lost a second family.

Seshat offered the woman a further explanation, "The council decreed that your use of technology was wanton and disrespectful to the magical integrity of the site we were attending. They have decided that your actions, and your actions alone, resulted in the deaths of four of our members." He interjected, “however, as you did not intend to harm anyone, we have chosen banishment rather than a harsher punishment.”

Seshat was clearly upset too, she could tell from his face that he wished it did not need to end like this. She knew that he was likely the voice of reason that spared her from execution or disfigurement. He released the young girl’s shoulder and informed her, “we will be heading west. There is a village twelve miles due east. You should proceed that way. Goodbye Lillian.”

With that, the elder she had spent so much time with dismissed her out of the tent. As the various pavillons of The Vestige vanished and members gathered their belongings a few said goodbyes to Lilly. Some removed the necklaces that she had made for them, dropping them on the ground. Most, however, snickered and went on their way. Seshat himself took one last look at the helpless girl before continuing on. He did not smile, he did not frown.

Clouds formed. Rain started. The dark elf maiden crashed into the muddied ground, caking her gauntlet in the mud. She watched as The Vestige took their leave. As her new family abandoned her. What would she do now... ?

Air rushed through her lungs as she breathed rapidly. Her mind splitting apart, trying to comprehend all she had lost. Her parents, Faellint, and now The Vestige. Lilthis was truly alone now. She needed someone to talk with, someone to unload her torment onto. She determined she would try to strike up a conversation with the universe.

Maybe the universe had something interesting to say.

---

An unwelcomed guest, the sun, peaked his way over the horizon. His rays spread magnificently over the forest floor and onto the body of the lovely young elven maiden. Sunlight warmed her cold charcoal skin. Grinning and jovial the sun alerted Lilthis, “Awaken child, tis a new day.”



Her eyes burned, face still damp from the tears, and every muscle of her lithe body ached. Groggy, she rubbed her fingers through her thin white hair and with a moan she got to her feet. Looking down she brushed the dirt and grime off her thighs. The sun was right, it was a new day, a new morning full of new opportunities. She believed she’d find her way and be alright. There had to be a spot in this world for her and she was not going to be tied down to others to find it.


Sol himself basked in the young woman’s confidence.


“I am Lilthis Shadefell. I will do great things.”

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