Geminid You are taken to a back room

• Tilluel looks around the room

Geminid And there the witch stis you down. "What is your name?"

Tilluel "Where is this?"

Geminid "The Wand House. Who are you?"

Tilluel "Is it on the East or West hemisphere? North or South?"

Tilluel "The 375th alpha sector of star system 62983.1?"

Tilluel "Me?" she asks vaguely again.

Geminid He sighs, "yes, you. Who are you?"

Geminid ?

Tilluel "No one. No place."

Geminid "You must be someone. Where is your soul?"

Tilluel "Gone. Only half."

Tilluel "Half of nothing is nothing?"

Geminid "It is an impossibility, and that is what we do here, dear. I need your name."

Tilluel She looks at him sharply, as if she's seeing him

Tilluel "No one. No name."

Geminid "What are you called?"

Tilluel "Me?"

Geminid "Yes, you. What do people call you?"

Tilluel (she has no sense of self right now)

Geminid [I know. You know. He doesn't. If that's a cue to abstract, we can]

Tilluel no it's fine. Just a sec

Tilluel "Babbling."

Tilluel 'She's babbling'.

Geminid "All right, Babbling. Lie down."

Geminid Well, this could get funny.

Geminid He sets down a series of leaves around you if you lie down, and then he takes candles and sets one on each leaf.

• Tilluel can be cajoled into lying down easily

Geminid He lights each candle and whispers your name.

Geminid Then he takes rose petals and burns one at each candle.

Geminid And he draws a circle on the ground in tree sap, just above your head. He then takes an egg and cracks it over you, letting the insides drip onto your stomach. He says, "Sleep here, Babbling."

• Tilluel breathes deeply, smelling the roses and sap

Tilluel "Where is here?"

Geminid "Sleep."

• Tilluel lays where she was left

Geminid You are about to drift off into sleep when a man walks into the room, "Master Witch, I will take this from here."

Geminid The Witch bows, "Archmage Simon. I am honored."

• Tilluel blinks and looks at the new man.

Geminid He nods, "I would speak with this dryad alone."

Geminid He bows again and leaves.

Geminid The archmage waits til he is gone, then hands you a towel, "Clean the egg off."

Geminid He snuffs out the candles

• Tilluel wipes the egg off of her stomach and sits up, eyes open wide in the dark

Geminid "Foolish form of magic, this. Anyone can use it, and that makes it dangerous. The trouble with heart mages is that no one really trains them well. Never, ever try to find someone if you don't know how far they might have gone or what might be guarding them. A wall of void makes it a lot more difficult, for instance, and thus, more dangerous. Had you not been rendered mad, you would likely be exhausted now, too."

Tilluel "Where is this?"

Geminid He nods, "Ahh, a place to start."

Geminid He gestures, glows green and gold, and you suddenly know exactly where you are.

Geminid "Better?"

• Tilluel sighs in relief

Tilluel "Thank you." she's near tears

Geminid He nods, "Tilluel Babbling," he smiles, "A good name, and now yours. Do you know your place in the grand scheme of things?"

Tilluel (am I still a little mad?)

Tilluel "No. I don't."

Geminid [A little]

Tilluel "Just Tilluel. I think."

Geminid "None seem to, actually. The one thing we all do know is that the last rainfall in the world coincided with the loss of your soul. The last /recorded/ rainfall, mind, was much before, but the last actual fall of water rain... Well, Miss Babbling, you can see we are worried."

• Tilluel nods, a bit longer than necessary. It's as if she has trouble stopping the bobbing. "It's odd. I have dreams about the rain drying up and everything falling apart. Those are the good dreams. I think." she looks slightly confused

Geminid The Archmage shrugs, "The Divine Law is screaming for rains, Miss Babbling. If you've any insights, the Order of the Chrysanthemum would be grateful."

Tilluel "Divine Law?"

Tilluel "We're missing our souls and I'm supposed to find what went wrong. Find a ring, a crown. Find everything. I don't know where to go. Where to look."

Geminid He frowns, "We?"

Tilluel "There are seven of us. I think that's what she said."

Geminid "She?"

Tilluel "The reverend mother of the light temple."

Geminid He considers, "Perhaps we should widen our net. More are involved that we expected. Or more is afoot. Seek out Danaver Lilac. He will be able to better help you. I must away."

Geminid And with that, he vanishes.

• Tilluel looks around her, confused completely
• Tilluel stands eventually and heads out of the room

Geminid The Master Witch is waiting anxiously, "Err, Miss Babbling. Is, ahh, all well now?"

Tilluel "My name is Tilluel." she pauses working up to, "I-- I'm feeling better. Thank you. Do you know Danaver Lilac?"

Geminid He frowns, "Who?"

• Tilluel shakes her head. "Nevermind. Thank you."

Tilluel She turns to leave and then turns back. "How did --I get here?"

Geminid "A large woman dropped you off."

Tilluel "Oh Angela. Do you know --where she went?"

Geminid "She did not say."

• Tilluel nods. "Thank you again."

Tilluel She heads to the studio.

Geminid It's late, and the studio is more or less closed down. The protestors are camped. The security guards wander the lot.

Geminid And you see Darius the prop man in the sets, doing something with a saw.

Tilluel "Excuse me? Do you know where Mr. Ipanym went this evening?"

Geminid Darius stops sawing and looks up, "No."

Tilluel "Oh. Ok. Thank you." she smiles and then turns to go

Tilluel She's heading back to the widow's house.