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[Jeb]

Moondrop moves around the room, looking at each object curiously before stopping in front of Wander. She thinks of her own skin, how it lightens in winter but darkens in the summer sun, red and painful if she's not careful.

"Don't you ever go outside?"

[Berit]

Wander looks at Antaka...

"Do get yourself warm and dry... it is not good to moke outside in wet clothes.."

Wander looks at Moondrop and says...

"Rarely... I am... pretty much stranded here... I haven't been... Well enough, to do tasks outside... and now, I'm almost out of food..."

Her Coughs a little on his sleeve and breathes heavily for a moment then says...

"but you are welcome to take shelter here... and knowing you have places to be and you all seem strangely ill prepared for the weather... here... use these... it's not much but you can make something to fit the weather better, so you can cross the fields... And leave as you wish..."

Wander weakly pulls a sack to his pale hands and tosses it to them... it is filled with materials for warmer clothes, few silk ribbons and few furs... one of the is a bizarre blue with white star like spots, shiny fabric but very thick...

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[Jeb]

Moondrop ponders this. "Not really a wanderer, then, are you?"

She brightens. "I could get you more food!"

[Berit]

"I used to be..."

Wander smiles slightly, then looks very surprised...

"and you would share it? with me?... I.. Thank you.. but... why would your risk yourself helping someone who is almost at death's door?... I.. I suppose it's rude to ask when you are gifted something... I do apologize... no other elf stopped to help... they left me when I could not keep up... and they all died... something in the mountains killed them... don't go there... please... please don't..."

Wander's words turn into a whisper, he does not want to see other elves die... even after they were the ones that abandoned him...

[Jeb]

Moondrop absently rubs the scars around her shoulders. She is familiar with the dangers of the forest and mountains, but wonders what kind of thing Wander could be talking about. How many elves was he with before that something could kill them all?

She feels sympathy for Wander. Except for the brief adventure with the Blue-haired Laluna and the others, she has vague memories of other elves before them. She supposes she was abandoned, too.

But she's been able to survive alone by being practical and focusing on what's in front of her. However they ended up here, they would all be hungry soon.

Since she is the best dressed for the weather, she leaves the scraps for the others to find what they need.

"I will go see if I can find some places to set traps. Then we will all be able to eat."

[Berit]

Wander says...

"Thank you... I know there are some horned creatures that taste fine in the direction of the dead tree, at the base of the mountain, they seem to be herding there... there is also some flightless birds near by, but I never managed to capture one... I suppose they are edible as well... might be something else out there too... but be careful, there might be ravines under the snow... please... please come back alive..."

[Yavia]

"should I go with you?" Antaka shoots out. "It maybe safer in a group. We can watch our backs." She (...don't know what kind of clothes this are, cause Yavia can not identify them) ...will take something that the others don't want. If its long as her cloak, she will leave her cloak there, cause it's wet.

[Berit]

Wander looks at Antaka..

"You're clothes might be too cold for a trip in the snowy fields... but I actually could use your help in one matter, if I may be bold enough to ask your help... I feel like it would be best for you all to settle here for a while, but I do not have enough beddings for you all to sleep in... and the stone floor is cold... could you gather hay from the field near by?... there also might be small animals to hunt there, long ears, mice, burrowers... what say you?..."

[Yavia]

"There is a field outside?" Antaka asks baffled. "Didn't see anything but snow... Is it under the snow?" Than she asks sarcastic: "May I borrow this grey fur? It's cold outside, there, where I now be disadvise to go to to accompany Moondrop." What's the difference to be outside hunting or fetching hay? It would be a reason, if she would stay inside to do his bidding. No doubt she will be doing itto make an comforble place fo the group. Just the reasoning seems silly to her. What if this monster attacks Moondrop, while she wasn't watching her back?

[Berit]

Wander look a bit apologizing...

"I meant no offence...  the field is closer than the grounds with the horned animals... I simply worried you would get too cold... I am not trying to stop you from doing teamwork... I just though this grey haired elf seemed a bit of an loner..."

the he leans back and lets them settle the matter...

[Yavia]

"Okay", she turns her head to Moondrop. "I am just offering backup. I can totally shut my mouth if you're annoyed of my babbling also can I be stealthy. It just seems dangerous -ravines and elfeating beasts. I ... don't want you been killed just because you have no Eyes on the back or can't climb alone out of a very deep hole. That's all."
Than she turns back to Wander. "In which direction lays the field? Where do I have to dig?"

[Berit]

"If you choose to go to the field, it isn't far, it is in the part of the snow where you see no rock or anything else around, there under the snow lives a lot of smaller things and there is lots of hay and small branches... but do choose what you want to do... we can talk about the bedding later..."

Wander says with a little polite smile, but then seems a bit powerless for a moment... and coughs to his sleeve, partly gasping for air as if he was suffocating... then starts to breathe better again, then just sits, breathing heavily and keeping his eyes shut and head leaned against his throne...

[Yavia]

Antaka feels sorry for him. She was no herb woman nor a healer but she fears to find him dead if she returns from whatever mission she will go to now. If Moondrop would like company that's her way to go. If not, she will search for Hay instead. Maybe Laluna can ease this mans cough? She hopes it.

***
FYI: I assume we all know each others names by now. If not, Antaka will use an attribute like the color of hair to name you all 

[Berit]

(We can  say they have already told their names to each other to speed things up! I don't mind!)

The Heat stone makes Antaka feel like she is in the sun again, reminds her of desert... but really, where inside the earth was it found, and how did it get here?... Wander looks at the stone and tells them... there are also smaller stones like this one... but I had no use for them so I left them in the earth... if you happen to need one for something, I will do my best to bring one out from the soil...

So Wander is a rock-shaper! He can use magic that is mostly forgotten!..

[Yavia]

Antaka: -waits for Moondrops decision- and asks herself, what symbols on the other sides of the cube were. She had seen only three sides. She does love puzzles. Also she has no idea, how Wander does stones bring out from the soil or what she could use them for. Put in her pocket maybe? With an extra layer of heat protective cloth? Than she would have the sun in her pocket. She smiles.

(Yavia: coooool, a rock-shaper!)

[Jeb]

For some reason, Wander's request makes Moondrop uneasy, as does the thought of sleeping here below the ground. It occurs to her that she didn't even notice the position of the sun in this dreary world. Although she usually prefers to hunt at night, she has no desire to wander the frozen, broken ground in the dark.

"I want to go out and see how high the sun is. If it will soon be night, we can gather some hay and firewood. I would prefer to stay outside, if I can stay warm. If the sun is still high, we can go farther out for the bigger game."

She asks Wander, "Are those stones hot enough to start a fire?"

[Yavia]

Antaka feels silly. Light a fire with the stone, of course! By mentioning the firewood she just remembers the dead tree outside. Maybe there are some branches to get from it for a start. She mentioned that to the group.

[Berit]

"Yes... they are hot enough to cook a meal and to start a fire... you fish me to find you a smaller heat stone? carrying it may prove difficult however... but... I might be able to make a small shell, or a box for it out of other stone..."

Wander says and leans a bit forward, curiously wondering what they are up to... he says...

"I think it is mid day, there are hours left till dark..."

[Yavia]

Fascinated Antaka watched Wander shape rock with his magic. She had never seen such thing. She also wanted to have the sun in her pocket even if she have no direct need for it as Moondrop did while prefer staying outside.

[Berit]

Wander closes his eyes and focuses, humms a little and it strangely seems to make the whole stony room to humm with him... somewhere below the floor they hear cracks and odd twisting sounds, it takes some time but finally the floor opens like it was a fluid and two glowing stones the size of an egg float up!... Wander opens his eyes and looks at the stones... then starts to wonder what kind of box he could make for them to aid them to carry such hot objects...

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"hmmmh? maybe some quartz would resist their heat best... what color, my friends? white, black or gray?..."

[Jeb]

The thought of carrying something hot enough to burn scares Moondrop. They could always just use the stone here to start a branch on fire, then carry it outside. But if it is midday and they will be going farther, it would be useful to have a fire-starter with them.

Will they even be able to find their way back?

Moondrop experiments with an open sending. *Black.*

[Berit]

Wander focuses again for a minute, and soon the blackest stone Moondrop has ever seen rises from the floor... it floats near Wander's hands and he shapes it into a box with a rounded slot for the heatstone... slowly, he reaches towards Moondrop and presents her with the box in his hand...

"I made it as light as I could, while still keeping its durability and heat resistance..."

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[Yavia]

"Oh, it's a little chest!" Antaka cries joyful. "How beautiful!" She hesitates. She can't put the sun in a night colored stone, could she? Also not in one that was grey like a storm. "Please make white one ."
She had heard the sending and was kind of confirmed Moondrop might be a loner. Antakas tribe uses sending not in a group of friends. May she call them friends? Yeah, they are friendly so why not?
If it was mid day they could start going on an adventure!

[Czarine]

Laluna is surprised to find a new elf with Antaka! She wonders how long he might've been there alone. She introduces herself to the elf and watches his features, curious. She's grateful for the heat that emanates from the strange rock because her clothes are still a bit damp from lying on the snow.

When Wander gives them fabrics, Laluna is pleasantly surprised.

"If you will go outside, I can stay here and try to make something out of these. We're going to need warmer clothes if we're to explore further in the snow." she says to Antaka and Moondrop.

Laluna is still a bit baffled how she has ended up in a strange place, and with Moondrop in the same place. She wonders if others from that misty place have ended up somewhere here too. It makes her worried because it's so cold outside. What if they're somewhere further, where there's no shelter?

Her thoughts are interrupted when Wander displays his powers. She's never met a rock-shaper before! She watches in fascination when the elf shapes a pitch-black box out of stone.

[Berit]

Wander focuses for a moment again, the movement of stone can be heard from beneath the stone floor... and this time, sparkling white stone rises through it and takes form in Wander's hands, soon he represents antaka with a shimmering white little chest with the smoothest stone she has felt...

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Wander looks at Laluna...

"I think it would be good if you all had more clothing just in case... it is very dangerous to move around with wet clothes if someone falls through the ice pr similar bad luck happens..."