What in the godsdamned fuck was going on? She had not come back to Boreas for a while, but she wasn't expecting such... such a change. What were these crystals? These... mushrooms? Both were captivating; some even sparkling with an inner light that matched her markings when they shimmered in sunlight. Except there hadn't been sunlight, either. The night had fallen and the sun barely poked over the horizon for a few hours before sinking back down into the darkness. It was a permanent night, almost, with daytime never leaving the sunrise. That wasn't even accounting for these mists with strange figures within them. She looked for familiar faces within those figures, wandering around, walking through them. They seemed - usually - sentient, and she'd gotten a few dirty looks for her purposeful walking through them but... were these the figures of the dead? None had chosen to speak with her. but that quite frankly bothered her more than anything else.

Her steps quickened as she reached the familiar Orchard, a brief sigh of relief escaping as she sagged briefly against a fruit tree that had long since dropped its fruit. It had been a bit since she was last in Boreas, and it wasn't something she particularly regretted. She had a marvelous time out in the world... she just got bored, so wandered home.

At apparently the worst time ever. The fuck. Though, she did suppose the crystals and fungi had a certain...eh, attraction? fascination? with them. They were beautiful, ethereal and often glimmering in the night. It was unlike anything she had seen, and the first time she had, her breath had caught from the sheer beauty of it. Now though... now she was getting tired of the sight. She had even seen creepy as fuck wolves that seemed to have these things growing off of them, and that spooked the hell out of her. Were they infectious? Did the crystals or fungi get attached? Did it hurt? Some of these creatures. well, it didn't seem they could blink without severe pain. So did the crystals remove the need to blink? Ugh, too many questions and not enough answers. It was absolutely exhausting and she was already tired of it. She was about to try to get her own damn answers now that she was back somewhere familiar.

"Speech" "You"

art by rainbowglaze123

It seemed Alfrun hadn't been at all wrong about these events possibly being world-changing. They were unprecedented, like nothing she'd ever seen before - even stranger than the odd weather patterns and even the volcano's eruptions. This was a much more sinister change, perhaps a sign from the gods themselves. Asvor had always been a believer in the gods and goddesses that her mother had taught her about, but only now did she feel they were more directly reaching out and inflicting change upon her. At first it had been gradual, a creeping exhaustion that had wedged itself deep in her bones... which wasn't all that surprising given her age. But then the ooze had started, a bright purple goo that had first started pooling at the corners of her eyes and then leaking from her nose like a constant stream of snot. And then the crystals started to grow. One sprouted from the corner of her eye, growing gradually until it obscured her vision entirely in her left eye; and then a recent wound on her side began to itch before producing another sharp crystal. At first she'd tried dislodging it, and she realized quickly her efforts were futile. She was sick, and avoiding Valdis and Fireside was the least she could do until she figured out what might possibly cure this; if there was a cure at all. Unlike some of the other infected wolves, she regarded her condition with a strange ethereal sort of curiosity. If this was what was to become of her, so be it. It didn't seem like it'd be a painful end unfortunately, though she was just biding her time until she knew for sure. If anything she wouldn't leave this world without a proper farewell to her wife and son. This was hardly how she'd pictured the end, but she knew life wasn't always predictable and nothing she did could change the way fate unraveled. She hadn't expected to run into anyone here, but someone's silhouette up ahead alerted her to the presence of a stranger. She let out a low sigh as she drew closer. Infecting others wasn't her goal, but she wondered if such a fate was inevitable no matter how hard you tried to stray from it.. perhaps it was completely inescapable. "Tell me, do you suffer from this strange ailment too?" Deep down Asvor was a scholar at heart, driven by the pursuit of knowledge, at least in fields she deemed interesting.. and strange, never-before-seen afflictions were among her interests. Perhaps she could find someone that knew something she didn't about what was happening to her. "Don't fear, I won't come any closer." If the stranger didn't notice her condition at first it would come quickly obvious. The crystal that grew from her eye extended nearly above her forehead, and her cheeks were stained with purple ooze, despite her best attempts to keep her face clean.

It was the change of scents on the wind that alerted her to the stranger, and she turned quickly to face the source. Mostly white, with a red face and chest, the stranger stood. She was clearly older, with grey hair interrupting that red mask, but she held herself strongly and confident. Which was, well, mildly surprising considering the literal crystals growing from her face and on her side. The set in her eye was massive; obscuring the entire eye and sprouting over her face. It was... well, horrifying. Mildly disgusting. The purple ooze stained the wolf's face; not heavily but transparently enough that she knew the leakage was happening even at this distance. It made her wary, suspicious, uncertain. What did this wolf want? And would this spread? What would happen? Ugh.

Within moments, the wolf was speaking. The brief tension Lyra felt melted away somewhat, and the hair she didn't realize that was standing on her haunches flattened a tad. With a quick, voracious shake, she settled that fur down entirely. "No. I don't know what this ailment is; it seems to affect many. Both predator and prey, driving some insane and some not. It seems random. I haven't been infected - yet - but I'm not sure how the infection spreads, and if it even spreads from wolf to wolf, prey to wolf, or if it can only spread throughout direct contact with certain crystals and mushrooms." She hated the uncertainty and she wanted to know more about it - while at the same time fearing it. She certainly didn't want crystals in her eyeballs. Or constantly dripping snot. She hated winter colds as it was; the idea of dripping snot that didn't stop was quite frankly disgusting and the entire idea of it felt uncomfortable.

"I appreciate that precaution. I will not either, myself," she responded quietly to Asvor's words. "I am Lyra Saxe. Who are you?" It was a simple enough question; she could see no harm in the exchange of names at this moment. Yes, the wolf was older, experienced, but also half-blind. If it came to a fight, Lyra most certainly didn't intend to engage - risky, that - and she likely had more speed due to her age over this wolf... though she wasn't the youngest herself anymore. The marked difference, however, was that this wolf was easily almost as old as her grandfather, and she herself was still within a middling age, even young enough to bare pups if she really desired that (which she wasn't sure she did). However, she didn't feel like it would come to that. This wolf was being nothing if not polite.

"Speech" "You"

art by rainbowglaze123