Subject: FARPG Cleansing for Stana
From: Stana Hierspiel <darkannex@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 15:23:17 -0700 (PDT)

     "This way." said the maid, leading Stana through the
maze like
corridors of the sub level to the Castle S'Kae. They kept
going deeper
until their ears began to pop. Clip snorted uneasily and
pranced,
tossing his head until the candlelight flickered and danced
around the
edges like  a halo.
      "Almost there." the youg girl said. "Your room is
lowest."
      ::and coldest I gather:: Stana thought moodily,
following behind.
 Her hair was unwrapping from the thong she had put in it
earlier and
with an impatient jerk she ripped it free. Her Auburn hair
spilled over
her shoulders, tumbling down her back and she stuffed the
thong into
her right pocket.
       "We're here." the lady announced, opening the door.
       Both Stana and Clip froze at the Waterfall spilling
down from
the ceiling in the room. The water splashed against the
clear quartz
floor and rock formations before spilling into the river
leading across
the room and down a hidden aquaduct. There was a wild
garden growing
down here, and the sound of life.
        "In the basement?" she had to ask.
        The maid's eyes were awed. "It has never been
permitted for
anyone to step foot in here, but stories tell that this is
one of the
four bases that the castle had been built on. The River
that runs
through Reiki to here and beyond is one that traverses all
of Narada.
It's the lifeblood of the land. Here it was strongest, so
here is where
S'kae was built. All the elements were most potent at this
location.
This is not the "Basement" but the underground retreat that
the castle
was built around."
         They stood for a moment more looking, listening to
the roar of
the falls and watching the water cascading.
         "If you would-" the maid indicated they go in.
         Stana lifted the towel and the loose fitting
nightware frm the
suprised maid's hands. "Wait here please."
         "But-there are ceremonies-"
         "Any words you need chant-can be chanted out
here." she
replied "I couldnt hear you above the din and the Earth
Mother would
hear you more outside anyhow. Besides Clip is modest about
bathing."
          The Unicorn snorted in consternation. Stana
firmly closed the
door in the maid's face and locked it.
          "I beg your pardon?" he demended, phazing into
human form.
          "It got rid of her." Stana justified, shaking out
the towel,
they could hear the hurried prayers being said outside the
door. Stana
smiled for a moment in quiet ferocity.
           She stepped across the crystalline floor,
shivering with the
chill in the ground. Clip followed reluctantly.
           "There is wild magic in this room." he said with
faint worry
in his voice.
           "Wild magic?" it was the first time she heard
that phrase.
           "This whole castle has some scent of it-but it
is
concentrated here." he was shifting uneasily.Stana looked
at the bundle
in her arms.
           "Turn around."
           "Huh?"
           "Turn _around_ she repeated firmly. "If I have
to take a
bath with this stuff" she indicated the bag with the
cleansing herbs
"then I want you to turn around, and wait here, I saw a
pool over
yonder with brush hiding it."
            He shifted back to form and dipped his brow in
agreement.
            A few minutes later, as the maid waited
anxiously at the
door, knocking, the two stepped out of the room. Stana had
free braided
her wet locks back and away, looping some loose strands
under her ears.

            She handed the maid the folded clothes and
towel and the
empty bag.
            "I need the recipe for that." she said, nodding
at the
herbal carryall.