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Wow i straight-up forgot the Shard existed for a good week or two

Day Five: Flame But Star! Where’s the flame?! It’s, uh…. It’s in his left hand. I just didn’t have enough room to draw the torch… But the important thing is that it’s there. This, by the way, is Fischer. He is a soldier in - you guessed it - Masquerade; a world under attack from demons called withergeists. I think this drawing looked a lot better as a sketch….

I wrote a personal narrative about the surreal experience I have improvising on the piano at night and thought I'd share it here

Hello everyone, I'm AltonicKeys, looking forward to this place I always have at least 10 tabs of Coppermind or Arcanum open. It's cutting into my schoolwork. My family worries for me. I literally have a tab of Roshar food recipes. My life is ruined, in the best way possible

Shush I know

I only did the cosmere one yesterday. Partially because I ran out of time and partially because how do you make a scallop scary? Anyway, here’s what I did for “Chains” (IGNORE THE HANDS) This hurt to draw.

I’m so frickn good rn. Like, my level of good rn is on the level it was when I was at FSY, which is hecka good. Day 4: Scallop

Lucien rubbed at his gritty eyes as he entered the cafe. The warm and cozy air felt even warmer than usual against his skin, such a perfect temperature to lay down in, to simply sink in this spot and let his eyes drift shut. "Late evening again Lucien?" Called a man from behind the counter. He was a little shorter than Lucien himself but still taller than most in the city. Flashing a smile that was the exact same practiced polite smile he gave Lucien every time he had come into this cafe, the man brushed a lock of dark hair out of his eyes before reaching for a cup and raising an expectant brow. "Same as usual? Double shot and far too much sugar?" He asked. "Yes." Lucien replied after a drawn out pause. "Usual please. Thanks Charlie." Charlie gave a quick nod in reply before busying himself with the cups, seeming far too alert for this hour of the night even if he did work in a cafe with access to as much caffeine as he cared to partake in. This was of course not all that unexpected as Charlie was a Sentry, a Bronze Ferring who could very effectively force his own sleep cycle. Of all the various abilities that those in the Alleycity possessed it was one that the Professor perhaps envied the most. Lucien could remember enough even without the assistance of Copperminds and he had no real need to rely on Zincminds for his breakthroughs. But how much more effective would he be if he could simply stave off sleep when he needed? How nice would it be not to be tired? Not to always be tired? He gave a slight shake of his head, standing up from the counter he only just now realised he'd been leaning on and forcing himself to pace to keep his eyes open and his mind on track. These strange thoughts, this idea of constant lethargy had been growing steadily worse. Perhaps it was due only to his continued state of waking, deny enough sleep and it could certainly feel like it stretched into eternity. But he could almost... feel something, something else. Like a mist that was draining away, or a thread being pulled taut. "Sorry Lucien." Charlie said with an apologetic glance, interrupting the Professors thoughts. "Machines acting up, just gonna need to take a few minutes to clean it up, you okay to wait?" Lucien nodded numbly to the question, eyes partially glazed over and barely processing the words until several moments later when they sluggishly made their way into his mind. Wait. He could do that couldn't he? He was very good at waiting, he'd done it practically forever. But at the same time he loathed it so greatly. Why wait when he could have what he wanted now? Surely there was a way wasn't there? He toyed with the Fabrial in his hands, gemstone clattering against the brass fittings. He wasn't quite sure what had inspired him to create such a device, a pin that could be attached to a person to strengthen their speech. The brass carefully calming the captured Windspren down so that it would only provide as much assistance as was needed rather than bursting lungs. As he played with the Fabrial he removed the brass pin from the gemstone and looked it over carefully. This, this was a key to something wasn't it? He just needed... a moment of clarity, a flash of inspiration for pieces to come together. All of it was somehow linked, his tiredness, Charlie's question, this pin, the recipe that he had been trying over and over to get right. He had finally achieved the correct shade of red for the frosting but it was still... lacking. The consistency was off, and the temperature wasn't quite right. But somehow he could solve that problem too, if he could just get a moment without this damnable exhaustion clouding his every thought... The door opened behind him, letting in a chill gust as the only other customer present left for the night with a half-wave of goodbye. Charlie said something in return, but Lucien did not hear it. The chill wind gave only a slight push, opened his eyes just a little and staved off only a fraction of tiredness. But something else acted in that same instant, something that took that taut thread that he had been noticing and pulled it to what felt nearly a breaking point. But it was not the thread that would break, it was something else. It was Lucien himself, some small fracture splitting wider and wider until a hole tore open and allowed a torrent of sudden enlightenment to flood him. In an instant he remembered something, a fundamental truth, and knowledge that seemed so obvious it was a wonder how he'd not known of it moments ago. He reached into his bag with his free hand, stepping up to Charlie as the barista tried to clean the complex mechanisms of the Fabrial that produced coffee. For his part Charlie seemed to involved in his work to even notice as the Professor moved close to him, pulling a beautiful gift of steel from his bag and sliding it carefully into his body. A noise ripped through the cafe, some vocalization that Voidus was far too focussed to notice as he pulled the blade free from Charlie's torso, turned the man carefully around and held the brass pin aloft. "I'm going to need to put this through your chest okay?" Voidus asked with bloodshot eyes and a polite smile. "It will just hurt for a moment, don't worry. And thank you for being so very helpful. This will be much faster than waiting for the machine to be fixed." @ZincAboutIt

Going over General Conference talks are always hecka good :)) Day 5: Flame

Day four: cave entrance. Day five: shelter from rain.

Aln met his eyes. "I don't just believe it. I remember it." She pointed at the pictures decorating the papers - great birds of flame circling above a crumbling skyscraper, strangely twisted beasts running through the streets, a figure seen at a great distance hanging in the sky, hand outstretched over the city - and they fuzzed into stormlight for a moment. "These are no 'doctored images'. These are lightwoven recreations of my own memories, memories that every resident of the Alleycity should share. Our collective history was rewritten by beings that treat our lives as their playthings. Somehow I managed to slip through the cracks of their WorldForgery, but the majority of the Alleycity is still under their control. I believe that the 'folklore' you study is the last remnant of our true history bleeding through into the stories we tell." "I hope that you will be willing to believe me. I understand that this is quite a bold claim to swallow, but I have sworn myself to seek truth - I may be mistaken, but I am not deliberately lying to you. This is perhaps the greatest deception in the history of the world, but this newspaper and these images may have the power to take it down. I only apologize for the risk that this forces you to take."

Dunno if I'm gonna ink it ever, so it's just pencil for now But have a scallop/chain drawing ...she's really prettyyyyyyyy

“Alright what is it, Did Little-Phantom finally make it back? Does she have anything for-“ Bell popped into the office and immediately stiffened with layered recognition of the woman standing opposite to Acacia’s desk. That coat, caked in gray concrete powder which he now realized was worn by a face he could quickly attach a name to. Scud. “Alanis Sheneth, people call me Bell I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” Bell shook himself “But clearly not what is important here, lets see what brings our guild leader down to the ground floor.” Bell began thumbing thru the pitch. “Right. Kay, can see why brought me in on this… Wait, is this a Headline! I mean, I’d be fine running this in my column but you’re sure you want a story based on folklore and doctored images as the front page article?…” Bell stoped, and a chill ran past him. There was a familiar cast to Alanis’s eyes a distance yet focus to them. As if what they saw wasn’t what they expected to see anymore. Like his mothers eyes the night after he had last seen this woman. “Spikes, you really believe this don’t you?” @Rushu42

Day three: deep forest shrine. Ignore that there aren't any trees around.

HI!! I have recently been converted to Way of Kings!!! I'm friends with Shallan Stormblessed, and am actually the one from this thread... Loved the first book a ton, now starting on Words of Radiance!!!

It was quiet within the Void. Peaceful almost. Neither the Stranger nor Aylitha making any suspicious moves to intervene or turn the chaos of the city to their advantage. Neither appeared in fact to be anything but even the most rudimentary of oppositions to Sudiovs own efforts. It was the closest to a ceasefire that the three of them had reached since the Stranger begun his experiment with the world. It was deeply suspicious. Sudiov knew not how either of the others could hide their activities from him, but rather than pick apart that mystery or try to discover what they were up to he decided to assume the worst of them both. Likely the Stranger would have no qualms about exterminating Sudiov after pulling what power he could. And who knew what Aylitha had decided to do but it was unlikely to be in his best interests. This meant that Sudiov would need to pursue his own interests as well, less hidden than the others. If they wished to take issue with how he spent his time he would welcome the chance to pull them from their own works. For now however, he would spread his awareness through the city. He needed to know what was happening, to observe as many as possible to try to see the flow of possibility. As he went he repaired the cracks in reality with a touch of power, but they were growing both in number and in size. Far too many spots in the city beginning to crack and come apart. A pair of women who he wished had not reunited with each other strode through the city and the world shuddered and split apart in their passing. Another group discussed in the quiet of an office and reality rent asunder at their words. There was only one place in the city that Sudiov knew he could find quiet. One of the key focal points of the Forgery and effectively a moving linchpin for the entire thing. The man who had once been a god, and his most hated enemy. Voidus would be an oasis of calm in the city. A piercing pain ripped the shining god apart before letting him reform a moment later. A lance of agony pierced through him at the proximity as something important shattered to pieces. In an instant he pulled himself back, looked down at the city from above in abject fear. Had it failed? Had the cracks overwhelmed the Forgery already? It was ahead of all of his possible projections but surely this could only be an entire section of the city pulling free from the altered history. But the city was unchanged. The cracks spread with renewed vigour and more and more were appearing but they were still a long way from consuming the work that had been begun. So what else could this be? Sudiov checked and rechecked all of the loose threads, all the gaps, all the individuals he had marked as cause for concern, but other than a slight increase in the deterioration of their Forgeries nothing had changed. It was not until he had given up and returned to his earlier task of observation that Sudiov realised what had happened. When he saw what had only hours ago been a tired but mild mannered Professor was now leaning over a bloody body with a Hemalurgic spike in hand. A man who should have no knowledge of Hemalurgy had just precisely pierced a bindpoint in some unfortunate barista's heart with a pin of brass and was now looking at it with academic curiosity and unbridled glee. Voidus' memories had begun to return, and his powers would follow soon after. Things were coming to a head far faster than Sudiov had anticipated, and there was now no more time for subtle manoeuvring or clever plays. The time had come when he would simply need to choose a side.

Laurelai felt a trickle of heat hit her cheeks. The rush of mixed emotions at the very least provided a distraction from her brewing headache. The trickle of pride and pleasure at the compliment was one she always enjoyed, though the twinge of worry that Lita seemed to have picked up on Laurelai's intentions behind choosing this particular dress were a little less so. Bathing over both of them in an embarrassed glow however was Lita's picking apart Laurelai's own words with a subtle twist. And now your boss is going to think you are outright flirting with her at every opportunity. She chided herself. An infatuated little thing looking overly much into a single encounter. Laurelai quickly covered the blush with a polite smile and stepped quickly to follow after Lita, wary of being caught alone in one of the Alleys that Lita had mentioned. As they travelled she continued to lose herself in thought, reminding herself that what had happened was a once off event, not to be repeated. And that she certainly did not want to give the impression that she was looking for anything beyond that. Laurelai had no intentions of mixing emotions up with her work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stepping under the sign, Laurelai glanced up at it with a smile having finally managed to shake both her intrusive thoughts and her blush. A golden fox posing proudly on a green field stared down at her, only a single tail waving behind it. "Just the one tail on this one, as I had thought." She commented as she opened the door to the Goldfox Tavern for Lita to enter. "But perhaps once we've had a coffee or two we'll find ourselves enlightened enough to see more." @ZincAboutIt (Shall we move to the Alleycity thread?)

Lita waited until Laurelai had followed her out into the Alley beyond her office before locking the door, slipping the key into a pocket and double-checking the small bag she had grabbed from beside her desk. She drew one finger along the cool metal of her bayonet - it felt right to carry it, despite the fact that she barely knew what she'd do with it if the occasion arose. Lita gave a small shrug and let the thought slip from her mind, turning back to Laurelai with a light smile. "I'm glad you appreciate my unorthodox management style, Laurelai. I of course had my suspicions... but it is always good to have confirmation of a thing, is it not? And besides, you took the time to dress so nicely this morning. It would be a shame to keep you all cooped up in an office with only an audience of one." She turned and began walking without waiting for a reply, taking another long breath of smoke and letting it curl languidly out of her mouth as she prepared to Alleytravel. "Follow closely now, please. You've shown remarkable talent in picking up Alleytravel but it is still very easy to get lost. And I'd hate for you to trail all that lovely Elendel silk in caustic molasses or sentient mud, or whatever else those clever, mad fellows in R&D are making these days." @Voidus

Hi, welcome to the Shard! We're glad to have you here! hehe the Coppermind is addictive. Just so much interesting trivia...

These are amazing!

Just mess around in general, love being in communities like this. Also love hearing about theories An old joke about keyboards, with a random name I found! I just needed a throwaway username at the time, but it stuck : )

Welcome, Alto! Glad to have you here! It's a pretty amazing community! Where does your username come from?

Short answer - yes. Long answers: see these Words of Brandon. Especially this annotation:

Ohh cool that’s interesting didn’t know that I should probably be able to pinch hit, yeah

Here’s yesterday’s for “Bat” I ran out of time so I didn’t do the cosmere one.

Day Four: Scallop Okay, even I admit this one is a stretch. I had no idea what to do for this prompt originally; usually what I do for prompts that are stumping me is go to dictionary.com and see if there any alternative definitions. But for scallop? Nothing. So, my logic was that scallops remind me of rich people, and Ivian (the man I drew) is a king. That’s…. That’s it, that’s literally why.

Name: Sei Lu Appearance: A tall woman of Rose Empire descent. Long brown hair, blue eyes. Wears glasses. Guild: Most likely to join the Scholar's Guild. Personality: Open, likes to talk about her research. Concept: I wanted to build a character with access to Soulstamped Murder Camels and went from there. Motivation (Short & long term goal): Short term goal: Get away from her family. Long term: Research Identity. Merits: Minor: Has soulstamps handy, a Spanreed, and has Soulstone. Mid: Bow & arrow, tools for carving Soulstamps, a pack of useful items. Major: Talented Forger. (Currently has access to these soulstamps: One that makes camels (or other quadrupeds) aggressive, one that makes quadrupeds loyal, several misc. soulstamps that Sei used to decorate her quarters, and several to change her bow's draw weight.) Flaws: Overconfident, physically weak. NPCs (Eg. Family and Friends): A brother and a sister that Sei is in contact with via spanreed. Home Planet: Sel Current Residence: Alleycity. Backstory: Sei came to Alleycity to get away from a stuffy family. Loose ends (What is unfinished in their life?): Research, becoming a better Forger. Links (Eg. Theme song, a spotify playlist, a pinterest mood board): No Time at All

Ding ding ding!

Day Three: Bat If you're anything like me, then the first thing you think of when you hear the word "bat" is the small winged creature often associated with vampires. However, if you think a little longer, then you'll remember that "bat" as a verb means to hit. And that's exactly what happened to miss Riva. If you've read Masquerade (shameless plug for my novel) then you remember when, at the second ball, Riva was slapped and thrown into the mud. Poor thing. EXCEPT NOT POOR THING BECAUSE RIVA IS A TERRIBLE PERSON! But she is fun to write. Sorry this post came out late, I didn't create time in my morning to do it. But it's here now! Have a nice day! And I'll give you a hint, tomorrow's drawing is a m a z i n g.

Day Two: Scurry Today’s subject is Pheonix! (Yes, I spelled that correctly; it’s his name) I don’t know what he’s running from (or to) so I guess you can think of that on your own! I apologize for the drop in quality between number one and number two, but I figured that I should at least have a few drawings that challenge me, and this was definitely one of them (and I’ll warn you right now that the next one is hard too). This was an incredibly difficult pose for me, partially just because of scale; the paper I work with for Inktober is much smaller than my normal drawings and I’m the type of person who likes to draw BIG. But ultimately, I am happy with how it turned out under the circumstances. As always, here’s the sketch for it.

I mean, it's possible, but I think that the guy with immense power that you thought was mute and couldn't use it bursting into the room you are in suddenly, yelling at you to stop, glowing in all his glory, and clearly being mad at you would provoke such a reaction from basically anyone.

Me: Flame....how can I make Flame interesting and unique...? Me to me: you redraw your Spook fanart ...but let's be honest, did anyone expect anything other than Spook, Lestibournes, Survivor of the Flames, and love of my life????? Cuz if so, you clearly don't know me well enough. *Sigh...* Look at that man

I dabble, not a huge enthusiast though Thank you all for the warm welcome! :‎)

Do you like RP? I'm in a community of people who do a lot of RP and we're trying to revive it a bit. I could direct you to it if you're interested.

Bennington hovered around the Professor's head as he entered the cafe. The building was appointed in the sort of warm, slightly-plush interior that mortals seemed to find relaxing. There were a few patrons still here at the late hour, but mostly the Professor was alone. Alone with his bag of materials. And his knife. Good. Vivica did not usually come to places like this, but the spirit was right. The moment felt right. Bennington took a cautious taste of the ever-growing madness within the Professor. The mortal veneer was growing thin indeed, and just below it was that roiling, ever-twisting lake of endless darkness. The Void. It colored every drink these days, deepening the flavor to something heady and strong. Bennington felt himself growing fat upon it, that well that could never run dry. And now flavored with the sweetness of madness - his specialty. Bennington was hungry. He was always hungry, but he felt it more keenly now, now that he had been so cautious for so many days. The Forgery felt flimsier now, as though a key strut in the foundation had cracked and was nearly ready to break. He could afford to be generous with himself, now. He could allow himself to give in to the temptation. After all, the Professor was going to get a drink. Why not get a drink himself? With a twisting that shook some plane of existence far off beyond the uncaring stars, Bennington grabbed ahold of the violet thread that bound himself to Lucien Esserethel and pulled. Hard. @Voidus

Laurelai's eyes widened a fraction in surprise at Lita's decision, certainly Laurelai herself had been a little tempted when she walked past it but it was still morning and they were working. Though it was true that this was hardly a usual working environment, and Lita was hardly a normal employer, so perhaps this was simply normal here. And as Lita had mentioned there were few places better than a tavern for listening in on gossip. "Every day a new surprise in this place." Laurelai said, a sly grin chasing the surprise out of her expression. "You are certainly not like other employers ma'am, but I do quite like that." Standing to follow after Lita, Laurelai's attention slid to the redheads eyes, the very subtle redness and the almost invisible bags beneath them. Over the past few days Lita seemed to have the luck of the damned about her sleep, she either seemed to veritably glow with satisfaction or to be plagued by nightmares. But there were any number of explanations for that, perhaps Lita simply had someone warming her bed who was an occasional snorer. And thankfully, whatever her mood, Lita rarely let it actually obstruct their work. And so, beyond simply trying to keep her employer in a good mood there was little for Laurelai to worry about. Enjoyable as she found Lita's company, at the end of the day Lita was her boss, not her friend. "And I could certainly do with a little 'enlightenment' this morning I think." Laurelai continued, gloved fingers pressing against her temple as another piercing headache began. @ZincAboutIt

I had another thought today about how the shattering of Adonalsium may have been achieved. As I understand it, Hoid was in possession of a Dawnshard in the past, and was at least present for the shattering. Given that he was an OG Lightweaver, it may be possible that he used Lightweaving turned up to 11 by his Dawnshard to generate an anti-rhythm to Adonalsium, causing it to shatter.

Miles Hundredlives said something very similar as he died, without exhibiting red eyes: "You are fools! One day, the men of gold and red, bearers of the final metal, will come to you. And you will be ruled by them! Worship... Worship Trell and wait..." I think the red eyes bit was some aspect of his having a Trellium spike at all - which may or may not "prep" him for avatar-ness, but is not actually what he was talking about: he described becoming one as being his reward for killing Marasi, not something he was already blessed with in order to kill her (after all, she was the one who stumbled into their lair). "Trell is choosing hosts,” he said. “Avatars, bestowed with his power. How would you like to be the accomplishment that proves I’m worthy of immortality, lawwoman? All you have to do is die." Besides, becoming a "host", an avatar of Trell, and "bestowed with his power" comes with "immortality", which he obviously didn't have, as he died rather easily afterwards.

Aln opened the door abrputly, and looked startled to see Folorian standing just outside it. "Oh, Folorian! Excellent, I was just about to come find you." She had the disheveled look of someone who didn't sleep very much the night before, but her eyes were lit with excitement as she gestured him inside. "I think I've figured out a way to weaken the Forgery. Obviously, there's no precedent for anything so grand-scale as this, but I found some detailed records of what one experiences when an individual SoulForgery doesn't take. Essentially, they become unable to reconcile their present with their remembered past. It's that sense of incongruity that we need to increase." She stepped to her desk and picked up the files from the hospital. "The most interesting thing that I found in these was an account of a nurse who, when treating a patient with false memories and hallucinations, began to experience the same 'symptoms'. It suggests that being exposed to the memories of others can accelerate the process of breaking free from the forgery. All we need to do is show our memories to as many people as possible, and the Forgery will start breaking down at an exponential rate - theoretically, faster than the DA can suppress. If only we had a way to spread information quickly..." Then she held up an edition of the Alleyverse Post and grinned. "Oh right, we do!" @mathiau

It had been a long time since Cassie had played with beads. When she was younger - far younger - her father had bought her a little jewelry kit. She spent a lot of time stringing little wooden beads together, creating little bracelets, little necklaces, little bands to put in her hair. They kept her occupied, giving her something to play and learn when not looking at her studies or painting a picture with pretty colors. She'd always wanted to get a metal set like her mother had, but both parents had always said they were too dangerous, too valuable, too distracting, always too something. They had given her a set of colorful crystal beads instead, as her "own little treasure", and a five-year-old Cassie had wondered how those weren't also dangerous and valuable and distracting as well. She knew soon enough. When the mists had come and she'd gotten sick, then nearly Pulled the beads off her mother's wrist in curiosity. Nobody had really explained Allomancy to her by then. That usually waited until the beatings, the attempt to Snap the children into showing their power. Cassie got to skip that step. Mostly. Cassie got her metal beads at that point, but it was a lot less of playing and more learning, particularly with the older woman with the Lurcher's shield. Pull the beads to you, but not into your head. Pull this bead to you, but not that one. Find the bead under your bed. Pull a bead someone tosses at you. Pull this, Pull that... she knew it was important, just not why. Just that the metal was the important part. Not the beads. She eventually graduated to the traditional coins, and was scheduled to start with actual weapons when her family nearly knocked her door off its hinges and told her they needed to run to the cave the Emperor had found. When the shaking stopped and they came out, the world was different. Pretty. Colorful like the paintings she'd made. Like the crystal beads. Cassandra Adama looked at the tiny amethysts that Lord's contact had shipped her. They weren't perfectly round, but they were small enough that any imperfections would have the same impact on its capabilities. Tiny beads, innocuous in nature but bursting with potential. Strange, how it was now the crystal beads that would be her salvation from the poison that was her metal body. The beads, of course, didn't have holes in them. That would ruin the entire idea. Cassie instead had to tie them together by hand, which needed a series of clamps to keep the little strings from coming apart and flinging the valuable gems all over her store. It was slow, especially with the feeling slipping from her fingers. Poller was helping with a few of the longer strands, but he couldn't do them all. He didn't know what they were for, after all. Nor could he Soulcast the string into the metal to make a better gem setting. It was a strange metal, that one - made by Soulcasting without thinking much at all. It ended up being almost identical to the metal her flesh seemed to be becoming. The chains of gems would hopefully act as a channel, connecting her extremities to... something. Some way of transmitting a signal between an input and output. Cassandra hadn't yet determined what the "input" would be. That was more detailed in the Ghostblood's missive, but it talked a lot about things she didn't understand. Shadows. Circuits. Batteries. Silver. Binding. Technomagic. Something about power manipulation and an Investiture Interface. She had heard of a few of these words from Earth-based literature she'd found on different metals. Other words were completely alien. And then there were the words that she understood perfectly: "theory", "experimental", "risk", "unreliable". "Death". But the beads, she understood. Mostly. It would act as her nerves, letting her feel and respond and... live. She just needed a way to make sure they worked, and something to attach them to. As for the "death" part... she was facing death anyway. Cassie paused. Something felt... wrong. Very wrong. Why had this invoked so many memories in her? Cassandra barely thought about that part of her past, save for the odd letter back home to a time that she wasn't sure was even there. The amethysts were like beads, sure, but not that much. She didn't play with beads anymore. She had a full on blacksmith's shop, for Preservation's sake. So why... memory? Maybe this was just an emotional reaction. She was dying, after all. It was normal to think of the family she had left, the people - No. It's not fine. Can't you see? Something is very wrong. Be afraid. Cassie didn't jump out of her seat at the thought. Partially because she physically couldn't anymore. Partially because she didn't quite understand what it was she was feeling. Just what it wasn't. This wasn't the cascade of an emotional reaction. Nor was it anything similar to a progression in her Change. If anything, Cassie's transformation made her more grounded, less likely to shift in an outburst. It wasn't even in response to her frustrations with the progress on the strings of amethyst and their purpose. No, this was just a sudden and profound feeling that something was wrong, but with no indication what was wrong. Like someone Rioting her, if they had no practice in how to manipulate people. And were somehow invisible. It felt like... the Einladung? She'd felt this before. At the Hospital. Why she'd felt it, she didn't know. Had a doctor had tried to get her concerned enough about her condition to check in? But then why was she feeling it now? Or was this something else. Well, it didn't feel relevant to her project. Cassandra knew that much. So she discounted it for now. There could be several possibilities she wasn't considering, but most of them were related to stress, which was the contradiction of being both understandable and irrelevant. She needed to focus. Find a way to understand how to complete her project. But maybe - just maybe - it would help to have some help. Cassandra checked the small pocket she'd Soulcast into her desk. Her new little treasure - a softly glowing sphere of amethyst the size of a baseball. It had been expensive - very expensive - but the contact's word had held true. The gem hadn't lost any Stormlight since she'd placed it in there. A perfect gemstone. Cassandra would figure out how to use it eventually. But for now, she wanted to get out. Calm down her nerves. Maybe get some clandestine advice on how to connect these circuits. She pulled a note out of her desk and begin trying to edit it, before simply crumpling it and Soulcasting it into a drop of lead. She then grabbed a new sheet of paper and wrote in her new, large scrawl. Then Cassie grabbed a small green scarf, left the note with Poller, and limped out into the City. Towards answers. Towards whatever drew that little unease in the back of her mind. NullBlade, I'm going to be leaving the store for a while. I've tried leaving off Soulcasting for the past week or so, but it's become complicated, and it's possible I have a lead on a solution. If there's one for me, maybe there's one for you. Mine is risky even if it can work, but I don't exactly have much to lose. Not since what happened at the Hospital. Have you felt weird about that, by the way? I feel like we both handled things our own way. I should be back within at least a day in case you check in. If I'm not... well, I'll try not to Soulcast anything on my trip. I shouldn't need to, I brought extra iron just in case. I also finally made those sockets you asked for. It feels so long ago you did. There's a handful of aluminum slugs that fit them too. I hope they were what you had in mind for more aluminum burning. Ask Poller for them if you'd like them. For you, they're free. You've done enough for me to earn that much. All the best, Cassandra Adama.

Could it be...

Dude. General Conference has been so amazing, like aaaAAAAAAA. A temple got announced in my hometown, so I’ve just been.. well, crying in a good way and grateful. But either than that, I’ve just been feeling so good, except for the headache I now have from all the crying I’ve been doing lolll. Day 2: Scurry