I. Into the Depths
It was hard to miss, the black depths of the
cave standing in stern contrast against the brilliant white rock of
the surrounding mountainside.
"Where in the Void did that come from?" stuttered Dan, with
a look of complete bewilderment on his face. "That wasn't here
before, was it? No. No way! I know these trails better than anyone
alive!"
"Well, if you wouldn't spend all that time staring at me, perhaps
you might have noticed it!" Jasta teased, with just a hint of
her ever-mischievous grin. "No, that cave was most certainly
NOT here the last time we went hiking. It IS a little hard to miss."
Dan, in too much shock to banter with her, just stood, rubbing his
chin and staring at the unexpected cave.
The White Spire Mountains are considered one of the most wondrous
features in all of Meera. The mountains are grand, sharp jagged peaks
of the purest white stone, so tall and bright that one cannot see
where the rock ends and where the snow begins. The White Spires span
the entire continent of Taryn, from the east coast to the west coast,
dividing the continent in two. There are no natural passes through
the mountains: all ravines end in unclimbable sheer cliffs, and even
the lowest points through the mountains are said to be so high and
cold that only the legendary ice dragons are able fly over them. The
only way to get through them might be to tunnel underground, but the
mountains are formed of the stone known as ogaal, one of the hardest
substances in all of Meera. Legend says that ogaal can be cut only
by the passing of time, or by magic- with tools enchanted by the most
powerful magic of the ancient gods, gods whom have been silent for
over a thousand years.
After a few moments of puzzled silence, Dan finally spoke. "You
know, this could be... no. No way. It's just a myth."
Jasta growled in annoyance. "What? What were you about to say?"
"Well, I'm sure you've heard the tales..." Dan paused, shaking
his head in disbelief at himself for suggesting the idea. "...of
an ancient passageway, sealed and lost for a thousand years."
Jasta quickly interrupted. "Oh, you mean the one that's supposed
to lead to the lost valley of Odina, and on through to the other side
of these 'impassable' mountains?" Her eyebrows rose a bit. "Of
course. Everyone has heard that tale."
"I know. It sounds crazy." Dan shrugged. "But, who
knows?"
"Well, most myths are based on some grain of truth, right?"
said Jasta, her eyes sparkling with hope.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Dan gestured towards
the cave. "Shall we?"
So Dan and Jasta, their sense of adventure heightened by the newly
warmed air of spring, wandered down the gulch, climbing over great
white boulders, to get a closer look at the cave. The entrance to
the cave wasn't very large, just large enough for a horse to travel
through, but even the opening seemed unnaturally dark. The air wafting
slowly from its depths was very cool and damp, and it had a dank odor-
musty like old books or linens.
"I can't see anything at all in there, what about you?"
asked Dan, squinting in to the cave.
"Even with the vastly superior vision of my eldarian blood, I
cannot penetrate very far in to these depths," Jasta said in
an exaggerated tone of arrogance.
"Oh, come off it, you silly girl! You're only half-eldarian anyway!"
To which Jasta stuck out her tongue at him and replied "Yeah,
but it's my better half!"
Jasta Edoori was raised in the north, in the Eldarian city of Cotaso.
The Eladrians are a feline people, known throughout Meera for their
incredibly acute senses, mind-boggling acrobatic abilities, and remarkable
artistic and musical abilities. Though the Eladarians tend to prefer
fine food, fine wines, and fine clothing, they are not a haughty people.
In touch with their ancient feline roots, they are in fact a fierce
and wild and carefree people- a people whom are often struck with
wanderlust.
Jasta's mother was Eldarian- a talented musician and artist, and her
father was a human- a traveling art merchant. Her parents met through
a business transaction, and quickly fell in love. Jasta was the youngest
of four children. She learned the fine arts of teasing. fighting,
and gambling from her three older brothers- and she grew up as quite
a tomboy, even for one with the wild Eldarian blood. Jasta was fortunate
to inherit her mother's musical gift, and she was the only one of
her siblings born with Eldarian claws. This is a rare trait for a
half-human, so she was able to participate in the Eldarians sacred
rite of passage into adulthood- the first hunt. It was four years
(and many stories) later that she met Dan.
The two met the year before, when Jasta's bardic troupe came to Dan's
town, the village of Alba. Alba lies on the shores of Lake Habru,
between the edge of Birla Woods to the north and the 'impassable'
White Spire Mountains to the south, and only a day's ride from the
city of Taom. They caught each other's eye as Jasta was performing
in the show, doing incredible feats of acrobatics and juggling, then
playing mesmerizing tunes on her pan flute. With her tall, lithe figure,
large vivid blue eyes, subtly pointed ears, and her slightly feline
facial features framed by curly, mid-length vibrant red hair, Dan
was immediately taken by her.
Dan, being a highly skilled archer, won the archery contest that afternoon.
The two instantly felt at ease with each other, and spent the rest
of the evening together- feasting and dancing in the town’s
joyful celebration. Over the course of the evening, they fell madly
in love, and when her troupe left, Jasta decided to stay with Dan
in Alba.
Dan and Jasta stood peering in to the cave for awhile and finally
Jasta said, with some reluctance, "I think we will need a lantern."
"I agree," said Dan. "And I bet my brother and sister
would enjoy a break, if Mesra isn't busy sewing something for one
of her customers today."
"Yeah, and if you can possibly peel Rajren away from studying
spell books with that crazy tinker Jeb." Jasta said, raising
her eyebrows. "Have you seen Jeb's latest spell? He can now make
himself look like just about anything, and yesterday he turned himself
into a warty old hag and chased me around with a broomstick, trying
to pick my pockets!"
Dan laughed. "Well, at least it was just an illusion! If my brother
keeps on going like he is, pretty soon he'll be able to call upon
a REAL hag to chase you around! And I think a real hag would be more
interested in picking out your eyeballs than in picking your pockets!"
When their laughter finally died down, Dan and Jasta gave each other
a quick kiss and began heading back to Alba.
"You know, it's strange," said Dan slowly, almost wistfully
"but that cave seems somehow familiar to me."
"It could have been in one of those strange dreams you have."
suggested Jasta, embracing his hand in her own.
"Yeah, that must be it." He thought for a minute, and nodded.
"Actually, I'm quite sure it was in one of my dreams." Dan
took a deep breath. "But why?"
A rugged and strong, yet gentle and graceful young man, with long,
dark brown hair, bright green eyes and sharp handsome features, Ra'Dan
Al'Ta'Ren was the oldest of the three Al'Ta'Ren children. They were
orphans- their parents killed defending them in a gobbler attack upon
the village some six years previously. (Gobblers are savage, ape-like
creatures- who seem to kill just for the pleasure of it.) At the time,
Dan was 14, and the twins Mesra and Rajren were 11 years old. The
Al'Ta'Ren family arrived in Alba when the children were very young-
Dan was six years old, and the twins were around three. Dan couldn't
remember much of his early childhood- just vague images and impressions
that seemed as a dream to him. Their father Kerim and their mother
Altala refused to speak of where they had come from, or anything about
their past or other family members at all. But in these northern lands
of fair-skinned humans, the Al'Ta'Ren family's golden medium-toned
skin revealed that they must have come from afar.
After the death of their parents, with no other known family, the
children were taken in and taught trades by many of the townspeople.
Their father had become a prominent fishing merchant, while their
mother tended the garden, the animals, and their home. Dan, who is
very highly in tune with nature, particularly with animals, became
an excellent woodsman- a fisher, hunter, tracker, and a guide. Rajren
discovered a remarkable knack for finding rare herbs and mushrooms
and precious stones. Mesra perfected the art of sewing and leatherworking,
and her work as a fine seamstress had become widely known throughout
the region. Within less than two years, the Al'Ta'Ren children were
able to fully support themselves with Dan's hunting, fishing, and
trail guiding; Rajren's herb and stone gathering; and Mesra's leatherworking
and sewing.
But supporting themselves hadn't been easy... for anyone. For the
past fifteen years or so, strange things have been happening within
Northern Taryn... the weather has been more unpredictable than in
the past- leading to bad crops; roving bands of gobblers, bandits,
giant ants, and mad wild animal attacks have become very frequent,
and many report attacks from rarer monsters such as giants, dracnees,
oozes, and undead creatures. Traveling has continued to become more
and more dangerous, and many trade routes have been completely disrupted.
Lately, the diplomatic ties between the various kingdoms in Northern
Taryn seem to be completely unraveling. Almost everyone has a general
sense of unease, and no one can quite say why.
As he'd grown, Dan's skill in tracking, intimate knowledge of the
surrounding countryside, and uncanny sense of locating dangerous beasts
has been instrumental in seeing to the safety of Alba, and of those
traveling within the area.
One evening, after a successful gobbler hunt initiated by Dan, the
town mayor stopped by to personally thank him. "How do you find
them?" asked the mayor. "No one has nearly as much success
in tracking them as you do!"
Dan shrugged. "It's a gift, I guess."
"A gift, and those dreams help quite a lot, don't they Dan?"
remarked Mesra, after the mayor left.
Jasta, whom had just recently moved in, raised an eyebrow. "Dreams?"
Dan, squirming a bit, obviously not too comfortable talking about
it, replied. "Ya, umm. Dreams." He took a deep breath, trying
to decide where to begin.
Mesra, seeing her brother struggling for words, spoke up. "Well,
he's always had these "interesting" dreams, and they often
come true." Mesra looked Jasta firmly in the eye. "Really."
"Really?" asked Jasta.
Dan, upon seeing that Jasta wasn't going to laugh about it, warmed
to the subject. "Ya, it's true. Like, I'll dream about a certain
place, then an image of a certain creature. Then when I go near there,
I'll find the tracks. So then I'll go get help if there's signs of
many creatures or a particularly tough creature. Or just hunt it myself
if it seems easy enough." Dan laughed. "At first, I didn't
really believe it, and the dreams didn't happen very often. But, over
time, I've learned to trust them, and It happens all the time now."
"This is great!!!" Jasta flashed a bit of her mischievous
grin. "I'm the safest gal in all of Taryn!"
Mesra smiled, winked at Jasta, and looked at Dan. "I didn't think
you had told her. And I figured it is something Jasta should know!"
Dan smiled, shook his head. "Thanks sis."
Along with her skills as a seamstress, Mesra is sought out by many
for another reason: her impeccable wisdom and truth-seeing skills,
and her ability to put people at ease and work out conflicts. She
was also well known for remarkable healing skills- gifts she seemed
to be born with. As with her siblings, she has the golden tawny skin
and vivid green eyes unique to the Al'Ta'Ren family. But her most
striking feature is her long, shining white hair, as bright as the
White Spire Mountains. And though raised in a simple fishing and farming
community, Mesra seems to have this air of nobility that immediately
demands everyone's attention.
Rajren too, was gifted with innate wisdom and truth-seeing abilities,
but lacking his sister's social grace- wasn't so well known for them.
Of all the siblings, Rajren was hit hardest by the death of their
parents. Death horrified him and it became his fascination. An extremely
intelligent boy, he turned to the arcane study of magery, and throwing
himself into his studies, he quickly excelled. Making many trips to
the vast library in the nearby city of Taom, he taught himself much:
herbalism, ancient lore, astrology, navigation, creature lore, and
even some basic spellcraft.
Rajren was extremely excited when he "discovered" books
about the ancient language of dragons- the sacred tongue of magic:
"Quim'Az'Sta." He learned that his family's name means "from
the place of truth." So then, Rajren began studying geography,
and learned that Ta'Ren is a large kingdom far to the south, across
the Tyrilm Sea, on the southern continent of Ber'Danja. He also learned
that for the past 15 years or so, few ships have successfully made
the long ocean voyage around the west coast of Taryn to the port of
Wiyene: which is famous for it's high population of "Ser-Win"
-or giant eagle-riders. Fewer still have made it to the seaport of
Yatasa: an exotic Eldarian jungle city-state, built where the great
Nayre River meets the sea. And almost none have been able to cross
the wild Tyrilm Sea to the port of Mezeca, on the southern continent
of Ber'Danja. Rumors abound of sudden violent storms, strange sea
creatures swallowing ships whole, whirlpools, and mysterious clouds
of nauseating green fog. No ship, of course, could ever pass through
the stormy waters off the east coast of Taryn... with its shore made
entirely of mountainous cliffs, with all it's hidden reefs, nonsensical
currents, and uninhabitable volcanic isles. Then, there's "The
Boiling Sea," where it is said the sea itself boils, that the
very air is almost impossible to breathe, and that nothing can live
there at all. With the seas unsafe, and no pass through the White
Spires- for the past 15 years, almost all trade and contact with the
south has ceased.
Rajren had no desire to make friends- for he felt that people just
distracted him from his studies. But on one trip to the library, at
the age of 13, he met up with a fellow mage-in-training: a tinker
named Jebru Phisnem.
Young for a tinker (60 years of age) Jebru Phisnem is in many ways
Rajren's equal. He came from the tinker city of Geem- the only known
place that had been carved into the White Spire Mountains. (According
to legend, an ancient goddess granted the tinkers a city of made of
ogaal, so that the tinkers bizarre contraptions and experiments, when
they failed, as they often did, would not destroy the whole world.)
Jeb spent his first 50 years, mostly underground, working with his
extended family of jewelers, engineers, alchemists, and inventors.
Then one day, he was assisting his uncle in an experiment, and something
went wrong. Jeb really won't talk about it to anyone, but whatever
happened, it made his short white hair stand straight up on end- and
stay that way. Whatever "it" was, it made his eyes turn
from brown to chartreuse and glow in the dark. Standing just under
four feet tall, with a nose that is monstrous even for a tinker, his
bizarre changes make for quite an interesting sight. And whatever
"it" was, it left him a little bit crazy. (Not "bad"
crazy, mind you, just a bit child-like and unpredictable.)
After the "accident," Jeb was no longer satisfied with the
life he had been leading. He left his family home, and spent the next
few years traveling around, supporting himself mainly by thievery,
in which he excelled. One day, in a mageware shop in Taom, Jeb was
finally caught stealing. The owner was about to call the guards and
have him arrested, when a customer in the store- a wizard by the look
of him- spoke up. "No need to bother the guards with such a trifle
matter. I will pay for this young one's pilfered goods." Jeb,
naturally, had no desire to argue, and followed the beckoning wizard
out the door.
The old wizard offered his hand for shaking. "I am Master Fennok.
And you are?"
Jeb, embarrassed about being caught, and confused as to why the wizard
would help him, humbly accepted his handshake. "I'm J-Jeb."
he stuttered. "Jeb-Jebru Phisnem. Why..."
"Why did I do that?" Master Fennok's gaze grew stern. "Fate."
"Fate?" Jeb asked, beginning to grow suspicious.
"Well, I can tell that you are, in actuality, a very talented
thief, and you would never have been caught, if fate had not meant
us to meet- to show you to your true path." His face softened
a little. "I will teach you the ways of magic, if you wish to
learn."
Jeb later claimed that he didn't believe him for a moment, about fate,
but he jumped upon the chance to study magic under Master Fennok.
Jeb worked hard, and learned quickly, the craft of magery. Tinker
spellcasters had always had a particular affinity for spells of illusion
and transformation, and Jeb was no exception to this, thus he specialized
and excelled in both transformation and illusion spells.
After meeting in the library of Taom, Jeb took Rajren to meet Master
Fennok in the hopes that he would apprentice Rajren as well. Upon
walking in the door of Master Fennok's study, the old wizard scowled
at Rajren: "Took you long enough! I was expecting you months
ago! Now let's get to work."
Stunned, Rajren immediately set about helping the old wizard in his
craft, and learned much from him, even on the first day. Over the
span of the next few years, under the watchful, wise, and tough but
caring eye of Master Fennok, he spent his weeks studying the arcane
knowledge of magic and practicing spells with Jeb, in Taom, coming
home to Alba only on the weekends.
Rajren and Jeb had grown inseparable, as brothers, and the two made
for quite a bizarre looking pair. Jeb, by himself, makes people do
a double take and giggle nervously, especially while wearing the flamboyant
yellow-green robe that he had Mesra make for him- to "match his
eyes" as he said. And Rajren, donning midnight-blue robes, well,
one could see that he would probably grow up to be quite handsome,
but he was in that awkward adolescent stage that many boys go through,
where he seemed a little out of proportion- hands and feet and a head
a little to large for his small frame. He has, of course, the medium
skin and bright green eyes all the Al'Ta'Ren children share, but his
hair is jet black and shiny, and his features are very, very sharp.
In fact, everything about Rajren seems sharp- sharp features, sharp
eyes, a sharp mind, and definitely a sharp tongue.
It was apparent very early on in his training that Rajren was most
interested in and talented with two particular types of spells: divination-
or “seeking: spells, and necromancy- spells dealing with the
dead, the undead, and "life force" spells. Though it is
often thought that necromancers are "evil" by nature, and
it is true that many of them have been, Rajren did not see it that
way. He chose to specialize in necromancy, for in his study of creature
lore, he realized just how many undead creatures roamed the face of
Meera, and he wanted to be prepared for them if need be. But what
influenced his choice the most, was that very early on in his studies,
he heard tales of some of the advanced necromancy spells: spells that
could bring back the dead, or reincarnate them in to new bodies. He
hoped, as a child would, that he might someday be able to bring his
parents back. And those who were close to him knew that though his
studies may have been a bit dark and his attitude a bit cynical, his
heart was good. Dan and Mesra understood very well Rajren's motivations
for becoming a necromancer, and though they both felt that he was
in some sort of denial about their parents death, they knew he needed
to work it out in his own time and in his own way, and they were sure
he would outgrow the idea of bringing them back long before he could
actually do so. And so, they supported Rajren in his choice.
Many of Alba's townspeople on the other hand, grew a bit uncomfortable
with Rajren's workings in "the dark arts." He began to be
shunned by many of them more and more often, (other than for acquiring
his sought-after wares) but Rajren honestly didn't care whether he
was liked or understood by anyone (with the exception of his siblings,
Jeb, and his mentor Master Fennok.)
Late this previous autumn, a tragedy arose. While Rajren and Jeb were
on a weekend visit to Alba, Master Fennok suddenly grew very ill with
a mysterious and paralyzing disease. None of the healers in Taom could
do anything to help him, and before Mesra could be sent for, Master
Fennok died. He left instructions for Rajren and Jeb to spend some
time in Alba, studying what he had taught them, and doing more research
in the Taom library, before going out in the world and finding other
teachers.
Grieving the loss of their mentor, the two did as Master Fennok had
instructed, staying in Alba on through the winter, mastering their
known spells. Rajren continued to do his part in the household by
gathering herbs for cooking, medicine, and trade. Jeb used his knowledge
of engineering to help the townsfolk design a new town hall, to be
built this coming summer, and almost every evening he entertained
guests with fanciful illusions in one of the inns. Jasta played music
to heighten the effects of Jeb's illusions, and the act was so good
that along with tips from the audience, the innkeeper paid them generously
for the boost to his business, and he threatened to close shop and
follow them if they ever left! With the five of them living under
the same roof all winter, a deep sense of family had grown. It was
a feeling that all of them had missed quite a bit, whether they realized
it or not.
It was around ten o'clock, on this fine spring morning, that Dan came
strolling into the house, and Jasta came bouncing in, just in time
for brunch. They were both obviously excited about something, and
before they could say a word, Rajren, with a smirk on his face, spouted
out "Did you two finally discover the difference between boys
and girls?"
"Why, are you jealous?" retorted Jasta quickly, with a smirk
of her own.
Everyone snickered for a moment, and then Mesra, cutting thick slices
of warm, richly scented, fresh brown bread for everyone, said "Well?
Do we need to keep guessing? What's the news?"
Dan and Jasta began telling them of the cave, and before they had
even finished describing it, Jeb jumped up and interrupted "OK.
Who's coming with me?"
"Coming with you?" Dan's eyebrows raised.
"I should lead this expedition, r-really I should." Jeb
said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Who's coming
with me?"
Jasta looked disbelievingly at Jeb. "You should lead, huh? Why
do you say that?"
"Because, you know, I've spent most of my life underground, you
see, so that makes me the obvious choice to lead this party... obviously,"
said Jeb smugly. "So who's coming with me?"
The others all looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to humor
him. "You know I'm up for it," said Rajren.
Mesra took a bite of bread, and sat musing for a moment. "Well,
we have no idea how deep this cave could be, or what dangers may lie
within, so we shouldn't expect to be back by nightfall. We could be
gone for quite awhile, who knows? I say we should thoroughly prepare
our backpacks." She stood up. "I need to return a dress
to Miss Polly, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind keeping an eye on our
house and tending to the animals and garden while we're gone. Everyone
start packing." At this, Mesra grabbed the dress from the sitting
room and headed out the door.
"For proper travel underground, we shall need lanterns, ropes..."
Jeb, happy to be heading back to his native element, took Mesra's
words to heart and insisted on helping everyone pack their backpacks,
thoroughly, though of course everyone insisted that they could do
so on their own, and so it was almost noon when the aspiring adventurers
were finally ready to leave.
The day was beginning to feel more like summer than spring, and after
the brisk hike through the hills with their backpacks full, a rest
by the cave mouth with it's cool breeze was a welcome relief.
"Well Jeb, lead on!" Jasta grinned, bowing and gesturing
towards the looming darkness.
"Uh, did I say l-lead?" Jeb, accustomed to the spacious,
half-lit caverns of Neem, looked into the deep blackness of the cave,
then looked all around and fidgeted in his pockets for a moment. "What
I meant was, uh, that being a mage and umm, wise and all, and uh,
being the oldest and umm, having experience with caves and such, that,
uh, I should be the lead, uh, umm advice giver. Yeah, that's it. I
should be the lead advice giver! Uh, you go on ahead."
Everyone rolled their eyes, and snickered. Rajren walked over and
slapped Jeb lightly on the back. "So what is your advice, oh
wise master advice giver?"
Jeb cleared his throat. "Well, we are going to need light, of
course," he said, as Mesra lit one lantern and Jasta lit the
other.
"Of course," echoed Mesra and Jasta at the same moment.
Everyone laughed, including Jeb this time.
"Well, shall we go now?" said Dan, picking up his pack and
weapons.
The rest of the adventurers put on their backpacks, and they all took
a deep breath and headed in to the almost tangible blackness of the
cave mouth. The passage was just wide enough for two people to walk
comfortably side by side. Jasta, holding a lantern in one hand, and
clutching her rapier with the other, and Dan, with his longsword in
hand and his bow and arrows easily reached, went in first. Rajren
and Jeb followed, grasping their staves, their free hands ready to
pull out spell components from their belt pouches and from the pockets
of their flowing robes. Mesra, carrying the other lantern and her
dagger, calmly walked in last. There was no doubt now that the passage
was man-made, for walls of the passage were rough, criss-crossed with
what were obviously chisel marks. The ground, though, was fairly smooth.
"By the looks of the floor, this place used to get a lot of foot
traffic, at one time or another." Jeb said, nodding in agreement
with himself.
Dan held up the lantern and scanned the floor ahead with his eyes.
“The only tracks I see are from wildlife- looks like mainly
rodents and bats live here. Just look at this layer of dust!”
Dan briefly bent over and ran a finger along the floor. “No
one else has disturbed this passage in a LONG time.”
"This has got to be the lost mines." Rajren said, with just
a hint of excitement in his voice. "We have ALL heard the stories,
and I've read quite a bit about it in old books in Taom. If this is
it, then we really are on our way to the lost city of Odina!"
"Odina!" exclaimed Jeb. "THE Odina?"
"Yeah, THE Odina. The only way through the White Spires,"
said Rajren.
"I've always just assumed Odina was a myth, an old wive's tale,"
said Jeb, a sense of wonder in his voice.
"Well, we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" said Mesra.
"Rajren, how far is it supposed to be through these mines? If
these ARE the mines, though we shouldn't get our hopes up."
"If these are the lost mines of Odina," said Rajren "And
I'm almost positive that's what we've found, then it should take us..."
"Shhh!" hissed Jasta firmly. "I heard something up
ahead."
They all froze- held their breaths, and listened.
©
Johnelle Warren 2005.
Comments
by the author...
This
IS a first draft...
I
realize there is "too much" in the first chapter. I need
to either move some of the "background info" to subsequent
chapters or begin the story at a different point (i.e.. the parents
death?) and "show" rather than "tell" some more
of the back/side stories.
The
inspiration for this story came from a "character building"
exercise in a creative writing course- which I have expanded upon
greatly! I probably have created at least 300 pages worth of background
information on the characters, plots & sub-plots, and the world
of "Meera." (Including maps & geography, weather patterns,
trade routes, cultures & customs, races & creatures, language,
magic & artifacts, history & mythology, even some songs &
poems!) I adapted the characters and world into D20 format (Dungeons
& Dragons 3E) and my fiancee & I have been roleplaying this
story...
I
have temporarily paused in writing this due to some new inspiration
that needs to "soak" for awhile!
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