[God Quest] the show must go on

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

The orangery is warm with sunlight pouring through the glass panes and settling across leaf and soil in a way that feels rare given the rain. Flora stands among it all with her sleeves pushed up and her hair half-tamed into a loose knot, one hand steadying a branch while the other works the shears with careful precision. The plant she's tending to is old, established, a thing that knows how to survive being cut back, and she trims it thoughtfully rather than gently, aware that care is not the same thing as hesitation.

A few snips, a pause to assess the shape, then another decisive cut. Fallen clippings are gathered and set aside, not discarded thoughtlessly, because even what is removed still has purpose. When she is satisfied, Flora wipes her hands on a cloth, breathes out, and lets the quiet settle again around the slow pulse of green life and sun-warmed air. There is no stage-setting, no flourish, no candles lit for effect. She simply turns slightly, as though addressing the space itself, and speaks in a voice that is calm, respectful, and unembellished, the way one speaks when there is no need to persuade.

"Rae," Flora says, steady and clear. "Torchline has done what you asked."

---

Flora is turning in TL's RQ acquired in tumbleweed words

1. A thread collecting and distilling ocean water to gather the sea salt from it [RQ] don't be salty (Melita & Isla)

2. A thread collecting citrus plants from the Oerwoud and juicing/reducing it to gather the citric acid [RQ][SE] playing dirty (Kaisel & Flora)

3. A PQ cleaning out the healing fountain to ensure there is no contamination, and then adding in the salt/citric acid (steps 1&2 must be completed before this) [PQ][RQ] didn't stand by with fingers crossed (Ronin, Remi, & Flora)

4. A PQ bottling the new water. (step 3 must be completed before this) [PQ][RQ] you're jumpin' for the water and it's all 100 proof (Kaisel, Isla, & Ever)

dance beneath the stars as you drink in the night
let the thunder overtake you as lightning fills the sky.

There is no rush of wind, no bloom of light, only a subtle deepening of presence, as though the room has drawn a fuller breath and decided to hold it before the warmth settles, not heavier but more complete, and the plants respond first, leaves angling almost imperceptibly, stems firming with quiet certainty.

Rae stands among them, neither imposing nor diminished by the space. Their gaze passes over the pruned plant, the careful cuts, the gathered clippings set aside for later use, and something like recognition settles into the stillness between them. A single nod follows, unhurried and absolute. "Torchline has done what was instructed," Both aspects of Rae say in unison.

There is no praise layered atop it, no warning threaded beneath, only acknowledgment. The warmth recedes by degrees rather than all at once and Rae is gone as simply as they arrived, leaving behind the steady pulse of living things and the sense that something important has been marked, recorded, and allowed to continue.

---

Torchline has completed its RQ. The healing fountain now has the following feature:

Healing Fountain | The Fountain outside the Court of the Stars possesses Mastered-Level healing waters that can be used anywhere in Caido. All Torchline Citizens can have a bottle of healing water on their person during KQs/PQ+s regardless of location.

feel the force of nature penetrate your skin,
spin with the world as the magic sinks in.

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

Flora looks up as the warmth in the orangery settles into something fuller, steadier, her attention lifting from leaf and stem to the quiet certainty of Rae’s presence among the living green. She meets the nod with one of her own, simple and unshowy, the corners of her mouth softening as the acknowledgement lands without ceremony. "Thank you," she says, quietly and sincerely, because nothing more is required.

When the presence recedes and the air returns to its familiar, sunlit ease, Flora exhales, the breath leaving her slow and unguarded, relief loosening something she had been holding since the work began. The plants remain, thriving and patient, and she stands among them for a moment longer, grounded and content in the knowledge that what needed doing has been done.

~FIN