an indirect continuance of 'Curiosity killed some cats' http://www.mooncalfstudios.com/pathofth ... =14&t=2407 Those who participated in the original thread are welcome to join in.
The problem in the life (or whatever exact state her continued existence should be called) of someone such as herself was not a deal of two or three constant demands, but a never ending series of smaller ones that popped up along the way. Never like clockwork, of course, because clockwork could be planned around. Her 'life' was consistently being peppered with such things that kept pulling her attentions here and there, so it was no surprise that the mystic periodically 'vanished' and blocked out all outside contacts so she could focus on matters without distractions.
Zodiac relaxed in the den she had made within her farmhouse. A small fire crackling away in the fireplace as the night breeze pushed the curtains about. Spring was almost upon them so the windows were cracked to allow the seldom used retreat to air out. She needed the quiet more than most would understand, which could be ironic considering her own voice was so limited in nature.
Her desk was organized clutter. A notebook open and rapidly filling as she made tests, observations, experiments and conjectures concerning the information that had arrived quite literally on her doorstep one evening. Next to that, a pile of notebooks that she had recorded earlier experiments in for future study. The entire arrangement she sat at would look to be a total disaster to anyone not versed in such things.
Herself and a few friends had labored to try and find a threat to them all, but instead caught a very odd sort of curious soul instead. She imagined some of their number rolled their eyes in frustration when the truth was know that this was not the menace that threatened them all , but others among the group understood the old axiom. 'Knowledge was power' and it could not be denied what the gypsy had managed to obtain from the collector was a slightly incomplete, yet potent key to work with.
The original was locked away in the place she kept her grandmother's grimores and other bits of arcane knowledge in safety. The original was old and she knew it would not survive her constant handling for long, hence the copies she had made. Copies had been given to all and how they had chose to act upon the information was not quite her concern. They had all agreed to keep what they had found a secret, but no one had approached any so far as to what their opinion was on the matter. As for herself, she dove into it every chance she got. It was an incomplete key, but the parts that were in place were nothing short of gold. The 'collector' (it was her personal name for the woman. The woman had offered no name in return for herself) had been quite reluctant to part with this but the group, being so convincing on so many different levels from seductive to potential death, carried the day. Sadly, no amount of persuasion could convince her to give them a means to contact them again in the future. That frustrated Zodiac the most. Every answer she was able to gleam from the work raised other questions she could not begin to approach properly without more information.
Undaunted, she kept exploring. Taking what she knew and comparing to things she had painstakingly kept notes on. It was a slow process at best, but that was the beauty of what she was now. If she was careful, she had plenty of time to work with and more.
