Never a Cat so Clever

 26th of the 2nd Astral Moon, 006 7AE

Staelufre came over the other day. Gods know how she got in since the door was locked and Ran said he locked it while I was out. Maybe she crawled in through Sheepbeeps flap, I don't know.

Either way, I wasn't about to turn her out just because she probably broke in and possibly nicked small articles of jewelry. Not since she was offering up information on the Mistress. Aside from learning that we have radically different philosophies toward life, I have also learned two very, very important things about the Mistress.

• She is not just any Voidsent. She's a Succubus. So there's some bad news wrapped in a whole shiny foil of bad with a big bow of terrible stuck on top. 

• She is presently in the Coral Sea, the officers are aware of her presence and she is operating with what seems to be impunity from within, possessing the body of a fair-skinned, blond elezen woman who stands around and reads a lot.

You can imagine I'm pretty perturbed about the whole thing. Still, there's something to be said about keeping your enemies close, and I know what to keep my eyes peeled for now.

Stae has a plan to trap her. I worry because the luring part of her plan means getting involved with that spider woman who gave Stae the book that did nothing to help Dhem.  I think my idea for using the blood that tethers four of us to the Mistress to force her into the trap would probably be our best bet, though I'd like to do a fair bit more research on Succubi as a whole before committing to anything. There is an update to information on such monstrous things since the incidents with Lady Amaldine as Haukke Manor has become a bastion for researchers looking into the void and ghosts and ghoulies. I still say all you need for that sort of thing is a good old fashioned witchboard with a cut-crystal lens.

Still, Stae needs me to construct the actual trap to hold the blasted creature, and that I am more than capable of doing.

Materials Required:

• Seven unaspected aether crystals
• Seven ponze of sacred soil
• Sheaf of vellum
• Silver container, the inside smooth and flat- reflective as possible
• Clear glass with which to line each wall of the inside of the container
• Ink
• Silver powder
• Seven red candles
• Phials of blood from her victims
• Purified water
• Several alchemical formulas I will not list to avoid incrimination should this journal fall into the wrong hands -Talk to A'randr about concocting these.

This is a soft list for now, but a plan is already forming. I still need to speak to the others- preferably all at once and with Sig, Ran and Stae present. And possibly the one called Ja'ren though I have never even seen this person, let alone know how to get in contact with them. Seven hells, I have my work cut out for me.

I'm rather proud of the plan I'm formulating, though I probably shouldn't pat myself on the back quite yet. If this fails, it could be the death of us all. But if it succeeds, it could trap the Mistress indefinitely. So. A gamble.

In any case, I got the idea when Stae showed me the ghost that's been following her around. Someone called The Dollmaker that latched onto her on a trip to Haukke Manor. Three guesses what this bastard does.

In any case, the only way you can glimpse him is via your peripheral vision in a reflective surface which, according to Stae- traps him. Now I've read in several grimoires about the use of mirrors in exorcising Voidsent and legends about never being caught between two mirrors lest you be trapped. In fact, mirrors and reflective surfaces have been continuously in practical magics since, well, forever really. So it's certainly not unfounded. Perhaps when all this is over with, we could find some way to ensnare Stae's ghost as well.

Moving on from the troubles with The Mistress, Ran came to me last night with a very interesting bit of gossip about Reinette and Sig. I do believe Ran may even be planning some swooping of his own right now. However, I think this is one situation I will not be sticking my nose too deeply into, since I would rather not see friendships fall to pieces.

Sadly our gossiping got interrupted by a call for help on the linkshell. Reginoot said someone had poisoned Miss Vira and I was apparently the only person with any medical prowess on hand.

I will just let the pure horror of that sink in for a moment.

Fortunately it was no poisoning, though some art lady (Olive Greenich? Hyur names are weird) was initially accused. She did have some curious bit of information that a strange man has been hanging out on the front yard of the Still Shore for a while. So that's a thing.

Also Ren's room is apparently haunted. I offered to go back for my witchboard but alas no one ever wants to try it. I mean it is literally a way of asking ghost directly if they're there and what they want. With the possible side-effects of malevolent spirits possibly latching onto you and ruining your life but there are prices to be paid for the sake of science!

Well, that about does it for my last journal. I've been putting off getting a new one far too long. The former is so crammed with loose-leaf paper, and has been dropped in the tub a number of times, so breaking it out has become a bit of an embarrassment. It's seen its share of hardships and has been comfortably retired to a shelf with my other logs and datebooks. A fresh start, I do say!

The Little Lady's festival has wrapped up quite nicely. The dolls were creepy though- I am convinced they are not wax but, in fact, masterful works of taxidermy meant to cover murders most foul by hiding the evidence in plain sight! Brother thinks I'm being unnecessarily macabre, though mark my words they'll be dragging that Lalafel to prison some day with a laundry list of charges and a wake of tastefully posed bodies. One even looked like Miss Jancis, though thankfully we saw her alive and well at the Still Shore.

Regardless, I've gotten a cute necklace out of the holiday.

I've been spending a lot of time researching this curse and Voidsent. My considerable collection of grimoires has turned up nothing I could not already deduce for myself, however. The best I can do is write down what I do know for future reference.

-Voidsent is known as the 'Mistress'. Appears as a faceless woman in dreams. Stated that should I stumble next into her realm she would not so easily let me leave.
-Three known people in Coral marked by shadowy tendrils from a voidgate.

• -Jancis Milburga
• -Iskierka Stormspeaker
• -Zaius Something-or-Another

-Curse is spread through prolonged exposure to tainted blood as I have learned the hard way.
-Blood carries a strong floral scent, like perfume. Acts as a soporific, causing drowsiness and eventually an unconscious state.
-Unconscious state somehow links to the 'Mistress's' little plane of the Void.
-Attempted traditional reversal efforts with no success.

I am presently debating seeing how the channeling of energies is influenced by the use of cursed blood in the construction of runes. Hypothesis is that the results will likely weaken the veil between this world and the Void. There is the possibility, however, of gaining direct access to the source- this 'Mistress'- and if she is destroyed, so to is her hold on those she's marked.

I will need to discuss this theory with those involved. In fact, I have need to obtain as much information as possible from one called Ja'ren before further considering this approach, especially since the type of magic is widely viewed as taboo if not outright illegal.

---

Faezbhar has been most kind these past couple of weeks. His company has kept my mind off  the gnawing dread this curse has instilled in me. Arandr has not taken my current choices well, and I can hardly blame him, nor have I much room to scold his behaviour considering my own past actions.

The best I can do is be as discrete as possible without having to outright lie. And, perhaps, warn Faezbhar about purchasing things from my brother since, as much as I love Ran, I do not think him above sabotage.