“Okay Teach, what is she?” Fin asked.

In a small, wooden inn room in a small town nestled in the dense jungles of the eastern side of the world of Mistrim, three people stood around a bed, overlooking a woman who was found in a box as she rested. Fin and Ange stood by, waiting for their guest, their hometown’s teacher, to shine some light on the mysterious sleeping woman’s identity.

“Right, let’s look for any distinguishing racial traits,” replied their teacher.

She wore a red scholar’s robe, highlighted with yellow loops around the sleeves and the hems. She wore it open so her frilly white shirt, buttoned up to the collar, could be seen, and so that the jewelry and pins she wore could shine proudly under the light of day. The robe only had a amethyst buckle that was loosely fastened at the waist, and her bottoms were a loose pair of silky black pants. Her hair was purple and lustrous, specks that looked like stars in the night sky twinkling across it, as the hair nicely draped her shoulders. Her skin similarly had a purplish hue, however light it was, that made her blue eyes stand out a tad more to an observer’s gaze.

Though she had many traits that could catch the eye, they all paled in comparison to the traits unique to her race. Under her eyes on each cheek, two streaks of amethyst sat, naturally growing from her body. In her hair, a tiara like head piece sat and shone brilliantly. Dangling from her bangs, tassel-like accessories, made from the amethyst that composed her body, hang.

A woman, amethyst given form, the teacher of the other two, inspected the sleeping woman, so as to ascertain her unique, identifying traits.

The buxom woman, flanked by her two students, activated the monocle she wore, a faint green stream igniting within the monocle’s intricate, steely frame.

She gently picked up the woman’s arm, and looked at it from all sides, inspecting the wrist, the arms, the palms- everything. Just as gently did she raise did she put down. She pulled the sheets that covered the woman off- causing Fin to awkwardly look away. Their teacher continued to inspect the exterior of the woman’s body, but aside from the grey skin, the two onlookers could not spot any distinguishing trait.

“Humff,” their teacher sounded, “She doesn’t have a body made of magic.” She buried her chin into her palm as she muttered her thoughts. “So she’s not an elemental type…. But she doesn’t have anything else… Might she have an Incarnate form? ”

Ange, who was standing right next to her, caught enough of what she said to ask, “Ms Deleim, what about checking her mouth or eyes?”

Deleim, hearing a good idea enthusiastically turned towards Ange, “That’s a great idea!” she resounded, patting Ange’s shoulder repeatedly. Just as quickly as she turned to Ange, she turned her head to Fin on the other side. “And what about you? Couldn’t you come up with a suggestion like that?”

Fin, still looking away, tensed up at the teacher’s words, “I was distracted,” he choked out.

Deleim, glanced towards the woman’s naked body for a tick and glanced back. Her eyes narrowed as she deduced the meaning of his words, “I bet you are,” she said, a tinge of disappointment audible in her words.

She turned back to the woman, and gently covered her up, after which she went for her mouth, careful prying her lips apart.

“Oh?” she said as she modified something on her monocle, “What do we have here?”

Both Fin and Ange, as if they were kids once more, peered closer to see what their teacher saw.

“That’s…” Fin was the first to speak as he tried to make sense of the sight, “What am I looking at actually?”

Ange released an audible sigh; Fin wasn’t good with anything beyond basic magic, but it was still painful to be reminded.

“You two can’t see it but,” Deleim started, missing Fin’s question, “Inside her mouth is a vortex of magic…. Dark element perhaps? It’s just swirling but it’s not sucking anything in or pumping anything out.”

Before the three, was just as the teacher described, a swirling mass of magic in place of where her throat and the back of her mouth would be.

“So…” Fin responded, “What does that tell us?”

Deleim let go of the woman’s mouth, gently bringing her jaw back together and straightened up her back, a heavy sigh marking a return to less tension.

“It tells us nothing,” Deleim reported, “That’s not enough for me to go on. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever heard of a swirling mouth vortex as a racial trait among the sentients of Mistrim.” Deleim placed her hands on her hips as she pondered over what the three had discovered. “I might have to go look at my books. Find a race of sentients with that trait.”

“Okay, great,” Fin replied, “Sounds like a plan, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Oh?” Deleim said, looking to the affirmative Fin, “Are you in a hurry to go somewhere? Just going to leave it to us girls?”

Deleim had caught Fin by the tail. Though in his mind, he made no indications that he was leaving the situation just yet, Deliem had caught his departure. Fin shook his head, giving up; she knew him so well.

“I’ve got to report to Impeerio.”

At the mention of the name, a reality set in, Deliem shoulders slumped and her arms fell listlessly. From behind her, Ange made a complex face, her brow, knitted.

“Ah. Right. Of course,” Deleim said dejectedly. “Well, off with you then. We’ll see what we can do.”

“Yeah! Who knows, maybe she’ll be awake by the time you get back!” Ange said, trying to lift the cold blanket that was thrown on the occasion.

“Right, I’ll be back soon.” Fin replied, with a strong reassuring nod.

And so, Fin left the room, leaving the glamorous teacher, the bony friend and the mysterious woman to themselves.