Mistcrown Peak
The Roadside Blossom1 encounters the Loquacious Scholar and quickly develops a disliking, even as she begins to understand the nature of the mirage and how far they are from their expected course. They rejoin the Merchant of Fervor at the pagoda-inn, who is trading tales with a woman crowned in flowers and delicate wrought metal identified as Mist2. The Blossom becomes increasingly anxious at the Merchant's seeming disinterest in their circumstances, and learns that the Merchant may have anticipated their arrival to the Peak. The Merchant begins to reveal her past.
LITTLE MAGNIFICENT, the Swordbearer, and the Wishing Flower encounter the Skyward Smith crafting flowers from metal and are enraptured. They eventually speak, and the Swordbearer learns of the origins of their sword, and the location of the previous owner's grave. The Smith indicates that if she wishes to make amends, she needs to find the living and not the dead. It is revealed that the Smith is a shade dwelling in the mirage, and the Swordbearer comes to understand that their quest may help to untether them from the earth and continue her journey skywards into what comes next. LITTLE MAGNIFICENT is granted a wish for an audience with a ghost. The Smith gifts the Swordbearer a metal orchid, as something better to remember her by than a sword.
The Merchant recounts the tale of her life to solidify the Blossom's trust in her, and the Blossom realizes that the Merchant (as well as their two dining companions) is also trans. The Merchant also describes a brief accounting of her time with the rebellion, a person she lost, and how she still aids the remnants to this day. The Blossom recounts some of her own past and experiences, and learns about her wicked father from the Scholar.
LITTLE MAGNIFICENT summons a ghost, and meets the shade of his younger brother, who names them with faer true name. Their reunion is unexpected and deeply upsetting. They part ways, and the Swordbearer comforts LITTLE MAGNIFICENT, who promptly falls asleep from the stress. They rejoin the others, and continue their conversation.
Mist takes her leave, and the Blossom pursues her, catching her crown of flowers in the mountain winds.
And so the caravan passed from illusion back into the world of the real.
???
Distant sights-
A mighty cleft, a winding road
The labyrinthine university and the city beyond it sprawl along the cliffsides
What lies in wait, during the Sun Parade?
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consult the previous encounter in regards to the names of the caravan when enshrouded in mists and legends
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The Bride of the Mountain