"I wonder if we have to... touch the snarl?" Mei wonders aloud as she follows after Mae and Chara. "Chara, do you think you could just give it a little pok--oh, no, no. Roots below, that can't be what they're after. Surely you're not supposed to touch the big ball..." she peers up at it, adding belatedly, "...made of the fabric of magic itself?" Though they'd surely not be the first to try... Well, now she really wants to touch it.

"Maybe standing in the light it sheds will be enough? Or we have to reflect it somehow? Ooorrr," she bites at the end of her pencil and then makes a face at the taste of lead, "draw magic from it with a light spell?" 

Mae heads forward with Mei and Chara tagging along.  As you get closer to the snarl you realize just how large it is and how far above it is. Below the snarl, some of the energetic light seems to be collected by a long object floating in space. A gold ring also floats about it.  At the bottom, a heavy stream of energy flows into a large basin where the energy pools like brightly lit water.  The pool does not really seem to overflow, although there are wispy mists of energy that seem to slowly fall from the low spots of the scalloped edge of basin.  

Guardok shurgs at the discussion, "It just said to step forward into the light". With that he heads forward with the others, taking the clue as a simple instruction. He hasn't been involved in much like this before.

Heading towards the basin, he wonders aloud, "Can we just get in?"

Guardok asks his question as he gets closer to the basin. It certainly looks possible to reach up into the pool.  It might take a bit of effort to pull yourself up if you wanted to get completely in. 

"We can certainly try!" Mei grins, getting into the spirit of the hunt. Perhaps Guardok is right. There's a strong possibility she's overthinking this. 

Mei sticks both pencil and the spine of her sketchbook between her teeth and plants her feet apart, then clasps her fingers together to make a foothold for Guardok. She smiles around the stationary in her mouth. "Nee a booth?" 

Peeking down at Mei's sketchbook, the purple-skinned tiefling nods and smiles in agreement with what she had scribbled down so far. He then follows the others over to the radiant pool, hesitating to step into it, instead ready to help others doing so with a steady hand.

Chara hesitates a moment, but quickly decides she's probably the best person to check the basin. She leaps into the air, beating her wings so that she can easily peer into the pool. She looks down at the others curiously.

"So... any ideas what I should do next?"

"Just let yourself be ensnarled by the light...I mean maybe lower yourself into the pool...I think." The purple-skinned tiefling says, not sounding quite sure still. "Perhaps just start with sticking down your hand or something to see what happens. We are all here for you Chara." He adds, hoping to sound encouraging and reassuring.

Mei watches wide-eyed as Chara takes flight, the light from the snarl silhouetting her with an almost celestial radiance. Realizing she's staring, Mei quickly straightens and removes the stationary from her mouth then nods in agreement with Malvyn.

Though fruitless, the petite wizard still can't help rising to her tiptoes to try and keep an eye on her floormate. She plucks at the ever-present, tangled threads of magic on campus with her fingertips, ready to help in case anything goes wrong. 

Further afar from the snarl than his 4th floor friends, Knap shouts “you figured it out yet?” 

 He nervously watches everyone get too close for comfort. Knap moves no closer as if a force field of doubt pushes him away. “I’ll wait here for now. I don’t want to forget my troubles or plights.”

"Okay then, here goes nothing," Chara says, doing her best to sound more sure about this than she really feels.

She hesitates a moment more before gingerly dipping her fingers into the pool... if nothing feels off after a few moments, she will go ahead and lower herself into the pool as the purple-skinned tiefling suggested.

Guardok plants his foot into what he believes will be Mei's entwined fingers just as she stands up and turns to watch Chara, and he instead tumbles into a forward roll.

"Wuh...", he says coming to his feet, before seeing Mei staring at Chara. "Ah, that makes more sense".

The moment Chara touches the energy within the pool, she momentarily loses track of her body, overwhelmed by the snarl’s magical power.

Everyone else can see the Tiefling go quiet a moment, pausing in silence. She doesn't falter at all though, simply flying back a bit away from the pool.

Her senses returning, Chara realizes she is now a short distance back from that area beneath the snarl. She recalls the overwhelming feeling of light flowing through her body and mind. It wasn't painful at all. But she doesn't remember having moved away.  She also notices that in  the hand where her fingers touched the energy, she is now holding a potion bottle. 

It takes a few moments, but when next Mei looks at the parchment with the clues, she sees that the ink for #1 has now faded, with a small check mark to the left of the line. 

"Great Chara, you did it..." The purple-skinned tiefling says excitedly as he notices the check mark for the first clue. "...I mean, well done." He adds, a bit calmer, smiling over at the hovering tiefling girl, surprised himself over how emotional he got over Chara's and the floories success with solving the first clue.

Mei gently plants her hands on Guardok’s shoulders, doing an excited little hop-hop dance of “Success!” as she chimes with laughter. She turns back towards Knap to wave and "shouts” something far too quietly to hear at a distance, but gestures with a thumbs up and a big smile before turning back to double check that Chara’s alright. 

Completely missing the whole emotion of the moment, or Chara's wellbeing, Mellori simply chimes in with, "What's the next clue?"

"Oh, yes, the next clue is as follows; Alumni commission works when they retire, seeking promising mages to inspire." The purple-skinned tiefling quickly answers Mellori, loud enough for all the floories to hear.

Chara flutters to the ground, looking at the potion in her hand in confusion, wondering what it is.

"Well, I guess that was what we were supposed to do," she says with a little smile. "So, where to next?"

Knap walks over to check on Chara. "How are you feeling, Chara? That was very weird." He says with genuine concern and admiration of Chara's bravery.

Hearing Malvyn announce the 2nd clue Knap asks "Commission what? Poems? Portraits?"

As Chara has a chance to get his bearings once again, he does realize that the potion he's carrying must be a Potion of Healing.  (Feel free to add 1 to your inventory.)