Mystborne Lucidity

The locals call it “The Empty Space,” and honestly, I can see why they’d think that. At first glance, there’s nothing here but scorched stone and wind-carved canyons stretching endlessly in shades of rust and ochre. Just relentless sun, oppressive silence, dried riverbeds that probably haven’t seen water in decades, and the occasional lizard giving me that patient, judgmental stare from cracks in the rock.

It was seemingly just a vast desert, but we Seekers know better than most—these “empty” places are rarely as barren as they appear. There’s usually something hiding in plain sight, waiting for the right eyes to see it.

Three days I’ve been wandering this wasteland, guided purely by instinct and kept alive by the excellent supplies I stocked up on at The Seekers Satchel. no Lodge Lozenge this time, but I've been enjoying camping under the stars. I've been making the most of these desert nights too - Practicing those strange runes that Dravendir taught me. Never gets old when I can just summon water from thin air with a careful trace of my fingers!

It was at twilight on the fourth day that I finally found what I was looking for - or rather, what I stumbled upon. A canyon with walls that rose unnaturally high, where the air hung unnaturally still. And there, tucked into a crack no wider than my shoulders, was a subtle glimmer. Not just any mist was seeping through that narrow opening, but Myst itself.

My heart quickened with excitement, This was definitely what the Umberglow had sent me to find, though as usual, they had been maddeningly vague about the specifics.

I took a steadying breath and traced the two symbols for Mystform:

First - Seravath

Second - Thiravae

I suddenly felt my body dissolve into swirling cloudstuff. It’s not my favorite spell - the sensation of losing physical form never gets comfortable - but it’s perfect for situations exactly like this. The transformation lasted just long enough for me to slip through that impossibly narrow crack, becoming wind and shadow before pulling myself back together on the other side.

The change was immediate and startling. The oppressive desert heat vanished, replaced by air so cold I could see my breath. The Myst here was thick, curling like ethereal smoke through a corridor of grey stone. I could barely make out my own feet beneath me, but I pressed forward, following the high walls of the canyon. I could sense something odd here...

Then the canyon walls simply… dropped away.

There in front of me, the impossible stood wreathed in perpetual mist. Before me rose what might have been a tree, if trees could grow to the size of mountains. Its colossal branches towered over the entire landscape, seeming to glow faintly in the greyness as though it were both awake and dreaming. The massive roots coiled through the canyon floor like slumbering serpents, some so wide they formed natural bridges over drops that vanished into impenetrable darkness.

But what really caught my attention was their surface - not bark, but something that gleamed with a crystalline sheen, as if the Myst itself was flowing through the wood like luminous sap. The entire structure pulsed with an energy I could feel in my bones.

I carefully made my way towards it and stepped up onto one of the root-bridges. The surface felt strangely alive beneath my feet, humming with unseen power. Looking down into the void below, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was walking on something far more significant than just an overgrown tree.

Then reality crashed back over me like a freezing wave. I wasn’t here to explore or marvel or satisfy my curiosity. I was here to collect samples and return. The reminder filled me with an overwhelming sense of disappointment - how could anyone reduce this magnificent discovery to mere ingredients?

Still, duty is duty. I carefully scraped some material from the root surface, filled a vial with the concentrated Myst swirling around me, and broke off a small fragment of the "bark" that shimmered faintly in my palm.

Now in a place like this a Seeker can conjure something really impressive - it's Teleportal time!

These can only really be used with Myst as a conduit, as we humans don't have enough power to use them whenever we want, a shame really.

I prepared the symbol, and spoke the word -

Kra-Veth

The mist swirled together, then the portal blinked open, glowing a deep blue.

I took one last, longing look at the immense tree-mountain, then stepped through with a heavy heart.

In a flash, I was back beneath the familiar darkeness of the Umberglow. The artisans were absolutely delighted with what I’d brought them. With these samples, they assured me, they could refine their Mystborne Lucidity mixture - something that supposedly unlocks clarity of thought and sharpens the mind like a perfectly honed blade.

But I can’t shake this nagging feeling that’s been growing stronger since I returned.

That tree. That place. It wasn’t just some unusual flora hiding in a desert canyon. There was something fundamentally otherworldly about it, something that made my enhanced senses sing in recognition. Could it possibly be the actual source of the Myst? Or something stranger still?

This mission was supposed to be simple retrieval, but I know I have to go back. I must. Whatever is growing in that hidden vale is older than the desert itself, older than the civilizations that named these lands “empty.”

But I’ve learned enough from previous expeditions to know that some discoveries are too significant to face alone. I’m going to need help from a certain mysterious colleague of mine.

The Empty Space, it turns out, is anything but empty. It’s just been waiting for the right eyes to see what’s really there.


- Seeker Sana​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​