[GM] A veiled cabin.

After some travel, the two make their way deeper through the woods to a location ostensibly no different from the indistinct forest around them. With a flick of Jade's wrist, however, a strange... veil begins to shift and bubble until it dissipates entirely, revealing a small, peaceful clearing and a babbling brook, alongside a small stone cabin with a little garden out front.

A quaint image it was, but a strange one to Thorn. She had never seen architecture of this style before --- Great beams of trees altered into forms such as this, impaled with metal spikes. It was fascinating.

"This is a remarkable place." Thorn says. "How did you get the stone to stick together like so?"

"The stone?" Jade asked incredulously. "That's what you're curious about? Not the... the..." She gestures around the area broadly. Thorn shook her head, looking at Jade, eyes wide.

"It's... masonry. You use mortar to put the stones together. Something soft and sticky, like clay."

"Ah!" Thorn says. "An adhesive --- I see. Where I come from, we generally build with clay and wood, of course, there is..." She trails off. "Well... I can not seem to remember what I was trying to say."

"Hm. You truly are from far away. Come in, come in." Jade says, unlocking the door with a small key kept in a belt satchel.

It was comfortable and warm inside, and, Thorn notices, larger than it appears on the outside. She remembered this: A witch's trick. She had seen it... Somewhere. She remembered, too, though only vaguely, that witches were a trustworthy people. She felt more at ease, but did not know why.

"Well," Jade begins, directing Thorn to a small room that appeared to be a kitchen, with a cast-iron stove, numerous cabinets, and some comfortable seating around a small round table. "Take a seat. I'll make some tea. If you wouldn't mind answering a few questions, I'd be happy to provide you shelter for the night, and some clothing to cover up out there. Consent to a few tests, and I can offer a little more."

"Tests?" Thorn asks.

"Yes, nothing serious. Just... allowing me to take samples from you. Nothing painful. Just, erm, a few fluids. Something strange has been happening here, you see. Well, _here _is a strange place... Agh, where to begin!" She sighs, then begins again. "There are others like you. I was once like you. There are those who show up here, with no apparent rhyme or reason to it, and are generally... Well... They meet less than favorable fates. Not ****, mind you, but stranger and darker things."

Jade retrieves a box filled with green leaves and drops a few pinches into a teapot.

"There have been more lately. And the forest... this world, even beyond the forest... It's grown restless. Stranger. I intend to determine what's behind this, and, perhaps... Find a way to overcome it."

Thorn nods. "I would be willing to help you with this. I am curious as well. Why... fluids, though?"

Jade gives her a sheepish look. "Uh, I'm just good at working with them."

She presents the pot of tea and pours a small cup for Thorn and herself, taking a drink first.