The room Kasa had booked was a single bed, windowless, cramped space but now free of charge and not the worst place she had ever lived. The mattress and pillows were uncomfortable, but she had three meals provided by the station and it was better than a hardwood floor.
Still, she intended to make the best of the delay by taking the time to explore Aquila VI while she was stuck here. Her new friend, Nadina Leth, had showed her around the first day getting her acquainted with the hub and its unique beauties, histories, and dangers.
Nestled deep within the Fells, where several routes through the mountains converged, Aquila VI had provided energy and transportation to its citizens before the Empire fell. Passengers and cargo passed through safely and efficiently thanks to their authority. The nearby city, known then as Aether Springs, benefited from the prosperity of the station. In the past the city sprawled the mountains with beautiful homes and monuments dotting the cliffs and sides, but now they were rotting ruins covered in dangerous fungi.
During the fall, everything from Aether Springs and the station went silent. For the first few decades few returned from their journey, and those that did reported Aether Springs a lost cause. It wasn’t until the Lovelace Institute stepped in to restore the Aquila stations that the steam locomotives and passengers returned.
But the city of Aether Springs was a ghost town no longer mentioned on any map. There was no centralized government overseeing the station leaving everything to be overseen by the Lovelace Institute at the direction of the Board of Deans. The station itself was relatively safe as the clockworks kept out anything undesirable, but outside the confines of the Hub everything had deteriorated.
Vines covered in a sick mucus covered most of the roads and city, with mushrooms growing out of them. Kasa was surprised to learn that the vines were not a plant at all, but another form of fungus leaching from the ground and spreading everywhere. Worse was to discover that the mushrooms spread their spores on the mucus, which could grow on most surfaces it touched. Twice she had seen children quarantined because they had run into the city, and now they were covered in fungus.
While it made her sick to look at the effects, the fungus’s properties captured Kasa’s imagination. She was fascinated by poisons and the effects it had on someone. She wanted to get a sample of this fungus, Peccatori Lepario or known locally as Muckshroom, for her studies.
She was not the only one interested in searching the city. Scholars, historians, and treasure hunters had taken the personal risks to find something hidden in the area, without the approval of the Board. Nadina herself had been trying to find some history while she was here and like the others was provided protective equipment on request. Unfortunately, even Lovelace equipment didn’t protect from rotting wood, loose stones, tripping on fungus vines, and other dangerous hazards. More than one student had fallen through a rotten floors to their unfortunate ends and others had simply vanished without a trace.
Still, Kasa had nothing better to do and requested the equipment. She would get her chance on the third day, but Nadina left late that same afternoon. She wished her new friend well and reminding Kasa to be safe on her trip.
The next morning Kasa geared up and looked herself over in a mirror to make sure every speck of fur was covered, especially her tail. Satisfied she nodded and checked her dagger and a jar she had brought, then double checked the large boots to make sure they were doubly secure.
She was nervous and excited to go on her simple fungus retrieval and to see some of the monuments Nadina had told her about. If only her friends could see her now…they would probably laugh. She looked ridiculous.
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