((OOC: This thread is for Violet and Jago Fleetfoot. You will reply to each other at your own pace, and I will interject at any time to control environment and NPCs. Chae is not present unless otherwise noted.))

The riverboat sliced through the water as if it were silk, ignorant to the stones and waves that would hope to rock it. The river itself was not entirely turbulent, though; for the most part, it flowed straight and easy, turning only where the bamboo forest desired to grow into its loose boundaries. The only noise was the trickle of water on the boatman's oar and the gentle creak of the hanging lantern, which did little to pierce the fog. It only grew thicker as they passed deeper into the forest, hugging the trees and the shadows between, allowing the imagination to fill the unseen world with its own fear or confidence. Perhaps it was daytime, but this place was cast in pale twilight.

Barely a half hour had passed before the boatman stopped. The water swayed around them, begging they continue, but the bottom of even this shallow vessel could already be heard scraping the gravel below. He shook his head. "You go now," he said, the Common words heavy on his Nisshokian tongue. He waved toward the wet shore. 

He had been paid and he had completed the task he was paid for. He would not push them off of the boat, but he seemed eager to get rid of them. The forest was a capricious place, happy to take hold of those it deemed hostile or unworthy. The boatman glared passively at the two as they disembarked, for he did not know the gravity of their missions.

Violet had been commissioned by the blue witch herself to seek out the Moon Rabbit, the last living acolyte to a fallen deity of beauty and the night. Huong'e was a lost goddess who, instead of falling, had floated up into the heavens to escape the inescapable despair of loss: the true curse of eternal youth. Some say she can be seen in the night sky in the form of a star that sits like a crown atop the Parvporan moon, who some say was her mother. But that was many years ago, too many for a mortal creature to have lived–unless he retained the knowledge of her immortal magicks. The Moon Rabbit was said to reside on the tallest peak of the Menomori, so that he would always be closest to her. This was where Violet was bidden to go.

Jago's reason for taking this trip was a little less describable. Had he been at a bar when he heard of the secret power which lurked in this strange forest? Or had he overheard it from a merchant in a market square, or been told of the myth in a distant childhood memory? Whatever the case, that morning he had connected the dots–he had realized where the Shroud of Huo'hi was, and he had set out to find it. He knew little about it, except that it was woven from threads of fire essence and seamed with the hot embers of a dying elemental. It was here because it had been made here, by the spirits of the forest. Perhaps it was coincidence that he had figured it out on the same day that Violet had been sent. Perhaps it was divine inspiration.

The water would reach their ankles if they stepped out right where their Charon left them, but truly there was no staying dry in the close fog and the soggy soil. There was a rough path laid out in cut bamboo through the forest, though it was old and counterintuitive. They could attempt to follow the path or they could try to carve one out on their own. They could look for something specific or they could wander and wait for the forest to guide them. Whatever they decided, one thing was certain: it would be better to work together.