"I'm amateur, at best," Elle says, ducking her head slightly. "But yeah, that's what I try to do. Just study. I've made friends with a lot of creatures."

She's picked up a great deal of knowledge since she started her cryptozoology kick at ten years old, but she never went to college or a university. They probably would have laughed her enthusiasm out of the building, anyway. But these days her 'vault of knowledge' -- a massive bookcase full of her notes and findings -- is starting to be more and more of a resource that other people ask for.

"The Will O' Wisps are... confusing. I mean, the legends used to say that they led people off to their deaths. And I don't think that's what they were doing. It's hard to understand them, they sound like synthesizers. But I can get the gist of what they tell me, usually. I think they try to lead people toward problems that need solving, but they can never relate the problem and it's had... lethal results."

She shrugs her shoulders.

"That's just a hypothesis. The Wisps were really nice to me when I found them."

What she doesn't mention is that most of the creatures she tracks down are.