From the Underdark (a drow tale open for all.)

[Dreamers Sand]

~Kamaria

Her eyes widened and she felt her lips forming a fine line as she could only express distaste. She glared hard at Gabriel, did he think she wanted to go back? She, for a moment, realized that same thing in her mind that she told herself daily. No one cares about a homeless drow traveler. Not a single person. She shook her head, licking her lip and shrugging.

"Let me go put my armor on once more, if I'm going to be chasing you in the night to fight for the very race that destroyed me." She whispered lowly, turning away and rubbing the scar on her face as she moved up to change into her leather corset over her white top and slid on her boots, and strapped on the rest, letting her be as she was to leave.

[Gwindolyn]

~ Freezya ~

"Me?  Why would they want me?  I'm not of any special import." She speaks as she gathers the sobbing elf to her chest.  Stroking his hair and rocking a little.  "Shhh... calm yourself.  You need to rest and regain your strength.  Stay here.  Eat, drink and sleep.  We will go the day after tomorrow to give you time to be ready and me time to gather myself."  She pauses and realizes she forgot to ask a few things.  She glances down at the elf and draws him away from her "Where are they?  And who are 'they'?"  Her soft features take on a hard edge to stand testimony to her not letting these questions go.

[Dunnuck]

Gabriel grabbed Kamaria's arm. "We don't have to go if you don't want. Especially on a hunch...a strong one, but a hunch nonetheless." He said to her. "I'm serious." He told her. "We don't have to."

[Drow Denizen]

Quelthar - Elven Settlement

"I.. I don't know. They just said they wanted you - I didn't even know who you were, they just gave me your name and I had to go and seek you out." He feigns another shuddering cough. "And the reason I know you'd never agree is because they are.." He looks down, willing his illusory face to look fearful, hopeless. "Dhaerow." He speaks quietly, still not looking up, his voice sounding fearful. "They wanted you to come in exchange for their prisoners - my family, my friends."

[Iellwen]

~Iellwen~

For all her apparent restlessness and nomadic nature, when it was important, the drowess had great patience. Far more so than perhaps anyone would have given her credit for. Not that she really cared what the others in the house thought -save her Ilhar- as they were mostly fools as far as she was concerned. So consumed were they with their little intrigues and continuous moves to manipulate their way up the internal hierarchy that often they seemed to forget the bigger pictures. Or at least it would seem to her. Then again she tried hard to elevate herself above and away from all the pettiness she saw. Convinced in the back of her mind that either she had some larger part in the scheme of things that hadn't been revealed yet.. or she was simply the forgotten pawn set aside because she appeared not to serve any deity at all.

Yet she knew how to serve one... had done so once quite well too, but that had been what seemed a lifetime ago... a different person entirely, and now she was caught in the cusp of things... waiting... always waiting.

When An'Ree finally entered it was to the glacier stare of Iellwen, who rolled her eyes slowly in the Priestess's direction with little to no emotion whatsoever. A fact that actually resulted in a dissatisfied glare from the other drowess as it had been her intention to be just late enough to heckle the warrior. That it apparently didn't succeed was an aggravation the priestess tried hard to hide but didn't succeed in time to prevent Iellwen from noticing it. The warrior was too astute for that, having been watching her since she entered the room.

So with a show of bravado and far too much flourish, the priestess strode forward with all the commanding airs her rank allowed her.  Making sure to cast her nose down upon Iellwen as she glided past her to the sacrificial alter just beyond them. Its ornate runes and emblems of the Spider Queen scrolling across its glistening ebony surface in intricate patters of silver inlaid with precisely placed rubies.

Setting out the tools of her trade neatly and in precise order, she lifted an elegant hand and snapped her fingers to indicate that Iellwen should bring the pathetic goblin to her. A command Iellwen ignored blatantly. Refusing to even shift her weight until the priestess turned around rather impatiently and spoke. "Bring him here.. you don't want to anger you Ilharess do you?" 

This Iellwen couldn't ignore and so strode forward without even looking at the goblin as she simply expected it to follow without question. So confident was she of her power over such lesser beings... at least in this house.

[Gwindolyn]

~ Freezya ~

Freezya leaves the elf at the tavern.  She meets up with the barkeep and makes sure he has enough gold to actually care for the elf sleeping in the room upstairs.  She turns her back from the crude establishment.  She shudders a little that such a place is actually run by an elf, so lowbrow and crusty in flavor.  Walking quickly with determination, she makes it to the castle in the center of the city.  Her home.  Ok, home to most the councillors of the city among others, but she has her more humble arrangments in the grand sculptured work of architecture.  The influences of nature are seen in the lines and the flourishments.  The building looks as if it belongs in a forest, part of it, not just stuck there for the view around it.

She makes arrangments for her departure and begins to pack.  Not knowing what she walked into she took her more benign looking weapons.  Druid book of spells with both healing and more aggressive defense spells.  She took two staves, one mellee and one with additional druidic spells.  She goes in search of her daggers and finds them hidden in a drawer.  She gathers her bow and arrow.  At least they will eat on the journey if it is long.  She impatiently begins to wait the rest of that day and the next out, giving the elf time to rest.

[Gwindolyn]

~ Gwindolyn ~

With the sorcerer in line and Iellwen dealing with her warriors, Gwindolyn has one last arena of power to look to as she waits for the elf to willingly walk into her home and to her death.  Gwindolyn brings out her float disc and arrays her power symbol male slaves to lead her way through the city to the temple.  Her house was favored enough that her house females filled one whole area of the temple with priestesses.  She floated through town, ignoring all the lesser houses, on guard for any 'surprise' attack.  Air flow the deep caverns is minimal as always, but with a little cantrip her white silks and long braids flow around her.  The shocking color is not common as most drow prefer to blend in and hide, being creatures of the shadows.  She had power and strength enough to buck the norm there.  And her beauty was flattered exceptionally with white.  It was her color.  She was like a bright light in a dark room.  All eyes stop and view her.  She holds her head high as if it were nothing, because it was nothing.  She was very use to this treatment.  None dared attack her as she arrives at the temple. 

Once in the temple, she glides past all the guards and highly ranked priestesses.  Had she not become Matron herself, she would be leading this temple.  Lloth favored her well.  No one dared stop her or question her.  She didn't offer them a chance nor a glance.  She gathered her preistess together and took them to an extra-dimensional space that only she could access.  There she debrief them only a little.  Too much information leads to leakage of information.  Too keep her suprise she only tells them the bare basics.  They gather enough to understand their next moves and the need for secrecy.  Satisfied, she returns home to check on the mage and her daughter.

[Dreamers Sand]

~Kamaria~

She looked at him suddenly, feeling his hand on her made her both livid and weak. She gazed at him for moments, taking a step towards him. She felt her heart race for a moment in the dim lighting as she reached out, her fingers stroking his cheek. The tall, lean drow cupped the side of his face against her palm, fingers brushing against his hair as she gazed into his eyes from only inches away.

"It amazes me, after all I've been through... How every place I least expect to find it, humanity falls into my lap, reminding me the frail treasure of life."

Her voice was a whisper and she stepped closer, fingertips drawing down and then to his neck, before pulling away.

"I will go."

[Dunnuck]

Gabe stood for a moment, in a daze. "Beautiful..." He whispered under his breathe, speaking of Kamaria. Jenny returned to them, armed and ready. She looked between the two. "Why so stiff? Lets go." She said. Gabriel grabbed his own blade and they darted off into the night. What had Kamaria meant by what she said?

They arrived late, and the streets were dead silent. "There is something in the air." Gabriel whispered. "Like a predator...hunting it's pray." He looked to Kamaria's golden eyes. "You have really pretty eyes." He complimented, the compliment being out of place and random, making it awkward. "Uh..." He added on the end. "I'm...sure they can see well in the night?" He added nervously, attempting to save him from embarassment. "Idiot." Jessica said to him.

[Dunnuck]

Passed the awkward silence, they continued, looking for Freezya

[Iellwen]

It cowered at first, a whipped dog uncertain of what to do, and knowing nothing would save it. Even in this situation, it wasn't eager to die, so shot furtive glances towards the doorway as if it were contemplating the idea of running.. of giving the pair of drow a little jilt in their plans. An idea, if it existed, that was quickly discarded as he felt the iron grip of fingers digging into the nape of his neck, and nearly hauling him, scrabbling and struggling, to the small yet well used alter. "Those who dally reap no rewards... " The voice came from above him, though its meaning was lost to the fear stricken goblin.

Practically flinging the pathetic creature up onto the alter with a soft grunt of expenditure, Iellwen set to securing him even as the command issued from An'Ree's lips. An ironic fact that only resulted in an arched brow as the warrior secured his bindings then stepped back to watch the whole proceeding with nary a hint of interest upon her dark features. After all, she didn't want to fuel the priestess's penchant for the dramatic too much, and showing interest would have resulted in a flamboyant show of zealous nature that Iellwen could rarely stomach.

Still... the show was grand, even for so little an audience as now was assembled. Iellwen... and all the spiders that had drawn nigh; their multiple faceted eyes shimmering faintly in the candle light as An'Ree lit the four that graced each corner. Whispering a soft prayer for the four directions to which Lloth's power spread, the priestess had lit each deep crimson pillar candle with a flick of her wrist. Coaxing deep violet flames from them that seemed almost harsh upon the surrounding walls, and caused the shadows to dance about them in obscene contortions. Almost giving the illusion that the arachnid that surrounded in little clusters were more of an army, a sea of tiny pincered beings that scuttled and shifted across the ground and walls with growing numbers.

Iellwen ignored them. Her attention purely focused upon An'Ree and the way she lifted the ceremonial serrated dagger before her and proceeded to chant praises to the Spider Queen, before slicing a thin crimson line across the palm of her hand and smearing it across the writhing goblin's forehead. When she reached out an expectant hand for Iellwen though, the warrior narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Reluctant to allow An'Ree to make a cut across her own palm lest the bitch cut too deeply and sever tendons. "Let me remind you.. you make any slips and its my Ilhar you will report to... " The threat was made, low and growling as Iellwen removed her glove and offered out her hand.

An'Ree paused, the cool blade a feather across Iellwen's palm as both drow locked eyes, silver to crimson, and silently tried to stare each other down in a battle of wills. In the end it was the priestess who dropped her gaze as she cradled Iellwen's hand in her own and drew the blade across the softly calloused flesh to draw a thin, and shallow line.  Iellwen grinned smugly for a moment as the expression was not viewed, but as soon as An'Ree lifted her eyes, all she saw was the placid expression of a warrior.

Without being told Iellwen added her own blood to that upon the panic stricken goblin's temple, and then stepped back to whisper her own healing incantation so as to prevent any more blood to spill as was necessary.  Her eyes once again focused upon the priestess as she proceeded to entreat Lloth for her favor in the upcoming endeavor, and to accept this meager sacrifice so that in Lloth's name many more worthy ones would soon be made.  The words came out in a lilting song, beautiful and haunting as An'Ree beseeched thier Goddess with as much of herself as she could offer.. and then she plunged the ceremonial dagger into the goblin's chest so quickly the poor creature lay dumbstruck staring up at her... even as its own heart was produced before its eyes.

When it was over, and An'Ree removed her tools and had departed, leaving Iellwen to clean up the mess... the warrior stepped forward and ran two of her fingers across the now still heart. Then lifted them to her face and proceeded to trace three sets of twin lines while murmuring soft prayers to go with each one.

"Dark Mother, grant me the wisdom to do what is needed, and the clarity of thought no matter the situation through battle." Parallel crimson streaks were traced across her forehead.

"Dark Mother, grant me the ability to not only see clearly what must be done, but to see through any guise or illusion presented to me." Just under each eye she drew more twin lines of blood, and then... she stepped back, her gaze turning to those tiny eyes that watched her still. "Dark Fate, guide me as you always have... and show me my true purpose when you deem fit."  She licked the blood from her fingertips and then proceeded to clean up the remains. Dosing out each of the four candles before removing the carcass from the alter and disposing of it in the far corner where the spiders, and later rats, could feast upon it.