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A surreal cavern city inhabited by Symenestra where stones glow and streets are reams of silk. Cocoon like structures hang between stalactites and cascade over limestone flows in organic and eerie arabesques. Without a Symenestra willing to escort you, entrance is impossible.
The people of Kalinor only speak of the Orphine Web and its matriarch Lephora in whispers. The old woman and her daughters are usually called when restless souls plagued the city.
The large residence haa been built halfway between the Nest and the Place of Purging, in a prominent part of the city, testament to the fact that the Orphine Web is influential, despite – or because of – the things that its members do.
The building danglea from the cavern ceiling, held in place by countless ropes, strings and panels of silk. Strong wind might cause it to swing softly, but in the depth of the eart there is no breeze, and thus the building hangs still.
The building has very few doors apart from the entrance door at the very top that is made of oaken wood. The Orphine Web prefers curtains to doors. The silken walls are thin, and from time to time one can make out dark shadows moving behind them, but there is no sound.
The members of the Orphine Web go about their work quietly.
While Lephora’s three daughters Alysandra, Alyssa and Aliona are sometimes seen in the city, buying something from the market or banishing the spirit of a surrogate who had died, Lephora herself rarely leaves the house these days.
While her mind is as sharp as ever, old age has weakened her body considerably. She spends most of her time in the bedroom in the center of the house, lying in a large four poster bed, directing the fate of her Web from there and talking to the few people that dare to approach her.
There are no windows in the bedroom, no paintings on the walls. There is only a small stone altar with a statue of Viratas and a bowl of old blood. In her old age Lephora Orphine has no use for worldly goods anymore.
She has her god and her magic, and that is enough.
NPCs:
Secret :
Lephora Orphine Occupation: Mage Age: 72
The Orphine Web’s matriarch is shrouded in rumor. Some say she is a witch, others claim her mind has gone with age and she is merely a lonely crone, living with her daughter whose birth she survived: a miracle, by the standards of most. Many speak of her in whispered tones, but few attempt to debunk the myths that surround her. She is a mage, though hardly one of such importance; she learned the craft at a young age in Alvadas, where she honed her skills in world disciplines such as glyphing, and later, personal magics: auristics and morphing.
A life lived so involved in magic has aged her body well beyond its years; she cannot leave her bed of silks in her tiny, candle-lit hovel. Lephora Orphine is by and large the foremost authority on the arcane in the cavern city and gladly shares her knowledge with those brazen enough to approach her home. Known simply as the Orphine Witch, few dare to approach her in fear of rumours of what she can do.
Lephora's crimson eyes are sunk deep in her small head, her skin is peppered in warts and age spots, and her hair is a thin mess tied back in a pale braid. She is gaunt and unassuming and speaks in a voice as sweet and as thick as century-old honey. Layers of thick silk and cotton blankets often obscure most of her, but her long arms and fingers forged of sharp bone still hold unmistakable symenestra grace in her movements.
