[Sanctuary] You Don't Always Get What You Bargain For (Cuga)

A reluctant Nakivak and an even more reluctant Patron meet for the first time.

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

[Sanctuary] You Don't Always Get What You Bargain For (Cuga)

Postby Kavala on September 24th, 2011, 5:00 pm

ImageThe Konti took her seat in a deep wooden chair as she asked her question to Cugacon. She drew her legs up and wrapped her scaled arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. Kavala looked no older than a teenager and in truth among her own kind she was. But she'd been raised among humans and thought like them, always being treated like a human her age would have been. It wasn't their fault, not really, for the Horseclans had little exposure to the Konti to know any different, especially with their mother dead.

And as he spoke, with that calm rich voice that she was starting to like, she listened. Some men, when the spoke, uttered words between the lines and their body language told their listeners everything. Cuga was different. His body language was guarded so too where the emotions in his face. His eyes weren't exactly cold, but they were devoid of expression and she could tell he was tightly leashed in a great many aspects of his life. So all she could go by were his words, the ones he spoke clearly, and accurately.

"The funny thing about this whole situation is that had the Akalak just have asked me and let me choose one of them for myself, I would have stayed and helped them without this."
She said, lifting her hand and showing the thick silver bracelet that as more manacle than art. The children of Wysar didn't like their Nakivak's slipping their collars and that's what the Undanas' were - devices their mages could track them with if they ran. "I was never offered a choice. I didn't choose. I woke up in a woman's facility already processed, cleaned, and manacled. I was told how life was going to be. We were took on a tour of the Oathmaster's Tower which is enough to scare anyone half to death. We met a Nakivak Advocate and her son, and then were sent to classes teaching us our body's ways and its cycles of reproduction and how to ....." She swallowed, bit down on her bottom lip, and blinked.

"No one is offered a choice, Cugacon. That you even say that is wrong."
Kavala said, not accusing him, but gently correcting him. There was no choice. None whatsoever.

"I was told though that I would have to work. I was told that I needed something to fill my days with, yet something that had to be flexible enough to accommodate my true duty. I wanted something that would keep me tied to it so that a contract holder would have to come to me. I don't think I could have stood it if I had to move in with one for availability. I picked running a stables and a healing clinic for animals and kelvics. The debt was separate from my Nakivak status."
It was important for him to understand that. She didn't agree to give up the rights to her body so she could raise horses. She'd went into debt to Riverfall to have a life outside of that, something she could control. "I've paid all of my business debt off. The thing that still enrages me is that they do not tell me how much body debt I have for the rescue. I thought an Akontak would be enough. But it seemed to make them want to hold me more. I know, facing the Oathmaster that last time, that they will never let me go. Not until, at least, I am past my childbearing years. Having no choice as to who comes here and who takes that right from me is the worst part of it. It is the dark side of your people, Cugacon. It is even darker than those of your brothers that have their faces tattooed and the twin souls you hide within yourselves. I know in accepting you, I am accepting two men not one despite what your father said... despite what you've not said. When I speak to you, I speak to two men and you both know it, even if the second never responds. Most of us would help your people, Cugacon. I swear it. How could we not? In all things the Akalak are amazing. I cannot be a Konti and not feel for your people and admire them. But I would have liked to have chosen a man for myself - well a pair of them - and loved him for as long as Rak'keli grants me this life." She said softly, looking around.

"Instead, in order to find value in my life, I have to build something like this place and make it work and have it be of value to your people. Why? So people can look at me and see past the Nakivak, Cugacon. I want them to look at me and see a healer and horsewoman, someone they can trust to give them a quality mount or heal their kelvic and livestock. I don't want them to look at me and wonder how long they will have to wait to have a turn at me as others already have."
She said softly.

There was more to Sanctuary than that - a great deal more - but she wasn't ready to share with him in that regard. She didn't know him and most importantly she didn't trust him. It wasn't his fault. Distrust didn't come easily to the girl either, so truthfully he was on neutral ground with her. All the Akalak's were.

"I will cry for nothing here for there is nothing to truly cry about. I've felt pain and hopelessness and been in a situation no one should ever be in. That was filled with pain and sorrow. Riverfall is far easier. If there is sorrow and pain in me, it serves me not at all. It took a while to realize that, but its something I know." Kavala said, her eyes growing pale and making her look almost blind with the color leached out of her pupils.

She wanted to tell him all she ever wanted in life was acceptance. Had Hatot or Radris ever once told her they'd love her forever she'd have been content and even thankful. But any vows they'd made were broken. Any freedom they'd promised and evaporated like water vapor on a hot day. Kavala thought perhaps that in many ways the Akalak's were ruining their own bloodline. She said as much.

"I think your people drive themselves to ruin. In many cases we loose our children, us Nakivaks, the moment they are weaned and I know many Akalaks would take them the moment they are thrust from their wombs with the Nakivak still abed from her labor. They are either taken because they can or because the mother dies. You have no business, Cugacon, as a people lying down with human women. Konti women suffer not at all from producing your offspring, neither do kelvics. But killing humans by breeding them is wrong. I can't see why your people don't acknowledge that. You sign a death sentence every time you hang an Undanas around a human woman's wrist and whats cruelest of all is that she knows it. You also rob the child of a mother. Your people need mothering in a strong way. I haven't yet met an Akalak that wasn't somehow damaged and emotionally crippled because of the lack of a mother's full attention. Tasifal, my son, won't ever have that issue. I'm going to love him fiercely and be what a mother should be to him for as long as he needs me. I'd like the rest of my children to have the same privilege. And knowing that was guaranteed, I'd lie down with my Talvis easier. If he promised to never contribute to the needless death of human women I'd lie with him indefinitely and give him as many children as The Gods willed so long as he'd be a father my daughters as well, for those will come too."
Kavala said softly. She unwrapped her arms from around her legs and let them dangle down the chair.

Young. She was young enough to have a dozen or more children for the Council and not begin to approach old age. There was no wonder they hadn't released her contract nor where they likely ever too as long as she was healthy and mentally stable.

"I respect your wishes, Cugacon. They aren't the wishes of most Akalak who view us as much as for pleasure as for function. You know as well as I do that there are no plain Nakivak. There are none that are scarred or unsavory. If you gather us all together, you will see. Perfect health, perfect smiles, perfect bodies. We are the only whores in the world that are encouraged to get pregnant, and then who are often cast aside once the birth is done in favor of the child."
She said softly. Kavala didn't want to be cast aside. Not again.

"And for all that, I know I could enjoy it. I could like and accept the company of a Talvis if I knew he wasn't going to take my children away once he got them on me. I could make it good for him and welcome him. I cannot change my situation, but I can control the situation inside the situation. But its heartbreaking to get attached and have that shadow never darken your doorway again. And its exhausting to have to lay with someone when you don't feel like it because you are tired or your day has been a bad one. I'd rather look forward to the sessions knowing I could say no once in a while if there was a good reason and just spend time with my Talvis without that sort of pressure." She was talking about a family, whether she realized it or not, and a place to fit in and be accepted not as an means to an end, but as a part of something larger.

She was asking for a lover, rather than a stud, though she hadn't plainly spoke the words. Kavala was forthright, but not that outspoken for all her bravado. And in turn, she was offering cooperation and to be there for his children long after they were born. "I'd want that... that sort of situation. It's more than one of my kind could ask for."

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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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Kavala
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[Sanctuary] You Don't Always Get What You Bargain For (Cuga)

Postby Cugacon on September 25th, 2011, 9:49 pm

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Kavala spoke at length. Though her words were reasonable and her tone even, Cuga realized that, in her own way, she was pouring out the thoughts of her heart. She wasn’t as guarded as perhaps he was himself. He listened without interruption, even when she spoke of the dark brother – that part of each Akalak that lived within the same body as the lighter one, sometimes actually overpowering that one and becoming the dominant personality. Even then, despite Cugacon’s deep seated abhorrence for that part of himself, he did not speak, or contradict her. Though silently he swore Eowe would never be any part of his attempts to sire a son, he did not express this thought to Kavala. Her opinions regarding the way the Akalaks chose to propagate echoed his own. He could take no issue with her on that point. And her final words were . . . encouraging – to him. Despite all of it, she was willing – to at least try.

As she came to a close, he regarded her for a brief moment before he spoke. She was truly a remarkable person, with a strength and resilience and intelligence that he could easily admire. Resting his chin on his knuckles, he said quietly, “No, it is no more than what one of your kind should be granted, given the task that is required of you. Though you are right, the way things are, Nakivak are not accorded such consideration.” His eyes went to hers. “But I must admit, I’ve been quite surprised by this visit – in more than one way. I’m greatly encouraged by your response – I believe that we have much in common.”

He drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “If you are willing, I will not rescind your contract. That way at least, you will not be forced to accept another. And I will not force you to accept me either – you may come to me if that is your desire, or not. I will leave that up to you. I will accord you that choice. And until that time, if it ever arrives, it is my desire to speak to you more, about your ideas. What we have now – is broken. It isn’t how it should be.” He would go no further than that, not at this point. Cuga too had trust issues that ruled his willingness to speak freely.

“What do you say, Kavala? Is this to your liking?” In one sense, he knew that still, she really had no choice. It was either him or some other Akalak. But at least this way, she knew she would not be forced into sexual servitude – or worse.
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[Sanctuary] You Don't Always Get What You Bargain For (Cuga)

Postby Kavala on September 28th, 2011, 6:01 pm

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Kavala watched Cugacon as she spoke, then waited for a response that she anticipated would be forthcoming. None was, at least not what she expected. The Konti studied the Akalak, her eyes growing more silvered by the minute as the color leached out of her gaze. He offered no comment and showed no emotion at her explanation. Instead, he spoke of her status and their future relationship. So cold, she thought, so entirely distant. Would he be the same sort of lover? Methodical and meticulous in bed rather than warm and inviting? Her eyes drifted to the rest of him, embarrassed deep inside herself that she did look with eyes knowing that she'd come to know all of him eventually, whether by her choice or not.

He could be afraid too, locked up, bound by the fear of a darkness inside himself. Kavala had been in Riverfall long enough to know the men that surrounded her. Control was everything to them. They fought their dark brothers when truthfully their strength was in embracing them. Had she been dealing with a healthy Akalak, she'd be talking to two men at once. But Cuga's father had firmly told her the dark one would not be involved, which was laughable. Didn't the dark brother see everything Cugacon did? Didn't he feel everything the light brother felt? There was no hiding anything from him, not really, not even this conversation the two were having.

She almost reached out and touched him, stopping him as he spoke, interrupting him to ask after the dark brother. He would be dangerous. They all were. And yet, once they were released and learned trust, they made the most incredibly strong allies - often loyal, often brutally honest - unique in all the world. Kavala didn't even know his dark brother's name. If she'd been told it, even in passing, Kavala couldn't remember. A great deal had happened in the last ten days.

She didn't blame him for not commenting. But a sympathetic look, a softly uttered 'I'm sorry.." even a nod of understanding would have been better than silence and a topic change. The Akalak were honorable. Even asking if all her captors were dead would have been.... Was that it? Just business? Hello. I'm going to do the most intimate thing possible a man and woman can do to each other, but its just business you see? It was, after all, the reason he was here. Kavala settled more comfortably in her chair stretching out her long legs and looking thoughtful as he launched into his next words.

This time would be different. Kavala suddenly promised herself. This time she wouldn't get attached. She wouldn't care about this one and spend long hours waiting for him to come, thinking about it, wondering what he was thinking or feeling or what his needs were. She wouldn't feel protective of him and give in to urges to try and get him to unite with his darker half so she could smile and laugh and enjoy both of them together when the rage finally bled out of the dark brother and gave the light one relief.

The Akalak were so damaged. But they did it to themselves with their tight leashes and unyielding attitudes. No wonder the less dominate soul was always angrier, darker, more powerful in the long run. Being caged did that to people. Her own cage had done that to her, no matter how gilded it was.

Her eyes drifted from him to scan the room, needing the relief for he was truly handsome. They all were. In her mind, she schooled her own thoughts reinforcing a disassociation.

Kavala wouldn't kiss his brow and ask about his day and try to become a bright spot in his days. She wouldn't make functionality into pleasure. She wouldn't give time to wondering when he'd come and what he was thinking about at the exact moment she was thinking of him. She wouldn't wonder about him and place him somewhere else doing something else in her mind to satisfy her own curiosity. All she really had to do for this man, despite what she wanted to do for him, was to accept him into her body and give him a child.

That child would be one step closer to her freedom.

She told herself that and repeatedly firmly within her own mind the words "Be Strong." Her eyes fell back on his. This wouldn't be a relationship. This would be a business deal. Another child. Another chance at freedom. He couldn't have an ounce of her heart. He couldn't have a minute of her thoughts. She wouldn't let him even if it was something she needed to give.

Oh, and she'd need to give all right. Kavala wondered often enough if the Gods laughed at the Nakivak, for each and every one of them - no matter how damaged inside and out - were givers.

"I am willing and I will accept you." She said abruptly. "I will not come to you though, for that is too bold and it is your needs we meet, not mine. Nothing is broken, Cugacon, at least nothing that you have touched and damaged yourself. Things that are not whole are not your responsibility and I dare say they are things you cannot fix because you had no part in them. I understand now that this is not your doing, but that you do have needs. And I do understand that your father pushed this as well and that his status depends on your ability to produce an offspring. I have lived in Riverfall enough to understand how things work." She said quietly. It didn't matter. It couldn't matter to her, she decided, through the course of this interview.

"We can start now if you'd like, or you can return at some other time when you are ready. Tomorrow I am extremely busy. But the day after I have a virtual free day." Kavala said matter of factly.

She was not cut out to be a cold thing of ice, business-like and forthright. But it seemed to be what he needed and what he wanted. She could give him that at least, at first, for as long as she could last. It would be up to him to not make her hate him because she was a thing of warmth and light inside.
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
User avatar
Kavala
I am more than the sum of my parts.
 
Posts: 3025
Words: 3295757
Joined roleplay: October 25th, 2009, 1:46 am
Location: Riverfall
Race: Konti
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Medals: 17
Featured Thread (1) Mizahar Grader (1)
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[Sanctuary] You Don't Always Get What You Bargain For (Cuga)

Postby Stranger on November 24th, 2011, 3:53 am

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XP Award!



Kavala:
Unarmed Combat: +2
Dagger: +2
Rhetoric: +3
Philosophy: +3
Negotiating: +2
Planning: +1

Lore:
Looking Beyond the Surface

Cugacon:
Rhetoric: +2
Philosophy: +3
Negotiating: +2
Planning: +2

Lore:
Knowledge of Kavala (Basic History)


Notes: As excellent as usual. Love these two. Awkwardly delicious. Let me know if you think I missed anything.
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