Slaves to the Wind [Kamalia]

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden slowly turned for a moment to reach into his backpack resting nearby, listening to Kamalia’s explanation of how weaving her mystics used up her djed, an energy Jaeden had heard of, but not seriously delved into learning about. It almost sounded as if it used up bits and pieces of her soul, and such a statement almost seemed convincing considering the effects it had upon her. Blood coming from her mouth, nose and eyes. Violent disposition and speech. An almost unnerving drive to continue despite the previous two consequences. Jaeden almost felt such himself at time, while under the influence of Ranuri, but the divine magic that coursed through him as a result of his mark were far less hazardous, provided the one he was serving under it’s influence didn’t desire harm upon Jaeden. He certainly didn’t like the idea of self mutilation because of someone’s sick fantasies. “No need to pay for it, I didn’t. Got it by fishing and harvesting. Some skills you should look into getting.” Jaeden commented as he continued to root through his pack for another moment. “If you want to flash me your breasts in gratitude all the same though, I certainly won’t say no.”

Jaeden slowly pulled out a couple of small jars, looking over the labels that he had placed on them, shaking his head slightly as Kamalia mentioned Grom biting him out of jealousy, and the tragedy that would be the result if the Ivaski bit away his manhood. “Eh, it’d take more than one bite, and only females find such easy to swallow.” Jaeden quipped before turning his head slightly. “So how often were you staring at my packaged goods, anyhow?”

Jaeden finally turned around with a jar of spice in his hand, ready to dig in, only to see Kamalia had began eating his fish, having already finished off the plate of fruits and nuts. Jaeden gave a slow sigh, laying his forearm along a raised knee as the spice jar dangled between his fingers for a moment. He then quirked a brow as Kamalia explained her obsession over Magic. He tapped the jar lightly alongside his leg as he listened idly. “If Magic and the song in your head told you to roll around in oil before jumping into one of Ivak’s volcano’s, would you?” Jaeden then asked plainly as he looked bluntly into Kamalia’s eyes. “Frankly Kamalia, it’s nice that you have this to guide you, but you should also listen to what everything else is telling you. When you’re bleeding from your eyes, mouth and nose, you’re body is essentially screaming at you from that point to at least slow down. Perhaps you should lend your ear to it some more than you have been is all I’m saying.”

Jaeden once again turned, putting away the spice jar before pulling out his rations and setting the small pouch into his lap. “And what’s with this “human” talk? Do you always label?” Jaeden said with almost a frown forming on his face. “You don’t hear me calling you “Konti” do you? Call me Jaeden for Caiyha’s sake.”

Jaeden grumbles slightly then before popping some dried beef into his mouth, chewing it in silence. Kamalia might have suspected that such a response and frown came from her stealing his food, but in the end that hadn’t been it. Jaeden had been, most of his life, raised by a fair and just individual in Olevar, if not a bit eccentric. While his mentor shunned society, such was mainly due to his introverted nature more than simple disliking of any race or culture. He had raised Jaeden, whole heartedly in his training of him, to judge someone or something by their actions. To him, addressing someone by their race or culture, as opposed to using their name, meant to him that one already had typical expectations before they even learned anything about them.

Jaeden slowly slid his leg out, leaning back once again into the log. His eyes then shot a sidelong glance towards Kamalia as she spoke of the darkness in men’s hearts. In the end, he just gave a shrug. “Yeah, well I’ve known some vile women in my travels as well Kamalia.” Jaeden simply said, reaching over to his waterskin for a moment to take a quick pull from it. “The lands are still in it’s infancy after nearly being destroyed. There’s going to be a lot of individuals looking to get things easy, rather than working for them.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

“Oh, I was quite the sea huntress in my childhood, you see, and I still almost certainly am. It just happens that my bondmate prefers to hunt land-dwelling quarry,” Kamalia said in response to Jaeden, sensing that he was somewhat belittling her. "The fish here are not nearly as flavorsome and substantial as those that could be caught in the Silver Lake and the Vaska Gulf just east of the White Isle. Here, they taste bland. Some of them taste horrible. Still, I find human cuisine quite fascinating,” The konti observed as she munched on another morsel of fish fillet. "In my land, we need not depend on fishing rods overmuch, waiting long in the sun for fish to bite our lures; we dive deep into the waters and we… hunt them ourselves.” There was a slight hesitation in the konti’s voice as shards of memories of her homeland swarmed her mind and pierced her heart. She could vividly remember the glimpses of the crescent isle, and its shining centerpiece, the City of Mura when she divined Jaeden’s past.

The konti maiden only gave Jaeden a blank stare in response to his suggestion that she “flash” her breasts in gratitude. "Flash my breasts he says,” Kamalia repeated. "Are you asking me to briefly expose my bosom? You will have to try harder than that, ser. Not that I am implying that such thing is plausible at all, however. For all you know, my bosom could be magical and potentially dangerous. I could probably shoot lightning with them, like zap,” the konti wizard chuckled. Books are fat with perverse tales of female reimancers doing that.”

When Jaeden began defending his private part, the konti merely laughed musically. "Then perhaps two bites. If you think I am not acquainted with male anatomy, then you are mistaken. I live with a kelvic who seems to have a mortal vendetta against clothes. Needless to say, I always get to see his reproductive organs when we bathe together.”

"You misunderstand again. Magic is more addictive and enslaving than an opiate. In Wizard Psychology and among magi, this symptom is called the Sweet Whisper, or the overpowering desire to cast more spells,” Kamalia said, before opening the lid of her waterskin, the smile vanishing from her face completely. The girl could still taste the faint metallic tang of overgiving in her mouth from the recent excessive spellcasting. “If I could shun overgiving, I would, but ‘tis not that simple. As I have said, we faced great peril when we battled the witch of the void and I was only saving my life. Power demands a price, and that power saved me from death—today and countless times before. As the All-Seeing Mother had revealed to her seers, this is my fate. This is my destiny,” the seer said passionately. “And If Avalis willed that I leap into Ivak’s flaming embrace, so be it - I would.”

Kamalia realized how ironic her last words may have sounded. Could it have been true faith or was it her love for magic? She realized how futile her existence was, that her life depended upon magic, despite it was the sole reason she had been exiled from Mura. Magic undeniably shaped her entire life. It controlled her.

It enslaved her.

She was no different from the slaves that they rescued. She was a slave to the wind, to the darkness and ice. Did she want to be free of it? In truth, she was not sure. This epiphany troubled her. What else would magic take away from her?

“As to the misunderstanding of labeling you as human, please recall that I speak your language as a second tongue. I have not the precision of speech that a human employs in Common. Calling a human “human” in Kontinese does not offend them, at all,” said the girl.

As if to stress that point, when the sorceress spoke of the darkness in men’s hearts, Jaeden took the word “men” literally as males, when the konti only referred to sentient races in general. She opened her mouth as if she were about to protest, but closed it again, believing that it was pointless.

The onset of dusk came, and the konti’s pale form seemed to shimmer faintly in the nightfall, capturing the silver of moonglow and the gold of the firelight. There was a long silence that stretched between them for a while, until it was too unbearable to bear. “I have seen glimpses of your past. What do you know of Satu the Heartseer?” the konti asked at last.

[Jaeden Kincade]

“Well, I’ll just agree to disagree.” Jaeden said plainly of Kamalia’s explanation of her spell casting and over giving. “Frankly, I find life to precious a gift to be toyed with because you think someone else, deity or otherwise, wills it to be your destiny. In the end, I don’t think Avalis would want one of her charges wasting herself away using magic. Did it ever occur to you that Avalis’ revelation could have just been a simple warning to you, rather than just your destiny? Or that it might have just been a test, to see if you would actually try to gain control of your life, rather than letting this possible destiny dictate it?”

“And you’re missing the point, Kamalia.” Jaeden then said as he jabbed a piece of her jerked meat towards her in lieu of simply pointing. “It doesn’t matter what language you say it in. The fact that your calling me “human” rather than just simply calling me by my name, especially when you know my name, means that you see me as a simple race, rather than as an individual with a name. It may not bother others, but it does me. And before you go into more talk about misunderstandings, I’ll tell you why. Pretty much every slaver out there is going to address someone they’ve capture by their race, rather than their name. They’ll address you as, “You Konti,” or address someone as racial stock like, “I’ve captures some humans and Kelvic to sell,” when trying to profit by putting a price on their life.”

It was a firm belief of Jaeden’s in the long run, one that Kamalia could see rubbed him the wrong way. Whether or not she understood it, he wasn’t sure. In the end though, he felt it had to be said, and when he had he simply fell silent again, taking another bite from his rations before feeding the fire with dried out thick branch.

His shoulders simply lifted and then fell in a shrug when she asked him of Satu. It was a name he hadn’t even heard since leaving the isle. “Depends what you’re asking.” Jaeden simply replied. “I know she was kind and generous. Sat with me for a while and put up with my antics when I was laid up with injury on Mura. Timid to an extent, but she filled out her swimming attire rather well.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

The konti suppressed a sigh when Jaeden started to talk to her about Avalis. From Kamalia’s perspective, it was as if he were lecturing her—a konti and a daughter to the Oracle Goddess— about her own faith and about her Mother’s ways. She did not expect a human to understand. Kamalia acknowledged through her intuition as a seer that Jaeden meant to say those words for her betterment, but this was her faith. It was her passion and her heritage. It was probably the last fiber of her being that connected her to her homeland.

The konti felt displeased, but she remained calm and civil when she spoke. “Life is not to be trifled with,” Kamalia started softly and evenly, “and my people celebrate the wonders of life by singing underneath the sun and dancing clad only in moonlight. But if my Mother demands of me to sacrifice my life, then I would do so, even if it is against your beliefs.”

“As for your presupposition that the All-Seeing Mother is opposed to me delving deeply into the arcane arts, what evidence of this have you? Avalis does not differentiate between evil and good, dark and light, sinner and saint. It just rationally follows that the All-Seeing Mother does not differentiate between a mage and a simpleton. It is Lhex who weaves fate; Avalis only reveals them. These “tests” of devotion to the Goddess of Seers meant believing in her revelations with all your heart. Unlike most, I do not flee from my destiny, for as a seer, I have been raised to accept fate and change, as my foremothers were. You cannot run away from yours.”

“I am missing your point as you are missing mine, and we have misunderstandings simply because of our cultural differences,” Kamalia replied unpretentiously, “and culture affects much of one’s manner of speech whichever language he speaks in. Just because a human believes that one idea is inappropriate does not necessitate that it universally is for all races. You might claim that labeling you by your race instead of calling you by your given name is indecorous, but it could otherwise be the norm, or might even be considered polite and civil, by other races. Slavers and commoners, farmers and sailors, bards and merchants, I have been addressed by humans as “konti” and “seer” all my life, but this does not make me feel insecure about my individuality. But if it bothers you so, then I will call you Jaeden.”

The konti maiden would observe Jaeden, hoping that her lengthy refutation did not at all offend the male. She watched as the human began to feed the campfire with a dried out think branch, and suddenly her full attention was caught by the flame itself. Her mystic sensitivities tingled as she saw symbolisms and signs in the dancing fire. This was called Pyromancy—an ancient art of fortune-telling practiced by the Konti, and a type of augury that she had learned from observing candles when she was a little more than an infant. Focusing on the symbols and shapes of the fire, Kamalia began to read Jaeden’s fortune. “In fact, your destiny is written all over those flames. Would you like to hear it?”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden’s gaze remained on the fire, though his ears still twitched slightly as he listened to Kamalia’s explanations, her revelations that surrounded her faith. It wasn’t that Jaeden didn’t mind faith, he gave thanks to some Gods, Caiyha in particular, he just didn’t like the practice of blind faith. Love the gods you worshiped, but don’t let them completely determine your life. Otherwise, what was the point of living in the long run? In the end, it’s just what Jaeden believed. “Agree to disagree, Kamalia.” Jaeden then simply said when she concluded her beliefs. “I’ve said my peace on the matter, but in the end it’s your decisions, so I won’t try to talk you out of it.”

Jaeden then just gave a curt nod when Kamalia further explained cultural differences and her reasoning behind calling others by race. “Yes, I would prefer you call me Jaeden. It’s my name. The name my parents gave me. So just go with that, if you would please?” Jaeden then said, dropping it further rather than debating or arguing it any further. In the end, he didn’t like getting annoyed over the matter anyhow, and he may have chalked the ease in which he debated it so quickly to the newly acquired wounds that now lined his body. It seemed as though he gained a new one every trip he took out into the wild, which wasn’t entirely unexpected, but at the same time a slight frustrating. It donned on him that, in his later years, such might very well cause him continuous pain. Such was a thought that was soon cast aside, however, as he felt he still had a long ways to go before he reached that age, if he reached that age.

Jaeden eventually stood up, making his way around the fire after he had fed it a little more. With subtle grunts and light tightening of his arms, he began dragging large branches towards a tall tree that rested near the closest corner of the clearing, a place where the warmth of the fire could still reach. He gave a slow gaze to Kamalia as she offered to reveal his destiny, before giving a slow shake of his head. “Nope, not interested.” Jaeden simply said as he laid the long branch along the ground and stepped over to his pack to grab his woodsman axe. “Satu delved into my past and tried to interpret what I would need for my future. Her words on such didn't really take. Nakali mentioned I had a great calling as well, but didn’t say what. In the end, especially if a Goddess didn’t reveal such to me, I don’t think anyone else should either.”

Jaeden gave a heavy one handed swing, grunting with a bit of discomfort as he held his injured hand and arm close to his body as the blade of the axe cut deeply into the wood of the branch. “Besides, if I have some sort of destiny, I’d rather not know about it ahead of time. I’d just rather let it happen and be a surprise.” Jaeden said before giving another heavy swing of the axe, cutting into the branch further. “It’s an absolute bore knowing what life has in store for me ahead of time. It’s also a complete pain in the ass as most people with a “destiny” have certain expectations to uphold. I’d rather just live life one day at a time, Kamalia, and let destiny come when it does of it’s own accord.”

Jaeden then took a third swing down, almost grunting out in pain as a hint of blood began to redden the bandaging around his shoulder. With that final swing, however, the long branch was cut into two, smaller pieces. Jaeden took a moment to take a couple of slow breaths, letting the sting of his wounds fade. Wiping a layer of sweat from his brow, he soon looked to Kamalia. “Feel free to dive in yourself into your fortune reading though if you wanted to sate your curiosity.” Jaeden then simply said, pulling the two pieces of branches evenly together along the ground.

[Kamalia Timandre]

The flame danced to the wind as if it was its slave, and for a time, the konti sorceress seated, content to watch and interpret the augury lain out to her by the Goddess of Divination on the fire. Fortune-telling was vague and less accurate than the gnosis of Avalis, for while Divination required the seer to unravel the course of fate through chavi, which were reliable sources of information, fortune-telling deciphered destinies merely through the symbolisms that manifest on the material world. Even so, this granted an acolyte seer, one who was only marked a single lily by the Mother, a window to the future. It was a sacred art to the Konti and a power most races underestimate for its obscurity. Some scholars had even theorized that it was a school of World Magic.

Kamalia studied the flames, thoroughly and methodically, as they took shapes and their smoke rose towards the starlit sky. Her faith intact, she could feel the warmth of Avalis in her heart, and the seer believed that the All-Seeing Mother guided her Sight. Pyromancy was not Kamalia’s favorite way of seeing one’s fortune, yet it was consistent enough.

“Much as I expected,” the konti retorted icily when Jaeden refused her offer, raising a single silver eyebrow while still gazing into the fire. “Your kind thinks of knowing fate as unspeakably dreary. Truth is, after all, seldom as interesting as lies to those who refuse to see it. Unlike truth, lies must make sense. They demand an internal logic and attention to detail that truth, in its innocent arrogance, does not always achieve. How quickly those who prefer to live their lives in lies, fear the truth and are unprepared to face their future refuse to see their destiny, much less believe it,” the girl said coldly, haughtily tilting her chin upwards. The konti shifted her gaze from the flame and her eyes followed the human male’s movements as he made his way around the campfire. Kamalia did not fail to notice Jaeden’s wounds. Back in the Konti Isle, wounds like this were insignificant for Rak’keli’s faithful healed aplenty. Kamalia was no healer, nor did she aspire to become a devout of the Goddess of Healing, even as she respected Rak’keli as if she were a kinswoman.

“These are people who struggle against destiny and are incapable of change. They battle their intended course with every fiber of their being, and it is this obstinacy that causes them so much anguish. Yet, as they fight, as they flee, as they hide from fate, they soon find themselves swallowed by it whole. There is power in knowing the path in which you tread, for the roads beyond are fraught with change—something that you, Jaeden,” a pause, "must learn to embrace. You can weep and scream and bemoan your life, or accept it and allow yourself to see the good in it. It is your choice.”

Kamalia wondered if the man would accept her words or refute it. She knew she must have sounded like an imperious windbag to the human male. The girl only meant to narrate the truth from a seer’s perspective.

The konti struggled as rise to her feet. She was still weak, and her entire body stung with chilling pain, likely a consequence of using an excess of water elemental spells. “As a parting gift, and to express my gratitude for the food and for not taking advantage of me in my stupor, I will impart to you what I saw. You are not required to listen, least of all believe,” the konti said softly.

“The flames have wrought the form of a woman in raiment of crimson. You will meet her in Summer, and from then onwards, your fates shall entwine. Summer is also the time when you will face a fragment of the nightmare from your past—a creature that took the life of someone pivotal to your growth,” the seer merely said. It was not a konti fortune-teller’s way to get into details. The future was shrouded in thick mists, and she could only point out the major elements of the man's near future.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden gave a slow roll of his eyes as Kamalia spoke of individuals, which he more or less interpreted to mean him specifically, fearing and fighting against fate and destiny. He had felt as if she had completely missed his point to not wanting t know this time around. “Jeeze, this woman needs to get laid,” Jaeden thought to himself as his fingers gave a slow rub to his temple. “I thought her butt was just firm, now I just think she’s clenching.”

Jaeden began pulling foliage towards the bundled wood, the branches and leaves making large amounts of scrapping noises along the ground. Such noises allowed him to tune out the fortune Kamalia then revealed, couple with images of Kamalia having sex. Oddly enough, he envisioned her to be critiquing her partners performance during the entire act, commenting on movements of the hips being wrong, the thrust not being strong enough, or not enough attention being given to her erogenous zones.

Jaeden then gazed over at her as she turned, making sluggish movements to leave. He let out a slow sigh, tossing the woodman’s axe to the pile of brush he had been collecting. A few heavy steps found him striding up behind her before his hand reached out, grasping her arm lightly. What came next, most individuals would likely have thought a suicidal move, considering the magical prowess of the Konti and her Ivaski peering on from the deeper parts of the forest, but in the end, Jaeden never took half steps in relaying a point. Jaeden spun Kamalia around, the heels of her boots digging into the ground slightly, before his arm rested along her lower back and he dipped her backwards. His fingers then slipped between the strands of her soft white hair, supporting her head in the palm of his injured hand, before Jaeden leaned in, pressing his lips to Kamalia’s own in a quick, firm kiss.

He quickly pulled her upright again, that familiar sound of the kiss echoing out for a moment when their lips parted and Jaeden rested his hand along his waist, gazing into Kamalia’s eyes and gauging her reaction. “Now,” Jaeden said abruptly then, ignoring the growl that echoed from the forest, “if you had known that was coming, there would be absolutely no surprise to it, good or bad, and you would have been left with just a simple feeling of consistency. Don’t let your life become a routine, Kamalia. You may as well be a fish fly then, destined to hatch, go lay some eggs and then die a day or two later. That‘s why I didn‘t want to know. Not because I fear or would chose to fight against it, but because those moments that life surprises you make life worth living in the end.”

Jaeden then began moving back to what he had been working on previously. “And you don’t need to go. Fact is, you shouldn’t. It’s dark and the predators are stalking. Rest here for the night.” Jaeden then offered, picking up the woodman’s axe again. “I’m building a shelter for myself. You and your bondmate can use the tent to sleep.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

Incredulous! Kamalia’s eyes widened in utter disbelief when the human male snatched her slender arm and spun her around. The konti gasped when Jaeden positioned a powerful limb around her body and dipped her backwards. She struggled fiercely to pull herself away from him, but the man was stronger— much stronger. She could not move, and he was unbearably close that she could smell the faint odor of his blood mingled with human sweat. Konti did not perspire that much, nor did their perspiration held any distinguishable scent. She felt weak and vulnerable, and for a moment, when their stares locked, Jaeden would see the rage and defiance of an untamed spirit burning bright in Kamalia’s violet eyes. She breathed tensely when his lips met hers in a quick, firm kiss, and the colors flushed from the maiden’s face. Kamalia’s lips were warm and soft, but her breath was as frigid as everwinter, a mild effect of spell-drunkenness.

In her heart, and through the arcane geas that connected her to Gromhir, she could feel her bondmate shattered, jealous and seething. The intensity of those emotions was so overwhelming that it almost suffocated the konti maiden. A moment’s panic threatened to claim the girl. The kiss might have been brief for Jaeden, but to Kamalia, it was agonizingly long. She was breathless when their lips parted and Jaeden pulled away. The konti stood upright, trying to regain her composure as the human male stared into her almond-shaped eyes. They could hear Gromhir’s growl reverberating throughout the fire-lit clearing now. Oddly enough, Jaeden’s forceful actions did not meet any resistance or violence from the konti girl. On the contrary, the young konti only listened amiably to him as he expounded on his reasoning why he preferred not to hear his fortune.

“There are those who think and those who dream, my mother used to say,” she purred softly, reaching for one of her most lethal weapons: Kamalia produced her most bewitching smile and turned it full force on the human. It was nightfall, and the moon rose high, bathing their campsite in gentle light. Beneath Leth’s silvery radiance, Kamalia’s beauty was simply surreal, breathtakingly enchanting. Her skin glowed immaculate in lunar glamour, and it shone proudly alabaster in the darkness that surrounded her. The konti’s floral fragrance—that of vian flowers from the White Isle— filled Jaeden’s nostrils.

Kamalia took a thick handful of moon-shimmering white hair and draped it over the man’s broad shoulders. Passion was still an unfamiliar territory, yet she knew how men craved for her, how men stared at her with the same darkened eyes burning with desire. The konti invitingly caressed Jaeden’s cheeks with soft, supple fingers. “If you are not going to hear your fortune as your parting gift, then at least… accept this offer,” she seductively half-whispered to his ears. Kamalia entwined her arms around his neck and leaned closer, so close that it became apparent to Jaeden the young maiden’s true motives—the ranuri recognized it was a gesture of sheer self-preservation.

Too late. Leaning her face forward as though she was actually going to plant a kiss on his lips, her eyes glinted with dark cunning. Suddenly, she brought her knee vehemently upwards into his groin and pulled back. Not satisfied, Kamalia whirled towards him again, and a graceful leaping kick dealt another blow to Jaeden’s family jewels, her heel striking his cullions hard enough to immobilize the man.

She quickly drew her suvai from its sheath and pointed it at him with a crafty smile. “You like surprises, do you not? There you go. Does that make your life worth living? You should have seen that coming, actually. It’s a cliché enough maneuver. Mayhap I should have just frozen your privates and have it fall off,” said the konti mockingly as she cautiously paced backwards to widen the distance between them.

“I overestimated your intelligence, imbecile human, and I feel infinitely stupid for trying to reason with your kind. I had thought you were different. I should have stuck to the classics: all human males have phalluses for brains.”

Suddenly, the imposingly large ivaski leapt from the darkness into the clearing and let out a thundering howl at his lover’s opponent. He growled fearsomely, and was ready to leap upon Jaeden, but Kamalia calmed him by placing a gentle hand on his head. “Let us be off, Whitemane. I squandered enough time here,” Kamalia said curtly, pulling the hood of her white cloak over her head and mounting the ivaski’s back.

The konti turned back to Jaeden and gave him one last devious smile. For a moment, her violet eyes burned into his. A strong wind blew in, whipping her silvery hair and her white cloak behind her.

And then they were gone. Only the konti’s siren laughter echoed like song in the starlit woods.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden remained lying on the ground, his good hand grasping his groin as the blinding pain shot all the way up into his eyes. Kamalia’s words didn’t really register to him fully as she spat and shot insults his way, comparing him to the typical male human. In the end, he knew it was coming, but as well, he couldn’t stop it either. Kamalia desired to punish Jaeden, and he had allowed her to do just that. It was fortunate that he found pleasure in fulfilling those desires, otherwise the pain would have been so much more sever in the end.

As Kamalia threw her last words towards Jaeden, climbing onto the large Ivaski’s back, he simply let out a slow exhale, lying onto his back, the pain slowly fading as he gave slow spastic twitches of his body, releasing that last euphoric wave that washed over his body thanks to his mark. Soon, however, Kamalia was far gone, and her influence over Ranuri slowly began to fade, leaving Jaeden with just that tender feeling of lingering pain in his groin. A grunt of discomfort escaped his lips as he slowly sat up and looked towards the direction she had left. He simply shook his head, falling back to the ground before finally echoing out the words, “That bitch ate all my food.”

[Ataraxia]

Jaeden XP Running + 2, Throwing: Knife + 1, Longsword + 5, Brawling + 1, Composite Longbow + 3, Land Navigation +1, Rhetoric + 3, Cooking + 1, Wilderness Survival + 1 Lore When in doubt, drop trou | Swordplay 101: Showing Off is Bad | Anywhere but the face! | Murder | Victory Against all Odds | Sensing the desire to overgive | Swords are for stabbing, not grabbing | Some women can't be wooed | What's in a name? | The price of Kamalia's Kiss Kamalia XP Throwing: Shooting Star + 1, Reimancy + 5, Tactics + 1, Acrobatics + 1, Suvai + 3, Unarmed Combat + 1, Meditation + 1, Fortune Telling + 2, Seduction + 1, Singing + 2, Rhetoric + 3 Lore The Trauma a dream can bring | Faking it (Kamalia can at least make people think she knows what she's doing with a Suvai) | Victory Against all Odds | Murder | Domination of the mind: Giving In to the whispers | Defending the need for Reimancy | How to stop an unwanted advance... for good. Comments Hey guys, this is the first thread I graded as an AS, and it was a good one! I didn't want it to end. I especially liked watching Kamalia use her magic and the way it twisted her. I hope to grade more threads by you two, as it was a pleasure. PM me with any questions/concerns about XP issues, Lore names and meanings (or if you want to call it something else), or to talk about NASCAR... well, maybe not the last one.